The Hunters

The plains between the Great Wood and the Reptil Marshes stretched on for miles. The grass growing there was a kaleidoscope of brown and green, only the brown wasn't a typical brown; it was more of a golden brown that somehow comfortably mixed in with the green. The grass was also soft to the touch, and didn't leave an itchy feeling afterwards, providing the heroes with a sense of comfort and peace as they walked through it; the heroes even dismounted the dragons and walked though it on their own.

Hope took a deep breath and said: "The air is so…crisp. Nothing like it was in the Wood."

"Everywhere is different." Adrion said, "I guess you don't truly realize that until you actually go to those places for the first time."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Paletar said.

"It really is peaceful," Kai'sair said, "Definitely a good break from all the chaos we've dealt with so far."

"You said it," River said, running her hand across the top of the grass.

…

Some miles away from them, Rorshak's hunters were on the prowl; Bone wraiths wielding various weapons and mounted on hideous beasts; undead wolves that had flesh torn off in some places, revealing bone. This was especially true about the head, where it seemed that bone was all there was on the forehead, though some had lower jaws made of obsidian black iron.

As the hunters continued on, the wolves sniffed at the ground, looking for a scent. Suddenly, the lead wolf, ridden by Rorshak himself, picked up a new smell; a dragon smell. The wolf raised its head and let out a bark to alert the others, who all started to become more skittish.

"Looks like the dogs have found something." One of the Wraith riders said, "It has to be them."

Rorshak simply growled and looked out towards the plain. After a few moments, he spurred the wolf ahead, prompting the others to do the same as the wolves took off towards the source of the scent.

…

Back with the heroes, Hope suddenly pricked up as a faint sound snapped her out of her peaceful trance admiring the plains; the sound of something moving fasting.

"Something's close by," she announced.

"What is it?" Adrion asked.

"Not sure, it's still a ways off, and even elf ears can only hear so much."

Kai'sair nodded: "Let's pick up the pace, and keep our guard up too, just in case."

The company quickened the pace, moving a bit faster through the fields. After a few minutes, they ascended a small hill and looked out to a different terrain in the distance. One a more disgusting shade of green and wreathed in fog.

"There it is," Rhogar said, "The Reptil Marshes."

"We're almost there!" Hope shouted as she bounced in excitement.

"And not a single problem the whole way." River sighed in contentment. Just as she said that, however Rhogar and Paletar picked up a new smell in the air, and it was close enough for them to recognize.

"Something's wrong," Paletar growled.

"What, the smell?" Adrion asked, pinching his nose, "Because that marsh may be far away, but I still smell something bad."

"That's not the swamp you're smelling, kid." Rhogar said, beginning to growl in anger as well.

"What is it?" River asked.

Rhogar looked behind them and narrowed his eyes as he said: "Them."

The company turned around to see the pack of undead wolves and their skeletal riders appear on the hill behind them.

"You just HAD to say something, River…" Kai'sair said in frustration.

"What are those?!" Hope asked.

"Only one kind of monster could smell THAT bad." Paletar replied, "Bone Wraiths."

"And those," Kai'sair said, pointing to the wolves, "are Skull Beasts."

As they watched, the hunters finally saw the heroes, and the wolves' growling became more intense. Rorshak looked in the direction of the wolves, and locked his gaze directly on Adrion, who felt his cold gaze. Then the skeleton leader raised his axe and pointed it at the group, saying: "Cut them down!" and provoking the hunters to charge straight for the heroes, swinging their weapons in the air and unleashing their bone chilling war cries.

"We need to go, now!" Adrion said, beginning to panic.

"Mount up, everyone," Rhogar shouted, "We can get you there faster."

"Sounds good to me!" Hope quickly said, climbing onto Paletar alongside Kai'sair while River and Adrion mounted Rhogar.

"Hang on!" Rhogar shouted, and the two dragons took off across the last stretch of plain, but the wolves were quickly gaining.

"Uhh, guys," River nervously said, "They're getting closer!"

"Let's see if we can slow them down!" Adrion said, switching spots with River and getting to the back of the dragon, facing the wolves chasing them. Raising his staff, the wizard whispered a few words into the gem, causing it to glow a deep orange. Then, he thrust the staff forward, sending out multiple fireballs that spread out across the field behind them and slammed into multiple wolves, incinerating them and sending their riders flying into the air.

Meanwhile, Hope, already in the back saddle of Paletar and behind Kai'sair, turned around and drew her bow, stringing an arrow and loosing it at the nearest hunter. The arrow struck the skeleton square in the forehead, taking the skull clean off and sending the hunter tumbling off his mount.

"Bullseye!" the elf cried.

