Frozen Odyssey

Chapter II

Ventaor

The four mages made their way up the mountain with Amber in the lead. The sky was slowly turning orange as it neared the late afternoon. “So Nix,” Sunset asked. “what were you doing in that forest anyway?”

“Running from those punks. Been chasing me since Baltimare.” She said with a sigh.

“That’s a long way.” Amber commented.

“They don’t like it when people steal from them.”

“All that fuss over a hair clip?” Cerulean asked.

“I may or may have not also blown up their little gang’s hideout while searching for the thing.” The man looked at her in confusion.

“But it’s just a hair clip.” Cerulean said. “Couldn’t you buy a new one?” Nix frowned at the words.

“It ain’t about the clip, it’s about the respect. If I let some idiot steal from me then some other guy will try it too.” She said putting her hands on her hips.

“Odd weapons.” Amber said eying her nightsticks.

“They’re quick, quiet and hurt.” She said twirling them in her fingers.

“What about long range?” Sunset asked. Nix smirked and the runes on the sticks and knuckles started to glow. She pointed the knuckle end of the stick at a nearby tree and a purple blast shot out from the girl’s first.

“They’re enchanted so they fire compressed blasts of my magic. Use up a lot thought.” She said as she sheathed her weapons.

“Prefect weapon for someone with a short reach.” Amber chuckled earning her a glare from the alchemist.

“Well, what about you? You must get a chill from the clothes you’re wearing, or lack of.” The fox girl’s ear twitched. Amber turned around and showed the gauntlets.

“These help pack a punch and if I need more reach.” The gauntlet glowed and two large curved blades came out of the guards’ sides. “Besides, I have this.” She said as she held her tail.

“What can the thing possibly-” The girl was cut off as Amber jumped and her tail wrapped around a nearby branch and she pulled herself up.

“My tail isn’t just for show.”

“That’s dumb.” Nix said as amber jumped down with a huff. The two got in each other's faces and snarled.

“Ladies, as much as I love a good cat fight.” Cerulean stated. “We’re here.” He said looking towards the end of the path to show a large mountain peak. The group approached to the to see that there had once been a cave, but it was now blocked by several large rocks. “Well, that’s just perfect.” Cerulean groaned.

“It’s gonna take us hours to move all that stuff!” Amber groaned. Nix rolled her eyes and walked up to the mound of rocks. She clapped both of her hands together and placed them on the rock in front of her. Purple sparks danced across the rocks and started to break down until the boulders were reduced to piles of dust. Amber walked up and tapped her on the head. “Good thinking shrimp.” Nix hissed at the words and shook the woman off her.

“It’s dark as night in there.” Cerulean said. Sunset pulled out her whip and waved her hand over it. The rope went straight and was soon covered by orange hardened wood that wrapped around a red crystal at the top. She hit the end of the stick on the ground and a ball of light appeared at the end.

Sunset shot the ball up towards the ceiling illuminating the area. As the light filled the room the groups’ jaw hit the floor as they saw a large mound of bits, jewels and treasure.

“Jackpot!” Nix yelled as she literally dove into the bits and started filing her pockets.

“That is a LOT of money.” Sunset said slack jawed. “How much do you think that’s worth?”

“I doubt I can count that high.” As he took a step forwards, Amber put a hand on his shoulder. “What?”

“Somethings not right here.” She said as her tail and ears started to twitch. “Something’s in here with us.” Cerulean then felt a burning sensation in his right hand. The blue haired man looked down at the light that was burning through his white glove.

He felt a small pulse go through his arm and he dropped to the ground. “You okay?” She asked. Cerulean looked at the pile of gold and saw some coins shuffle.

“Nix!” He yelled in a hushed tone.

“What? I’m gonna buy a pool the size of a lake with all this-”

“Just shut up and get off the gold.” He gulped. As the girl opened her mouth she felt the coins beneath her feet starting to move. The alchemist quickly got off the pile just as a pair of grey scaled wings the size of sail boat sails erupted from the mound sending gems and bits flying in every direction. The rest of the pile exploded showing a wall of thick grey scales that stretched for seventy feet to form a slim tail that had a large club at the tip. There were several scars and damaged scales across the creature’s body.

