Slay the Dragon

CHAPTER 15 - MAVE

The peaceful silence of Ashfa Forest had always been soothing for Mave’s ears before. But now, it’s completely different. Having a company to her quest was way out of her original plan. It irritated her. This stupid guy kept on asking questions ever since he joined, and once answered, he would ask more and more questions. Not to mention that he’s only slowing her down because of that heavy backpack. What in the world was inside that huge bag? A human corpse?

Though Mave only gave very little answers for every question, Izan didn’t stop. “What do you think are dragons like—based on your encounters so far? Now don’t tell me they can transform into humans because I already know they can shape-shift … I’m only asking about the way they act. Do you think they can speak to humans? Or only to their fellow kinds?” he asked.

“Doesn’t matter what I think.” Mave tried to avoid the questions, knowing the fact that she had never seen a dragon in her life. “Just write in the damn notebook when you see one. How simple is that?”

“I was only trying to generalize how hunters think of dragons … which I believe is absolutely wrong,” he pointed out. “As for what Antonio Gregor said—“

“No one cares about what your Antonio Gregor said,” Mave interrupted, raising her voice. She had enough of this. “Can you stop this now? This is not what we agreed on. We’re only heading in the same direction for different reasons … And these reasons are out of our concerns. We both want something from each other. Give and take for god’s sake.”  

Izan took a short moment before saying, “And what do you want from me in return, Mave?” He lowered his voice. “I’ve got nothing else to offer other than my mind and my body. But I know quite some things about it, if that’s what you want.”

Mave paused from her walk once she realized what he’s trying to point out. She stared at him in disbelief. “You’ve got a big brain, but you’re very stupid, you know that?” she said before she continued walking.

“I was only confirming,” he defended. “Because as a matter of fact, we’re both in the opposite s*x. There could be chances of attraction at first sight.”

“And you think your body figure or your factual words could seduce me?” She grimaced. She had to admit—Izan indeed had a well-built body … along with an innocent face. But hell no. He’s too stupid to even be with a normal woman.

“Am I not seductive?” he took his glasses off.

“Talk to my sword.”

An hour had passed, and they reached the part of the forest with shorter trees. Mave knew lower trees meant more beasts lurking nearby. She could already sense the strange air around them, like some presence was closing by. She had to be more alert this time.

“So what is it you want in return?” Izan brought back the topic earlier.

Mave slowed down and stopped. She took the page inside her right boots and gave it to Izan. “Hyborns. Tell me more about them.”

Mave almost jumped out when Izan yelled, “What did you do?” He looked more furious than shocked. “How could you do such a horrible thing?”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“You know what’s wrong?” He raised the page, showing her the torn side. “Ripping a page off a book is absolutely wrong! If you’re in Celestia now, you’ll be detained. It’s a grave sin!”

And there’s the weird side of him again. Mave rubbed her face and said, “Why can’t you just read it? Tell me about the beast being described. And for god’s sake, can you keep your voice down?”

Izan narrowed his green eyes and pointed a finger at her. “I’ll never forget this,” he said before shifting his gaze to the page.

As they continued heading through the lower trees, Mave could already feel the presence nearby. Was it a bear? A wolf? A tiger? She couldn’t tell what exactly … but she kept her hand on the hilt of her rapier.

“This is indeed a Hyborn,” Izan nodded while looking at the page. “By the way, what’s Winterrun Village?”

“My home,” Mave replied without giving a glance.

“Oh.”

“Now you understand. They’re the demons in our world.”

Izan seemed unbothered. “This is interesting. Why would a Hyborn be flying over the cold lands of Glacia?” He started writing in his notebook.

“You’re the brain guy, you tell me,” Mave said.

“Well, from Antonio’s Chronicle, Hyborns were only meant to stay in their isles. The only time they went to the human lands was during the Red Century War,” Izan said. “However, this page was recorded years after the humans claimed a victory of the war.”

“So?”

“So I have two theories,” Izan slid his glasses on. “One—either the Hyborn wanted to claim lands, conquer more territories—“

“That’s stupid,” Mave cut him off. “Leaving our village burning right after a m******e wouldn’t be a territorial conquest. If it is … then more dragons would have stayed in our lands at that time. What’s the other one?”

“It’s almost impossible—but the Hyborn could have done it for either reasons or both … it wanted to kill someone in your village … or it was given orders.”

Mave snorted. “Given orders? Are you crazy? You said Hyborns are the strongest dragons alive. Who else would be more powerful enough to give such orders to them?”

Izan stared at her for a moment. “It’s simple—you’re forgetting how humanity rose into power after thousands of years of being the prey.”

The short silence that followed gave Mave a sense of an incoming beast. She turned her head in the direction and then she saw.

A wild lion crawled down on the ground from a far distance, as its wide eyes locked on its prey—them.

“Get behind me,” Mave whispered as she spotted the brown fur hiding in the bushes. Her hand found the hilt of her rapier and slowly unsheathed. She knew that the sight of the steel would trigger the beast, but she had to catch its total attention away from Izan.

The lion snapped as it leaped out of the bushes and charged wildly towards her.

Mave took a deep breath as she made her snake stance.

[Serpent Style] [First Form]

Mave stomped her foot against the ground to dash forward, meeting the rampaging beast ahead. “King’s Tail!” she cast out as she gave a heavy swing of her rapier.

The lion intercepted with its strong claws—but Mave took a lower aim, cutting off its arm. Then she continued her arc until her rapier found the neck of the lion. She drew a long line on the throat before they passed by each other.

In just a blink, the beast roared out in agony, with blood spurting out of the open throat and the sliced arm. Its enormous body fell to the ground, gasping for life—but it only died within a few seconds.

