Veransturm

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. But the people of the valley had dealt with them for so long it was the only life they knew. No one knew why the dragons had made the valley their home or why they decided to lay waste to everything they set their sharp eyes upon. Miraculously, the neighboring kingdoms and cities had been left alone, adding another mystery to the dragons’ ambitions.

Only in taverns, after a few glasses of ale, would the dark, silent, whispered rumors speak of a wizarding family that had settled outside of the valley shortly before the dragons’ arrival, the family known as the Draiocht’s clan. Not much was known about them because they kept to themselves and were very rarely seen outside the valley. Generations passed, and no one even saw them in a pub for a pint or at the festivals of harvest. Some even say they can see strange, colorful glows emitting from the Verdunkelt Forest at night if one dared venture out that late during the geist hour.

There were few families whose lineage did survive past the dragons’ coming. The Sherwood clan was one of them, having survived seven generations. They attributed their fortune to their strong religious life and having been ordained by God Fehlera themself to protect the valley.

Cadus Sherwood traveled towards the Verdunkelt Forest through a field of tall wildflowers swaying in the wind's soft breeze. This sea of purple-blurred beauty always calmed Cadus on his journey to his Aunt Dahlia’s cottage. He was in search of his aunt who had been imprisoned by his father. He had told his father that he was to set out to cleanse the country of heretics and the Forest, a known gathering place for pagans, was as good a start as any.

Cadus loved his family fiercely and wore the crest of the bear in thorns proudly wherever he traveled. A young man in his early twenties with broad shoulders and calloused hands, Cadus had been studying the way of the sword since he was a small boy and had taken a liking to it rather quickly. His hair matched the color of clouds dimming the sun on a stormy day, slightly gray with a hue of golden yellow. His armor was a mix of plate and chainmail and his chest bore the bear head crest. Chainmail protected his arms and plate mail covered his shoulders, elbows, and wrists. A dressing of blue cloth draped around his shoulders and under the plate mail on his shoulders. It hung down his chest stopping above the crest and down his back stopping above his waist. He wore hard-boiled leather which was blessed by the family priest. His sword was a beautiful shine of deep silver and blue, with the hilt in the shape of a standard “t”. The ends of the cross were molded into flowers and ornate with sapphire jewels. His belt was tied close to his hips with his golden scabbard of the same floral design from the hilt. He had thick cloth pants with hardened leather sewn onto the inner thighs for protection, while the rest was soft cloth which allowed for quick movement. His shins were protected by a lighter plate of the rare metal mechallite.

He stared down at his shield his sister, Lily, had given him before he departed and his green eyes reflected back at him from the edge of the shield. The shield was the standard “v” shape with the “w” swoop top to allow him to hook and sway opponents’ weapons away without taking away too much vision. In the middle of the shield, was the picture of the bear head surrounded by thorns as a symbol of two families joining together as one. His mother, Dutchess Rose’s family’s crest was that of a rose in a bleeding hand. The thorns were his father’s idea to symbolize the work of God: not an easy life and one we sometimes must bleed for but still a beautiful way to live your life.

Cadus wasn’t so sure of this any more. His aunt, the black sheep of both his father’s and mother’s families, didn’t believe too much in God and their grand plan, especially given the dragons’ destruction upon the valley. Cadus, deep down, knew that one of the main reasons for the imprisonment of his aunt was of her views and how Cadus was beginning to take them to heart.

A whinny brought his attention away from his shield.

“What is it, Mari?” he asked.

Mari was a golden horse that stood at about sixteen hands which made her larger than most horses but was needed to carry Cadus with his armor and supplies. She had white socks with a pink tipped nose that looked as if she had dipped it in paint herself. She was a playful horse with pink bows to match her nose in her braided mane that mirrored Cadus’ hair color. She was a noble steed with the charisma of any dutchess that had ever graced the presence of Cadus and the Sherwood family.

Mari nodded fiercely and stomped the ground in a unique pattern that turned Cadus' attention to the forest. Cadus drew his sword in his right hand.

Shield at the ready in his left hand, he held his sword pointing towards where Mari told him to look. Rising slowly out of the depths of the flowers was a partrite with its three eyes swirling around its singular, spherical body. Black fur in knots and mangy tangles made it look more fierce than it really was. Surrounded by its three legs, the mouth draped below its body dripping its deadly acid onto the earth releasing a whispering hiss.

