Dauntless

“The pain!”

Bewildered by the grotesque monstrosity or not, it was clear as day that the voice came from the dragon. It was the only description he could fit in his head; a black dragon with a sideways mouth. Frein haven’t even had the slightest time to digest the events that came before this moment.

He had been in the middle of a sparring session with Katherine when Schrodie suddenly appeared. She said something about the time has come. The next minute, she had opened a gateway to Brymeia.

When he opened his eyes again, they were in the middle of a desert with a dragon spewing acid while screaming in pain. He had not even taken the time to process the reality of the warzone when the monster spoke.

“I’ll take it down,” said Katherine, stepping beside him.

Take it down? Why?

She activated the meiyal marks floating on her hair, preparing for an attack.

“No, wait,” Frein said, grabbing her hand in protest. She shot a questioning look. “She’s in pain.” The dragon sounded like an elderly female and was definitely under some kind of duress.

“That’s one of the Nightmares I told you about, Frein,” Katherine said. “Schrodie said you can’t talk to them.”

“That’s exactly why I’m curious.”

“Hold up, who are you people?”

Frein turned and saw three people covered in blood and sand.

Further behind them were swarms of armed soldiers, some atop rocky steppes even held crossbows of some kind, others flew on weird, winged creatures, cats and dogs larger than horses and sporting wings for flight. There were also a variety of other giant beasts, but none of them dared approach.

The Visitor forced himself out of anxiety and focused on the three people in front of him before his stomach turned inside-out. For Frein, it was like a switch. He knew, heading into this, that they were in for a fight, but Katherine made it abundantly clear those three were their allies.

One, a female with long, black hair, a pair of cat ears, and a tail—felintine according to Katherine’s lessons—wore a half-plate armor and a pair of bracers made out of meiyal. Frein concluded that the set was her battle gear Drawn by her Meiyal Art. It was something Katherine mentioned during training but didn’t have the time to teach.

The felintine’s eyes widened in shock, dropping to one knee with grace and speed. “Lady Katherine,” she said.

Frein made sure to suppress a smile. Not just because the woman paid respects to his girlfriend—there was pride in it, sure—but more importantly because he was looking at a woman of a different species. Another sentient lifeform that most people on Earth only dared to dream of in their fantasies.

Katherine subtly elbowed him out of his trance just in time for him to notice the second person.

Frein had never seen a muscular elf before—or an actual elf for that matter. Most depictions he had seen were thin, beautiful elves be it man or woman. This man was built like a bodybuilder, like David, the Goliath was when Frein last saw him. The buffed elf held a bow in his left hand. He seemed to have very little interest in their arrival, and was more concerned about the dragon. Nonetheless, he bent the knee as well.

The last was a small—

“We can have introductions later, Katherine,” said the girl in the middle, urging her friends to rise. Her eyes were like icicles, the way she glared at him. Frein could feel her stares intensify with each passing second. “What do you mean you can understand it?” she asked while performing a subtle Meiyal Art to clean off the blood. Her companions followed suit.

“I can talk to animals,” Frein replied and looked at the dragon one more time. “But supposedly not Nightmares.”

If this creature was truly hostile, it would have attacked already. That alone was enough for him to calm down and initiate conversation.

“Do you have a name?” he asked.

“Elizzel, young Visitor,” the black dragon replied without moving its snout. This communication, unlike with the monkeys Frein spent time with in The Relativity Temples, was telepathic. “Please, I am gravely wounded.”

“How come you know that I’m...?”

The dragon lifted her left wing. Frein lost his words. A huge portion around the joint, where scales were once present, now only showed torn muscle fibers and rotting bone. Something was preventing its innards from spilling out, probably meiyal.

The Visitor’s eyes turned to the rest of its body. Chains with links larger than himself wrapped carelessly around the dragon’s limbs, attaching a dragon like a horse on carriage but in the most constricting way possible; the carriage being a literal castle on wheels. Enduring that amount of injury while chained and forced to drag such an absurd building under the sweltering heat of the desert…

Frein’s jaw tightened and his frown deepened. He immediately pushed aside his personal concerns as he saw the dire infection cultivating around the mortal wound.

