“Why exactly am I carrying you on my back again?” Yvain was precariously hanging on to an almost flat wall of rock. A fall that would result in his instant death lay beneath him. On his back, Selt kept whooping and urging him to go up faster. Around him, the wind tried its best to knock him and his smaller companion off.
Their goal was to scout the top of Great Divider, the 5,433-foot-tall border that surrounded Empryon, and make sure that no unexpected dangers lay in wait. An easy enough task the first five minutes of the journey thanks to the stairs carved out of the wall. The problem began when they were faced with the end of said stairs not even halfway up. To be more exact, the problem began when Selt demanded to be taken along for the ride.
Selt wrapped his legs tighter around Yvain’s waist and rubbed cheek against cheek with a grating sing-song voice.
“Yvy, you know I don’t have enough strength to make this climb,” he said.
All hairs on Yvain’s back stood on end, and he quickly grabbed the kid with his right arm, flinging him off with no hesitation.
Selt screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice growing more and more distant. Yvain listened intently, a very small part of him hoping that just maybe that voice would suddenly be cut off. Unfortunately, the scream began to grow in strength. Selt’s body was being pushed up by what he could only guess was a particularly powerful gust of wind.
“Unbelievable,” Yvain said, unsurprised. Yet his heart froze for a split second when the gust carrying his still far-off companion buffeted his body, almost blowing him off the wall. What would happen when Selt reached his position? Wasting no time, Yvain pulled his right arm back and, setting his hand in a knife-like shape, embedded the limb up to its forearm on the rocky wall with some dust and debris bursting outward.
In the next instant, Selt’s scream passed him by at high speeds and with it came the gust’s full assault.
Yvain grunted in pain as the elbow joint tried its best to hold his body in place without breaking apart; the great sword on his back refusing to help with the matter as it shifted his weight in different directions. He gritted his teeth as the awkward position intensified the discomfort but before the pressure on his elbow could turn into an actual injury the wind stopped.
He relaxed his muscles with relief as Selt’s screams now came from above, slowly growing closer. Before he could realize his mistake, the kid grabbed on to him and a sharper pain ran up his arm as his elbow was now pushed the opposite direction from before violently. Arms and legs grabbed onto him, this time tight enough to choke.
“Y-y-y-you dick! I was just messing around!” Selt screamed.
Opening his mouth, Yvain was about to scream, too, but gave up on it when the kid’s trembling registered. He didn’t feel bad about what he’d done, but there was no need to take the punishment any further.
“And you rubbed your crotch against my back,” he said and climbed as if he hadn’t just thrown his companion to his death. A dull pain now ran through his right arm every time he pushed himself up, but it wasn’t enough to stop their progress.
Yvain climbed for several silent minutes, stopping occasionally every time the wind picked up. Selt’s trembling had calmed down but he hadn’t started up his past hollering.
“Are you excited?” Selt asked.
“What do you think?”
“Come ooon don’t give me that wishy-washy answer. Your lifelong dream is about to be fulfilled! Are you happy? Scared? Will you miss your home?”
Yvain snorted at the last question. His home was the Draconian’s Tavern. How could he miss it when all its members were always together? But he knew what Selt meant. Regardless, he didn’t feel like addressing that particular topic. “You could say I’m a bit hesitant so close to the goal, but isn’t that an emotion normal to humans? Hardly worth a glance.”
Selt released his arms and let his torso fall back while still holding on to Yvain’s waist with his legs. The shift in weight made Yvain almost miss the next foothold.
“H-hey, be careful!”
Selt didn’t pay him any mind and with arms crossed took in the vast grasslands stretching out to the horizon while upside down. The village their group was in sat in the middle with smaller ones randomly sprinkled farther away from it.
“You’re a human too, you know,” Selt said. “Don’t talk as if what you’re feeling doesn’t concern you.”
“My real concern is your own humanity. How high was that fall again?”
Selt grabbed on to Yvain’s neck and with an innocent laugh said, “As long as I hold the favor of all gods I’ll never die.”
Yvain rolled his eyes at the kid’s lame joke and focused once more on the climb.
He wouldn’t be surprised if that was really the case. In any normal setting, Selt would not be part of the Draconian’s Tavern, or any guild for that matter. He couldn’t use starlight nor wield any weapons. Neither could he handle the logistics side of the business. He wasn’t even fast on his feet, a crucial trait for a scout, and his attention to detail left much wanting. Yvain’s companion only had one thing going for him: luck; though by now every single member wondered if luck had any hand in Selt’s impossible survival. But survive he did. That also meant that anyone near him would suffer the chaos following his brush with death if not prepared.
Besides Yvain’s master, he was the only one that could survive that aftermath. Since his master couldn’t really handle the absentmindedness and liberties Selt took, it always fell on his shoulders to accompany the kid. Realistically speaking Selt didn’t need any of them to follow him, but he also couldn’t give a detailed report for the life of him, and one couldn’t help but worry that someday his devilish luck would suddenly run out… though those worries could weigh less depending on who you asked.
Moving one hand in front of the other, Yvain finally reached the top edge of Great Divider and pulled himself up. Selt didn’t waste any time and jumped off, running past him to check the terrain ahead. Except, all there was ahead of them was uneven rocky ground… and a castle.
What in the stars?
It was in an extreme state of ruin. Walls covered with huge holes, bricks scattered outward as if something exploded from the inside, towers either already on the ground or about to collapse, shattered windows. It only had one visible entrance, double doors that looked to be made out of black metal. On them, a pair of giant eyes with flames dancing around the remaining space looked down on whoever dared stand in front of them. The intricate design showed that whoever crafted them did so both to impress a sense of dread onto guests and show off his/her skills. Though instead of dread, Yvain was curious over the inhuman shape of that gaze: razor-edge pupils on a complex system of webs, all surrounded by scales.
Selt was already at the doors trying to push them open but they wouldn’t budge. For better or worse he could stand still for too long. He always had to be doing something or moving somewhere, even if the ‘where’ wasn’t decided on yet. It could give quite a headache to their leader whenever there was a mission to complete, but everyone just treated it as part of the package deal.
Yvain was still staring at the eyes on the door when a violent sense of dizziness arrived. Everything became double and he lost his balance, but right before he fell he managed to regain a bit of control. With a hand on his knee and one parallel to the ground not quite making contact, and an imperceptible trembling coursing through his body, he managed to steady himself.
He could feel it. If that dizziness managed to bring him to his knees, he would lose. He didn’t know what or why he would lose, but he knew that he would lose something.
He looked up from his awkward position. The eyes were now alive, their overbearing aura oppressing him. What were scales, iris, and pupil of black metal were now a vivid red containing a web of yellow under a dark slit. The challenge in them wasn’t lost on him. It somehow angered and excited him at the same time.
Yvain could only attribute that feeling to how most of his life felt transient. No will of his own and only reacting to how the surroundings wanted him to react. It was a dull affair. Only when he agreed to be trained by his master and years after, when he finally gave up his comfortable life, did he feel alive; like he was in control. This felt like it was to be the third time. He had a choice. He could give up and walk away or face that stare head-on and gain something more. He needed to reach that door.
None of this meant that Yvain could actually force himself to walk straight or shake the dizziness away. He trudged forward while doubled over as if with stomachache. Two images became four, four became eight, eight became sixteen. All the images held the same inhuman looking eyes. Eventually, all he could do was close his own. With his sight gone, a sort of sharper focus came into being and he could feel that something was directly influencing his brain. That’s when a hand touched his left shoulder.
“Are you all right?” came Selt’s worried voice from beside him.
A silly question considering his current state, but not much the kid could do as Yvain himself didn’t know what was going on. Unbeknownst to Selt, though, that hand sent Yvain’s mind into a more violent spin and he finally puked.
“Hey!” Selt went to grab him but Yvain pushed him away.
“Just… don’t touch me.” As he finished grinding those words out, one of the towers that was already breaking down fell completely. As it crashed, with a dust cloud spreading out, the dizziness that had been impairing him lost over half its effect.