Mari turned her head up into the air with a snooty grunt and turned away from the partrite while Cadus began to pick up his pace towards the creature. Two eyes locked onto Cadus while the third one swirled back and forth between Mari and Cadus. Cadus dashed towards the smallest of the legs to bait the partrite to engage with the shield and it took the bait. It lunged forward biting down hard onto the shield and released a shriek that gurgled the air. Cadus jerked the shield to throw off the creature’s balance and swung a return cut from his blade. The partrite cartwheeled away, but still received its first wound on a leg, all while spitting its deadly purple acid at Cadus. Cadus spun his shield quickly to deflect the acid and make sure the damage to the shield was as minor as possible. One hand held the single handle and wound up to throw the shield directly towards the feet of the partrite. The partrite leapt through the air dodging the shield completely with its eye’s widening by the second as it fell closer through the air towards Cadus’ face. Cadus grinned and side stepped and gave a single swing of his sword. The partrite landed, turning quickly to swirl its eyes once more at Cadus as the light faded quickly from those fierce eyes and it fell in half with a gurgling cry. Cadus cleaned his blade from the purple blood left over from the attack and walked over to grab his shield. Through his inspection, his shield had taken minor acid melting and the crest was hardly harmed. Mari pranced over to Cadus and gave him a hard nudge of her snout.

“What? I killed it, didn’t I?” he said, annoyed.

Mari dropped her head quickly, shaking it back and forth and spun around in a circle.

“Okay, okay, I agree. Maybe throwing my shield wasn’t the best idea. But I had a plan and it worked out. No harm done girl,” he reassured her.

She stared blankly at him, released a sigh and pointed her nose towards the forest, like a bloodhound, snorting. Without pausing she continued towards the forest whipping her head in a circle motion.

“I get it. Let’s go and check out Aunt Dahlia’s cottage. There is a chance that she left me a message before her capture,” he told her while sprinting past her.

“Come now Mari,” he commanded.

Mari rolled her eyes playfully and they proceeded towards the Verdunkelt Forest. Cadus knew that as the sun set, and the geist hour would be upon him, the Verdunkelt Forest would become even more dangerous. Getting to Dahlia’s cottage would be important for she had incantations that kept the spirits, as well as other dangerous creatures, at bay.

“To think my father imprisoned Dahlia, his own wife’s sister, right, Mari? Luckily my fathers blindness to his religion made this an easy ploy to leave without raising alarm,” he spoke.

Mari nodded in agreement while taking a moment to give Cadus a look of concern.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. I’m not looking to anger my father to the point of getting executed. Do you think he would do that? Or perhaps just imprison me at the estate? Surely he wouldn’t keep you away from me, right, Mari?” he pondered outloud more so to himself than to Mari.

Mari made a piaffe movement and purposely bumped into Cadus which made him smile and when he turned to look at her she was grinning back.

Like a crack of thunder, a shriek vibrated through the forest, and Cadus, surveying his surroundings quickly, immediately drew his sword. Mari’s ears pointed in the direction of the scream stomping the ground to alert Cadus.

“Thanks girl”, he whispered as he began to walk at the ready.

They passed into the edge of the forest together. Night was beginning to set in, though the darkness was more eerie than usual and it almost seemed like light was struggling to pierce through the canopy. The shadows took on many shapes but this wasn’t enough to sway the actions of Cadus. He knew that kind of scream was someone in peril and he had no choice but to help. Snarling was now being mixed in with grunts of human exasperation and words that Cadus did not understand at all.

“A mage is nearby, girl, stay ready to run away to protect yourself and I’ll whistle for you when it is cleared,” he commanded Mari.

Mari nodded with a short whinny in acceptance, as she dared not disobey in battle.

He slowly approached the snarling in a lowered stance stepping through the ever growing darkness. The noises became louder and louder and then a thunderous roar caused a gust of breath to fly into his face and his eyes widened at the sight above him.

Standing at ten feet tall, minus the horns and antlers, was a gresegor, with its bear-like face, the horns of a goat, and antlers of a deer. Roaring with its teeth bearing blood it attacked the mage swinging its massive paw smacking into a magic barrier surrounding the mage sending them flying. Its red glowing eyes shifted from its main target,who was slumped against a tree, to where Cadus was now standing. Turning its massive body on all fours, it stood up on its hind hoofed legs, easily doubling its size. Its front paws widened as it stood and claws as long as daggers slowly extended from its massive paws.

