The morning preparation was taking them less and less ti, today they managed to leave the safehouse half an hour after waking up, gods know they needed the additional ti.
As they travelled further and further, their surroundings slowly changed - the vines on the ground gradually thinned, until they disappeared completely.
They even began seeing trees and bushes every now and then, dried and withered of course, but it was still a bit surprising. The fauna also got more diverse, but fortunately for them most creatures were small, and no more dangerous than a stray dog.
Not that there were no threats - there were plenty of creatures that could kill them in a fraction of a second.
The sparse vegetation turned out to be very helpful in avoiding the biggest predators - by moving from tree to tree they could significantly reduce their ti in the open.
It turned out they weren’t the only ones who ca up with that idea.
As they were hiding under a particularly large tree, two small shadows fell from the branches above.
They were locked in a fierce battle - claws, teeth and spikes were slicing, cutting an puncturing.
One of the creatures a very large rat, with two tails, additional pair of legs and a set of sharp bone-like spikes growing out of its spine
The other was reptilian in nature - it resembled a big lizard, but not any particular kind. Its facial features were firmly sowhere between ’cute’ and ’predatory’, the first part was accentuated by its big golden eyes - the second, by the spikes on its jaw and back of the head.
Its scales were black, but iridescent, making the creature appear mysterious and regal.
The strangest thing about it was that it felt... different than any of the other creature they encountered so far, the ever present feeling of corruption just wasn’t there.
The critters were still locked in combat when Elira whispered:
"I-It can’t be... That... That’s a light wyrm..."
"What’s a light wyrm?" Calen asked.
Surprisingly, the one to respond wasn’t the alchemist, but Cassian:
"A lesser dragon, one with a power to wield sunlight. If it manages to accumulate enough power it could beco a Sun dragon, they’re also supposed to be incorruptible."
"Huh."
The last statent explained how it was able to survive at least, well, that and it’s strength.
The wyrm finally defeated the rat, and unlike they thought before the fight wasn’t close, the cat-sized dragon has only a few shallow wounds, whereas the rodent was currently little more than a pile of mangled flesh.
The winner of the duel watched the remains of his opponent for a bit, and then turned to stare at the group - specifically at Calen.
"Do you think it sees us?" He whispered.
"It can, creatures connected to the power of the sun are immune to illusions." Elira said matter-of-factly.
"I’m not, though?"
"You will be, once you actually inherit the fla. Also don’t worry, wyrms aren’t aggressive."
As if to confirm her words, the small dragon ca closer and sniffed Calen. Unsure what to do, he crouched to get a closer look at the creature.
Instead of running or attacking like most animals would, it actually ca closer.
The wyrm seed particularly interested in the lantern dangling from his belt, so Calen took it in his hand and presented it to the beast.
The creature touched the tal surface with its snout, and the light suddenly grew brighter - what’s more, the wyrm started glowing as well, and it’s wounds began closing.
After it was fully healed, it stepped back and the fla returned to normal.
Calen felt a strange urge, sothing was telling him he should show his mark to the little dragon. The situation was already weird, he might as well just do it.
When the wyrm saw the scorched skin, it froze. Then, cautiously, it sniffed his wrist a few tis - and licked it.
What followed was even stranger, the creature jumped on him, and settled itself on his shoulder, with its long tail dangling on his back.
Calen addressed Cassian and Elira:
"Sooo, do either of you know what just happened?"
His friend shook his head, but the alchemist responded:
"The Sun dragons, and therefore light wyrms, are considered a sacred animal of the Sun god - along phoenixes, but that doesn’t matter. Perhaps it instinctively recognised the symbol? Anyway, it seems like the little one will stick around."
Then she pointed to his wrist and said:
"Also, don’t wash that, Dragon spit is supposed to be a miracle drug that enhances the physique of anyone who cos into contact with it for the first ti."
"It healed with the help of the divine fla, I didn’t know it could do that."
"From what I understand, the fla can both destroy and heal, but the latter needs significantly more power and control than the forr."
It was good that they had soone so knowledgeable among them, but Calen was slightly embarrassed to know so little about his power and things related to it. Perhaps there was sothing that could redy that in the putrid grove.
He pointed at the wyrm perched on his shoulder and said:
"Since this guy is going stay with us, we need a na for him, any suggestions?"
Cassian lifted an eyebrow.
"How do you know it’s a ’he’?"
"...um, I have a feeling that’s the case?"
His friend didn’t seem convinced, but thankfully Elira ca to his rescue:
"It’s a male, you can tell by the spikes on the jaw, the females don’t have them..."
She beca a bit nervous and continued:
"a-also, I think that Auren would be a nice na for him. You... You know, because of his eyes."
"I think it’s a very good na, any other ideas?"
Cassian opened his mouth, but Calen quickly interrupted him:
"Don’t even think about it Cass, your naming sense is horrible."
"...it’s not that bad." Cassian argued half-heartedly.
"You nad your first sword ’sword’."
Elita giggled, and Calen could swear that Cassian’s ears reddened a little. His friend didn’t usually get embarrassed over little things like that, but it seed like the presence of the young alchemist changed so things.
It was Isara of all people, who rescued Cassian from his teasing:
"Don’t be an Cal, Cass was seven when he ca up with that na. And by the way, I think Auren is a fantastic na."
"All right then, Auren it is"
Before they resud their journey south, they made one more important discovery.
Even a prospective dragon like Auren had to eat, and it turns there was nothing inherently special about being a wyrm that allowed him to eat corrupted creatures he hunted.
The secret was his breath - as a light wyrm, Auren could spit a lesser version of the divine fla, just like a Sun dragon would with the real thing.
Outside of cooking the at, it also made it digestible to non-corrupted creatures. This ant they’ve found another source of food, they could just hunt corrupted beings and cook them with the divine fla.