Yvain opened his eyes with slight hesitation, but his view had already turned back to a single solid image. Not wanting to risk the ailments coming back before he reached the goal, he straightened himself and walked the rest of the way, albeit still a bit unbalanced, and set his hands on the doors. Whatever dizziness was left disappeared immediately, and ready to claim his victory, he pushed the doors open.
Selt’s swift steps grew closer, but before the kid ventured inside he abruptly stopped.
“Whoa.”
The outside of the castle belied what was really inside. A great hall made of gold stood in front of them. It was completely empty in the way of furniture; instead, mountains upon mountains of gold coins filled every corner. Enough to set them up for whatever endeavors they came up with in the future. Paintings depicting different types of scenery covered the walls, stretching all the way up to the roof, set in no perceivable order. Ornamental weapons were discarded over the floor along with all types of jewels. There were only three doors in the room. The one they just opened and two, one on the right and left walls respectively, a bit farther ahead.
Yvain walked in with tentative steps, his head swiveling from side to side as he tried to keep his breathing under control. Selt was a bit less restrained and ran up to the closest pile of gold.
“We can definitely go visit those dungeons you guys have been so adamant about with this amount of money,” the kid said. That’s when realization dawned on Yvain.
“Don’t touch that!” he grabbed Selt by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him back, but it was too late. The kid had already grabbed a handful of gold.
Without any preamble, the double door closed with a reverberating thud that shook the whole place. Some of the gold could be heard rolling down their respective piles as Selt looked back at Yvain with a nervous smile.
“We’re in a dungeon aren’t we?”
“And no supplies,” Yvain sighed.
————–
After searching the room they were now sealed in, and finding no other exit point, Yvain and Selt tried the next logical step.
“One…two…pull!” With each one grabbing a different handle, they tried to open the doors that had closed on them. Yvain knew it was a futile effort, but this being his first dungeon it wouldn’t hurt to put word-on-paper to the test.
The most important rule of any dungeon was that once it began its trial, no one could leave until it was either completed or they died. Since the conditions to begin the trial were never static, the rule of thumb was to never put even half a foot inside unless absolutely prepared. Some could begin as soon as the first person stepped in, others would not begin at all even if a whole team searched the place. At least, this was all the practical knowledge Yvain managed to gather in the past with the limited information available to him. Most books repeated themselves before filling the rest of its pages with accounts of the journey unique to the writer. Something that only served as a tale to pass the time as no dungeon was ever the same nor had the same challenges. And once a dungeon was completed it would disappear for good so no references could be used.
Resigned to his fate, Yvain released the door handle. “Here. If the doors ever open then quickly send the signal.” He undid the string holding a leather pouch to his waist, and threw it toward Selt. “I’m going to go on ahead and see if I can finish the trial so we can leave.”
Selt grabbed the pouch, but his pout was already giving Yvain a migraine. “No way! This is our first dungeon together. I’m not going to miss out on the fun.”
Yvain rubbed his temples and spoke, “It may come as unexpected to you but not all of us have your luck. I don’t know what I’ll have to face. If I take you with me there’s a high chance that it’ll just be tougher on me.”
“And it may come as unexpected to you but I can take care of myself,” Selt argued.
“Of that I have no doubt, but I wasn’t implying I’d take care of you. Oh don’t give me that face.” The hurt that appeared on Selt was convincing. Yvain knew better though, this wasn’t their first time having this conversation.
“I already gave you a pass when we had to climb Great Divider,” he said. Seeing some guilt appear on the boy, he pushed on.
“Who was it that got us in this situation in the first place?” Yvain didn’t feel good about pushing the blame around, but he needed to increase the odds of his survival as much as he could and taking Selt with him would achieve the opposite.
Selt huffed a frustrated sigh and spoke, “Fine, I’ll stay here for now.” Yvain nodded in relief and began to turn when Selt continued, this time with a mischievous grin and extended hand.
“But! You owe me a favor. A favor you must fulfill at all cost, be it day or night, windy or not.” Yvain found the choice of words weird, but nothing the kid could ask of him could be too difficult. He went to clasp hands but added his own condition before doing so, just in case.
“Make sure it’s something I can manage.” He got a confused stare as an answer.
“Why would I ask you to do something you can’t do?”
“Forget it,” Yvain said, kicking himself for even worrying, and clasped hands with the kid, sealing their impromptu deal. Selt lay back on a pile of gold with an audible clink and threw the leather bag up in the air before catching it on its way down.
“Be careful with that,” Yvain said, and strode back to the middle of the room.
“Yes sir!” Selt said dramatically, making Yvain shake his head in exasperated silence.
The two doors deeper in the hall were practically identical. He mulled over which one to take as he took a mouthful of water from his canteen and rid himself of the acidic taste permeating it. Being just one person he would have to commit to one side.
Not wanting to waste too much time on such a random choice he asked the paragon of “luck” for guidance.
“Which way would you take?”
“Left,” Selt said absentmindedly.
Well that didn’t take long, Yvain thought, and went the opposite way from his companion’s choice. He and the others had been testing the theory that Selt had a nose for danger and followed it religiously; more for fun than some rigorous scientific study. So far the evidence had met halfway on it being true or not. This was as good a chance as any to once more see if Selt’s luck extended to his conscious choices.
The door didn’t offer any visual or mental attack; neither did it look at him. It easily opened, and Yvain found himself standing in a spiral staircase leading down. With torches steadily lighting the way, it didn’t take long to reach the bottom where a long hallway waited with a tall window at the end.
A red carpet, that felt pleasing even under his boots, covered the floor. Contrary to the great hall, the materials here conformed to the norm with finely cut rocks of identical shapes creating a pleasing view from floor to the arcs on the ceiling. The five chandeliers lighting the hallway completed a picture that reminded him of the past, albeit more grandiose.
Doors covered both sides—all closed except for one, next to the window, from which some light was spilling out. A torrential drumming indicated that it was raining, with the muffled strike of water droplets hitting the roof streaming thought the hallway. It alluded to him being inside a building that was outside. But considering the circumstances by which he got there, it should be impossible. Outside the window it was pitch black so it wasn’t possible to tell by just looking.
An illusion, he thought. Roesia, the one member in their group that could use magic, was always clamoring on about it. According to her a sharp stimulus to the body should be enough to end it, but that was for weaker illusions. Yvain could feel the humidity on his skin, the carpet under his feet; he could even smell roses, though he was not sure about the smell’s point of origin. If it was an illusion, then he didn’t have the means to break it. He thought back to the imposing eyes at the entrance, but they felt inherently different.
Yvain was broken out of his thoughts when the cry of a baby came out from the only open door, the rain outside intensifying. He immediately grabbed the hilt of his sword with his right arm but flinched in slight pain. Switching to his left, he walked forward with caution.
The closer he got to the door the stronger the downpour became and a few moments later, as if the rain reached a boiling point, lighting fell down.
It illuminated Yvain and the hallway completely before everything was plunged into darkness, with only the light in the final room remaining. Some seconds passed with the baby still crying, a sharp silence in the background signifying that it wasn’t raining anymore. Then the sound of thunder hit.
Every door creaked open, and a sound not too different from nails on chalkboard screeched out from every single one. Yet Yvain was only focused on one thing. He couldn’t help but tremble at what he just saw outside the window.
The moment lightning struck, the image of a massive creature had appeared inside the shadows. It came and went much too fast to see the details, but he didn’t miss the eyes. They were the same ones he saw at the entrance. Yet not only were they much bigger, but the pressure they gave off was a sky compared to the speck of blue from the ones that came before it. The orbs had been staring at him.
Giving him no time to gather himself, skeletons close to him in height came out of every room. Some were bare of skin and others only had their eyeballs or none at all, with some skin giving hint at their past features. Most were holding a sword with a few holding a double axe or a great sword like Yvain.
The skeletons only shared two things in common; horns coming out of their heads, all of different shapes, and the stench. It was the first time Yvain had smelled something so putrid. It took all of his mental endurance to hold himself steady as he prepared to fight in that smell.
