Heroine Worship

Chapter 7- Murroway

     "How could they possibly be related?" Mosi inquired.

      "Well, our enemy was strong enough to take down the Prince, so maybe they figured out a way to lure powerful monsters like wyverns down here to tire him out. Then, they could easily kidnap him," Valeria theorized, clasping her hands above her head.

     Wyverns generally lived up in the mountains away from any settled populations of people. Because of their remote habitat, they rarely attacked people— that is unless they entered their territory. But given that within Athelaric's territories there weren't many mountains, there weren't many wyverns either. It certainly was strange for them to be out in Reyvinar— a relatively low-lying area.

     "Seems like a bit of a stretch," Mosi frowned.

     "Got any better ideas?" Valeria probed.

      "Well..." Mosi began, "... no."

      "Exactly," Valeria huffed.

     Valeria knew Mosi wouldn't bite on the old man blaming Demons for the issues, so she didn't bother bringing it up. Demons liked causing trouble, sure, but there wasn't even a large population of them in Athelaric in the first place. Their involvement was unlikely.

      "Anyways, we aren't being paid to figure out why he was kidnapped— all we have to do is get him out." Valeria reminded the group.

      "I mean, your explanation isn't impossible, though," Jae reassured her, "but it's probably more likely that the two events just happen to coincide. Maybe the monsters' original habitats are being disturbed, so they're heading down here?"

      "That's probably the case," Valeria agreed, "makes me feel a little bad, though."

      "Why?" Mosi scoffed. "They're just monsters."

      "Yeah, but if someone like a Human, Elf, or Fae chased them out of their homeland where they were doing no harm, then it's kinda unfair that they now have to die because of it," Valeria explained.

     "I guess that makes sense..." Mosi shrugged.

     What Mosi wanted to do was explain to the group was how Humans, Elves, and Fae had chased each other out of their homelands and then were killed for trying to settle in others throughout history, so it was likely that the monsters were going to meet the same fate. But, he held his tongue and tried to think back about events in history where monsters had appeared in unusual places. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of any off the top of his head. 

     The three continued down the beaten path to Reyvinar which winded its way through the wilderness. Mostly, they were surrounded by scraggly trees and overgrown bushes. Valeria noted that the road might have been in better condition before, as the plant life seemed as if it only recently had grown. She assumed it was because of the recent monster outbreak. 

      It wasn't long before they came across said monsters. Before them was a lone drake standing in a small clearing. There was no need to be stealthy, as the three were at an easy advantage. Valeria charged in, and made the first strike, landing on its tail. The drake let out a shrill cry, causing others to emerge from the surrounding foliage. Jae quickly unsheathed his sword to help take on the others, while Mosi revealed his wings, flying up into the air.

     "There's about five more coming," Mosi informed the others, "let's fight them in the open— follow me!"

      Jae and Valeria heeded Mosi's advice and exited the forest. Ahead was a barren landscape of cliffs, rocks, dirt, and a nearby lake. Jae and Valeria easily spotted the incoming targets and were able to fight them with ease. From up above, Mosi attacked with fire magic. Unfortunately, just as the three took down one drake, it seemed that another immediately took its place. Again and again, the cycle continued. However, these drakes seemed to be a bit different from the ones Valeria was used to. The ones on the Athelaric trails were lazy and slow-witted, while the ones they were currently fighting seemed more fervent. Additionally, their eyes were blazing yellow, as opposed to the brown that Valeria had usually seen. There also seemed to be some sort of purple residue emitting from their bodies. Valeria couldn't take the time to make sense of it, though, since she was busy trying to stay alive.