Werrin's Voice: Dancing Fire

The Dream

Max walked through the forest, Colette at his side. The trees seemed to melt away as he passed them, leaving nothing but grass behind him. Ahead of him, an old man sat cross-legged, sort of meditating. He hovered above the ground.
Max got near, and the man teleported backwards. Max approached again, but the man never let him get close.
Finally, as Max approached the man, whose head was bowed, he finally saw that the man was bald and tan-skinned.
The man's head suddenly raised, and stared at Max. His eyes were glowing white, blinding Max to the point where he had to shield his eyes.
"Freedom is the key!" the man shouted in a weak, raspy voice. "Freedom is the key!"
Max fell backwards as the man disappeared, and a shockwave rocked the ground. He turned to Colette, whose mouth opened.
"Max!" said a man's voice. "Max, wake up!"

Max jolted awake. He sat up, and saw Sam leaning over him. The others stood around, watching closely.
"What happened?" Max asked.
"You were shaking, yelling. Something about freedom, and a key," Sam said. "We didn't know what was going on."
Max stared at him. "I had a dream," he admitted.
"About?"
"There was this monk, who wouldn't let me get close. Then, when I did, he said, 'freedom is the key.'"
"What does that mean?" Maria asked.
"I don't know."
Sam shook his head. "We don't have time to worry about some cryptic monk in a dream. We have to get to Drikling soon, before the dragons catch up to us. It won't be long until they find us, and I'd rather have someone new next time we have to take on an army."
Max nodded. "I agree. I'll think about it while we walk, but for now, priority is getting to Drikling."
Maria sighed. "I guess you're right."
Max got up. "Deconstruct the camp, make it look normal. Let's get moving, Drikling is still a day away."
Maria deconstructed the camp and made it look natural again. Then, they left. An hour into their walking, they passed through a small village.
"Colette," Max said. "Go around the village, meet us on the other side. Don't attack anyone, just run if someone attacks you."
Colette growled and began circling the village. The group passed through.
"You!" said a man's voice. They turned, and saw a large, bear of a man hobbling over to them. "Who are 'ye?"
"Just travelers, passing through," Sam said.
"Hmm." The man considered them. "Don't lie to me, boy. Where are 'ye headed?"
"Drikling," Max said.
"Drikling, eh? I here that place is stocked full of Mages and Wizards and sorts, people who make problems for the dragons."
"You're loyal to the dragons?" Maria asked.
"Aye. Dragons saved us from drought, helped us build and grow."
"They also burned our villages, killed our people during the Great War," Alexis said.
The man chuckled. "Not my people, not my villages. Those were the people who dared oppose the dragons. They were put down, and rightly so."
Max was a little angry. "You think so? How about now? Innocent people caught in the crossfire, dragons don't give a damn."
"Dragons have more things to worry about with this Voice nonsense going on. Last thing they need is to worry about collateral damage."
Max brushed past the man, saying, "We are leaving now."
The man grabbed Max by his neck. "'Ye ain't going nowhere."
Max grabbed the man by the wrist and felt a surge of anger and power. He tightened his grip and felt bones shatter. "Don't touch me!" His voice was deep and raspy. The man cried out in pain as his wrist was pulverized. The others drew their weapons.
Max grabbed his wrist and flipped him onto his back, then drew his axe.
"I know yer kind," the man said. "Yer the Voice!"
Max felt panic spread through his body. He looked to Sam, who nodded at Max's axe.
Max, without hesitation, brought the weapon down on the man's throat. His neck severed- his head rolled away from his body.
"Oh, gods!" Alexis said. She gagged, covered her mouth, and walked away.
Max's hands shook. He dropped the axe, as blood pooled around it. "What did I just do?"
Sam put his hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. He was trying to stop us from doing what needs to be done."
"How can you be so okay about this?"
Sam shrugged. "I've been a guard for three years. Seen more than my share of death, killed men by my own hand."
Max nodded. "We need to hide this."
Sam nodded. He grabbed the man's shoulders and dragged him into a bush, tossing the head with it. Max summoned water and washed away the blood. He picked his axe up and put it away.
They continued through the village, getting funny looks from the people. However, none stopped them until they were at the edge of town.
An old man sat on his porch, staring at them. Max looked at him quickly, then away. He felt he was still being stared at, so he looked again, and the man was now leaning against the railing.
The man grinned. Suddenly, he lunged into the air, and morphed into a dragon the size of a man.
"Dragon!" Sam yelled.
Max drew his axe, and as the dragon flew at him, he swung it, his the dragon in the side of the head with the blade. A large gash appeared and dripped blood, fire running down its body then quickly dissipating. A shockwave launched the dragon right into a house.
Sam drew his bow, loaded six arrows, and shot them all at once, lodging two in the dragon's eye.
