Post by wolfbane on Mar 6, 2005 13:41:33 GMT -8
I remember the day of the expedition to the fire mountain of Ethribrum better then anyone else, which would make sense for reasons soon to be explained. The quest I took lasted for many days; we traveled across the kingdom’s lands to the Volcano of Ethribrum, the only territory in our kingdom that had yet to be explored. A rather new plot of land, it was captured some years before from a band of thievish vampires. Oddly, there was nary a struggle, for they gave in without much of a fight. The land was then a part of our kingdom, and the queen wanted an expedition sent to find uses for her new fire mountain.
I was but a young lad then, an apprentice to my master, the Grand Sage. My master was a wise man in his middle years, skilled in mapping and plotting out charts, which was why he was chosen for this quest to the volcano. But he also knew a few tricks in the art of magic and sorcery. Then there were three others, young masters of the sword and shield; bodyguards for the Grand Sage and myself for obvious reasons. No one knew what lived up in that volcano, and the queen was not about to loose her precious Sage. I never found out why I was chosen among many other and more suitable people of the court, but the queen did find me rather annoying and possibly just wanted me out of her sight and out of trouble. My master also thought I would be a little more useful if I went with him keeping a journal, relaying messages, and the like.
So the great quest began! It was just the five of us, traveling across unknown territory. It was now up to myself, my master, and three warriors to plot out the area of this strange volcano for the good of our kingdom. But it was not easy going up that monstrous mountain of fire, with flaming ash raining constantly from the sunless sky, soot making its way into our tender eyes, the red rocked ground shifting beneath our feet, and the constant heat welling up from bellow. A body never gained any rest. Yet on we went.
Many days had passed before we reached the peak of the volcano and the nearing end of our travels. So far the expedition was a success, we had mapped out most of the volcano had collected a variety of rock samples. My master said that once the fire mount had been tamed, the land would be excellent for crop harvesting. Now at the pinnacle we stopped in our hike to take a moments rest in a small cave we found. We were all covered in a thick layer of ash and soot, and I had some hefty burns on my feet and hands, but I tried to ignore the pain as I helped my master with his mapping tasks. There we were, all perched upon a large bolder, taking sips from our water caskets, and flipping through charts, when a deafening roar sounded from deeper within the cave. At once the three warriors were up on their feet, poised for battle with their hands gripping their weapon shafts. My master too, rose and stared off into the dark depths of the cave. But none of them were ready. It came with the flick of an eye; steal claws flashing, bone teeth bared, muscles tightened, and its eyes…oh the eyes! Three pairs of bright yellow eyes, bloodshot with small black silted pupils staring right down into your very soul! The three headed beast lunged forward straight at the warriors.
The first man never had time to draw his sword before his head and half his arm was torn clean off his body. Blood splattered everywhere, including the remaining two warriors. One was blinded by this, and therefore, did not see the gaping mouth of the monster before it closed in over his head. I thought my master screamed, for I saw his mouth open, but because of the ringing in my ears I heard no sound.
The remaining warrior had his sword drawn by the time the three headed creature turned on him. He raised his weapon and with a mighty war cry, charged at the beast. Steel clashed against bone in a grinding thunder clap, but moments later the crushed figments of the warrior’s sword clattered uselessly to the ground, along with his left behind limbs. The monster then turned on my master, the last person standing who knew how to fight. He started chanting a spell and waving his arms about and then thrust a glowing sphere of power at one of the monster’s many heads. The head tilted back, opened its mouth, and swallowed the sphere whole! It then trusted its head forward and sent the power back at my master in a great rain shower. My master, the Great Sage, fell to the floor now nothing but a burned heap of robes and human bones.
Frantic, I tried to stand and run, but my legs had turned to jelly and refused to work. As quickly as I could, I scrambled backwards attempting to get away from the monster, but he was too fast, and was on me in the blink of an eye. Now I realized it was not just a monster, but a dragon, a three headed dragon! His hide was covered with glistening crimson scales that reflected what little light there was. Each of his legs was nearly a full tree trunk in width, and obviously twice as powerful. A long muscular tail impatiently thumped against the cave floor as its three heads peered down at me, jaws parted to reveal perfect sharp teeth.
“Wait! P-please s-s-spare me!” I somehow managed to meekly whimper.
But the dragon did not care; instead he tossed back his three heads and gave a mighty deep throated laugh which shook the entire cavern. I had to cover my ears to keep my head from splitting open!
“B-but you don’t understand! I c-cannot fight! I am but a messenger boy! H-have mercy!” With that I collapsed onto the cold hard merciless ground, hands covering my head, all my energy drained. This was the end!
