Zoe Rainhard's Point of View
"Congratulations Markus! Happy 30th!" We shouted in unison along with Drake and the other guards who accompanied us, surprising Markus who had just returned from his watch in the cold night.
Markus put a hand to his chest with such an exaggerated expression of surprise that he made us all laugh at the faces he was making.
"I can't believe it! All this for me?" He said with clear false astonishment, before letting out a laugh. "haha, well, to be honest, I suspected you were up to something, but eh… thanks. Seriously, thanks everyone."
Seeing him smile like that, so genuinely happy, filled me with a warmth that contrasted with the cold outside, even though the surprise, wasn't as secret as I planned.
After congratulating him with a hug, I moved away a bit while I watched others talk to him, patting him on the back while joking about some things. Smiling, I looked at Drake who was next to me, sitting while smiling for Markus, much calmer than since that experience.
Sometimes I feel like time flies without us noticing…. I thought, nostalgic for the things that had happened this last half year.
After Thania, the Goddess of Spirits disappeared in that historic event in Skipton, Drake had collapsed from the total loss of mana in his core, which scared me a lot, thinking something had happened to him for having the Dragon God's fragment inside him, but, after confirming it was nothing serious, I managed to calm down, regaining my composure to be the support he needed at that moment.
The fact that a mythological Goddess appeared outside her home was an event no one expected, because after meeting with Kaito and Jael we talked about it, in fact, the rest of the day and for the following days, and even weeks, nothing else was talked about.
While Kaito and Markus commented on the incredible feat the night of the incident, I could only watch Drake, quiet and pensive, as we shared our perspectives with the rest of the group.
The day after the divine visit, we said goodbye to Kaito and Jael, promising to fight together again if we ever met in the future.
After that, Drake and I prepared to leave Skipton with Markus, heading towards Barton without a clear objective, because every time I asked Drake what we should do now that everything from his dream had passed, he simply answered that he didn't know, clearly showing his frustration and depression, which grew more and more with the passing days, weeks and months.
After trying several things to cheer him up, one particular night, a little over a week ago, I saw Drake so downcast that I decided to do something drastic to cheer him up, something that was hard for me to decide at that moment, which was to be honest with myself, by expressing what I truly wanted.
I entered the room silently, finding him sitting on the edge of his bed, his gaze lost on the floor. The silence was heavy, filled with a frustration I could almost touch. I sat down next to him, not sure what to say.
"Drake," I began softly, so as not to startle him. "I was thinking and… since we're just traveling with Markus to the border, why don't we cross the great forest and Cafle lake? To pass through the Kingdom of Dunumese and reach the south of the Kingdom of Mitian. I've been looking into it… and they say it's a fantastic place, with snow-covered mountains and beautiful landscapes. So I thought that… m-maybe we could settle there, you know… buy a house a-and live just the two of us, a-and since after all… there's no place tying us down."
Drake looked up, confused by my words before replaying them in his mind.
"Huh? Settle in a house? With mountains and… and snow?" He said, his voice a bit hoarse before his eyes opened like a pair of plates. "'...the snow buried us up to our knees.' Of course! We haven't gone through that yet!"
He shouted, jumping for joy, changing the atmosphere so abruptly that it didn't give me time to understand what he was referring to.
Shortly after, he explained to me that in his dream we were both walking in a place with a lot of snow, and that we were doing it without any carriage or person nearby, that the two of us were alone near the tree of the Beginning, something that hadn't happened yet.
"So, that means…." "That's right! Our journey still continues, we still have something to do until we reach that point." He continued, animated, before going on talking as he planned in detail what we would have to do to get there.
After that conversation, we lay down to sleep, but unable to, I got up for a moment in the dark surroundings, sighed with a racing heart, before turning my head and watching him rest.
With an expression of joy, Drake rested more calmly than in the last few days, making me think about the things that had happened.
