At the Altar of Dragons

Session 33 | Chapter 2

Following Zeref’s trail through the city brings me to a short set of steps leading to a building set below street level. I slip down the stairs and turn to press my back against the door, wanting to ensure that no one is watching or following me. My hand finds the door handle blindly, and when I expect the latch to release…it doesn’t.

“What?” I whisper, barely audible, as I spin around to stare at the unaccommodating object. I try it again and still nothing–the door is locked. I don’t have time for this–

Taking a chance, I hiss, raising my voice just enough to be heard by someone inside. “Zeref! You bastard! Open the door!”

Sounds of scuffling come from inside, followed by scrambling to unlock the door. It flies open to reveal a familiar blue tortle. His face is a mixture of shock and relief as he pulls me into an overwhelming hug and drags me inside. My chest swells–I’m unsure if it’s more from joy at seeing he’s alive or from the fact that he hugged me. Zeref has never been the most outwardly affectionate member of our party, and following the cold shoulders I received this morning, this sign that he still cares is enough to make me choke up.

A low, raspy scream escapes me as he releases me from the hug. In a squeaky whisper, I cry, “Everything’s chaos outside!”

His tone is haunted as he replies, “Yes.”

My brow furrows as I remember that he ran from where the rest of the party was, and I level him with a frustrated glare. “Why are you here?” I scold.

“Because everyone died!” he cries, his voice cracking with pain. “I just was able to bring Blue back. Everyone fucking died! I watched every one of them fall.”

My chest cracks seeing the pain in his expression, the love and affection Zeref truly does have for our little band of misfits. I grab his arms, steadying him and pulling his gaze to mine as I firmly state, “No! They walked away, Zeref! I just spoke to Perona; Raesh is alive too!”

Tears immediately form in his eyes, and his lip quivers; he clearly doesn’t believe me, as much as he wants to. “No, Maire! They fucking died!”

“I just talked to Perona!” I repeat, trying to break through whatever scene is replaying in Zeref’s mind.

He pulls away from me and paces across the dark, dusty room. Over his shoulder, he throws, “Stop trying to make me feel better!”

I sigh, and lower my voice to a neutral tone as I ask, “Did you almost die?”

“No, I’m okay,” he replies, angling towards me more. “But my turret was destroyed. My homunculus died. Everyone fucking died!” He lists, his words biting and raw.

“But Blue’s back now?” I ask, trying to get his mind to turn to something positive. I need to get him in a state where he can leave this place, where he will be able to handle what we’ll likely face outside. Whether he believes that our party is intact or not is moot. He will see that when we’re back at the Crystal Tree with the others.

The blue guard drake walks out from behind the bar and over to me. I smile sweetly at him as he sits in front of me, nuzzling gently against my outstretched hand. Solemnly, Zeref says, “I just finished resummoning him.” He looks directly at the drake now, and reassuringly tells him, “See–I told you I could bring you back.”

I watch my friend and his familiar share an innocent moment–envious of their relationship. A tiny part of me aches, because seeing them like this reminds me of what Goose and I used to have. I’ve accepted that Goose wasn’t who I thought he was, but there is a special dynamic between a person and their spirit companion. Lendys is more than I ever could have imagined as a partner, and I feel that’s in part due to the unfiltered trust that I had in Goose. I will never regret the honesty that I had with him; but I do wonder if that small part of me will ever stop grieving the loss of the little emerald drake.

After a moment, I place my hand on Zeref’s arm lightly, and in a hushed tone tell him, “We need to go. Raesh is meeting Layna at the entrance to the Crystal Tree, and we’ve got to go get everyone else. Then we have to steal a skyship and get out of here.” I pause as he looks at me. Fear is in his eyes, raw and brutal, but I know that if I can get him back in one piece, his fears will, at least in part, be alleviated. Tenderly, I add, “It’ll be okay. They’re not dead. They can’t be dead.”

His eyes well with tears, but he nods and quietly replies, “Let’s go.”