The fight never came though. The closest skeleton ignored him and headed for the light ahead. In fact, every skeleton was heading toward the source of the cry.
What’s going on? Yvain thought.
He knew he couldn’t use examples of finished dungeons as a point of reference, but the descriptions made by others were never this bizarre. As no skeleton was paying him any mind, he decided to just follow them and see if there really was a baby in a dungeon.
The crying didn’t stop even after all the skeletons entered the room. When Yvain reached the door, a line of them were standing at attention on either side. A crib was at the end with a single bearded skeleton standing in front of it.
It really is a baby, Yvain thought with widening eyes as a tiny head struggled inside a bundle of cloth.
He slowly walked in at the ready, piercing every skeleton he passed with his gaze, but no one made a move. The room was like any other where someone would find a newborn. Bright colors, stuffed animals, a chair for the mother to sit in while feeding. The rotting atrocities now in it didn’t fit at all.
The crying shifted abruptly, with an adorable laugh taking its place. Yvain kept the skeletons in his peripheral as he gazed back to the crib where the bearded skeleton was holding the baby in its arms, a knife hanging over it.
“Stop!”
Yvain shot out of his position, forming a single deep footprint on the ground and creating a mild shock-wave around him that rattled anything hanging loose. Having no time to draw his sword, he could only extend his right arm and allow the knife to impale his hand.
Pushing up, he managed to stop the edge from reaching its target and without missing a beat back-handed the bearded skeleton’s head with his left fist. The head, as if being shot out of a cannon, got ripped out from the rest of the body and smashed the wall, forming cracks all around it. He quickly slid the knife out, some blood falling on the cloth underneath, and with no other option carefully laid the baby between the crevice of his right arm.
As if on cue, every skeleton in the room screeched and began to move, this time their weapons set on Yvain. He didn’t wait for them to attack first.
Yvain slid the great sword from his back in a horizontal motion and, with a speed almost invisible to normal eyesight, cut two of the skeletons to his left in half. Wasting no time, he took the brief opening to dodge the attacks coming from the right and moved behind the crib, kicking it toward his most recent assailants.
The cradle burst into wooden pieces, pushing back several of the skeletons in its way. That’s when the crying started again.
Yvain had moved too roughly and the baby’s left arm was stuck uncomfortably between his chest and its tiny body.
“Tch,” he stabbed the sword on the ground and, flinching at the sound of blade meeting concrete, gently repositioned the baby’s arm. The small creature immediately calmed down and began cooing after him but there was no time to pay it attention. More skeletons were coming into the room with those already inside trudging after him.
Yvain picked up his great sword and prayed to the stars it wasn’t damaged; the last thing he wanted to do was bring back his master’s weapon in a worse condition than when it was lent to him. There was no time to examine it though. Instead he ran through the left side of the room, focusing on parrying the attacks coming at him.
The skeletons were thankfully slow on their feet and their strikes predictable, making his escape quick and easy. Unfortunately, when he left the room and turned to leave, the entire hallway was filled to the brim with more of them. In the back, several orbs of bright sapphire that served as eyes were illuminating the body of skeletons that were around twenty feet tall.
Yvain was sure he could take on this small army but, they were too confined, the baby would die in the crossfire. Only one exit remained. Pushing down the shiver of fear that threatened to burst out of his body, he sheathed his great sword and ran for the window.
He jumped and turned in the air, allowing his back smash against the glass, and dark instantly turned to light. Yvain was now standing in the same great hall as before. At least, that’s what it looked like at first glance.
What was the entrance to the dungeon was now the broken window with skeletons starting to pour out of it. The paintings on the walls, having more space than before, were neatly set around the room. Everything was also much, much wider; wide enough to comfortably fit the beast growling behind him. It reminded him of the many lizards he would see around his home, only this one was several magnitudes bigger. One of its eyes alone overshadowed Yvain’s measly seven feet stature.
What was the next course of action? Was he supposed to fight everyone here? Yvain didn’t mind the skeletons now that he had this much space available to him. But if the beast attacked, forget the baby, currently laughing in his arm, even he would not survive.
He was confident in his strength, but their muscle mass was just much too different. Not to mention that his great sword was a toothpick compared to its claws.
The skeletons, ignorant of Yvain’s troubles, moved toward him. Hand on hilt, he slowly backed away while deciding on what to do. Then a light lit up behind him.
With an increasing heat enveloping him, Yvain turned his upper body to find the gaping maws of the beast wide open. There was a blinding brilliance coming from its throat that immediately turned into an incandescent pillar of solid white heading straight for him.
Yvain pushed off to the right as quickly as possible, shielding the child in his arms. Yet even while managing to dodge the brunt of the attack, the sheer heat coming off of it made the back of his leather armor burst in flames and his sword start to melt.
Holding back a scream of pain he quickly discarded the weapon but had no time to do the same with his clothes. To make matters worse, in his haste to get out of the way, he tripped.
His body was about to fall flat on the defenseless child when he shifted his center of gravity midair and landed on his back, sliding across the floor for a few meters before a pile of gold cushioned his crash. Coins burst out at every angle before falling down in a downpour of shimmering yellow.
The sliding had put out most of the fire on his armor, but his body was still smoking with some parts of his skin mildly burned.
“What in the stars was that?!?” Yvain couldn’t help himself and screamed out at the beast in an accusing tone, more to suppress the pain and the shattering of his understanding of reality than to attempt a scolding.
Was this part of the hated monster race? It couldn’t be. Images of his friend’s beautiful ex-fiancée came to mind. She was part of what humans considered monsters, but she looked nothing like this. It had wings spanning all of its body, a long lizard-like head, sharp red scales that could probably grind anything to paste, and a tail that looked both powerful yet nimble. Yvian had never seen anything like it, neither had it ever been mentioned in dungeon related books. Yet one word kept coming unabated into his mind, ‘monster’.
It was a word that sent the roughest of men and women into shivers. Yvain had never paid it any attention. In fact, those in Draconian’s Tavern had adopted the moniker ‘Beasts’ as it was another description given to the beings that was less crude than monster. Yet, was this how everyone felt when the word was naught but uttered? He couldn’t deny the coldness that was flowing from the tip of his feet through his groin and onto his head before pulsating back down.
That attack could obliterate every single member in Draconian’s Tavern. That’s what it did to the skeletons that had been gathering. All that was left in the aftermath was a river of lava spanning the attacks path, the searing substance creating a molten waterfall where the window had been.
Maybe we made a mistake, Yvain thought.
When he and Nelimir first went to recruitment office in the Cosmos headquarters two years back they were offered strength beyond their mortal means. Such a promise, and their subsequent illustrations, was more than enough to convince two hot-blooded young men to join one of their established guilds. Unfortunately their rules proved too constricting and so they created their own at the sacrifice of a fast track to ‘unimaginable power’. But unimaginable power was exactly what Yvain needed right now.
A hiccup caught Yvain’s attention. The baby was looking at him with round, innocent eyes. It finally registered that they had a glowing yellow sheen to them with the same razor sharp pupils as the beast that had just attacked them and the eyes at the door. Were they connected somehow? His friend’s ex-fiancée had sharp and long ears, so did her family. Even if they were considered monsters they retained a shape close to humans. The child’s ears were round, but its eyes different; human, but with a quirky trait. Mild excitement began to build in the pit of his stomach in face of this discovery but he couldn’t give it precedence as small earthquakes grew near to his location. The beast was coming.
Standing up, Yvain shamelessly ripped off the rest of his ruined clothing and scanned for anything he could use to fight. With only ornamental weapons available he grabbed the first sword he could reach and ran. As long as he didn’t engage and fought defensively, he and the baby could survive while he found a way to get out of their predicament.
The plan was short-lived however, as the beast sped up with his attempted escape and covered an impossible distance in seconds. In one fluid motion that betrayed its size it spun forward in the air to crush Yvain with its tail.
