Insurmountable Foe

Panic enveloped me. I ran toward my party, waving my arms toward the cloud and shouting. I kept whatever was rapidly descending toward us in my peripheral vision.

The bonfire continued to rage, and I yelled to some of the villagers to start putting it out. I don’t know if they heard or obeyed me; they were clearly aware of what was coming from the cloud, as well. I skidded around the side of the fire, running at breakneck speed for the far side of the circle. I found Pira, then Estelar. Both of them looked frantic, and when they saw me, they reached out and dragged me close to them. Abruptly, we realized that Andra wasn’t there, even though her speed and agility would have ensured she would have gotten here first.

Andra had been in the woods closest to the mountain, so if anything had happened when the cloud had perched itself atop the peak, she would have been the first to experience it. And now she wasn’t here. I shouted her name, but there was no response. It was possible the sound of the fire had drowned me out, but I tried shouting again anyway.

Pira and Estelar began to run, pulling me along with them. I stumbled for a moment but regained my footing, outpacing them as we raced toward the foothills. We needed to find Andra.

“What is that thing?” I yelled frantically.

“It’s a draconic remnant.” Estelar huffed, trying to keep up. He looked completely worn out but determined to maintain pace. “They’re legendary, god-like creatures that settle in clouds on top of mountains.”

He coughed and stumbled; he was clearly exhausted from the massive spell he’d just cast, and he wasn’t the most athletic party member on the best days. His pace slowed considerably, but despite his struggle, he didn’t stop moving. I considered hanging back with him, but the urgency of the situation had me pushing forward to keep alongside Pira as she ran.

“Draconic remnant?” I panted. She glanced at me, then picked up the explanation where Estelar had left off.

“According to legends, they’re the broken souls of ancient dragons that ruled the land, seas, and sky before us.” Pira said.

“What are the things flying down here?” I asked. “Are they pieces of dragon souls? Are they attacking us?”

“That, I’m not sure of,” she replied, frowning. “They definitely aren’t pieces of dragon... If I had to guess, I’d say they were people.”

“What people? Who are they? What do they want?”

“... I don't know,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense. But it appears that somehow, someone got control of a draconic remnant and brought it here, and now they’re coming towards us.”

I was a little ahead of Pira now, and I spared a glance back at her. Even in that brief look, I could tell she was terrified. She seemed to be summoning all her strength and willpower to stay on track and not run away in fear.

The respect I had for Estelar and Pira swelled inside me as we raced along. They were running toward the danger despite knowing full well what a draconic remnant was. They had no idea what would happen, and they were clearly scared and exhausted, but they didn’t stop running. They had courage I could only dream of having. My party members were truly worthy of being called heroes.

As I ducked around a few trees, I stumbled suddenly into a wide clearing. Across the grass, I could see Andra frozen in place exactly where she had needed to be for our tornado plan. She hadn’t moved from her spot.

All I felt was relief. As I ran up to her, I could see she had fallen to her knees. She was mumbling to herself and wringing her hands.

“How could they do such a thing…?” she muttered as I crouched beside her. She rocked slightly back and forth, and she didn’t seem to realize I was there. I laid a hand on her shoulder gently and said her name, but she didn’t respond. Something was very wrong.

A whooshing sound filled the clearing, pulling my attention away from the hybrid girl. Estelar and Pira burst through the treeline and stopped, staring at me and Andra. Air was moving in gusts around us, rustling the tree limbs and churning up the leaves and dust. It was loud and getting louder, the wind roaring. I coughed and shielded my face from the debris blowing about. I thought I heard Estelar shout something, but as I glanced back, a shadow passed over the clearing. I looked up.

The people who had flown down from the cloud had reached this place, and they were landing directly in front of us.

There were at least a dozen of them, all dressed in matching tunics, cloaks, and boots that were almost comically shiny. They dropped from the sky and alighted on their feet, brushing off their clothes and exchanging glances with one another. They were definitely people, each one tall and unexceptional, and they surveyed the scene without expression.

Without a thought, I jumped to my feet and stood between Andra and the newcomers. I did my best imitation of a fighting stance, fists up and gauntlets in place. My fingers and palms tingled with the electricity coursing through my hands. I wasn’t exactly versed in hand to hand combat, but I wasn’t thinking entirely clearly. Andra didn’t move or react at all.

“Identify yourselves,” I demanded. I was trying to sound intimidating, but a note of desperation kept me from achieving my aim.

The average-looking man at the front of the group directed his gaze at me. “No need to be so tense,” he said, his tone calm. He began to remove his gloves. “We are the hero’s party representing the first Prince Axol. I am his proxy, Klein.”

My head began to spin. The first prince’s proxy was here now? Did I have to kill this one too? Was that part of the plan? If I did, how on earth would I manage to do it? This man had arrived on a dragon; would I be able to take on something like that? Would ANYONE be able to?

My thoughts bounced around inside my head as I struggled to make sense of what this meant. Pira and Estelar made their way across the clearing until they stood beside me, clearly waiting for me to speak again. I didn’t. The silence became awkward.

Klein sighed slightly, visibly perturbed at my lack of response to his introduction. “And who might you lot be?” he asked.

I needed to get a grip. No one is being killed right now. I took a deep breath and cleared my throat, trying to hide the trembling of my hands.