I gathered a lot of courage to propose living together… but, he minimized it and pushed it aside upon discovering that we should continue traveling… Ahh… even though it hurt me at that moment, I'm glad he's better now. I said to myself, remembering his plan to stay in Barton and walk to Macury, the border with Dunumese.
I'd better forget it too, at least for now, because if I'm honest… before, I didn't entirely believe in his visions or what he said. I thought at that moment, watching him silently as the moonlight passed through the glass and illuminated his face. I had never heard of magic that showed you the future, or anything like it, so… it seemed more like something out of a story what he told me rather than a fact. But, after seeing what I saw in Skipton… and especially after seeing that expression of terror form on his face, it made me reproach myself for not taking him seriously, so, to avoid something similar I promised myself never to doubt him again.
I recalled, before returning to the present.
Markus's celebration continued, with music blasting and jugs of beer passing from hand to hand celebrating his birthday, while outside, a strong snowstorm battered our small and at the same time large shelter just five days from arriving in Barton.
…
The next day, while everyone was still recovering from the party that lasted until dawn, I got ready to go on watch with Axel, a warrior who always carried a large axe on her back.
"It's too cold outside, isn't it?" I asked after analyzing and inwardly thanking that we were in a carriage.
"Yeah, you're right." She replied, looking through the glass at the medium-sized mountains surrounding us, completely covered in snow. "According to Brath, it's normal for this part of the Kingdom to be like this at this time of year."
"Really? And here I thought it was a natural phenomenon, since just a month ago we were surrounded by desert." I commented, checking the front section to verify there were no problems with the passenger carriages, since unlike the trip to Skipton, we had been assigned to watch the rear of the caravan.
The journey continued normally for the next few hours. The snowstorm had subsided with the first light of day, and now the sun was beginning to peek over the white mountains, painting the sky a pale orange and making the snow shine brightly.
It was a beautiful landscape, so calmly, I did a routine check of the surroundings with Perception, a skill that guaranteed our contract as guards for me and Drake. Extending my senses, I began to analyze the area around us, when suddenly, I felt something.
An anomaly. A strange concentration of mana, to the east, a kilometer from where we were.
How strange... I thought, frowning as what I was feeling was not normal.
"Axel." I said aloud, without taking my concentration off the point. "I feel something strange to the east, one kilometer away."
Axel, who was next to me checking the edge of her axe, looked up immediately. As the guard in charge of the carriage, her expression turned serious. "Try to find out what it is. Because I'm starting to get a bad feeling too."
I nodded, closing my eyes to focus better on my spell. Injecting more mana into my spell, I amplified the range and sharpness of Perception. The mana signatures became clear, because the anomaly was indeed an aura coming from five creatures, five powerful presences that were moving quite fast through the air, approaching….
My heart skipped a beat. It can't be...
I recognized them by the shape they had thanks to the reconstruction I made in my head. They were Thunderbirds, Thunder birds.
The image of an old book I had read in the library of Cherphy Castle, in Clifland came to my mind suddenly. I remember they came from an illustration, where a colossal bird was seen, with four wings, feathers that looked like they were made of steel and eyes that glowed with pure electricity.
"Class A. Extremely aggressive and territorial." I remembered reading aloud when I was still a child. "Cold weather hunters. They possess an innate affinity with lightning, to the extent of being able to create small electrical storms to hunt their prey. All adventurers are advised to avoid any contact. The mortality rate in a direct encounter for a Legend Rank adventurer is over eighty percent."
A shiver ran down my spine as I returned to the present, making me react quickly to report what was coming.
"Axel, it's five adult Thunderbirds!" I said quickly, my voice a little higher from the urgency. "They are very dangerous!"
Axel, hearing the type of monsters they were, didn't waste a second, quickly grabbing the alarm horn that hung at the watch post, giving three long, sharp blows, the signal for maximum alert.
"Driver! Maximum alert! Thunder birds to the east! Connect me quickly with Carriage One!" Axel shouted, causing the driver to get scared by the tone of the alert upon hearing her. Nodding in panic, he quickly grabbed the Yetsu, a magical instrument shaped like a black box used to communicate with another device on the same frequency, passing it immediately to Axel.