Cadus had only heard about gresegors in stories and their size had been easily underestimated because no one said that they could stand on their hind legs. The dark brown fur with black dots vibrated as if static was pulsing through its entire body.

The gresegor leaped directly for Cadus barely giving him enough time to roll to the side and escape a deadly blow from the giant paw. Instantaneously, the gresegor spun around and swung its leg directly for Cadus’ head. He lifted his sword to block the blow using his arm to brace the sword to keep it from cutting into his body. The block was completely useless as Cadus was thrown into a tree with his only saving grace being that he had braced his sword. He stood up as quickly as he could, realizing that his arm was severely injured .

“Not like a shield would have helped in this moment anyway,” Cadus said to himself.

Determined, Cadus charged directly for the beast slipping past the first swipe of a paw. Pivoting on to his back leg, swinging his body towards the left paw, he slid directly under the arm slashing upward towards the armpit landing a direct hit. Immediately, he swung downward allowing his second cut to strike its tricep.

It roared, stunning Cadus for a moment. This was not a roar of pain but one of pure anger. With the same arm Cadus had struck, it backhanded him in the gut, lifting him slightly off the ground, which left him falling on all fours gasping for air. The gresegor squeezed its paw into a hammer-like shape to send a final blow downward to crush Cadus’ head.

“Roan Teine!” shouted the unfamiliar voice. A roaring flame flew into the gresegor’s fist, breaking its aim just slightly enough that Cadus could still feel its fur brush against his cheek. Cadus quickly stood at the ready, not missing a moment of opportunity, and then slashing with all of his might at the wrist of the gresegor, he almost severed the paw completely. The gresegor stood, holding its paw, releasing a scream so loud that the ground began to shake.

Cadus started to feel dizzy and realized that he was bleeding down his broken arm. His eyes glowed a purple hue and the flowers from the field before flashed across his vision.

Instinctively, in a trance, he spoke. “Spinem”.

Upon these words, his blood thickened into a goo-like substance. The earth touched by his blood grew from the ground in a muddy, bloody mixture and rose to join the blood dripping down his arm. Purple spikes, resembling thorns on a vine, protruded from the blood itself. The thorns launched directly to the legs of the gresegor. All the while, Cadus’ eyes never lost sight of the gresegor.

Another scream came from the unknown ally. “Dealasleagh!”.

The light from the area darkened after these words were spoken. A sharp flash of red with glowing orange sparks struck the neck of the gresegor. The gresegor turned its head towards the figure who just landed a mortal blow to its neck and lunged towards them not fully realizing the restraints laid upon it. The thorns grasped deeply into the flesh and tore off its fur as it tried with all its might to get to the person.

Cadus broke his concentration of the beast, dashed towards this ally, and knocked them out of the way. Then, dodging the gresegor by spinning away from a crushing blow, he leaped into the air. Falling towards the beast, he stabbed through its paw, pinning it to the forest floor. Releasing the sword, Cadus grabbed a wad of hair on the pinned arm and propelled himself onto the arm leaping towards the open wound in the throat. Pulling a hidden long dagger from under his torn cloak, he pushed it through the wound directly into the brain, instantly slaying the beast. Cadus fell backwards onto the arm of the beast landing on his hip which flipped him several times to crash hard onto the forest floor below. Cadus gasped for air as he spit a mouthful of blood out to the side. He coughed violently as the ally approached cautiously.

“I think you might have overdone yourself,” the voice told him.

Wincing as he tried to speak and realizing that his words and breath had failed him, he lifted his sword arm and touched his pointer finger to this thumb in a circle while releasing a small smile. His eyes locked on to the ally and he realized just how beautiful she looked. Aquamarine eyes stared back into his with a splash of freckles across her cheeks, and tawny, cinnamon, braided hair caressed her thin neck. Her robes were of high quality silk that could not simply be bought or crafted by a local tailor. The color red danced across these robes as if fire was captured inside the threads as she knelt down beside him.

“Fear not, for I am not here to harm you. I will do my best to mend your wounds if you give me a moment,” she said softly to him.

Cadus, of course, could not respond and gave a look as if to say, “What else could I do?”

She put her hands together and began to change the finger positions with quick snaps of new poses as she spoke. In a moment, which caused a pause, she noticed how handsome Cadus was, even though his face had streaked with blood.

