Chapter 29: The Mechanic and the Last of the Feldroks Part 1

Chapter 29: The Mechanic and the Last of the Feldroks Part 1

Daniel finds yet another surprise when he wakes up the following morning. Naturally, he is started at first, but it's not like the first night of their meeting. Hekate was asleep on his lap against his hip, but she didn't faint during an attempt to kill him. Instead, she's curled up in a ball like a cat, with her big tail curled around her cheeks and the blanket covering as much of both of them as possible, even though it's a small blanket.

He smirks, petting her head gently. She does seem to like it when he does, but...

This is going to bite me in the butt in a different way, isn't it?

Regardless, Daniel does his best to let her rest. She's a magic user, meaning restoring her mana and stamina are highly valuable. He has a handful of the mana restorative potions, which should be highly useful if they're in a pinch. Although, he has to be careful of her small size. Regardless he intends to also feed her antidote potions, just one mana potion could prove to intoxicate the small fox-eared girl. And, he doesn't even know what the consequences of feeding her antidote potions would be, since they're still an alcohol. They just detoxify the alcohol before it can affect the person. It doesn't mean that there aren't any harmful long-term effects.

Of course, back on Earth, it would be unthinkable to feed a child alcoholic drinks, even if they're actually utilitarian in this world, which gives him pause as well. For now, she's doing well without any assistance from consumables. Daniel has plenty of revolver rounds remaining, plenty of food and water he seized, and of course, all but two of his rifle rounds. Assuming a Feldrok is comparable to a dragon, and assuming he can catch it off guard, he might be able to get them through this castle without either of them getting hurt.

They eat a good breakfast, and Hekate sits against his side, smiling.

Yep. Definitely getting bitten later. Oh well.

They clean up their camp after finishing breakfast, and they carefully sneak out of their alcove. They stay close, as they don’t know if any new adversaries would come to investigate. They’re in a hallway, which is winding, and Hekate listens carefully. She nods to indicate that it’s safe, and Daniel pets her head. He leads the way, following the ‘rule of right’; taking right turns when presented with intersections, marking corners, and investigating until they come to a dead end or recognize an intersection or room they’ve been in. Thankfully, Daniel has been collecting the bodies, but Hekate’s sense of smell can detect the blood of the monsters they’ve slain, even down to unique identification, so she can confirm a room quickly without them having to walk all the way across the humongous, pitch black rooms.

Daniel suspects it’s not an ancient temple or tomb, since there are no traps. Instead, it seems to be an ancient castle, as all of the hallways have defensive structures, and the walls are sturdy. He has some idea of the layout from the directions they’ve been heading, but he can’t see well enough to make a map, and he doesn’t have material to do so, since paper is expensive and none of the demons had any.

There are puddles and streams that are too deep for the young fox girl to cross without getting water in her boots or soaking her clothes. She rides on Daniel’s back as he walks across, and she watches their front while holding his revolver. He taught her the basic means to use it, but he doubts she’ll be willing to fire it. He’ll have to be especially careful of her sensitive ears when he fires the rifle.

The next room they come to that is a new room is too large to see across, even for Hekate. She can barely see the ceiling, but confirms there aren’t any airborne targets. However, near the middle of the room, a rather large creature, given the hand gestures she shows Daniel, is eating something else. They make their way along the right wall, still following the rule of right, moving cautiously to avoid any trips or slips that would draw attention of the monster. While Hekate’s burden is the darkness itself, Daniel is on offense once she informs him of the hazard. As such, he uses her faintly glowing outline from her magic power to determine where he can step. So far, it’s worked quite well, even if he can’t see the thing he’s stepping on. Hekate knows to pick the best footing for him, and she has been doing an excellent job as his guide.

Though, something has seemed strange. She seems a little easier to see than before, as if she’s glowing just a touch brighter. He figures he must be imagining it, since it’s such a miniscule difference, and as long as the other monsters can’t see the glow, then it doesn’t matter.

As they’re sneaking, they avoid the eyelines of monsters that are also trying to avoid being noticed by the monster in the center. Daniel only knows for certain because it’s hungrily snorting and tearing at flesh, indicating that there’s definitely a monster there. Not that he doubted Hekate, but even he could tell that there’s definitely a large creature bigger even than the big creature they defeated not too long ago.

Suddenly, Hekate freezes, and noise fills the dark room.

With a suddenness, a light enters the room.

Unfortunately, it isn’t a harbinger of comfort, like a lantern while lost in the woods or an angel bringing divine providence. This light glows with a dark blue hue, illuminating a flickering aura similar to smoke as a titanic being glides. The noise isn’t from the newcomer, though. It’s from the many creatures that are able to choose to flee as they fearfully shriek and clamor to escape the room. The rest, like Hekate, are frozen in terror by a seeming power that gripped them before it was even visible.

