The Unbidden: A New World (1) (Short Parts)

Part 58

We proceeded further west before taking an auxiliary road to the North. We happened upon a group of mercenaries escorting an elderly man clad in very expensive looking robes. We asked them if they spotted a dragon on their way by, but they weren't helpful. I thanked them, and we pressed again.

The whole time Aurias gave me notice whenever he sensed a presence, even the smallest of wildlife.

"I only need to know about people, or a dragon, or dangerous wildlife," I laughed when he mentioned a small flock of birds for the tenth time that day.

"I apologize. I will restrict myself."

We'd travelled a total of two weeks when we happened upon a ragged individual. It was a man with hardly anything on him save very tattered and dirty clothes, a pleading look in his eyes, and stains of dried tears caking his dirty face. Aurias notified me of his presence well in advance, but there wasn't really much we were able to do until we got closer. Based on a map of the kingdom I had, there wasn't a village or town within a week's travel. I noticed his eyes snap to my wrist when we drew close enough.

"P- Please! You must help me, adventurer! The – The drago, it's nearby!" he pleaded at my feet.

"I'm here to fell Loht. Where is it at?" I asked as stoically as I could muster.

"F- Follow the road d- due North. The hamlet I live in is over there. T- The drago, he must've smelled the food! Please, help whoever you can," the man continued to plead.

I nodded and snapped Aurias' reins.

It never occurred to me that hamlets wouldn't be included. It's still a populated gathering, I thought.

Aurias sped down the road while Jayde and I discussed main plan. Loht was able to fly, so my first course was to disable that ability. Afterward, Jayde was to position herself so she could stab into its soft underbelly while I used magic to keep its attention. I also needed to cast Liquid Barrier on the three of us. The last thing I needed was to die because I let Aurias get targeted, or Jayde to lose her life from some folly of mine.

The road narrowed, and the trees stretched overhead, blocking much of the sun. The second we got within a mile of the hamlet, Aurias exclaimed there was a huge presence at the location. We hadn't travelled more than four-hundred feet when a roar, loud even from our distance, rang through the air. It was visceral and guttural. Deep and animalistic. It reminded me of the T-Rex's roar from Jurassic Park, but hundreds of times louder, and struck an emotion I'd not felt so strongly before. Fear.

We spent two weeks hunting this beast, and now was our time to shine, or die trying. Thea appeared in my mind. I had something infinitely larger than me to do, so I had no plans for a dragon to stop me. It didn't stop my palms from getting a thick coat of sweat or keep my adrenaline from rising. I felt Jayde's grip around my chest tighten. She had to of felt something similar.

As we neared the hamlet, the smell of fire and burnt organic matter assaulted my nose. I had to cover my face with my robes to filter some of it out because the odor was so pungent. Not long after, I heard the deep movements from the dragon as it stepped about wiping out the hamlet.

My mind started to travel to different places as we swerved through the remaining road. When we came to the end – there was no hamlet. There was only desolation and carnage like the village we had seen so soon after leaving the city.

I swallowed hard as chills ran over my body. Standing slightly to the right about three-hundred or so feet back was the biggest creature I'd seen since coming to this world. This dragon – Loht – was not a creature to take lightly. Its appearance alone was enough to make me want to turn around and never come back. It stood at least twenty feet tall with two large wings folded against its body. Including its two-pronged tail that looked to be made of some metallic color which must've reached at least fifteen feet long.

Atop its head were two large horns that made half-arches, crossing each other. Its greenish eyes, slit like a snake, turned toward us. Loht almost seemed to squint, as if making sure what it saw was true. As I regained my composure, I created the Liquid Armor for the three of us.

Aurias moved off the road, whilst Jayde moved to behind the rubble of what was a small house. I approached Loht with uneasy steps. Loht lifted a single leg to advance toward me, and when it came down I noticed a small child trying to clamber away. His life was snuffed without much thought.

I pursed my lips together and took a deep breath. In the span it took me to blink my eyes, Loht had raised its head and inhaled an unimaginable amount of air. In the next instant, I casted Water Shield as Loht's flame breath blasted against the shield. The heat penetrated the shield and was evaporating it at an unbelievably fast rate. I back stepped a few paces and casted Ice Wall just before the shield dissipated completely.