Saints Can't Fathom a Looming Climb

Only the sound of footsteps crunching on the hardening ground beneath filled the silence. Maria wiped a bead of sweat that had formed on her forehead. The refreshing morning air was still cool on her skin, and the remaining trek to the mountain village wasn’t a long one, but the increasing elevation laboured one’s breathing.

Maria glanced back at Kaelan. She wasn’t completely sure of what to make of his expression, but it wasn’t sadness; more of a resounding silence. A look of acceptance.

Still, the silence never broke through the rest of the walk. Not even past an abandoned cart full of spoiled goods, or even strange burn marks scattered on the stone. Tracks of monsters heading away from the mountain increased as well. Thomas was right in his assessment, but Maria understood it best as “things fleeing from a bully.” She clutched her chest. She almost pitied the creatures.

Once over the final steep hill, Maria let out a deep breath. “This must be it!”

The village lay in a clearing partway into the mountain pass. Humble wooden buildings scaled along steep winding trails, and hanging lanterns swayed in the mountain breeze. But silence seemed to have followed into the village; it rivaled their trek. Maria hoped for children playing in the streets, for horse-drawn wagons carrying exotic goods, and traders haggling for the best price, but the graveled roads were mostly empty.

“Appears Oz was right. The place is nearly a ghost town,” Thomas said as the three made their way within. The few faces they came across almost looked as if they’d seen a ghost.

At the main square, commerce was light. Scattered heads strolled through more out of necessity than anything else. Stall vendors stood without enthusiasm, and sales calls came few. Outside a small adventurer guild outpost, quest flyers were nailed to the bulletin board, some fading away. Most seemed to be a repeat of the same quest.

Kaelan ripped one off and read out the bolded words. “Slay the Calamity.” At the bottom it listed a substantial reward. It left Thomas with wide eyes as he glanced over the shoulder.

Maria headed in before the others even noticed.

***

The humble guildhall was far from the rowdy affair she’d imagined. Instead of a heavy scent of sweat and ale, the air was thin and almost odorless.

A few adventurers lingered throughout with sunken cheeks and distant gazes. A single receptionist manned the counter. She strained her shadowed eyes, flipping through stacks of papers while two conversed with her across. One older man and woman.

“Well, any word?” the older man asked. With grey hair and whitening eyes, he had many years on him, but surely just as much experience.

“I’m sorry, Elder Forge.” The receptionist shook her head. “They were unsuccessful. They left early morning.” Her hands stopped moving between the pages, and her eyes somehow sunk even further into darkness.

The older man let out a long sigh. “Don’t fret, Hilda.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Faith is the only thing we can hold on to in trying times.” He turned to the older woman at his side who wore an uneasy expression.

“But if not even the Hero’s Party could vanquish it…” the older woman said.

“Excuse me…” Maria stood before the three, blinking. “Do you need any help?” She had been standing there as they conversed without noticing. Maybe Kaelan had been right about her potential as a silent presence in the deep of night.

The three looked at her with tired eyes, just as Kaelan and Thomas rejoined her side.

“A few more adventurers?” the older man said. “I appreciate the sentiment. But I doubt there’s much you can do that others haven’t tried.”

The two introduced themselves as elders who headed the village: Elder Forge and Elder Shula. They spoke of troubles that currently plagued it.

The village, as Elder Forge recounted in a weary voice, was in a state of quiet decline.

“Our village,” Elder Shula added, “lives in trade that moves through the mountain pass along King’s Road.” Her hands trembled as she adjusted her shawl. “But since the beast claimed the peak, the caravans have completely stopped. The inn has gone empty, and the shops have boarded up.”

“A Calamity Dragon,” Elder Forge said. Elder Shula nudged his side, making him lower his voice. “An ancient, terrifying thing,” he whispered.

Kaelan and Thomas widened their eyes at the name. Of course, Maria had heard of calamity dragons before. Mostly in childhood tales, she'd never encountered one herself. But as she understood it, they were said to possess divine origins. Though she also understood that such a thing didn’t necessarily imply benevolence.

Elder Forge continued. “The Crown sent an envoy a few weeks ago, but it changed nothing. Even the Guild's famous ‘Hero’s Party’ went up there yesterday, boasting that they would vanquish the beast and reopen the road.”

He turned to Hilda, the receptionist. She quickly recounted how they returned unhurt, thankfully, but entirely unsuccessful and utterly defeated.

The more Maria listened, the more she frowned. She saw a village of families and children who were suffering because their home was slowly dying. This dragon was causing far too many issues; they’d seen its effects trail all the way back to Arborhaven and up to where they now stood.

