Draith
patreon
Chapter 32 - Like Summer Ice
🕑 Added 2025-03-07 14:00:14 +0000 UTCI panicked at first, when Vaserra called me an outworlder. Then I realized she'd used an old Elinder word. One that meant people from outside their home country, which for many was their world.
It had some other connotations, including a lack of cultural understanding and expectations of oafishness.
Elinder had some pretty subtle ways of being a dick.
Funny how much relief I felt at the fact she was trying to be insulting. Which turned into amusement as I laughed in her face. "No. No, not even a little. Your father didn't make it easy though."
"No, I suppose not. He can be quite… persuasive, when he wants to be," Vaserra agreed, crossing her arms and clenching her hands into fists.
"So… there was something about monsters hunting sheep?"
"Yes. Drakes that spit fire. Father refuses to face them," Vaserra spit to the side, much like her father had. "He claims they are of no concern. But I know the truth."
"What truth is that?"
"He's afraid. He's afraid that his bond will not be strong enough, and that he will die like a sheep instead of a shepherd," Vaserra said, her hands slowly unclenching as her eyes fixed on mine.
"Fear is a soul killer," Calbern said, reminding me he was still slung over my shoulder. "Can lose yourself. Have seen it —hiccup— before. Men strong enough to break a wyvern over their knee, hiding in their cups."
"A war howler of the Frost Riven cannot afford to lose themselves to fear," Vaserra said, stepping forward before turning to the side, her braids clattering as she shook her head. "We face fear every day so that it does not set our course. If he were not so strong, I could…"
She stopped herself, teeth grinding as she looked back at me. "He may be afraid, but I am not. We shall slay the inferno drakes and keep the sheep safe in their vales."
"Fair 'nuff," I replied, holding my hand out to her. "Tell us about these inferno drakes."
Leading Vaserra back to Tresla and Inertia, I put Calbern to bed, a first for me or Perth. Then I started the introductions, telling them about the upcoming hunt.
My explanation was interrupted by a thunderous shockwave sweeping through the courtyard.
When I turned, I found the party had escaped the central tower.
Sarpit and both of the red bearded men were squaring off with each other in the central square. Thick bands of crystalized ice surrounded the limbs of all three. The red beards had dark black ice while the bands encircling Sarpit were smaller and so white as to be nearly transparent.
Not that they seemed any weaker, as he caught a heavy mace strike on one of those bands.
"Oh Frozen Fillies," Vaserra muttered, frost flickering over her own wrists for a second as she took a half-step forward.
"Problem?" I asked as the second of the red bearded men charged in, wielding a mace of dark ice as large as he was.
Sarpit stepped out of the way, his nearly transparent claws smashing through the mace and continuing towards the man I designated red beard one.
"Other than my father being a drunken idiot? No. At least they'll wear themselves out this way," Vaserra said, her braids rattling as she shook her head.
As red beard two smashed an oversized scimitar of ice into Sarpit, the leader of the Reavers screamed. Though not because he'd been injured. His skin had absorbed the blow without so much as a scratch. It wasn’t just the ice that was impervious to their blows.
From what I could tell, the scream was meant to disrupt his opponents. And it worked. Without mercy, he jumped on red beard one, and proceeded to kick him across the courtyard.
Sarpit was tripped by red beard two, who then took an uppercut to his chin that had him slamming into the slat board roof above. He thudded to the ground, shook his head, then pushed back to his feet. Which was the point Tresla said, "Inertia is impressed by their durability. She believes they may be more resilient than even the serpent."
"Oh. They're tough, that's certain enough," Vaserra said. "Their bonds are stronger than most. Too bad their brains leaked out as their bonds grew."
"What bonds are those?" Tresla asked, her pipe smoking away.
With a wave of her arm, Vaserra gestured to the wolves watching the fight from their giant pens. I noticed the white wolf was focusing intensely, her fangs bared. "The bonds to our wolves. It is the source of our strength. It is a shame it does not lend wits to match."
Even as she spoke, Sarpit leapt upwards, smashing the loose slats above to the side. It was only a moment before both red beards followed.
All of them were laughing as they took their battle outside.
Free of the courtyard, their violence only escalated.
Vaserra brought us up the walkway, and we were treated to the sight of what lay beyond the keep. A shattered ramp led downward along the spine of a long ridge, which the three hunters were battling atop. One of the red beards summoned an avalanche of dark ice, large enough I suspected it could’ve swept away the keep.
It was knocked to the side by a bellow from Sarpit as he charged them. Then the second twin ambushed him, and they were surfing down the avalanche they’d just started.
"All this power, and my father is afraid of a few Drakes," Vaserra spit. "If I had half his power, I could protect the sheep alone."
"Well, we're not that effective, but we're here to help," I said, receiving a nod from Inertia. "Though we wouldn't mind taking a share of the trophies."
"As is a hunter's right," Vaserra said, turning away from the chaos outside. "I only hope that when your strength is tested, you do not break like summer ice."