He turned to Katherine for help who clearly understood his intentions. She still gave one concerned look, before deducing that they had very little time to argue.

“The treatment will take a while, and it will cause a great deal of pain. Can she promise to keep perfectly still? Or at least, not squash us to a pulp like that giant over there.” She pointed at the bloody mess underneath the black dragon’s claw.

Frein intended to speak, but Elizzel was hasty with her words.

“Please do not mention my name, Visitor. There are people who are not supposed to know.”

“This is Katherine,” he said, nodding subtly as he introduced his girlfriend. “She’ll remedy your wounds, but the process of cleansing the infection and replacing your scales will be extremely painful. She only asks that you stay perfectly still despite the pain.” He kept contact with the monster’s eyes.

“I will endure momentary pain if it will save my life, Visitor.”

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“You promise me not to hurt her?”

“With my life and honor.” The Nightmare tilted her head so that her snout looked normal and rested it on the ground. Frein understood it as a form of submission. The dripping acid stopped. At this, everyone around them, even the soldiers threatening to advance, gave in to momentary awe.

Frein gestured towards Katherine to proceed while keeping an eye on Elizzel. He had no reason to trust the creature, but he had a lot of questions. This Nightmare, Elizzel, knew the moment he stepped on Brymeia that he was the Visitor. That alone was a curiosity he couldn’t pass.

“Princess,” Katherine started, “I know this isn’t part of the plan, but I could use a bit of your help.”

“What do you need?” the girl in the middle—Frein assumed to be the Princess—responded.

“Make sure I’m not interrupted and spare some attention to this guy here.” Katherine nodded toward him. “He can handle himself but…well, he’s not from here.”

Frein passed a silent nod towards the Princess as he was introduced.

“Alright. I assume you’re the Visitor, then?”

“That would be me, yes,” Frein replied and gestured to himself, his eyes moving with concern. The soldiers surrounding them inched closer with each passing moment. The Princess and her companions didn’t care.

Katherine approached Elizzel with a calm demeanor. “Hey there, Forest Jaws. You have a name?” she asked.

“No name,” Frein answered for the Nightmare. He gave away a subtle tell that only Katherine could decipher.

The Seeker didn’t give as much as a hint whether she got the message or not. It was all a matter of trust between the two of them. “Alright. Just make sure you stay still then, okay?”

The dragon blinked in response. “Thank you, fair lady.”

The fair lady in question tilted her head absentmindedly and turned. “Did she say anything this time?”

“‘Thank you, fair lady,’” Frein repeated.

“Oh, how nice. Well, take a deep breath. Here we go.” Despite the intimidating and repulsive features of the dragon, Katherine didn’t hesitate to open her Display and start the healing. “Dai-Samesia.”

Elizzel’s muscular features immediately tensed as she squealed in agony. Tensions around them rose once again.

“We’ll be here a while. I need you to endure it.” Katherine tried to soothe her. For what it was worth, the dragon stayed true to her words.

Aside from the surrounding threat of the soldiers, everything was going smoothly. There was something about the Princess and her companions that held the enemies away from them.

“So, I think this is the best time to ask,” said the Princess, “who are—”

“Who are you? What is the meaning of this?” A loud voice echoed from the castle behind the dragon.

“Seriously?” The Princess muttered under her breath.

“You’ll need to take care of that for me, Frein,” Katherine said, her eyes focused on the wound. She had gone into work mode, completely absorbed into the task at hand. The way she ignored everything when working made Frein remember her detective days.

Guess she was always like this.

A figure appeared at the castle gates. Because of the distance, Frein could only make out the golden-plated armor shining under the white sun, slightly overpowering his black hair.

Gold wasn’t the best choice for armor in terms of defensive strength, but it was simply a color. Frein, utilizing a basic observation Meiyal Art, could see meiyal embossed deep into the plating underneath the polish.

It took him a while, but he managed to activate an echo Meiyal Art before he replied. “My name is Frein, and I’m here to take this dragon.” As awkward as it sounded Frein couldn’t think of anything clever to say at the moment.

“What makes you think I’ll let you do that?” shouted the man, prideful and intimidating.

“I don’t think I need your permission to do that...or anything for that matter.”

