Battle Preparations Part 4 - 5_Decide Your Fate Games - R.Malak

Final Illustration [https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/006/631/444/large/stephen-noble-cavedragonfinv2.jpg?1500066044]

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/0kGN4

New Quest Objective

- Rescue the Smith and his Apprentice

***

Footsteps heavy with a sense of foreboding, Grey trudged along the rocky bank of river, watched by a thousand eyes that peered out at him from the shadow of their caves. The crashing sound of the waterfall, growing louder as the water came tumbling down from a large fissure in the cavern’s wall. The spray of white as it hit the streambed, a cacophony of noise that cancelled out all noise, even the beating of his own heart that thrummed inside of him.

The smell of freshwater filled his lungs, and for the briefest second as he stood in front of the waterfall, he wondered if this was what he was truly meant to do. The Beast would be no easy foe, and there were other more important battles ahead. But this was as much for himself as it was for the Honor Blades. He needed to know if this was the right path for him, and the test that had been laid out for him was clear. Life or death. Honor or Dishonor. Truth or Lies.

Skin wet from the water that sprayed up, he stopped before the waterfall, and watched the ripples and bubbles on the surface underneath, saw the gaping opening behind it, and with one last thought of his family, he broke through the veil to the otherside. The dark, wet tunnel, cold and round with bits of scaly flesh hanging from it's jagged edges. The air rank with the odour of death, and the ground covered in a thin filament of what looked to be a kind of loose white membrane, that oozed and stuck to his boots.

The sticky substance as much a part of the tunnel as was the semi translucent crimson secretions that dripped down from it's walls. The greatsword, Tamrel vibrating the instant he stepped inside.

Shoulders hunched over, he tried to bottle the rising panic he felt from being here, and continued further into the slick bloody hole that reminded him all too much of his nightmare, a dream where he was eaten alive by the monster that had slain his father and mother.

Grip tightened around the hilt of his greatsword, he felt the ground rumble beneath him, and again thought to turn back, when a voice resounded through the back of his mind. “Do you even know the meaning of fate?! When you dream, do you see the creation of the world?! Do you even understand your purpose?! I do not think so! I have dreamt the endless dream, and yet as always my dreams are interrupted by those who seek me out!

"I should have feasted upon them all the moment I sensed their presence in my home, known that they would never leave alone. But now, here I am again, awakened from my slumber by another intruder who does not know the meaning of who or what he is.

“I can tell by your stink, that you are like those above who think to call this place their own. But that will not last long. My children will see to that. And to you...”

Footsteps halted at the sound, Grey spun about unsure from which direction the voice had come from, or from where, but he did not like the way it had finished speaking with him. Air rent apart by the sound of chilling cries, the tunnel's inner walls trembled beneath him, the smell of sulphur burnt his nostrils, and out of the darkness appeared dozens of shining yellow eyes that clambered out along the walls, clinging to the wet rocks above with hooked leathery green wings as they swarmed their way towards him, releasing jets of flame from their short snouts. The dragonlings, swarming him from all sides with jaws full of tiny jagged teeth and streams of fire as they scrabbled across the rocky terrain. The squirming mass of small green leather skinned creatures, yowling as they attacked. Their bright golden eyes glowing each time fire spurted from their mouths, and the heat washed across Grey’s skin.

(All attacks from the Children of the Beast are fire attacks, which means only magical resistance can be used to reduce damage as well as dodge/parry.)

[https://em.wattpad.com/a1fd81c99111f6e72943c75ecd7a56fdd5dd5b6f/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f50676251483975557151756c57413d3d2d3731343034373536372e313562396431323937633330343334643332323637333232313538392e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280] X 30

(Click here if you did not support Joral.)

Spoiler: Spoiler

Since you’ve grown adept to the use of Battle Magic, you’ve gained access to Battle Magic Skills which can only be activated once each during the story.

Faster

Increase your speed and battle reflexes. (Doubles your Attack Dice.)

