Change of Plans

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William's Perspective

It's been a week since the egg reformed. Both my father and I have been feeling more tired than usual. We aren't tired in the sense of not getting enough sleep, but instead we have minor fatigue. The egg has been safe and sound away from my father. He doesn't know about it, nor does he know about what happened.

I plan to keep it like that. I don't want to think about what my father would do if he found out what I have done.

Would he disown me? Cast me out? Congratulate me? No. Why would he do that?

My father has sent me out to collect some herbs in Zarmen Forest. I like going off here sometimes. It gets me away from everything and allows me to explore by myself. It does get lonely, though. I didn't have many friends growing up. Sure, there were a few, but it's been hard to remain genuinely close due to living outside the city.

Walking underneath the tree, I look up at the branches, watching as a nice breeze blows by. The wind moved the leaves pleasantly, the sunlight piercing every so often in a way that can only be called beautiful. The leaves scatter the light onto the forest floor. I followed the light as if it were my guide, leaping over a few logs as I spotted a few herbs behind it.

I continued walking through the forest for a few hours when I noticed something. It was quiet—too quiet.

I've been wandering unquestioningly for the past hour without distraction or sound. There was no animal, no bug, no nothing. Heck, even some of the plants here tend to be monsters. But there wasn't anything. It was so quiet that it felt like all life in the forest had left.

Continuing to walk farther, on guard, I discovered something new: a hole. It was huge, as if someone had dug a massive hole into the forest with a shovel.

I stared at the hole for a while, curious about it. I got closer but couldn't see anything but darkness in it. I noticed a lot of dark black veins stretching out of the hole. Everything the black vein spread to was dimmer, weaker, withered, or dead. I wanted to investigate it, but a part of me knew better. Especially when I didn't have a weapon. I need to get back home and tell my father what I found.

As I stepped back from the burrow, I heard a faint noise inside it, like a bird crying out. I looked at the burrow with concern. This was the first time I had heard something like this. I knew then that I needed to return.

20 minutes later

After running out of the forest with a bag of herbs, I charged straight to my home. I opened the door and immediately felt the dragon egg.

Thump-Thump Thump-Thump Thump-Thump

Its heartbeat gets stronger with each passing day. But right now, I need to address something first.

"Father!"

"Will, what's wrong?" My father replied as he entered the kitchen. He wore a long, loose-sleeved red cotton shirt with black pants and boots. "Why are you covered in sweat?"

I sucked in as much air as possible so I could breathe as I recovered my airflow. "Zarmen Forest. It's not right; it's like all life there has left. I even found a hole in the ground that was never there before."

I watched as my father stared at me and leaned against the kitchen counter, crossing his arms. "No life, you say?"

"Yeah. There's no sound, no nothing, not even crickets. It's like everything is left. Do you know what's happening?"

"I only hope it's not a Wendigo or anything worse." I watch as he holds his chin with his hand, watching him think. "But before that, I have something for you." My father waved his hand at me, telling me to come as he walked towards the living room.

Following him, my heart rate was steady when I noticed he had his bow in his hand. He aimed the sharp edge towards the couch, and I saw the egg there.

"What is this doing in the basement?"

"I. I. I don't know."

"You think I wouldn't notice something like this in my home?" I looked at my father as he glared maliciously at me. "So I'll ask again. What is this doing here?"

We looked at each other for a while. I was utterly speechless. Sweat dripped down my forehead as my heart throbbed in my chest with panic and fear. My mind raced as I tried to come up with something to say.

But that moment of silence was a mistake. I watch as my father approaches the egg with the intent to destroy it, and he readies to swing his bow at it. "Stop!"

He stopped mid-swing, making me gasp loudly in relief, realizing I was holding my breath. "Explain." His face was severe. Dead serious. I should've known better.

It felt like I was just kneed in the stomach as I got anxious. Guilt was all over my face as I retold my father everything that had happened.

"So you failed to be a dragon rider and, in return, stole a dragon egg?"

"No. Yes. No. It's confusing."

"You claim that this dragon egg was once a tiny eggshell that somehow turned back into a normal egg. Will, what would happen if you or I were discovered with a dragon egg? Not even Lord Barren can save us."

My stomach dropped with concern. The idea of us being punished for my stupid decision scares me. "I couldn't just leave it to die."

"And now you sentence all of our lives to death?"

"That's," I turned away from him, as anger and guilt were getting to me. "I wasn't trying to do such a thing."

"You should've thought about it then."

"What was I supposed to do?" I looked at my father, disgusted and flabbergasted. "Me. A sixteen-year-old watching someone I looked up to and wanted to become do something that went against everything I knew and loved. What was I supposed to do?"

He stood there in silence, processing everything that had happened. But I doubled down on him.

"You always talked about how life should never be taken for cruel or selfish reasons!" I yelled at him, pointing my finger at him. "You taught me that! And look what it did! It made me a failure!"

That sent him walking back to the counter. He leaned up against it, his back toward me. I sat down on the couch, touching the egg.

"When I entered that place, it was as if it were calling me. Asking me to save it. I couldn't just leave it."

