Chapter 15: The Rumbling

            Claralux was especially busy this time of year with all the traders from the South having just made the torturous, treacherous journey through the Grand Desert. All the stalls were filled up and Northern traders and mercenaries were trying to get their hands on rare materials and equipment that can’t be found in the north. Hundreds of blissfully unaware people all crowded in one small area. Austin and Ellie walked through the town square receiving nothing more than the occasional glance and scowl. Nobody seemed to want anything to do with them. There was one stall in particular that was busier than any of the others, one of the weaponsmith stalls had a deal on and all of the middle and lower class mercenaries were all scrambling to have their chance to get a good quality, cheap weapon. To avoid the crowds Austin and Ellie went and waited on the top of the wall standing watch looking over the expansive desert. It was quiet, too quiet. Then it rumbled.

‘What’s that?’

‘Ugh… a despicable creation.’

‘That doesn’t help me. I still don’t know what’s making an earthquake.’

‘It’s a descendant of the Earth Dragon God. A Ground Dragon. And it’s not causing an earthquake; you can just feel it a lot more than anyone else can.’

‘Ah. So, is it gonna be difficult to kill?’

‘Very. Even for you.’

‘Right. What does it look like, so I can run the other way?’

‘Big ugly motherfuckers. A dragon on all fours who traded our magnificent wings for a set of ugly arms.’

‘All fours with arms. So, four legs and two arms. Sounds like a pain.’

‘To say they live mostly in caves they’re quick little shits and they have good eyesight.’

‘Quick with good eyesight. Okay.’

‘Why are you repeating everything I’m saying?’

‘I’m just making a mental note.’

‘…Why? I’m in your head already and can just tell you again later.’

‘You’ll complain if I ask you to tell me again later. But you called them little shits, so how big are they then?’

‘Meh. 10? 12 feet? Something like that.’

‘Okay, okay. So not very little at all. Got it.’

“It’s a Ground Dragon by the way.”

“How do you know?”

“Can you not feel the rumbling yet?”

“No… Oh shit…”

            Out of nowhere a loud explosion pierced through the air and echoed around the town as dust, rubble, weapons, bodies and blood was thrown into the sky around the market square. Austin took off at full speed bounding over the roof tops heading straight to the fight abandoning Ellie on the top of the wall.

            The Ground Dragon stood over a high-ranking mercenary as he slouched on his knees and looked up as its enormous mouth opened and its blood-stained, fist sized teeth inched closer and closer. Closer still until a fist slammed into the dragon’s temple knocking it to the side. The strangers hand grabbed under his arm and whisked him away at supernatural speed to a safe location. Before disappearing again back towards to the Ground Dragon.

‘Congratulations Austin, you just saved a random person who had already accepted death and instigated a fight with an opponent you don’t stand a chance against. Great work!’

‘Now would be a great time to help not criticise!’

‘First of all, your punches aren’t gonna do much. You’re gonna need a long reaching blade and you’ll need to be aiming for its weak spots.’

‘Go on. Where are its weak spots?’

‘God, do I have to tell you everything?’

‘YES!’

‘Fine. Its under belly and its joints are the only points that aren’t protected by its exoskeleton and scales.’

‘So aim for the armpits?’

‘Pretty much. But it’s quick remember, it’ll much easier said than done.’

‘Alright then, let’s start with the spear.’

            Eyes and dusty faces appeared from behind the rubble to see Austin stood opposite the Ground Dragon with his shining white spear prepped for combat. As the dust cleared the slightly metallic smell of blood became more apparent and the moans and groans of the injured bounced around the emptiness only to be brought to silence by the dragon’s growl.

“Just run away kid.”

            The dragon wouldn’t give him a chance. It lunged at him full speed and power and launched a punch with its upper arm. Austin only just managed to dodge it in time but saw an easy opening in its defence. All it took was a simple piercing strike and the first damaging blow was his.

‘…Where’d it go? Did I even hit it?’

‘Nope. I told you they’re quick. Bet you feel dumb now.’

            Austin felt the dragon’s presence appear behind him and he quickly spun his spear in his hand around his body and the glint it created distracted it long enough for him to leap over its bite and onto the dragon’s back. Again, its joints were wide open as Austin sliced at the narrow gap in its scales at its shoulder. But again, the Ground Dragon reacted in time to defend itself shifting its arm and sending a bone splinter to intercept Austin’s attack. Even attacking with all his might, the spear simply bounced straight off the bone leaving nothing but a small scratch. Shifting its weight and spinning, the dragon flicked Austin off its back and launched a strike while he was still in mid air. Knowing he couldn’t dodge it Austin quickly shifted the spear into a shield and hid behind it just in time to block the attack.

