Drakken Kings

Chapter 1

"Heey, over here!" A cheerful girl waves to her dear comrades like the sun over the morning horizon, signaling them over from an elevated rock and marking an area of interest.

"Huff, slow down! None of us here are as fleet-footed as you are, considering you barely have anything on you!" This complaint arises from the party's bag carrier. Not a pitiful fellow I should say, for he's also the party's trap setter and item specialist.

"Ah youth, I admire how such are so agile on their legs and quick to complain." Slowly, but surely, the rest of the party follows, headed by the tall and bold warrior, who seems to have a deal of experience under his belt.

The young man could only pout, as the girl forged on. "Here, this has to be the cave full of treasures right? It's super far from the town, but it's probably worth all the effort!"

"Aye lass, we could only hope, but if I may review the details of our quest, we're hardly here to do treasure hunts."

"Huh? But aren't old Drakken caves like super-rich in gold, silver, and precious gems?"

"Hrm, I'd gladly ditch riches and honor any time than dive into any Drakken cave."

"Spoken like a true ex-soldier!" A woman, louder than the girl, slaps the hardy ex-soldier's back, though she only hit metal, and it didn't take long for her to immediately regret doing so.

"Sigh, last time I heard, one must be extremely cautious (and quiet) before stepping into a Drakken cave, even if it's just a rumored one." Another woman, who was obviously more lady-like than the prior, pinched her chin in dismay. Frail as she looks, she's the party's herbalist and medicine woman.

"Well, I told you an advanced ranger would be fitting for this adventure!" The boy never seems to hold off any complaints. It's amazing how patiently he takes the bags despite his temperament.

"A ranger is costly boy'o, and there is no guaranteed booty for this quest either. The reward for this investigation is barely fit for the five of us who need to eat at least 2 meals a day!" So the loud woman and the boy began the usual banter. The leader could only sigh.

A few minutes later, they finally decided to explore the vast cave where rumors of a Drakken's slumbering snores were heard. In all correctness, Drakkens are no longer considered enemies nor masters of Humanity, but rather, they're divided into two categories, at least by human standards. Those who are advanced, such as the ones that reside in the capital of Drakken Ultima, and those who are feral, savages who see humans as none different from livestock.

The two warrior types and the boy carried torches, while the girl and herbalist walked between the warriors. This party is well-balanced and experienced, they've faced off against lesser Drakkens before, which in truth, are somewhat being more active this year. However, diving into the nests or hideouts of such creatures is still something not even veterans would be much obliged to do.

They could only hope this cave was uninhabited, but the chance is highly unlikely, especially once the party began stomping on crunched bones. Cattle, wild animals, humans, and smaller Drakkens, their pale, white remains littered the floor as the party advanced deeper.

"H-how many of them do you think might be here?" The boy's gulp was much audible, but he wasn't the only one anyway.

"Now that we're certain this IS a Drakken's dining place, the best thing to figure out next is how many." The warrior woman gritted her teeth as she clenched the grip of her blade at her hip.

"Drakkens don't fancy living together in such tight spots, even when they're mates. They're fiercely territorial, but such theories apply mostly on ferals, not the advanced types." The leader kept his bold stride, giving confidence to his party.

"So could we be dealing with an advanced type?" The herbalist seemed pretty confident in their leader.

"I don't suppose, advanced types can be demure, and possess a sense of housekeeping."

"Feral then, got it!" The girl's beam never seems to waver amidst the darkness of the cave.

Suddenly, a thump, a big, loud one that swept the kids to their behinds. "So above!" The leader immediately unsheathed his sword and readied his shield, facing the long-necked menace rising in front of them. "Keep it together! It's a tight spot, it won't be able to move around much!"

The lesser Drakken, a Drag, is considered the lowest subspecies of the Drakkens. Small (5 meters in length), but agile, and possesses short, hind legs and winged arms. Its scales are tough, but a strong swing of a sharp sword would surely do damage. Otherwise, impact weapons are effective for crushing their joints but take greater skills than do blades. Finally, a rule of thumb is never to cut off a Drakken's head; aim for the heart.

The Drag hissed and lunged at the leader who guarded with his shield, parrying the Drag's claws and thrusting at its chest. Not deep enough! Thick blood dribbled down the blade, but the Drag only flinched once, before it tried clawing at the leader's back. Leader rolled aside to escape the monster's clutches. "Boy, light!"

"Got it!" The boy took out two stones that glittered and stroked them against each other, producing a bright light that dazed the Drag.

"Now lady!" The warrior lady ran towards the Drag, gripping her claymore with both hands, it was slightly longer and sharper than the leader's blade. It was specialized for thrusting, and she pierced the Drag's scaly chest with all her might, but still, it wasn't enough to completely go through its hide and flesh, and barely into the monster's heart. The Drag flinched again, angrier this time, and swiped at the lady almost instantly. She didn't have time to reel her claymore, so she stepped back and readied a shorter blade.

The Drag crawled with thunderclap steps towards the party, but it was too unlucky to have stepped onto a trap that the boy prepared ahead. Its right forelimb was bitten by a clank of metal and it tripped. Before it could stand back up, the leader tackled it with his shield, driving the claymore deeper into its chest, until it finally gave a sore screech and lay dead.

Lady warrior pulled out her claymore from the beast's heart, clicking her tongue in dismay. "You're lucky it didn't break, but now it's covered in this filthy mess."

"If it broke, I'll try to have it repaired or buy you a new one." The leader smiled apologetically.

"That's very reassuring considering the budget we get every month." With another click of her tongue, the leader almost bowed his head.

"Well, that's our treasure I guess." The boy refers to the dead Drag, whose parts would fetch a considerable price, but as for the meat, hardly anyone knows where that goes to. Drakken meat is toxic for humans, so it's considered inedible, no matter how great a chef one may be.

"Hopefully, we'd get more than just the reward for the investigation." The herbalist takes her bag and asks the warriors if they have any injuries needing treatment.

"They didn't mention a reward if we did find and killed one, but I'm pretty sure the corpse would make good compensation." The leader assures.

"Um, does this mean the quest is over?" The girl walks a few steps away from the group.

"I suppose..."

"The cave stretches farther though..." The girl points at where they left off, and truly, the cave doesn't seem to end just there. Everyone else looks into the ominous path.

"I see. Well, if everyone's doing fine, I guess we should head dee-!!!"

A heartbeat. Another. And another. And more. Whose it was, they could hardly tell, as they all seem to breathe deeply in unison as the wind blew into the cave.

"I-I can hear something, down there. Something..."

"Let's go..."

"W-what?"

"I said let's go! Let's get out of here! There's something in there! Something!!!"

A roar. A scream. Frightened noises. The entrance collapsed, and soon, they could only see darkness.