Tales of Ruina Story I: Lying Dead

Chapter 1: Rude Awakening

Charon is tired. For a week, the Vaal Hazak hasn't had a wink of sleep. Ever since he was attacked by that one-horned Nergigante, the corpse dragon has not been able to regain his energy, especially since his former territory is now under a pile of boulders and stone. Charon now roams the stench-filled wasteland he calls home, trying to find new shelter.

After walking for hours without end, Charon stops within a tunnel system. Bones litter the floor and stick out of the walls. After some searching, the boney dragon finds a spot where bones are sparse. For the first time in a week, Charon can properly rest. With the tunnels acting as shelter, he lays his head down on the muck and closes his eyes.

Crash!

Not even five minutes and Charon is back to being awake. Raising his head, Charon surveys his surroundings for intruders. Yet, he saw nothing. He lays his head, but keeps his eyes open for enemies. Another crash, closer this time. Charon stills himself to camouflage himself against the rotting flesh stretched across the land. Coming into view comes the apex predator of the Rotten Vale: an Odogaron.

Seeing the threat, Charon rises and roars at the fanged wyvern. Noticing his presence, the Odogaron, fully revealed, gets into a fighting stance. That was when Charon started to get a good look at the red beast. The Odo was small, around 5 meters. A juvenile. Despite that fact, he was covered in scars. He was also shaking in fear... and alone. The cruel claw wyverns aren't the best of parents, yet they still keep an eye on their young. However, no adult Odogaron can be found.

Charon calms down. Such a small beast could do no harm to the much bigger Elder Dragon. But his curiosity has peaked. Odos are known to have a tough life and be extremely aggressive. However, most Odogaron do not have the scars that this one does at such a young age. Plus, his stance suggests being more defensive. Seeing no threat, he lays back down. The child seemed confused by the dragon's actions. But that doesn't stop him from running the second he gets the chance. Off he runs, with Charon watching him until he disappears. Unfortunately, this kerfuffle got him too excited to go back to sleep.

Chapter 2: Hunger Strike

A day has passed since the interaction with the baby Odogaron. Charon has once again started roaming to look for new territory. Through the tiredness and frustration, a new feeling pops up: hunger. The dragon now feels his stomach emptying and is growling for more. At least this gives him some motivation to keep on trekking. After an hour of searching, Charon stumbles across a small pack of Girros. Girros are tough little Fanged Wyverns that have venomous fangs and usually hunt under the rule of a Great Girros. Yet this pack seems to be without leadership or perhaps a scouting group. It did not matter, however, for this was a grand opportunity for the Vaal Hazak.

Vaal Hazaks, you see, have an unconventional method of hunting and consuming. They have a symbiotic relationship with the miasma of the Rotten Vale. Hazaks allow the Effluvium bacteria to live in, on, and around their bodies. For the Effluvium, they are used both as a weapon by the Hazak and as a means of transferring nutrients from prey to the dragon. Unfortunately for the Girros, about every creature of the Rotten Vale has some miasma around them.

One of the Girros detected the Elder Dragon, but it was too late. Charon has already started commanding the Effluvium around the beasts and absorbing their nutrients. The Girros were unable to move as their energy faded. One by one, the wyverns dropped like flies till the last one fell, dead as the bones around them. A successful hunt In front of Charon lay seven dead Girros. Despite his BIZARRE feeding habits, Charon is not above eating flesh. Being only 3.5 meters and somewhat thin from lack of proper nutrition, Charon had no trouble gulping some of them down. However, he could not eat all of them, leaving four carcasses behind.

But once again, Charon's curiosity peaked. The Girros pack seemed too big to be a scouting group yet too small to be a full pack. It looks like the pack was traveling from the south, so that is where Charon heads. After an hour and a half walk, he walks into a giant cavern with arches of flesh and bone, pools of acid on one side of the room, and a floor covered in fungi, corpses, and flies. There he comes across the mangled body of a Girros. This was no natural death. This Girros has been killed by something. As Charon investigated further and further, he found more violated carcasses. A total of five dead Girros, yet no Great Girros. Curiouser and curiouser.

After more searching, Charon arrives at a hole in the wall of the cave. Moss and bedding cover the floor; a nest for the Girros. In the middle of the nest lies the Great Girros, sliced in half. An invasion, but by whom, Charon did not know. His question, however, soon reveals itself. Stomping echos across the cavern. The pools of acid ripple as the perpetrator comes closer. The invader finally shows itself. Scales of metallic blue. Spikes dawning the head and back. A thick tail as long as its body. An apex of the Rotten Vale. An Acidic Glavenus.

Chapter 3: Corroded Flesh

Roars fill the cavern. Charon and the Glavenus circle around each other. Although he is an Elder Dragon, acid can do nasty business to any creature's flesh. That doesn't even factor in the Glavenus' main weapon: a tail formed into a sword. This sword is strong enough to slice through the bodies of other monsters. The Great Girros was made into a great example of this.

Despite this, Charon is still an Elder Dragon. His very presence commands respect. Yet both monsters hold their ground, seeing which can intimidate the other first. This lasted for several minutes. Finally, the Glavenus loses his nerve. But he does not flee. Instead, he jumps towards Charon and slams down his acid-covered tail, which Charon narrowly dodges. The fight has begun.

Charon blasts a beam of miasma towards the teal wyvern, who masterfully dodges. He counterattacks and successfully gets a slash across Charon's chest. It's not deep, but it stings as acid corrodes his flesh. As the Vaal Hazak steps back in pain, the wyvern sees another chance to strike. But Charon anticipates this. As the sword wielder tries to bite at the dragon's throat, the walking corpse rises and slashes at the wyvern's face with his talons. The Glavenus stepped back to recover from the attack. Again, they are at a standoff, and yet again, the Glavenus attack first.

Charon blocks the wyvern's attack with a wall of miasma. He then uses the wall to cover the Glavenus and suffocate his air supply. But the Glavenus was not done yet. He bites down on his tail and starts pulling. As he pulls, the acid on his tail starts breaking and falling off. With one good tug, he pulls off all the acid crystals, causing his tail to swing at full potential and dispelling the miasma. The wyvern charges again. Charon fires another beam at the teal beast. Again, he dodges it. However, the rotting beast figured this would happen again and changed the beam's trajectory. The beam grazes the beast's side, yet remains unfazed. The wyvern swings his tail towards Charon, barely nicking his face.

As the Vaal Hazak recovers from having a sword tail flash across his face, the Glavenus flanks him and bites at his side. Charon screams in pain as the spiked monster chews at his side. He turns around to face his foe and shoots an Effluvium beam at close range. Feeling the full blast, the wyvern falls onto its side. Struggling to get up, the Glavenus again faces the dragon. This time, however, both parties are heavily wounded and exhausted. Another competition to see who can intimidate the other.

Finally, the Acidic Glavenus yields. That final blast had knocked both the wind and energy out of him. Begrudgingly, the wyvern leaves the cavern, taking one of the Girros' carcasses away with him.

Charon is tired, still. The fight had drained most of his energy. But this time, it seems that he has secured new territory. Despite the dead Girros around the cavern, it seems to be in lovely condition. Besides, dead bodies are not something new for the inhabitants of the Rotten Vale. Charon lays down on the bedding, going to the carveout and clearing it of its former owner. The Vaal Hazak closes his eyes due to the softness of the bedding and his lack of energy. He finally gets some sleep.