"Good, now keep hitting them!" Kai'sair said from the front.

However, as the chase wore on, sone of the Bone Wraiths drew crossbows, firing their own arrows in an attempt to wound and slow down the heroes. Adrion switched to defensive spells, deflecting whatever arrows he could.

"We just have to get into the Marshes!" Rhogar said, "They can't follow us into there!"

"We're gonna make it!" Hope said, just as an arrow struck her in the shoulder and another in her side, sending her tumbling off the dragon and onto the ground.

"Hope, no!" Kai'sair shouted in worry and fear. Paletar also noticed and immediately turned around, shouting: "Hang on!" which alerted Rhogar, who also noticed and turned around as well, but Adrion soon realized they weren't going to make it, the wolves were too close, and one had already reached her.

Hope was slowly regaining her senses, groaning in pain at the arrows. Feeling where they hit, she pulled her hand back, seeing the red staining her hand, then seeing the Skull Beast in front of her. Widening her eyes in fear, she only had time to scream as the beast reared up, preparing for the killing blow…which never came as Kai'sair managed to launch himself off of Paletar and, sword drawn, drop down in front of the monster, driving his blade across its neck, slitting its throat and effectively killing it.

As the beast collapsed, blood already starting to trickle from its mouth, Kai'sair noticed the Bone Wraith fall off the now dead creature and screech in anger at the knight, swinging his mace above him. Kai'sair brought his shield out from around his back and held it in front of him, holding his still bloodstained sword high.

"Come one," he taunted, "Let's bring that pretty face of yours to this sword."

The skeleton charged, bringing its mace down, only for Kai'said to block it with his shield and thrust his sword underneath. Unfortunately, the blade only went through its ribcage and did no real damage. Seeing the blade go through, the skeleton kicked Kai'sair down and laughing in glee at the knight's mistake, only to realize his own mistake as Paletar dove upon it with a thunderous roar, driving his entre weight onto the skeleton and crushing it.

Kai'sair managed to stand up and retrieve his weapon from the skeletal remains. Then turned to face the other approaching wolves that were now surrounding them, just as Rhogar arrived with Adrion and River dismounting and lining up next to the night while the dragon picked up Hope with his tail and placed her on his back. Then, Adrion summoned a restraint made of light energy to hold her in place.

"Anyone got any bright ideas?" River asked.

Adrion looked back towards the remaining stretch of plain to get to the marshes; it was only a couple hundred more feet to go.

"We back up towards the marshes." He suggested, "but keep our attention on these guys."

"I can keep them from flanking us." Rhogar said, snorting smoke.

Adrion nodded, then raised his staff, which glowed with a bright white light. Kai'sair then slung his shield over his shoulders, gripping his sword with two hands, while River flicked out her knives. Sensing they were gearing up for a last stand, Rorshak began reveling in the sense of approaching victory and hefted his axe.

"Kill them all." He said, and the remaining Skull Beasts charged, their riders laughing maniacally as they got closer.

Adrion made the first move, slamming his staff down on the ground and causing a shockwave that caused the Skull Beasts to stumble, knocking a few of the skeletons off their mounts. Kai'sair sidestepped as one of the wolves approached, bringing his word down full force on the creature's neck, taking its head off in a spray of blood and who knows what else. Then, he faces a trio of charging skeletons and swung his word to the side, decapitating all of them in a single stroke.

River waited until another wolf was within inches from her, then flipped over the beast, throwing her daggers into both the heads of the wolf and its rider. Adrion had also now drawn his own sword and was attacking with both magic and melee and he shot fireballs or beams of ice stun his enemies, and swinging his sword around to finish any wounded that got too close.

Rhogar and Paletar did a decent job holding the line, with Rhogar using his fire breath to deter attackers at tried to go around an attack the heroes from behind; a lot of burned and crushed bodies were left after that day. After a while, only a few wolves and riders remained, Rorshak among them. Adrion now had multiple cuts on his body from both wolf claws and skeleton swords alike, as did the dragons, though, thankfully, Hope wasn't wounded further.

River had also suffered different scratches; one even ran down her eye with the blood coming out now blinding her in that eye, though Kai'sair was the most unharmed out of all of them as his armor held up pretty well. Smelling fresh blood, the remaining half dozen hunters pressed their attack, only to stop in surprise as Adrion grinned at them. Confused for a second, they quickly realized they had been tricked; the company's backs now touched the borders of the Reptil Marshes.

"See ya, suckers!" Adrion said, diving into the fog, the others following close behind.

"NO!" one of the Bone Wraiths shouted in frustration and disappointment, "They got away!"

"But they are also weak," Rorshak said, "and Lord Aktrius's reinforcements will follow them where we cannot."

