The Mistakes Of Misfits

Chapter 6 

Journal of Sumi Raven guard page 53

The mage confuses me. He is no coward. Our encounter on the bridge proves that much, yet he spared my life. Varrin does not care for me. Why would he? I am his enemy, a savage beast in his eyes. No better than a wolf or bear he might avoid while hunting. He even shared info with me. He acted like we weren't about to kill each other the minute we left this canyon. He... perplexed me. I did not like the feeling.

He slept on our little rock as I watched for danger, but my eyes kept moving to him. It probably didn't help that the mage was also built like a warrior. Strong chin and cheeks, a massive built chest. I almost became lost in his body. I quickly turned away. He was still my enemy. Still the man I had to kill when this was all over, probably best to get to know him the least amount possible.

Varrin tossed and turned violently in his sleep. He muttered a few words but I was unable to make them out. Apparently the mage has as many demons as I did. His short brown hair was unkempt and fell over his forehead. Varrin shot up in surprise. His eyes were wide as if looking for enemies that were not there. He was glistening in sweat. I wondered what could possibly have him this startled.

"Good morning." I greeted. "Sleep well?" I asked the second question a bit out of spite and a bit out of curiosity. Varrin's eyes almost seemed to soften at my voice. His mind went away from his terrible dreams and back into the cold fucked up reality that faced him.

He slowly nodded to me and whipped the sweat from his face. "You ready?" He asked. Intentionally trying to avoid talking about his dreams.

I nodded to him and led us out. I didn't need to know about the mages problems as long as he could still fight. I would like though if curiosity didn't drag me back to that image of his fear after waking up.

I grabbed the necklace that I had hidden under my tunic. I made sure Varrin was not looking at me before I said a small prayer and asked for guidance. The smooth blue gem in the necklace hummed a bit before my vision turned gray. I opened my eyes to see a large open area ahead of us, the outline of the rocks glowing blue in my new vision. I turned to Varrin. "There's a clearing up ahead. I don't know what's there but be ready for some larger threats... stealth will be our best option."

Varrin cocked an eyebrow at me. "How do you know that? He asked. He looked up at me with curious eyes. Those eyes were hungry for information. I sighed and tried to give him a smirk.

"You kept me alive for my navigational skills. I can't reveal all my secrets." Varrin nodded. His bright blue eyes made it seem like he wanted to ask more, but he held himself back. We continued down the path until we came to the entrance to the clearing.

I call it a clearing but it was more of an underground dome where all kinds of large creatures who dwelled in the dark could roam free. The ground was an ashy gray with large cracks forming on the dry dirt. A thick layer of fog seemed to be all around the clearing making the massive creatures roaming it hidden from our view. But I could hear them with their thunderous roars and massive stomps.

I put my hand around my necklace again and said a silent prayer. I prayed for guidance through this clearing. I felt my vision shift and a cave highlighted itself in my vision on the other side of the fog. I looked back at Varrin. "We need to be careful. Be quiet and follow me."

Varrin knelt down and nodded. He most likely saw the massive shadows in the distance as well. I led us into the clearing. The ground was soft and almost felt like ash. I kept myself crouched. We moved from cover to cover when we could, keeping ourselves hidden from massive beasts. We saw a few similar insectoid creatures like I had fought earlier. We saw a few reptilian beasts and... I grabbed Varrin and we both hid behind a massive boulder.

A massive circular creature made its way through the fog. It didn't walk but actually floated through the air. Most of its body was a shadow but the part I saw the best was the massive tentacles that whipped through the air at any vermain that dared get too close. I looked back at Varrin. "What the hells is that?" I whispered to him.

Varrin squinted his eyes at the creature for a moment. "That..." his voice caught for a moment in amazement. "That looks like a Recorder. They once studied lands and gave samples of creatures to the gods." His face was pure unadulterated fear. "That thing devours anything new it observes. It leeches any life force out of creatures within seconds... it would annihilate us if given the chance."

I let out an awkward chuckle. "Good to know." I quipped while I looked back at the massive beast. "Why would a celestial beast be all the way down here? Was it left after the great war?" I had heard of demonic and celestial beings being left after the conflict between humanity and Demon king Revan. The Demon king attempted to invade the mortal realm with thousands of demonic creatures. The elves, mages, humans and orcs had banded together to put him down. If legend was true the gods even sent celestial creatures down to join in the battle. Many of those creatures were left in the mortal realm after the conflict was over.