The force of the hit rang through his body but as he tumbled across the ground he grabbed onto a large piece of rubble and twisted himself around just in time to avoid the follow up attack. This gave him the chance to move onto the offensive. Spinning his spear every way he could to confuse the Ground Dragon he launched a constant barrage of stabs and slices and didn’t give it a chance to strike back. Keeping close he didn’t even give time for the dragon to create space. Darting, dashing, spinning, glinting. Austin used his spear as leverage as he kicked its face at full power stunning and confusing it even more as another shining light pierced its eyes like the flash of a camera.

Just as Austin was finally getting confident the dragon struck the ground sending dust scattering everywhere impairing his sight. He quickly leapt back out of the dust cloud but again the dragon was already behind him preparing its next attack. Its arm raised in the air preparing for a devastating attack that was impossible to avoid at this point.

‘This is gonna hurt.’

‘I wouldn’t go that far. I think it’s gonna be a comparatively painless death.’

‘Hah… thanks.’

‘Don’t worry. Even though I’m dead it seems I can still see more than you.’

            The Ground Dragon let out a surprising shriek as it stumbled to the side leaving enough time for Austin to change his trajectory and get some distance. It didn’t take him long to notice the metal arrow protruding from under its arm.

“Not a bad shot if I do say so myself.”

“Yeah, thanks to my amazing set up that is.”

            The dragon finally removed the arrow from its armpit as blood gushed from its wound. Austin stood next to Ellie with his chest pumped and a treacle of blood running from the corner of his lip. He stabbed his spear into the ground, stretched out his arms, shoulder and legs and cracked his knuckles and neck.

“You ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Then let’s finish this quickly.”

            Austin began to continue his onslaught again with Ellie’s support, however, with all the dust in the air it wasn’t as effective, and the Ground Dragon was able to better defend itself and block Ellie’s incoming arrows. Even so, the constant attacks the two could keep up meant the dragon couldn’t find any opportunities to attack. It was a stalemate with no serious damage being possible for anyone. The dragon did the same thing again and sent up a large dust cloud. Austin quickly backed off and found Ellie. The two instinctively went back-to-back in preparation. It was eerily quiet.

‘I don’t like it being this quiet. Or dark… wait.’

            Austin shoved Ellie as hard as he could and leapt backwards just as the dragon slammed into the ground with incredible power. Large clumps of the ground shot into the air as even more rubble was created. Just the shockwave of the attack was enough to send the two flying in opposite directions and shatter all the windows in the area. But Austin was quick to react and even the dragon was caught off guard. He emerged from the dust at point blank and sliced up easily through its right arm.

“Haha! That’s all it takes Ellie!... Ellie?”

            He looked over his shoulder and saw Ellie unconscious on the floor with blood seeping from her head.

‘Shit… SHIT!... What do I do?’

‘This is it now. You have to go all out, or it’ll just try to finish her off.’

‘Is she gonna be okay?’

‘Haha. It’s funny that you put her wellbeing before your own. She’ll be fine, now focus.’

‘How much power have I been using?’

‘15% or so again.’

‘How much can my body take?’

‘Probably around 25 at the most.’

‘That’ll do. If I don’t win this, I’ll die anyway.’

‘Or you could run.’

‘That’d just be boring. And I don’t plan on losing.’

‘Hah. Of course not.’

            The surge of power coursing through Austin’s body only sounded like a small amount, but its effects was quite tremendous. His speed had increased almost two-fold as he let fly strike after strike. Each strike and slice getting closer and closer to their target and leaving more and more damage behind even as they missed. Suddenly, mid swing, his spear shifted to a shield and his body automatically twisted to the left as a heavy swipe came from its front right leg. The claws of the dragon were so large they wrapped around the shield and ripped through his left arm as he was fired across the square into a wall.

Austin slumped against the wall as blood dripped from his mouth and gushed uncontrollably from his arm. His vision began to fade and his body felt weak, but not enough for him to not be able to raise his shield again to block another punch from the dragon that sent him through the wall. He lay in the rubble as blood now began to run down his face as well and his ears held a high pitch ringing. There was no time to rest, he leapt out of the building and stumbled and rolled into the square again as the dragon proceeded to crush the entire building he was just in. It turned around and began to walk confidently towards him. Austin climbed to his feet and stood in the centre of the completely destroyed market, which was turned into a battlefield and now resembled a graveyard more than anything. The Ground Dragon stood in front of Austin, raised its head and opened its mouth. He no longer had the strength to move.

‘Huh. So this is how I die… I guess I got up to more than I originally thought I would… How can you define a meaningful life?... Does it really matter how many people remember me? I’m sure it’s more than before... But I guess none of that stuff really did matter to me anyway… I hope she’s managed to get away… if she’s even conscious yet… if she is okay… …  would she cry for me? ...’

            Out of nowhere a deep, soothing voice pierced through the ringing in Austin’s head and whispered into both his ears.

“Austin. You cannot die here. You must survive. The Gods’ reawakening will happen in two years. Only you can save humanity from their power. You must get stronger. You must become a God.”

‘Oh… Now that’s interesting.’

‘Huh?’

‘...They’re communicating…’