The western continent is a mysterious, unexplored place. It is split be a huge mountain range that blocks the path of explorers. The mountain range known as "The great barrier" stretches as far as the eye can see. The main problem with traversing the mountainous region are the creatures who inhabit the peaks. Mighty dragons bestowed with the title of "Guardians of the West" are said to incinerate anyone daring enough to try and cross their lands.
Few came back alive to tell the tale of their escape from those terrifying monsters. Every year tens of adventurers seeking glory and driven by curiosity set out on expeditions to this dangerous place.
A cohort of six adventures was seen leaving the last stronghold of the kingdom of Morridance on the western continent. They too decided to set out on an adventure into the unknown. Even though many have already deemed further attempts futile and foolish, the spirit of adventure is too strong in some people.
The six were hardened and experienced people with hundreds of missions completed, together they decided to decorate their careers with an accomplishment not yet achieved by anyone. Confident and brave they set out on their journey with high spirits and hopes for riches and glory.
After three days of walking, they arrived at the foothold of a mountain, it was merely a start however to them it symbolized a tremendous achievement, just to gaze at this barrier that none have breached before. In those three days they have slain many strong monsters which strook fear into ordinary folk, but to this group they were barely an obstacle in their way.
Before beginning their ascent, they decided to set up camp and go out the next day when fully rested. Before sleep they looked at maps composed by many other adventurers who lived and made them and studied the optimal paths to the peaks. However halfway through the mountain the maps were no longer of any use, and they had to find their own ways.
In the morning after a filling breakfast, they have started their ascent. The first four hours of climbing were nothing to speak about, but finally they had reached a dead end with no way ahead. They knew about this point on their path and knew the road ahead. They had to climb a steep almost completely vertical wall. Rising was not the hard part by itself; it was the wind that actively tried to make them fall to death. But they had endured and continued onwards without much trouble, finally they reached a ledge and felt solid ground beneath their feet for the first time in hours.
A short rest was well deserved, they have done better than anyone else before, a thought was starting to brew in their minds that maybe, just maybe their attempt will not end in disaster, but in success, and their deeds will be sung by bards in taverns for years to come.
After breaching the wall, they went onwards following their map. Some monsters such as orcs and goblins dared to attack them but met their end in a swiftly manner, such creatures no longer posed a threat to those people. At the end of the day, they arrived at the last recorded place and could no longer rely on the knowledge of their predecessors.
A barren, rocky sight has greeted their eyes. No greenery anymore, no flowers, no bushes, not even moss has made an appearance there as if even nature was terrified of this place. On their way up they have encountered some plants here and there even abundantly, however now it was all gone. But they continued onwards.
"We must figure out a way forward." Said a woman clad in a navy robe, carrying a long wooden staff with a crystal sphere hovering over it.
"For now, we go forward, we will pave a way one way or another." Answered a muscular man with a Zwei hander strapped behind his back.
As they walked not a single sound reached their ears, only steps spread through the grey wasteland. This rocky flatland in the mountains stretched for kilometres, they saw a way up ahead, but it was still a long way from them.
A man with a staff led the way, his posture unwavering despite the harsh summer sun. They passed by a boulder towering at fifteen metres high, one could even mistake it for a building.
Directly behind the boulder a stretch of roughly sixty metres was taller than the rest of the surroundings so they strayed away from it to a smoother surface, so smooth in fact that one could be suspicious of it. The adventurers did not pay it much attention and continued walking to their destination.
The ground trembled slightly beneath their feet.
"What is going on?" Said a dark-skinned woman, unsheathing her sword.
"I do not know but stay alert and under any circumstances do not panic." Replied the man leading the group.
The tremors increased, and the adventures were thrown off their feet. The surface raised and the 'boulder' turned around and opened its eyes. The dragon threw the adventurers off its body and stood up. Standing at an impressive height of forty metres, and an even more astounding wingspan of a hundred metres, it was truly massive. Its skin resembling rock itself with a few cracks in it revealing its flesh – it was wounded.
