After his meal, Ignis had lain down on the bench he had feasted on to take a nap until the sun rose again. His rest, however, was interrupted after only a few hours, as he was soon awoken by a distressed Ophelia.
"Oi, old man, I got another job for ya."
The wizard startled awake, but, upon realising that it was still a few hours until sunrise, quickly laid back down.
"Not interested. Ask again when it isn't dark.", he mumbled, rolling over and showing his back to her to emphasize his statement.
"I wouldn't ask ya if I didn't need to, so get up already.", she growled, kicking him in his behind. Though his robe prevented any damage this could have cause, he still yelped and fell off the bench theatrically.
"Is that any way to ask someone for a favour?", the wizard pouted while rising to a seating position and crossing his arms, his gaze averted from the female werewolf. The already irritated Ophelia wanted to have none of it, and just barked at him again.
"Ya gonna help me or what?"
"Only if you say 'Pretty please with a cherry on top.'", Ignis replied in a serious tone which did not match his childish demand in the slightest.
"YOU FUCKING-", the werewolf started to yell, but was interrupted by the wizard raising his hand to shush her.
"Ah, ah, ah! We don't want to wake up the entire village now, do we?", he chastised her, barely able to contain his amusement of the situation and about to burst out into laughter.
"Grrr... P-Pretty please with a cherry on top?", Ophelia relented through gritted teeth, her face visibly straining as she tried to contain her rage, which had long since surpassed the threshold of what she considered as 'getting on her nerves' and entered the territory of 'I'm going to tear this man apart and devour his heart'.
"Now that's what I call a request! Was that soooo hard?", the wizard chuckled smugly, a fatal mistake, as it pushed Ophelia over the edge.
With a loud roar, the female werewolf pounced forward, sinking her razor-sharp teeth into the left arm of the chuckling spellcaster. Ignis had anticipated this, but he was not worried, as his robe had already withstood worse without as much as tearing, or so he thought.
This was no ordinary wolf or dog clamping down on his arm with her teeth, this was a seasoned warrior who had lived her entire life fighting for survival, and mostly empty handed, as she was of the berserk-class, close-quarter fighters who drew strength from their anger. Thus, she had coated her teeth in her aura, a skill commonly employed by beastkin-berserks which made them both resilient enough to not break under the greatest of strains, but also sharp enough to tear through metal without problems.
The moment her teeth had broken through the fabric and entered the wizard's arm, all signs of happiness were wiped off his face, which slowly drained of all colours. The entire village would later exchange stories about a horrific scream sounding throughout the night, followed by a loud explosion, as Ignis was only able to rid himself of his attacker by setting her on fire with a spell.
Moments later, they both tended to the wounds they received during this scuffle, with Ignis trying to desperately keep his arm from falling off with his limited knowledge of healing spells, and Ophelia cooling her still smoking backside in the village's fountain.
It took the wizard several attempts, but he managed to return his arm to its former state, though it now showed large scars where the teeth had pierced flesh, which looked suspiciously similar to burn scars.
Looking over to the whimpering Ophelia, he realised that he went too far, and decided to apologize.
"I am sorry for escalating the situation. I wanted to have some light-hearted fun but forgot that you came to me in a time of need. Please accept my apology and let me heal the damage that I have done to you."
"Hrmph. Guess I want a bit far too, didn't I? Shouldn't have tried to rip your arm off. Sorry, I guess. Was a bit on edge, is all.", she expressed her own regret as the wizard got to work.
"Now, what was it that you needed my help for?", Ignis asked, having finished mending the burned skin on his patient's back, even regrowing the fur of the area in the process.
"Got a message from the town where my granddaughter Sara has been living in via carrier hawk. They wrote something about people being kidnapped and undead attacking her town, and that they're in need of reinforcements. I told the guards already, but I wouldn't trust those lazy fucks if the life of some stranger depended on it, not to mention my grandchild's. Most guards here only volunteered because they knew that if something happened, the villagers would be enough to take care of it, a damn shame, but I ain't got time to kick some sense into them right now. My precious little furball might be rivaling even me in my prime, but who knows what the hell is going on up there. Since you had no problem with the elemental, I thought you'd be the perfect guy to go up there and help out, ya know?", she grumbled.
"...Eh, why not? I got nothing else to do.", the wizard answered with a shrug, earning him a dumbfounded stare.
"Not even asking for something in return?"
"Nope."
"Huh. Who'd thought there'd still be thing that surprised me after all these years.", she retorted baring her teeth in a frightening grimace that somewhat resembled a grin and patted the back of his shoulder in a gesture of camaraderie.