Stronger

Double the amount of Health Points you have.

Tougher

Strengthens your physical resilience. (+ 150 Resilience.)

Arms and back ablaze in agony as he tried to fend them back, Grey called upon the flame within, and felt it’s warmth embrace him, ease the pain inside, and infuse him with fresh strength. Grey compelled to go on the offensive at the dawning realisation that if he did not act, he would soon be overwhelmed by their sheer numbers alone.

Greatsword smoking and erupting with bright orange flames, he arced the weapon through the air, scraping the dragon spawn from the walls overhead and shearing through their diminutive bodies, his quick reflexes and speed keeping him from being scorched alive as he continued to hack at the tunnel’s walls, Tamrel marking the surface with dozens of black scars that caused the sticky red substance to retract. The stench of sulfur growing stronger.

Head retracted back to stare at the walls, he felt his mind go dark with shock as the wounded dragonlings were fully regenerated before his very eyes. The wingless spawn he had hacked apart, birthing new wings and leaping across the air in a flutter of movement. Grey swerving aside and slicing off it's head in a blur of steel. Fortunately this time it did not rise again.

With that thought in mind, he focused his attacks on their skulls, and soon one by one the tunnel was finally cleared of the blighted creatures.

Shoulders squared, he knew he could not stop here and raced deeper into the Beast’s lair, his lungs filled with the acrid stench of sulfur, and his eyes watering with tears as smaller groups of The Children emerged to attack him. The voice mocking him all the while.

Do you truly believe the code will protect you?! Shield you from my flames?! You are nothing to me! An insect, a worm, a bug that will not leave me alone!

(Roll 3 dice one time to see how much damage is gained from fire attacks.)

Can you not see the foolishness of your endeavor?! You come against a god! With nothing but your bare hands and a feeble piece of steel, which you’ve so cleverly sharpened!

(Roll 4 dice one time to see how much damage is gained from fire attacks.)

I would admire your persistence, but you are nothing but an abomination, a bull man birthed to keep the secrets of others!

(Roll 1 dice one time to see how much damage is gained from fire attacks.)

Death need not come for you this day! Go back and live, if only for a few more moments! Enjoy what little life there is for you! There can only be one outcome if you face me!

Again and again, the voice reverberated in his mind, each step a battle of attrition with Grey forced to slow down as he cleared the path of The Beast’s Children and tried to ignore the voice that thundered through him. The tunnel’s dripping white walls squeezing tight around him, making it almost impossible to avoid the flames, nor the red secretions that seeped out of the rocks. (+ 20 Health Points - 5 Honor.)

(Click here to collect the tunnel’s secretions in a few bottles.)

Spoiler: Spoiler

Surprised at the healing effects he felt at it’s touch, he paused briefly, and collected the tunnel’s strange secretions into three empty vials he had already used up. (Acquired X3 Bottles of Dragon Placenta. + 60 Health Points and - 15 Honor each.)

Ground rumbling even louder, Grey knew he was drawing near to the source of it all, when the walls expanded apart and opened up into a great dwarven burial ground. The immense dwarven statues that stood on either side of him made of bronze with crossed battle axes pressed together midair to create an archway that led upwards. The tunnels walls replaced by a grand hallway with cracked stone steps looming up ahead of him. The gentle slope rising across a small hill and covered in that same sticky white fluid that he had seen in the tunnel’s walls. The thick columns of white stone that lined up along the walls, marked by the same glyphs he had seen in the trap. Darkness, Neutrality, Light, and Life. Each symbol meant to represent the powers that existed within the world. The elements in their primal form.

He knew from his lessons with his uncle that the ancient dwarven empire had been vast, but he had no idea that it had expanded this far. To think that not so long ago, this place was home to the dwarves and now after centuries of war, they had been pushed back into the furthest recesses of the mountains.