"This is Carriage Four!" Axel shouted into the device. "I repeat, five adult Thunderbirds to the east, approaching fast!"
There was a second of static before a deep voice responded. "Received, Carriage Four! What are the instructions!?" "All guards to maximum defensive position! Notify the others to get out and expect a battle!"
With the order given, the entire caravan began to stop in the middle of the mountains, making my worry increase for what might come. At the same time, while various thoughts passed through my head, the rest of the guards resting on the lower levels began to climb up the hatch, alerted by the alarm, including Drake and Markus.
He approached me quickly, his face full of confusion. "Zoe, what's wrong?"
Before I could tell him anything, Axel began to speak, her voice resonating with authority. "Attention everyone! Five Thunder birds are approaching from the east!"
Analyzing the atmosphere, I could see the worry on the faces of some guards, as it seemed they knew exactly what they would be facing, while others worried about the term "Class A" that Axel mentioned afterward.
"Listen!" Axel shouted, her voice cutting the tension. "The strategy is 'Dome'! Our squad will cover these three passenger carriages! Carriage Two and Three will take care of theirs! I will take the front! Zoe, Drake, left flank group 3! Brath, Tino, right group 4! The rest, form the defensive line and don't let anything get close!"
After the final instructions, we all headed to the back door of the wagon. Upon opening it, the cold was immediately noticeable, because a strong gust of icy wind hit my face, reminding me that we were no longer protected by the heat spell from inside.
Jumping from the railing to the path, my feet sank deep into the snow that covered it, making it a bit annoying to walk.
"Careful." Drake commented, having jumped right after me, before extending a hand for me to climb to a slightly firmer spot.
As I took it, he took the opportunity to ask in a low, serious voice. "Is the situation really that serious?"
I looked at him intently, with an expression full of worry. "Yes." I replied. "Facing one of them... it's like fighting an experienced Legend Rank adventurer. And well, in this case it will be against five of them."
Drake, upon hearing my words, nodded slowly. "I understand… in that case we'll need to use everything." He said with a smile.
Feeling the mana leave his core, I saw him activate his Atlas rune, so that a second later, our weapons appeared in his hands from his pocket dimension, handing me my long blade and a pair of mana crystals.
"Thanks." I said, grabbing it as I watched him also take out Belarus, his sword, to wield it with his left hand. Looking up to the east, in the direction of the threat, narrowing his eyes.
"At 8 o'clock, 300 meters behind the mountain!" I shouted, ready for battle, before Axel took a few steps holding her axe with both hands while a pair of barriers formed on the wagons behind her.
Immediately, from the place I had indicated, three of the monsters appeared. The pressure of their mana was felt immediately, it was heavy and suffocating. Upon seeing us, the Thunderbirds let out a deafening shriek that echoed through the mountains.
One of them folded its wings and descended quickly towards us with clear intentions to attack us, while the other two began to beat their wings, summoning an electrical and snow storm.
Just as it was written in the books, these creatures know how to use spells…. I thought, watching the sky darken suddenly, and the snow become so dense that it was difficult to see through it.
Axel, filling her body with mana, was not intimidated, unlike some guards who had never faced anything similar. With a serious gaze, she looked directly at the rapidly approaching Thunderbird, causing the monster to go towards her like an arrow.
The impact was almost instantaneous and hard, following the clash of the bird's beak against the handle of her axe, which she held with difficulty with both hands in a horizontal position.
A visible shock wave exploded from the point of impact, sweeping the snow around us. Axel resisted for a couple of seconds, her muscles tense as the monster pushed with all its strength, until Axel couldn't withstand the monster's force.
In a fraction of a second, she was dragged several meters back, digging into and destroying all the ground in the process until she ended up impacting violently against the mountain on the right.
No… Axel! I thought, fearing the worst as I saw how gigantic rocks had been reduced to dust by the force of the impact, creating a large cloud of dust.
