(Project) Draegoan: Chapter 4

What manner of creature hunts Garron so fiercely?

 

                Garron spurred his horse onward. Whatever the black thing was, it was not going to turn around anytime soon.

                There were a number of things he thought it might be, but none of them seemed probable, as they would not and should not still exist. Either way, Garron was not keen to find out what it was.

                To his dismay, the already darkening sky was getting darker. It was as if the thing following him was creating a kind of artificial darkness. He checked over his shoulder again. What he saw did not make him feel any better. The creature was closing in rapidly. In the dim light, he could make out what it was.

                He let out a gasp of fearful realization, and urged his mount on even more. The creature behind him was about the last thing he wanted to meet. He had read about the creature before when he had stayed in a country called Algoria. These beasts used to run wild in the land, when magic had still been powerful. They were an oddity in themselves, as they were creatures of magic yet in order survive they needed to feed off of magic. In fact, they did not even require meat or plants as nutrition. When they had once walked the earth, they were called Urgun.

                Most texts referred to them as “Wizard Hunters.”

                It was said that these creatures had been used in the first Trinity War, when the Feldein battled the dragons alone. In that time, the humans had been weak and nomadic, leaving the Feldein to battle on their own accord. Dragons, like the Feldein, were closely tied to magic. The Feldein had learned to tame the Urgun to track and hunt dragons and eliminate them with ease.

                After the first War, however, the Feldein let the Urgun loose. They had no need for them any longer, so keeping them under rein was unnecessary. They still could control the Urgun if they became a problem. None were more powerful than the Feldein.

                The Urgun had been allowed to reproduce freely. While their numbers were growing, the ancient humans began to know magic. They were not nearly as powerful as the Feldein, however, and early human Wizards were easy prey for the Urgun. For this reason, they had received the nickname of “Wizard Hunters.”

                The Urgun were massive black beasts, and their innate powers veiled sunlight to aid them in catching their prey. They were covered in metal-like spikes and scales which they used to their advantage when tackling others. They used their beaked snout to gut their victim, at the same time draining the magic from the hunted one’s body. They were not after the meat of their foe, however; just their magic. Because of this, they usually did not kill on the first strike; it was a painful way to die.

                Garron pushed his weary mount as fast as he could, but the animal was overworked from so much heavy riding. He pulled his sachet off his should and hung it over the saddle. It was apparent that he would have to fight if he wanted to keep moving. Urgun never gave up once they found their quarry.

                The old wizard stood up in his saddle, chancing one more look behind him. The Urgun was almost upon him, leaving behind a massive cloud of dust as it ran pell-mell on all fours towards Garron. In the dim light it was difficult to judge the exact distance, but the sounds of the beast’s feet drumming on the dying ground gave him a good enough idea of when to make his move.

                When he heard a gurgling shriek welling up behind him, he acted.

                Garron pulled the air around him, blowing it up into his torso. The force of the wind blew him backward out of the saddle and up into the air. He turned once gracefully in the air, his boots making a loud thud as he landed, knees bent, on the dusty ground. He quickly rose up to see the back of the Urgun. It skidded to a halt, watching Garron’s horse ran doggedly onward. Fear alone compelled it, despite that its rider was now several yards behind it. While the Urgun was still confused, Garron drew the wind around him again. He silently thanked the Maker that Urgun were fairly slow-witted.

                Though Garron had read of Urgun in books, he did not know exactly how to kill one. The books had never described that.

                Hoping for the best, Garron clapped his hands together sharply. A loud crack split the air as a blade of sharp condensed wind sliced forward from his fingers. He heard the whistle of the breeze cutting forward until it crashed against the massive Urgun.

                The air blasted harmlessly around the beast, if maybe knocking it a little off-balance. Its back was too heavily covered in scales.

                It turned its ugly head on Garron, blackish red eyes throbbing in their sockets. He had to think fast. He snapped his fingers, causing a small burst of flame to appear around his hand. With a swift flourish, he extended his arm, releasing the flames, at the same time throwing another blast of wind to feed the blaze. The fire howled forward at the Urgun which had managed to turn its bulk around to face its opponent. It had readied to charge when blast of heat smashed full-on into its face. The smell of burning flesh met Garron’s nostrils as he grinned to himself. Just a simple beast, he thought.

                The next thing he knew, he was sailing through the air again. He landed roughly on his shoulder, skidding a few inches. He lifted himself as fast as possible, bracing for the next blow. He could feel hot, wet blood beginning to saturate his shirtsleeve where the Urgun had collided with him.