As they stood up, a terrifying sight appeared before them, a dragon, a legendary creature. They though to have prepared themselves for such a sight, as they knew they would encounter one eventually, however a real encounter still shook their bodies and made them tremble with fear.
"Shit! It's a guardian!" Exclaimed a man with a long scar on his cheek, while tightening his grip around the shift of a spear
"Prepare for battle! Assume the formation! Come on we practiced for this." Commanded the male mage.
They moved into a hexagonal shape, the weapon wielders at front and the mages in the back, with the man responsible for healing magic assuming the position at the furthest end of the formation.
The dragon enraged by being awakened from its sleep, trying to recover from a brutal fight with one of the other guardians, roared. Its roar so powerful by itself to trample a house into smithereens, nonetheless the warriors stood tall, only slightly flinching.
The mage with blue robes pointed her staff forwards and started chanting, strings of mana wrapped around the staff in such complicated and ethereal ways that one could gain enlightenment just from seeing them. The weaves turned red in colour and went into the crystal at the top of her staff.
"A r d o r"
For a second nothing seemed to have happened, but then a fiery vortex appeared above the creature raining down huge balls of fire on its stony body. Those that strook its wounds made it roar in pain. The vortex would last for no less than five minutes by itself bringing down hell on the mighty dragon with no need for any further mana expenses.
After the initial shock it composed itself and looked at the puny humans before it with fury in its yellow eyes.
As the weapon wielding trio rushed forward to meet their enemy, the dragon made its move. It flapped its wings sending out huge winds, which moved at abnormal speeds reaching seventy metres per second. Its front legs rose and smashed down right in front of the pursuers, knocking them over. With determination they stood up to face the beast and prepared for another assault.
A man at the left end of the formation started casting a spell. His staff glowed in a light blue colour, small crackles started appearing in the air next to it.
"F u l m e n"
An enormous black cloud appeared on the dragon, engulfing its whole body, only wings sticking out from them.
Lightning appeared out of the clouds running threw them repeatedly. The dragon now under the assault of two 8th circle spells of complementary elements fell over on his face.
Seeing that the woman at the front ran with all her might and using her spatial techniques appeared above the clouds and the fiery vortex manifested from pure mana. She was twenty metres above the dragon, she could not see it, however she swung her sword.
A crack in the space, a black fissure ran threw the fabric of the world itself, ignoring the rules that govern it.
A roar sounded through the whole mountain making the adventurers subconsciously move a step back. The dragon was hurt, deep yellow blood seeped through his stone hard skin, it also poured out of his mouth. After thrashing on the ground for a few minutes, it opened its mouth and tried condensing mana in its mouth to destroy the attackers, it was a final effort as it knew that no matter what it would still die from its wounds. Heavily injured even before the ongoing fight it was doomed to fall.
The woman that made the final attack appeared next to the other two warriors in front of the dragon. A smile on her face revealed the satisfaction that she felt now. How could she not? She has slain a might legendary guardian; a feat never recorded in the history of the humankind before. Yes, there were people stronger than her, that could slay such a creature with much less effort, but alas she did it and they did not. Truly a feat worthy of a song.
***
In a cave no more than a hundred metres from the battlefield the group gathered around a bonfire. A pleasant smell of cooked meat lingered around. The crackling of wood and the soft warmth of fire made the atmosphere pleasant.
The six of them despite the fight lasting no longer than a couple minutes were thoroughly spent. The mana expenditure required to cast such spells took a toll on the bodies of the two mages, and the constant running made the warriors sweat and breath heavily, only the healer was in a good condition.
They decided to spend the night in this there and patch some wounds before venturing out again. After all a long road was still waiting for them ahead, and they need to be at their peak to face the dangers ahead.