Before anyone could respond—even before Frein could process what he just said—Katherine erupted in laughter. The lapse in her concentration caused Elizzel to jerk in pain.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I can’t help it,” she said while frantically, and failing miserably, to control her laughter. “Stop making me laugh!”

“Why? What’s wrong?” Frein asked without turning off his echo Meiyal Art. The other three struggled to hide their snickering while trying their best to maintain their serious composure.

“You’re addressing King Urzic Lasterfol. He’s the one responsible for this invasion,” the felintine woman replied in between stifled giggles.

Frein nodded in understanding and turned back at the man. Four other figures in defining armors appeared behind him. He looked at them for a long time.

What little lightheartedness there was in the atmosphere quickly dampened into a numbing hum as the Visitor activated his five meiyal marks. His Milling, now a genuine member of his subconsciousness, echoed openly towards everyone around him. He could feel their stares, all their attention focused solely on him.

The silence allowed him to speak with penetrating authority.

“I’m here to take the dragon, and you’re going to stop this war, King Urzic.”

Whether or not people took him seriously was another matter.

“Arrogant Visitor,” King Urzic spat. “I do not care who you are, or why you’ve come here, but you will not stop this war.”

It was pointless to intimidate a king, but Frein wanted to try his luck. He didn’t know why there was a war in the first place, and it was indeed not in his place to stop it.

Still, something was wrong. In fact, the entire picture felt jarring for Frein. Five people against a sea of enemies. Why were they still alive? It didn’t add up. Something—or someone—scared off an entire army.

“Then how about me, Urzic?” said the Princess, stepping forward with a hand on her waist. She was careful enough not to stab herself with her weapons. “Do my words find no meaning in your ears?”

This was unexpected. Frein had almost regarded her as a child dressed in a battle gear, playing soldier. He had almost forgotten she was covered in blood a few moments ago. The fact that she mentioned the King’s name without his title was enough for him to see her in new light in mere minutes of introduction.

“Kristel,” addressed the King. “Do you think a girl like you would be enough to scare me?”

“I wouldn’t mind enlightening you,” the Princess provoked. A faint light glinted from her eyes.

Frein let out a sigh. There was no way this would end peacefully. “Let’s get this over with. Are we going to fight you or what?”

“How about a duel?” Princess Kristel said. “You and me. I’ll even let you set the rules.” She pointed a blade directly at the golden king.

“My rules…” the King considered. “Then we shall duel.” He lifted a hand in return. “I choose one of yours to battle against your chosen from these four.”

At his signal, the four armored figures jumped down the fortress, as if the drop of about five stories was nothing more than a step. “If you win, this war will end. If you lose, your poor province is mine.”

Choice of words was always important, and Frein didn’t miss every single syllable from the King. Despite turning the Princess’s proposal against her, the word mine rubbed him in the worst sense possible.

Still calm, Princess Kristel pointed a finger towards the one in silver armor. “You will fight,” she said.

The knight stepped forward, driving the butt-end of a silver lance to the ground before giving a stern salute.

Frein had already anticipated what would happen next before the King’s finger even pointed at him.

“You, Visitor, will fight.”

“Urzic!” Kristel stepped in between. “Leave the Visitor out of this!”

A lot of things had happened before Frein came to this world. A lot of things he would’ve let pass. Two people belittling him in the most direct and indirect manners were none of those things. Ally or foe didn’t matter; it was all a manner of perspective.

Frein, knowing himself all too well, would never run away from a challenge even if it killed him. But before everything else, he hated being ignored.

So, when he grabbed the Princess by the shoulder and pulled her aside, it was not because she was in the way. His fury had gone past their insults. He reached down and grabbed a small piece of pebble, fixed his form, and threw it towards the golden king with as much strength as he could.

Whether it was intended to hit or not, Katherine’s training had paid off. Frein subconsciously activated a body enhancing Meiyal Art, Siffera, empowering his throw with enough strength to reach a target a good hundred meters away in a straight line and with force lethal enough for anyone without armor.

The loud clang echoed throughout the battlefield, putting everything and everyone in shock-induced suspension.

“I said…” Frein slowly relaxed his stance as the King stepped back to regain his balance. “I’m taking the dragon.”

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