Thankfully it was predictable enough that all Yvain had to do to dodge was speed up but the tail never reached its target and instead disappeared from view. Stunned, he slowed down enough to see out of the corner of his eye that the tail was now coming from the front. With a fraction of a second available, Yvain forced his body down with his back facing the floor and, muscles screaming in pain at the shift in force from an awkward position, slid forward. The tail passed over him and, using the opportunity, he attacked it with his new sword. The weapon simply bent under the pressure. It was no different than striking the tail with air.
Yvain’s surroundings suddenly acquired the same reddish hue as when the beast shot its breath. In the air, a hole filled with dozens of sharp teeth and a mini ball of fire in the middle pointed at him.
This was it. Still mid-slide, he had no time or way to move.
A fireball burst out of the beast’s mouth and crashed close enough to send him flying with the force of the impact, but not close enough to hurt. The damage came when he was once more forced to use his back as a shield for the child in his arms and crashed against a pillar, forming a tiny crater.
Blood shot out of Yvain’s mouth, a sharp pain shooting through his ribs, but he paid no attention to his injuries. He pushed himself off the pillar and staggered to all fours, making sure not to drop the tiny being in his arm. The renewed shaking of the ground told him that the beast was coming again but he ignored it.
The baby was thankfully uninjured but desperation was flowing up to Yvain’s mind regardless. He was so close to leaving Empryon, so close to experiencing a life outside the damnable walls that kept him and his kin locked up in mock peace. There was so much he wanted to do. At least, that’s what he told himself. What was outside those walls he didn’t know, but it had to be more than the grating slog he had crawled through up until now.
He set the infant down next to the pillar they had just crashed on. The debris that surrounded it felt too harsh and inappropriate a location for something so innocent but Yvain had no choice if he wanted to fight freely.
His unscathed hand grabbed on to one of the baby’s pudding like cheeks as it cooed and tried to hold on to his fingers. He felt disgusted with himself, adding to the already growing frustration. He knew they would both die and there was nothing he could do to stop it. It was a harsher experience for him than the impending death.
All his life he had been at the top. He lived in a peaceful kingdom with a loving family, trained under a powerful master, and was popular despite facing a lot of backlash over his peculiar thoughts. He even almost became the right-hand man to the future king, who also happened to be his best friend.
A laugh escaped Yvain when he realized that even after being banished he didn’t face that much adversity in his path forward. Now he was going to let an innocent child die and get himself killed in the process at the very first obstacle. He somehow denied and welcomed the fact at the same time, as he had never felt as alive as he did now. And if it was inevitable, then he would at least give it his all before they both perished.
Yvain released the child’s cheek and faced the beast. Its cry immediately rang out behind him but he ignored it as a viscous blue radiance slowly poured out of his body with millions of minuscule lights shinning inside and outside of it. They spun around as if being held in place by a celestial object, unable to shoot out and destroy everything in their path.
The massive beast stopped in its tracks when the light appeared; their gazes clashed. Its eyes squinted, and Yvain could swear it grinned at him. His own facial muscles twitched. He didn’t know if he was smiling or frowning. Part of him welcomed this moment with open arms. It was exactly the type of experience he had been aching for.
As if in sync, the beast stood on its hind legs just as Yvain lifted his left arm, fingers pointing straight up in a chopping position. The bright dots around him spun faster and faster, sucking in all the light in the great hall and plunging the surroundings into darkness. The bright dots now swimming in the dark looked like those that could be found in the night ether.
The absence of light didn’t last though.
The beast gave a deafening roar up to the heavens, and with its wings and forelegs stretched out, as if holding all of creation, formed a massive ball of fire in the space above. But calling massive would be a disservice. It grew to such a size that the beast itself was a pebble in front of it. Was there no ceiling? Before Yvain could find the answer to the mundane question that popped into his mind his eyeballs boiled and burst.
Combining his scream of agony with his own roar at the beast, Yvain concentrated all of his power, pain, and anger on his stretched arm and created a simple pillar of light taller than the beast he was facing, but not tall enough to reach the celestial sphere. It was the only move he had managed to learn that was outside of mortal arts. He hadn’t even mastered it yet. A part of him was glad he couldn’t see anymore, as he knew how insignificant it must look in front of his adversary.
Regardless, he poured everything into the skill and swept his arm down with a final roar, intent on executing the beast that would end him.
“Nightfall!” Everything went black.
———-
Yvain woke up and found himself back in the baby’s room. In muddled panic, he gingerly touched his eyes to confirm they were actually there.
So it really was an illusion, he though. Yet when he stood, a rush of air and a weightless back pointed at his nakedness and absent weapon. Despite this, the burns he received from the fire, the fractures in his ribs, strained muscles, and eyes were all healed. Even the blood he had spat out and the sweat that had accumulated during the fight were all gone.
His used up starlight had also returned. The only wound that remained was the hole in his right hand and his slightly uncomfortable elbow. It was as if time had been turned back to before he jumped out that window.
Yvain wondered if the child, like him, had survived the beast’s attack. No matter how much he searched though, no one besides him was in the small nursery. The crib was empty and he didn’t hear any crying or giggling. Neither were the skeletons there.
With no other options left, he left the room with a sense of loss behind him.
The hallway had been replaced by a narrow cave lighted by torches. With only one path leading out of the room, Yvain walked in pensive silence while trying not to bump his head on the low ceiling. At this point nothing that could happen inside this dungeon could surprise him anymore. It would be best to just take things as they came and quickly adapt.
With nothing to impede Yvain’s progress, in just a few minutes he reached an opening that gave way to another room made of finely cut stones. This one only had two doors, big double doors in the middle and a smaller one to the right. Before he could look at any more details though, his understanding of reality faced its biggest challenge yet.
“Welcome, Yvain. You’ve done well to make it this far.” A smirking Selt was relaxing on the ground throwing the leather pouch up and down.
Stunned, Yvain could do nothing but stare at the kid.
Selt pushed himself off the ground and reached into the leather bag, taking out a wooden wand. He menacingly pointed it at Yvain, imitating how Roesia usually attacks, and spoke with smug mockery, “Little did you know, young wanderer, that I was the ruler of this castle all along.” A brilliant red light shot out of the wand toward Yvain.
He didn’t make an attempt to dodge. Dumbfounded, he stared at Selt while the ball of red light harmlessly bounced off his chest.
Selt laughed uncontrollably, tears forming quickly.
“That’s the look! Oh man, I’ll never forget this moment for the rest of my life.”
“If you don’t tell me why you are here in the next five seconds, whatever god is protecting your miserable life won’t be able to stop me from smashing your head into the ground,” Yvain said with barely contained anger.
Selt raised his hands in surrender. “Chill friend, just having a bit of fun. Look.” He pointed to Yvain’s right, more specifically, to the smaller door in the room they were standing in.
“There’s no way,” Yvain said.
“Why don’t you see for yourself,” Selt said, trying to hold back his laughter.
Yvain had to force himself to move forward. The weight of the impending truth had him walking a tight rope on the precipice of helplessness. And as he feared, behind the door stood the great hall he had left Selt in.
“Don’t blame me now, I told you to go left,” Selt couldn’t contain himself any longer and again burst out into a loud snorting laughter.
Not knowing whether to express anger, disappointment, or embarrassment, Yvain decided to move things along, but not before expelling what he felt was so far the biggest sigh of his life.
“I get it, I’m sorry. So what have you been doing all this time?”
“Waiting for you, what else?” Selt said innocently.
Yvain took a deep breath and spoke, “Just wait? You didn’t think to check this room?” He surveyed the room, but there wasn’t really much to find. Only the set of double doors and the one he was standing in decorated the area.
The double doors were smaller than the ones at the entrance to the dungeon, made out of wood, and of a different shape. No design could be seen on them.
“As you can see, there are only those doors here,” Selt said with an uninterested tone. He had put the wand back inside the leather pouch and was once again playing with it.
“Alright, well, the doors at the entrance are still closed, so it seems we aren’t done with the trial yet.” Yvain jogged to the great hall and picked up the biggest ornamental sword he could find. Before going back, he looked at one of the golden pillars in the room. It was so similar to where he left the child that a part of him wondered if he’d just find it lying where he left it.