The head had several scars over it’s face and it’s eyes were white matching the two scars over it’s eyelids. The group hid behind a few nearby boulders.

“Thieves!” The beast started trampling around the cave. “I can smell your fear!” Sunset was clamping her hands over her mouth to muffle her instinct to scream. Cerulean slowly peeked around the large rock he was hiding behind. He saw a the large lizard thrashing around the gold looking for them.

“I’ll eat you and use your bones as toothpicks!” It yelled. The beast whipped it’s head in Cerulean’s direction and the man froze. The beast flared it’s nostrils and frills on the side of it’s head opened up. Cerulean slowly went back to hiding behind the rock and gently tapped the girl on the shoulder causing her to jump slightly.

“It’s blind.” He mouthed out the words to the fire mage. He looked across the way to see the other two girls hunkered by a similar rock a few meters away. The man picked up a rock that was laying on the floor and looked towards Sunset. “When I throw this,” He gestured to the rock. “we’re gonna run over to them.” He mouthed.

“Are you crazy!?” She whispered.

“Yes, but doing something crazy is better than staying here and waiting to get roasted.” He looked over his shoulder again and saw the beast thrashing. Cerulean threw the rock across the room and it clattered against some stone and jewels. The beast roared and spat out black flames from it’s mouth. As the rock hit the two made a mad dash for where the other two girls were.

“Well, this is fantastic.” Nix growled.

“Hey, we didn’t know this thing was here!” Cerulean shot back.

“We can play the blame game later, let’s just focus on getting the fuck out of here.” Amber gulped.

“Oh yeah, how? We take one step out there and we get roasted.” The alchemist said.

“We do the same thing we did to get over here.” Cerulean said picking up a rock. “We each throw a rock, haul ass to the exit then Nix seals the doorway again.”

“Sounds good to me.” Amber said grabbing a rock.

“This is the worst plan ever, of all time.” The alchemist groaned picking up a rock. Sunset gulped and did the same.

“Ready?” He waited until the beast turned it’s back. The four threw their rocks and ran. Three of the four rocks hit the ground, but the fourth hit the beast’s neck. The lizard turned and let out a torrent of black flames that caused several rocks to fall, blocking the exit.

“Rats!” The beast yelled as the four stopped running. As Cerulean turned he saw the blind eyes of the dragon glaring at him.

“Okay, okay, you got us.” Cerulean said with a gulp.

“Well, well, the rat speaks.” The beast hissed as the group smelled it’s foul breath.

“What are you doing?” Amber asked.

“Trying to get us out of this in one piece.” Cerulean took a step forwards. “We apologize oh great fire drake. We know not that we took from such a magnificent and powerful creature such as yourself.” The man mentally thanked the Creator that he’d read ‘The Hobbit’ three times. The girls looked at one another in confusion. “We will gladly return what we have stolen in exchange for our lives.” The dragon grinned.

Cerulean shot Nix a look and motioned towards the wall and looked up at the ceiling The girl nodded and slowly stepped towards the wall.

“Who are you to command something from a creature such as I?” The dragon smirked. It had been years since he’d seen mortals grovel at his feet and always found it amusing.

“They call me...bender of ice and snow master.” Cerulean gulped.

“Tell me more.” Cerulean knew all he could do was stall until Nix was ready.

“Um...I am hunter of beasts, both great and small. Wolves, trolls and beyond, I have slain all.” The beast let out a laugh. “I come from the frozen desert. Across ocean of ice and mountains that breach the sky.” Cerulean looked towards Nyx who had her hands on the wall. The beast slammed it’s claw down on the ground making several bits of coin and rock fly. One of the cold coins hit the man in the forehead.

“Damn it!” He said as he put his hand on his forehead to feel blood coming from the wound.

“You amuse me boy.” The creature hissed. “Do not think that-” The dragon stopped and sniffed the air. The dragon leaned in towards the man and sniffed. The dragon quickly snapped it’s jaws at the man. “WRETCH! You came here to kill me!”