Before she could speak, her eyes drifted to the far corner of the guildhall. A few local militia guards and rookie adventurers slouched on wooden benches. They nursed minor cuts, sprains, and bruises. Maria soon found out the cause: skirmishes with displaced forest monsters. She had stepped away without a word from her companions and the elders.

“That must be uncomfortable,” she said as she knelt beside a young guard who clutched a bandaged, swollen wrist.

Before the guard could protest, Maria softly placed her hands over the bandage. A warm, brilliant flash of golden mana flared from her palms for a brief second, illuminating the dim guildhall. Instantly, the swelling subsided, and the sprained wrist mended almost perfectly.

“My wrist... the pain is completely gone!” The guard stared at his hand and tested his wrist with smooth motions. “A miracle... are you a high-tier priestess? A Saint?”

“Oh, no, I’m just Sister Maria,” she replied with a flustered laugh.

Maria moved to the next adventurer, repeating the quiet touch until their minor scrapes and bruises were completely gone.

The healed guards stared in dumbfounded silence. Thomas and Kaelan sighed while the elders questioned who exactly this “Sister” was.

Maria returned to the elders with a focused gaze. “Elder Forge, Elder Shula. We will go up the mountain and make sure the dragon leaves.”

The elders blinked. Thomas and Kaelan joined them.

“I want to help the village,” she said.

“S-Sister, please, you must turn back!” Elder Shula clutched Maria's sleeve. “The gods have blessed you, that much is clear… But it is no use! Even the Hero's Party could not vanquish the Calamity; you will only be throwing your lives away!”

Thomas stepped forward with a frown. “Maria, have you lost your senses? This isn't a corrupt merchant or a band of highwaymen. It is a dragon. Calamity-class beasts are forces of nature, things that reduce entire armies to cinders.”

“He’s right, Maria. It's a predator we can’t hope to defeat…” Kaelan crossed his arms over his dark cloak. “I doubt my blades could even graze its scales.”

Maria remained silent in thought. She wasn’t foolish to think she could vanquish such a creature. She’d prefer not to attempt to defeat it but to drive it away somehow.

Why such erratic behavior from it now? Many people were hurting because of it, and that question was enough of an opening to convince her to try.

“I understand you seek to reach the holy capital,” Elder Forge said. “Take the detour through the north roads. It is a long journey, but it is safe.”

“The detour will take another month. I can't afford another month.” Maria’s mind drifted to the chapel as her eyes locked onto the empty, stagnant streets outside. “And this village cannot survive another month in silence.” She looked at Kaelan, then at Thomas, her gaze heavy with resolve. But she couldn’t deny the danger that awaited. “I will go up to the peak alone.”

Kaelan let out a defeated sigh, running a hand through his dark, tousled hair. “Must you be so stubborn?” he muttered.

“...Sorry.”

“If I let you walk up there alone, you'll be cinders before noon.”

“If Maria is determined to walk directly into a dragon's jaws, I suppose someone with an actual brain has to tag along to ensure we aren't all digested.” Thomas threw a pointed finger at the receptionist. “But I expect to receive the reward for completing an official guild quest.”

“Actually,” Hilda spoke from behind the counter. “Completed quests can only be rewarded to registered adventurers…”

Thomas sighed. “Of course…”

***

Maria watched as Kaelan prepared any necessary supplies and readied equipment. Thomas sat at a corner table, frantically sketching topological maps of the mountain ridges. When Maria questioned why, she learned he had come up with ten different routes and plans of escape. Though she also questioned how they could hope to outrun a flying, fire-breathing terror.

Afterward, Maria busied herself in a drafty kitchen the elders had given permission for her to use. By the time she rejoined the two, she carried a linen-packed lunch of stacked sandwiches.

The two blinked at her.

“What’s… all that for?” Thomas asked.

“For our climb, of course,” Maria said cheerfully.

“We are climbing a mountain peak to face an ancient calamity,” Kaelan said with a dry tone. “You expect us to picnic?”

“You complain now, but wait until your stomach starts rumbling,” Maria replied. “And it’s not as if we can allay a dragon's rage on an empty stomach.”

Thomas rubbed his temples, glancing at the bag of packed lunch that was far too stuffed. “You... you’re planning to feed the dragon, aren’t you?”

“I mean, we can probably spare a sandwich or two…”

The two glared at her.

“Dragons probably get hungry too…”

Their glares intensified.

“For all we know, maybe food will calm it!”

“Let’s hope it’s not hungry, because if it is…” Thomas said, “I fear a few spare sandwiches won’t cut it.”

They set off on the climb under a grey, heavy sky. The peak of the mountain loomed ahead.