//------------------------------// // Chapter forty-five, Crypt-ick: Noble. // Story: Airship Mauled // by Darkonshadows //------------------------------// -Catacombs, Flamberge- We entered an area that seemed like a clan hall at the bottom of the stairs, there were upper floors to our left or right that led nowhere except to wrap around to the other side of this room at the exit. There were two stone staircases that lead up to these floors and a dilapidated bridge connecting them, there were likely staircases down on the other side near the exit on the opposite side of the straight away. “Something stinks…” My brother glared at me as we moved forward down the center of the room ignoring the staircases and upper areas. “Not you brother, those pits.” “Cesspits?” He guessed. Not much here but rotted wood that used to be furniture and rusted circular metal gratings over dug out well like pits that were within four alcoves in the walls ahead of us. Said pits were nasty for several reason, one of which was they were old, another was that they were ancient toilets and the last thing was something I would rather not think about as it is actually barbaric to do in this day and age. “Sounds about right for everything going on in these catacombs, someone used to live here to look out for the dead.” I didn’t drop my suspicions of what was going on around me, something had cleaved that first Draugr in half before we got there. That thing was freshly destroyed and the other Draugr we ran across wasn’t the one to do it, not with a claymore at least. The damage was different from what the claymore would have done. “No guesses as to what happened to them.” “Brother…” He pointed to the upper floors while raising his shield. I thought he might have been pointing out the rusted chandeliers, but that wasn’t the case. I quickly hopped backwards and rolled behind the wall next to the left staircase as an arrow impaled the floor where I had been standing. The other arrow that was fired impaled its tip into Fortitude’s shield as he ran to the right, hiding behind the wall on the right side next to that staircase. We had company, but I had to wonder how being a Draugr made an arrow impact with a strength beyond normal. If I were to fire an arrow from one of their bows with the same kind of draw, the arrow wouldn’t have nearly as much force or speed as the one that impaled the floor and my brother’s shield. I’ll chalk it up to dark magic, because otherwise I’ll be thinking too hard about it. I wasn’t an archer and I didn’t care much for physics aside from knowing that Draugr always hit harder no matter what they did. “More Draugr, can you get them with your fire brother?” Fortitude asked as I leaned out and pulled back quickly as an arrow occupied the space a second later. “Yes, but if we had a distraction… I really wish Gene were here for this.” How do you distract tireless dark magic fueled warriors of doom? I would say big target, but I wasn’t about to suggest… Fortitude surged out shield held up and it took two arrows, then four and following within a second of that six. The Draugr griffons had an insane fire rate, but at least Fortitude was keeping their attention on him as arrows dug into his shield one after another. Slowly my brother strafed towards me to his left catching every arrow fired on his shield. Taking the opportunity of his distraction, I leaned out and aimed at the one on the right upper floor and spat a fireball. Yonder wondrous Hayburger had trained my accuracy quite a lot. The Draugr, being too busy firing another arrow to dodge the fireball, took it to its now evaporating head. The body fell to the floor from the corner of the bridge above burning and lifeless. The other screeched and aimed for me, only the arrow was blocked by a shield and Fortitude was right by my side as we held our position at the wall next to the left staircase. “The other one shouldn’t be too hard to…” It seems I was speaking too soon as we heard two different terrifying creatures sound off. One bellowed loudly in guttural manner and the other roared in a manner so alien that put quite some fear into us. Leaning out to the right to look down the center of the room to the opposite side where our exit would be to go deeper into this place, we saw two figures emergency from the archway. One of which absolutely terrified us. One was a minotaur with skin turned to hardened leather from becoming a Draugr and it was holding a long axe with a large head, it stomped its way into the room continuing its throaty bellowing in challenge. Its muscles still rippled with incredible strength despite its decrepit and horrendous state, it looked both quite powerful and deadly. That wasn’t what scared us. What followed the minotaur with the green glowing eyes was a nightmare unto itself, given a dragon had been felled by these Draugr that was an accurate description. The blackened twisted scales on the monster that started claw its way out of the staircase downwards were not a sight I wished to see. That it was far larger than I was, was far more disheartening as to our chances here. The near skeletal beasts claws ripped through stone as it forced its body through the archway and into the room, a sickly purple fog poured from its mouth with each ragged breathe that most certainly did not bring it life. As it widened the entrance with laughable ease, its green eyes focused on us as Fortitude idly blocked the seventh arrow fired at us since we watched those two arrived. The only thing that likely held ‘that’ back from terrorizing the outside world was that it was too large to exit the catacombs without collapsing them on itself. Ducking back behind the wall, I turned to my brother. “That thing… is an unholy abomination of the greatest sort!” If it was immune to fire, then it was a Draugr I couldn’t just breathe away. The noxious looking gas didn’t look too pleasant either and neither did the needle like foot long claws it used to drag itself forward. There was a little bit of luck on our side as we glanced out at the dragon, it seemed to be missing its hind legs and wings as something had viciously amputated them prior to this encounter. Not that that would make a dragon Draugr any less deadly. We still had an archer and the minotaur to deal with on top of it, despite these horrors we held firm in our resolve to not back down to them. The purple fog started to filter across the floor as if clinging to it and we pulled away from it slightly as we didn’t know what it would do. “We’ll take the archer on the left. I’ll then try to deal with the minotaur afterwards, while you try to figure out how to take out the dragon.” My brother gave me a disturbed look that I was leaving the dragon to him. “I’m going with the assumption that it’s still immune to fire.” “This is bad plan.” Fortitude muttered before he moved to the left and up the staircase to avoid the incoming nasty looking fog, I followed closely behind the cover of his shield. The archer was already waiting