"If we go now, we'll be there in about two days. Come on, I'll show you the way!", she said while rising from the fountain, before shaking off the water not unlike a dog would, Ignis noted in silent mirth.
"You're coming too? I thought you 'mellowed out' in your old years?", the old man asked confused.
"If it's for my kin, I'd fight the 12 Divine Knights themselves. And as you just saw, I still got some bite in me, wouldn't ya say? BWAHAHAHA.", she howled in laughter at her own joke.
"Enough jokes now! Come on, I want to cover some ground before sunrise."
And with that, they left for the path up the mountains, towards the mining-town Apomónosi.
----------------------------------------
"Eugh, how long is this going to take? I'm bored!", the wizard lamented after a few hours.
"What do you mean? We just started ya know? There's like two days' worth of hiking up the mountains left!", Ophelia grunted.
"TWO WHOLE DAYS? Isn't there a shortcut or something?", the wizard cried out in annoyance, as he had done nothing but walk the last few days.
"Nope. Even if you climbed up the mountain in a straight line, it would take longer than just following the path. Now stop crying like a bitch, if you got energy to spare, use it for walking.", Ophelia snarled as they continued onwards, Ignis grumbling all the while over how annoying walking has become.
Hours later, at around noon, the two decided to take a short rest.
"So, what kinda spellcaster are ya anyway? Just jack-of-all-trades or something?", Ophelia asked as she prepared a small campfire to warm up some food.
"...Hmm. You could say that. Though my passion lies in fire. There's just something magical about it, even without magic.", Ignis answered, as he focused on what she was doing.
"Ah, an arsonist, eh? Heh, betcha would like being able to do stuff like this then, eh?", she asked with a toothy grin as she snapped her fingers, igniting the pile of dry wood before her.
"Oho! Fire-anima is it?", the wizard exclaimed excitedly.
"I may not be as good as those sages who do nothing but meditate on hot coals in the middle of an active volcano their whole lives, but I know my way around some sorcery. Still, even though my anima should protect me to some extent from fire, your spell earlier still did quite a number on me. How'd you do it?"
"I'm just that good.", the wizard answered full of pride, which incited Ophelia to chuckle.
"Is that so? Well, if yer that good with magic, why dontcha just magic us a way up the mountains?"
This caused Ignis to do a double take.
"Come again?"
Now it was Ophelia's time to act confused.
"What? That you should magic us up the mountain?"
"Hey, that's actually not that bad of an idea! Hold on a second!", the old man jumped to his feet and readied his staff.
"Wait, hold on! What are you-", the lykan yelped, but was interrupted by Ignis immediately.
"Don't move now, or you might get left behind! ADSURGERE!", he shouted as he slammed his staff into the ground, which started to shake as the spell took effect.
In a radius of about 2 yards around the impact point of the staff, the earth began to crack and rip open, as the werewolf's eyes shrunk to pinpricks at the realization of what the mad man in front of her was doing. Moments later, the ground on which both Ophelia and Ignis stood was lifted into the air by the
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Ophelia screamed as loud as she could in fear, as she clenched her eyes shut and dug her claws as deep into the floating island as she could. As the earth-platform came to a halt, the wizard looked at Ophelia, whose screams had died down to panicked prayers.
"What, afraid of heights? You could have told me that earlier, you know?", he chastised her before lightly poking her in her side, which startled her and caused her to pray even louder.
"Hey, you okay?", he asked as the werewolf tensed up every time the staff made contact with her.
"LIKE HELL I AM! GET US THE FUCK BACK DOWN!", Ophelia screamed at him, but the wizard had none of it.
"I'd rather not. This is not only going to save us a lot of time, but also probably the safest way to get there, as we won't have to worry about being assaulted during the night. Just tell me where to go, I'll handle the rest."
"J-Just fly up the mountains, it's the first town on the way. Please, just make sure I don't fall off, okay?", the werewolf whimpered as she accepted her fate, knowing full well that the wizard could not be reasoned with.
"No worries, I know what I'm doing!", the old man lied, as he had never used this spell until now, before issuing the magical command to move the floating island forward.
"Well then, hold on tight! PROGREDI!"
----------------------------------------
The 4 mining towns of Xifido, one of which was known as Apomónosi, had been one of Chóratonippotóns most valuable assets before it had become assimilated by Domitor, as they not only provided around one fourth of all iron used in the country, but were also the perfect place to train one's spirit, especially if one was born with one of the 4 core elements: Fire, water, earth, or air. This stemmed from the fact that the entire Xifido-mountain range was dense in Anima, the Energy of Nature, though not to a point where one would consider it dangerous. After the fall of Chóratonippotón, however, the mines were vastly expanded by Domitor, as the nation had its eyes set on ores which are more useful in wars, such as mythril, which could only be found in the deepest parts of mountains.
