The wreckage of the caravan lay stretched out across the desert sands like a corpse. Viridia’s blood boiled looking out over the carnage. Her hand gripped her spear tightly as she took in the scene before her. She was wrapped in tan robes which flowed in the wind. She wore a bronze helmet that hid her face. Nothing she wore belonged to her. She was given the helmet a week ago. It was placed on her head by Iulian, one of the last heroes of her order. It was the last time she saw him before the Imperium assaulted their hideout. After their escape, she and her teacher were found wandering the Cassian dunes by the Gray Orcs of the Fox. It was them that wrapped them in the robes and scarves. The orcs’ ways were the only reason Viridia and her teacher still lived in the relentless Cassian desert. An old dwarf walked out from behind one of the burning carriages. Viridia knew him as Rok-Dahn, a dwarf of Bru-Tah and her teacher. His gray hair and beard were a mess, dried out by the desert winds. He wore the same tan robes as Viridia and had a one-handed warhammer on his belt.
“I’ve counted four carriages, over 30 people,” said Rok-Dahn. “It’s difficult to say exactly how many. The monster seems to have toyed with some of them a while.”
“So many,” said Viridia through gritted teeth. Behind her teacher was another figure clad head to toe in robes. Viridia knew this figure to be Dolgurag, the leader of the orcs that they had been traveling with for the past few days.
“The tracks are strange,” said Dolgurag. “The monster walks on two feet. It moves among the people as they flee, as if they forget it, or cannot see it during their fight.” At this, Viridia turned to meet Rok-Dahn’s gaze.
“What was it?” she asked.
“I can only guess,” said Rok-Dahn. Viridia maintained her piercing stare. Rok-Dahn coughed and then continued. “What we’ve seen here reminds me of an entry in one of Shawl-Kahn’s hunting tomes…concerning the Usum Gal. They could use magic to deceive, and to disappear.”
“I thought they had all been slain,” said Viridia.
“There were some among our order who believed that a few res draconum might have survived,” said Rok-Dahn. Viridia looked back out over the burning carriages.
“Can you track it?” she said without turning. Rok-Dahn let out a sigh.
“Yes,” he said.
“We must not remain here needlessly,” said Dolgurag. “My men have finished taking what was left here. If you spend any more time on the dead you may very well join them.”
“We swore an oath once,” said Viridia as if speaking to someone far away. “An oath to protect.”
“We are wasting water milling about in the midday sun,” said Dolgurag. “We must leave now.”
“Dolgurag,” said Rok-Dahn. “We’re grateful for your people’s help and for the mercy your tribe showed us, but we’ve found a beast we’ve sworn to hunt.”
“It is likely that the desert will take you if you strike out alone,” said Dolgurag. “You should remain with us.” Rok-Dahn glanced at Viridia and then back to the orc.
“Honor requires that we be elsewhere,” said the dwarf. Dolgurag nodded in understanding.
“May your god protect you,” said the orc. With that, he turned and walked down the dune where he joined several orcs on camelback. They moved quickly. Rok-Dahn and Viridia were alone before long. The two sat in silence for a time. Finally, Rok-Dahn spoke.
“We better get going. The winds might cover the tracks soon.” Viridia turned to face him.
“Then let us get started.”
***
The two figures walked atop the crest of a sizable dune. Rok-Dahn was in the front finding the tracks. Their robes helped them to blend in among the dust and the sand. Only Viridia’s helm gave them away, its bronze glinting in the sun. The orcs had taught them not to travel on top of the dunes, but this is where the tracks led them. Despite being so exposed, Viridia enjoyed the view. The desert sprawled out before them endlessly like an ocean. In the far distance, towering mountaintops rose above the sands. In a way, the desolation of the desert was beautiful. She took note of this in passing, but it did little to calm her vengeful fury or to ease the twisted feeling in her gut. As they walked, the sound of their waterskins sloshing back and forth could be heard. It was maybe enough to last them three days. If their hunt took them more than a day and a half deeper into the desert, there was little hope of them finding the Orcs of the Fox once again.
“The wind is strong today,” said Viridia. “What if the tracks fade?”
“Our quarry won’t have gone far,” said Rok-Dahn. “A res draconum can’t stand the heat of the day. I believe it attacked the caravan we found in the cool of the night. It’s either returned to its lair or is blending in among some local settlement.”
“Blending in?”
“Yes,” said Rok-Dahn. “The creature we hunt now has the use of dark magics, it mostly uses them to deceive. Some are said to go unseen right before your eyes, some can choose to appear as a man, in order to hide among their prey.”
