Upon a Star: Karyana's Journey: Chapter 14

Battles lead to new opportunities as comrades trade one sister for the other.

Chapter 14

The smell of blood. Of ashes. Of charred flesh. The grinding of bones against steel. The screams of innocent souls devoured. The crackle of undying flames. A beast made in the Underdeep, fueled by suffering, hatred and destruction. A force that knows only death.

The Iron Cur snarled as it sniffed the air like a bloodhound, its steel head moving about like a panther stalking its prey. Its claws burned the ground as its tail lashed about, leaving smoke and charred marks on everything it touched.

Subtlety was for the weak, and as it caught the scent of its target, even hundreds of leagues away, nothing would stand in its way. Trees, beasts, mortals… wherever it hunted, death followed like a murder of crows to a fresh cadaver.

-
Laurinya rubbed her arms together as the blisteringly cold wind whipped about Beakhollow, the coldest region along the border to Frostreach. Her breath came in wisps of mist that were lashed out by the northern gale.

"I c-can't believe th-this place is s-so c-cold…" she said, her robes doing little to protect her from the harsh, windswept thicket that constantly brushed against her legs.

"If you hadn't been so hasty and we had stopped at Jadebrook before trekking here, you wouldn't be freezing your fingers off!" Onyx scowled, his thick, forge-hardened skin keeping him somewhat warmer than the rest of the group.

Turalyon sneezed, turning from the winds. "Why do they call this place Beakhollow anyways?" he asked, stuffing his arms in his cloak, his hood already covering his head.

Alban looked at the dead trees that whistled with the gusts of cold air. "Before Frostreach started invading this place, it used to be an aviary." he said, putting his own fur-lined hood over his head. "The birds in this place were trained as familiars for mages and carriers for messengers. The rest of the lot probably fled south when the weather grew too cold."

"So, I get the beak part, but why the hollow?" the shivering battlemage asked, having trouble keeping his cloak from blowing off with the winds.

"Because there's supposed to be a cave down there." Korgan answered as he finished tying a rope around an old tree that had leaned with the wind. "Rumors say that in it, there's treasure from the old Ventalfar, the long-extinct race of sky elves."

Laurinya looked at the sky for a moment. "Sky elves… hmm… they must have been free travelers, riding the winds…" she mused on, ignoring her cold and everyone else as she imagined herself riding the winds, the rush of pure, absolute freedom.

Alban let out a wispy sigh. The Sky elves were, as Laurinya thought, a race of free-roamers and nomads, but their weak bones " to allow flight " made them vulnerable to any and all blunt weapons. Stories spoke of sky elves gone mad, taken their own lives even, when their wings broke due to arrows or war slings. Mages sought their feathers as material for flight spells, so that race was soon hunted to extinction because of the greed and lust for power that consumed all mortals.

"Well, whatever is down there, we better climb down before the winds pick up." Alban commented, looking down at the stony platform that rested at least fifty yards below, then at the cloudy sky. "Putting tents up in this place won't be a good idea, and the sun will set in a few hours."

Korgan let out a frustrated sigh. "What would I give to be back at Justiciar's Keep, reading about the wars of lore next to a war fire…" he gruffly spoke. "All we have done so far is follow that girl's whims and collect stones."

The war-priest's comment snapped Laurinya out of her reverie. "Those stones are worth more than the stones and books that hold your cherished keep!" she retorted, before the winds made her shiver. "If you don't want to see for yourself, you can stay here and guard the rope."

Onyx was about to shout at the girl when he heard the sound of a sword or some steel bit grinding on rock. "Turalyon… are you using that old flint again?" he asked, but got no answer except for a loud sneeze from the chilly mage. "I don't like this…"

Before the rest of the group had drawn their weapons, Laurinya had crept over to the rope and tied it loosely around her belt buckle. "Fine, then. If you don't want your share, I'll go myself." she said, taking a first jump to propel herself down.

----

The beast could smell blood: human blood, warm and inviting; dwarven blood, thick and hearty… and something else. The blood of a creature of no race it had whiffed before.

Its prey.

The creature charged through the thicket, making the dry wood and windswept grass ablaze as its paws raked the ground.

The only warning before the strike was a bellowing shrill of grinding metal like a guttural torture device that made mortal wills break.

----

Alban almost dropped his large sword from the loud wail that echoed in Beakhollow's chasm-like terrain. The scent of burning twigs and grass sent his senses on high alert. The sight that came charging made him grip his blade tighter, just to ease his shaking nerves.

The charging beast looked like no mortal creature, but a skeleton of steel, animated by an infernal blaze.

"What in the Planars is that?" Korgan said, firing a bolt from his crossbow that bounced off the creature's metallic skeleton, caught fire and disintegrated in mid-air.

"Remember that Iron Cur that elven merchant girl said?" Onyx asked, holding his battle axe in a defensive stance. "That must be it."

The beast slowed its charge, paced for a moment, as if sizing its opponents, then sprung into a mighty leap that would have crushed Turalyon, had he not jumped out of the way.

