Dragonslayer, Inc.

“Here we are,” said Ironwall.

There was no need to clarify where ‘here’ was. Everyone knew. It was the destination we had been marching toward ever since we left the cavern: Mulsor Highlands.

Snow began to fall. It was soft and welcome, unlike the winds, which had once more become a nuisance. The air was thin. We were over nine thousand feet above sea level, and it felt like it. Except for Ironwall, we were unable to walk more than a few hundred feet at a time without feeling winded. It was as though the hundreds of miles we had already walked were pressing down on us.

Nonetheless, we rarely stopped walking. Between hard breaths, Steph said, “The quicker we cross, the sooner we get out of here.”

We yearned for the not-so-far-gone days when we were comfortable driving from Drens to Gesen. Though we were not even halfway through our trip to Curam, we already held a deathly, pallid appearance. I’m surprised we weren’t ever mistaken for a group of zombies on the prowl.

There was once a time when the highlands were lush, green, and covered with flowers, but by the time we arrived, they were just a phantom of their former selves. According to Ironwall, even in spring and summer, they were a grungy orange-brown. He added that they looked better covered in snow.

I often dreamed of this bygone era, but it looked different every time. Sometimes it looked like Natura in the relatively rainy years of my childhood, while other times, it looked like the kind of fantastical landscape described in the novels I read as a kid. I’m reasonably confident that if I ever saw a picture of what the highlands actually looked like back then, I’d be disappointed. There’s no way any one landscape could compare to the tens, even hundreds I have in my brain.

The bleakness of the region scared off most creatures, but most is not all, and a pack of freakish silver-gray lupine creatures with the horns of bulls and the quills of the rose-dusted porcupine assaulted us midway through our crossing, a few hours before dawn.

We were asleep, but we snapped right to action, brandishing our weapons. It was second nature by this juncture. I felt my pulse double in thirty seconds. There were forty of these creatures, so we used different tactics from normal, boxing them into a corner. These were feral beasts used to running miles every day. They couldn’t handle confined spaces.

Instead of biting us, they bit each other. Their shiny coats were soaked with blood. Half the creatures died. The situation was surreal. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. The creatures that didn’t die were exhausted, and if they attacked us, we were able to dispatch them without breaking a sweat.

Seven or eight of them ran off. We didn’t think to worry about them, though we should have, as not long after we began the day’s march north, a much larger group of creatures came to slaughter us. I gulped like I was trying to swallow an entire dinner at once. My grip on Ironwall’s dagger loosened.

The lupine monsters had called for help, and they had gotten it in a big way. Joining them were not only eighty-odd members of their own species, but hundreds of animals of different species. There were wild dogs and cats, traditional wolves, silver-clawed raccoons, beavers, capybaras, and a few bizarre beasts that looked like the result of a science experiment gone wrong, with the manes of lions, the eyes of owls, the teeth of jaguars, and the tails of sauropods.

This army crept steadily closer, as if wanting us to lose our sanity before they finally struck. Machen, so nervous and antsy that his eyes gleamed, wanted us to fight our way out. He took his rapier and drove it right through the heart of the nearest wolf before I could even digest what was happening.

The wolf collapsed, dead, but this only served to anger the other creatures, which broke out of their slow approach into a full-out, bloodthirsty sprint. I froze. I had never dealt with this many threats at one time, and I never thought I would.

Machen was overwhelmed. Ten different animals were draping off his body, many of them large and heavy. I couldn’t see him anymore. I could only see his outline. Ironwall attempted to free him, but soon got overwhelmed and ordered a retreat.

I didn’t move. When Ironwall called for me, I didn’t answer.

Shocked and befuddled, I was a statue in the middle of the snow-covered field. I was waiting for my inner demon to come out and get me out of this situation, but it wasn’t coming.

Ironwall grabbed my hand and tried to forcibly escort me from the fray, but one of those bizarre beasts jumped twenty feet in the air and landed between the two of us. Rage in its avian eyes, it spun in circles, whipping its tail around.

I sprung into action and jumped to the left. Its tail went sailing past me and smashed Ironwall in the stomach. He collapsed to the ground in a heap. The beast tried to chomp down on him with its razor-sharp teeth. Not about to let this happen, I took the dagger he gave me and drove it into the beast’s hide.

The needs of the situation had outweighed the terror in my heart. I had snapped out of my paralysis, and I was ecstatic about it, celebrating by stabbing the beast five more times. It rolled over on its side. I helped Ironwall up, and he brought his war hammer down on the beast’s head, killing it on the spot.

“Impressive,” I said, applauding.

“No. You were impressive. I haven’t given you enough credit. You’re a phenomenal Slayer.”

“Thanks.”

“Now let’s get out of this mess. Ready to make a run for it?”

“No.”

“What are talking about? You want to stay and get killed?”

“That’s not what I meant.” I looked over at Machen. The animals had moved away from him and were preparing for round two. He wasn’t dead yet, but it was hard to tell. His face was scarred, and there were four massive gashes in his stomach. His feet were barely connected to his legs, and his legs were barely connected to his torso.

“There’s nothing we can do,” said Ironwall. “Trust me, I want to save him as much as you do.”

“Apparently not,” I said, scathing ferocity in my voice.

