Chapter 23: New Guy
Lima woke up and rubbed his eyes until he was able to see, looking over to see his wife asleep next to him. He got up and went to his bathroom to get ready for work. After a good shower, he got his gear ready and headed out the door. He made his way through the town of Thanatos, came across a guard house and walked in.
“Finally you show up. We have to get going soon,” said a man with a gray cloak and leather armor.
“Sorry, James.”
“Don’t be sorry, just get your armor on for Death’s sake,” said James.
“Yes sir,” said Lima.
“Oh and we have a new guy.”
Lima looked over to see a man wearing a mask and goggles. He was in leather armor and a small gray cloak of the gray scouts.
“He can’t talk, I guess. But he can listen, and Lord Will himself said he was a good fit for the job, so we’re taking him with us,” said James.
“Where are we going today?” asked Lima.
“The bayside,” said James.
“But that’s where those men have died, right?”
“Yeah, but they want us to try to find out what’s killing our men. Maybe the king will kill it after we figure out what it is.”
“I would love to see the king in action. Did you see him yesterday with that crown?”
“Oh stop, he’s just a man like you and me.”
“Trust me, he is no man.”
They headed out to their location in a small group that could go on foot and be fast. After some time of travel, they were getting close to the Bay Area. It was beautiful, with lots of mountains, the ocean, and the smell of salt in the air. It would be a great place to live, but with whatever has been killing out there, you won’t see many families settling down.
“You smell that, James?”
“Yeah, it’s nice. My grandma used to live out here. It looks and smells like old times.”
“You would come here a lot?”
“Oh yeah, but I stopped coming about two years ago when grandma died. It's good to be back.”
“Sorry for your loss.”
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“Oh, don’t worry about that.” said James.
The group was on top of an old bookstore. James was looking out at the land, and Lima looked to the other men in their team.
“So you don’t speak?” asked Lima.
“I think he can speak, he just chooses not to,” said James,
The man was looking at both of them.
“May I ask your name?” asked Lima.
“Dave,” said the man.
“Well, you can talk. Would you look at that,” said James.
“Well Dave, what do you think of this place?” asked Lima.
“It’s beautiful. More so without all the people that would have been here,” said Dave.
“I agree. The world is healing from us humans,” said Lima.
“Quiet, it’s time to move,” said James.
The men took off to a nearby beach. James looked down at a footprint in the sand. The print alone was the size of a truck. They didn’t say anything, but started to follow where the prints were going. Not too far away, they found a huge cave entrance.
“Should we go in?” asked Lima.
“I think so, right?” said James.
James pulled a flashlight out and pointed it into the cave. He looked around and found nothing. He clipped it to his shirt and they started their journey through the cave.
They didn’t find much, even after 30 minutes of searching.
“What do you think we’ll find?”
“Hopefully the thing, or things killing our men.”
After some more time, they finally found something. An egg, a gold and blue egg.
“What is that?”
“I think it’s an egg.”
“Can’t be, it’s huge.”
“That’s what scares me. What the hell did this thing come out of?” said James, inspecting the egg, but Lima didn’t answer.
“Lima?”
James turned to find a pair of giant green eyes looking at them. James and Lima couldn’t move out of fear of the monster before them. Lima was paralyzed with the fear of death, with the fear of losing his wife, everything happened in slow motion. The dragon opened its mouth, down its throat Lima saw a flame burning and building. “This is it,” Lima thought to himself, but suddenly the light was gone. The flame in the beast was put out by a man in a cloak of gray with black lines on the sides. The man who he thought was named Dave, but when he looked closer, it was his king. It was Nate Ward, the champion of death himself. Death was here, not to take Lima, but to take that beast.
“Run now, get out of here, and take this,” said Nate, handing the egg of the dragon to Lima.
Nate ran at full speed and punched the dragon in the face, then used his sword to slice the dragon’s cheek. The dragon swung at the man with its big clawed hand, but Nate was faster. He dodged his attack and used the dragon’s hand to kick off into a backflip, then landed on the ground. Lima looked at the man, no not a man.. Nate may have been human at one point of his life, but not anymore. Lima has no idea what to call Nate.
The dragon took some steps back, recovering from Nate’s attack. The dragon stared Nate down and then let out the worst roar. Nate was forced to cover his ears, but he was able to see Lima and James get out of the area.
The dragon stopped. It saw the egg in the hands of Lima. It roared and went for the two men. Nate moved at the same speed, slammed into the leg of the dragon, stopping it in its place. The beast was mad at the little man getting in her way, so it lifted its right leg and slammed it into Nate, grabbing him.
It then started to break its way out of the cave to meet the open air. Nate watched as the dragon opened its wings. They were huge and beautiful, and the worst way this day could go. Then it took to the air.