The Drachen Chronicles

The end

Quinn looked at Quincey and groaned,

"I hate it when they are crazy." Quincey nodded and just continued forward. After a few more minutes they found their way into a giant gym-like area. The walls were made of concrete all except for a glass window about 15 feet up one of the walls perfectly centered. In the corner was a man writing on the wall and there was something next to him almost like a stand with something on it. As they walked closer they saw the man, who they could now see was shirtless, dip his hand into a bucket beneath the stand. He pulled his hand out and it was crimson red; he brought it back up to the wall and began writing another room. Quinn and Quincey approached as quietly as they could, both of them had their weapons ready. As they cautiously crept forward the man without looking back said,

"Why hello there little ones. Here to kill me and take your lab back? Begin your precious little experiments once again?" The twins looked at each other shocked that he could hear them at all. They have at times been able to sneak past Master Joseph with ease of course when he wasn't focused but still an impressive feat. The man turned and as he did Quinn saw a glowing spot on his shoulder and they both saw a huge glowing rune on his chest with glowing veins pulsing as though it was a heart. He also had two tattoos, both looked like short swords,

"Well, are you going to speak? Or are we just going to end up like," He looked at the stand. The twins could now see the gnome professor Rodger. strapped upside down and neck slit open blood slowly dripping into the bucket below,

"Him, pity he was a gnome. Didn't have as much blood as those other people, but he did hurt the most." As soon as Quinn saw the dead gnome she started to shake not out of fear but rage pure rage. Her eyes began to darken the once white of her started to become a cloudy dark like a shadow. Her glave hilt started to freeze and the air around her hands was starting to turn into a fog. Quincey put a hand on her shoulder and she seemed to jolt out of her anger. Her grip loosened on her glave and the shadows receded from her eyes. The man didn't seem to care at all about what the twins were doing. He lifted a hand and then moved it slightly away from the gnome. The body fell to the floor limply and then he turned to them. He smiled a s******c smile and his arms outstretched, calling any challenge that they might have. In a moment of hesitation, the twins looked at each other Quinn eying the exit to the room. All of a sudden a cry for help came out,

"Help! Please Zachariah isn't who he used to be. Whoever is out there please help."

"Shut up Ash! They aren't going to save you, they will fail just like all the others." The man said in almost a growl. When the man supposedly Zachariah said fail Quinn was brought back to her, failing the deer. The beautiful buck lay dead at her feet. If she had acted maybe a bit faster she might have been able to save it. Quincey was brought back to the unicorn, the once majestic and magical beast being picked apart by the wendigo's claws. How useless he felt, but it was then in that moment that they both looked at each other. Their eyes raging like a fire, they would not be useless, they would not be too slow. They would not run away, they would stay and fight.

It didn't matter if they survived if they died then at least they knew they gave their all. They would not fail to save another living thing for as long as they were on Venus. Quinn and Quincey rush in as they do so Zachariah pulls two swords out of his tattoos as though they were just sheaths.

The twins make it to him and a flurry of clangs and sounds of metal clashing against metal filled the room. Quinn tried to s***h at Zachariah who skillfully blocked it and then he took a s***h at Quincey with his other sword. With the sip of the sword just grazing over Quincey's stomach a line of red began to form along with Quincey crying out in shock more than pain. This caused Quinn to focus on her brother leaving her open and Zachariah Quickly used this to take a heavy blow against Quinn. She quickly brought up her forearms to block it just in time but the blow dented her braces and sent her flying across the room. Zachariah now solely focused on Quincey was now on the offensive blow after blow pushing Quincey back further and further.

All he could do was react to what seemed like a tornado of steel attacking him. His daggers were starting to chip and break. Quincey knew that he had to get some distance or it would be the fight with his sister on the ship all over again except this time there would be real blood. Quinn stumbled across the floor coming to a stop. She quickly took off the bracers that had protected her. As she did so she revealed two deep gashes from the dented metal that took the impact. She groaned in pain and began running to help her outmatched brother. Zachariah smiled like mad. It had been so long since he had this much fun. Quincey had dropped his daggers and was now using his magic to make swords of pure light to defend himself. All of a sudden Zachariah stopped Quinn and ran her glave through his chest straight through the rune. Zachariah screamed out in pain and grabbed the blade protruding from his chest with both hands and pulled it straight through,

"That hurt! Just as I was starting to have fun you ruined it."

He now held the glave in his hand and broke it over his knee. The piece clattering to the ground but before he could get out another word Quincey from behind him who he had forgotten about in his rage stabbed both runes on his shoulders. Zachariah's eyes dissolved and a green light filled their sockets and his mouth. He fell face-first to the ground, the smile fading from his lips and the life from his body,

"Are you okay?" Quincey asked Quinn in between breaths.

"I think my arms hurt like hell, but nothing is broken. how about you?"

Quinn pointed to the now b****y line that went across Quincy's abdomen,

"I'm alright any deeper and he might have taken me out for good, but luckily it is mostly a surface wound. Thank Krag that fight ended when it did. I don't think I would have lasted any longer."