Fortunately, one of the dragon heads seemed to hear my plea. With its long muzzle cocked to one side it stared at me for a moment, but another head was not willing to wait to meditate over my cry. His jaws a gap and placed right above my skull, a thick slime oozing between its teeth and over its gums. A second head waited right beside it; golden eyes full with hunger and lust. And then my savior spoke, “Hold it! Istashan! Lickombre! Perhaps this boy is getting somewhere…” I looked up at the third head, the one who had paused to hear my plea. Was this mercy? Perhaps not.
“What do you mean Phenara?!” An opposing head argued, as it turned with a low angered growl, “The only place this boy is getting to is inside our stomach! Do you know how long I have waited to taste the pure flesh of a mortal human? I have grown ill on the blood of vampires and have long waited to taste something new. Yet now at my moment of truth you tell me to halt?!”<br>
“Use your head for once, Istashan!” the beast called Phenara, my savior, continued. Its voice was full of just as much hate and anger as the other, “Think about it. These humans were obviously out scouting our land. It will not be long before whole herds of them will come wanting to expand their territory. Then not even you will be able to devour them all!”<br>
“Phenara, that’s fools talk! I told you eating too many vampires before night hour would give you a headache,” Istashan hissed back through bared fangs. His patience was beginning to dwindle, along with my time to live.
“It’s not the vampires, Istashan,” the third head, Lickombre, said. His eyes narrowing to vertical slits as his cunning plan unfolded, “But Phenara is right. They will bring armies that not even we can fell. Perhaps we should send this human whelp back to wherever he came from and tell his leader that great evil lives up in the fire mountain. An evil that cannot be tamed and a curse to be placed upon all who trespass. Maybe then they will not dare enter our lands.”<br>
Istashan stayed silent for a moment, thinking. Staring at me all the while as if I was a pound of beef up for sale at the market. Then he issued my sentence, “Alright…he can live. After all he is a messenger boy, might as well make use of him!”<br>
Phenara then turned his ghastly head in my direction, placing his nose right in front of my face. His breath smelt of decaying rodents and burned flesh, “Now, boy, listen closely. Tell your leader, or whoever sent you, that a great three headed dragon lives deep in the heart of this volcano. Should anymore of your people come to this land…”
“They shall meet the same end as your companions,” Lickombre finished icily as he raised a clawed hand holding the bloody remains of my friends which he mockingly toyed with.
“Now run!”<br>
In a panicked frenzy I ran, never looking back to the cave or volcano. But I can still hear their deep mechanical laughter echoing off the blood stained stones. The three headed monster of Ethribrum.
I was but a young lad then, an apprentice to my master, the Grand Sage. My master was a wise man in his middle years, skilled in mapping and plotting out charts, which was why he was chosen for this quest to the volcano. But he also knew a few tricks in the art of magic and sorcery. Then there were three others, young masters of the sword and shield; bodyguards for the Grand Sage and myself for obvious reasons. No one knew what lived up in that volcano, and the queen was not about to loose her precious Sage. I never found out why I was chosen among many other and more suitable people of the court, but the queen did find me rather annoying and possibly just wanted me out of her sight and out of trouble. My master also thought I would be a little more useful if I went with him keeping a journal, relaying messages, and the like.
So the great quest began! It was just the five of us, traveling across unknown territory. It was now up to myself, my master, and three warriors to plot out the area of this strange volcano for the good of our kingdom. But it was not easy going up that monstrous mountain of fire, with flaming ash raining constantly from the sunless sky, soot making its way into our tender eyes, the red rocked ground shifting beneath our feet, and the constant heat welling up from bellow. A body never gained any rest. Yet on we went.
Many days had passed before we reached the peak of the volcano and the nearing end of our travels. So far the expedition was a success, we had mapped out most of the volcano had collected a variety of rock samples. My master said that once the fire mount had been tamed, the land would be excellent for crop harvesting. Now at the pinnacle we stopped in our hike to take a moments rest in a small cave we found. We were all covered in a thick layer of ash and soot, and I had some hefty burns on my feet and hands, but I tried to ignore the pain as I helped my master with his mapping tasks. There we were, all perched upon a large bolder, taking sips from our water caskets, and flipping through charts, when a deafening roar sounded from deeper within the cave. At once the three warriors were up on their feet, poised for battle with their hands gripping their weapon shafts. My master too, rose and stared off into the dark depths of the cave. But none of them were ready. It came with the flick of an eye; steal claws flashing, bone teeth bared, muscles tightened, and its eyes…oh the eyes! Three pairs of bright yellow eyes, bloodshot with small black silted pupils staring right down into your very soul! The three headed beast lunged forward straight at the warriors.