                Garron looked frantically around for the beast. The Urgun’s unearthly howl met his ears again as he turned in the half light to see it charging at him again. Smoke still lingered around the crevices of its plated body. Garron readied to dove out of the way at a moment’s notice, but he never had to. The Urgun missed him completely. It puzzled him, but he had no time to wonder why the creature had missed him, he only had time to kill it.

                He rounded on the beast, which had realized that it had missed Garron. He snapped his fingers again, coating both hands in fire. With a similar flourish, he launched one ball at the side of the Urgun to get its attention. When it ran for where he was, he slid to the side just before it reached him, using one arm to blast a second air stream at the Urgun’s underside. He threw his full power into it, knocking the monster almost sideways. In the moment it hung there, Garron launched a flurry of fire bolts at the Urgun’s exposed underside. He was lucky the monster didn’t have as much plating there. With each flare of heat, the Urgun wailed in agony. Garron stepped closer as he continued to volley fire at his enemy. Gasping, he felt his legs slip out from beneath him as the ground crashed into his back, driving the wind from his lungs.

                The Urgun stood over him, a growl growing in its throat. It was hard to see in the dim light, but Garron could see why it had trouble finding him.

                The first blast of fire had burned its eyes out, blinding it.

                Unfortunately, it did not need eyes to know that Garron was beneath it. He saw the beaked snout raise, grayish light glinting dully on its sharp edge as it reached the top of its trajectory. In that silent moment, the blade like beak plummeted towards Garron’s gut.

                In the split second before it hit, a spire of rock wrapped around Garron’s torso like a living vine of stone, encasing and protecting him from the blow. He heard a jarring snap as the beak sunk into the rock and snapped at the bone. The Urgun retreated, screeching in pain while blood poured from its shattered face. Garron acted rapidly. He unwound his rock armor, rolled forward and sprang up. As he did so, he summoned fire and wind once more to the palms of his hands, slamming them onto the anguished Urgun’s snout. The moment his hands connected with the beast, he called a cylinder of rock up below its head. When the rock connected, he released the pent up rage of the wind and fire. The three powers connected with a deafening blast, shattering the Urgun’s skull instantly. The body teetered for a moment, and then fell sideways with a resounding thud. Stinking black blood oozed from the remains of the creature’s skull. The stench of death wafted up to Garron’s nostrils, coupled with fresh blood from his own injuries.

                As normal daylight returned, Garron was able to get a better look at the defeated thing. It was indeed pitch black, covered in razor sharp scales. It had oddly distorted shoulders which stuck slightly up above its spine. Atop its pointed shoulders were lines of spikes which glinted in the bright sun; its hind legs had similar features. The Urgun’s feet and hands ended in two razor sharp talons fir for ripping through prey. Though the fiend’s head, which somewhat resembled some twisted demonic horse, was broken and mangled, Garron could see that it had straight pointed ears, around which coiled dark cobalt horns. There was plated armor across the top of its head which had been split in two by Garron’s attack.

Just looking at the fearsome beast, Garron hoped he would not have to fight another Urgun again. They had been feared so many years ago for good reason.

                Turing his back on the defeated foe, Garron gently touched his wounded arm, using a bit of magic to help the healing process. He did not do much, however, for the ordeal against the Urgun had drained him of much power.

                Garron straightened up, looking back southeast. His horse was nowhere to be seen. Cursing under his breath, he starting jogging in the direction he had been heading when the Urgun had attacked. He kept the pace slow in the summer heat, not wanting to overwork his body; he was already tired enough.

                He pushed on under the fiery sun, his head now swirling with even more questions. Why had the Urgun attacked him? Why was it even there in the first place? There could not be enough magic to support any creatures of pure magic; they had disappeared long ago. The harder he thought, the more confused he became. There was no possible way for the Urgun to still exist. Somehow, however, this Urgun had been alive. Garron could not think up a rational reason as to why.

                Unless it had something to do with the magic he had felt.

                Just the thought of the possibility impelled Garron to increase his pace. He had to find his horse and get to Galdur as fast as he could.

                After about an hour of running, Garron finally found the horse. It lay limp and dead on the ground, his sachet toss a few feet away. I had run itself to death in fear. He cursed his bad luck and poor thinking. He should have stopped the horse earlier. But how could he have? The Urgun had required all his attention, and he had barely survived it as it was. He let out a heavy sigh and picked up his bags. It would be slow going with his extra gear on foot. At least his staff and books had not been damaged. Without a horse, however, it would take him another three days before he would reach Sarthia. He only hoped that the next city was not far a way, and it had a good set of stables to buy a new horse.

                So Garron pushed on as the sun beat unmercifully down on him, hoping to find the answers he sought.

Author's Note

Still indenting issues! Not that it takes away from the story, but it just bugs me. This was originally part of Chapter 2, but due to length and clarity it was split up.