Death Journey

Mari Fike

Prologue
Something sounded in the Far West. It was a shriek of pain that echoed throughout the barren landscape, making the small grains of sand shudder and move from place to place. The cry increased in pitch, ranging from a low threatening growl, to a wail of pure and utter despair. The blazing desert sun shone in the clear cerulean sky, lighting the earth with shades of light orange and brown, but no matter how bright the ball of fire shone, it could not light the dark, scaly skin of the struggling beast in the depths below.
“You know this will only delay the inevitable! What you cast will only last, but a few centuries! Only a mere passing of time to me!”
The creature spat as specks of spit flew from its fangs. It beat its coal black wings while trying to catch the dissolving edges of the sandy ledge with the bony points at the end of the web-like structure. The creature snarled when it could not complete its action as the cliff only crumbled even further. Out of pure frustration, it flashed its large yellowing teeth to its offender that watched in a calm but strained kind of way at the beast’s peril.
“But it is, indeed, time. Only time can find a way to destroy the likes of you for good. I may perish from the spell I cast at this very moment, but it is a way to save my people in the world I cherish here and now.”
A man spoke while standing calmly near the edge of the pit he was creating to trap the struggling beast. The man grasped his robes at the space his beating heart resided. His face was contorted with concentration as sweat made tracks down the wrinkles of his aging face. His verdant eyes flashed with the power that lay inside of his chest as he let it all free, including his life force that kept his soul alive.
The creature let out a wheezing bark of laughter as its dark tail flailed around to keep it from its prison’s grasp.
“They may be in fact ‘saved,’ but you, out of all people, know that your kind will die by my own fangs either now or thousands of years later.”
Its ember red feline eyes flashed with utter amusement as it saw the human shift positions uncomfortably in front of it. Its good nature vanished as soon as it’s elongated scaly face was level with the sandy pit’s edge. It let out another growl of fury as the small grains of sand piled onto each other around its large black body, dooming it to become buried alive.
“I assure you, my friend, there will never be a dragon to walk this earth again as long as you remain sealed. Therefore, it might take a while for you to gather up any other sealed dragons when you awaken. Unfortunately for you, by then my kind would have found a way to destroy you forever. I may rest in peace by knowing that fact alone,” the man growled as he collapsed to his knees. His sandy brown hair flecked with gray and white was plastered to his paling cheeks as he gasped for enough air to fill his empty lungs to continue his life-draining spell. His tattered gray robes twisted around his thin body when a fierce wind blew from the north, and the man clenched his whitening fists into the grainy sand from the price he was paying to perform this wizardry.
“And I assure you, you won’t rest peacefully, for your dream will never come true.” The silky black dragon cursed as the last of the sand covered its horned head. The wind died to a small whisper of the past events. The blazing sun sunk into the drapery of the world. Stars were sewn in to replace the ball of fire, but the moon was yet to come until the next drapery to be made. There, the beast lay with his spell cast upon him. Another person lay as well, but only to be comforted by the everlasting peace and bliss of death.
Time flowed through the creases and mountains of the land as do the grains drop in an hourglass. The distressed people of the world gazed on as they saw their hopes and dreams come true. Scaly winged beasts of all different colors seemed to fall from the heavens above, and all with the same implausible condition. Demise, or as some of the people called it, fate. The people cheered and rejoiced, but they did not know who did this and why. Some believed their gods became merciful and avenged the many deaths and blood that caked their world. Others thought the deaths of the creatures were from a famine spread from one un-pure dragon to another un-pure dragon. As time went by, none of their hypothesis seemed to be true.
They chose to forget these creatures, now that they were gone from the face of the earth. Yet, some enveloped themselves in the caress of magic. They knew the beasts were not gone forever. The beings were laughed at for their stupidity for such a notion, and they were cast out to forever be scorned.
Yet again, time withered the loveliest of flowers and destroyed the mightiest of mountains as darkness came and was overcome by the light. A battle fought and won repeated endlessly for centuries. The people evolved with their technologies and their life spans grew. They believed that the dragons their ancestors feared were only fairy tales and fables that their previous kind blissfully mistook for ‘dinosaurs.’ But, the advanced people did not believe in magic, nor did they know that when the beasts’ bodies landed, they left no carcasses to be found.
They never knew how to fend for themselves when darkness melted into their perfect land. They couldn’t defeat the old terror that took centuries to arise once again. The dragons attacked and ruled all.
Chapter 1
The sky was once again blood red as I gazed upon the new massacre. The sun spat black flames onto the scorched barren land. Small glimpses of stars were sprinkled into the sky, but, like the sun, they too were black smolders. I shook my head from the needless bloodshed that lay before me.
