Slogging through the wet moss and mud of the caverns, we battered our way through the tunnels to reach the surface. Gravel crunched beneath my feet, luminescent white mushrooms gleamed from rocky walls and hid in the cracks. Pushing away a concealed door, I shielded my eyes as sunlight streamed through.
After weeks, maybe even months of training, Tyth had decided we were ready to test our skills. If we proved to be proficient, we could begin traveling to the next sanctuary.
Slowly crawling out from the cave, Tyth and Risha behind me, the dragons following, I once again found myself onto the burnt desert. The heat seared my skin after spending so much time in the dim, cool underground town.
It was much nicer in the cavens. I thought bitterly.
As everyone slowly came to the surface, we huddled around Tyth, who began to explain what we were going to do.
A few miles away was a gathering of Atrix, low ranking soldiers, along with a few human slaves. Our job was to go and free these people, while disabling the creatures enough so we could haul them in for interrogation.
Walking along the burning sand for a few minutes, I slowly saw shapes emerge through the shimmer of the heat. My magic flared, sensing their presence, but I leash it as Tyth walked up, lifting a hand as if in greeting. Creeping closer, their shapes grew more defined. Three. I resisted the urge to shrink away as I saw the spiked claws clutching the reigns of the nearest horse. My eyes grew wide and my hands trembled while Tyth continued forwards.
Shit.
One second there were there, then the next, a cruel silvery wind descended on them, snapping their necks and throwing them from their mounts. Their screams echoed in my ears as I forced myself to step closer.
Holy rutting Gods.
I caught up with Tyth, Risha at my side and clutching my hand. One step, then another. The reek of them filled my nose as I drew up to him, and stared down at the broken bodies half buried in the dirt.
How would I be able to do that? How could I summon that much power?
Tyth's face was grim as he handed me the reins. And I knew why. They knew something. Otherwise why would they be out here, in the barren wasteland with nowhere in sight? He looked back at the corpses, and spat on the ground.
"Bastards. We ride, and quickly."
I sat on the horse with Risha for about an hour, the fur-and-leather saddle chafing my thighs, my feet slowly tingling then losing feeling altogether.
We arrived with the sun at our backs, golden light making the endless stretch of sand gleam like a molten sea. Then Tyth lifted a finger to his lips, closed his eyes, and sent out a tendril of power into the camp.
It loomed before us, jagged structures made of hide and wood, obviously meant for temporary shelter, fires burning bright in the sky. As I muted then to a whisper, glowing embers shifting in the braziers, Tyth gave a curt nod, and we dismounted, tying the reins to a crooked post sticking out of the ground. The two dragons landed silently in the sand beside us, bellies in the sand.
Then we snuck into the heart of the camp.
Creeping closer, small cramped cages appeared out of the near darkness, and I saw the creatures guarding them. I took one glance and resisted the urge to bolt. The grey-and-blood-red skin stretched tight over their malformed boney frames; the squashed snarling faces and the salivating mouths filled with crooked, broken and jagged teeth. Our footsteps crunched on the gravel as inched closer. The wolf-like creatures turned, scanning the surrounding, then all hell broke loose.
YOU ARE READING
A Throne of Flames || COMPLETED
Fantasy"Before there was anything there were dragons. They ruled over oblivion, a gaping void where nothing exists but everything lives." The war had raged for decades. And in it's wake all that had been left was a broken expanse of a fire burnt wasteland...