My father remained quiet for a moment. What was he thinking? Why was he so quiet? He usually had something to say, but he's been more hesitant and silent for the last few days.

"What did you tell Lord Kevlar?"

"I won't take a life so selfishly or blindly."

I saw him turn his head toward me. "Good."

Good?

I accidentally cracked a smile at my father's words.

"Grab a sword," he said as he walked over to me, grabbed the egg, and returned it to the basement.

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My smile immediately faded away. "A sword? Why?"

What is happening? I was so confused. What's he up to?

I could almost hear a few things get tossed.

"We are going back into that forest to investigate that hole and collect the last few things before we start packing."

"Packing? What for?"

"If you want that egg, we can't stay in Drakelene anymore. We're leaving." His words shook me. My eyes widened as my mind played his words repeatedly, like a mantra, as he walked out of the basement with a few boxes in hand.

"Leaving? As in leaving, leaving?"

"What else do you think?" My father answered as he pulled a leather belt with pouches all over it out of one of the boxes. "It would be better if we left sooner before the dragon hatches. Dragons don't stop growing in power and size as long as they are connected to the Dragon Force. We wouldn't be able to hide it."

"But this is our home. We've been here since... Well, forever. We can't just leave!" I walked towards him, seeing what else he grabbed as he stuffed his pouches.

My father stood back up and got confrontational with me. He stood over me, making me step back as his chest hit mine. "Do you have a better plan, then? I'm not too fond of it either, but you have a choice. Either destroy that egg and we stay, or keep it and leave Drakelene. You have until we get back."

Before I could even consider what to do, my father entered the basement and tossed me a sword with a brown sheath.

I caught it, grabbing it by the plain wooden handle. I unsheathed the sword, seeing that it was silver in color. Silver?

"Why a silver sword? Why do you have a silver sword?" I asked my father.

"Biology 101: Silver is toxic to all creatures, depending on various factors." My father said this as he exited the basement, closing it and covering it with the rug. "How much silver is one exposed to? How much of the creature's body regenerates? Silver is extra harmful to any creature with high regenerative abilities. Due to their bodies working faster, silver would also spread much faster. Silver chemically harms the body and would damage the body much quicker and more deadly. However, the effects must be constant to last as long as possible. Silver will slow down monsters, but it won't kill them unless you can pump them full."

I can't believe it. My father and I are going on an adventure. Sure, we've gone hunting before, but we have yet to go on something like this. He only taught me how to use a sword, brawl, herbology, hunting, and channel magic. This must be serious.

Walking to the kitchen, I opened the bottom cabinet and pulled some healing herbs and potions. "Catch." My father turned his head towards me as I threw him the supplies. He caught it with ease as he stuffed it into his satchel.

I grabbed my brown pouch, thinking it would be wise to take it with me if I wanted. I had never seen my father so tense before. I found a belt with a slot to slide my sword's sheath into.

"Let's go!" My father said this as he walked outside, holding his bow by its massive riser.

When I slipped the sword into the slot, it clicked, connecting so it wouldn't fall off. When I hooked the belt onto me, the sword dangled on my back, but with a few adjustments, the belt was nice and taut.

I was ready. Walking outside, I approached my father as he held his bow differently. He was holding it by the riser instead of using it as a massive cane. "Ready."

My father held his free hand to my chest and started to chant. I couldn't comprehend his words as a blue light flickered underneath his palm. His hand suddenly became warm as he withdrew his arm away from me. A blue orb was in his palm, flinging it out of his hand as it hovered in the air momentarily.

"What is that?"

"Tracking spell. It's how I occasionally track you. I set it to track what you found by retracing your steps."

Before I knew it, the blue orb flew off in the direction I came from, towards Zarmen Forest. It left a floating blue trail of smoke for us to follow.

"Let's go," my father said as he took off, following the blue trail.

I followed right behind him. We chased after the blue orb, following its blue trail as we entered the forest. The sky had already turned a bright orange, signaling it was close to evening.

We ran, leaping over trees and logs and following my father's steps. I try to understand how he ran through the woods, seeing how each of his steps was meticulous, as if he knew where to step and jump. I felt the ground sink downward with every step I took. My heart was racing from us sprinting, and my breathing started to get heavy.

The forest was just as quiet as before. Still, empty, eerie.

We sprinted until we finally made it to the hole. The dark veins were much more apparent.

"Ya, this isn't normal," my father uttered. I could see his nose scrunch up from the smell. "Damn, it smells like shit! Care to jump in?"

The smell was something unimaginable yet familiar. But it was way too potent—almost gut-wrenching.

"I wouldn't have brought you here if I had already jumped in," I retorted, waving my hand near my face, hoping it would help with the stench.

"What? Scared?"

I turned to him, gave him the middle finger, and jumped into the hole. The wind blew past my face for a second. I was only about five down when I looked up at my father.

"Coming?"

"Punk ass," my father scoffed at me as he jumped down right behind me. He brought his bow up and readied it as we stared down a single dark tunnel.