Two men and a woman lay there. All dismantled with limbs splayed in many distorted ways. Hands were where their feet should have been, and their legs were bent just like one would bend rubber. Their blood colored the ground from where the gashes were made on their bellies, faces, and the joints that use to hold limbs. One of the strongest men was beheaded, but I knew who he was. He was the oldest in our gathering, but now, with him gone, my mother would be the elder now. I sighed. Now there were only five pitiful humans in my gathering, and I prayed that they could live safely.
“Gather the bodies at once. We’ll bury them as soon as we near home.” I ordered only letting my emerald eyes linger a second before I swiftly turned around. I gazed upon Jake as he nodded for my reply. He grimaced at the scene behind me, but went to work pulling the long scrap of cloth that he would use to put the bodies on.
“By the looks of it, I think they were coming home too.” Jake said, heaving a carcass to the cloth and gently setting it in the middle. “I think they couldn’t find any meat, if what I said is true.” He added pausing to wipe his brow with the back of his sturdy hand. Crimson hair laid on his head like wispy clouds and some of those wisps settled on his pale face for bangs. Freckles were dotted near the bridge of his nose and sometimes appeared near the creases of his cheerful smile. But now, there was no smile plastered on his face as he carried the last of the bodies to the cloth. Blood was smeared on his baggy white T-shirt and it dribbled down to his brown pants. There, he stood up to his full height, about a head shorter than myself, and gave me the ‘what now,’ look.
“Then, we’ll have to find food instead.” I growled, examining one of the torn up bodies for their hunting tools and bags. I could feel how the air turned completely stale, and I knew my suggestion was not welcomed.
“Go get food by ourselves? That’s suicide, Luke! I know that you’re a magician and stuff, but we’re already tired from looking for this group. Can’t we rest? Besides, whatever killed off our friends might still be here.” Jake spluttered, his eyes searching for the object of his fear.
“We are going to get food, and that monster will be our prey because it’s right behind you.” I said while clenching my dagger a bit tighter.
“What?” Jake screamed. I rolled my eyes and strolled past Jake’s shaking body.
“Relax already.” I muttered. I bent down just a few feet behind where Jake stood and pulled a small patch of grass apart. There it was. “It’s dead, genius.” I said staring at the small creature that murdered three people so swiftly. An eight-legged beast lay there, still twitching with the last of its life. It’s black spider like body was covered in brown fur to blend in with the dark brown grass. On it’s underside was an acid red mark of a flame. It was the mark of one of ‘his’ servants. I ground my teeth together in fury once my eyes made contact with that marking, and I had to resist stomping on the three-foot long creature. I glanced to the side and saw another horrible sight. The head of the man that lay dead on the cloth some ways ago sat next to the dead spider.
“Jim must have poisoned the thing before the spider’s venom took affect.” Jake mumbled, seeing another mark next to the flame on its belly. “And if he did that, we won’t have any chance of eating that thing, and good riddance. I hate those spiders.”
“Let’s go then. We’ll take the bodies home later,” I said while grabbing Jake’s shoulder to indicate it was time to go. “Luke, will you make up your mind? First we go to find these three, and then we have to hunt while dragging them home. Then you say we have to leave them and go home without hunting.” Jake questioned. He crossed his arms and glared at me. I only rolled my eyes.
“It’s either go home, or end up like these three,” I growled in frustration, pushing my way to the opposite direction.
“Why would we be ending up like them? I don’t see anything.” Later on, I knew that Jake regretted those four simple words, for right when they passed through his lips the ground had begun to tremble. “Aww crap! I’m with you now, buddy! Let’s run!”
“Idiot.” I muttered silently to myself as Jake ran up to my side. A sound could be heard from the far distance, and I knew it didn’t bring any good news. It was the sound of large wings cutting through the air over and over again. The sound came closer, and a new sound came as time withered. It was the battle cry of a truly monstrous beast that held neither sympathy nor regret. The only emotion or action that held truth in its tangled sense of justice was hunger, and the only creature that would suffice, was that of human flesh and blood.
“Jake, I need you to go in first and make sure nothing else goes with you. I’m going to seal the holding.” I instructed, only glancing quickly behind my shoulder to see if the creature flew any closer. To my dismay, the thing was indeed coming upon us at an incredible speed with acid spittle sliding down its scaly cheekbones.
"It must be extremely hungry to push itself this far, or it might know my plans for its brethren. Either way, I need to seal my home," my mind concluded. I could now see the color of the beast, and it was covered by the sickly shade of green. The scales on its underside grew darker for protection, as the scales on its thick tail jetted out for battle. The eyes that were on the head of the beast shone a putrid yellow once it caught sight of us, and it forced its leathery wings to beat faster. "Somehow," I thought while desperately trying to build the effects of the sealing spell, "This isn’t going to end well."