“My name is Kai, I am the proxy representing the eighth prince Elias,” I said, copying his introduction. I was pleased that I managed to keep my tone even, no trace of the panic I was still feeling at the edge of my consciousness. “We were in the process of aiding this mountain village with their jelloon crisis when you arrived.”

A barely-disguised look of surprise washed over the faces of the newcomers as they looked past me to the rest of my party. Between the near-catatonic, frail-looking hybrid woman, the old mage who was still trying to catch his breath, and the older woman holding a wrench like a bat, we must have looked like a motley crew. Certainly not what anyone would view as a proper hero party. I could feel the judgement and pity in their gazes.

“Ahem, well, yes. Indeed you are. I apologize for not recognizing you.” Klein nodded at me. His expression suggested he was trying to say more than he was saying with words, but I couldn’t pick up on the nuance or make sense of what it meant. He paused, then continued. “It appeared that you were less than successful in your attempts to help the village with the jelloons.”

I winced inwardly and remained silent. We had tried, and the concept had been good, but we had failed. He wasn’t wrong. I just didn’t want to be reminded of that by another proxy.

Klein folded his arms at my lack of response. “Although we did most of the work for the crisis, we will allow you to share in the credit as your efforts did make it a bit easier for our draconic remnant to devour all the jelloons. What do you say?”

Surprised, I looked at my party. Andra was still unresponsive and mumbling; whatever it was that was wrong with her, she was no help in this moment. Pira looked intensely suspicious of the new people, but Estelar’s mild expression seemed encouraging. I glanced back at Klein who watched me impatiently. I knew I had to be the one to speak for my party and my prince, so I lifted my chin slightly.

“I have no qualms with that,” I conceded, attempting a magnanimous tone. I knew we were in a tight spot; this proxy and his party had all the power, and there wasn’t much we could do to counter it. But I still felt the urge to negotiate a bit with this man. Whether to save face or to try to earn my party the recognition they deserved for the work they’d done, I decided to push back. “I propose that, as you interrupted us in the middle of our plan, we split the acclaim fifty-fifty.”

There was a murmur in the group of people standing behind Klein. I heard at least one person in the group scoff, but Klein didn’t acknowledge it. I stood very still, maintaining steady and uncomfortable eye contact with the proxy as he weighed my words. This was not something I was used to, but I didn’t want to back down. After a moment, Klein responded.

“I am willing to accept your terms, but I wish to add a few of my own. Shall we continue this somewhere more comfortable?” Klein gestured in the direction of the village behind us.

I nodded slowly. Klein immediately turned and began to walk toward the village, his party falling into formation behind him. He didn’t spare a look for me or my party, striding past us as if we didn’t exist. I mentally shrugged and turned my attention to Andra, who was still trembling and unresponsive. Estelar had dropped to the ground beside her and was uncorking some sort of potion to help her recover from whatever was affecting her.

A large hybrid man brought up the rear of Klein’s party. As they walked by, he paused briefly to look down at Andra. She didn’t acknowledge him. His lip curled unpleasantly.

“Pathetic,” he said under his breath. Estelar glared up at the man, but he had already moved on, catching up easily to his party with his lengthy stride and not glancing back at us.

I felt my hand clench into a fist at the hybrid man’s comment. I was angry, but not just at him. I was angry at myself for feeling powerless in the face of disrespect like that. If it had been me, I would have ignored it, but it was Andra. She was so strong, all the time; she deserved better than to be dismissed by this oaf.

Estelar and Pira helped Andra to her feet. She was able to walk, at least, so we began to make our way back to the village. We didn’t have the speed of Klein’s group, so by the time we got there, his party had already made their entrance and announced themselves. The villagers seemed hesitant to approach them, and Klein didn’t deign to acknowledge any of the residents beyond the village chief. The atmosphere was a strange mix of relief over the jelloons and tension over the appearance of this new group.

As we emerged from the trees, several villagers ran up to us. They were happy, at least, and some of them reached out to embrace us.

The boy who had first greeted us when we arrived dashed to me, his little face eager. “You’re back! I thought maybe those guys killed you.” He gestured at the other proxy’s party members milling about and made a face.

“Oh,” I said, thrown off by the child’s candor. “No, we’re fine. No one attacked us. In fact, we’re going to meet with them and talk about some things.”

“Hm,” the child replied. He looked over his shoulder, then leaned in conspiratorially. I crouched to hear what he had to say. “I don’t like those men. They’re not nice like you.”

I felt a slight smile turning up the corners of my lips. “They helped save the village,” I pointed out.

“Yeah,” the boy agreed grudgingly, “but they’re still not nice!”

I nodded slightly. There was no sense in arguing the point. For a kid, he had a good read on the situation.

“Do you know where we could take our friend so she can rest?” I gestured to Andra, who was staring at the ground and shivering, propped up on both sides by Estelar and Pira.

“Oh! Oh yes, this way,” the boy said, leading us to a nearby house. Some of the other villagers fell into step with us and jumped in to get Andra settled, providing water and clean blankets. It wasn’t long before she was resting comfortably in bed. She still hadn’t spoken coherently or recognized any of us, but she seemed calmer.

“We’ll look after her,” Estelar murmured as Pira drew up a pair of chairs beside the bed. “You go handle the situation with the other proxy.”