Soul of the Dragon - Chapter II
The second installment is now released. Thanks again for the great help from :iconTaaro: ! Enjoy the story and give me some feedbacks if possible :D I will cherish them all ! xD
[Soul of the Dragon - Chapter 2]
[A town in the forest]
Seating bolt right up, Sephro found himself on someone's bed. His helmet was right beside him, atop the night stand next to the bed. His hand slowly moved to his skull, finding a bloated knot. It gave him a hint of pain when he tried to press on it. "Ouch..." He whimpered softly from the piercing pain that went though his head. Taking a few couple of deep breathes to recover, he then looked around and spotted the dragon that was seating in front of him.
"Sorry if we did something a little harsh to you, I apologize for that." Taaro's gentle tone had soon calmed the human warrior down, "May I introduce myself, I am Taaro, the warrior of this tiny town in the forest. Nice to meet you, sir, and you are?"
"Sephro Rochester, just call me Sephro will do." He gave a shake with Taaro, eyes sliding down and meeting the strange looking weapon that set aside the dark forest green dragon. "Sorry for my rudeness, but I am having a really deep interest in this weapon." Taaro lifted the weapon up in the air, giving Sephro a clearer view. It was a blade, but longer than a blade could go. Its handle was a shadow red, darker than the blood would be. It extended out about 6 feet long, almost twice the length of the blade itself. He pulled his sight higher and took a closer look on the blade. Smooth, silvery light shined on the edge under the soft glowing flame. One side of it was nicely sharpened, another was blunt and wonderfully decorated with a red string. "It looks...... very unique."
"Unique indeed," Taaro withdrew back his weapon and continued, "It was one of the immemorial weapons, passing down from generation to generation. Its name was Pudao, an ancient weapon from a country on the far east of the world." A female figure opened the door and walked in the room. She snapped the door close and turned, eyes still locked on the door. "Is he awake?" And then she brought her gaze to the two people and gasped, "He is awake!" Before Sephro thought she would do anything that may hurt him again, Taaro grabbed her to sit down beside him and spoke, "And this is Emerald, guess you do have heard about her before though." Sephro nodded and bit on his lips, words squeezed out from his mouth, "Yes... I DO..." His temper again almost set him off. Oh how he wanted to give a punch at this bitchy tigress. He wanted it so badly, but he just couldn't. The tigress did have the look that she was intended to do very much the same thing to Sephro.
Taaro slammed his base of Pudao on the floor, drawing out a low, deep sound with trembles from the earth. "ENOUGH! Stop being so aggressive and act more mature." Sephro had choked on his words before he almost popped an insult on Emerald. "Yes... I understand." Sephro continued on rubbing the bloated knot above his head and grunt, "So what you bring me here for? I seriously doubt you are here just wanting to have a cup of tea with me." Taaro revealed his toothy grin to Sephro, "Of course we are not. We brought you here for a reason. You seemed to have some information we needed." He leaned closer to the human in armor, "And you seemed a little tense." Sephro looked up, eyes met up with the serpentine light green eyes of Taaro's. It seemed so clear, but yet so deep. Sephro felt he was almost lost in the world of green in those eyes. His tension released and body relaxed, breaths slowed. "Alright, what do you want from me?"
Emerald spoke just before Taaro opened his mouth, "Yes! What do you know about northern land of Inalidia?" Sephro shook his head slightly and sighed, "I know nothing, nothing at all. It was just a coincidence that brought me on the journey to the northern land though." Taaro smiled and patted on Sephro's shoulder, said, "Then you have shown you do have some guts to carry out this task then. Good, I have started to like you already." Emerald immediately pulled him aside and whispered in his ears, "You shouldn't believe in humans, they are a bunch of killers and liars."
"...... But he might be different......"
"HE IS NOT!" Her voices raised and stopped Taaro from being protective on the innocent knight. Her voice was already being audible for anyone in the room to hear. Sephro asked with curiosity, "What?" Ignoring the question, her voice lowered again. "Don't you remember that bunch of bandits that attacked our town last week?"
"Yes... why ask?"