They heard a hissing noise behind them, and turned around to see two wyrms approach.

"They went into the Marsh," Rorshak told them, "they are weak, and the scent of their blood is still fresh."

"Don't worry," the lead wyrm said, "We'll deal with them. I'll be sure to leave your wolves some of the kill."

With that, the wyrms went into the fog in pursuit of the heroes.

…

Adrion and the others knew getting through the Marshes was going to be tough; the ground was mushy and their feet made weird sucking noises as they stepped, but they weren't expecting to be wounded and exhausted when they actually went into it. Yet, there they were, all wounded in some minor way, except for Hope, who had passed out again on Paletar's back, her outfit stained red around where the arrows had hit. Adrion, Kai'sair, and River were all weakened to the point where the dragons ended up having to support them as they continued.

"We gotta take those arrows out of her" River said, wiping her blood out of her eye, "What if they were poisoned?"

"Doubtful," Kai'sair replied, trying to regain his breath; he had fought hardest of all, "Bone Wraiths don't use poison; they prefer a more brutal kill. You saw the weapons they were using. I'm concerned the arrows may be barbed; in which case pulling them out would do more damage. Even if they weren't, if we pull those arrows out, she'll bleed even more, and we have no way of helping her until we find the Lizard Men."

"I have to agree with Kai'sair, River," Adrion hoarsely managed to say, "We can't risk it."

Taking another glance at the map, which had now zoomed in to a map of the Marshes themselves.

"There's a clearing up ahead that looks dry," he rasped, "We can rest there."

A few minutes later, the dragons arrived at the clearing; the fog was still thick in the air, but it was drier than what they had gone through; here Rhogar helped set down his companions, setting them under a bare tree in the middle of the clearing.

"Get your rest, kid," Rhogar said, "Paletar and I will keep watch."

And keep watch they did, looking out not only for attackers, but also possible signs of the Lizard Men being nearby. To their relief and frustration, they had seen neither.

Paletar expressed his concern, "I'm worried for them. They're so young; they don't deserve to die here."

"No one does," Rhogar replied, "But this was a risk they willingly took when they agreed to the quest. Besides, we must have faith; if the White King knew we would succeed, then we will succeed."

"I hope you're right. But…how can they accomplish anything in their wounded state?"

"They won't." hissed a voice in the fog, "Because the only thing they will accomplish is feeding us!"

The two dragons turned to see the two wyrms appear from the fog, and they immediately formed a defensive circle around the heroes.

"Get back! There's no food for you here." Paletar hissed.

"And what are You going to do about it?" one of the wyrms taunted. The response came from Rhogar, who blasted a column of flame at him, burning away his scales and flesh as the monster screamed in pain. The other wyrm turned to face the dragons.

"You will pay for that!" he hissed, but just as he was about to lunge forward, a deep bellowing noise echoed through the Marshes. Recognizing the sound, the wyrm hissed and recoiled in fear and anger.

"Curses!" he shouted to himself, then he narrowed his eyes at the dragon, hissing: "You got lucky this time." Before turning back into the fog and slithering away.

"What was that noise?" Paletar asked, worry and confusion in his voice.

"I think we're about to find out." Rhogar replied as the silhouette of a large beast came out of the fog. It was a lizard like creature covered in a natural bone armor, but more muscular and more resembled a dinosaur; it was a Saurian, and sure enough, a Lizard Man in grey armor made of bone was riding it.

Rhogar was the first to speak: "Please, can you help us? My companions are wounded and tired. We have come on a long journey and on a quest for the White King and were recently attacked by a pack of Bone Wraiths mounted on Skull Beasts. We drove them back, but my human companions are wounded badly and need assistance and rest."

This is the polite way to address a Lizard Man when you cross paths for the first time in situations like this, otherwise they ask you more questions than necessary. After hearing Rhogar's plea, the Lizard Man dismounted from the Saurian and walked over to where the heroes lay, looking them over one by one, and after a few moments, stood and faced the dragons.

"My village is not too far from here," he said, pointing to his right, "we can bring them there and restore them to health."

The dragons lit up for joy when they heard this.

"Thank you," Paletar said.

"Don't thank me yet," the Lizard Man replied as he began to lift up River and Kai'sair. Rhogar pulled Arion up onto his back with his tail as the Lizard warrior placed the heroes he was carrying on the back of his own mount. Then mounting up himself, the explained: "I know how to get there safely, now follow me as I know of the dangers that lurk here."

"Any help right now would be great," Rhogar joyfully, but quietly said, and the dragons then followed the warrior through the fog once again, and to the safety of one of the many Lizard Man villages to exist in the dreaded Reptil Marshes.