Maria raised her hands and suddenly the the earth was shaking. A crack appeared in the ground, and green mist drifted up from it. It formed around the dragon, who was struggling to his feet.
"Don't touch the mist!" Maria shouted. "It's toxic!"
The mist, now encasing the dragon, slowly tightened. It seemed to be strangling the dragon. Then, a woman ran up to Maria and tackled her. The mist fell away. As they wrestled, the woman morphed into another dragon, on top of Maria.
Max smashed his axe against the ground. A shockwave knocked the dragon off of Maria, and she willed the mist around the dragon's neck. It squeezed, and as the dragon was being immobilized, Sam took his sword and cut the beast's head off.
Max turned to the other, now back on its feet. It was on all fours. It opened its mouth, and roared. Fire shot at the group. They ducked down as the dragon's fire burned down half the village.
Max rolled to his feet and ran at the dragon. It wasn't suspecting a rush like this. Max leapt into the air and swung his axe, smacking it into the dragon's neck. It didn't cut clean through, but it left a gash large enough for blood to spill out. The dragon fell to the ground, roaring in pain.
"Sam!" Max shouted.
Sam got up and nocked an arrow, let it fly, and it hit the dragon in the chest. He plowed three more into the same area.
The dragon roared, took flight, and took off into the distance.
Max walked back to his friends. "Damnit. He's going to tell the others, and the dragons are gonna be right back on our tails."
Sam shook his head. "This sucks."
They looked back, and saw the entire village staring at them.
Max said under his breath, "I get the feeling these guys aren't happy about this."
Sam shook his head. "I'm getting that, too."
"Kill them!" someone shouted.
The dozen or so citizens charged the group.
"Don't kill anyone! Let me handle it!" Max shouted. He dropped his axe and raised a wall of stone between his group and the angry crowd. He picked up his axe, and shouted, "Run!"
He and his friends took off away from the village. Max whistled, and Colette came running up to them, keeping pace with Max.
Finally, after almost ten minutes of running, they came to a stop deep in the woods.
"That was fun," Maria said.
Alexis gasped for air. "You bet it was."
Max plopped down. "Drikling is a few more hours off. We can rest for a minute, but we have to get there before nightfall. Drikling is mostly loyal to the dragons- they won't think to look there. But, when we do get there, keep your voices down. If they find out who we are, the dragons will burn the whole thing down if it means getting us."
They got up a little bit later, and continued walking.
"So, who is this guy you want with us so badly?" Sam asked.
"His name is Robert, but you guys can call him Rob. I've known him my whole life. His parents were very close with mine, actually lived in my village until Rob was seven. Then, they moved to Drikling, because at the time, it was Independent. Not two months after they'd moved in, Remapal had Drikling attacked and taken over. Rob's mother was killed in the battle. When Rob was fourteen, he went and studied at the Mage's College of Kiwo for five years. He's two years older than me. He's an extremely skilled Mage, and having him with us will help a lot. We've been practically brothers our whole lives, I know he'll help us."
"How do you know all of this?" Maria asked. "I thought you hadn't seen him in years?"
"I haven't seen him, but after his mother died, he and his father sent us letters all the time."
"Does Drikling have a blacksmith?" Sam asked.
"I assume, why?" Max asked.
"He's gonna need armor and weapons."
"No, he won't. He trained at the College for five years- he's a master at defensive spells and shields. He'll be able to protect himself without it, but I'll make sure to give him the idea."
Finally, after hours of walking, they reached the edge of the woods, and saw Drikling.
It was a large, walled village. That is, large for a village. A large building in the center stood out as the Keep.
The group made their way up to the gate, after Max told Colette to wait in the woods, and the guards met them.
"Halt!" one of them shouted. A group of them came down from the wall and confronted them. "Who are you?"
"Just some travelers, looking to enter the city," Max said.
"In light of recent events, we can't allow you entry without referral from someone inside."
Max, however frustrated he was, understood their reluctance. It was a good leader who put his people before outsiders.
"I have a friend inside," Max told the guard.
"Name?"
"His name is Robert, he's a Mage. Lives with his father in the Lower District."
"Wait here, I'll have someone check with your friend."
The four waited, until a few minutes later when a guard came back and opened the gates. A group stood with Rob.
He smiled when he saw Max. "Hey, bro!"
Rob ran through the gates and hugged Max. After a few moments, they let go, and faced the group.
"Guys, this is Rob," Max introduced him.
Rob was taller than Max, and much more muscular. He had dark brown hair that went down to his eyebrows, and light blue eyes.
"Come on, you guys can come to my house," Rob said. "And then you can explain what you're doing all the way out here."