The two walked in silence for a time after this. Eventually, the tracks led them down the side of the dune. They both breathed a little easier being better hidden, but Viridia still gripped her spear firmly. She yearned to plunge it into the heart of the beast they were chasing, the beast that had torn that caravan to pieces.
Another few hours passed without another word being said between them while they traveled. Eventually, Viridia broke the silence.
“The tracks are growing more faint,” she said, with despair creeping into her voice.
“We’ll find this monster,” said Rok-Dahn reassuringly. “The Voice wills it. Tracks or no tracks, have faith!”
“I have my fury,” said Viridia. “If we can find it, fury will be enough,” Rok-Dahn grunted dismissively at this answer.
“Have you said your daily prayers yet?” he asked.
“…No,” said Viridia.
“It won’t help us to neglect these things.”
“It may not help to remember them,” said Viridia. At this, Rok-Dahn stopped. He turned from the tracks to face his student.
“How long has it been since the Voice blessed the blades of our order with holy fire?” he asked.
“…Too long,” Viridia answered.
“How many of our brothers and sisters have fallen to the Imperium in that time?”
“Too many,” said Viridia.
“In all this, have we been lacking fury?!” asked Rok-Dahn. He received no answer. “No,” he said. “We’ve been lacking faith…and we have suffered greatly for it.” He turned and began to follow the tracks once more. Viridia remained where she was.
“Faith in what!?” she shouted. “Faith in the Voice!? That he will protect us? He has not!” Rok-Dahn stopped walking and turned to face her once more. Viridia continued, “Our enemies walk freely across Aquum, our home! And we can do nothing about it!”
“We’re doing something about it now,” said Rok-Dahn. “Our enemies would have us all dead. As long as we draw breath we are doing something. Precisely what we do matters. Aquum fell because it did not keep the Voice’s commands. We will not rise back up by continuing to do what we know to be wrong!” Rok-Dahn tried to look Viridia in her eyes, but he couldn’t quite make out where they were behind her bronze helm. Eventually, Rok-Dahn returned to the tracks. He spoke to himself as he walked. “‘Return to me, and I will return to you,’”
Viridia knew the prophecy he recited. She too knew it by heart, but now her heart no longer believed its words. She stood still for a moment trying to calm herself. Control, she thought. I must keep control. Discipline is our greatest remaining weapon. She started to follow after her teacher once again as he began to scale the next dune.
***
As the sun set over the Cassian desert and a full moon rose the blistering heat of the day was replaced with a relentless cold. Viridia and Rok-Dahn had taken shelter from the chilling winds beneath a large rock formation that protruded out from the sands. The terrain was starting to contain more soil. Even though it was still very dry some plant life was able to survive out here. There were a few shrubs which were made of a collection of tough sword-shaped leaves at the base and sprouted a tall woody flowering stem from the top. Using the stems of these shrubs they were able to produce a small fire to keep them warm from the bitter cold. Viridia was sharpening her weapons. She had her spear as well as a large knife she kept hidden within her robes. She had lost her whetstone when she had fled from the hideout a week ago. She was making due and sharpening her blades with a suitably flat rock.
“That’s why I use a hammer,” said Rok-Dahn. “I always know it’s ready to do its job.” Viridia didn’t stop sharpening her knife but Rok-Dahn thought he saw her eyes glance up at him from within the dark of her helmet.
“It is too unwieldy for me,” she said. “You are the strongest out of us, at least for now, old man.”
“Ha!” said Rok-Dahn with a grin. He almost thought he could see Viridia grinning as well. Rok-Dahn turned his gaze back out toward the desert, scanning the moonlit dunes for any sign of movement.
“See anything?” Viridia asked.
“Not at the moment,” answered Rok-Dahn.
“It will be difficult taking watches,” said Viridia. “With only two of us.”
“If it’s anywhere close it surely sees us,” said Rok-Dahn. “If we grow weary before an attack we should feign sleep for a while before any one of us truly rests.”
“What if it is not near?” asked Viridia.
“Then we’ll continue to hunt it tomorrow,” said Rok-Dahn.
“The tracks will be gone by then,” said Viridia.
“The Voice wills that we slay this beast,” said Rok-Dahn. “We’ll find it, tracks or no tracks. Have faith.” Viridia sat up straight and stopped sharpening her blade for a moment. The two sat in stillness and listened to the howling of the winds and the crackling of the fire.
“I am sorry,” she said. “For earlier.”