After waking up the group ventured out to try and find a path ahead. They went in the direction of a jagged peak looming over them in the distance. Its peak covered in snow reflecting brightly the morning sun. The ground was uneven and easy to trip on, but they steadily marched forwards.
Hours went by peacefully without much trouble. At noon they started ascending yet another wall of stone. Step after step, they slowly went upwards. After long hours of climbing, they succeeded and reached the top.
What greeted them was a remarkable sight. From beyond the mountain range, they saw something white peaking out. A huge skull was bestriding over the entire world as the western wall guarded its entry.
For a moment they just stood there looking at it. So many questions but none of them answered, they had to fine those themselves.
"Hey… I am not just imagining this, right? You guys can see it too?" The healer asked.
"I was just about to ask the same question" Replied the man with a sword on his back.
Driven by curiosity, they decided to try and find a better spot to see more of this skull. After climbing yet another wall they could see more, much more and this scene caused them to gasp in awe.
Before them, a ribcage protruding from the soil itself, as if it just grew like a plant was standing there unmoving. And on the ribs grew countless trees and greenery of all kinds – bushes, grass, flowers, and moss. A whole ecosystem was thriving on the corpse of an ancient giant.
Suddenly they heard a roar, after that many more were heard. The guardians have noticed the intruders, and they did not like it one bit.
One after another the dragons took to the skies. They varied in colour, size and in power. The biggest of them all was a white dragon as pure as quartz, it looked like a marble statue that was granted a soul and came to life, and its sculptor must have been the greatest to ever live.
"One, two, three... more than ten!" A dark-skinned woman exclaimed.
"Thirteen to be exact..." Said the healer.
"Way more than we can manage, that's for sure!" Replied the mage wearing a blue robe.
"We have to run, there is no way in hell we can go further ahead with all of those dragons guarding this passage, it would be like asking for death!" The leader spoke out loudly enough for everyone to hear, panic easily distinguishable in his voice.
And run they did, alas the dragons were quicker. The white dragon circled around them in the sky as if waiting for a perfect moment to strike, the others were approaching the ledge with monumental speeds.
The adventurers ran with all they might, the warriors at the back and the mages in front. Two of them at front hurled some spells blindly in hope of getting a lucky hit on one of the dragons to slow them down.
The healer at the front started breathing heavily, he was not used to running that much, he stopped for a brief second to catch his breath, his muscles aching like never before and the fear only made it worse.
After a moment of rest, he started running again trying to catch up to the rest of the group, the warriors now ten metres ahead of him.
"Edward!" They screamed to him.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" he replied.
He ran with all his might. With his hair wet, and clothes sticking to his body, but he endured and slowly caught up to the rest of them.
"We thought we had lost you there for a second." Said one of the warriors now running next to Edward.
The dragons just a few metres above the surface flew towards them, only five hundred metres separated them from the intruders. And this distance was nothing to them.
As their escape continued, they suddenly felt a crush behind them, and then another two. Three of their pursuers had caught up.
"Damn it! We could not make it!" A man with a sword exclaimed.
"We must try and stand our ground for a while, and when opportunity arises we will try to escape again. We will get out of it, like we always do Luke." Replied the woman warrior.
"I hope you're right Aisha." He replied.
"You know I always am." A smirk on her face appeared.
They got into a formation, the same one they had used before, it was simply the most successful, the warriors at the front could fight at close range where they felt the most comfortable, and at the same time they were protecting mages who were hurling their powerful spells at their enemies.
A grey dragon in the middle of the three unleashed a powerful attack, a signature attack of these mighty creatures. A sea of fire was moving towards the six, but before it could reach them a voice rang out.
"O b e x"
A huge yellow transparent barrier appeared right in front of the fire.
"Thanks Edward!"
"That's what I'm here for Luke, just focus on slaying that lizard, I have got your backs!"
After the flame died out, Aisha moved with her sword already in hand towards the one who unleashed the first attack, at the same time the two mages in the back attacked with their spells.
