Age of Dragons Online

Chapter 18: Varn and Dranor

           Chapter 18

           Varn and Dranor

It was two days later when they next had human contact.

They were resting after walking through a seemingly endless forest that never seemed to change.  Lunalia, wishing to practice using her abilities, was creating small fireballs and throwing them at Aledro, who was less than happy about this arrangement.  When he asked why she wasn't throwing any fireballs at Nadran (eliciting a "hey!" of protest from Nadran, who was lying on the ground, head leaning against the trunk of a large moss-covered tree), she simply shrugged and threw another, striking Aledro on the shoulder and singing his shirt, much to Aledro's discomfort and dismay.

Their attention was suddenly diverted by a cold laugh that emanated from behind them.  They spun around to see a person standing about ten feet away from them.  How did he get so close without us noticing?  Nadran wondered, springing to his feet and taking an involuntary step back.  Not due to his appearance, he thought dryly.

The intruder was a tall male that seemed to be in his late teens.  His close-cut hair was a bright shade of crimson that couldn't have been natural.  He wore a bright red short-sleeved shirt and jeans, which made him feel very out of place in a world with imaginary creatures and fantastical clothing.  His sneer looked somewhere between condescending and haughty, and, due to the fact that he was standing at the top of an incline, he was literally able to look down on them.

"Is this really them?" he asked in a skeptical and disappointed tone.  "They don't even know how to ekovni yet.  I was hoping that this would at least be remotely interesting."  He let out a sigh, then said "I guess he was right, after all.  Well, at least this will probably be more interesting than sitting around with those blockheads."  As he spoke, his fingers tapped repeatedly against the side of his leg, and when he stopped speaking, he started quickly pacing back and forth, as though he couldn't bear standing still for more than a second at a time.

"Who are you?" Lunalia questioned boldly, trying to mask her unease.

The stranger laughed, then loudly proclaimed "I am Flaegrim!  And I am one of the Varn, add well as a fellow Dranor, like you!"

Nadran started at the mention of something from Volzan's message... and what he had been accused of being.  Before he could speak, however, Flaegrim continued on.

"And no, I am not a NPC, like Volzan told you.  I am a living, breathing, human being.  Volzan lied to you.  Not exactly sure why, but it was some kind of mind game.  Maybe he thought that the idea of mindless, merciless AI soldiers was more intimidating than other fellow humans, who could theoretically be swayed from their point of view.  Who knows how his mind works?  He is the kind of person that enjoys mind games within mind games."  He paused for a second.  "Enough talk.  It's time we did something more interesting."

"He's the one who was talking the most..."  Lunalia pointing out, chuckling.

"Quiet!" Flaegrim snarled, and drew his weapon, a golden scepter that was topped with an elaborately carved ruby that was shaped like a fireball.

Nadran was just starting to ask "Wait, what's a Dranor?" when Flaegrim began his attack.

Nadran was barely able to draw his swords and bring them to bear when a fireball was hurled in his direction.  Unable to dodge in time, he crossed his swords to absorb the hit.  The sphere collided, launching him backwards through the air, where he landed on the ground with a sudden exhalation of breath and a wince as more pain than he was accustomed to swept through his body.

            Lunalia leaped to the side, narrowly dodging the next fireball, which was thrown in her direction.  As she started preparation for a spell, she looked up and saw Flaegrim, who was already holding another globe of flame.  Before the mage could attack, however, Aledro, unnoticed until this point as he inched slowly forward, leaped toward Flaegrim, slicing his bladed staff diagonally across Flaegrim's chest.  Flaegrim, distracted by his spellcasting, didn't notice until too late.  He cried out as he fell to the ground, his shirt turning a deeper shade of red.  Then, to everyone's surprise, he dissolved, vanishing into the air.