This not only led to devastating collapses, which had cost countless of lives, but also to breaches into an enormous underground complex known as the Roads of Moros, which got its name from an old legend that speaks of an enormous network of underground passages which connect caves all over the world with one another. The Roads of Moros were vastly unexplored, as they were home to various unknown hazards, some of which were considered many times more dangerous than anything found on the surface. Therefore, Domitor decided to cut its losses, and closed off the mines.
After the war, as it had become freed from the tyranny of Domitor, Chóratonippotón showed large interest in re-opening the mines, and if only as training grounds to return their forces to their former glory. Thus, they sought out the help of the dwarves, who travelled to Corus to aid humanity in their war against the hordes of undead just as humans did millennia ago in their war against the dragons, as dwarves were known to be born spelunkers. In exchange for their help, they were given honorary citizenship among many other benefits. Many dwarven clans accepted the offer and made the mining towns of Xifido their new homes, where they would fight side by side with the beastkin to rid the mines of monsters and environmental hazards. At least, until recently.
For unknown reasons, the number of undead creatures in the mountains started to increase rapidly from one day to the other. At first, it was believed that those who had died during expansion of the mines had returned to seek revenge among the living but seeing as their attacks seemed far too coordinated to be the product of chance, many believed there to be another reason for what was happening.
The fights against the horde of undead continued for months, and, just as Apomónosi was about to fall under their control, they disappeared without a trace, a mystery which was currently discussed by a council made up of 7 representatives:
The mayor of Apomónosi, Haris Páchni, a white-furred werewolf whose scars told a story of many a battle he emerged victorious from, thanks to his skill with the halberd, which he had with him at all times. One of them went across his left eye, though the eye itself thankfully stayed somewhat intact after it healed.
Noín Karagast, a bald dwarf with a woven red beard, who agitatedly tapped the floor with his walking stick, a shillelagh made of dark wood, and his brother Zaín, who was only distinguishable from his sibling by his full head of hair, who both represented the dwarven population of Apomónosi.
Michaíl Gyrológos, a middle-aged, blue furred werewolf, who represented the merchants of the town.
Maya Pyrkagiá, a female werewolf with scarlet fur and member of the royal knights of Chóratonippotón, who was sent to the village to write a report about the current situation there, who was idly rocking her chair back and forth in boredom.
Pym Naomh, the oldest among the presiding members, an elderly dwarf and representative of the clergy.
And lastly Sara Anóitos, a black-furred, female werewolf and representative of the guards of Apomónosi. She was equipped with two short-swords, with one hanging on each of her sides on her belt.
"These bastard skulls are still lurking out there in the fog, I just kno' it. We should go an' make sure we send em all to the burning rivers of Ifreann!", Noín shouted into the round, earning himself a nod from his brother, who seemed to share this sentiment.
"As usual, you dwarves fail to see the greater picture. It's as if they're trying to lure us out there, so if you were to storm out there, you would just fall right into their trap. If you ask me, we should use this chance to get off these cursed mountains. We were walking on the skin of our teeth as it was, and there's no sense in staying here.", Michaíl added.
"We have multiple wounded, who are in no condition to be moved. We cannot just abandon them and leave them to their fate.", Pym retorted, his mood soured by the mere suggestion of abandoning those in need.
"Yeah, we will stay and fight to the bitter end. And that 'we' includes you, you fangless coward!", Maya snarled at him angrily.
"Hey, what's wrong with me watching out for myself? If that's cowardice, so be it, I say."
"BWAHAHA, spoken like a true coward!", Zain bursts out into laughter and starts slapping the table, which accidentally knocked over the drink of his brother, spilling it.
"Oi, watch where yis putting yer hands, amadán!", his brother blurted out.
"Oi, cé a ghlaonn tú amadán! Leathcheann!", Zain retorted.
"Ná cuir fearg orm!", Noín yelled before shoving his brother.
The quarrel quickly escalated into a fistfight between the two, with Pyn jumping in as he tried to separate the siblings peacefully.
"ENOUGH!", Haris yelled, punching a hole in the table to underline his frustration about the situation.
This quickly shut the two fighting dwarves up and sent everyone back to their seats. Maya began to chuckle at the antics of the dwarves, earning her angry glares from them and a deep sigh from the white werewolf leading the conference.