Forcefully dispelling the depressing thoughts, he went back to where Selt was waiting. “I’d tell you to be careful, but I guess I’m the one that’s about to have a rough time,” he said.
“I’m always careful,” Selt said, excited that they were finally going deeper into the dungeon together.
“Maybe I’ll try that from now on,” Yvain said, opening the double doors to an open sky and a forest currently on fire.
————-
“Don’t rush too far ahead. We’re way over our heads here.” The destruction before Yvain reminded him of the beast he had recently fought. It was as if a giant had thrown a tantrum and mauled everything in its path. Craters with no perceivable bottom, gashes on the ground wider than Great Divider, massive trees ripped off their roots and/or burnt.
Selt could survive many things, but Yvain wasn’t sure even the kid could get out of such a confrontation alive. Be that as it may, such thoughts were wasted on the scrawny youngster who fearlessly led the way.
Every part of Yvain wished to just stay in the great hall and wait for rescue or the dungeon to end by itself, but neither were a possibility. He didn’t know how he survived in the end nor did they have supplies to have an extended stay. And as much as he loved a challenge, he wasn’t one to throw his life away for no reason.
Selt cut his exploration short and turned, his forehead creased, “Is that fear I hear in your voice?”
Yvain couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic with him or not but decided to answer honestly regardless.
“It’s apprehension,” he said. “For all intents and purposes, I died in this dungeon.” He went on to explain what he went through after he left the great hall. Selt remained still, and Yvain didn’t urge him to move as he got lost in the recounting.
“I’ve never felt so helpless before,” Yvain’s eyes regained focus. “If we manage to get out of here, I think we should abandon the idea of leaving Empryon for now and work more on our preparations. Maybe even merge with a stronger guild.”
After a second or two of silence, Selt spoke, “So that’s why you were naked when you walked in.”
“Come on Selt, I’m being serious,” Yvain said with exasperation. He should have known it’d be pointless to try and have a serious conversation with him.
“I’m being serious too!” Selt said. “I had my act perfectly planned out and you suddenly walk in with your big ol’ swinging dick, ready to slap me across the room with it,” the kid slapped the air in an exaggerated manner. “For a second I didn’t know how to react and almost broke character.”
Ignoring the mention of his genitals, Yvain did feel a bit silly now that Selt mentioned his nakedness. It wasn’t the perfect attire to discuss their future considering the circumstances and the participants. “We’ll continue this conversation later, it’s not like we can do anything without talking to Nelimir first,” he said and surveyed their position.
When they first opened the doors to this new area, besides a clear look of the forest, they were greeted with descending stairs that were coming out of a castle very much like the one they entered at first. The castle itself was bigger and with an unorthodox shape not meant to follow any logical architecture. They could see it from where they now stood so it served as a nice reference point.
Still, what were they supposed to find here? So far nothing had happened even after walking for over half an hour. Some disaster had obviously come through the razed forest, but where was its source?
“Should we head back and check another section?” Yvain asked, more to himself than his companion.
“What for?” Selt said as he pointed to the deeper parts of the forest. A woman was staggering toward them.
Dried up reddish-brown blood was sticking to her mouth. She was wearing a form-fitting obsidian suit that could easily hide her in the dark, but it was covered in tears that gave view to countless fatal lacerations. Standing out from the dusky clothing was her pasty skin, framed by a mane of smooth vermilion hair that reached her waist.
As she got closer to them, Yvain could see that her eyes were barely keeping focus. She was simply walking forward without actually seeing.
With a disregard for danger, Selt ran toward her while waving.
“Hey! Are you an enemy of this dungeon?” he yelled. The woman didn’t show any recognition and just kept walking with the same lost gaze.
“I told you not to rush ahead idiot!” Yvain ran after Selt. Seeing the wounded woman and the destruction around them made him uneasy. He tried to clench his right hand but it was no use. He would have to make do with just his left just as before. Maybe he should have gone for a smaller weapon.
“Jeez calm down, look at her. She can barely even move.” Selt stopped in front of the woman and put on a friendly face, “Excuse me miss, you wouldn’t happen to be-” but she walked past him, oblivious to his attempts at engaging.
Yvain slowed down to a trot and, mirroring Selt’s look of confusion, stared as the woman stopped in front of him. Now that they were face to face, he realized that they were of the same height which was something uncommon with female humans. It could be said that her age was somewhere around the late thirties or early forties, but it added an air of maturity that increased her beauty rather than detract from it.
She silently stood in place, so Yvain decided to speak first, “What happened here? Are you alright?” He was fully on alert, ready to strike should she try anything.
The bleak cyan eyes of the woman regained their light. At the back of his head, Yvain was marveling at how striking they were, but at the forefront, he was engraving an image he would never forget for the rest of his life. The woman simply beamed at him, her eyes taking the shape of crescent moons, and laid her head on his shoulder. Immediately all strength left her and Yvain was forced to hold her weight against his chest, dropping the sword he had been carrying.
“You sly dog,” Selt came running back and looked up and down at Yvain and the woman he was now holding in his arms. “This paints quite the picture. Did she pass out?”
Yvain’s mind was currently in turmoil. The image of her smile and the joy in her eyes when she looked at him kept replaying over and over again in his head. Each repetition made his chest become warmer. Mixed inside that warmth was a strange elation at the way she rested her head on his shoulder with no hesitation, subsequently allowing herself to pass out.
Strangely enough, her body was still warm despite the apparent blood loss. Every rising and falling of her chest, pushing against his own, sapped the strength from his knees. And every breath she softly inhaled and exhaled made his ears go numb. All this, happening directly on his naked body, intensified the tactile attack. But all of these feelings were clashing with a perspective formed over his entire life.
At twenty-five years old, Yvain was still a virgin. It wasn’t for any lack of potential partners; he just never felt any shred of attraction at the women around him. Many considered him strange for it, just as many found it attractive. But he couldn’t care less. He would watch on as others talked in excitement about a woman or a man. The particular physical trait they liked, the way they spoke, walked or ate, the little quirks. He couldn’t understand the appeal.
Yet his friend had managed to find a lover from outside of Empryon; an event that had peaked Yvain’s own curiosity on the matter, seeing the man change so completely in demeanor in front of her. It had still not been a priority then, but that was quickly changing the longer he held this being in his arms.
This woman was human though. Nothing in her features said otherwise. Even the elves, who were the closest to a human-like appearance, had their distinctive long ears.
“She looks very elegant, doesn’t she? Are you making sure to cop a feel?” Selt’s voice appeared right next to Yvain. He quickly turned his head and saw the kid wearing his trademark smirk. Grasping how he must look, heat began to accumulate on his cheeks.
Selt’s eyes suddenly threatened to pop out of his eye sockets and his jaw went slightly slack.
“No way,” he whispered.
“What?” Yvain said defensively.
“Are you blushing?!?” Selt said in a harsh tone with both incredulity and the delight of a kid getting a new toy.
Yvain looked away by reflex and immediately realized his mistake. He might as well just have said yes. “Can you stop messing around?” he said, cringing at how weak the words came out.
Selt quickly moved to glimpse more of his cheeks burning up, almost skipping around.
“If you have time to waste why don’t you go do your job!?” Yvain said and waved toward the path the woman had come from.
“You just want me to leave you alone with her!” Sel said, clearly reveling in his teasing. “Stars know what you would do if I let you out of my sight.”
Yvain only gave the kid a dirty look, not knowing what to say. Somehow that was enough, and with a last chuckle Selt turned for the path the woman came from with a content smile.
“We do need to finish this dungeon already; I’m dying to tell the others about all this,” he said and headed deeper into the forest.
Yvain was slightly taken aback at the abrupt decision. It was never this easy to get the kid to drop whatever had caught his attention. By reflex he tried to think of a way to stop him from going but nothing came to mind.
He’ll be fine, Yvain thought.