But he could not think about that right now, he had to keep moving.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Greatsword heavy in hand, he began the arduous climb upwards, seeing the faces of the ancient dwarven lords that had been formed into bronze statues, each face different from the other, first a kindly dwarven warrior, then a dwarven mage that showed hints of wisdom, a hardened battle veteran, a cold eyed killer, a frustrated dwarf, a blood enraged berserker, and finally a creature bound in chains with signs of madness in its eyes.

It did not take long for him to realise that whoever had created these statues had captured the very essence of their curse. A curse so strong that it had riven their empire to ash, and forced those who grew too old to abandon their families lest they come to harm in their delirium. It was a cruel, remorseless, and unrelenting curse that forced brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers to watch their own kin go mad, or go mad themselves. Even with such a long lived race, it was a dark and twisted fate that awaited them. Which made it all the more strange that they would be willing build statues such as this and forever be overshadowed by these bronze giants. Or perhaps they did not wish to forget.

Saddened and partially distracted by the thought, he barely noticed when he crested the last of the stone steps and finally reached the top where he gazed downward towards where The Beast lay waiting for him in a hollow dug in the soil. The remnants of the dwarven masonry that lay around it, torn down long ago, and coated in webs of white fluid. The Beast’s huge snout rising upward at his approach and revealing it’s maw full of sharpened teeth. “Very well then, shall we begin?”

It did not take long for him to understand that whoever had created these statues had captured the very essence of their curse. A curse so strong that it had riven their empire to ash, and forced those who grew too old to abandon their families lest they come to harm them in their delirium. It was a cruel, and remorseless curse that forced brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers to watch their own kin go mad, or go mad themselves. Even with such a long lived race, it was a dark and twisted fate that awaited them at the end. Which made it all the more strange that they would build such as these and forever be overshadowed by these bronze giants. Or perhaps they did not wish to forget.

Saddened and partially distracted by the thought, he barely noticed when he crested the last of the stone steps and finally reached the top where he gazed down towards where The Beast lay waiting for him in the hollow of the cavern. The remnants of the dwarven masonry that lay around it, torn down long ago, and coated in webs of white fluid. The Beast’s huge snout rising upwards at his approach and revealing it’s maw full of razor sharp teeth. “Very well, shall we begin our game then?”

Words resounding within him, Grey saw the image of his own bloodied corpse hanging from it’s bloodied jaws as The Beast rendered flesh from bone. The vivid image so real, that for a moment Grey forgot he could breathe, and was forced to take a step back before realising it was all an illusion of the mind. The chuckle of the dragon echoing through him as it thrust back it’s useless wings that lay draped over it’s sides and stood up on all fours, causing the ground to quake beneath him as it’s golden slitted studied him curiously. The bodies that lay hidden behind the great beast’s gigantic girth, revealing hundreds of his people trapped within clusters of the same white liquid that oozed out from the walls and ground. The area filled with clutches of eggs that lay in nests made of blood, bones, and bloated corpses. The much smaller dragonlings that sat huddled together behind the dragon, feasting upon the flesh of the still living minotaurs, who struggled to free themselves, while their bodies were slowly burnt and stripped apart by tiny mouths.

Heart heavy with the thought that the smith and the apprentice were among the dead already, he tried to steady his nerves, and calmly advance forward towards the beast, when the ground became sticky beneath his feet, and latched onto his boots, causing a sucking sound as he closed upon the monster. To think such darkness existed here beneath the beating heart of the Citadel, terrified and perplexed him to no end. Such things should not have been possible, and yet here it dwelt.

Time grown short, Grey knew he must act quickly if he ever hoped to rejoin his friends and stem the waves of darkness that Colmar would bring against them, but even as he tried to move quicker, he felt his mind become sluggish and his body numb as it’s wide golden eyes bored right through him.

(Click here if you have a Magical Resistance Score of at least 50.)

Spoiler: Spoiler

The image of his own death, replayed itself a thousand times through the back of his mind, each one more gruesome than the next, till with a shrug of his head, he managed to thrust it all aside, gritted his teeth and let out a roar as he charged forward to battle.