But when the Thunderbird rose into the air again, emerging from the dust, I saw her. She was holding onto the monster's feathers with one hand.
Pulling herself up with her arm, she nimbly mounted the bird's back, before letting out a wild cry and starting to repeatedly attack its neck with the help of her axe.
I enhanced my vision with magic, because I could barely see through the snow and the darkness of the storm, and it was then that I noticed it. Axel was injured, blood was running all over her head and face.
When her attacks began to pierce the Thunderbird's thick skin, it tried to throw her off with rough movements in the air, but Axel clung to its feathers, being moved like a rag doll through the air. They continued like this until the bird stopped short in the air and drew two strong thunderbolts towards it, which lit up the entire dark environment.
I saw Axel resist the lightning with difficulty, her body convulsing from the electricity, but she didn't let go of her axe. She kept hitting until she finally gravely injured the monster, cutting deeply into its neck and making its head almost hang by a piece of flesh and skin, before they both crashed violently against a nearby mountain.
Wow… If I'm honest, I-I don't think I could do something similar. I said to myself, before returning to the battle that had already begun.
Seeing how one of them had fallen, the two birds remaining in the sky wasted no time and began to attack from a distance with thunderbolts, causing a couple of guards to fall injured while the magical barriers of the wagons resisted the impacts, protecting the passengers.
The counterattack wasn't long in coming, as many of the mage guards launched long-distance spells, forcing the birds to move constantly in the air. They continued like this, until the two missing birds appeared from the sides, one from the left and one from the right, beginning to ravage the defensive line with their imposing strength and size.
Drake, after launching some quick stone cannons at the birds in the sky, turned to me, with a serious attitude. "Zoe, to the left, we have to support them!"
Nodding, I ran with him, covering myself with a denser layer of mana as we readied our weapons, ready to fight.
As we got closer, I saw that the Thunderbird on the left was already being covered in thick mud by a mage who was nearby, visibly hindering its movements. I took advantage of this and activated my Numbness spell, paralyzing the bird with the help of gravity.
The monster froze for an instant, and using that opening, I quickly slid to its side after gathering a large amount of mana in my weapon, which was the key to cutting off one of its legs at the thinnest part. At the same time, a light came from my right, managing to see how the other leg was incinerated by the flames of Drake's spell.
The bird let out a shriek of agonizing pain, causing several lightning bolts to rain down directly on us, but they were covered by another guard who was in the rearguard, far away, who intercepted them with special arrows that attracted them, diverting them and making them fall elsewhere.
I went on alert again, watching the restless bird writhing in the muddy ground like a worm, flapping its four wings desperately. Unable to do much from my position, I began to think of a way to finish it, until unexpectedly, Drake took a step forward and touched the ground hard. A second later, about ten sharp stone stakes emerged from the earth, a little deformed from the resistance of piercing the bird's thick skin from below.
With its last guttural sounds, the Thunderbird died, covered in mud and its own blood.
I let out a sigh, feeling slightly tired from the recent combat, before looking around us and realizing how the other guards had managed to bring down one of the birds from the sky, finishing it off with spells, while the other, being much faster and smarter to hide in the darkness and snow, continued attacking with lightning and air spells, reducing our total number from 28 guards, to just 9.
I have to do something about the one in the air, because if it keeps this up, it will end up finishing us…. I commented after getting nervous seeing that so few of us were left available.
As I took a step to go help, I was stopped by the words of Markus, who was approaching from a distance.
"Hey, how are you two?" He asked, worried, seeing us covered in mud.
"We're fine, at least for now." I replied, looking at the sky. "But if we don't do something about that thing, things will get more and more complicated." I said before an idea occurred to me to finish it once and for all.
"Markus, Drake, go for the bird on the right. I'll take care of the one in the sky."
Nodding, they both moved away to join the other battle.
I, gathering mana in my rune, ran quickly to the edge of the road's cliff, where activating Perception I managed to easily identify the place where the Thunderbird was hiding. With a sigh and closing my eyes to concentrate, I activated my Phantom Mirage rune after many months.