“I’ll stay here while I wait for her to wake up. Don’t stray too far,” he said. While the woman in his arms didn’t seem to be in critical condition he couldn’t walk around with her being unconscious in the middle of the destruction surrounding them, not knowing who or what caused it.
Selt just waved his hand dismissively and disappeared behind some trees.
———–
Yvain was becoming self-conscious. Besides Selt who never seemed to care about social cues, and his master who had the same disposition, everyone always gave him a hard time for his unabashedness.
He always thought of them as weird. He still did. But it felt like he could now understand just a bit of their reservations.
After gently setting the woman down against a tree, Yvain searched for any resources that could work as makeshift clothing, be it branches or leaves, but found nothing of use. Deciding that he would just have to stay naked, he started the frustrating journey of finding the perfect angle to greet the woman whenever she woke up without letting her see his more embarrassing parts.
He tried sitting in front of her, legs together and bent up, but everything was too exposed. He sat next to her and moved his waist so that his butt hid his genitals but, while it did the job, the position felt too feminine. He tried sitting with his back facing her, but that would leave him too exposed to a possible attack. He grabbed a bunch of leaves and set them all on his lap, but he would eventually have to stand anyway so there wasn’t much point. Thinking up to here, Yvain realized that no matter what he tried, she would see him naked.
Understanding the futility of the matter, he just sat in front of her with his legs crossed.
He couldn’t help himself from wishing she wouldn’t wake up until they left the dungeon and he could make himself decent, even if it meant taking longer to finish the trial. It was unfortunate that reality often disregarded any type of wish.
Taking advantage of her unconscious state, Yvain had given in to unquestionable compulsion and stared, noticing in the process that her cheeks were trembling, while her lips were fighting back a smile. Even in their bloody state, he found them alluring. Then it dawned on him.
“H-how long have you been awake?” Yvain’s eyebrows scrunched up at his stuttering. Damn it man, get it together, he thought, frustrated.
The woman covered her mouth and laughed. It was as boisterous as Selt’s, yet it didn’t feel unpleasant at all. It had a husky undertone to it that made the hairs on his back stand on end.
The laugh went on for at least a dozen seconds. And the more confused Yvain looked, the harder the woman laughed, holding her side with her free hand and groaning in pain.
It got to the point that tears spilled from the corner of her eyes.
When she managed to gather herself enough to talk, the woman sniffed a bit and wiped her cheeks with her sleeves. She then mimicked Yvain’s crossed-legged position and rested her chin on one arm. It detracted from the graceful overtone she had when unconscious, but it gave her an aura of wildness he very much preferred.
“I quite enjoyed your attempts to seduce me,” the woman said.
Yvain inwardly and outwardly groaned, finally understanding. “I’m sorry you had to see that.” He was endlessly grateful that Selt wasn’t there at the moment.
“You don’t seem too sorry,” she said, moving only her eyes toward his waist.
Yvain cursed a million times in his head as heat rushed to his cheeks. His cock had inadvertently grown to rise out of his crossed legs and stand at attention. He knew what was going on, but the knowledge failed to inform him why it had happened without him noticing, and in front of a stranger. Though he could very vividly describe what he wanted to do at the moment.
The woman looked back at him and his blush got fiercer when she widened her smile, her eyes almost turning to slits. He could remember seeing the same expression in other women that were interested in him, but none had the numbing effect of this one.
Stars help me.
“A-anyways, my name is Yvain. What’s yours?”
The woman straightened herself, the sultry aura from before a bit more subdued. This time she gave him a different kind of smile, one closer to simple contentment. It was devastating all the same.
“Hello, Yvain. You may call me Nora.”
“Nora,” Yvain tasted her name, appreciating the way it flowed out, “So what exactly happened to you?” He gave her body a look over, taking in all the wounds it was covered in and trying to ignore all the curves.
Nora considered him for a moment, gauging what to say. “I was in a fight, would be the short answer. Can still you use starlight?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Because the fight isn’t over yet. I managed to buy myself some time, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to win on my own,” Nora took out a sword seemingly out of thin air. Yvain was startled for a second, but having gone through perspective shattering events in the last hour or so, he quickly calmed down.
The weapon was as long as Yvain’s old great sword but much thinner with only one edge. The hilt had an elegant and refined look, but what caught him by surprise was the creature carved on it.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“The hilt?” Nora said with a tone that alluded to her disbelief at him not knowing the answer.
Her slightly confused look made Yvain space out for a second, focusing on imprinting in his mind how adorable she looked when puzzled.
Shaking his head he answered, “No, I mean that . I fought it a little while ago, but I don’t know what it is.”
“You fought a dragon?” It couldn’t be more obvious that Nora didn’t believe him, and he couldn’t blame her. Whatever it was that he fought, it vastly outclassed him.
“More like I got pushed around like a ragdoll,” Yvain said with a shrug. “I didn’t actually manage to hurt it or even put up a fight.”
“Then how are you alive?” Nora asked. Yvain didn’t know the answer to that, but looking at her made his relief at the fact become a bit sweeter.
“That’s what I’ve been wondering myself,” Yvain said and put his right hand over the hilt. He ran his fingers around the contours of the beast, stopping at the jaws and remembering the ones that were aimed at him twice.
Even if he lived, it was a fact that he completely lost. Yet his caution didn’t mean that he didn’t wish to fight it again. The thoughts he voiced to Selt stemmed from the reality that he needed to become stronger. They all did. The kid probably knew that but he liked to push buttons wherever there were buttons to push.
Nora’s hand was suddenly on top of his. The simple touch sent more blood rushing to his groin.
“Is this wound from the fight?” she asked.
Yvain tried to find any hint of mockery in her words. If she knew what the beast he fought was, then she should know that such a tiny puncture couldn’t come from fighting it. But the genuine concern in her voice couldn’t be mistaken.
“It’s just a scratch, had to fight off some skeletons,” he said, trying to sound as dismissive as possible. Yvain felt like he didn’t want Nora to worry at all. Especially over a wound that came to be over his own weakness. He couldn’t remember if he had ever felt that way at any time in his life. Usually it wasn’t about seeming weak or strong, but simply growing and challenging himself.
Like Nora’s sword, a bottle suddenly appeared in her free hand. It was of simple design, but its insides were filled with a transparent green liquid.
Not being able to hold his curiosity back anymore, he finally asked, “How are you doing that?” It felt like it was something only someone like Roesia could do. Maybe Nora was well versed in magic, but her sword spoke of a more physical concentration.
“Trade secret,” was all Nora said, giving Yvain a wink. She then dragged herself forward until their knees touched.
Being so close, even the suit that completely covered her body couldn’t hide how explosive everything was. From her breasts to her thighs, it all lit a fire inside. He had never expended so much willpower before, and all to ignore the feeling of his groin growing bigger and harder. It was proving to be impossible.
Nora for her part just gave him a knowing smile but didn’t do any more than that. She uncorked the small bottle and, taking his hand in hers again, spoke, “It’ll sting a bit, but it’ll also heal the wound completely.”
“That easy?” Yvain said. Draconian’s Tavern didn’t have anyone that specialized in medicine, so they were forced to buy medical supplies in guild owned stores. But they were only composed of simple things like gauze and bandages. If one forked over a bit more money they could buy medicine, but what the store offered only sped up the healing process of surface wounds. In other words, if someone wanted a speedy recovery for deeper injuries, then an actual professional was needed, combined with medicine.
“See for yourself,” Nora said and poured a single drop on the back of his hand.
Yvain bit down a scream. This was far from a sting. His whole body was thrown inside a furnace.
Sweat instantly covered him as he broke down in shivers and, losing the strength to stay upright, fell on Nora’s breasts. Despite his current predicament, a part of him marveled and how easily his head sunk into them, yet no embarrassment or excitement came. All he could concentrate on was his left hand crushing her thigh, trying to find some kind of anchor inside the raging storm of pain.
Did he really fall for a trap? He didn’t want to believe it. He couldn’t understand what was going on between them or what he was feeling, but he didn’t want to think that Nora was an enemy. He heard her voice but couldn’t make out the words as they were muffled behind what sounded to be wind blowing into his ears.