(For those who’ve battled The Beast before, you need only drop the dragon’s Health Points by a further 200. For those who have yet to face The Beast, you’ll need to drop the dragon’s Health Points by 500.)

[https://em.wattpad.com/1064b41cd075b561748d998642f26bfc4d29fb58/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f506648725644333471306e647a673d3d2d3731343034373536372e313562396431306665616665363135653839353430383630323936332e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

(Click here if you do not have at least 50 Magical Resistance.)

Spoiler: Spoiler

The image of his own death, replayed itself a thousand times through the back of his mind, each one more gruesome than the next, when all of a sudden he felt his body become enveloped in white hot flames that scorched his flesh and blackened his skin. Every part of him alive with agony as he slowly burned alive. The pain of it all, causing him to scream again and again, until something grabbed hold of him and pulled him free from the deadly illusion.

Teeth bared in a animalistic snarl, he let out a roar and charged forward to battle. (- 150 Health Points. Magical Damage.)

Huge forked tail sweeping through the air, he ducked down to avoid it's swipe, and thrust up Tamrel to take a deep bite from it’s tough hide, before raking the greatsword against its foreleg. The dragon releasing a deathly roar of rage to knock him back, then bringing it’s left foot crashing down in a thunderous blast that threw him up into the air as he tried to retreat backwards, the air torn out from his lungs as fell awkwardly on the stone steps.

Spine aching, blood dripping down his forehead, he dragged himself up, and tried to race back into battle. When the dragon’s maw opened up to release a fiery furnace that forced Grey to hide behind a fallen column of stone, his ears still ringing and head a mask of unimaginable pain. The baby dragonlings who sniffed blood in the air, leaping over each other to reach him, before being scattered away with a swing from Tamrel, which in turn caused The Beast let out another roar of fury. The enraged dragon, blasting the stone he was hidden behind with stream after stream of bright hot flames that blistered the air above, and stained his fur sweat.

Drained of much of his strength, he tried to reach out for the flame, tried to fill himself with it’s burning warmth, but in the chaos of battle his mind was blanketed by fear, anger, and worry for those that had been captured.

Fingers trembling as he scrambled across the ground on all fours, he raced from column to column, using the rubble strewn about the hollow to guard himself against the flames as he tried to come up with a plan of attack. The dragon’s relentless assault, forcing him to keep moving.

(Click here if you choose to battle the dragon, headon?)

Spoiler: Spoiler

(You must remove it’s remaining Health Points.)

Heart shaking inside of his chest, Grey knew he had only one chance to end this fight, and as the dragon swept forward with wide open maws to engulf his body, and tear at his flesh with its teeth, he leapt upwards with both hands extended to drive the point of Tamrel through the back of its throat and into it’s skull.

The terrifying and exhilarating moment filling him with a wave of energy that coursed through his body and numbed the agony of it’s teeth piercing his thigh and chest, before resting upon the spongy surface of it’s tongue and peering up at the two large glowing sacks that were attached to the back it’s throat. The blood that dripped out from it's wound, drizzling onto Grey’s fur as the glands that allowed the dragon to breathe fire, gradually darkened.(Gained Blood of the Dragon. Permanent + 20 Magical Resistance.)

(Click here if you choose to use it’s eggs as hostages and try to negotiate your way out of here.)

Spoiler: Spoiler

It was then with a startling realization at how the dragon had reacted when he had attacked its children, that he finally knew what to do.

Adrenaline coursing through him, Grey swerved out from the cover of the columns and rubble, and charged across towards the clusters of large round white eggs that sat clumped together and spun around to face The Beast with his back turned towards the nest.

“Enough! Or I will crack these eggs with my own bare hands!”