“It’s alright,” said Rok-Dahn. “These are dark days, and we have lost much.”
“I am just so tired,” said Viridia. “I am tired of waiting, waiting to hear the Voice speak, to tell us what is right to do or which way is right to go.”
“Sometimes…we know well enough which way to go, even without hearing the Voice,” said Rok-Dahn. “We are Iudex of the Lex Legis. We speak the law and slay the wicked. Out there, we have a beast before us and we have weapons at our side. The way is clear.”
“The way is not clear!” she said. “Each day my way becomes more crooked and broken.” She turned back to her blade and began to sharpen it against the flat rock more zealously than before. Rok-Dahn looked to the horizon. His dwarven eyes were well accustomed to the dark. The shadows of the surface could never be as consuming as those which hid deep within the world. His thoughts were troubled. A teacher must never show doubt, but he had to admit to himself that there were days long past when the path forward was so much simpler and certain. In times like these, he turned his thoughts to the prophecies. He dwelled on the promises of prophets. He spoke aloud to himself.
“It was once said, ‘The Voice calls out in the wilderness, the crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.’” He looked out over the Cassian desert. “It doesn’t get much wilder than this.”
***
No attack came in the night. They began their hunt in the early morning. The waterskins were lighter now and they had no tracks to follow. Rok-Dahn took them west. At first, they enjoyed the cool of the morning, but it wasn’t long before the sun was above them and the sands became scorching hot. They traveled a few hours further into the Cassian desert. They tried to conserve their water as much as seemed reasonable to them. Viridia started to feel heavy, she leaned into her spear as if it was a walking stick. Viridia’s mouth became dry and her sweat stung her eyes. Most of the time Rok-Dahn walked with his eyes closed. He prayed as they went, striving to hear the will of the Voice.
At midday, they stopped for a moment. Rok-Dahn looked at her as if to ask ‘Shall we continue?’ She thought of the corpses that littered the ground near the caravan. The people of Aquum had once counted on the protection of the Iudex. Such a crime had to be avenged. Fury filled her heart and she nodded. They traveled on.
Halfway through the afternoon, a small whirlwind started to build far to the right of Viridia and Rok-Dahn. It became increasingly thick as it picked up the dust and sand of the desert. These occurrences were commonplace in the lands of Cassia. Usually, these twisters were short-lived but this one continued to grow and grow. Soon it was a mighty pillar of cloud before them, a cyclone traveling northwest of Rok-Dahn and Viridia. Rok-Dahn watched this and muttered to himself.
“A pillar of cloud by day…” He changed direction to follow after the twister. It led them up and over a mighty dune. As they reached the crest, Rok-Dahn gasped. They stood high above a wide-open plane. Far in the distance, barely visible, the colors of luxurious tents could just be seen. A small contingent of travelers were waiting out the heat of the day. “It must be there!” said Rok-Dahn. “The res draconum is in that camp! There’s nothing else for miles where it can hide from the sun!”
There was a renewed intensity in their steps as they descended the dune onto the open plane. They didn’t run. Moving too quickly might give them away. At the current distance, if they were careful, it would be some time before anyone in the camp would spot them. Viridia wrapped scarves around her helmet so that it wouldn’t shine in the sun. They both drank their fill of water. There would be fighting soon and they needed their strength. Viridia readjusted her knife within her robes to ensure that it would be well hidden.
“So it is hiding among a settlement,” she said. “How do we tell it apart from any other man?”
“It’s been some time since our order fought one,” said Rok-Dahn. “But I remember a few techniques I learned from Shawl-Kahn’s tomes before they were burned.”
“Well?”
“They’re cold-blooded like a snake. You won’t catch one out in the sun. They’ll be in the shade somewhere. If you’re able to force one to stand in the heat they won’t sweat. It’s a small detail but one you should keep an eye out for. Also, all Usum Gal are spawns of the deceiver. If they are touched by water blessed by the Voice they’ll burn.”
“Do we have any blessed water?” asked Viridia. Rok-Dahn held up a small glass vial while they walked.
“Only a few drops left,” he said. “Just enough to test one man.”
“We need to be sure then,” she said. “Anything else?”
“Just one more thing,” said Rok-Dahn. “The quote I remember best from Shawl-Kahn’s writings is this, ‘You will know them above all else by their greed, their desire to possess. Remember that they are all that remains of the dragons.’”
“It will likely be someone in charge then,” said Viridia. “Someone who will have many things.”
“Perhaps,” said Rok-Dahn.