Quinn nodded, sat down, and put her back against the wall letting go a sigh,

"That was terrifying. I thought you were gonna die. I thought I was gonna die. How could one person other than a full-fledged master be so powerful? What were they studying here?"

Quincey walked up and sat beside her,

"I don't know but runes on a human or any race must have some effect on them. Do you have any water I need to clean this dried blood off of me and you could use it too."

They spent a few minutes wiping dried blood off of them and tending to their wounds. Quinn kept looking at the body of Zachariah like it was going to come back and attack them whilst they were unprepared. She eventually made her way over to her glave. Now broken in half she bent down and grabbed the two pieces. The handle was broken down the middle giving her now a short sword-type weapon. She put the non-bladed handle in her duffle bag.

All of a sudden the same voice cried out at the beginning of the fight,

"Hello? I can't hear any fighting. Is everything done? Is he dead? If so he keeps the keys in his right pocket. Please hurry, we haven't had food or water for days." The voice was deep and gravely. Quinn instantly began to look for the keys and a few moments later they were making their way towards the voice. They eventually found where the voice was coming from. They found a door on the other side of the gym and saw a hallway with three doors one to their left and right and one with its door ripped off and writing all over the wall,

"Hello?" Quincey began to walk down the hallway when all the sudden a giant figure slammed up against the glass,

"Oh my Krag you did it! You killed Zachariah."

The thing speaking was an orc. Orcs are tall and muscular humanoid looking except their skin is normally green skin. Quincey jumped when the orc pounced the glass, "Hello there!" He screamed before he could compose himself. The orc stepped back,

"Sorry, it has been a while since I've seen a living thing that hasn't wanted to use me as a test subject or paint. Please let me out. I promise I mean you no harm. My parents are in the cell behind you. They haven't had food or water in days they need help."

Quinn ran up and began to unlock the door and Quincey looked at the cell behind them to see to his surprise two elves. Both were sitting down one male with shoulder-length black hair with a mustache and goatee. He stood up as soon as Quinn appeared in front of the door. The woman next to him grabbed his hand, but he calmed her down by putting his other hand on her and saying in a Spanish accent,

"It is okay mi amor." The woman had long black hair with grayish silver streaks. Quinn unlocked the door and then turned to open the orcs cell. The orc had to duck to leave its cell. As he walked out Quincey realized its entire body was covered in tattoos. His arms each had a tattoo that looked like fire spiraling all around his arm and ending at his shoulder. His legs had trees that were set ablaze by fire. The orc saw him staring,

"Like my tattoos? I'm Ash. Nice to meet you." He stuck out a hand for a handshake and Quincey took it. Both of them squeezed as hard as they could in the end getting nowhere. Ash turned and hugged the elves; who also embraced him. They seemed so small compared to the Orc but when compared to Quinn and Quincey were a bit taller than both. Quinn spoke up,

"Hey, Ash, we were sent here to find a certain item. Do you think you could show my brother around while I tend to your mother?" Ash nodded and gestured for Quincey to follow him,

"What is it you are looking for?" Quincey began to follow him and reached in his pocket and pulled out the picture of the obelisk. Ash looked at it for a bit, seemingly trying to remember if he saw something like that in the lab, "I know I've seen it. It might be in the research room, follow me." Ash led Quincey through the winding corridors and staircases and eventually they found themselves in a room with a sign that read. "search oo."

"I assume this is it?" Quincey questioned,

"I think so." Ash opened the door to reveal a cluttered mess of tables and chairs thrown about,

"Gotta hand it to your friend Zachariah. He knew how to decorate a place." Quincey walked in and began looking around. Ash followed to help him,

"He always was a visionary." Ash bent down and began shuffling through the papers, after a few minutes Quincey stood up, "I found it!" He said triumphantly. Ash stood up and sighed,

"Thank Vitus, My back was starting to hurt. Also, what would you say to grab some of these other papers? The experiments they did need to be taken up with someone. They can't be allowed to continue unchecked." Quincey nodded and began packing some of the papers into another bag separate from the obelisk.

"Hi, I'm Quinn. Very nice to meet you." Quinn knelt next to the woman in the cell and began looking in their ration bag. She handed her the first MRE she found and the women opened it and began to eat,

"Hi, my name is Hector and this is my wife juki." Quinn smiled and handed him an MRE. They sat and waited for Quincey and Ash to return. Quinn tended to some wounds that they had. After a while, Ash and Quincey returned,

"Did you find it?" Quincey grabbed the obelisk out of the bag and held it out to his sister,

"Good now we can make our way off this planet. Could you guys help us with that?" Quinn looked at Hector and Juki. They both nodded and Hector spoke up,

"Where do you need to go and could we come with? As much as we love Venus, we would like to find a new change in scenery, one less deadly." Quincey started shuffling through their bag for the map they used to get here and Quinn assured them that they will be allowed to come with them. Quincey set the map down on the floor and pointed to the clearing where they killed the shrill,

"We need to get here. Do you know any safe or fast ways to get there?" Hector nodded and began tracing a path on the map with his finger,

"We can cut right through these areas. We need to be careful because Zachariah before he went insane told us about Azorath coming either today or tomorrow. If he is here we will need to be extra careful and hope he doesn't see us." Ash saw the confused looks on the twins faces and explained,

"Azorath is a nomad he got his power via a million-plus people sacrificing themselves to him before the king magically nuked Venus. He now wanders around Venus looking for people to kill and t*****e. Even Zachariah with all his runes fully powered would be a blip compared to his power." The twins looked at each other,

"Why is it that we need to hear of his existence through you and not the general."