"Don't you remembered?! You saved one of them from starving to death. And what they did to you in return? He ran away, returning with a group of bandits and intending to assault our town, snatching away anything that was worthy to them." She hugged Taaro and began to whimper, "Though they failed at last, but we lost so many friends." Her voice trembled with fear and eyes welled up with tears, "And I don't want to lose you one day......" Her embrace tightened on the smoothly-scaled figure and tears fell down onto the wooden floor. Taaro returned the hug, allowing the soft, weak and helpless tigress snuggled up against his chest. "Shh...... Don't worry, I will never leave you." Taaro made his voice soft and low, slowly drifting Emerald to slumber. He got up and placed Emerald gently on the bed and turned to Sephro. Sephro was simply just watching. He was simply fascinating with the scene. He had never ever seen a man kissing with a woman or something that involved love. He was locked inside the castle, learning all about humanity, the duty to save the mankind so on and so forth. He cheek felt it was on fire. It had faded into pinkish red at the instance. "God of the light, please spare me from being so rude." Taaro had a full sight, witnessing the deep blush on his cheek. He grinned widely and said, "Come out here, let's have a pleasant chat."
......
"So what you had been talking with...... erm...... Emerald?" Sephro sat aside Taaro, atop the roof of the wooden house. Taaro kept silent and lift his head up to stare at the moonless sky in the night. "...... You know...... she was like the little sister of mine......" His fist clenched and unclenched, "I must protect her from anyone that intends to lay a hand on her." He paused and looked down at the little town in the forest, "She had already been suffering too much from her past."
Sephro held the cup in his hand and rubbed it between his palms, "What had happened?" Taaro sighed again and drank on the fluid in the cup before he began the tale, "Years ago, I don't remember the exact year however. A man bathing in blood had come to this tiny town. He was barely standing, having the last of his breath. People in the town, including me, had helped him to get to the nearest house and put him on the bed. He was heavily wounded, there was no much hope in making him stay alive to meet the day of tomorrow. His chest was strangely bloated. And we soon knew why when we removed his partially torn clothing. A small, really young, asleep tigress was lying on his chest. She was fine, though the blood had stained her orange-white fur a little. She was sleeping in peace, so I didn't wake her up. Neither anyone of us did. The man gripped my claw tightly and mumbled a few words," Taaro's voice changed a little, "'Help...... my child......' And that was his last sentence before the god took him away." Sephro nodded and sat there silently, waiting to hear the next part. "She was raised, then. Without realizing anything from that event, she did have a happy, worriless childhood." Taaro finished up the liquid in the cup before he added more of it from a bottle. "The whole thing turned upside down one day, however. I wish I had never done that. That day was her 18-year-old celebration. She then came to me and asked a question. She thinks she is quite unique compared to the others. She finds herself without parents, not like any other children do." Taaro shook his head and lie down on the roof, eyes looking up into the star night, "And I told her the whole story. I could see her expressions freeze and the smile fade into void. From that day onwards, she sworn she will take the revenge on the killer of her parents. The bow on her hand was the only thing that was left from the man. Base on my knowledge, the bow was made with the wood that was only grown in the northern land."
"Still I don't see the reason why she was typically against humans though." Sephro comprehended the whole tale and asked. Taaro tapped his talons on the Order Guild emblem a few times and spoke no word. "This?" Sephro soon recalled the things he heard from the guild, "Pandora?"
"Pandora indeed, he was the only wonder causing the utter destruction if I am not wrong. Only a handful of people had survived from that disaster."
"I see......" Sephro lifted up the cup and finished all the liquid in it. Just after the liquid set in his stomach, his face shifted to pale white in color, then to extreme red. He coughed violently from the strong, yet strange surge that washed through his head and throat. "W...what is that? I can barely breathe!" He exclaimed in between his heavy breath. His voice sounded cracked and he could feel his throat like it was burning with wild fire.
"Dragon Breath that is, my friend." Taaro poured all fluid into his muzzle and mumbled with the alcohol still in his mouth. "Best alcohol for dragons."