Every once in a while between starring behind and at the parched ground I lifted my gaze to see if we had gotten any closer to our home. It took a good five minutes until I could see a speck in the blood red distance, and another five to be a good ten feet away. I gathered all of my will and power to get this right. It was either the spelled worked or not. If it was strong enough and held, this beast would have no way of entering our abode, but if it was weak and brittle…I didn’t think about that at the time.
“Jake, get in first!” I yelled when I heard the creature’s wings cut into the air quite close to me. “Don’t argue! Just do what I say!” I snapped when Jake opened his mouth to protest. There was a fleeting moment when I thought that he would be too late, and that I would lose my best friend, but he was faster than I thought as he sprinted into the shelter of the large cave we called home. I took a deep breath and stopped right at the entrance of the cave and turned around.
The beast was closer than I thought. It was five feet away, and I could almost feel its warm rotten breath engulf my being. I saw triumph in its eyes and I almost saw a glimpse of a very dragon-like smile as the scales at the edges of its mouth turned upward. ‘Sorry, but I’m not ready to die yet.’ I thought, saying one word that I had been preparing ever since I knew the dragon was following us.
“Obstruo…” I breathed out the word, very much like exhaling, but with a small force to it. The reaction was instant as an invisible force field was placed in front of the cave. The only time it was seen was when the web of magic hardened and solidified to its natural order. The dragon, however, did not see or hear anything. Its entire focus was set on its prey and its prey alone. I almost felt pity for the thing when it’s scaled head made contact with the shield none the less. I could hear its neck crack with a sickening snap, and I saw the neck bend in two in the middle. The bones crunched together and a small moan escaped the beast’s mouth. There was a look of petrified shock in the dragon’s features when its large body collapsed to the ground with an earth-shaking thud. Dribbles of saliva and dark brown blood oozed from its open mouth, covering its long and sharp blackening teeth and the parched ground below. Gurgling was heard from the pit of its broken throat and for a while, it stayed that way, but then the silence eventually came, and the great beast’s eyes closed for good. The dragon was dead.
“Oh, dear Lord above. Honey, you didn’t kill it…did you?” A woman’s voice asked me from behind. I jumped a little from the question, but composed myself not to show the fear I felt and the fear I knew that would come. I turned around to face my mother staring up at me with the fear that I felt glowing in her dark cobalt eyes. She was dressed in a plain brown dress with a darker brown sash tied around her thin waist. Around her neck hung a pure silver linked necklace that glimmered in the blood red light of the sun. Her hands were folded together and the wrinkles seemed deeper on her pale face. I took another deep breath as the invisible shield dissipated into nothing behind me.
“Mother, there was no other way I could have saved us. It was either kill this beast, or let it devour us.” I explained when she walked past me to see the dragon better. I heard a small gasp from her form, and that alone made me cringe.
“There will be more now. They know when one of their kind is dead. They don’t come to mourn…no. They come to eat the flesh of their fellow to gain its strength.” She whispered, gazing at the crumpled dragon with disgust. “And if that isn’t enough, not even humans can eat this carcass. It’s full of deadly toxin.” She was telling me knowledge of which I already knew, but I let her go on. She had a right to be angry and gregarious. Almost all of her loved ones including my father, her siblings, my grandparents, and all of her friends, had been recklessly murdered for the pleasure of the dragons. I was the only thing left for, aside from what was left of my friends.
“We were planning to leave though, Mother. This only makes the date of our departure closer.” I reminded her, gently placing my hand on her shaking shoulder. She whipped around, forcing me to bring back my hand.
“That plan? You mean the one where you set out and kill Him? No one has ever done that! The most powerful wizard could only subdue him until he emerged from the sands once more to wreak havoc! Even our wizards with their new technology have failed. So what makes you, my only son, think he can? I can’t bare the thought of losing you!” Mother half yelled, trying to keep herself from weeping. “You’ll only be traveling towards death if you choose that journey!” She continued managing to only let a few tears pave their paths down her face.
“Mother, please…” I started, but thought better than to say anything. I would go, no matter what, but there wasn’t any use of wasting effort on telling her. So instead, I settled on agreeing with the woman. “Fine, but you can not deny the fact that we do need to separate ourselves from this place as far as we can go. I predict the best area to go would be the mountains.” I told her, slowly seeing the wrinkles caused by her sorrowful face disappear. She nodded silently when I finished, and did her best to slap a smile on her tear-streaked features.
“All right. We should go, and the best time would be now. I’ll gather up the girls and you get Jake. We need to be swift if we want this to work.” She said in barely a whisper, but I nodded towards her to show that I understood. I was ready to get on the move, and fast.