"Makes two of us," I replied, offering her my hand.
She stared at it for a second before clasping it with her own. A touch of cold seeped in at the contact, reaching to my bone. "Sleep well, Magus Dominus Perth, for in the morning, we ride."
Despite the destruction of the night before, the ramp down the mountain remained intact. Exactly as intact as it'd been before their brawl.
We were mounted up in Fang, with Vaserra and two of her companions leading the way. Both of her companions were older. Even older than Sarpit, if I wasn't mistaken. They rode dark mounts, though the fur had a faint blue tinge to it instead of being completely black. The man was weathered, with dark skin and a beard of pure white. The woman was a red head, though she had streaks of silver and a sharp nose. Above us, Inertia was flying around on overwatch. Despite the lack of road where we were going, Fang was mostly able to keep up. While the wheels weren't proper off-road, the nature of the materials we'd used meant they had a fair bit of grip.
It still had nothing on the wolves of our companions. They were like mountain goats, picking routes down that were practically vertical even as they lead us along a smoother route. None of their wolves were as large as those of the ones that greeted us, though Vaserra's shared the same white fur as her father's.
Between Calbern's eyes, Vaserra's knowledge of the area, and Inertia's vantage point, it didn't take us long to find the Inferno drakes. They'd holed up in a set of hot springs a valley over.
There were a lot of them.
At a glance, I counted over fifty drakes, each of them as large as a frost wolf.
"You neglected to mention how many there were," I said as we looked out over the broken rock where the drakes played, lounged or fought for dominance.
"Does your resolve waver?"
"Not so much. This does require some planning though," I said, indicating to Tresla that I wanted to talk with Inertia.
"What is there to plan? Cast your magics and destroy them," Vaserra said, making squiggly motions with her hands from the back of her wolf.
"Think you got the wrong sibling for that," I said, shaking my head. If Nexxa was here, she could do exactly what Vaserra was requesting. Heck, her father or his red bearded buddies could too.
No wonder she was pissed at them.
Then again, they'd probably bury the hot springs while they were at it. Which brought up an important point. "Question. How important is keeping the hot springs intact?"
"They were a place of relaxation, for those of us who do not fear the fire, before the drakes came. Even the sheep would flock to the springs," Vaserra replied, leaning to the side on her large wolf as she peered downward.
"Speaking of the sheep, where are they? I don't think I've seen a single one," I said, my gaze sweeping along the hot spring valley.
"They know better to come to the springs while the drakes claim them. They are safely in their vales," Vaserra answered before looking over the hot springs once more. "The drakes are not herd creatures. They hunt alone or in packs of a dozen, following a strong bull. So long as we don't alert the other packs, we can draw them away, pick them off a few at a time. It was how we intended to hunt them before I enlisted your help."
"That would be doable," I said, looking down at Calbern. "How's it look for navigating the terrain, Calbern?"
"Doable, master Perth," Calbern replied, his answer a touch more controlled than usual. When he'd woken that morning, he'd immediately sought me out to apologize for his behavior the night before. I'd tried to console him, tell him it wasn't a problem. But his posture had been more rigid than usual, his words even more sparing, so I’d grudgingly accepted his apology.
"Inertia looks forward to testing herself against these Infernal drakes. And harvesting their hearts. She suspects they will make good Forge Hearts," Tresla said. She shifted back in her seat as Vaserra's wolf turned to stare at her when she spoke.
"Almost a shame we can't keep a few around for herding," I said, stroking my chin.
A laugh from Vaserra got me us to look at her. When she saw us all looking, her brows furrowed in confusion. "That… was that not a joke?"
"No…?"
"You wish to tame… Inferno drakes?"
"I mean, no need to tame them. Just stick them in a pit and toss food down to them. You have lots of sheep, right? Maybe we could buy some, feed the drakes that way, then harvest the drakes' hearts every year or so."
Vaserra's eyes narrowed as her followers both drew their spears. "I did not take you for one to buy and sell sheep. While my father may condone such practices, I am of the old ways. The sheep are to be protected so they may give us their plenty. They are not to be bought and sold like wheat. They are certainly not to be tossed to Inferno drakes so you can harvest their hearts!"
"Uh…" I replied, surprised at her vehemence. Probably shouldn't have been. People had a lot of weird traditions. And if sheep meant so much to her, I should've realized there was a whole cultural thing to it. "Sorry. I meant no offense. Where we come from, we don't even have sheep, at least, not that I'm aware of. Do the drakes eat anything else?"
"No… sheep?" Vaserra said, her eyes wide. Then she shook her head, looking back towards the drakes then at me again. "Are you truly set on this mad venture?"
"Not exactly. There are a lot of factors to consider. But they're lizards, right? They lay eggs?"
"Yes?" Vaserra replied, her brows furrowed as she looked to her companions as if they might be able to answer. They both shrugged.
"Then we can take the eggs and try with those. No reason to risk ourselves for a maybe. Especially if the sheep are in danger," I said. I might not understand why she cared so much, but I could still tell she did.