“If he’s not dead already, he’ll die soon. If you try to save him, you’ll die too, and then what? You think I can lead this journey by myself? I can’t. I’m tired, I’m ragged, and I’ve lost a step. For both your own good and the good of human kind, please don’t throw your life away.”

“I’m going to rescue Machen,” I said quickly, before I could change my mind.

“Stop acting childish.” He reached out to grab me. I slapped his hand away.

“I’m going to rescue Machen,” I repeated. This time, there was no emotion in my voice, only resolve.

A pack of wild dogs descended on the two of us. Baring their teeth, they began barking incessantly. Ironwall stood his ground, ready to fight. I ran as fast as I could at the dogs, jumped over them, and kept on going.

“Wait,” he shouted at the top of his lungs.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered back.

By the time I got to Machen, the second wave of attacks on him had begun. I could hear the beasts tearing into him. The hairs on my back stood on end. I more than happy to kill a couple capybaras. My inner demon was unleashed, and I was glad. I didn’t want to be in control of myself.

Like the invincible heroes of Solanian legends, I relentlessly tore through the foul beasts. By my estimate, I slayed an even dozen in a single minute and another ten the next minute. There was no stopping me, not even when one of the original lupine monsters sunk its teeth into my leg. Rather than scream, I grunted and stuck Machen’s rapier in its eyes.

The creatures kept on coming, and I kept on killing them. Their carcasses lay in piles around me. The problem came when three of those bizarre beasts started attacking me as a team. I became more solid in my suspicion that they were the products of a science experiment gone awry. These were intelligent beasts. They had sophisticated strategies and complex ideas. While they weren’t as smart or capable as me, they were close enough to keep me on my toes.

I couldn’t fight the three of them and the other creatures at once. When I moved away from the other creatures, they resumed ripping into Machen. I couldn’t see them, but in a way that made it worse. They were hysterical. I was afraid they were gonna eat him alive.

Even in my possessed state, I got distracted. That was all the bizarre beasts needed.

First one of them knocked me down. Then another one clamped down on my legs, stopping me from moving. The third beast leapt at me, carnally desiring to tear out my jugular. Frantic, I turned my head. The beat missed its target, and I spat in its disgusting, slobbering mouth, which disrupted its concentration, leading it to bumble into the other two bizarre beasts and allowing me to spring up and ready Ironwall’s dagger.

A minute later, all three bizarre beasts were dead.

I dashed back to Machen with maniacal intensity. “He better not be dead,” I repeated under my breath while waving his rapier in the air like a flag. Hopping over the gobs of animal carcasses, I dragged off the creatures on Machen’s body and chopped off their heads.

Thirty creatures attempted to run off. They knew they were in a losing fight. I didn’t even consider letting them go. Before they could scurry away, I slayed them. I did not want a repeat of what happened when we let those seven lupine monsters escape.

After another thirty minutes of slaughter, the animals stopped coming. They might have retreated, or they might have been all dead, save for the squadron or two of creatures that gave chase to Ironwall and the other Slayers.

If they retreated, I wanted to give chase. I was about to investigate the bushes and trees they could be hiding out in, but then I regained control of myself and realized that my pursuit could wait. There was a much more pressing matter on my hands.

I slid down to help Machen. He wasn’t dead, but he was coughing up blood, and pieces of him were littered across the snowy ground. His face was white, but his chest was the same color as his gold chain. Blood was gushing out of twenty different body parts. Both his legs had turned completely purple, and both his arms were getting that way.

Strange as it may sound, I’m glad I didn’t have medical training in this situation. It wouldn’t have helped, and I likely would have been a lot more terrified than I was. Ignorance can be bliss, rue as I am to say it.

I didn’t know if Machen was going to survive. My heart said he would, and my head told me he wouldn’t, and they sorta canceled each other out. I was certain, however, that he was gonna die if I couldn’t help him. He was still breathing, but his breaths were getting harder and more strained. I couldn’t imagine the pain he was going through, and I didn’t want to.

What was I gonna do? I couldn’t find a solution. I didn’t even know if there was a solution to be found. I didn’t have medical equipment. I couldn’t put him back together.

The best I managed to do was melt snow and drizzle the water into his mouth. He smiled, but he and I both knew that I wasn’t much help to him. Slapping the frozen ground in defeat, I hung my head and laid down. The two of us just laid there- me hurt but not critically, him inches from death- waiting.

Snow continued to pour down from the sky. It was snowing harder than before, and the winds were picking up. Soon we had an all-out blizzard on our hands. The snow was coming down a half-foot per hour. My vision was getting blurry anyway from my blood loss, but when the weather turned abysmal, I could hardly see my body. I had to squint to see Machen.

Because of this worsening of conditions, I nearly missed a rumbling in the distance. When I first heard it, I thought my ears were playing tricks on me. Aside from the winds, the landscape had been practically silent since the animals stopped attacking.

When I kept hearing it, I began to get disconcerted. I thought perhaps the animals had come back for another round. Taking Machen’s rapier in one hand and Ironwall’s dagger in the other, I staggered to my feet. My strength had left me. I couldn’t handle another wave of vicious beasts.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to.

Out of the rumbling came a group of oddly dressed strangers wearing heavy fur coats and dragon necklaces. I could tell from their concerned eyes that they wanted to help us.

A tender rush ran through me. Our wait had not been in vain.