Its glow makes it visible all across the room, and Daniel instinctively shields Hekate with his body, trying to keep her from making noise as they stay hidden in their secluded little corner of the gigantic room.

Fortunately, the great beast, easily the size of a one hundred passenger plane, wasn’t there for them. Its glow illuminated the room, and it revealed as it swooped in the beast that was feasting until a moment ago; a gigantic lizard the size of a bus. One capable of carrying a great deal of luggage and breathing fire during a siege; a drake. Daniel only knows that because he was repeatedly corrected by the demonkin he befriended that drakes are distinctly different from dragons.

That said, drakes are, of course, not to be trifled with. And, this one is cowering in fear as it tries to retreat away from the avian newcomer.

In spite of the glow, the newcomer could most easily and quickly be described as a dragon. Its wingspan is vast, and it had actually pounced from the far end of the room into a glide, closing the distance on the drake before it could be noticed. It has a long, broad tail, flickering as its smoky aura of magic light swirled around and seemingly through the surface of the tail itself. From what he can tell, Daniel suspects it’s an illusion from magical power, similar to heat waves from a hot fire. It could even be exactly that, though a blue glow would indicate a terrifyingly hot fire.

Its body is long and slender, jet black on its own and similarly wavering like a mirage over a grassy plain, and it uses its foreclaws to pin the drake down as flames burst forth from the latter’s mouth in a desperate attempt to fend off the attacker that it couldn’t possibly hope to outrun. In spite of its efforts, the flames glance off of the black dragon’s wings, illuminating the monstrous beast in a hellish glow, further amplifying how dark its jet-black appearance truly is. If it wasn’t glowing with light, it would be almost impossible to see in this castle until it was already far too late.

The creature then pins the drake down on its side with a violent boom that rumbles the castle, drowning out the monsters crying and fleeing in every direction away from the drake and black dragon. It’s likely they were lingering in hopes of eating scraps from the drake’s meal, but now, the drake is going to become the meal of an apparent apex predator of the ungodly huge castle.

The monstrous black dragon inhales as the drake again tries a desperate flame breath of its own. The dragon ignores it, exhaling a terrifying breath of pure white. Daniel can hear the crackling and creaking of... ice. The drake is being frozen solid in an instant.

The drake cries a pitiful shriek as its body freezes. That is until its lungs freeze, and its head collapses before turning to ice as well.

The glow of the dragon shifts to a red color, and it shakes its head, dripping liquid that looks like it could easily be liquid nitrogen or something similar; instantly cooling the humidity in the air to a steam even as it evaporates quickly.

With another deep breath, Daniel is brought back to his first real battle in this world.

The black dragon’s mouth fills with an orange glow, and pops and booms erupt from its mouth as flames pass across its frozen teeth and lingering liquid freezing agent. Just as quickly as it had frozen the drake, the dragon melts the ice with crackling pops, though it only partially thaws parts of the drake... before tearing into it with its teeth.

Daniel watches for a moment, still hugging Hekate. the lingering flames on the moss and anything else flammable have created enough light to see, and the dragon is distracted presently as it enjoys its meal.

He might be able to extract his rifle, but there’s no telling whether the dragon is his target. Though, given the ferocity of this beast, it’s unlikely that there’s anything more dangerous than it in the castle. Of course, that would be easy to believe of the drake before seeing the scene before them now.

Hekate whimpers, and Daniel hugs her, cooing softly, “Shh, Hekate... It’s okay. I’m here. I’ll protect you.”

That resolves it. Whether or not he can defeat this thing, Daniel carefully draws his rifle off of his back. He definitely can’t defeat it without his weapon at the ready. He’s hoping, though, that the dragon is satisfied with its meal.

He does his best to keep Hekate’s face hidden and comfort her as she silently cries into his chest. She’s still terrified, and after a short while, she finally falls asleep. That, or the terror causing her to breathe less than needed led her to faint.

Either way, Daniel keeps watch over her as the Dragon contentedly feasts on the drake, melting more of it as it reaches bones. It doesn’t finish the meal, though, and roars as it carries off the remaining half of the frozen drake, lumbering rather than flying as it drags the beast. It walks on its rear legs and effortlessly drags the drake with one ‘hand’. It’s only as it’s leaving that Daniel notices the edges of its head moving, almost like canine ears listening. It’s not alert, but listening casually.

After it leaves, Daniel shoulders his rifle and scoops up Hekate, carrying her in a princess carry with his revolver under her legs draped over his forearm. It’s not ideal, but he’ll be able to fight, even if he has to drop her to the ground momentarily.

He reluctantly makes the decision he knows he needs to make, though. He heads in the direction that the black dragon lazily lumbered off to. He’ll make camp again after a little while, and he can verify with Hekate what he doesn’t really want to be true; that the black dragon isn’t a dragon at all.