A projection opened in my mind from above, just several meters from where the Thunderbird was. Seeing everything as if I had four eyes, I had my other self adjust its fall to touch the monster's body for a fraction of a second, enough time to activate my spell.
Expert level magic,Capsule…. I said to myself, causing all the snow around the bird to stick to its body as if it were its center of gravity, quickly impeding its movement in the air, making it fall slowly as it thrashed.
Deactivating the rune, and activating it again, something that consumed a lot of my mana, I positioned myself near the place where the bird had fallen.
It was trying to free itself from the snow surrounding it, summoning lightning upon itself just like the others, managing to do so after a couple of attempts. But before it could take flight again, my phantom launched three gigantic lances of light, piercing the bird in one of its wings, chest and head, killing it on the spot in a rather violent way.
Upon deactivating the rune, I fell to my knees, panting and mentally and energetically exhausted.
"I-I used more mana than I thought…" I said in a low voice, feeling my reserves almost empty.
After taking a breath, I activated Perception to see the situation of the last Thunderbird that was being fought on the other side of the caravan, something that in the end ended up getting on my nerves.
Running with the little strength I had left, I only arrived to see in horror how several of those fighting it were pierced by its claws or fell dead from the lightning.
Of the 9 that were left available, 4 had died, including the archer who had saved us last time.
Those who remained, including Markus and Drake, were very tired, panting from the monster's resistance and persistence. I got seriously worried about the situation, until I calmed down a bit when I saw Axel fall from the sky on top of the bird, landing a strong axe blow that knocked it down as it crashed against the ground.
With a slight cloud of dust, Axel stood up, breathing heavily. "Positions!" she shouted. "I'll take the front! Drake, Markus, you will be my support! The rest, attack from afar!"
This is bad… I know Axel is legend rank, a great warrior and all, but… she's barely standing. I thought, seeing the blood still running down her face and body accompanied by the little strength that last attack had.
Her strategy won't work, if we don't take advantage now, it will recover and kill us all. I have to finish it now, now….
Despite the little mana I had left, I gathered it all in my body and dashed towards the bird, ignoring the order.
"Zoe, wait! Get back to your position!" Axel shouted, causing the monster to react and raise its four wings, letting out an intense shriek that increased the snowstorm and thunder throughout the terrain.
Several tried to take cover, but some couldn't, falling to the powerful thunderbolts. I felt the impact of one of them hit me squarely, further draining my mana reserves and making me fall to one knee.
Worried about the situation, I began to think about what to do, until I saw Drake activate his Atlas rune, throwing two small objects, similar to thorns, which after being imbued with his magic, enlarged to reveal their original shape. They were trees, which hit the Thunderbird with great force.
The monster retreated, giving Drake the confidence to throw more, but the bird, enraged, fixed its gaze on him, launching itself towards Drake, him being its new target now.
I wanted to do something to help him, but I was too weak. Drake, seeing the monster coming towards him, prepared to do something, because he stood still for a second, but then, for some reason I didn't know, he looked at me with wide eyes, before changing his stance at the last second, dodging the Thunderbird's charge.
The bird, seeing that he had dodged, even as it passed by Drake's side, made a movement with its talons, managing to grab Drake before crashing into the mountain. No… it can't be.
Holding him tightly as it rose into the skies, it intensified the snowstorm with the beating of its wings, making it impossible to even see him in the air.
Unable to do anything due to the mana reserves I had at that moment, a feeling appeared in my chest, one that wouldn't let me think of anything else but him, of my the only thing I had left in this life.
"DRAKE!!"
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Joshua_Goose: This is the second to last chapter of the volume, so I hope you liked it, I apologize for uploading it a bit late, truth is it cost me more than expected.
I remind you to share this story, it will get more and more interesting :D
By the way, if anyone is interested, I'm looking for an editor to improve the quality of my story, make corrections, etc. If anyone is interested, please email me at [email protected]