Chapter 3: Danger Approaches

The sun had been brighter than ever before in the last days. The weather was not too cold, despite it only being a few days that the winter was over. The birds that appeared only in summer had already started returning from the warm countries where they seek refuge in the winter. Not a single cloud could be seen in the sky. Despite rain being a common sight in the lands of Dangrim, the last days had all been exceptionally sunny and warm.

Nathan could not help but believe that it was his companion’s work. The two did not talk much. The other man did not want to talk about the future nor the present. He kept his mouth shut about everything regarding his amazing gifts. In fact, the dragon was a much better companion. Nathan often saw himself reflected in the creature’s pure green eyes. The elegant creature was more than lonely. It was said that he was seriously injured by humans, while protecting his family. He killed many hordes of soldiers until he was finally captured. Now his pitch black wings were damaged beyond repairing and perhaps the sad animal would never be able to roam free in the skies. The reason that it chose to follow Nathan remained unknown, even to Rhasman.

Nathan often got tired of walking. After he was too tired to walk, the dragon let him ride him without complaining. He was thin and definitely not strong. The other kids of the village often bullied him, but his brother was always there to protect him and beat them senseless. Now that he had to fight for himself and his survival, he had a hard time getting used to it.

“From the looks of it, you are a sorcerer…right?” Nathan asked. The other man smirked. “You could say that…I have some qualities of what people call a sorcerer…How polite of you to ask.” Said Rhasman sarcastically.

“I’ve been thinking that…perhaps you could help with the transportation. Why do you not teleport us directly to the kingdom of Dangrim?” continued Nathan. “Do not even suggest it. Magic is not a force to be messed with. You should never use it, except from cases of absolute necessity. Despite the damage of the man who uses magic, the balance of the world wavers. Why am I even trying to explain something so serious to a simpleton like you?” Nathan did not complain. He really understood nothing from what he was told.

The group had been climbing the mountain trails of Salinn for almost three days. The kingdom of Dangrim was on the other side of the mountains. A pretty strategic location, if one thinks that their main battle force consists of dragons, which means they attack from the air.

They were almost to the top of the mountains. Nathan could not wait to see the day that he would look at the other side. The place that his new, glorious life would start. Nathan could see a narrow passage, huge rocks surrounding it. They looked like they would crumble at any moment,. The ground was uphill, and the white sky could be easily seen at the end of the path.

“Are you sure that it is safe to go through there?” Nathan asked. Rhasman chuckled at that comment. “Safe? Look around more carefully…”

Nathan looked at his surroundings more carefully. He was horrified.

The huge ice shards formed by winter blizzards had not yet melted. Inside the crystals, he could see…faces. Deadpan, expressionless faces. Those people were frozen alive. Some of them were soldiers. Others were witches. Some of them were even young children, exploring the mountains from their thirst for the unknown. Nathan felt dizzy and was about to fall. The dragon anchored him with his head, in order to not lose his balance.

“Do not falter. Those people lost their lives out of foolishness and recklessness…Come on, go on.” With that, Rhasman pushed Nathan so that he would keep moving forward.

Nathan tried to only look in front of him. Cold sweat ran down his face. He was more sensitive than other people his age. He could not bear looking at corpses or see people die. He felt so weak and helpless. Right now he tried to only look in front of him and walk. Walk uphill until he reached the top of the mountains. Soon, he found out that was a bad idea.

On the top of the mountain there was a clearing. Nathan thought he was at the top of the world. They were now higher than clouds. He could see nothing, except from the eternal white sky. He felt like the king of the world. How wrong he was. Suddenly, the ground started shaking. Nathan fell to his knees. The dragon began growling. Rhasman was on guard. He then quickly pushed Nathan away. “Above you, you fool!”

The earthquake ceased. A creature had crushed the ground that Nathan was standing on. It was as tall as an average human. His skin was dark blue and he had pointy horns on his head. On his back stood two big, bat-like wings. It was a demon of the snow. Those horrible beings most of the time hided in forgotten places and took their chances to kill humans. They enjoyed taking their lives and sending them to hell where they would suffer eternally, in their place.

“That explains the frozen humans…”seriously said Rhasman. The being was now smirking. He held out his hand. A crystal shard appeared on his hand, pointier than the sharpest blade.