“Let’s go,” I repeat. As I walk to the door, I instruct, “You have to be sneaky. My spell is still active, that will help us, but we’re going to be running. We don’t have the luxury of taking our time.” When I turn, he’s directly behind me with Blue at his side. Looking him squarely in the eye, I ask once more, “Are you ready?”

He nods, more confident than I’ve seen him in the last few minutes.

Before I turn to open the door, I quickly add, “Don’t run away from me.”

In the alcove entrance to the bar, I crouch low, surveying the area before we enter the mayhem and begin our sprint. Behind me, Zeref whispers, “We can get there faster by flying.”

I lean back, closer to him, intrigued by the idea. “Okay? Would flying call attention to us?”

“I wasn’t bothered on the way here…” he murmurs, shrugging his shoulders.

It’s a risk being up in the air. It could make us more of a target, but also could keep us above the looters in the streets and out of their focus. Weighing if the risk is worth it, I reply, “Don’t get us killed.”

We climb the stairs to street level, and Zeref fidgets with a ring on his hand. In a flash of blue light, the drake beside us transforms into a blue wyrmling, his body lengthening and sprouting wings capable of carrying a tortle and a human. I nudge him playfully and quip, “Hey, we’re getting those lessons after all.”

He smiles and climbs on Blue’s back, situating himself so I can fit behind him, but something catches my attention down the street. Contrasting the dark metal of the buildings around it is a floating figure, slowly moving down the street. A high pitch crackling sound emanates from it, pulsing across the cityscape as it scans the area. It pauses briefly, and the whine deepens to a rumble before it raises its hand. A sickly green beam of energy shoots out of it at a building.

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My stomach lurches as I watch the steel and glass shatter, spraying across the air before disintegrating into nothingness. The destruction doesn’t stop there though. The beam cut deeper into the building–cries and screams can be heard above the cacophony outside. Dozens of people fall out of the open face of the building… no, they aren’t people.

Bones.

They were people just a breath ago.

But now their bodies are dissolved, stripped, leaving only their skeletons to fall the dozens of feet to the street below.

“RUN!” I scream at Zeref.

The tortle looks all too interested as he muses, “Do you think I could check it out though first?”

Gods, fucking artificers!

“No! Run! Now!” I demand, smacking Blue on the ass to get him to take off, and hopefully get Zeref out of the range of this monstrosity.

After the figure concludes its attack on the building, it continues its slow, methodical progress down the street. I breathe out, thankful that it appears like we’ve not been seen by it, and prepare to follow Blue from the ground. My hopes are wasted though. The momentary relief I felt at sending Zeref and Blue off in the opposite direction is eviscerated when I turn and begin to run, only to see another one round a corner ahead of them.

The mechanical bass vibrates the buildings beside us, shaking the debris on the ground at my feet. Momentarily, I feel the uncontrollable urge to scream. But screaming won’t help right now. Screaming will get me killed, will get Zeref killed, and I can’t have that on my conscience. “We’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. We’ll be fine,” I repeat, equal parts prayer and promise.

My vision snaps into focus, allowing instinct to take over. I pull my bow from my back. Energy vibrates through this new bow, forming a golden glowing string that connects the limbs of the weapon. Adrenaline floods my veins, and if we weren’t escaping for our lives, I would revel in the excitement of pulling back the string and loosing an arrow formed of emerald energy. It finds its target in the torso of the figure closest to Zeref and Blue. Energy crackles through the glowing form, and a wicked smile forms on my face.

Good, you can be hurt.

I pull back the string and aim once more, releasing the magical arrow at the same figure. This time though, when the arcane arrow connects with its target, I mutter an incantation, transforming the force driven missile into a lightning storm inside the creature. Unable to dodge the attack, the translucent form fractures as the electricity ricochets through its body, lighting it up like a beacon in this hellscape before the form comes back to whole. Satisfied with myself and knowing I can’t remain here, I nod and sprint down the street as Blue and Zeref soar above in the sky.

Run.

Faster.

Jump over that–

Dammit–

Overhead Zeref shouts down to me, “Try to keep up!” and I nearly careen into a fractured beam projecting out of the building beside me.

Shit–RUN!

