Beorn felt weightless as he flew through the air. The roar of the basilisk, the threat of the lava, his impending doom, it all felt so far away as he floated through space. Feeling completely calm, he clicked the button on his grappling hook and threw it. The arc was perfect; it wrapped around the neck of the basilisk and secured itself with the expanded hooks.

He prayed that the bulk of the lizard would be able to arrest his momentum. He held onto the rope with both hands in a death grip in anticipation of the jerk, turning his backward flight into a sudden swing straight into the rock face below the platform. Beorn barely had time to brace himself before the impact drove all the breath from his lungs, but he hung on to the rope as if his life depended on it, which it did.

Beorn recovered his breath and braced his legs against the sheer rock face and started pulling himself up. Luckily, he wasn't too far from the platform, the heat near his leg was quickly becoming unbearable. The rope swung from side to side but the ranger waited it out and managed to reach the ledge and heave himself over it.

The basilisk was clawing at its throat trying to dip off the rope that was strangling it, Beorn didn't plan on giving it a chance. With both of his weapons still stuck in its body and the other basilisk charging at him, he held onto the rope and pulled hard, toppling the off-balance basilisk into its partner’s path. They both went down in a tangle of limbs. Not missing the chance, he ran onto the back of his first target and plunged the dagger into its eye, and freed his sword in the same movement. As the essence flowed from the dagger into Beorn, it concentrated on his injured ribs and shoulders, repairing some of the damage he’d suffered. The pleasant itch distracted him from the whistling of the incoming tail. A vicious blow in his side and made him lose his grip on the sword. He clutched at the dagger even tighter as he flew through the air for a second time.

But this time around, he had managed to angle himself to the ground, so he slid along the rough surface with gravel ripping his clothes and gouging his skin. He dug his hands and dagger into the gravely surface and managed to stop before he went over the ledge once more. He was uncomfortably close though and this time he had no grappling hook to save him.

Beorn looked up to see the other basilisk unentangle itself and was currently aiming its open jaw in his direction.

"Holy…"

With no time to complete that thought, Beorn pushed himself and rolled to the side as a stream of flame brushed what remained of his right sleeve and set it alight. Beorn ignored it and started running towards the basilisk as it aimed another one.

His heart was beating like a war drum in his chest, his lungs were like the bellows in a forge, his left ribs felt like they were on fire and his right side was literally blazing. Beorn narrowed his eyes and concentrated all his senses on dodging the next attack. As the flame lit up in the gullet of the basilisk, Beorn leaped to the left. The stream of fire flew over him, scorching his back but leaving him alive.

Beorn skated across the loose gravel and ended up underneath the basilisk. He then leveraged his arms to spring up and plunge the dagger into the base of its neck. The beast roared in pain and rose on its hind legs, swiping at the ranger.

Beorn dodged the slashes, taking care to stay near the body of the basilisk. He scored wounds near the chest of the basilisk with his dagger, stealing more of the overgrown lizard's essence with every slash. It barely kept him going through the pain of his injuries.

He was operating on instinct alone, ducking and weaving through a red haze of pain as his frantic breath echoed in his ears. He tried to control it and calm himself down, but his body would not listen. He was running on pure willpower and adrenaline. The basilisk kept up a frantic flurry of slashes, and whips of his tail but it too was slowing down. It was a race of attrition now, whoever lasted the longest would survive.

The basilisk in a last-ditch attempt to kill Beorn, tried to body slam him into the ground, but the ranger was ready. He braced his legs against the ground and let the basilisk fall onto the point of his dagger. It pierced through the soft scales of the belly and into the heart.

Beorn was in a world of his own, his whole body felt like it was dunked in a bathtub full of warm water. The copious amount of essence pouring into him from the dagger set about repairing the damage he'd suffered. While his ribs were still broken, they hurt a lot less. As the cooling sensation spread over his skin it shook Beorn out of his trance, he found himself in the chest cavity of the dead basilisk with the blood drenching his body. The heart had shriveled up into the size of his fist. The dagger seemed to have taken its fill.

Beorn shoved the corpse to the side and laid down on the ground exhausted, the fatigue from his adrenaline rush setting in. He tried to rise to check on the other basilisk, but fell onto his back, his shaky limbs unable to support him.

After a good fifteen minutes, he had enough strength to rise. He retrieved his dagger and walked over to its barely breathing partner. He ended its misery by thrusting his sword completely into the eye. He tried the dagger, but it seemed like it had no more essence to give. Beorn laid with his back against the corpse and fell into blissful darkness.

***

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

'Beorn'

…

'Beorn!'

….

'BEORN!!!'

"What, what...where? Beorn rubbed his eyes and immediately regretted. The sticky dried blood clinging to his skin had now been spread over his face. He looked at the scaly corpse he was laying on and it all came back to him. Including all the pain, which was surprisingly manageable. It looked like the short nap had helped him recover.

Beorn groaned and gripped the corpse to help him stand. 'Yes, Wilhelmina?'

Wilhelmina's voice rang out in his mind, she sounded excited, 'Are you awake Beorn? I figured it out.'

'Figured what out?'

'The pull I was feeling.'

'Okay…?'

'Walk forwards until I say stop.’

He retrieved his sword and dagger sheathed them and stretched to loosen his limbs. He reached the center of the platform, 'Stop!'

'Now what?'