Mave chose the first form, ‘King’s Tail,’ as it could deal with the most damage among the other two forms. The sword skill originated from the tail of the King Cobra, before it became part of the Serpent Style Swordsmanship. Rakim the Swordmaster taught her the three forms, as it was specialized only for rapiers.

Mave was about to head back when something else caught her senses. She stopped. The sound of dried leaves crunching came from a distance behind Izan.

She gasped, “Izan, duck!” she yelled out as she hasted to him.

This time, it was a lioness. It leaped out of nowhere to prey on the young man. Its sharp claws came out, aiming to s*******r his head.

“Get down!” She repeated.

At first, Izan was confused, until he finally followed what she said.

Mave made it in time to block the claws—but the strong impact forced her to lose grip of Gray Viper, blasting it away. She dropped herself to evade the claws and rolled over. But she only ended up hitting herself against the hard lump of the root.

The lioness fell slightly out of balance as it landed hard on the ground. It got to its feet, shook its body, and recovered.

“Mave!” Izan called, but he couldn’t move a single muscle, seeing the deadly beast.

Mave grunted as she stood up. Her eyes searched everywhere, trying to find anything she could use. But unfortunately, there’s none.

The beast growled and circled around her with its intimidating eyes.

Mave found her rapier. But it’s too far away. She wouldn’t make it if she tried to run and get it. Her chest ran wildly from her pounding heartbeat. She felt like her blood would almost burst out of her veins. It was the same feeling when she found herself in danger, as if her body was reacting to the situation she’s in.

Should she do it?

She could try … but … she had never learned to cast it out before … She always failed to bring it out. But there was no other option.

Mave took a quick glance at her rapier before shutting her eyes close.

“Try to visualize its form …” Rakim’s voice echoed in her mind. His figure appeared, showing her Gray Viper in his hands.

“I can’t …” Mave spoke in her childhood voice. “My blood is running of control … it scares me.” She could hear her heart beating loudly amidst the silence.

Rakim placed one hand on top of her head, then he rubbed her hair. “Your power comes from your blood, Mave. You need to learn how to harness this power. You can’t rely on your weapon forever.”

“Will I become stronger?” she said innocently.

Rakim’s lips formed a smile. He leaned over her and pinched her cheeks. “You’ll be unstoppable … Now again … back to our training …” then he faded out of the darkness.

“Mave, what are you doing? Open your eyes!” Izan’s voice struck her ears.

“Visualize …” Mave whispered with her eyes still shut. The form of Gray Viper appeared in her head. The long and sharp blade, the round guard, the hilt—she tried to look in every detail of her sword.

She listened to the flow of her blood. It was like a river—at times it runs peacefully, and at times it runs wildly … but all the same, it flows endlessly. She had to use it. She needed it to save herself and Izan.

Then she finally pictured it in her mind.

She became in sync with her blood flow.

Suddenly her right hand grew colder and colder. When she opened her eyes, it was glowing brightly in blue light. It shone all eyes into blindness.

As the light faded … an ice-replica of Gray Viper appeared on her hand.

She did it!

The lioness shook its head to adjust its eyes back to normal light. It roared out loudly, leered at Mave; the next it charged.

Mave angled the frozen rapier and tightened her grip.

[Serpent Style] [Third Form]

She slid one foot backward, pressed both legs against the ground, and advanced to meet the rushing beast.

Then it all took one blink before a sound of a blade, slicing through flesh, was heard.

When the two went past each other, the lioness fell to the ground with an endless blood from its slashed neck. Dark blood flowed and spread—seeped in by the plants and big roots on the earthy soil. A few seconds after, it died.

“Snake Assassin,” Mave muttered. The third form of the Serpent Style was the fastest attack—sometimes dealing critical damage if she managed to hit the weak spot. It’s basically composed of a single strike, all quick as a snake bite … but only effective for a single opponent.   

“Mave! Are you okay? What the heck just happened?” Izan approached her.

Mave’s blood went back to its normal flow. “I …” She gazed down at the ice rapier in her hand. Holding it with its intense coldness didn’t affect her at all. “I don’t know …” she mumbled.

Izan stormed his brows. “Don’t tell me you’ve just discovered your powers now. Wait … I need to write this.” He took his notebook and opened it. “Where the heck did that sword come from?”

“I don’t…” Mave shook her head in confusion. “I don’t know … It’s my blood.”

“Your blood?”

“It ran wild for a moment … and I suddenly got this feeling of energy raging through my body and–“ She sighed. “It’s hard to explain.”

“Do you feel drained out after using it?” Izan said while writing on his notes.

“No … not at all. But my head hurts.”

“It’s your blood indeed.” Izan took out a bottle from his bag and handed it to her. “You need more water for that headache.”

Mave received it and asked, “Do you think it’s magic?”

Izan studied her face for a moment. “Looks like it. But so far, there’s only one system of magic I’ve come to learn from our past chroniclers.” His green eyes found the frozen rapier. “Empyreal Weapons.”

“Imperial what?”

“’Empyreal’ Weapons,” he spelled out. “Ancient weapons given by the gods to the different races a long time ago … these weapons were passed on from generation to generation. People believed that a wielder of an Empyreal Weapon possessed the strength of a thousand men. And to estimate, there are about a hundred of these weapons recorded … But they’re widely spread across all countries.”

“And how is that related to this frozen sword?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out,” Izan pointed out. “You see, there are a lot of different Empyreal Weapons—swords, shields, bow and arrows, spears, hammers … I could go on. But I’m still wondering if it’s possible to have ‘that’ as another kind.”

“You think this is an Empyreal Weapon?” Mave said, looking at the replica.

“No … Your blood.”