Chapter 54: Cave Of Giant Devil Bats
Five hours later, when the sun blazed mercilessly above and the air shimmered with heat, a large force of Guardsmen assembled before the gaping mouth of the cave in Ivory Hills.
Their thick, leathery snouts twitched at the scent of dust and blood wafting from within, and when they spoke, their voices rumbled low, accompanied by the glint of fangs behind parted jaws. Shields were slung over their backs, while their sabers rested confidently in their claws, steel gleaming in the sun’s harsh light.
About nineteen among them stood out, Alpha Dreadclaws, taller, broader, their black fur marked with streaks of gray, as if time and war had painted them. Each one moved with a deliberate menace, their predatory gazes scanning the surroundings.
The rest were standard Dreadclaws, still formidable and battle-tested. Together, they formed a terrifying phalanx of strength, eyes fixed on the cave as if daring to defy what was within.
A few held blazing torches, their orange flames flickering against the pale light of noon. At the front of them all stood Kaelor, their commander, his posture tensed but resolute, with Ignis, his longsword, resting across his shoulder, unsheathed and gleaming like molten moonlight.
He had long learned the lesson Edric taught him with near-death precision: the beauty of a weapon meant nothing if it couldn’t be drawn in time. A mistake once, nearly a death sentence. Though Kaelor stood at a high rank, that flaw still haunted him. Ignis was no short blade, it was nearly as long as his leg, a silver-ranked sword that could cleave through the hide of a Wolf King or shear a human-sized bat clean in half. But use had dulled its enchantment. Its magical aspect, once brilliant, now pulsed faintly, still potent, but no longer fearsome.
Turning his head to the left, Kaelor gave a short nod to Hound, the silent signal of readiness. Hound nodded back, massive sabers resting against his back. Then Kaelor shifted his gaze to Vi, standing poised on his right, a curved dagger strapped tight against her hip, her fingers twitching slightly as if already imagining the rhythm of a fight.
Behind them stood a line of human Guardsmen, their faces masked by determination. Some tied ropes to heavy stones and prepared wooden pikes, their sharpened points like a forest of thorns. The clatter of wood and grunt of effort gave the still air a sense of anticipation, like a storm preparing to break.
Without a word, Kaelor lit his torch and hurled it forward into the yawning blackness of the cave. But instead of sailing far, the flame dropped almost instantly, vanishing into a shadowy chasm just beyond the entrance. It struck stone five meters below with a dull crack, and the flame sputtered into darkness, smothered by dust and decay.
Kaelor took hold of a rope and descended. As his boots touched the uneven floor of the cavern, a brittle snap echoed, he had stepped on a bone. The sound reverberated eerily, as if the cave itself was groaning in protest.