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">Nathan could not think clearly. He was shivering. Fear had taken over his body. The gruesome being was staring at him. He pointed the crystal at him and immediately threw it at him. Nathan screamed and closed his eyes.

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">He did not feel pain. He only heard some groans. “OPEN YOUR EYES!” He heard a voice and, without realising, he immediately obeyed.

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">Between him and the Demon now stood Rhasman. The crystal had pierced through the chest of the man. Blood was leaking out of the hole from his chest. The man was still standing. He talked in a calm tone. “Nathan, listen…take the dragon. Ride him then run. Run down the mountain. More of those beings are about to arrive. Once they smell blood, they do not let go… I’ll exterminate them all to ensure your trip is safe. Now go!”

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">Nathan hesitated. “Your wound! You’ll die!”

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">More demons landed on the ground. They rose their hands on the sky, summoning a snowstorm.

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">“Go…don’t you see? You’ll die…what about your brother?”

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">Nathan was not sure, but for a moment he thought he saw a tear fall from the man’s eyes. He held out his brother’s sword. He was not scared anymore. “I want no other sacrifices! How about what you said? Magic is not supposed to be used carelessly! I’ll fight them!”

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">Rhasman smiled. He reminded him of Ortaris, the one also called god by men for his great achievements. The boy was pure and innocent…too innocent. He would not survive like that. He looked at the dragon. They exchanged some silent words. The creature nodded. It ran and dag his fangs on Nathan’s shirt. Then it forcefully had Nathan ride him and then swiftly ran away.

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">Nathan was shouting, but he Rhasman no longer hear him. The snowstorm was getting heavy. The wound was freezing, causing Rhasman pain beyond any imagination.

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">The creatures surrounded him, smirking. “You ghastly beings…how dare you use ice to kill me? Me, the maste of all elements…”

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">Rhasman then began making hand signs and chanting. The skies opened up and created a portal. He was pierced through a second crystal. Then a third one. Rhasman gave the last of his strength to continue chanting. The sky then raged and roared. It was painted in a blood red colour. The sorcerer’s wrath caused a rain of fire to commence. He had finished chanting. Meteors were coming down from the sky. Huge flaming rocks, coming from the heavens were now crushing down to earth.

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">“Thalassa is not dead yet. There is still one last hope…” With those words, a tower of fire painted the mountains blood red. The evil creatures were melting and screaming. Rhasman had vanished.

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">Nathan was watching from afar. The top of the mountain erupted like it was a volcano. Nothing would remain to remind this mountain, after the fire would spread. The dragon was running so fast that they were already reaching the outskirts of the mountain. Nathan could not cry. He was not sad at all. Such a man would not die that easily. He was positive that they would meet again in the future. The creature stopped and Nathan stood on his own.

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">“Now it’s the two of us, dear friend…let’s go then. To Dangrim…” The sun was shining once again now. Nathan had had enough of losing his dear ones. He would change that. For once in his life, he was confident. He felt the whole world spread right in front of him. And so his journey continued.

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">The princess stopped narrating. The king looked at her, interested. “So, is the sorcerer dead yet?” He asked.

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">Laertia shook her head. “I don’t know…most likely he is. No man would survive that…” the woman looked sad. The king was about to slap her. As he had done many times in the past. That girl would unfortunately success him to the throne. She could not be light hearted and worry about every single civilian of the kingdom. After all, the priority is increasing the wealth of the royal family. She would soon have to understand that, even if it had to be the hard way.

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">“…Never mind them…what about the other boy? Alan, was it?”

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">Laertia was musing. “It feels like…that is about to begin as well. I have not seen him in my dreams lately…I wonder how he is doing?” the princess said, staring with her sad blue eyes at the shiny sky, almost painfully.

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">“You’re the one who will tell me that. I need to know about him as well.” All he wanted to know was if one of the boys would be a threat or an ally of him. He had to know soon. “Sleep now, and tell me what you see.”

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"LaBambaLET";mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">The king drugged his daughter to sleep. The sooner he knew, the better for him. The girl struggled to keep her eyes open and escape. She failed. She fell deeply to sleep. She saw a bright castle in a faraway country. It was…the kingdom of Artemisia.