They went through the gates, and Rob took them to his and his father's home. It was an average sized house, large enough for a family to stay in. They lived in the Lower District, or the "Poor District," which was funny since Rob's father was actually pretty wealthy.
They sat in his kitchen and he made some tea while Max explained himself.
"So, I'm kind of Werrin's Voice."
Rob almost choked on his tea. "You're what?"
"You heard me."
"So, you guys are the ones that the dragons are after?"
"Yeah, that's us."
Rob shook his head. "Little Max, the Voice, huh? This is insane." Rob smiled. "I almost wouldn't believe you if you hadn't come all this way to tell me."
Max didn't know what to say, so he kept silent.
"So, are you here to ask me to join your little gang?"
Max smiled. "Yeah."
"Count me in," Rob said happily.
"What about your dad?"
"What about yours?" Rob fired back with.
Max held his hands up. "Fair enough. Do you need armor?"
"I suppose it would be safe if I took some. I'll grab some money, and meet you guys outside."
The group went outside and waited. Rob returned a few moments later with a bag of gold. They walked to the Middle District and Rob talked to the blacksmith, bought some armor and a sword, and they went back to Rob's house.
"Let me tell my dad that I'm leaving. He needs to know," he told them.
"I'll come with you," Max said.
Rob nodded, and they went inside.
They went upstairs to his father's bedroom. They entered, and he looked so surprised to see Max.
"Max?"
"That's me."
He got up and came over and hugged Max. "Why are you all the way out here? And why all the armor?"
Max looked to Rob, who explained to his father everything.
He sat down, and shook his head. "You're lying?"
Max shook his head. He held out his palm, and fire appeared in his hand. He held out his other hand, and all the stone objects in the room began to float.
"You want Rob to go with you?"
"Yes. He's a very skilled Mage, and having him with us would make us much more powerful. All of us hate the dragons- it's time to bring them down. I promise we will all be safe."
His father, white with shock and dismay, nodded. "Okay. I understand."
He stood up, and hugged his son. "Be safe, come back to me. Do it for your mother."
Rob, teary-eyed, nodded. "I will."
They left the house, and found the group outside talking to a group of guards.
"What's all this?" Max asked.
"You!" one of them shouted, pointing at Max. "Come in peacefully, or we will not hesitate to attack you!"
Max shook his head. "Why?"
"You're the Voice."
Max rolled his eyes. "Damn you."
He unsheathed his axe and swung it at the guard, hitting him in his head and knocking him unconscious. Another charged him and swung his sword, but Max blocked it and used his left hand to shoot flames at the guard.
Suddenly, the whole Guard was on them. They were surrounded, the five of them back to back.
Max whistled, and the gates blasted open. Colette charged in.
Max jumped into the air and launched a fireball into the guards. It blasted a few of them into the air, and killed one that it hit. He spun and landed on his feet, summoning water from a nearby well and blasting a trio of guards into a house.
His friends attacked the guards. Colette pounced on one of them, tore him apart, then moved on.
Max raised his hands above his head, and stones began floating. Suddenly, they formed a massive cloud around the guards. Then, Max clapped his hands together, and the stones smashed inwards.
This group dealt with, now the Knights from the Keep were forming a circle around them.
Maria bunched the group of fugitives together, Colette with them, too.
"Hang on!" she yelled, and she waved her hands. Suddenly, the Knights disappeared.
They were in the middle of the woods. The guards were gone, the city far away.
"Where are we?" Max asked Maria.
"I don't know. I just had to get us out of there."
"How?"
"I teleported us," Maria responded.
"We need to know where we are. How can we find out?" Max asked.
"I don't know, I've only done that a few times before this, and never this long of a distance."
Rob raised his hand. "I think I can help."
He waved his hands around in a circle in front of him, and suddenly a small blue grid appeared in the air.
"Is that-?" Max started.
"A map of the Western Boundary." Rob pointed. "This is us. Up here, that's Remapal's Temple."
"Well," Sam said. "Now the question is where do we go next?"
Max stood up. "We need to go to sleep."
They all turned to face him. "Why?" Maria asked. "It's early."
"Listen, this is our camp for the night. Get it set up. I'll find out where we need to go tonight."
They looked at each other, but Sam nodded. "You heard him."
Max nodded to Sam, a silent thank you. After an hour, things were set up. Max sent Colette to do some hunting for them.
After they got settled for the night, the group decided that Max would take second shift. Sam and Rob would take first. Max went to sleep, and his plan worked- he dreamed of the monk.
This time, they were on some sort of mountain. The monk sat in front of him, barely a foot away. His eyes were closed, and he was meditating.
Max's subconscious self willed to talk to the monk, and finally, he managed to do it.
"Where are we?" Max asked the monk.
"Freedom is the key," the monk answered.
"No, that doesn't help!"