They decided to use the same tactic as before, and used the same combination of spells, but now at the same time. A fiery vortex and a thundering cloud engulfed the three dragons.
"Good job Rose! Good job Blake!" Edward screamed to the mages.
Aisha tried to repeat the same manoeuvre as she used before and leapt into the air high above the three enemies, she raised her sword and gathered mana in its blade, creating a silver aura around it.
Edward looked at the girl in the air who was just about to deliver a strike that had already felled a dragon before he thought 'Atta girl, maybe this will not be so bad after all.' A moment later a fourth dragon from the sky appeared and flew towards Aisha with his claws outstretched ready to strike her down.
"Aisha watch out! To your left!" He screamed with panic. He did not have enough time to cast a barrier around her to protect her from the incoming danger. He could only watch as the dragon closed in on her at terrifying speeds.
As her hand was moving downwards, she unleashed an attack of her own, however just as she was about to get down on the ground her body was hit by something heavy and powerful, a claw penetrated her abdomen.
Shock, and fear formed on the faces on the five adventurers, Aisha spit out a mouthful of blood, her body was thrown off the claw of a dragon and was freefalling towards the ground, such a fall by itself could gravely injure her.
Without much time to think Edward casted a heling spell and began sprinting towards the falling woman. A golden hue enveloped her and the deep wound on her stomach started heling itself, flesh and organs regenerating and nullifying the results of the attack.
The dragon did not land but stayed in the air encircling the adventurers, not willing to go into the midst of the powerful spells that wreaked havoc on the battlefield.
Edward had gotten right under her and casted a levitation spell on her to prevent Aisha from dying from the fall. Luckily, he was successful in this endeavour and rescued her. He checked her pulse with hope for at least a small sign that she was alive. After pressing his hand on her neck, he felt it, on his fingers he felt faint beating of her heart. A sigh of relief escaped from his lips as he picked her up to carry her unconscious body into the back of the formation.
The rest could only spare a quick glance at what the outcome was because they could not get distracted from their own fights.
The now two warriors at front had to fall back a little due to now having to fight two four opponents instead of three, and if that was not enough they had to do it with two fighters not three.
The powerful spells casted at the beginning of the fight had started to vanish. As the smoke cleared out, it revealed that the grey dragon was hit by Aisha's attack and in result was wounded heavily, and it had to fall back a little as to not get injured even more, risking its own death.
Such an outcome surprised everyone, including the dragons who were shocked that one of their own kin got seriously injured by a "mere" human, in their minds the creatures in front of them should not be a problem to them, after all they were "The Guardians of the West", no one dared to doubt their strength and superiority, and yet a human had almost killed one of them.
Seeing this Edward screamed as loud as he could.
"They are distracted! We have a chance! Run for it!!"
The warriors disengaged while Rose and Blake in the back covered their retreat with a constant barrage of spells. Edward put Aisha's body over his shoulder and started running towards the two mages, careful not to run into their spells. 'Running is definitely not for me.' He thought to himself, already having to catch his breath despite running only for a short distance.
Luke and Cole were right behind Edward in case he needed protection, more so with an unconscious woman on his back.
Beads of sweat fell from his face, his breath shallow and legs started to burn as if he were running through hell itself. His long brown curly hair wet from sweat, fell onto his face the moisture got into his eyes. However, despite all that he still ran forward, for he was a healer, and he had a duty to protect people, especially those dear to him, and it would be nearly impossible to find someone dearer to him than Aisha.
He looked behind him, and what he saw made him immensely worried – behind them the white dragon that until now has been only looking from afar was getting closer and it was getting closer fast.
Its wings spanning for more than two hundred metres, and its long body covered a big portion of the sky, far bigger than any other dragon in proximity.
Luke who also noticed the approaching monstrosity pushed Edward forward with all his strength. The healer shocked by this stumbled and almost tripped however luckily for him he did not fall.
"What are you doing!"