Sephro flapped at his chest to help in breathing, admitted, "It indeed is Dragon Breath, my throat felt like it was on fire!" He put aside the cup and moaned with exhaustion, "I bet will not drink it ever again in my life time." Taaro just grinned broadly at the embarrassed knight who kept his eyes stared on Taaro. "Wait, Taaro. Do you have some visitors that are coming to the town?"
"No? We don't welcome any foreign people in our town. We like to keep this place hidden from any audience from the world."
"Then what are those bunch of glowing light which are slowly approaching to this side?"
"Huh?" Taaro turned and faced at the direction of the entrance of the town, some figures began to appear out of the darkness. Their faces were hidden behind the black cloth, only revealed their upper portion of their head. "This is not good." Taaro leaped down from the roof and growled, loud voice echoing the small town, "Everyone! Get prepared! They've come again!" Sephro followed after Taaro and watched those females and children quickly moved back into their house whereas the males stood out guard with their weapons. "What happened...... who are they?" Sephro questioned.
"Some bandits, they had been attacking us since last week." Taaro slammed the rod of his weapon on the floor, drawing out a quake from the ground. "You won't be so lucky this time!" The evil laughers came from the bunch of riders, beginning to piss Taaro off. "I had brought 29 men with me, and there is no way you can beat all of us!" The man had a good laugh again before he showed some signal to let his groups charged at Taaro.
"Ass kicking time." Taaro stood forward and swung his Pudao left and right. Feeling the weight in his palm, he stretched his arms a little. Just when the army of riders were about to make a close contact with him, a mighty slash of his weapon had brought a strong surge of wind current. The current was so powerful, so mighty that it almost blew off the first row of riders from their horses. That only brought a short valuable time for Taaro preparing to engage the second wave of attack. The first wave was soon followed by the second, then third and so on. No mattered how hard Taaro tried to keep those guys off from him, the surge of raiders was too much for him to handle. He gave a powerful slash before backing a bit to redraw his strength, but failed to realize a rogue was charging at his back. A howl of pain had pierced the tiny town, the figure collapsing onto the ground and blood stained the floor, painting it with fainting red. Taaro turned around and saw the rogue was down with an arrow on his rear. "Nice shot, Emerald." Emerald shook her hair fur lightly and grinned.
"Under the name of His Holiness, stop this fight immediately!" Sephro's intention of ceasefire was failed however. The man just simply smirked at him, "Hey look, guys. A human is mixing up with these alien creatures down here!" Those people began to snigger and laugh at the paladin who stood in front of them. The leader soon withdrew his sardonic grin and squeezed out the words of his final warning, "Leave or die." Out armed, outnumbered, out of his mind, Sephro unleashed the holy sword from the sheath on his shield. The sword was packed in the sheath which was holden in the shield. Blade body shinned with dazzling light, demanding attention when it was unleashed. Sephro held his sword tight and stood in the line with Taaro, facing up the bunch of invaders. "Break formation, engaging at will." The leader soon disappeared into the mist of darkness when his command is given. Raiders performed another rush at the two figure, one man and one dragon. "Personally I am against fighting... but it looks like I don't have a choice." Sephro's tip of his sword touching the floor, then again it raised and drew a circle of death from the sector within the range. Horses grunted in pain and fell, collapsing, dropping down the riders on their back. The rest soon were scared away, not daring to approach nearer to the death bringer of their kind. The raiders got no choice but to get down and fight without their rides. Within a couple of seconds, the shield that Sephro held was added with a couple of scratches here and there. Their attacks were too persistent. Even Sephro had done his best to defend himself, his armor, much like his shield, was beginning to get more scratches on it. "Urrh!" Sephro's movement slowed as his ankle was hit. Blood was dripping down from his armor and sipping into the soil, adding more red to the already blood-stained soil. Taaro was on the totally different situation. His dark green scales were acting as a layer of protection, keeping away the blades to reach his flesh, not even saying that he even had worn a steel armor. Emerald was a perfect hunter. Her arrows brought deaths to the horde, piercing their heart in chest. People who lived in town were helping as well, but it seemed only Taaro, Emerald and Sephro had some skills to kick some ass.