"That… would be acceptable," Vaserra said, her eyes moving towards the nearest drakes. "So long as we eliminate those before us."
"Deal. Well, let's get started then, shall we?"
A nod from Vaserra and we start outlining our plan. We'd use the same approach we used to get close to them, since we had superior mobility, between the wolves, Inertia and Fang. Inertia would mostly be on overwatch, ensuring nothing surprised us or to let us know when we'd drawn too much attention.
Calbern brought us forward, and Tresla and I readied our blasting rods, intent on starting the fight off running.
What I didn't anticipate was both of us hitting it in the head, and taking it out of the fight immediately. Neither of our aim was half as good as Calbern's so one of us simply hitting it was already impressive.
I shared a look of stupefaction with Tresla, even if all I could see was the hood of her cloak turned towards me.
"Ha, an excellent start!" Vaserra cried, her wolf bounding past as she waved us on to the next.
Thankful Calbern wasn't as shocked as Tresla and I, following after her. I took a moment to adjust, before Fang rolled along over the hill. The next wasn't as clean, yet Tresla and I still hit both of our initial shots.
At first I thought there might be some magic at play. But it was simpler than that. Tresla and I were both balancing the rods in the nook of the eye socket, and Calbern was lining us up perfectly.
Somehow, that it was as much Calbern's aim as ours was a relief.
After picking off the lone drakes, we turned our attention to the smaller groups, which required following the actual strategy. Which didn't work as well as we'd hoped. Most of the drakes had no interest in chasing something so much faster than them.
Which meant we adjusted, slowing our ride so they'd feel like they had a chance. Which also gave Vaserra and her companions a chance to show off their own skills.
Instead of closing in with their spears, they all summoned ice along the lengths, then hurled the ice forward while holding their spears back. I suspected the motion employed synergistic magic, because it seemed unlikely a human could throw a spear of ice hard enough to shatter rock at hundreds of feet. If a drake managed to summon their fiery breath, they might stop one of her companions’ spears, but never Vaserra's.
Slowly, we picked off the outer drakes. More than half of them were dead by the time we were stalled by the drakes' laziness. They simply refused to come out of the inner springs.
Since neither the wolves or Fang could navigate the springs easily, so once more we had to change tactics.
So, after some discussion, we agreed to hunt them on foot. We'd proven how effective the blasting rods were. I gladly gave mine up to Calbern after recharging it.
Inertia joined us, landing beside Tresla, who said, "Inertia requests the opportunity to test herself against an Inferno drake in single combat."
I glanced over to Vaserra, who had shed most of her furs, leaving them with her wolf. Her and her companions were now wearing light wool tunics and shorts, all with spears at the ready. Their arms and legs were covered by plates of ice, yet they were still sweating as we moved deeper, searching for our prey. Vaserra saw my look, and nodded. "If the Sky Steel warrior wishes to test herself, we will stand watch."
"Sounds good to me," I said, nodding at Inertia.
Inertia nodded back, then shook out her wings before taking the lead.
When we reached the next pack of Infernal drakes, Inertia let out a loud bellow. It was matched by a roar from the largest of the drakes in the pack.
It was clearly a bull, with thick black horns that glistened with internal fire. Fire that spread across the surface as it snorted, shaking its head as it answered her challenge. To my surprise, the other drakes stepped back as it moved forward. They'd always attacked us on sight before.
Us shooting them the second we could see them might've factored into that.
Inertia clanged forward, making more noise in those three strides than the entire time I'd known her. Which was impressive. She’d never been a quiet one. The drake wasn't sitting around waiting for her either. It charged forward, head lowered and covered in flame, nostrils shooting more fire out as it moved.
When it got close, Inertia bellowed once more, her wings flaring to the sides as she grabbed it by its thick horns and… twisted. The entire momentum of the Inferno bull drake was suddenly shifted sideways.
Inertia stood there, her wings letting off huge gusts of steam as it wrestled its way back onto its feet. I glanced over at Tresla, wondering if she'd share my disbelief, but she was fully focused on Inertia.
I looked back just in time to catch Inertia rising out of a crouch, her metal fist connecting with the bottom of the bull's jaw. The flame coming out of its nostrils flared brightly for a second, then cut out entirely. It seemed to hang there for a second, suspended in the air on her fist. Then the fire along its horns died out, dimming to a tiny flicker as the entire bull drake slumped to the ground.
Inertia stepped forward, putting a foot on the Inferno bull drake before turning towards the pack and bellowing once more.
The entire pack went down on their bellies, their heads tilted in submission.
Had…
Had Inertia just claimed a pack of Inferno drakes?
Comments
Draith
Edited to say they hunt in packs, but aren't herd creatures. These are different things in my head, but obviously I didn't make that clear
Draith
Edited to say they hunt in packs, but aren't herd creatures
Vroom
Might want to had that they aren't herd creatures but they have harems like gorillas maybe?
RJD
Said they were not pack animals and then said they are