"Just go we will hold it off for a bit and catch up with you!"
"But - "
"No buts Edward! Go take Aisha to safety!"
Edward saw the white guardian approaching and then turned around and ran to the other two mages. When he caught up to them he said.
"Blake, hold onto her for awhile, I'll be back soon they need my help."
"Then we're going too."
"No. Her and your safety is a priority right now. Go and hide in that cave over there." Edward said pointing at a cave roughly 400 metres away. Without giving them time to respond he sprinted back to the two who were facing the dragon.
Luke unsheathed his sword and faced it towards the speeding dragon, it landed several metres in front of them, its scales reflecting sunlight making it shine in the afternoon sun. It stood tall, so tall that they had to tilt their heads up to see its head.
Cole grabbed his spear and pointed it at his foe, his breath slowed down, and his eyes narrowed with focus. The blade of the weapon radiated a faint blue colour and hummed ever so quietly.
'He finally grasped it.' – Thought to himself Luke. His own weapon also shimmered and released a bright yellow light.
The ivory creature leaned forward and swiped with its massive tail. They both managed to dodge this attack by jumping and then they rushed forward, Cole from the left and Luke from the right.
Luke has swung his sword downwards with immense strength aiming for the dragons' ankles hoping to severe a tendon. However, when his sword hit the tough scales it simply bounced right off them.
Taking advantage of Luke's moment of confusion and shock the dragon tried to stomp on him. He managed to dodge it just barely, but a shallow wound on his chest formed from the dragon's claw.
Meanwhile when the dragon was preoccupied with Luke, Cole managed to sneak up behind it. He performed a flurry of attacks each flowing smoothly into the next one, his moves resembled a ballroom dance, and wherever his weapon went a blue streak appeared in the air.
The guardian clearly agitated by the human behind him once again decided to utilise his spiky tail and swung it around him trying to hit the annoying "fly" behind him.
Cole seeing this ceased his attacks and jumped up aiming to land on top of the dragon. His manoeuvre was successful, and he landed on the dragons' spine.
Noticing that the dragons was distracted Luke took the opportunity and jumped on top of the dragons' spine. Instantly he started swinging wildly at the milky armour. With their combined efforts they noticed that a few scales finally gave out under the pressure of their attacks.
Frathyt felt a stinging sensation on his back, a feeling he has not felt in centuries – it was pain. He the oldest dragons of the wall has felt pain, and it was not inflicted to him by one of his kin, no humans inflicted it. Two puny 'ants' dared to injure him? Such insolence he could tolerate no longer. Rage boiled inside him; his eyes grew brighter in an almost blinding yellow light. His jaws opened and he let out a primordial roar and stood on his hind legs, throwing off the two humans daring enough to bring him shame.
Luke and Cole both fell off the dragons' body and stumbled on the ground. When they looked up they saw a face engulfed in such rage, that their instinct screamed at them to abandon all hope and run, for there was no hope left for them if they stayed.
Their eyes wide open and lips quivering, they wanted to turn around and run but something was stopping them, their legs did not listen to them anymore, it was as if their mind had been separated from their bodies.
Frathyt opened his mouth agape, inside he gathered as much energy as he could. A yellow glow started escaping from all the accumulated force. And then he released it all into the world, all his rage let loose formed a fire so bright, it could blind someone just for looking at it, as if the sole act of witnessing it was a crime.
The breath attack was inevitably coming closer and closer to the two who dared to enrage the guardians. Their spirits slowly breaking and already coming to peace with the fact that their lives are going to end they looked at each other, no tears in their eyes just understanding, but then when something was supposed to happen nothing did, the fire did not come, and they still drew breath.
Edward was running yet again, but he could not stop today. All his training and studies went into magic, and he ended up neglecting his body, but he did not stop. When he saw that the dragon threw his friends off and was preparing a huge attack, one that would surely leave nothing but ashes remaining he sped up. He had to get in range and try to block this devastating strike. Fortunately, he managed to do it, and casted the most powerful barrier spell that he knew. Even after casting it he did not stop and continued sprinting towards his companions.