'Watch and be amazed, puny mortal.'

A presence rippled out of Wilhelmina's brooch. It filled the entire cavern with majesty and grandeur, that Beorn found it hard to stay on his feet. The presence made him feel cold despite the sweltering heat. He heard the sound of winter winds blowing across the frozen landscape, heralding the coming of frost and icy death.

His eyes widened as runes lit up around the edge of the platform. A rumbling sound echoed through the cavern as the ground shook. Beorn crouched to maintain his balance as he watched a crystal pillar emerge out of the center of the platform. The rumbling stopped once the pillar reached about waist height. It was stunning, reflecting the amber light into fantastical colors around it, creating a flower of light blooming with the pillar as its center.

'What was that? What is this pillar? What…?'

'That was just a hint of my draconic aura. This place was constructed by my race to respond to it. Are you amazed yet?', despite the faintness in her tone, Wilhelmina sounded extremely proud.

Beorn had a newfound respect for his companion, 'That was just a hint of your aura? Wow… I didn't really believe you were a thousand-year-old dragon before, but I do now.'

It seemed like she had recovered from her earlier effort, 'WHAT! How impudent. You did not trust the words of this Princess? The grandest and most majestic Jewel of the North, the…'

Beorn interrupted her before she could get rolling, 'Alright alright, I apologize. I won't ever doubt you again. Can you tell me what we're supposed to do now?'

Wilhelmina sniffed, 'Very well, this princess is most magnanimous. I shall forgive your doubt.' She continued after a pause, 'retrieve the Dragonstone and place it.'

'Place it on the crystal pillar?'

'Yes, place it on whatever emerged from the ground. Honestly Beorn, I am only able to perceive essence in this form, how do I know what the pillar is constructed from.'

Beorn heeded her advice and walked to the entrance to retrieve the Dragonstone and his other gear from where he'd hidden it. He also unentangled the grappling hook, coiled the rope around his waist, and put it back in its holster. It had already saved his life once today, it seemed prudent to have it ready in case he needed it.

He took the Dragonstone and placed it with some trepidation in the shallow recess on top of the crystal pillar and waited.

Nothing happened for a while, Beorn was worried he'd done something wrong and was about to ask Wilhelmina when the runes lit up once more. The temperature inside the cavern dropped significantly, the amber glow from the lava dimmed, but the runes shone brighter and lines of light from the edge of the platform met at the center under the pillar, looking like the spokes of a wheel.

A thrumming filled the air, and even Beorn who was completely inept at sensing his own essence could feel the power in the air. The Dragonstone started levitating.

Beorn rubbed his eyes and pinched himself.

'W-Whats happening?'

'The construct is drawing energy from the lava nearby to power itself. Quite an ingenious design.'

Beorn's jaw dropped, he couldn't even begin to comprehend how one could power anything with molten rocks. So, he stopped thinking about it.

'What's going to happen?'

'I imagine it leads to a hidden portal or subspace. There should be quite the prize if the Dragons went to such lengths to hide it.'

'Subspace?? Portal???'

Wilhelmina sighed, 'It is a tear in space, stabilized using essence. The entrance is a portal to the subspace that requires a special key to reveal it, which is the Dragonstone.'

Beorn nodded, 'A pocket torn in space, portals, yep, I understand.'

'It's an invisible room with a hidden door and the key to it is the Dragonstone.'

Beorn looked relieved, he understood that much at least, 'So now we just wait? And what about all the shaking, what if it attracts someone stronger here?'

'Do not worry, we are deep enough underground to shield any fluctuations of power. And the runes along the edge are containing the spatial fluctuations. Be patient and wait for the portal to emerge.'

Beorn didn’t have to wait for long. A black disc spiralled out in front of the crystal pillar. The edges of the disc looked like fragments of glass, distorting and reflecting the surroundings. The whole scene looked like a cracked mirror with the entrance to the abyss in the centre.

‘Well, what are you waiting for?’

Beorn licked his lips as he looked into the dark back hole, ‘Uhh are you sure it’s safe Wilhelmina?’

‘Of course, it is. There’s only a minor chance of being dislocated or fragmented while in transport.’, she hurriedly reassured him, 'Normally there’s only some slight nausea, but you’ll be fine.’

Beorn wasn’t convinced, ‘Fragmented? Dislocated?’

Wilhelmina coughed which was quite novel since she was a disembodied voice in his head, ‘You will end up in a different location or very, very rare circumstances um… parts of you will end up in different locations, but I’m sure this one is safe. I’m almost certain it's been designed by Wyrms.’

Beorn started sweating, ‘Parts of me… in different places? Are you sure Wilhelmina? Can’t we just not go in? Look I finished the contract and everything, we’ll come back after I get a bit stronger.’ Not a chance in the hell he was coming back here, thought Beorn. ‘Alright?’

‘Oh, stop being a baby, just take the Dragonstone and step inside. How many times have I saved your life until now?’

“You’re the one who put me in danger in the first place.”

Wilhelmina chose to ignore Beorn’s muttering, ‘If you don’t, I-I refuse to speak to you ever again.’

‘What?! How childish is that? Who else is gonna help me locate Arwen? ’

‘Hmph.’

‘Grrh, fine! I’ll do it. Don't ever mention saving my life again.’, Beorn gritted his teeth, snatched the floating Dragonstone, and stepped into the portal.