Varrin slowly shook his head. "The Recorders were banished by the god of the sun, Varun. He had no use for them after humanity showed what they were capable of in the celestial war. Most were hunted for their parts... I thought they were all extinct." His eyes flashed with that wonder that only scholars like him ever showed. "The Magistrate has to know about this creature on my return. This is marvelous."

I didn't know how he could be so excited for something that could easily rip him to shreds. "Let's stay focused on staying alive first." I reminded him. That childlike wonder disappeared and he nodded his head. I led us through that clearing for what felt like hours. We avoided beasts of all different sizes and shapes.

I tried to focus on the exit. I could still see it highlighted in my vision even through the fog. I was so focused on the exit I didn't notice the mound of dirt that was not as it appeared. As soon as my foot hit it I felt a rush of breath hit my leg. I didn't have enough time to escape the beast. I had been caught off guard.

Varrin grabbed me by the back of my tunic and pulled me to his side. I could feel air rush toward me as the massive creature clamped its jaws right where I was a moment ago. As soon as I was clear of the beast's attack Varrin let me go and readied his staff. "Don't die on me yet." He ordered with a devilish smirk. "That's going to be my job."

I rolled my eyes at the mage's attempt at humor. "Remind me to make your death slow, you are insufferable." I heard Varrin's chuckle out of the corner of my mind as I readied my sword and faced the threat. The beast rose from the ground and stood at its full massive height.

The creature stood on two massive hind legs. Its skin was an ashy gray with brown stripes running across its body. The head and jaws took up a huge portion of its body. It leaned forward and rested on its much smaller front legs. The beast snapped its enormous toothed jaws at us in warning. I unsheathed the shortsword and readied it. The blade felt light on my one good arm. God I missed using my great sword.

The beast charged us and I lunged forward toward it, slashing at one of its front legs. Its hide was hard and while my strike still drew blood it wasn't enough to do that much damage. The creature spun around and attempted to bludgeon me with its tail. I ducked under the swing, feeling the air of the tail moving above me. "Okay bookworm!" I yelled at Varrin. "What is this and how can I kill it?"

Varrin shot a bolt of lightning at the beast's head causing it to shutter. "It's called a thrask! It's a very old reptilian beast that usually lives in mountain caves... it doesn't make sense though. It should be accompanied by smaller creatures called Salazars.

As if on cue a small reptilian creature leaped out of the smoke and slashed Varrin's face. Varrin grabbed his now bleeding cheek and faced the salazar. He didn't seem to be very injured but worry crossed his face. "Kill the Thrask!" He ordered. "It's their alpha, kill it and the salazars will retreat!" I heard more Salazars coming but Varrin lit his staff on fire to draw their attention.

I focused my attention on the thrask. It rushed me and attempted to snap off my left side with its massive jaws. I dodged to the side and slashed up, slicing into the beast's cheek. The attack didn't leave half as much of a gash as I wanted. I knew with my one arm and my weakened body I wouldn't be able to fight properly for at least a few days.

I tried to strike the thrasks eye but the thrask met my body with its front claws. I felt the pain and blood across my chest. It burned like a fire but I had to fight through it. I attempted another strike on the eye of the beast this time striking true. It roared in pain and before I could move away that tail met my torso and sent me flying back. The pain of cracked ribs met the cuts and created a nice little dance of pain across my torso.

I turned back to Varrin to see he wasn't fairing a ton better. He was being flanked by three salazars. He already had two dead at his feet. The creatures were about the size of a large dog with massive claws and bright green scales. Varrin looked like he was running on empty. His breaths were labored and sweat covered his brow. I heard more salazars approaching from the fog. "We need a new plan!" I screamed at him.

Varrin nodded and made his move. He leaped to me, narrowly avoiding the attack of another salazar. The second he was close to me he put up his hands and a wall of fire formed around us. "Fuck!" He yelled in frustration. He stood up slowly, his legs shaking as he tried to focus. "I think I have an idea. It's really crazy though" He offered.

I crossed my arms. "What's the plan mage?" I asked. I was fresh out of options and from the way he was breathing... we couldn't stay in this fire for long.

Varrin chuckled. "I saw a weak spot. But I can't reveal it and keep up our little protection. I'll get you close but if you don't kill it quickly after I reveal it we will be dead from salazars within moments." I gave the mage a small nod. A confirmation that I would accept his plan. He smirked. "Let's hope this works." He muttered.

The circle of fire turned into a pathway that led straight to the thrask. I ran forward, sword at the ready for my moment. My body ached. My legs wanted to give out but I kept moving. I was about ten feet from the beast when the fire wall dropped. I kept charging, at this point the mage either did his job or I died with honor. Seconds before I clashed with the creature a large hand made out of arcane energy formed and clasped the thrasks head, lifting it into the air.