The pain was worse in Yvain’s wounded hand. Sliding his face down Nora’s breasts, he saw that the hole in it was already closing. The speed was fast enough that strings of muscle and skin could be observed sticking to each other. Yet each connection sent a current of agony crawling through his arm and into the rest of his body. It wasn’t until the wound fully closed that the pain left as fast as it came and Yvain was left panting.
He loosened his tight grip on Nora’s thigh and, being able to feel his senses again, was about to push her away. It was the gentle touch on his head that stopped him.
Nora was caressing his hair, her hand moving between the soft locks. The sensation created a joyful numbness that spread all around his head. His right hand was still in hers with her thumb sliding over where his wound had been. Then her sniffing registered.
Yvain lifted himself up and the hand that had been on his hair moved to rest on his shoulder. He saw that the rims of her eyes had grown red.
“Forgive me, I didn’t know you were still in the Protos rank,” Nora said, a bit choked up.
Protos rank? That was the first time Yvain had heard the word, but he quickly discarded it. Massive relief flooded him with the knowledge that he hadn’t been betrayed after all. His full concentration was on how exceptionally vulnerable the woman in front of him looked.
It was Nora’s turn to blush under Yvain’s dazed gaze. She quickly released his right hand and was about to wipe her eyes when Yvain kissed her.
It was all on instinct. Seeing Nora in such a state filled him with a need to comfort her. But when their lips touched, he stood still. This was where experience came in and, having no interest in the act before, he didn’t have any.
The shock to his system that came from the touch didn’t allow him to bring up any images of couples he had seen in the past doing the same thing either. He did know that performance was important though, so he tried to at least move his tongue across her closed mouth, making sure her lips were as soft as they felt on his own.
Nora, as if a switch had been flipped, smashed her mouth against his. Yvain felt her tongue push back until they were inside his mouth; both appendages sliding against each other, desperate to get a better taste. A metallic flavor brought him back to the reality of their situation but ignored it when the hand that had been on his shoulder pulled his hair back.
With a low growl, Yvain copied Nora’s own move and pushed his tongue into her. The metallic taste became stronger, but he didn’t care. He kept finding different ways to push Nora’s tongue around, subsequently making her try and push herself harder against him.
Nora finally moaned into Yvain’s mouth when her other hand wrapped around his cock and felt how hard it was. He could swear something was going to come out there and then. Even with the gloves she was wearing, it was something completely new to have someone touch him like that. And the sounds she kept making were like liquefied euphoria being directly injected into his brain. It sent a shock down his spine that ended in his hand pressing down hard on her thigh and making her yelp in pain.
Like a bucket of cold water, he remembered the way his hand had been holding on after the green medicine fell on his wound.
Pulling back, a string of saliva extending between them, he saw Nora’s apologetic expression.
“I should have been able to handle your grip, but the fight left me weakened,” she said while panting.
Felling less reserved, Yvain put his hand on Nora’s thigh and softly applied some pressure on it. She jumped but remained quiet and he quickly removed his hand.
“Can your medicine heal it?” he asked.
Nora shook her head. “It can heal whatever it can touch, but you broke bone. There’s no way to get the liquid in.” A look of self-blame appeared on Yvain, but Nora quickly took his face in her hands.
“This is nothing. It’s my fault for not realizing that you couldn’t handle this medicine yet.” Yvain was about to disagree with her, but before he could give voice to the words Nora raised the green bottle up to his eyes.
“Here, I still have cuts all over me. Can you help me?” Nora asked.
Seeing her bright smile, Yvain could only sigh and nod while taking the medicine from her.
Nora’s smile became wide enough to show teeth and she motioned for him to open his legs. He did as told in slight bewilderment and was gifted with a view of her butt as she pushed herself up with her good leg and, keeping the sword balanced on her lap, laid her back against his chest, finding a comfortable spot with her butt in contact with his crotch.
“Just pour a drop on the wounds you can reach with the bottle,” she said. “For those you can’t, soak your finger a bit and rub over it.”
Yvain half heard her, as most of his concentration was being held hostage by the pressure her ass was putting on his length. His free hand grabbed on to her waist with almost a mind of its own, but he quickly corrected himself and instead uncorked the bottle. Once open, Nora set a gentle hand on his own.
“Don’t let it get into any other wounds you might still have,” she said.
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Yvain said with a nervous laugh. After the pain the concoction made him go through he’d much prefer to just let any wound heal on its own. Would it hurt more or longer the worse it was? He shuddered at the thought. Trying to take his mind off of the idea he quickly got to work.
Every drop closed Nora’s wounds immediately. But unlike him, she didn’t show any signs of pain. With calm breath she contently laid back against him as he treated her.
The bulk of the wounds on her were mere scratches. Yvain was able to easily use one run of the medicine to take care of several. He winced at every deep wound he was forced to slide his medicine-coated fingers across though. Such as they were, he couldn’t understand how she hadn’t bled out yet. For all of Nora’s calmness, whoever she was fighting had fully intended to kill her and had been close to achieving that goal.
In other words they were all in deep trouble if whoever was out there found them. It was obvious that Nora was stronger than him. He didn’t stand a chance against whatever threat they now faced. He knew he shouldn’t had let Selt leave. .
“Tell me what the plan is,” Yvain said. “You mentioned you weren’t sure you could win on your own, but now you’re in even less of a condition to fight and I don’t think me or my companion will be of much help.”
“I can still hop and use my hands you know” Nora said in jest, but Yvain wasn’t able to respond in kind. Understanding as much, she changed to a more somber tone.
“Do you know about the monster races?” Nora asked.
“I know of them, but that’s about it,” Yvain said. While he always had a favorable curiosity toward them growing up, it was only a special case. Everyone else followed the ideas of carnage, savagery, and wickedness that were painted for them, bar Draconian’s Tavern. Not much information could be gathered on them inside the country which was one of the reasons they were all so intent on leaving.
“That’s good enough,” she said, “what I’m fighting is a man from the dragon race.” Yvain’s hand stopped spreading the medicine. A cold thought washed over him with the mention of the word ‘dragon’. Would he have to fight that beast again? She called her opponent a man, but the destruction that blanketed the forest would make some sense if it was instead a beast. But then, who was this woman? She fought a dragon and survived? She was covered wounds, and had looked like she was about to die, but Yvain knew that couldn’t have been farther from the truth. How strong was she, truly? And could he become that strong?
His hand, which had stopped on her belly, shook with Nora’s laughter. “No, you won’t actually have to fight a dragon,” she said. “That form was lost to their race long ago.”
Yvain released a breath he didn’t know he had been holding, his shoulders sagging a bit.
“That obvious?” he asked.
Nora turned her head to plant a loving kiss on his cheek. “You wear your emotions on your hands,” she said.
“Not usually,” Yvain said quietly, not too sure emotions could even appear on hands. He understood that he was acting different with Nora, but it wasn’t something he could stop.
“What about the destruction surrounding the forest? Did you guys do that?” he asked, starting up his ministrations on Nora’s body again.
With a pensive expression, Nora guided Yvain’s hand toward a wound on a blind spot and asked, “How much do you know about starlight?”
“It’s the power given to us by the gods in the night ether. With it, we can use abilities that will allow us to surpass our limits,” he said.
“That’s the gist of it,” Nora said. “I’m sure this all seems impossible when in the Protos rank, but the destruction around us becomes the norm once you reach a high enough level of strength,” she said.
Yvain looked at his surroundings. What he and Nelimir were shown back in Cosmos could be considered parlor tricks compared to this. They definitely got the unimaginable power part right though. He couldn’t envision himself being able to cause such decimation. In reality he didn’t even want to though. All he wanted was to challenge those stronger than him.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you what Protos means,” he asked.
Nora didn’t answer immediately. Yvain, almost done healing her wounds, just focused on his work. With a skeptical voice, she finally spoke, “Do you know how strength is ranked among starlight users?”