'Run, run, I can't stop now.'
He was repeating it to himself repeatedly. Finally, he arrived. He leaned on his knees and tried to catch his breath.
"Edward? What are you doin-" asked Leon in shock after seeing him.
"I came here to save you so get up while the dragon doesn't see us and let's get out of here."
The three of them turned around and started heading back carefully while the flame still raged on behind them. When they were far enough they yet again started running.
Frathyt looked ahead with a smug grin on his face, he was sure that this attack ended their pathetic lives. When the fire died out he saw something peculiar; a yellowish transparent wall right in front of where the two of the adventurers were and in the distance he saw three figures running away. Seeing this he became more enraged, 'How did they get away?!' He questioned. Without overthinking it he chased after them as fast as he could. His wings carried him through the air at speeds no other creature in this region could dream of achieving.
"Damn it! It saw us!" Exclaimed Cole with panic in his voice.
Luke after hearing those words and looking back to confirm them collapsed on his knees.
"It's over we can't do anything now."
"Luke! Get up and stop whining! We still can escape!" Edward screamed at him with urgency in his tone.
Cole grabbed Luke by his arm and picked him up. But that short stop had costed them precious time and Frathyt was already no more than a hundred metres behind them. The dragons mouth opened once again, as it prepared for another attack.
"Run Cole! Go with Luke, I'll set a barrier up and be close behind!"
"I won't leave you behind! Not now Ed."
"You're not leaving me; I'll be back I promise." Edward said with a reassuring smile on his face.
"Alright but if you're not back in ten minutes we're all coming back for you!"
The chalky dragon released his attack upon the group of three, and the healer set up a barrier as powerful as he could, however his mana was already running dry after his last spell, so this one was much smaller and more fragile.
Unfortunately, Edwards barrier couldn't withstand the power of the guardian and shattered almost instantly. The yellow fire went above his head and went towards Cole who was carrying Luke.
Seeing this Edward, was forced to run, he had to, today was a day full of running, today he ran more than he did in the last few years combined. But he endured, he endured for his friends, for his morality and for himself; for how could he live with himself if he couldn't rescue those he deemed the closest to him.
As Cole looked back he saw a yellow sea approaching him and right in front of it was Edward.
"Run Cole! Run! With all your might! Use every drop of mana you have left to strengthen your legs! I will protect you!"
"Stop with this nonsense Ed! Please just, a little bit more!"
But he knew he couldn't, it was too much for him. And when the golden hell descended from heaven upon them Edward reached into his core, he drew mana from the very structure that was meant to contain it in his body, it was a stupid and risky thing to do, but he knew he had no other choice.
"P r o t e c t i o L u c i s"
What happened next was like a blur for Cole, suddenly when he was about to drown in the depths of the amber fire, he heard a voice, Edwards voice. And when he looked back he saw him smiling gently at him as the flames cradled his body, behind him flames seemed to glow a bit gentler and lighter, forming the shape of wings behind him.
However it was all an illusion, no wings had appeared, and the flames showed no mercy, but around Cole a golden barrier appeared. And to not wanting to waste his friends sacrifice, with tears in his eyes he ran forward, despite Luke who was unconscious and laying on his shoulder he ran.
And when he was far enough to look back again, there was no sign of Edward, not even ash. But despite that he ran. 'You broke your promise you fool.' Cole thought to himself.
Suddenly when running past a cave he saw Rose and Blake waving to him, instructing for him to come to them and hide.
The dragon didn't notice and after roaring loudly with visible anger it gave up on its chase and went back to the peak.
When the five of them returned, they spread the tale of Edward the Kind and of his sacrifice, but the world did not care, the world only cared about Aisha the Dragon Slayer.
15 years before Aeden's birth