The battle=mage had no time to count his blessings as he removed his now-burning cloak. "That thing is faster than a snow panther!"

Onyx paced sideways as he examined the beast. "I don't see any weakness in the metal." He commented. "And its bowels look like pockets of lava. If we get close " considering that's even possible -, it'll just melt any steel that comes in contact."

Alban rushed at the beast, only for it to turn around and jump at him. The creature tried to pin the strong ranger with its claws, lunging its head forward to try and bite the man's head off. Even as it threatened to topple him, the beast was almost pushed by the same force it was giving out, putting the predator and prey in an unsteady deadlock.

Though the blaze that came from the beast was warming him, Alban knew that if he didn't move fast, the burning grass would end up filling his lungs with smoke, and he would lose what little balance he had. The best possible outcome would be for him to be pushed back, but he was running out of place to stand as the beast's weight was diving him back to the edge of the cliff. The worst outcome would be being devoured or incinerated by the beast. Neither outcome were to his liking.

Onyx gripped his blade with his right hand, then bit his thumb hard, drawing blood. Writing a simple rune on the side of his axe's blade, the dwarf looked at Korgan and Turalyon. "What are you waiting for? Do something about the fire or about the beast, but do something!" he shouted before rushing at the Iron Cur, stopping moments from crashing into the metallic abomination, only to drive his axe into the creature's ribs.

The clash of metal on metal knocked the momentum out of the beast just enough for it to roll about, its flames setting the old tree on fire.

"Damn it!" was all Alban could say before the rope snapped.

----

Laurinya was no longer on the rope when the knot burned away. In fact, she wasn't there to witness the rope fall below into the freezing waters that crashed against the rocky shore.

Had Korgan examined the length of the rope, he would have noticed that it was too short by several yards, so the golden-haired young woman was let to climb down the rest of the way, the strong winds blowing in her hair and against her back.

"If I h-had known, I w-would've j-just t-t-telep-p-ported m-m-myself." she chattered, rubbing her arms together hard to get a little warmth, even as she stepped out of the winds and into the cave.

The grotto was dimly lit and heavy roots held the rocks from tumbling down, breaking the tunnel and the cliff-side cave down on the emerald-eyed young woman's head. The stone seemed to have been carved rather neatly, and the passage was wide enough for at least three people to stand side by side in.

Laurinya looked at a lit torch that seemed to fight against the blistering winds and picked it up. "A little warmth should help…" she said, before noticing that the walls of the underground path were strewn with unlit torches. "Maybe a lot will keep the wind out."

Placing one hand just high enough to catch the heat of the flame, but not the burn, she closed her eyes and uttered a chant. "Burn a path forward, o undying flame!" she ordered the torch after her whispered invocation ended.

As the spell was cast, the flame seemed to animate itself, splitting into tongues of fire that lept from one torch to the other, lighting the hall. "That was too easy." Laurinya said to herself, putting the now burnt-out torch back on its wall stand.

As she did, the torch lit up anew, surprising the young woman, before the grating of sliding rocks caught her attention moments too late; the floor's angle started to shift into a steep slope. Even as Laurinya clawed onto the sides of the wall, she felt her grip loosen. Looking down, she caught the glimpse of a frozen facade among the cold stone walls, with what looked like the hilt of a weapon sticking out of it.

Having no time to think things through, the golden-haired woman balanced herself as best as she could before the floor was too steep to cling on to, and slid down towards the object, grabbing it at the very last moment.

Laurinya struggled to hold on, heaving herself up onto the lone perch as the stone floor continued to steepen. Looking to all sides, she found herself clinging in mid-air to a scimitar who's blade was slowly chipping away at the frozen wall, the magically-spinning shaft now almost perfectly vertical.

"This couldn't get any worse…" she worriedly spoke as she looked at the blade, half-way dislodged by her weight.

The snarl of a steel beast coming from the hole that was now the entrance made her think twice about what she just said.

----

Though Turalyon had successfully smothered the grass fire with a well-placed ice spell, he, along with the whole group, were growing increasingly worried as the cliffside started to rumble and quake. Soon enough, a gaping hole appeared in the ground as pockets of rock and dirt fell into it.

Alban was growing tired of driving the beast back, unable to break it. Even though his blade had been enchanted to strike down demons, this creature was not such a thing. Even Onyx's rune-enchanted axe was causing little damage.

Turalyon had the most luck, for his spell had started to cool the metal the Cur was made of, making the artificial predator slow down. Even the pockets of lava that were its organs were starting to harden and blacken.

Korgan grabbed his battle mace and rushed forward. "By Raemu's sword, you will die on this day!" he shouted as a war cry before slamming his weapon onto a freezing patch of lava where its stomach connected with the intestines.

The smashing sound of freezing lava and breaking mace made the beast bellow in something it had never experienced before: pain. Turning its head about, it noticed the pocket of liquid flames that were bleeding out, then noticed the gaping hole in the ground.