“Nix!”

“Don’t need to tell me twice!” She clapped her hands and purple sparks danced across the wall and traveled up to the ceiling towards some stalactites that were hanging over head. The large rocks started to fall. The beast gathered fire in it’s mouth and was about to roast the four.

“I got this!” Amber yelled as she ran towards the dragon’s chin and gathered her magic into her left hand. The fox girl delivered a quick uppercut to the giant lizard making the fireball shoot up towards the ceiling. As the fireball exploded it caused the hardened rock to crack and fall on the giant lizard.

The entire mountain shook and more of the ceiling started to give. “It’s gonna blow!” Amber gulped.

“Everyone, around me. Now!” Sunset said pulling out her staff as the rocks came in around them. She slammed the staff end on the ground and a red dome shield enveloped the group. The rocks continued to fall around the group and the dragon was getting pelted by the rocks as it roared.

The debris kept falling until the top of the mountain was only rubble and the four were covered by rocks. The pile started to shake and an armored fist shattered the rock at the top.

“Yes!” Amber yelled as she helped Sunset and the others out. “Nice thinking Sunny.”

“No...problem.” She panted.

“You okay?” Cerulean asked.

“Just tired. That shield spell uses a lot of magic.” She said as she sat down.

“All that gold.” Nix said in disappointment. “Jewels, money, carpets this thick. This THICK!” She said holding her hands apart.

“I’m sure there’s something left over to-” The pile of rocks started to shake again and the beast erupted from the mounds of rocks. The webbing of it’s wings were torn by the rocks.

“Did you think the great Tenebris would be beaten by stone?” The beast yelled.

“For a second there, I did.” Cerulean gulped.

“Do not test me Venator! I will burn the place where you stand until it is nothing but glass!” It said swinging it’s tail at the group.

“Who?” He said as he dodged the tail. The dragon hissed at the words and it’s frills opened on the side of it’s head. In the distance it could make out the sound of people.

“That village is next.” It hissed. The four scattered and did their best to avoid the dragon’s teeth, claws and tail. Tenebris continued it’s rampage. Trees were crushed, and boulders were reduced to rubble. The four managed to regroup at the tree line.

“This is bad.” Sunset said. “I think that little rock trap just got him angry.”

“Okay, I vote for running.” Nix butted in.

“What? We can’t do that.” Cerulean yelled.

“Why not?” Amber asked.

“Because if we don’t do something, then he’s going to move onto the town and turn it to ash.”

“So? I don’t live there.” Nix said. The man walked up to her and glared.

“WE woke that thing up and now WE have to stop it.”

“How?” Amber asked. “I almost broke my wrist punching that thing’s jaw.”

“Dragon scales are know to be extremely durable and have a resistance to magic.” Sunset stated. “The only way we’d be able to get a crack at him is if we find a weak point.”

“How? Those scales are a problem and you said magic has little to no effect on it.” iyx said. Cerulean sighed and looked at the rampaging dragon.

“Where are you little rats?” The dragon said lashing out at some nearby trees.

“Man that guy never shuts up. I’d like to shove an icicle down his-” His eyes shrank and a grin grew on his face. “That’s it!”

“What are you talking about?” Amber asked.

“It’s scales are tough, but what about it’s inside? I doubt he has scales in there.”

“You do realize that means he has to open his mouth right?” The fox girl sighed. “I ain’t getting up close and personal.”

“I don’t know that many long range spells.” Sunset asked. Cerulean chuckled at the words.

“What’s so funny? Given the circumstances, I could use a laugh.” Nix said with a grumble.

“Ladies, fighting at a distance is my speciality.” The man reached for the object on his back and untied the wrappings to show a white long bow with runes etched into the handle. He smiled as he held it in his arms. “Ladies, meet Ivory. She fires high density arrows made of magic and,” The handle started glowing and the bow split into two single bladed axes. “she’s also a pair of axes.”

“Why didn’t you use that thing earlier? Like for the wolves or those guys?” Sunset asked.

