Into the Lands of Evasiry

Chapter 13- History, Rewritten

"My story takes place back when I was nine. I—"

"Wait, you were nine? How old are you?" Keth interrupted.

"Twenty. Now shut it." Jorm silenced Keth and continued.

"I had just walked into town, ready to start a life of adventuring. I found my way over to four people; Aura, Argus, Raid and Tabitha. Tabitha was throwing magic berries from the rafters; Raid was climbing his way up. Aura and Argus were sitting at the table, exasperated by the two dumbasses above them. I walked up to them, lute in hand and struck up a conversation. I wound up getting snatched up by these weirdos for no other reason than they liked me, I guess." Jorm took a deep breath, a bit shaky.

"We were sent by the guild we were working at to go find out why a nearby village was screaming 'Foul magic' or something. We arrived to find the life barren and dead. The village's edges were feeling this magic, and we decided to find the source and stop it. We fought our way through a ruin, finding a mine. The mine was manned by goblins and run by a hobgoblin named Trader Joe. He asked us for help in collecting the bones they mined for safe passage. After we helped them, we found our way into a grand room with three gruff goblin overlords called 'The Trio' watching over us. Trader Joe and his daughter, Jessica, helped us kill them to progress. Jessica stayed with us, and we proceeded downward. We met with Katherine's brother, Alistair, who attempted to kill us. We killed him, obviously, but his body rapidly aged. I took his gloves and found his dragon's skull, kept them as a reminder of who he was before he fell from grace. He asked us to save his sister from what corrupted him. His best friend, Cornelius, and Jessica let us fight him alone."

Katherine nodded, tearing up a little.

Jorm continued talking, the memories coming back...

...

Aluthar was poised at the end of the room, pouring his foul magic into his receptacle. He waved his hands and raised an army, intent on killing Jorm and his allies. Argus closed his eyes, his prayers reaching to the depths of insanity to call upon his eldritch patron. His patron responded, destroying the army before Aluthar forced him back down into the depths. He hovered above the large red pool of corrupted magic, lightning arcing between his hands.

Jorm pulled out the silver lute he had gotten during his delve, remembered its inscription.

"Dance your heart out until you cannot anymore..." He strummed the strings, teleporting in his iconic cloud of smoke. He saw the heart of Aluthar emerge from across the room; His gloves started to hum with magic. Something was coming.

A large spectral dragon burst through the wall, tackling Aluthar. He was pushed from his post, into the range of Raid and Tabitha. The large ghost bent its head down to Jorm.

"Wyv." He muttered quietly. They knew what to do. "Keep him distracted while I go for the heart!" Jorm told Wyv in Dragon, spawning an incorporeal double next to him. He rushed over to the glowing heart of Aluthar while Wyv charged him, knocking him down.

Argus' crown flew from his grasp, flying to a nearby skeleton after knocking Aluthar in the face. Jorm didn't know what they were talking about, but the skeleton helped by summoning his royal guard to hold Aluthar down. Jorm had to dodge some lightning, barely. He managed to destroy the heart with help from Argus, freeing Katherine from it's spell. Wyv took her revenge for her death and her master's demise, pummeling Aluthar mercilessly.

Jorm laid Katherine down gently, dropping into the magic pool with Aluthar's dissolving body. He laughed.

"What... can a Kobold... like you do?" He struggled out. Jorm sneered, his gloves wrapping themselves with their fire.