“Not really. I didn’t even know ranks existed,” he said
Nora stopped Yvain’s hands. She slowly dislodged herself from his arms and went back to sitting face to face, this time without their knees touching. Yvain felt a bit depressed at her body heat leaving him, but he could tell there had been a shift in mood. Since only small cuts were left on her, he closed the bottle and handed it over in silence. As with its sudden appearance, the bottle in her hand instantly disappeared.
“Who taught you about starlight?” Nora asked. She was completely serious this time around, her voice business-like. Yvain didn’t like it, but he followed suit.
“My guild mates and I used the information handed to us at the creation of our guild to learn it,” he said. “We’re basically self-taught.”
“Then why don’t you know about its ranks?” Nora asked.
Yvain gave her a shrug. “That information was never given to us.” Why did it matter anyway? He and his master were already able to use starlight.
“Don’t give me that dismissive attitude,” Nora said with mild annoyance, “If you don’t know about ranks then you shouldn’t be able to use starlight.”
“What else do you want me to say? If I say I can use it, then I can use it,” Yvain said.
“Alright, show it to me.” Yvain found the way she looked at him now funny. It reminded him of his time training under his master.
“I can’t,” he said.
“So you can’t use starlight.” Nora sighed.
“I never said that,” Yvain shook his head. “We have an enemy to fight, right? I can only use it once a day. You’re incapacitated, so I can’t afford to waste it.”
Nora rubbed her temples as if her head suddenly caught on fire. “But then, how can you still use starlight!? If you’re here you obviously passed the dungeon’s trial. Did you not use any starlight in it? That would be impossible—even more so if you fought a dragon!”
Yvain, feeling like she wasn’t really expecting an answer, just looked on curiously as she bit her glove, looking at nothing. He couldn’t help himself from smiling. Is this how Selt felt whenever he went off on the kid? Yvain didn’t know how to feel about that idea.
Nora’s gaze focused back on him, and with a defeated look, spoke, “What are you smiling at? If what you’re saying is true, then we’re going to die.”
“Finally, something we can agree on,” a male voice came from Yvain’s back. His head snapped around to find a man that was taller than Selt but smaller than both Yvain and Nora. How hadn’t he noticed someone approaching them when he was so close?
He was wearing a suit of armor that was now in pieces, yet its past majesty remained. With features that put him around the same age as Nora, he had a dark full-grown beard accompanied by slicked back hair that ended in a ponytail. A longsword with some blood on it hung from his hand. He had the look of a knight of repute in Empryon, but three things separated him from humans completely. Two black horns spiraling out of the sides of his head, taking a soft turn down and inwards to finally end at sharp points aiming out; tail as long as his legs, wine-colored and covered in scales, extending from his back; and finally, the same inhuman eyes Yvain had already seen several times before, but colored a smoky purple.
Under many circumstances Yvain would have found himself taken aback by this new creature in front of him, but only immense exasperation and frustration arrived due to how much Nora had truly affected his senses, making him even miss the second set of footsteps.
“Did you manage to cop a feel?” Selt was standing next to the horned man. The kid was smiling from ear to ear, most likely taking in every detail of Yvain’s expressions with glee.
Yvain was about to give a harsh retort, but a fist gently punched his back.
A stoic Nora pushed her sword into his hands. “I can’t stand. It’s up to you to kill him,” she said as a matter of fact. Her arm was trembling, her whole body was. It puzzled him. Up to this point she had been fully composed. She also didn’t seem like someone to balk from a fight. And whatever he didn’t know about starlight, he was at least certain that death was par for the course, like in any battle regardless of strength. Her eyes remained unwavering though. She only looked at Yvain with determination.
Whatever the case, he wasn’t planning on either of them dying. He nodded and grabbed the weapon, quickly facing his opponent.
“Take care of your companion,” the horned man said to Selt and strolled toward Nora without even a glance at the other two.
Yvain stood in his way, unsheathing the sword and handing the scabbard to Nora. It wasn’t a weapon he had used before, but his master had forced him to learn how to handle all the weapons in her collection so he could find what he was most comfortable with. He might not excel in its use, but he could still be somewhat competent with it by amassed experience.
The horned man didn’t stop though; neither did he look at Yvain. With his gaze focused solely on Nora he treated him like air.
Yvain didn’t pay mind to the implied insult; it was something he could use to his advantage. But before he could make a move, a ball of dirt hit his face.
Thinking that Selt wouldn’t actually do something, he was caught completely off guard. He spat out some of the dirt that fell into his mouth and glared at the kid who was running toward him.
“Your opponent is me, idiot,” Selt said. His arms were raised in a clumsy manner ready to punch out. Yvain didn’t attack of course. While keeping an eye on the approaching enemy he dodged Selt’s fists with no effort.
“Can you tell me what you’ve been up to all this time? I thought you were doing some actual recon, not getting chummy with the enemy.” Yvain said.
Still doing his best to land a strike, Selt spoke, “Just because he doesn’t have a pair of tits doesn’t mean he’s the enemy.”
Yvain looked back at Nora. She was ignoring the two of them scuffle and only glared at the horned man approaching her.
Images of the little time the two had spent together rushed through Yvain’s memories in an attempt to see if any discrepancies could give validity to Selt’s words. None appeared.
Nonetheless, as much of a fool he knew he was for thinking it, he would protect her with his life regardless of the circumstances. Not for a need to protect an innocent life as he had done with the child, but because he simply had a need to do so.
He would still help Nelimir realize his dream, make no mistake. Yet regardless of said duty, what he wanted the most right now was Nora. And to prove it, he was about to kill a man from a world he and his friend had been eager to learn of.
Yvain grabbed Selt by the neck, “I think it’s time you made yourself useful.”
“H-hey man it’s just a joke. What could I have done against that monster any-WAYS.” Yvain pushed hard against the ground and almost instantly covered the short distance between him and the horned man. Selt, still in his hand, had his body bent horizontally with the clash against the rush of wind, helpless to stop himself from being used as a makeshift shield.
The horned man showed no surprise and reacted exactly as Yvain wanted him to. No one would ever imagine that the unassuming thin Selt would actually be an un-killable monster. The horned man’s plan was simple, to kill both of them at the same time. But as he was getting ready to attack, blood shot out of his mouth and the wounds that had been accumulating over time finally took their toll. At that moment his body staggered for a split second, holding him back from landing a killing blow on Selt, and leaving himself wide open to Yvain’s attack.
Nora’s gasp covered the glade when the blade embedded itself almost halfway into the horned man’s neck. He could only stare wide-eyed as blood poured out of his open throat.
Yvain could understand his adversary’s disbelief, as he went through the same experience when Selt first came into his life. What he failed to see was that the fight was not over. The horned man’s expression quickly shifted into fury and indignation.
“Decapitate him!” Nora screamed, but it was too late. The man grabbed the blade with his bare hands before Yvain could completely cut through. Starlight immediately poured out of his body and the image of a dragon much different to the one Yvain fought appeared behind him, its size just as immense.
A roar that pierced Yvain’s mind, sending him into unconsciousness, burst out of the beast’s throat.
——————-
When Yvain next woke up, he was lying on Nora’s lap. He quickly sat up, searched for Selt, and found him still out of it not too far away from them. Right next to the kid laid the head of the man that had been trying to kill them, completely cut off from its body.
“I finished the job as he was roaring,” Nora said.
A disbelieving look appeared on Yvain and she answered the obvious question with a shake of her good leg.
“I hopped,” she said.
Yvain wanted to question the validity of the statement, but with how tired he was only a chuckle escaped him, with Nora following suit. He was surprised at how easy the fight had been. But if Nora was this weakened then the man was probably in a similar state. And unlike the man, Yvain had Selt as a secret weapon.
Suddenly the forest shook. Some of the trees surrounding the couple disintegrated at a speed visible to the eye. Higher up a dark crack was becoming longer and wider in the sky.
“We need to leave,” Nora said.
“What’s going?” Yvain asked, standing up to go wake Selt.
“The dungeon is collapsing.”