In an hour they had crossed the open plain. As they drew nearer they could make out more details of the camp. There were about ten or twelve tents. They were made of many colors but most of them were the blood-red of the Cassian flag. Many soldiers walked about from tent to tent. A few of them had spotted Viridia and Rok-Dahn as they approached. Seven soldiers had gathered at the edge of the camp by the time Viridia and Rok-Dahn got within a hundred meters. It wasn’t the soldiers that came out to meet them. Two great beetles, each the size of a carriage, flew out over the tents. Around the thorax of each of them was strapped a saddle on which sat a rider, driving his beast. The flapping underwings kicked up clouds of dust and created a deafening buzzing sound as the riders circled Viridia and Rok-Dahn. Viridia tossed down her spear and Rok-Dahn dropped his hammer. They held up their hands in submission and let the Cassians take them.
***
Four soldiers walked Viridia and Rok-Dahn through the camp at spear-point. Viridia’s helmet blocked her vision so that she could not see him, but she knew it was the man behind her and to her left that carried her spear and her teacher’s hammer.
They missed the knife, she thought. I must wait for the right moment to make them regret that.
Cassian flags blew in the wind throughout the camp. They were blood red with a golden dragon in the center. There were plenty of soldiers about but few of them paid the procession any mind. Most of them seemed to assume that four men would be enough to control these strangers from the desert. They were wrong.
After a short walk, they arrived at a tent so opulent and grand that it certainly belonged to the master of the camp. The sides of the tent were open, allowing the breeze to blow through. The floor was covered in luxurious carpets and pillows. In the center of the tent, there was a short table. On it sat two things that were exceptionally valuable in the lands of Cassia. The first was a golden statue of Cassian-make which depicted a dragon, the second was a large piece of glassware filled to the brim with water.
“Thirsty?” asked a man lounging in the shade of the tent. He was a human with long black hair, a trim black goatee, and olive skin. He wore fine robes. The robes were covered in magnificent embroidery depicting dragons. Viridia knew him to be a Cassian lord. Behind him, another man stood at attention. This man appeared to be human as well. He had a short black beard and the same olive skin. This man wore tan robes like Viridia and Rok-Dahn, robes meant to weather the desert.
“That’s very generous of you,” said Rok-Dahn. “But we drank our fill once we saw the camp and knew that we were saved.”
“Saved?” asked the Cassian lord. “Surely you saw the flags. My people are not known for their hospitality, especially for dwarf-kin.”
“Surely the rumors are not true,” ventured Viridia. “That your people have returned to their barbarous practice of slaving.”
“Such ways had many advantages,” said the man standing at attention.
“In any case,” interjected Rok-Dahn. “We knew we’d be safer here than in the desert.”
“Perhaps,” said the Cassian lord. “How was it you came to be lost in the desert?”
“We were counting on meeting a caravan to the east of here for passage out of the desert,” said Viridia. “But we were unable to find it.” She watched intently as the two men inside the tent shared a glance.
“Does this caravan sound familiar to you?” asked Rok-Dahn. The two men looked back at the dwarf.
“We passed a caravan headed east several days ago,” said the Cassian lord. “It carried many wondrous things for trade.”
“Things like that statue?” asked Viridia motioning to the golden dragon.
“Yes…” said the sitting man. His answer almost sounded like the hiss of a snake. “But I know not where it is now…I’m being rude. I am Eshkar, and this man behind me is Maskim, a most trusted servant. You must join us in the shade of the tent.” Rok-Dahn and Viridia looked at one another. Their best way of finding their quarry would be to draw their suspect into the heat of the sun.
“You mean we’re to be your guests?” asked Rok-Dahn. “Surely you wouldn’t invite slaves into your tent.”
“You are not slaves yet,” said Eshkar.
“You will be if you do not accept my master’s hospitality,” said Maskim.
“We have just come in from the desert,” said Viridia. “We will dirty your fine carpets.”
“They are already somewhat dirtied,” said Eshkar. “Maskim has just returned from an errand in the desert. I insist you join me in the tent.” Eshkar motioned to the soldiers behind Viridia and Rok-Dahn. They felt the spear points on their backs and relented. Viridia walked into the tent and sat across the table from the reclining Cassian lord. She sat up straight with her legs crossed. Eshkar watched her intently.
“Why do you cover your face with that helmet?” he asked.
“My reasons are my own,” said Viridia.
“Hmm…Well I’m afraid I must insist that you remove it, in fact, I want to have it,” said Eshkar.