Hector shrugged,

"I don't know, but they also didn't tell you about us. Maybe it would be better to say you found us before the lab."

Quinn nodded and then stood up,

"Can we leave? I don't feel good in this place." Everyone stood up and they began making their way out of the Lab. Thanks to Hector who had lived on Venus his whole life they made it to the clearing in under 8 hours. They had a few close encounters with some beasts, but for the most part, made their way undetected.

Quinn noticed some almost black clouds and asked Ash about them,

"That's Azorath, he was a powerful shadow bender and people like to believe it is the people he tricked into sacrificing themselves to him. It is their way of warning us he is coming. As an apology for giving such a monster power." Quinn shuddered and suddenly felt insecure about her ability to shadow bending powers. They made their way to the clearing and saw the shrill's body almost eaten down to the bone. A few small creatures were picking at the scraps left over,

"Holy cow, is that a shrill?" Ash exclaimed,

"Yes, it sucked to kill." Quincey put his hand over his chest where he was hit by its tail. Quinn began looking for the radio to call down the ship,

"Yes, we are at the field you originally planned to drop us at. We are ready and have found some survivors. They helped us so we told them we would take them to Munkeno. Okay, see you in two hours."

After the two hours passed, Quinn and Quincey had both taken a nap. The ship arrived, the landing gear and entrance ramp both dropped and General Nolan walked out with several military officers that the twins didn't see before on the ship. All of the officers had a completely black helmet and only a slit open. Some had swords, others had black sleek machine guns. One carried a bo-staff. They wore a black set of armor with a Kevlar bodysuit under it,

"Set up a perimeter. Make sure this place is safe while I debrief them." Nolan walked up to the twins who were both standing at attention. Hector and Camilla kept an eye on the men who were making the perimeter. Ash began sizing up Nolan as he walked towards them. All three of them were on high alert

"Nolan sir! Here is the artifact and these are the three that are coming with us." Quincey pointed to Hector, Camellia, and Ash. He handed the bag containing the artifact to the general,

"Thank you so much, Quinn and Quincey. I owe you more than you know, but because of the nature of this mission we are gonna have to make sure you didn't accidentally bring anything else with you from the lab," he turned, "Hey! You two get over here and start checking their bags." Quincey and Ash locked eyes and Ash began slowly making his way towards Quincey. Always making sure to keep the men in his peripheral vision,

"They are dressed like the same guys who took me and the other to the lab," he whispered,

"Along with that they are gonna find that stuff we took. This isn't good."

Ash began to curl his hand into a fist, but Quinn stopped him,

"They are our only way off this rock. Don't do anything-" He was cut off by one of the soldiers walking up to General Nolan with the same bag that had the research and evidence that they had taken. Nolan looked in it and then looked at the three the twins had brought. He whispered to the other man and then the man walked up to another soldier and began whispering,

"What are they saying you didn't take anything did you?"

Quinn asked Quincey,

"Well, I might have." Before any more words could be exchanged Quinn saw Camellia, Hector, and Ash collapse to the ground and the group of men swarm them,

"What the!" Quinn screamed, turning to Nolan frost, beginning to form at her fingertips. Nolan walked forwards,

"You guys are lucky we checked your bags. These three tried to smuggle some of the research out of the lab. Probably going to sell it to the highest bidder too. We have reason to believe that they were the cause of the lab going dark. They will be taken to Munkeno and put on trial and most likely killed." Quinn looked at her brother and then Nolan who turned away,

"Now if they told you this," Nolan's voice became threatening, "And you went along with it," The men began handcuffing and loading the unconscious beings onto the ship,

"Then you would be viewed as traitors and deserters. I would have no choice but to execute you two on the spot." The remaining men around them raised their weapons. Quinn got into a defensive stance and was about to fight when Quincey stepped in front of her,

"Sir, we had no idea of that. Like Quinn told you we found them before we entered the lab. We thought they were survivors. They seemed friendly and wanted to help." Nolan looked at the twins and motioned for his men to lower their weapons,

"Okay, it is an honest mistake I understand." His eyes told a different story, one of mistrust and scheming, "Welp," he turned and began walking towards the ship, "Let's get you two home."

This is not the end of this story. I plan to write more short stories like this. I wanna follow Quinn and Quincey along with others I may come up with through this vast universe I've made.

Thank you so much for reading this and giving any feedback you can. I hope it was as fun to read as it was for me to write. It took 6 months but I think it is worth it.