Fear grips her soul. The very ability to hear drains from her ears. The very ability to see narrows to a small, narrow tunnel, locked on the source of her terror. Every hair on her body begins to tingle and stand on end. Her broad tail, having regrown some of her missing fur, puffs up to provide a bigger presence, but also to allow her to shield herself if she needs to.

Assuming she even could attempt to defend herself, that is. When Daniel told her of the drake managing a futile defense attempt, she hadn’t seen any of it. She was so tunnel-visioned in fear.

Now, her heart is pounding once more, and her voice squeaks.

She’s suddenly yanked back, and Daniel sits her down against the wall, cooing quickly but as quietly as he can, “Calm! Stay calm, Hekate. It’s okay! It’s alright! We can do this! You and me!”

She begins to cry, and tears pour from her eyes as she shakes her head vigorously. “No! No!” She cries. “No!”

“Shhh! Please, I need you to stay quiet. You saw, didn’t you? This is our chance!”

“NO!” She cries, and he hugs her to his chest, muffling her cries as she bawls into his jacket. She continues to cry, “No! No!” Into his chest over and over again. She can’t even think of anything else to say. Is she trying to convince him not to even try it, or is she trying to deny its existence? She wouldn’t be able to say. She can barely process anything. Her only rigid stone in a tumbling rockslide is Daniel; her only friend in the world. The one she truly loves. The only one she could love after the life she’s lived. In spite of how ugly and small she is, he still treats her so kindly.

Daniel finally extracts himself, whispering, “Hekate, I agreed to help you conquer this fortress, didn’t I? That thing’s an obstacle. I know you don’t believe me, and you don’t have to. But, I won’t give up without trying. Alright?”

She shakes her head, unable to form words any more as she sniffles and whimpers, trying to keep her breath.

How could you even think something so crazy!? Why can’t we just stay like we were!? Like we are!?

She can’t get the words out at all. She doesn’t need to conquer the Citadel. The Dragon Lord was never going to check on her progress. If she could find a happy medium of surviving with someone she cares about...

However, Daniel pulls her head to his, and his lips touch her forehead, causing a spark to pass through her body. At least, that’s how it feels. She has never felt anything like it. The closest is when Daniel holds her and pets her head. But, this is different. It burrows deep into her soul, growing there like a small swelling feeling.

It leaves her speechless and unable to move. And, it is that moment in which Daniel makes his move, quickly darting around the corner while Hekate is stunned. She finally snaps to, finding his magic bag on the ground in front of her. His words finally processed through her brain, even after he’s already around the corner. “Just in case, be safe, Hekate. First and foremost, take care of yourself.”

She scrambles to collect the bag. “N-No...!” She whispers.

She starts to fearfully crawl towards the corner again. She needs to stop him, but it’s already far too late. He’s already around the corner. All she can do is try to call him back.

But, the image flashes through her mind. It’s there; the most powerful being in the world. It may be feral compared to the Feldroks of legend, but it still keeps the dragons away from the Citadel, the last and most powerful stronghold of the mythical race.

Go! He needs your help! He’s going to die! Get him to come back! You have to! He’s given you all you have now! MOVE!

In spite of her desires, her fear keeps her frozen steadfast. Tears fall from her cheeks as she tries to force the courage to go to him and pull him back. He is committing suicide, and all for a foolhardy...

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

Hekate leaps away from the corner in terror as the single loudest noise she has ever heard thunders from beyond the corner. It pierces her ears, shakes her body, and rattles her bones.

It was undoubtedly the power of a Feldrok. It was the very voice of not just thunder, but the God of thunder in a fit of anger.

Hekate’s ears are ringing, and she can’t help the cries of agony from the pain in her ears, the jolt on her body, and the tearing in her heart.

In an instant, everything she’s ever had is suddenly...

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

Hekate is startled by another sudden shout of the thunder god, which easily breaks through her momentary deafness from the first attack. Again, it unmistakably came from the next room, where Daniel disappeared to.

A second attack.

A second attack between Daniel and the Feral Feldrok.

Daniel, a human without any magic in his body, survived an attack from a Feldrok.

Hekate’s mind is stuck. She can’t process. She feels numb. It’s unthinkable that a human would be able to survive a single attack from a Feldrok.

It would be more unthinkable to hope that the sound, which shares similarities with Daniel’s revolver, was actually him launching his own attack.

A deep rumble fills the ground, and she can barely hear the collapsing of something heavy, though her ears are still ringing more than not.

Hekate finally scrambles to the corner, nervously peeking her eyes with her ears folded back, trying to lower her profile as she reveals her face.

White smoke is filling the room heavily, obscuring everything. Hekate’s eyes water, but something seems off. She can sense the magical power of the Feldrok, but it isn’t drowning her soul in a flood of fear, nor is it enveloping her in a blanket of darkness. Instead, she can ‘see’ it like a fading fire in the distance.

And, standing before that fading fire is a small shadow.

***