Taaro and Sephro were standing back-to-back, fighting the horde of raiders. But none of the two had noticed there was a slight bending of light on the left of Taaro. Taaro lifted his Pudao and knocked off three swords that swaying in his direction. A shock of pain pierced his mind and he brought his sight down and found his waist was stabbed with a short dagger. The leader slowly became visible once more. He curled his lips into a wicked grin before he yanked his dagger from the wound, drawing out a loud howl of agony from the green dragon. "Payback time, asshole." His dagger once more was striking to the open wound of Taaro's. His intention failed however, the bolt of energy that struck on his head had stopped his movement at the instant. He was petrified and the dagger lost the grip from his hand. All he could see in his blurry vision was a fast approaching blade. Then his volition faded after he felt the coolness in his chest.
The leader fell onto the ground. His miserable life ended with his soul taken away. The rest of the invaders were soon trembled by the god of war, Taaro. They screamed like a little girl and ran away, fleeing like a pussycat and abandoned their rides. Taaro stood still in the wind. The Pudao was fully covered with a layer of warm blood that was still constantly dripping down drops after drops. Though he was heavily wounded, but no one would be stupid enough to think that Taaro was not fit to fight anymore. In fact, Taaro appeared to be even tougher and scary when bathing in blood. Soon, all the invaders had vanished in sights, leaving a few bodies and horses behind. Sephro could still hear some screams of terror or pain from them after they entered the woods. Maybe they were attacked by the wild beast, Sephro wouldn't know, and he didn't care. He flicked his sword to dust off the blood on the blade surface. Its magically improved blade edge had given it with extra sharpness that would make it cut though a stone with ease. He packed the sword back into the shield and turned to Taaro, "Are you alri...... Oh shit, you got hurt!" He gasped as the scene which he saw the heavy wound on Taaro's left waist. "Get a room, get a room fast!" Sephro shouted across the tiny town in the forest, people running in panic and helping Taaro to rest on a bed in the small wooden house.
......
"How is it?" Emerald asked nervously, hands rubbing, clenching and unclenching.
"Not so good." Sephro sat beside the bed and whispered, "He is losing too much blood. His motion of swinging his Pudao had worsened the wound, tearing it even wider." Sephro looked down at the bandages around Taaro's waist. He had replaced the bandages, but the wound just kept bleeding. Taaro just laid there, trying to calm Emerald with his weakened voice, "I will be fine...... Don't worry." Taaro brought his talons up, trying to reach her. Emerald grasped his right arm, hugging it to her chest tightly. The tears began to well up in her eyes and streamed down from her cheek uncontrollably. "Strange, why won't the wound stop bleeding?" Sephro asked himself with puzzlement. "Dragons are equipped with great power, and that includes ultimate regeneration." He gripped the short dagger he got from the leader and examining it. Smooth, yet cold, there was some kind of strange arcane words glowing in blue in the body of the blade. "That's it. Just like my sword, they had improved this weapon, giving it some kind of curse that stops the wound from healing." Taaro was soon fallen into unconsciousness due to the excess loss of blood. "No, no, NO! Taaro, Taaro!" Emerald screamed in horror and turned to Sephro, begging with her trembling voice. "Please do something! Please...... please......" Her voice softened and muffled with her hand paws. She covered her face and dropped onto the ground, crying.
"He will be fine, but......" Sephro turned back to look at Taaro again, mumbled, "It have to take a long time for his blood to purify the curse from the wound. I wasn't so sure if he could store till that long." He glanced down on his hands, sighed, "I don't know if it works... but maybe I should give it a shot." He patted at Emerald's shoulder, drawing her attention. "I know a way to cure Taaro."
"How...?"
"I will tell you later, mind to help?"
"I will do anything to help."
"Great, please stand guard for me outside... I need very high concentration."
"......fine." She got up soundlessly and walked out of the room, closing the door gently behind her.
Sephro rubbed his hands and stretched a little, "I just learn it from the 'advanced magic' book, but I've never tried it out." He put his hands on the chest and stomach of Taaro's gently. He closed his eyes and began to pronounce the spell.
"The invincible, kind god of light, I am here begging for your graceful help." His hands began to glow softly with golden light.