Head tilted back into a sneer, the dragon retreated away from him and lay down on its haunches, it’s wing thumping into the ground like heavy sacks of wheat, while it's golden eyes glowered down at him. “What now, two horns? Are you going to shield yourself with my offspring? Why should I not kill you for all the children you’ve slain already? Their blood is on your hands, like those of my brothers who tried to reclaim the mountain. Your kind has ever been a blight upon our home, and yet you wish me to remain still, while you threaten my children. Tell me why?!”

(Click here if you give no excuse and simply state what you want.)

Spoiler: Spoiler

“I’m not leaving here without these people. Let me take them and I’ll be gone from here, forever. I will also make sure, none ever, dare to disturb you again!”

Eyes locked together in a long stare, Grey could see a whirl storm of emotions swirl through the dragon’s golden eyes from anger to keen interest, before it finally nodded it’s head. “Very well, take them, and be gone. And be sure you keep your promise, warrior. I have a long memory of ills.”

(+ 50 Honor if this promise is kept. - 50 Honor if this promise is not kept.)

(Click here if you explain that you’re not like those Honor Blades that came before.)

Spoiler: Spoiler

“I am not like--” he began, but before he could finish the dragon was back up again and pouncing forward with a thunderous crash that rocked the surface of the cavern and set stalagmites cascading down.

The dragon’s wide jaws opening up as it let out a roar and moved to swallow Grey whole.

(You have been forced into a battle to the death. You must finish The Beast off.)

Heart shaking inside of him, Grey knew he had only one chance to end this fight, and as the dragon swept forward with wide open maws to engulf his body and tear at his flesh with its teeth, Grey leapt up with both hands extended to drive Tamrel through the back of its throat and into it’s skull.

The terrifying and exhilarating moment filling him a wave of energy that coursed through his body and numbed the agony of it’s teeth piercing his thigh and chest, before resting upon the spongy surface of it’s tongue and peering up at the two large glowing sacks that were attached to the back it’s throat. The blood that dripped out from the wound, drizzling onto Grey’s fur as the glands that allowed the dragon to breathe fire, gradually darkened away. (Gained Blood of the Dragon. Permanent + 20 Magical Resistance.)

With the groggy and dazed smith on his back, Grey limped back the way he had come, followed by a ragtag troop of minotaurs who barely had any flesh on their incredibly thin frames. The captured prisoners taken apart piece by piece each day to feed the dragon’s offspring. The worst of whom had missing arms and legs, and had to be helped along by others.

Tordol, a little worse for wear, had told Grey of Riyul’s fate at the hands of the dragonspawn who had chewed, and swallowed him alive for days. He also spoke of the rich vein of iron ore that existed at the back of the mine that they had tried to reach, before being dragged in the night to the dragon’s nest. It was around that time, that the old man, had passed out from his wounds, and would mumble something about needing the bag of ore.

Having searched the area where Tordol had set up camp with Riyul, Grey found the bag of iron ore the smith had come for, and tasked one of the captives with bringing it along, incase it were still needed.

Nearing the mine’s entrance where they had first entered, Grey finally slowed down and handed Tordol off to the others to continue on without him, before turning back and looking down the darkened passageway.

(This next decision will impact any current alliances.)

(Click here to place the combust balls.)

Spoiler: Spoiler

Setting the combust balls around the tunnel in close proximity to each other, Grey used the combust liquid Joral had given him, and traced a line in the dust back to the entrance.

Then touched Tamrel to the liquid. The tip of the blade glowing red with heat to set the line aflame and racing forward into the dark of the tunnel, followed by a loud boom as a flood of dust swept back over them.

Balarock tribe: - 1000 (Required Trust 100.)

Honor Blades: + 100 (Required Trust 150.)

(Click here to leave the mine entrance open.)

Spoiler: Spoiler

Even knowing he might regret this decision later, Grey left the mine open.

Balarock tribe: + 100 (Required Trust 100.)

Honor Blades: + 50 (Required Trust 150.)

To be Continued...

Battle Preparations Part 4 - 5

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