for us and started firing immediately. The arrows sliced through the air at impossible speeds before hitting Fortitude’s shield, but they did not pierce it and only knocked a few of the previous solid metal arrows loose. I don’t know what magic made the arrows faster or stronger, but I think I seriously despised it. I leaned out from behind Fortitude’s shield to the left and then quickly jerked to the right of it. Having baited an arrow to fly by on our left, I was able to let loose a blast of flames from my mouth to engulf the other griffon archer at the top of the stairs unopposed. It was sickening to watch the griffon’s remains melt under my flames to free their soul in cleansing fire as they fell backwards, but it needed to be done. That was one less thing to worry about as we moved to the top of the stairs to avoid the purple fog slowly filling the lower floor behind us. We now had to deal with the charging minotaur coming up the stairs from the other side of the room and towards us with the axed raised high for a downwards swing. I leapt to the left into the upper left floor’s room and Fortitude went right while holding his shield towards the minotaur as it brought the long axe down. Didn’t know what the dragon was doing since I couldn’t see it from my position, but I wish it wasn’t doing anything. The long axe struck the ground with a thunderous crash, stone and chips went flying in all directions as if a hammer had been used to strike the floor with the force of a god. My scales protected me from the bits of stone that slammed into me and my brother’s shield became peppered by the rocks as he backed away onto the bridge. -???- I waded through the fog, I cared not for its effects. I watched the two brave, or was it foolish, warriors move forward even with the danger being presented to them. They had the tenacity, but could they survive these Draugr? These two were some of the strongest in these catacombs sent by the source, their master, to turn the warriors to his whims. I watched the two meet dangerous foes and they would soon begin to struggle, I waited in anticipation. Would I have to kill them or would they press forward and push beyond this trial? -Fortitude- Shield would not survive that… shield would definitely not survive that! The minotaur turned to me, hefting its axe and took a step while raising it only to get blast of fire across its right shoulder. “You’re fight is with me!” The monster immediately turned around and moved towards my brother, it was swift for such a large being. My brother held his sword in a two clawed grip and took an evasive stance, he ducked under a horizontal swing that still sent him flailing backwards from the pressure of the air displaced by the swing. I heard a gurgling growl sound out from the ever increasing fog below and looking over the side of the bridge to my right, I saw a pair of large green glowing eyes looking at me. Oh right… I need to figure out how to slay a dragon, this would not be an easy feat to accomplish. A claw rose up as the monster leapt for the bridge, I backpedaled into the right side upper floor’s room as the claw tore through the bridge like it was butter. I was now separated from my brother, except he could still get to me. “Brother, do not forget that you can fly!” As I shouted this several claws dug into broken railing and edge of the floor and the Draugr dragon started to pull itself up to face me. “Thanks for reminding me!” Flamberge was not bright, but I am here to remind him where Gene could not. The Draugr dragon was busy lifting itself into the room I was occupying and I backed further into it as it pulled half its body up onto the upper floor. I took to my hind legs and pulled the claymore out to hold it at the ready. “I am Fortitude, the fantastically fragrant!” I screamed as I charged the monster, it got its right limb up and swiped at me. I forced its claws up and nearly took a hit to my face, I ducked back and then thrust the claymore right into where the beast’s heart would be. I am now realizing that there were several problems with this, were it alive this might have worked provided the blade I wielded could actually cut through dragon scale. One, my weapon was not made of silver and or metal capable of such damage. Two, my claymore only punctured a part of its hide that had been punctured before. The thing that killed this dragon previously was that it had been slashed in the heart before being brought back as a Draugr, the warped tattered cavity in its chest told me as such. The claymore I wielded did little to aid me in this situation, I was never good with weapons and I am now sorely reminded why I hardly ever take up more than my mighty yak shield. Said shield was damaged, but still fairly functional. Given how tough dragon scales were, especially that of an undead dragon, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing by trying to attack the beast when nothing I had could damage it. Stalling for time was all I could really do… I didn’t have the power to destroy this creature or free its soul. Even Flamberge couldn’t destroy this thing as we had no silver weapons. The blade I quickly pulled free of the dragon was of steel in make and I dodged it snapping its bony jaws of sickly flesh at me. The dragon started rearing its head to let loose a stream of that purple fog as I backed away in fear, I felt like death was rushing towards me when it exhaled. I held my shield aloft and bravely stood tall as I was engulfed in a stream of the purple fog that battered against my shield relentlessly and surrounded me. -???- I rushed towards the yak, intending to end his life before the Draugr could. Only to see something that absolutely surprised me. Changing targets, I leapt for the dragons back and brought my weapon forth. A flash of silver sang through the air and the dragon Draugr snapped in half under the weight of the blow I dealt it, its spine having been severed cleanly in half. Its body having finally been dealt enough damage, its soul finally escaped to the afterlife. I quickly hid my presence and watched as that lucky soul fled this foul place. -Fortitude- “I am being alive?” The fog, for whatever reason could not touch me… did my smell protect me? Brothers always joke about smell being thick as an ozone layer of its own accord. I am quite glad to be proving them right. “Hmmm… I am fantastically fragrant after all…” I turned my gaze to the Draugr dragon and I moved to the side to see its severed spine, it was now lifeless. I saw a glint of silver moving in the fog below. The upper torso of the dragon tilted and started to slide back until it fell into the slowly dissipating purple fog below. Was it the guardian that is saving me? The guardian was coming for me first, I felt it. It was going to kill me… but it had changed its mind. Why? Was it because I wouldn’t die to the dragon's breath? Would I have become a Draugr had I fallen to the dragon’s fog? I shall see this guardian as an honorable and noble being.