“Those guys were hardly worth the trouble.” He shrugged. “Look, just get that thing to open it’s mouth and I’ll shoot a few arrows in and he’ll be down in no time.”

“I stand corrected,” Nix stated. “this is the worst idea ever, of all time.”

“Got a better idea short stuff?” The fox girl asked. “I’m sure that at least some of the gold and jewels are underneath the rubble.” The alchemist bit her lip and sighed.

“Fine. Let’s just kick the crap out of this thing so we can look for the gold.”

“Okay, I’m going to find a more elevated spot while you guys distract it.”

“How are we supposed to do that?” Sunset yelled.

“I don’t know. Improvise!” He said as he ran back towards the mountain top.

“If you miss, I’ll kill you!” Amber growled.

“Me? Miss?” He chuckled. “Good joke. Make sure that thing doesn’t get to town!” He said as he vanished into the trees.

~~~

The dragon was becoming inpatient and started burning the nearby trees. He may be blind but his other instincts were as sharp as a blade. “Hey lizard breath!” The dragon turned it’s head towards the shout just in time for a rock to jut up from the ground and hit him in the jaw. It growled and shot a fireball at the alchemist. Nix dodged the blast as Sunset shot several fireballs from her staff.

The dragon shrugged the blasts off and returned fire by swinging it’s tail around. The fire mage quickly teleported out of the way of the swinging tail. Nix shot a few more blasts at the dragon. Amber rushed forwards and slammed her fists into the dragon’s throat. She bit her lip at the pain, but continued to punch. She back flipped away from the beast and rubbed her bleeding hands.

“Damn, that’s tough stuff.” She winced at the pain. The dragon seemed to chuckle at their futile attempts at hurting him. The three kept up their assault on the dragon while dodging his razor sharp claws, teeth and tail. “Where the hell is that damn snowman?” Amber yelled as she panted.

“He probably ditched us.” Nix said as she dropped to one knee. Te dragon saw an opening and shot it’s tail out towards the injured girl. As the tail came to it’s target, an arrow of ice hit the tail and redirected it away from the alchemist. Amber jumped next to Nix and grabbed her by the waist.

“C’mon shrimp.” She said jumping out of the way of the tail.

“I swear I’m gonna kill you.” Nix spat out as Amber dropped her next to a resting Sunset.

“Guys, I’m tapped out.” She panted as her staff went back into it’s whip form. The dragon roared in anger as he started to climb what was left of the mountain. “What’s it doing now?” She said looking up at it. The three noticed that the large beast’s nostrils started to smoke.

“Run!” The three ran to find cover. As they looked back towards the tree line Sunset swore she saw a burning blue color. The dragon arched it’s neck and bits of flame started spilling out of it’s scaled lips. Time seemed to slow as the three took cover behind a row of rocks and the flames spat out in a concentrated burst of black flames. “Awe shit.” Amber groaned as she saw the fire coming towards them.

“I suggest you get down!” A familiar voice yelled. The fox girl looked to her right to see the man running with his bow trained on the giant lizard. He had the dragon’s mouth in his sights and took a deep breath.

“Can you make that shot?” Sunset asked.

“Can I?” The woman looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Can you?”

“Of course I can!” He looked back towards the dragon and put his finger gently pulling on the bow string. The fire was racing towards them. He felt his heartbeat skyrocket and his senses grew sharper. With one final breath he released.

A light blue arrow of ice and magic erupted from the bow. The arrow hit the flames head on and cut through it like a warm knife through hot butter. The beast screamed in pain at it felt the projectile hit it’s mouth and tore through it’s throat and exited the back of it’s neck. The large lizard coughed up a torrent of black blood and fell off the mountaintop. As the body hit the earth a shockwave knocked the group of their feet. Cerulean groaned as he felt his bones shake.

The man groaned and slowly got to his feet as the dust settled. “Okay, who’s not dead? Sound off.”

“Ugh.”

“That hurt.”

“I hate all of you.” Cerulean managed to make out their forms and shook his head. He walked up to the crater with the three women and they looked down into the crater the dragon made when he landed. The creature wasn’t moving as the man approached the body.