There it was. I saw a soft spot on the thrasks belly that wasn't visible from its usual position. I drove my blade into the soft underbelly of the beast and slashed across its chest with as much force as I could muster. It let out a scream twice as loud as when I slashed its eye. I was splattered with blood and intestines as the magic hand dropped the creature. I pulled out the sword and turned back to see Varrin.

The salazars had cut him quite a bit in those few moments before I could kill the thrask. Now they backed up from the large orc who wore their alpha's guts. Most were out of view but I let out a roar at the few who dared not run from my presence. They soon followed their brothers and sisters. Varrin had luckily been right about the alpha theory. My eyes met the mages for a moment.

There was a moment of stunned silence. Then a large burst of hysterical laughter consumed us both. We were alive! We had been so close! One wrong move that whole time would have been our deaths. Varrin walked up to me and gave me a small punch to the shoulder. "Not too bad orc." He had a smile. A genuine fucking smile.

I felt that same smile cross across my lips, despite how desperately I tried to fight it. "Not too bad yourself mage." I said back to him. I gave him a punch to the arm. Varrin winched at the impact but didn't say anything. He met my gaze with those bright blue eyes and I felt... a spark of something. What the hell was I feeling? That couldn't be...

My thoughts were interrupted by a shriek in the distance. I combed the fog looking for the source of the noise. Varrin actually shook from fear upon hearing the shriek. "How far exactly is that exit?" He asked me.

I looked to the exit. It still glowed from the guidance I had received earlier. It was technically within running distance but how far would we make it with that thing on our tails? "It's about half a mile." I told Varrin.

Without even a moment of hesitation Varrin grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the exit. "Then lead us there!" He screamed as we transitioned into a sprint. I recovered from the sudden movement and ran a bit ahead of the mage. I was a bit faster than him, my long legs giving me a slight advantage. I could hear his steps only a few feet behind me. He would be okay. I needed to focus on getting us out of this damn place.

I didn't have time to use my amulet to check the path ahead. I needed to rely on pure instinct alone to get us to the exit. A large insectoid creature, similar to the one we encountered when we first landed in this abyss came into view and I narrowly avoided a swipe of its spiked tail. I hoped Varrin would do the same behind me. I didn't have time to check on him as I kept my legs moving.

A creature burst from the ground to our left and the resulting curse that escaped Varrin's mouth let me know he was still alive. The creature would take a moment to surface, by the time it was ready we would be long gone.

Another shriek sounded from the creature chasing us and this time I did not hear the shriek in my ears but in my head. It felt like a hangover had rocked my skull as I tried to focus on running. It was getting closer, I could feel its presence in my mind getting stronger.

My legs threatened to give out and my chest where my many wounds were located threatened to fail me but I refused. I pushed my body to its absolute limit. I would not die today. I would not be forgotten in this cursed place. I heard Varrin's ragged breaths behind me and I just hoped he would be able to keep up as I pushed myself.

Salazars appeared in my vision but instead of attacking us they seemed to also be running from the creature threatening us. The salazars ran into the fog to our left but I saw it. I saw our exit appear in the fog. We were so close. I heard a tentacle snap and a large mound of dirt to my right exploded from the impact. The beast was close too. The force from the tentacle was almost enough to knock me off my balance but I kept my footing. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears but I dived into the exit tunnel.

I made the mistake of worrying and turned to see if Varrin was in the exit tunnel with me. I saw Varrin running a few feet away from the tunnel I had just dived into. Varrin's fearful face met mine as I heard another tentacle crack. He wasn't going to make it. I closed my eyes. He wasn't a friend, but I didn't want to see what happened next. I heard the rush of the tentacle move towards the ground. I braced for the sound of Varrin's screams. The next thing I heard however... was a collision. As if the tentacle had met steel.

I opened my eyes to see Varrin standing with his arms up bathed in golden light. It looked a lot like the red aura he had used against me on the bridge but the energy coming off of it was... strange. He held up a massive ward shield that had stopped the tentacle strikes. I looked on in awe. Mages should not be able to block a strike from a creature that big. He was an initiate. How could he possibly muster this much power?

The tentacles receded and curled back for another round of strikes. Varrin took the moment and dived into the tunnel with me. His aura seemed to fade as I caught the sweaty tired mage and dragged him farther into the tunnel. The creature attempted to attack us but even its tentacles were too large to attack us in this tunnel. We were safe for now. We walked into the tunnel a bit farther... just to be sure.