The high pitched whirring returns and my blood runs cold, chilling my hot skin as I continue to run. I can’t stop–I can’t look back just because I hear that sound. I’d likely seal our fate if I did that. And then an even icier thought shocks my system–I'd seal Lendys’ fate, too.

The deep thrum sounds, sending debris falling from overhead. I duck, holding my arms above me in an attempt to deflect anything that might hit me. That unnerving green light tinges the air above me, and an involuntary scream wretches from my throat as Blue is hit. The wyrmling form is reduced to a faint indigo dust floating aimlessly on the air as Zeref plummets.

My heart gets lodged in my throat, until a swirl of magic envelopes him, and his fall slows to a gentle descent. The relief is brief, as a moment later, my vision goes white as pain consumes my entire being. For a second time today, my body feels as thought it’s being wrenched apart, all the moisture pulled from me as my bones crack, threatening to crumble as my flesh constricts against the magic.

Run.

Don’t stop.

You can’t stop.

I push harder, and my bones nearly give at the effort, but I push through the reach of the arcane beam. My breathing is shallow, coming in sporadic gasps as I glance back to see Zeref land on the street behind me. He pulls out a small mechanical cube which he tosses in the air. As it arcs, the cube spins, shifting and transforming into his turret before activating the contraption.

A single pulse of force shoots at the figure whose magic, I assume, nearly brought me to my knees. I turn my focus back to running, though slower now after the attack. A sputtering sound echoes off the buildings, and the cheer of triumph that Zeref makes tells me the creature is no longer a threat.

Pounding footsteps come up quickly behind me, and he flashes me a proud grin as he reaches my side. He shouts, “Don’t leave me!” before continuing ahead.

Shaking my head, I call back, “Not planning on it!” At this I stop, pulling out my bow once more, before my gaze lands on the remaining glowing white figure in pursuit. With my eyes locked on the figure, I mutter an incantation, allowing the figure’s physical being to be a beacon in my mind. Red pools on the edges of my vision in my rage, and I place the bow back across my back.

I’m sick of this place, sick of the overly mechanized systems for everything, sick of these creatures, sick of nearly dying for a second time today.

I’m so sick of this shit!

I pull out a small dagger from the belt at my hip, and put the cold steel to my lips as I mutter the words that will unlock power beyond what this simple blade could ever inflict on its own. I trail my finger down the blade as runes flash along the metal, and then I throw it.

The blade disappears in a flash as it releases from my hand, but a glowing duplicate soars across the expanse between me and the figure standing between us and the Crystal Tree. The glowing emerald blade sinks into the creature, and energy crackles out from the entry point of my weapon, creating fissures along its shell before it reforms and pivots to me.

I lock eyes with Zeref and shout above the high-pitch screeching sounds coming from the creature, “I’ll catch you! Don’t wait for me!” Having just attacked the creature, and wanting to call more attention away from Zeref, I bolt back in the other direction, running as far as my legs will carry me before I skid to a halt behind a crate.

Just in time, I peek my head above the lip of the crate to see green energy consume Zeref. My heart plummets out of my body as I see him experience what I am now all too familiar with.

His natural defenses must have allowed him to shake off the attack better than I did, and he points his toy gun at the turret. With a faint pop, the machine activates, sending a shockwave of energy to the creature. A hole blasts through the center of the being, and as though it’s being pulled in on itself, it collapses into a fine mist before our eyes.

Blinking my eyes rapidly, I stare at the spot the glowing figure previously inhabited, waiting for it to materialize again and resume its assault. One moment, two, three pass before I suck in a breath, satisfied that it’s not coming back.

My relief is short-lived. We still need to get back to the others, and out of this city. My gut is telling me these aren’t the only two glowing entities roaming the city–even thinking about the mechanical clicking and thrumming they made as their powers charged causes my stomach to do somersaults.

We’ve got to get to the others.

Putting on a brave face, I jump to my feet and sprint back to Zeref, clapping him on the back as I say, “Let’s go, buddy!” The statement is meant in part as thanks, in part as encouragement, and most importantly as an order–because the fight out of this city it just starting.