Dragons of the Apocalypse - An Achievement Hunter and Ray Narvaez Jr. Fanfiction

Chapter XX: You Can't Hit What You Can't See

After the defeat of the demonic knight in the volcanic biome, the six vessels continued on their journey.

Five days before they were set to arrive at Mount Coronor, they were crossing a large ocean, having yet to see land since before they had started the flight across the expanse of water. They flew and flew for hours on end, spending most of the day in flight, their wings tiring about halfway across the ocean.

They tried to glide as much as possible, attempting to preserve some energy, but it was fairly hopeless, as there was little wind to be found.

They all broke out in cheers when they spotted a small island, finally able to rest their weary bodies and, specifically, their wings.

The expanse of land was extremely small, they were able to walk the perimeter within about a half an hour, not daring to venture into the heavily wooded area in the center of the isle.

That was, until, they remembered that they needed food.

They had not been able to hunt the last time they had been on land, so their food supplies were running low. Using the last hours of sunlight they had, the six draconians ventured into the forest area in the middle of the island they had landed on.

The vessels soon discovered that they could barely traverse the forest, having to slash their way through with claws and weapons. They did find an ample supply of food though, ranging from small game to berries and other edible fruit. The six even found a fresh water supply, allowing them to fill up their almost empty canteens.

As they continued to replenish their resources though, the draconians soon found something interesting.

The true, absolute center of the island was actually a clearing.

They broke into the area accidentally while hunting, and the six vessels were surprised to find that the middle of the isle was not forested like most of the inner part of the land mass, but was actually just a small clearing.

After a bit of investigating the vessels decided to set up camp in the peaceful island center, shocked at the luck they had encountered.

Which suddenly seemed to run out.

Just as the six draconians were about to settle down, a fiery portal that could only lead to Hell opened in the clearing. Out of it climbed a humanoid figure that was just about the size of the vessels themselves, though it was distinctly human and not draconian. Said figure was also a being made entirely of shadow, which meant that no details could be made out to explain what it looked like; it had no mouth, eyes or other distinguishing characteristics. All that it seemed to possess was a shadowy humanoid shape, complete with all vital limbs, and the dagger made of darkness that it seemed to be carrying.

The six vessels spotted the being immediately, readying their breath powers or drawing their weapons. As soon as they did so, though, the shadow split into at least two dozen of the same creature, quickly surrounding the six.

They each had the same plan in mind, which was to find the true demon, the one they had first seen, and kill it, as that would more than likely dispel the rest as well. This wasn't as simple as it sounded though, because first they had to find the true shadow.

They all slashed out at the humanoids, though quickly found that they were quite good swordsman, striking and parrying attacks with ease.

The vessels were quickly overrun, five of the six swiftly being downed by the shadows, falling to their knees in defeat and pain.

Gavin was soon the only one left standing, the wind vessel drawing his ornate bow and firing arrows rapidly at the approaching adversaries. Soon he too was being swarmed, though, the humanoid shadow beings surging forward too quickly.

Just as they were about to touch and vessel though, a sudden, vibrant light green light erupted over the clearing.