“Cru tha fuil, cru tha fuil,” she chanted, releasing a green glow from her palms that showered down like the first flakes of snow.

Cadus’ body began to heat up and his flesh began to turn red with the sensation of a cool breeze blasting just the outer layer of skin while the inside of his body felt hot and magma-like.

“There, that should do the trick for now,” she told him.

Cadus began to sit up and whistle but was pushed gently back down to the forest floor. He gave a contorted look and whistled anyway.

“I think it’s best if you stay down for now and give your body a moment to readjust to the magic”.

“I feel fine, thank you. Combat is part of my life as a knight,” Cadus spoke with slight irritation.

“Regardless, magic affects everyone differently, not to mention your magic is very strange. So, that is my suggestion to you,” she said matter of fact like.

At this moment, Mari appeared cantering towards Cadus and came and stood over him shielding him with her own body. Granted she was not a small horse and her legs greatly showed a gap between him and her body.

“Mari, what are you doing girl? I don’t need you to stand over me. I’m perfectly fine,” he told her.

Mari dropped her head, paused, stared at him, then snorted loudly in his face. The mage laughed a soft giggle.

“What is your name?” Cadus asks. “Gyah! Forgive my manners. I thank you for helping me slay this beast and tending to my wounds. I am Cadus Sherwood, son of Duke Cedric and Dutchess Rose.”

“Nay, it is I who should be thanking you for helping me with the gresegor. I don’t believe I would have defeated it without your help. Though you were a bit sloppy, you were a great distraction nonetheless. My name is Seema Draiocht,” she answered.

Mari snapped her head quickly towards Seema and lowered her body low to cover Cadus with her chest. Cadus slid out from below her and quickly scampered to his feet.

“Draiocht!” Cadus exclaimed.

Seema was taken aback by this and even had a confused look on her face.

“I can’t believe you did this to the valley!”

“Did what?” she asked, puzzled.

“You are the reason that dragons are here in the valley!”

“How dare you say what you do not know!” she said in anger, standing up and crossing her arms. “We have done no such thing”, and then, under her breath, “on purpose, that is.”

“Lies! Everyone around the valley knows it to be true.” Cadus said matter of fact like.

“Oh really? What do they know? Do tell me about me and my own family,” she spoke harshly.

Taken aback, Cadus readjusted himself and stood up properly. Realizing that he had been quite rude to the mage he decided to take a new approach.

“Forgive me. I didn’t mean offense,” he said as he placed his left leg behind his right and leaned forward in a noble curtsey, placing his left arm into the air behind him as his right arm rested upon his stomach.

He paced. “It has been said that the Draiocht family and dragons are linked together upon their arrival and as such the blame has been placed on them. I can understand the reasoning behind the accusation and, please, understand how it is easily seen as so. First, very little is known about the Draiocht family and shortly after we had dragons terrorize the entire valley.”

Seema stared intently as she watched him bow then pace. She decided to speak the truth to him.

“It wasn’t on purpose, as I stated before. Our family was looking into a deeper magic that hadn't been tested. We picked a place that seemed safe to practice and far enough from prying eyes or those who would try to steal our ideas or even use them for selfish purposes. Teleportation magic has not been successful or consistent and many mages have lost their lives to it. But somehow we opened a portal to a different dimension. As soon as we did, a giant dragon followed by several other dragons came through. It seemed just as surprised as us and immediately began to attack.”

When she spoke, anguish and hardship painted her face. As she went to speak again her face abruptly changed with her aquamarine eyes producing a small glow while tears fell to her cheeks.

“My uncle was killed and my brother seriously injured.” She paused.

‘My mother and uncle were the ones working on the teleportation magic and my mother is unable to figure out how to re-open the portal and send them back. To make matters worse, the giant dragon tried to find their own way back home. Angered further from not being able to leave, they all have wreaked destruction throughout the valley”.

Cadus felt the hurt in her words and began to speak when a gushing wind broke his concentration. He looked up to see the sky had changed into dark purple clouds. Orange lightning began to strike through the clouds and down to the earth. With only a belly exposed a shimmer of scales reflected the orange and purples lights. Seema threw her head towards the sky as her eyes widened. She took off in a sprint, leaving Cadus in shock, towards the dragon's direction, yelling.

“VERANSTURM, I NEED TO TALK WITH YOU!”