It could smell its prey. Down in the almost vertical tunnel.

"Help!" Laurinya shouted, soon followed by panicked grunts.

Turalyon looked down into the whole. "Hold on! We're coming!" he shouted.

Laurinya would have smacked the battle-mage upside the head for such a comment, as she was holding on for her life. "Just get that rope down here before I-"

Her comment was interrupted by the beast that, in its primal desire to please its master and creator, jumped into the tunnel, pushing against the sides and repositioning itself at every leap.

Laurinya's scream, followed by the snarl of the beast, were barely audible as Turalyon's spell sent a lightning bolt down into the tunnel, striking the cooling automaton, knocking it down and away from the young woman as she barely held on, the floor now continuing its rotation.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief, but Laurinya's moment was cut short as the blade finally dislodged itself from the wall, causing her to scream as she slid down.

Onyx looked down the shaft for a moment. "If that thing keeps spinning, it'll likely go back to being straight soon enough." he remarked. "I say we get another rope down that cliff and pull her out.

Alban sheathed his sword and fell to his knees. "I'll… stay here. I need to… catch my breath." he replied, still feeling the sting from the flames that almost seared through his armor.

"How about I start a campfire?" Turalyon asked in jest, causing the rest of the group to sneer.

----

Laurinya cursed her luck as she tried to bring herself to a stable upwards position, the corridor now a damaged slope as the corpse of the metallic animal had splattered molten metal onto it, the claws of the creature leaving scratch marks and indents that allowed her some more stable footing.

"What kind of idiot would built a trap like that?" she jeered. "I swear if I catch that…"

The emerald-eyed woman stopped her swearing as she noticed two things: water pouring down where the frozen wall once was, and the glimmer of something metallic inside of it.

Taking the beast's burnt steps and claw-marks as climbing steps, she used the scimitar to jab into the water-splattered floor, causing the liquid to freeze. "So much for help… I can do this on my own…" she uttered, scaling up the slope.

Minutes passed before she reached the small room where the water leaked from. A large chest, hanging over what looked like a broken pipe, caught Laurinya's attention. "That has to be it… the sky elves' treasure!"

----

"We risked our lives… for this?" Korgan shouted in frustration, looking at the contents of the chest. Inside the mud-stained box was a white robe, embroidered in an intricate pattern - yet sewn in such a way that only a woman could wear it - , four crudely-cut diamonds, a pair of gold-emblazoned gauntlets, a set of five rings, a pair of high boots and two large pouches, the cloth etched with silver motifs.

Onyx's eyes grew wide as saucers as he opened the pouches. "I say she definitely found us a grand treasure." he commented, pulling out a pendant representing a five-point star, surrounded by the moon. "Those look like the resting gifts of a priestess of the Alabaster Maiden!"

Laurinya looked greedily at the contents. "Don't forget that I found the chest, so I get to keep it!" she noted, her scimitar now sheathed in a crude scabbard she made from her cloak.

Korgan's eyes showed anger as he looked at the golden-haired girl. "Of all the rotten purse-cutters, girl, you are the worst!" he shouted. "You treat us like pack mules, pick through our rations, lead us around on a wild goose chase, and none of us are rewarded for any of this? What an ingrate!"

The golden-haired girl's emerald eyes narrowed. "I don't see you being much of a leader. If you don't like me, why don't you just tell it to my face!" she taunted. "Unless you want to end up with a face burnt through!"

Alban slammed his sword against the ground, then stepped between the two. "Enough belly-aching, from both of you!" he shouted, making the whole group stop and turn to look at him. "Laurinya, Korgan is right. You lead us along, but you never even told us what is so important about Starfall. Not only that, but you keep scavenging through every treasure and every merchant's store for those blasted stones. Unless you give us a good explanation and give us our share, we're not taking you anywhere else!"

Laurinya looked back at the chest before picking up the rings and throwing them at the group. "There! Have that for payment! I'm tired of your ramblings, anyhow!" she shouted, putting the diamonds, robe, pendant and boots in her travel bag. "Once you're done sniveling, I'll be at Myst."

As sunset came, the group examined the rest of the chest's contents. "Looks like she left with a ring, too…" Turalyon remarked.

"She's far too chaotic." Korgan gruffly retorted. "I just wish Raemu could smite her…"

As Alban picked up the gauntlets, Onyx pulled out a map from his bag. "Just forget about her." he mumbled. "Someone should just teach her some humility. Speaking of which, where do we rest for the night? Myst is the closest city, but there's also Greydowns north from here."

The light crunching of dry grass made Korgan pull out his mace… only for him to notice, in the setting sunlight, the shape of a young woman with a small stature, dressed in what looked like a snake-scale studded armor.

"Halt. Be you friend or foe?" the war-priest asked.

The girl simply smiled. "Hello, Alban." the girl replied, her tone overly polite, even as she examined the bulky ranger. "It's been too long."

Author's Note

Any and all comments, reviews, critiques, corrections, etc. will be welcome.