Wet Fire

Wet Fire (E1)

         The smoky sky swirled and shifted above a troop of five scalers, who were making their way to the chasm. Vynce and Keiko led the way, with their long canvas robes flapping in the hot wind. Behind them, were the twins, Tyrek, who was a medic, and Jelen, a thief.  Petronel, a thief as well, followed at the back of the troop, with one hand clenched around a drywood bow and the other hand resting lightly on a single arrow in her quiver. Beads of sweat dripped off her forehead and ran into her eyes, stinging them, but she dared not close them. I am ready.

It was eerily quiet and the only sound that could be heard was footsteps cracking on the dry mud. The air reeked of a warm, foul, odor. A dense fog cloaked the ground and Petronel could barely see any further than Vynce and Keiko through the murk. She staggered along, watchfully and nervously, behind them, trying not to let the repetitive sounds of her feet distract her form the task at hand. This was her first scaling mission and failure was absolutely not an option. Suddenly, the fog near the leaders began to flicker and glow, as if it suddenly had come alive. We are here.

Vynce stopped Keiko near the edge of the chasm and waited for the rest of the troop to catch up. Petronel began to hear a strange sound—something bubbling and gurgling—something warm, coming from beneath her. She stopped a few feet away from the edge, next to Keiko and waited, in silence, for Vynce's signal.

"We are only here to collect samples—bring back a scale or two. Do not slay the beast whatever you do, for if you kill it, it will bring you down too." Vynce swallowed and raised an ivory bone horn to his dirty lips. The air rung with a long, deep tone that echoed off the chasm walls. "Now we step back." Silence.

The troop waited at the edge of the chasm. With every passing second, Petronel became increasingly jittery and rambunctious. She knew she had to focus soon or she would be caught off guard and, quite possibly, they all would be killed.  

Out of the corner of her eye, Petronel saw something.  A long scaly thing slithered up out of the chasm for just a brief moment, then descended back into the fiery gloom. None of the other scalers seemed to notice, they were all looking away.  She nocked her arrow.

"It's here—the arsi."

"Quiet."

Vynce unsheathed his sword, and the sound of slow scraping metal was produced. He took two steps towards the brim of the crevice, where he stopped and rearranged his grip. Leaning over, Vynce peered downwards, looking for the creature. His watery eyes glowed and reflected the wet fire below. Then, he fell.

Time seemed to slow for Petronel as she watched Vynce fall. His body went limp, and then his legs gave out from under him. His silhouette, dark against the red light, plunged, and then fell out of sight.

  The ground shook with heat and three more appendages burst out of the chasm, each streaked with glowing cracks, shining, as if they were made of hot coals. They crashed into the wall and shook the ground even more, leaving the scalers off-balance.

"No!" Keiko screamed and lept forward after the arsi.  After her, charged Tyrek and Jelen. Keiko, thrust her sword upwards, on target, but the cheap metal merely bounced off the creatures arm, leaving nothing, not even a dent. The creature drew back its arm and then extended it, whacking Keiko in the side and sending her flying through the air like a rag doll. She landed with a thud out of sight.

Tyrek and Jelen were already planning their attack. They dodged the creature's arms, but just barely, the width of the arms was so great they had to jump out of the way each time the arms crashed down around them. They couldn't get a good shot.

Petronel drew back her bow, feeling the tension in the string. Her fingers ached as she took her aim. Then, she let go. An arrow whizzed from her bow and planted itself straight into the lower portion of the creature's arm-appendage. The creature produced a shrill shriek and its arm returned back into the chasm. Vynce. Petronel thought.