If using a sacred relic as a lamp wasn’t bad enough, then using it in a cooking stove would definitely get Calen branded as a heretic and burned on the stake.
Fortunately for him, the church was long gone, so no one would judge him for his blasphemous actions.
***
The south border of the Sun Kingdom was set by a mighty mountain range, stretching well beyond the horizon, so as the group travelled the elevation gradually increased.
They were not far off from the place where the temple of the old gods was supposed to be - even if it wasn’t the putrid grove, it could be a good place to spend the night.
An hour later, they finally reached it, and there was no doubt whether it was the right place.
The temple was large and circular, so of the murals on the outer walls were cracked, but the light gray structure was strangely intact. Around the main building, a thin forest grew - the trees were withering, but they weren’t completely dead yet.
"Well, ladies and gentlen, I think we reached our goal." Calen announced.
They approached the main entrance, but stopped right before it - the gate was ajar, there were red stains on the floor, and a large scratch mark broke the now inactive circle of runes ticulously carved into the wooden surface.
"Sothing got here before us, be on your guard." Cassian said.
They all took out their their weapons, and prepared for a fight. Battling an unknown monster in a dark, enclosed space would be a very bad idea under normal circumstances - but their circumstances were far from normal.
"The scratch on the door is big but very shallow, it suggests that our opponent is large, but relatively weak - possibly injured." He added.
They quickly decided on a battle plan, and entered.
Calen and Cassian were walking in front, Elira was in the middle, and Isara was bringing up the rear. They left Auren near the entrance, but it took a few tries for the wyrm to understand it was supposed to stay there.
The interior was dark, but it wasn’t an issue thanks to the lamp containing the divine fla. It also helped with locating the monster that entered the temple - its path was clearly marked with deep red stains on the floor.
The outer ring of the temple was a regular building, filled with everything a temple would need: sleeping quarters, altars and a library, but the center space was occupied by a large outdoor garden - and that was where they found their opponent.
The atrium was probably very beautiful once - there were withered bushes and flower beds everywhere, and the center was occupied by a dried pond with a stone path leading to a small island.
On the island there was an empty white basin, carved with runes on the edge, and around it a grate tree grew - it was dry and almost dead now, but it was easy to tell that it wasn’t a regular one.
Perched on the enormous tree was a jet black bird. Calen has never seen a bird like that, but it looked a bit like a hunched owl, with a longer beak. All in all, it looked almost normal - if one ignored the fact that it was as tall as two humans.
The beast was bleeding heavily from under its left wing, and it’s eyes were glazed over.
"We’re in good position, the monster is already half-dead, we only need to..." Whispered Cassian.
As if offended by those words, the bird shot forward and flew at Cassian. He managed to block the blow, but the impact threw him a few ters backwards.
With his friend out of the battle for at least a few seconds Calen tried to distract the beast by counter-attacking - his sword scratched the left wing of the mighty creature, cutting nurous features and leaving a thin, red line on the bare flesh
The bird shirked with indignation and flapped it’s wings, creating a wind current that knocked all of them over. The move seed to be a double edged sword, because the beast cried out in pain imdiately after.
"It’s not going to work, we have to distract it first." Calen stated.
"I’ve got an idea." Isara said.
A quick explanation later they were all ready execute the plan.
Cassian and Calen slowly approached the beast from opposite sides and attacked, striking repeatedly at the front if its wings, keeping it in place. It tried attacking, but in it’s feverish state it had hard ti focusing on more than one opponent.
Near the entrance Elira was banging with her quarterstaff on a large piece of tal she found, to disorient the bird.
On the opposite side of the atrium Isara was standing, mumbling to herself in the familiar, strange language - she was responsible for the actual distraction.
When she finished chanting, a great fla engulfed the bird’s feet. The fire wasn’t real of course, but it still made the bird go into frenzy.
With the bird finally distracted Calen shouted:
"Now Cass!"
His friend made a step with his hands, and he ran at him. He jumped, and Cassian threw him a few ters into the air.
His sword glowed with a brilliant radiance, and fell like a cot - sinking into the beast’s skull up to the handle.
The bird’s eyes exploded with fire and Calen held on for his life as it trashed around in pain. Finally it stopped, and fell to the ground.
They have won.
"Not bad for a first group fight, ey?" Calen laughed.
Cassian shook his head and answered:
"It wasn’t terrible, but we had an enormous advantage, the enemy was injured and we had far superior numbers, anything more than a few bruises and scratches would have been embarrassing."
Calen sighed and changed topic:
"Say, would mind chicken for dinner tonight?" He indicated the now dead beast.
It was actually a pretty good target to get over eating corrupted abomination. Monster or not, in the end it was just a big bird, and therefore significantly more appetising than creatures with hundreds of legs or three heads.
More than that, Auren already joined them and was happily eating the corpse.
After cooking a few chunks of at properly - and adding a few spices from the bag for good asure - they all took a piece.
"Ready?" Calen asked.
"Ready." They rest responded.
All of them took a bite and chewed in silence for a while. Finally, Cassian spoke up:
"It tastes like chicken."
"It really does." Agreed Calen.
Both of the girls nodded as well, the at was safe and tasty, so they all had their fill.
After they finished Elira brought up an idea:
"We should cook as much at as possible and store it in the bag, things purified by the divine fla spoil very slowly."
They did as she suggested, and in an hour the bird was striped of all edible at that wasn’t burned to a crisp by Calen’s attack.
"The sun will set soon, I think it’s ti to search for the knowledge we were promised, any ideas where to start?" Calen asked.
They all looked at him at him with a strange expression.
"I’m kidding, I’m kidding, let’s go to the library."
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