From the Illymium Codex

From deep within the bowels of the Great Vulcan, lives the ancient dragon Quetzex, as old as Ardelym herself. Every Zar she stirs from her slumber to remind the citizens that they are interlopers on her domain. And every man and every beast, whatsoever his rank, become equal when they are turned to ash by her fiery breath.

Chapter 23 - The Great Vulcan

The path dropped steeply, and the men stopped talking to concentrate on leading their horses safely down the jagged slope. When they reached the bottom of the hill, the ground leveled and the path widened. But beyond the rocky edge, the precipitous drop remained. They stopped to drink water, sharing the last of their flagons' contents with their thirsty mounts.

"How can anyone live in such a place?" Leiffen asked, removing his cap and using it to mop the sweat off his brow. "It's like Illym's inferno, where he sends all the lost souls, except he doesn't need to send them anywhere. The lost souls are already here. No wonder those Nazeer bastards are mean and curt and— "

"Watch out," gruffed Bonn. "Here come two of those Nazeer bastards now."

Two Nazeer guards moved toward them as fast as their short legs would carry them. Their swords clanked against their copper studded belts. Their gauntleted hands clutched sharpened pikes.

Bonn Skaard's hand firmly gripped the scrolled handle of his ax. His shield was in his left hand, and his long blade was at the ready in its leather scabbard at his hip.

Leiffen shuffled the leather bag from his shoulder and reached inside.

"What are you doing in these parts, Skaards?" one of the Nazeer guards spat out.

"We heard there was a wedding," Leiffen said, lifting an orb from his pack. “We thought this old ball would make a lovely present. What to you think?”

The other Nazeer guard stepped forward, teeth clenched, and uttered, "I'll send you a personal invitation." He pulled the sword from his belt and charged Bonn Skaard, the other making a beeline for Leiffen.

Nazeer warriors were known to aim low, avoiding the heads of their enemies while aiming for the bowels, the groin, or the back of the leg where they could strike fast and fatally, leaving their adversary to bleed out while they moved on to their next victim.

Bonn blocked the first blow with his shield. The Nazeer struck hard, denting the embossed bronze. Using the advantage of his height, Bonn thrust his shield forward, sending the Nazeer guard tumbling to the ground. The guard recovered at once and made quick jabs at Bonn's legs with a drawn dagger, its point grazing Bonn's flesh as he hopped backward onto a rock.

With a raucous battle cry, Bonn leaped from the rock, clanging the Nazeer's helmeted head with the boss of his shield. The Nazeer's short legs spread into a split as he landed face-first into the red dirt.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The other Nazeer guard had Leiffen cornered against the side of a rock wall. Leiffen removed one of the silver orbs and tossed it in the air. It spiraled around the Nazeer's head in a silver cyclone, mesmerizing the guard for a moment before he reached for his sword, giving Leiffen a long enough pause to hurl himself into the air.

Bonn whirled in time to see Leiffen performing an aerial somersault in an attempt to dodge the Nazeer's slicing blade. Leiffen landed steps away from the assault as the orb exploded in a bright flash before the Nazeer's face.

As the Nazeer blindly stumbled forward, Leiffen sent him over the rocky edge with a swift kick in the ass. Leiffen cupped his hand to his ear and cringed at the sound of the inevitable thud following a long, fading scream.

After a good laugh and a moment to catch their breaths, Bonn and Leiffen stripped the remaining Nazeer warrior of his weapons and continued down the path where they discovered the guards' horses draped with green cloaks.

Leiffen fingered the wool cloth decorated with a dragon rising from an exploding volcano embroidered in gold thread. "If we were to disguise ourselves as Nazeer guards, perhaps we could slip into the palace undetected."

Bonn stroked his thick beard and nodded. He was thinking the same thing.

* * *

Starlex stood in the center of the room that had become her prison while Jynud Nazeer attended her. The jailer's red and calloused hands laced Starlex into a gown of emerald velvet edged with gold embroidery that would have been beautiful if it were not a symbol of her further imprisonment.

After she had been tightly encased in the gown, Jyund brought the captured princess to the vanity table and went to work on her hair, roughly gathering handfuls of her long, silver tresses and twisting them into tight braids that pulled painfully at her scalp.

"We want you looking beautiful for your groom," Jynud Nazeer said snidely through the ivory hairpins clamped in her teeth. The dour woman had been Starlex's only companion during her days of captivity. She brought the Illyminium princess her meals and allowed her one hour a day to sit on the balcony, during which time Starlex observed the city with its thick smoky haze hanging over the crowded streets and the Great Vulcan looming in the distance. Scanning the horizon, she searched desperately for any sign from Oran, musing sadly how she was confined to a place where the air was so thick and so foul, she couldn’t even see the stars at night. No wonder the Nazeer people lacked all imagination. And now, she was to be married to one?

"Why am I being married to this Dizzo Nazeer?" Starlex asked Jynud after her hair was arranged high on her head with pins of emeralds woven throughout.

"It's not your business to ask why," came from the gruff reply.

Finding strength within her she didn't know she possessed, Starlex asked, "And what if I refuse?"

The answer came in a hard slap across the side of her head. "Marry Dizzo Nazeer or marry the executioner's blade." Jynad raised her ruddy hand again for a second strike. "Now, should I rouge your other cheek to match?"

Starlex trembled, shook her head.

As Jynud moved away to retrieve the green velvet slippers Starlex was to wear, the princess peered woefully at her reflection in the glass. She had often dreamed of the day when she would be married, but this was far from her sweet imaginings of a handsome groom, a man of great strength but also kindness, someone to whom she could give all the love that was soaring in her heart.

She felt the tears of despair welling up in her eyes, but she controlled them, knowing they would only inspire more abuse from her sadistic jailer. She looked more deeply into the glass, trying to locate the person within the image who would guide her through this ordeal.

In the mirror's reflection, she watched a shadow pass the balcony window. Startled, Starlex spun on her stool in time to spot a giant bird with a long black beak and purple feathers shimmering along its wide wingspan. Resisting the urge to run to the balcony window, she turned back to the mirror and watched coyly in the glass. The giant bird flew past again as if circling the prison tower where she was confined. Her heart thrilled. There could be no doubt.

Raki!