The monk chuckled. "You will find the answer, soon enough."
"I need it now!"
The monk laughed again, and this time disappeared.

Max awoke, Sam shaking him. Rob was settling down for the night.
"It's your shift," Sam said.
Max nodded. "Right." He got up as Sam went to sleep. He woke Colette, and the two kept watch through the night. All Max could think about was the monk.

Morning came soon. Max woke the others at sunrise, and they dismantled the camp. Then, they were on their way.
"Where to now?" Sam asked.
"I've been having this dream," Max admitted. "This monk. He wants me to find him, but won't tell me where he is."
"How do you know it's not just a dream?" Sam asked.
Rob spoke up. "At the college, they taught as about this. A lot of times, if someone with magic abilities wants to get ahold of you, they can communicate quickly through dreams."
Max shook his head. "Why would anyone want to talk to me, though?"
Maria chuckled. "You're kidding, right?"
Max stopped.
"You're like, the most renowned person in all of Werrin right now. Is it really surprising that someone wants to see you?"
"I guess not. But, why a monk? Aren't they against violence?"
"Sometimes, even the most devoted pacifist realizes that violence is the only answer," Alexis said.
"Well, he keeps telling me, 'freedom is the key.' Somehow, that's supposed to help me find him."
"Kiwo, maybe?" Rob suggested. "It's Independent, and it has a monastery in the mountains near it."
Max nodded. "Yeah, good idea. We should head there first."
Maria stopped them. "How do you know that this monk wants you to find him in the first place?"
"I don't," Max said. "But, we really don't have much choice. I can't beat Remapal yet, and neither can any of you. It's going to take everyone to do it. In the meantime, heading to Kiwo isn't such a bad idea. We can kill some time, prepare ourselves a little, and hopefully this monk helps us out a little."
"And if he isn't willing to help?"
"Then, we still got a trip to Kiwo. Who knows what we can find there? Maybe it'll help more than you know."
Maria, however unsatisfied with the answer, agreed with the rest to go. Soon enough, they were on their way.
About an hour into their trek, they stopped in the middle of the woods for a break.
"How long do you think it'll take to get to Kiwo?" Maria asked.
"Well," Rob said. "It depends. To get to Kiwo itself, three days. But, the Monastery is closer, so maybe two days. I suggest we go to Kiwo first, get some information on it, then head up."
Max agreed. "Good idea."
As Max got to his feet, he heard a crunch behind him. He turned, battle axe drawn.
Suddenly, an army of Jackals ran at them from the woods.
Max opened his mouth and shot a gout of fire at the creatures, then turned and yelled, "Run!"
The group ran away from the Jackals. The fire had killed a dozen or so, but more and more kept pouring from the trees.
Max ran between trees and ducked below stray branches. He took his left hand and waved it in the air, and heard crunching as the trees behind him bent to his will and started hitting the Jackals.
He turned to look and saw his friends running alongside him, although, spread out over the forest. Ahead, he saw light.
They entered a clearing and all of them turned to face the Jackal army.
They stopped and faced the group. The two groups had a stand off for a moment.
Then, suddenly, Rob shot a bolt of lightning into their ranks, vaporizing two dozen or so. They charged.
Max swung his axe and beheaded however many, then sheathed the weapon and summoned fire into his palms.
A Jackal charged him from behind and Max did a flip, landing on his feet, facing the new threat. He shoved his hand into the Jackal's face and melted it. He turned and saw a group running at him. He put his hands together and combined the fire from both into one shot, a burst of fire smashing into the Jackals.
To his left, Sam dueled with three Jackals at once. He sliced his sword and cut one on the chest, but a fourth ran up and tackled him.
Rob shot an ice spike at the Jackal, then hit the others with lightning. A few challenged Rob himself, and he quickly summoned a translucent bear that began charging the Jackals.
Alexis and Maria stood back-to-back, fighting off the Jackals as a team. Colette was running with the bear and attacking the Jackals.
They never stopped coming, and they began to swarm them. Suddenly, there was a roar, and a dragon appeared over the trees. It landed amongst the Jackals, and suddenly Max lost hope for this battle.
The Jackals swarmed the group, and Max whistled loudly- Colette came rushing to his aid. If Max could get free, he could help the others.
When the Jackals swarmed Colette, Max yelled at her to run away. She was reluctant at first, but Max promised her he'd come back.
"Go!" he screamed at the tiger. "I'll come back, I promise!"
As he said it, one of the archer Jackals managed to lodge an arrow behind her hind leg, and as Max yelled at her to run, she looked to have a tear in her big, brown eye. Max told her a final time to run, and she listened. She half-ran, half-limped away from the battle, and the Jackals swarmed over the group. Soon enough, Max was unconscious.