The first man never had time to draw his sword before his head and half his arm was torn clean off his body. Blood splattered everywhere, including the remaining two warriors. One was blinded by this, and therefore, did not see the gaping mouth of the monster before it closed in over his head. I thought my master screamed, for I saw his mouth open, but because of the ringing in my ears I heard no sound.
The remaining warrior had his sword drawn by the time the three headed creature turned on him. He raised his weapon and with a mighty war cry, charged at the beast. Steel clashed against bone in a grinding thunder clap, but moments later the crushed figments of the warrior’s sword clattered uselessly to the ground, along with his left behind limbs. The monster then turned on my master, the last person standing who knew how to fight. He started chanting a spell and waving his arms about and then thrust a glowing sphere of power at one of the monster’s many heads. The head tilted back, opened its mouth, and swallowed the sphere whole! It then trusted its head forward and sent the power back at my master in a great rain shower. My master, the Great Sage, fell to the floor now nothing but a burned heap of robes and human bones.
Frantic, I tried to stand and run, but my legs had turned to jelly and refused to work. As quickly as I could, I scrambled backwards attempting to get away from the monster, but he was too fast, and was on me in the blink of an eye. Now I realized it was not just a monster, but a dragon, a three headed dragon! His hide was covered with glistening crimson scales that reflected what little light there was. Each of his legs was nearly a full tree trunk in width, and obviously twice as powerful. A long muscular tail impatiently thumped against the cave floor as its three heads peered down at me, jaws parted to reveal perfect sharp teeth.
“Wait! P-please s-s-spare me!” I somehow managed to meekly whimper.
But the dragon did not care; instead he tossed back his three heads and gave a mighty deep throated laugh which shook the entire cavern. I had to cover my ears to keep my head from splitting open!
“B-but you don’t understand! I c-cannot fight! I am but a messenger boy! H-have mercy!” With that I collapsed onto the cold hard merciless ground, hands covering my head, all my energy drained. This was the end!
Fortunately, one of the dragon heads seemed to hear my plea. With its long muzzle cocked to one side it stared at me for a moment, but another head was not willing to wait to meditate over my cry. His jaws a gap and placed right above my skull, a thick slime oozing between its teeth and over its gums. A second head waited right beside it; golden eyes full with hunger and lust. And then my savior spoke, “Hold it! Istashan! Lickombre! Perhaps this boy is getting somewhere…” I looked up at the third head, the one who had paused to hear my plea. Was this mercy? Perhaps not.
“What do you mean Phenara?!” An opposing head argued, as it turned with a low angered growl, “The only place this boy is getting to is inside our stomach! Do you know how long I have waited to taste the pure flesh of a mortal human? I have grown ill on the blood of vampires and have long waited to taste something new. Yet now at my moment of truth you tell me to halt?!”<br>
“Use your head for once, Istashan!” the beast called Phenara, my savior, continued. Its voice was full of just as much hate and anger as the other, “Think about it. These humans were obviously out scouting our land. It will not be long before whole herds of them will come wanting to expand their territory. Then not even you will be able to devour them all!”<br>
“Phenara, that’s fools talk! I told you eating too many vampires before night hour would give you a headache,” Istashan hissed back through bared fangs. His patience was beginning to dwindle, along with my time to live.
“It’s not the vampires, Istashan,” the third head, Lickombre, said. His eyes narrowing to vertical slits as his cunning plan unfolded, “But Phenara is right. They will bring armies that not even we can fell. Perhaps we should send this human whelp back to wherever he came from and tell his leader that great evil lives up in the fire mountain. An evil that cannot be tamed and a curse to be placed upon all who trespass. Maybe then they will not dare enter our lands.”<br>
Istashan stayed silent for a moment, thinking. Staring at me all the while as if I was a pound of beef up for sale at the market. Then he issued my sentence, “Alright…he can live. After all he is a messenger boy, might as well make use of him!”<br>
Phenara then turned his ghastly head in my direction, placing his nose right in front of my face. His breath smelt of decaying rodents and burned flesh, “Now, boy, listen closely. Tell your leader, or whoever sent you, that a great three headed dragon lives deep in the heart of this volcano. Should anymore of your people come to this land…”
“They shall meet the same end as your companions,” Lickombre finished icily as he raised a clawed hand holding the bloody remains of my friends which he mockingly toyed with.
“Now run!”<br>
In a panicked frenzy I ran, never looking back to the cave or volcano. But I can still hear their deep mechanical laughter echoing off the blood stained stones. The three headed monster of Ethribrum.