“Is it dead?” Amber asked.

“Better be.” The alchemist sighed. Cerulean put the weapon on his back. The man looked at the dragon and sighed. The dragon’s blind eyes opened and growled. The man jumped back and drew anther arrow. The dragon looked in his direction and started to chuckle.

“It has been nearly forty years since a mortal has bested me like this.” More blood spilled form the beast’s mouth. “Not since that white haired Venator. The female that took my sight.”

“You keep using that word. What does it mean?” The beast laughed again.

“The rat doesn’t even know it’s own heritage. Laughable!” The beast coughed again. “Still, there are worse ways to go out. Brilliant lights are extinguished sooner than dimmer ones.”

“I suppose there’s some truth there.” Cerulean couldn’t believe he was having a discussion about mortality with a dragon. “So, got any...last requests?” The dragon quirked an eyebrow and coughed again.

“This hole in my throat is making it very hard to breath. I’ll either suffocate or choke on my own blood.” The dragon lifted it’s head. “No way for a dragon such as I to die. Make it quick.” The beast opened it’s mouth and the girls readied their magic but the man threw up hand, stopping them.

Cerulean sighed and made an extra long arrow out of ice and aimed so the arrow would go through the dragon’s brain. “What’s your name rat?”

“Cerulean Frostwork.” He said pulling the bow string back.

“I’ll remember it.” Cerulean let the string go and the arrows pierced the dragon’s hide. The beast gaged for a moment and breathed it’s last breath. Cerulean sighed and looked at the creature.

“Well, that was an interesting afternoon.” Amber said. “I didn’t know you spoke giberish.”

“What? I was just talking to the dragon.” Sunset and Amber looked at each other.

“Um, Cerulean. That thing was only snarling and making weird noises the whole time.” The man looked at the fire mage in surprise.

“No, he was speaking english.” Amber put an arm over his shoulder and sighed.

“Look snow angel, I’ve been around. I have been to Draconia, Griffonia and beyond. I have never heard someone talk like that.”

“I’ve studied hundreds of books and listened to several audio crystals on different dialects and I’ve never heard anything like that.” Sunset stated.

“Hey where’s the shrimp?” Amber asked looking around.

“FUCK!”

“Just follow the cursing.” The three walked around the dragon’s corpse to see the alchemist face palming. “Something wrong short stuff?”

“That damn lizard scorched all the gold!” She moved a rock and the group saw a hardened puddle of gold mixed with jewels.

“Can’t you just do your alchemy thing?” Amber asked.

“No, I can’t use alchemy to transmute gold.”

“Why?”

“It's the rules.” She sighed as she turned over another rock. There was a shining light coming from the dragon’s body and the group took several steps back. A large pillar of light came from the beast’s body and pierced through the clouds. The scales started to catch flame and the dragon’s skin started to ignite. Soon, the body was nothing but ash.

“Is that supposed to happen?” Amber asked pointing at the pile of ash.

“Not sure.” Cerulean raised an eyebrow as he saw something poking out of the ash. The man walked up to the pile and found an odd rock. It had a dark blue hue to it and looked like a sapphire. Next to it was a larger rock that was bright red and orange. He put the blue stone in the bag his bow was in and coughed. “Look what we got here.”

“Pretty.” Amber said looking at the rock. “What is it?”

“It’s a dragon heart stone!” Sunset said looking at it.

“A what?”

“Okay, dragons eat gems and jewels right?” The three nodded. “All those minerals stockpile around the heart and crystalize providing a type of shell for protection. These things are worth...like all of the gold that was there.”

“Dibs.” Nix said.

“Oh hell no.” Amber said getting up clenching her fist.

“Hey, I came here for the gold and jewels. Since that’s gone, I’ll take this as compensation.”

“Okay, compromise.” Cerulean yelled. “We take it to town, there’s gotta be a jeweler or something like that down there, we cut it four equal ways. We all did a percentage of the work, I think it’s fair that we each get a piece of the reward.” Nix bit her lip and sighed.

“Fine.” She hissed.

“Good, but before we do that,” He looked over at Sunset. “I need to talk to a grey chicken.”