"Every time we hold a meeting, you two start rough housing in here. This isn't a kindergarten! Let this be your last warning, before I physically remove you from future meetings, have I made myself clear?", he growled at them, making them nod in unison.
"Good. Now, Father Naomh, as a cleric, you probably know more about those undead than all of us together, what do you think?", he continued, motioning to the priest to speak up.
"Well, as we all know, these undead are either led by something or leftovers from the Edenian War which chose to hide in the mines. Them disappearing can only mean one of two things:
The first being that they moved on to a different target. This would mean that they were indeed just stray undead, seeing as we were already, as Mister Gyrológos put it, 'walking on the skin of our teeth'. The second, more frightening option is that whoever or whatever is leading these monsters is regrouping their forces for one final assault on the town.", the priest concluded.
"Though I pray to Smaragdina for it to be just some uncoordinated leftovers awakened by us reopening the mines, I just can't allow myself to bet on it. Sa-... I mean, Captain Anóitos, how is the situation among the remaining fighters?", Haris asked.
"Sir, we got 15 Lykans and 10 Dwarfs in fighting condition, the rest are wounded or incapable of defending the town. I sent out a message requesting for reinforcements 2 days ago, but considering the difficult terrain, it will probably take them at least 2 more days before they arrive.", she answered with a salute.
"From 200 down to only 25 in less than a week? And we have to hold out for 2 more days?"
"Yes."
"Very well. Karagast Brothers, get the other dwarves together and reinforce our walls. Gyrológos, I want you to gather everything edible in town and ration it among the people, our friend from the royal knights over there is going to watch over your hands so you don't 'accidentally' forget to include your own food. Father Naomh, gather the rest of the clergy and heal the defenders of the town as good as you can. Captain Anóitos, you and 4 other guards are going to protect the dwarves while they reinforce the walls. Any questions or vetoes?"
"No, sir!", all answered in unison.
"I will assist the guards as well. Now then, get to it-"
"Captain! We spotted an unknown object flying towards the town's south gate!", a lykan in guard-uniform burst into the room, making all attendees jump.
"Elaborate!", Sara Anóitos demanded, the others fixating the guard attentively.
"At first we thought it to be a projectile, but its speed and trajectory seem completely random."
"Everyone, go do your jobs, the captain and me are going to see what's going on out there!", the mayor barked at the others before leaving the room, followed by the rest of the council.
----------------------------------------
"Now we go over here, now a bit faster, now a bit slower...", Ignis mumbled just loud enough so that Ophelia could hear him, a maniacal smile adorning his face as he tried his hardest not to burst out into laughter at her reaction.
During their flight, he had become quite adept at steering the floating island, a fact which he abused to his heart's content, as he was now waving his staff like a director would conduct an orchestra to move the platform around.
"Stop this nonsense immediately, or so help me Smaragdina, I will vomit all over you!", the werewolf screamed, still tightly clenching her eyes closed as to not pass out from fear.
"Alright, alright. But you know? Even if you were to fall off, you'd be completely safe with me! Let me show you.", the mad wizard assured her, as he secretly lowered the floating island back to the ground.
"Wait! Don't you dare!", Ophelia growled, but there was nothing she could do with her eyes closed, as the wizard stopped the spell, causing the platform to crumble and making her scream even louder than before, though only for a second, as she immediately touched actual ground.
Her confused expression as she opened her eyes was met with the howling laughter of Ignis, who was beyond amused about the whole situation.
"Did-did you really think I'd drop us from that high up? AHAHAHAHA!", he gasped and wheezed through his guffawing.
What the old man forgot, to his chagrin, was how much his companion loathed his humour, which made him fail to realise just how angry she had become. Starting to see completely red at the wizard's antics, the werewolf assumed the stance of an animal ready to jump their prey, intent on mauling the old man in front of her. Her growling made Ignis return to his senses, however, and he barely managed to cast
"GET OVER HERE YOU SACK OF SHIT! I WILL RIP YOU TO PIECES!", she screamed after barely missing her target, readying her next attack.
"Geez, calm down! It was just a harmless prank! See? Over there! We have arrived at the town!", the wizard yelled out as he dodged her attacks, but his words no longer seemed to reach Ophelia.
"Tch, this overreaction is uncalled for! Very well, if you won't see reason, I will use force!", he yelled out as he released another spell.
A crystalline bubble expanded outwards and away from the wizard's staff, making the wrathful werewolf stop mid attack as if she had just hit a wall.
Before she could react to the sudden appearance of the