The Tatzelwurm

The next day we arrived at the outskirts of the mountains, emerging from the bracken forest and being met with a wide open plain. It would still take us half a day or more to reach the foot of the mountains. We braced ourselves as we ventured into the open fields. In the distance, barely noticeable and kissing the horizon, stood a wall that ran along the base of the mountains, and far off, beyond where sight could see, it continued still, as endlessly as there were mountains to defend against.

Over the past several days I had taken to examining the divine grail I received at the first trial. I had hoped that I could get it to activate some kind of magical spell, like the silencing fog, but had had no success yet. Experimenting with water and fruit, I made a substitute tea with what was available. Marisa gave a disapproving look when she saw this. To her, it must have looked sacrilegious. She would say, “Fie, for shame! What mockery you make of the divine,” every time I tried one of my experiments. It was a vessel for holding something, but what that thing was I didn’t know.

Roads were a feature that most surprised me about these plains. There were no roads that I had seen anywhere until coming here. The road we found ourselves on was well maintained, leading off somewhere to a distant realm in one direction and the mountains ahead in the other. When the day had reached dusk and the sky was painted orange, a town came into view, hiding conspicuously in the open field. A dark air hung over it. Strong winds brushed past us as we approached the town, picking up debris from the town and scattering it everywhere at the outskirts. The buildings were in disrepair: peeling paint, shambled roofs, and broken windows. Another strong gust of wind swept through, kicking up a blinding wall of dust. We pushed on.

Underneath a large veranda of a building sat a lone man, or elemental spirit would be more accurate for what he was, with a cat curled up beside him. He noticed us and got to his feet. He was a young knight, covered in a robe that was coloured white on the outside with green strikes and yellow on the inside. A sword dangled from his hips with its serpent cross-guard and fox head pommel. He had a crooked nose and pointed ears, and wore a Greek turban that matched the colour of his robe. His cat companion was as black as the night.

“Halt! Announce yourselves,” he said, holding up his left hand.

“We are on a journey of great worth, Lord Arvid waits upon our coming,” Marisa said.

“And who is it that you is, strange elemental beings that travel freely and meet with the Lord of the Sylphs?”

The cat stood on two feet, paw ready on the grip of its sword.

“I am Marisa, High Priestess of the Undines, daughter of King Olaf. This is my guard, Luna. And... Ferdinand. Show him the medallion King Eulerich gave you.”

The knight and his familiar both relaxed their shoulders when I presented the medallion. He sat back down and introduced himself.

“That is the King’s seal. Right, I am Behatus, sheriff of this town—what remains—and my familiar is Norbert.” He nodded at the black cat.

“What happened to this town? It seems largely abandoned,” asked Luna.

“Aye, it is. The imps rode down on a foehn the other day, sweeping through the land and bringing mischief wherever the wind took them.”

“Oh how dreadful it all is. Does his Lord not intervene?” Marisa asked.

“Aye, he does, but Boreas keeps him spent, and our troops thin.”

"Why remain if no one lives here anymore?" I asked.

"Ho ho ho, that is quite the joke, Ferdinand," Marisa said. "Y-You see, Behatus, from where he hails, to make light of duty passes as easy as water down a river. Forgive him, he meant no wound to your worth."

“Hmm, yes. Forgive me, High Priestess, but what is the nature of your relationship to this other? Fordanand, was it?”

“Ferdinand Ber—”

I had to use every ounce of restraint to stop myself from crying out in pain when Marisa’s shoe clashed with my shin. I turned around and feigned interest in the ruined town.

“Ah, yes, Ferdinand is his name. As said, he hails from far away, and is a guest of my father’s.”

“Ah so.” A heavy silence set in. “Well, lest you wish to be swept away by a foehn, I suggest you hole up here for the night and depart in the morning when the winds is weakest.”

We accepted his offer and took shelter inside the building, setting up our sleeping bags in a corner of the building. After a bit of deliberation, we decided to have dinner with Behatus and Norbert, but not before Marisa gave me a stern word to watch what I said.

“Pray tell, Sir Behatus, do the imps gather and ride the foehn often?” asked Marisa.

“Nay, that they don’t, your Ladyship. ‘Tis a seasonal wind blowing at an uncharacteristic time. But a few days ago the winds picked up and blew through town, leaving a bad air in their wake,” he said while rubbing his pained head. “Then, as I said, the other day the imps came riding in on a foehn most foul, causing mischief most dreadful.”

Talk of polite topics only relevant to elemental creatures dominated the rest of the conversations. Out of boredom and habit, I reached into my pocket to occupy my hands and mind, pulling out the medallion and the divine grail from my right pocket, and passing the grail to my left hand. Behatus stopped mid-sentence and his eyes flashed when he caught sight of the grail.