I turned around to see another tunnel behind us. Each tunnel was covered with vines—black veins similar to the ones on the hole's surface. But after looking at the ground, I touched it. It was hard and rough, but the pattern designs weren't like something made by hand or shovels. Something dug here and made the tunnels, and it wasn't human.

My father started to chant again as a blue light flew past my head, startling me as a blue trail lit the tunnel slightly. It was a very long tunnel, and the light only showed a few inches to the ground and ceiling. But the farther the light went, the darker the trail became, until you couldn't see anything.

"Will, watch my six," my father commanded as he started to walk down one of the tunnels. I didn't say a word as I drew my sword and followed right behind, keeping my back towards his. "Don't do any big swings in here. The walls are too narrow."

"Got it."

Staying close as each step left a loud crunch, we slowed. One step after another, I lost sight of the exit light. We continued farther in as the smell worsened, almost making me puke. Roots snapped at our steps as the only visible light we could see was from my father's spell.

It was way too quiet to be normal. And we saw nothing—not even a single bug. We were underground in a dark tunnel, and we saw no bugs. The silence kept us on edge. It was eerie and uncanny.

Then we stopped.

"Will you channel magic into your sword?" my father mumbled.

I'm not used to channeling magic into my weapons, but it was easy since I have been training to channel. Focusing my magic into the sword, it started to glow a faint blue color, enough to give off some light, but only to see a few inches in front of us.

"Good, over here."

Following his orders, I turned around and brought the sword over to him, lighting up the ground. Crouching down next to him, I could determine what he was looking at.

He held a white, oversized hat that could probably touch my waist if I wore it. It was covered in red dirt stains—no, blood. But why was my father looking at this hat?

"This belongs to Doctor Apple; she travels this forest on top of a bear wearing this hat," my father said assertively. "She never goes anywhere without this."

"Then why is it here?"

My father started crawling on all fours to an intersection of tunnels. There, he pulled something off the ground.

It was an arm covered in black veins ripped off from the elbow as a yellow tumor formed on parts of the skin. The skin was ghostly pale, covered in dirt with yellow puss going down it and a single ring on the finger.

There, I saw my father's eyes open wide. Terror filled them as he looked up at me.

"We have to leave," my father said, his voice shaking with fear. I have never seen my father so scared.

"Now!"

Not wanting to argue, I turned around and went straight for the exit. I did my best to run through the narrow tunnels, grabbing onto the walls for any leverage to pull myself.

I was lost here, though. Why are we running? What made this place?

Finally seeing the light, I picked up speed until I stood at the exit. My father was right behind me as he turned me around. "You're up first," he proclaimed, bringing his hands together below his waist.

Understanding what he was trying to do, I sheathed my sword and lifted my foot onto his hands. He proceeds to holster me off the ground as I try to stand up straight on his hand, reaching for something to grab onto. Digging my nails into the ground, I pulled myself up clumsily. Turning around quickly and lying flat on the ground, I offered my hand to him as he jumped up and took it. I was worried he would drag me down for a moment until he used his bow to support himself.

He proceeded to grab my arm and drag me away from the hole.

"What is it? You have been acting like you know what it is!" I yelled out loud.

My father's behavior was unnatural; his puzzling silence and usually calm demeanor were gone. Something is off.

Yanking my arm out of his grip, I pulled his shoulder so he would turn to me. "Tell me what it is!"

"It's a Blight Nest!"

"The Blight? This far north? The Blight has never been this close to both Hearthglen and Asgard." I explained. The idea was impossible. The Blight can't think, nor would it come this far north. Everyone knew that the Blight attacked from the far southwest, where the Fortress of Danamon was.

"I know, but..." Before he could finish his words, I saw his eyes widen. He was looking at something behind me as he grabbed me. "Will!"

My father wrapped his arms around me as we leaped into the air. I could only hear a terrifying roar, wood breaking, and us hitting the ground. Or maybe that was just my head spinning from the impact.

Trying to shake off what just happened, my father pulled me onto my knees as I looked up to see what he saw.

A massive bear, Doctor Apple's bear, I presumed, slammed itself into a tree as it slowly turned around to face us. Its face had a gigantic black gash going down its pearl-white eyes, and its lips were reddened from all the flesh ripped off. Chunks of the bear's lower jaw were torn off, and I could see the bone connecting to the teeth. Its fur was just unhinged, with a black coating and a hint of yellow puss. Its front arm was hairless and elongated as black veins spread up the arm as bone protruded both out of its claws and above it, almost like brass knuckles. A sharp appendage protruded out of the elbow as fur slowly returned when going up the shoulder.

The bear stood on its hind legs, which looked like they had been cut up with knives. They appeared to be much shorter than any bear I have seen—unnaturally shorter. But that wasn't the worst part. The bear's torso was ripped open, and pieces of its ribs protruded outward. The teeth moved like gears on a machine, opening and closing like a mouth, as more ribs protruded out of the back, making the bear look even bigger than it already was.

Before we could do anything, the bear slammed its front arms into the ground and released a shock wave, sending my father and me tumbling backward.