“No,” said Viridia. She struggled to stifle the fury in her voice. This man was likely the man they hunted, but they had to be sure. Control, she thought. I must keep control.
“Yes,” said Eshkar firmly. He snapped his fingers at Maskim. “Maskim, remove her helmet!” Maskim walked around the reclining Eshkar toward Viridia and her teacher. Viridia surged to her feet as he drew near. The soldiers surrounding the tent stood to attention and the spears were once again pointing at Viridia and Rok-Dahn.
“Viridia…,” started Rok-Dahn. “Perhaps this isn’t the time to–”
“It’s fine!” interjected Viridia. “On with it,” she said to Maskim. Maskim came closer. As he began to unwrap the scarves from her helmet Viridia could feel his breath. It was hot, intensely hot. She looked over the details of his face. He looked to be old by human standards. Viridia could tell a great deal about this man by how he moved. His mannerisms were reminiscent of a veteran of war. She knew that Maskim was no stranger to violence. Yet strangely, his hands, arms, and face were free of scars. As she made note of this detail, the revelation came to her. There was not a bead of sweat upon his brow, the sandy scarf around his throat was perfectly dry where it touched his neck, and yet, Eshkar had said that this man had just come from the desert. Maskim placed his hands on Viridia’s helm.
“Rok-Dahn!” she said. Maskim paused.
“Yes?” said Rok-Dahn.
“This one!”
“Are you sure?” asked her teacher. He leaned forward and glanced at Maskim. Maskim glanced back with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes!” she said.
“Very well then,” said Rok-Dahn. The old dwarf grumbled as he started to stand upright. He made a show of having a difficult time rising to his feet. Viridia grinned beneath her helm. Maskim stepped away from her and faced the dwarf.
“What is it, old man?” asked Maskim. Rok-Dahn gave him no answer. With a flash, his hands swung out from his robes. A small glass vial filled with water rocketed toward Maskim’s face. He tried to catch it but he was too slow. The vial shattered on his brow and its contents instantly began to sear his skin. He let out an agonized scream and tripped back over the table. A puff of vapor billowed into the tent and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Viridia watched Maskim writhe on the floor. The skin on his hands and his face burned away like a mirage as the illusion faded. Maskim’s true form was revealed. His blood red scales shimmered in the sun. A lizard’s tail came out from between his legs. His hands had sharp talons and he had the head of a dragon or serpent.
The soldiers surrounding them were awestruck. Some of them shouted in Cassian. “The Usum Gal!” Rok-Dahn and Viridia did not waste this brief moment of shock. Viridia wheeled around and darted toward the soldier that held their weapons. She grabbed her teacher’s hammer from his belt and tossed it to Rok-Dahn. The soldier dropped her spear and swiped at her with his shortsword. She ducked under his desperate slash, snatched her spear out of the air in the same motion, and struck him a deadly blow. She turned back around and saw that Rok-Dahn had already dispatched two more of the soldiers.
Maskim rolled onto his belly. He crawled on all fours, his tail slithering back and forth behind him. Drool flowed through the rows of sharp teeth lining his snout. There were five more guards still standing around the tent, their spears were raised, but not at the beast.
“Kill them!” Eshkar shouted. The soldiers charged her and her teacher. Viridia let out a furious cry and the tent erupted into the dance of battle. Rok-Dahn’s hammer twirled around in circles, crushing bones each time it landed. He prayed as he fought, reciting prophecies. The tip of Viridia’s spear flashed through the air like lightning. She slashed and stabbed at her foes, occasionally spinning and knocking her enemy’s feet out from under them with the back half of her polearm. The Cassian soldiers were no match for the Iudex and were quickly slain.
Maskim pounced at Viridia. She tried to catch him in the air with her spear but the spearhead scraped off his hardy scales. He knocked into her with immense force sending her flying out from the tent and rolling across the sand. When she came to a stop she desperately scrambled to her knees. She had lost hold of her spear and it now lay a few feet away from her. She looked up at Maskim just in time to see the small orange light building at the back of his throat. Viridia threw herself back to the ground just as Maskim breathed out a ball of flame over her. She screamed as the robes on her back burned away and her skin was seared.
When the flames subsided she looked back up at her foe. Steam was rising from her helmet. Maskim chuckled briefly. He remembered the dwarf too late. Rok-Dahn was already behind him. The dwarf’s hammer caught Maskim in the back of his skull and there was a mighty crack. The beast stumbled back from Rok-Dahn. Viridia got to her feet and picked up her spear from the sand. Before she could join her teacher’s side she saw Eshkar. He had risen from the fine rugs in the tent and was walking toward her across the sand with a grim look on his face. She turned to face him. At first, she was apprehensive, but then fury once again filled her heart. She let out another battle cry and charged him.