“Say, what a fine cup you have, Ferdi. Never seen one like it. Would ya let me have a closer look?”

My gut told me it wasn’t a good idea to let him see it, but I had no reason to refuse. I looked at Marisa, pleading.

“It is but a plain cup, given as gift from my father to Ferdinand,” Marisa tried to explain.

“’Tis a fine cup, Ferdi. As sheriff, I, Behatus Talhoffer, shall inspect suspicious items.”

He then got up and approached me, his eyes fixed on the grail. I shot up and backed away off the veranda and into the street. Everyone else had gotten to their feet too, unsure of what to do with Behatus. Each lumbering step he took towards the grail darkened his face, turning his eyes a sinister red. Then he stopped. He keeled over, clutching his head while screaming in inhuman agony. We rushed to his side unsure of what to do as he writhed in pain. He curled into a ball and shook violently for a moment then exploded in an animalistic rage—transformed into a half-lion, half-lindwurm beast.

Slowly, he rose to his feet and rolled his neck. He surveyed the area, taking in the surroundings for the first time. Powerful eyes stared me down. I froze.

“I thought I smelled a soul,” said two voices overlaid with one another, the second being slightly delayed. “We share a bond after all. But now that owl isn’t here to interfere.”

The beast lunged towards me with one claw extended. Norbert jumped in front and deflected the claw with his sword.

“Fool!”

The beast hissed, spewing forth a green mist from its mouth at the cat. Norbert dropped his sword while clawing his face, convulsing on the ground then ceasing all activity forever. The beast whipped its head back to me. Its eyes narrowed as it prepared to pounce.

“Halt!” shouted Marisa.

Chains sprung from the ground, wrapping around the beast’s legs and neck, holding it in place. The beast struggled against its imprisonment. It roared and swung its tail at Marisa, sending her flying through the wall of the building.

“My Lady!”

Luna jumped at the beast and drove her sword into its hide, but the blade didn’t pierce deep enough. The beast thrashed and threw off Luna, her sword stuck in its side. It unleashed a wave of energy as it broke the chains binding it into stardust. Luna dashed for the sword that lay at the dead cat’s side, retrieving it in time to block a backhanded swing from the beasts left claw. She was sent tumbling backwards.

A crescent shape beam shot out of a building, hitting and dazing the beast. Marisa emerged from the hole her body had created, battered and bruised. She shouted, and again chains sprung from the ground, binding the beast.

“Ferdinand, take the sword!”

Marisa then manifested a group of tiny, star-shaped lights in front of her hand that swooped over the battlefield to the sword that once belonged to Behatus. In an instant the sword was in my right hand. I had no plan—no martial training—but I ran towards the beast, intent to kill. The sword found its way into beast’s abdomen. A sharp, numbing pain shot through my hand up to my arm. My grip weakened and I let go of the sword, my hand hovering just above the hilt. The beast cried out in pain, unchained one of its legs, and swatted me away. Instinctively, I held onto the sword, pulling it free as the force of the strike sent me to the ground.

The beast hissed at Marisa and flared its neck. The chain that was there disappeared. As I got to my feet, sword and cup in hand, Marisa manifested another physical beam of light and shot it at the beast’s head. The beast was dazed for a moment then pulled its face back as readied its toxic breath. Without thinking, I rushed in front of Marisa and stood between her and the beast.

“No!” she shouted, but it was too late.

The poison mist rushed towards me. I had no reason to be standing here. I should be back at home in my apartment. Who was this undine to me? Why was I putting myself in danger for elementals I hardly knew? The beast looked equally confused, but it was too late—it had committed to the attack and there was no way to stop the miasma.

Out of desperation, I held up the divine grail. The object that had once contained an endless supply of fog. It was a stupid idea, but an idea worth doing. The poison mist, millisecond by millisecond, inched closer and closer to my face. Then, as if my idea became reality, the poison was funnelled into the grail. Shock and terror washed over the beasts face.

From behind the beast, Luna soared through the air and stabbed the sword she was holding into the beasts back. It bellowed a howl of pain. I pulled my arm back and launched the contents of the grail into the beast’s gaping maw. The poison clashed with the beasts evil visage. Immediately, the beast started to cough as it fell to the ground.

“This puppet is spent—” cough “—but your soul will be mine.” Cough cough.

The beast gave one final gasp and then stopped moving. An exhilarating wave of energy washed over me, overwhelming my body and crashing against the shores of my soul before then receding. I sat down to catch my breath.