"I wish you to help the person in front of you and me, returning the wealth for him. With your kind words, the person shall be healed." The glowing light became stronger and stronger and the wooden house was sipping out the spark of light, catching people's attention.
"Please, heal the wounds with your great power! Purification!" The whole room was painted with golden white. The source of light was coming from the two figures. Emerald quickly broke into the room right after the light vanished into void. She was absolutely speechless, stunning by the scene she got in her eyes. Sephro collapsed onto Taaro's smooth green belly scales and panted heavily. He was exhausted, way too tired to get himself away from Taaro. He brought his hand to the left of Taaro's waist, trying to see if he had succeeded. Yes, he succeeded. The wound was now nowhere to be seen. Only the blood stains and the bandages were the evidences of Taaro's recent injury. He sighed in relief and slowly drifted into a restful slumber when tiredness washed over his volition.
......
Waking next morning, Sephro found himself lying against the bed. Emerald and Taaro were missing. He yawned and stretched his body, moaning in delight as he felt the sore fading from his muscle issues. His head felt like floating and his body felt limp. That was the consequence for casting some spells when he didn't have enough energy. The fight had already drained up his mana fully and yet he casted such a great spell on Taaro. It sucked his mana dry and therefore it drained his life force for the completion of the magic. He shook his head lightly and reached out for his helmet, trying to get away the dizziness in his head. He adjusted the helmet before he stepped out of the room, reaching out for fresh air. The dazzling ray from the sun had comforted him a little. The bodies and the horse were gone, leaving no trace of the battle. Sephro heard some soft giggling sound somewhere around him. He looked around, but failed to find out who is the one chuckling. "Over here, above you." The voice came again. Sephro raised his head and met up two figures atop of the roof. "There you are." Sephro smiled and greeted the two. "How was your waist?"
"Never been better." Taaro smirked with a toothy grin on his muzzle, "I don't even recognize if I was hurt before." Sephro nodded, satisfied with the effect of the purification. Emerald was snuggling with Taaro, lying within his embrace and purring happily. She was so worried about what might come to her. But now she wasn't anymore, she was going to stay with Taaro for eternity. That was all she had in mind.
"Great to see you had recovered. Then I guess I should continue on my journey." Sephro lifted his shield and equipped it into a slot on the left of his armor.
"... Wait! I want to go with you!" Emerald jumped onto the ground and said, "I need to see if there were my people alive in the northern land." Sephro shook his head and disagreed, "No, I don't think it is a good idea. Even though the Pandora had disappeared out of a reason, the northern land was still an unknown for us. Not like you are, I have to go. Regardless what it will be waiting for me in my journey. His Holiness has a very high expect on me, so I couldn't let him down. Besides," Sephro looked down into his pocket, "The guild will ruin my life if I screw this quest." Emerald turned and stared at Taaro with disappointment, pleading Taaro for something. Taaro sighed, already comprehended the wills of Emerald's. "I will go with her, to protect her, regardless of any difficulties that might come. So, please, Sephro. Would you mind to take us there? We might help a little in the journey."
"Alright... But don't your people need someone to protect their town?" Before Taaro took his consideration to think about this question, people in the town had already stood out to support them.
"We will be doing fine..."
"Thanks for guarding us for years. Now take a break and travel the land."
"We will do our best to defend our little paradise!"
Voices coming from the crowd slowly caused Emerald to cry silently. She didn't want to leave, but at the same time she wanted to meet her kind so badly. Crying in sorrow, Emerald again lay in Taaro, tears falling from her cheek to his chest. Taaro patted on her head, brushing her hair ever so softly to calm her emotions. Taaro nodded to his people in agreement. Some of them had pulled out the rides they got from bandits and handed the rides to the three traveler-to-be. Dust flew around, mixing the surrounding air and covered the scene with light yellow. There, the three was on their way to northern land.
[End of Chapter 2]
[To be continued]
[Bonus]
Taaro: Why I got hurt...? I am a dragon!
AlientKnight: It was just a scene that brings up the magic talent that Sephro has.
Taaro stuffs Sephro full of Dragon Breath.
Sephro begins to breathe fire all around and falls unconscious after a couple of mintues.
Taaro: Payback time >:3
Sephro: ...... x.x