Just before she ran him through, his right hand swept out with great strength and splintered the haft of her spear. His left hand shot out, grasping her by the throat.
“Ack!” hacked Viridia. Eshkar lifted her off her feet with one hand. She tried to break free from his hold but his arms were like wooden beams. Eshkar’s skin shimmered like a mirage as the illusion gave way to the red scales of a res draconum.
“Viridia!” shouted Rok-Dahn. During that brief moment that the dwarf was distracted, Maskim shimmered again and vanished from sight. Rok-Dahn swung wildly where his opponent had been but found nothing.
“Maskim slaughtered that caravan,” hissed Eshkar. “They would not sell their golden dragon to me, so I sent him to take it.” Viridia gasped for breath. She could feel his claws digging into the flesh of her neck. “He took their lives too,” Eshkar continued. “One of my favorite things to take. Usually, I take lives by taking slaves, but since you have shed so much blood today, I think I shall follow suit.” Viridia looked to her master. He was struggling in the battle. Maskim’s steps still kicked up dust, revealing his location, but his attacks could not be seen. Rok-Dahn could not get to his student’s side. He was losing ground and receiving blows more often than he gave them.
“Look into my eyes, fool,” said Eshkar. “I want to see the life leave you.” His grasp tightened even further. Viridia tried to thrash at him but her strength was leaving her. Darkness gathered at the edge of her vision. She looked once more toward Rok-Dahn. Her teacher’s form was getting sloppy and he bled from several wounds. As their eyes met, time seemed to slow for a moment. He mouthed the words “Have faith.”
Viridia’s arms fell limply to her side. Her vision went dark. She thought of all the missed prayers over the last week. She thought of the hate and anger she had held in her heart for her God. She thought of the burning bodies they had found at the wreckage of the caravan, the people of a land she had sworn to protect. She realized that her own skill, her fury, and her rage had not been enough. She would die failing them. She reached out to the Voice and began what she thought might be her final prayer.
Sovereign Voice, remember me. Please, Lord, strengthen me just once more and let me with one blow take vengeance on the Cassians for the people of the caravan.
For a moment, the world remained dark. A terrible cold began to take her, but then, she felt a great warmth well up inside her. She opened her eyes and saw that the darkness at the edge of her vision was fading. Eshkar’s brow rose in surprise and he clamped down harder on her throat. The warmth she felt inside her became a scorching heat. She realized it was coming from the knife hidden beneath her robes at her side. Her right-hand dove into her robes and drew the blade. The bronze knife was glowing red hot and burning with flame.
Holy fire! she thought.
“You are Iudex!” shouted Eshkar. “You should be dead!” Viridia slashed her burning blade across Eshkar’s chest. It cut deep all across his torso, burning its way through his scales. He dropped her and fell to the ground. She wheezed and coughed violently for air. She recovered swiftly and stood back up to face the dying beast. He had been dealt a great wound, life was leaving him.
“We had thought your kind was gone as well,” she said in between deep breaths. “We’ll make certain this time.” Viridia plunged the fiery blade into her foe, finishing him. She looked for her master. He was lying on the ground. Maskim stood over the dwarf ready to deal a final blow. Maskim’s arms were still raised when Viridia attacked him. She cried out “Let me die with the Cassians!” Then she darted towards them and slammed into Maskim as he turned to face her. The two of them rolled across the sand slashing at one another. The beast’s claws wounded her several times, but their strikes were nothing compared to the searing cleaves of her flaming dagger. Their violent clash ended swiftly. Viridia left Maskim lying in the dust clutching the sand.
She limped over to Rok-Dahn. Both of them were wounded. They stared at each other for a moment catching their breath.
“They’re both dead?” asked her teacher.
“Yes,” she said. Rok-Dahn looked past her, to the horizon.
“Then we’ve kept our oath,” he said. “For the first time in years, we’ve kept our oath.” Viridia reached out a hand to her teacher. He took it and she helped him rise slowly to his feet. “There will be many more soldiers here soon,” said Rok-Dahn. “Probably too many. This may be our end.”
“This may be so,” said Viridia. “But it is not certain.” A grim smile spread across the dwarf’s face. He slowly reached down to reclaim his hammer.
“Do you have enough of your fury left to fight again?” he asked.
“No,” said Viridia. “Only faith.”