17 The Battle of the Marshes

"Wow, Skarr wasn't kidding," Kai'sair marveled, "When these guys get moving, they really get moving."

The company had left to get Rhogar and Paletar from the stables, but no sooner did they leave when, already, they encountered a squad of Lizard Men, already suited up and armed, go into the stables to retrieve their own mounts. Skarr walked up to his, a massive theropod Saurian with a box-like head, two large tusks, and a mouth full of sharp teeth, and got on, guiding it to the front of the group. Hope and Ureka, being the stealthier ones, had volunteered to scout ahead, and had already left ahead of the group.

Meanwhile, Adrion and Kai'sair mounted up on their dragons, now armored up in bone armor like the Saurians, and they moved up to the front alongside Rhogar.

"Is this everyone?" Adrion questioned, looking back in surprise at the fairly large army behind them.

Skarr looked back as well to confirm: "Yes, this is everyone. Lizard Men never miss a chance at a good fight."

"Well then," Kai'sair replied, "this should be fairly easy."

"Let's move out," Adrion suggested to Skarr, who nodded and raised his axe.

"Forward!" he ordered, and the massive Lizard Men and Saurian army marched into the fog of the Marshes, on the trail of the Snake Men camp.

…

Further up in the Marshes, Hope and Ureka, with Ureks now wearing her on battle armor, continued on through the fog, talking amongst each other as they walked.

"So, I'm curious," Hope asked, "How come Lizard girls look more human than the guys?"

"I honestly cannot answer that," Ureka replied, "We've always been like that. Why? I don't know."

"I see."

The two continued on a bit farther before Ureka asked the next question.

"So, you and Kai'sair. Is that a thing yet?"

"What do you mean?" Hope inquired, a look of confusion crossing her face.

Ureka chuckled: "I saw the way you smiled at him when he comforted you back in the hut. You like him, don't you?"

Hope began to blush, but she didn't say anything and kept walking on.

Ureka nudged her shoulder: "You're not denying it."

"Ok, fine. I do."

"I'm not blaming you; he is kinda cute under that helmet."

"That's not why I like him."

Ureka raised an eyebrow: "Oh?"

Hope sighed before continuing: "Back home, I'm the daughter of a military officer; that tends to draw a LOT of attention."

"But it was only because of your family name." Ureka deduced.

Hope nodded: "Kai'sair's different. When he jumped in and saved me from a Skull Beast, I could tell that he genuinely cares about people. I admire him for that."

"Yup. That's the Guardian Knights for ya."

Hope quickly changed the subject, not wanting to talk about her secret crush on the knight any further: "So, what are we to expect from the Snake Men?"

Ureka replied as she nimbly climbed onto a fallen tree: "Well, for starters, deception is the name of the game for these guys. They're incredibly sneaky and prefer using swords and whips, usually tipped with poison."

"Fantastic," Hope sarcastically remarked.

"But," Ureka continued, "They get their speed at the cost of armor. You can hit them just about anywhere and be effective."

"Well, that's some good news."

Suddenly, Hope heard something in the distance, and immediately shushed the lizard girl.

"I think we're close." Hope whispered.

Ureka nodded, and the two slowly crept up a small tree and looked into the distance.

"I can't see very well in this fog, and your eyes are better than mine," Hope explained, "Can you see anything?"

Ureka peered into the distance, narrowing her eyes for a few moments, then whispered: "I see something."

"What?" Hope asked.

"A group of Snake Men. There's a few wyrms there too, but not much else from what I can see here."

"What are they doing?"

Ureka studied the scene for a few more moments before saying: "They look like they're preparing for something. Can you hear what they're saying?"

Hope put a hand to her ear and listened, whispering: "It's very faint, but it's something about setting a trap for heroes."

Then, her heart froze as she realized what was going on: "Oh no, they know we're coming. We have to go back!"

"You don't have to tell me twice. Let's go."

With that, the two dashed back through the fog towards the approaching army, and after a few moments, could hear the low bellowing of Saurians as they arrived back with the others. Seeing them in the distance as they came, Skarr ordered his men to halt, then dismounted to speak with them.

"Well?" he asked.

"We found them," Ureka reported, "But there's a problem."

"They know we're coming and are preparing an ambush."

"What? How?" Skarr demanded. However, Rhogar figured it out and growled in anger.

"We fought a wyrm earlier when one of your men found us," he explained, "It looks like he's gone to tell his buddies we were here."

"Did they say they were going to ambush all of us, cause that's a pretty gutsy move on the Snakes' part, even for them." A Lizard Man rider asked.

"From what I heard," Hope replied, "They said they would be setting a trap for the 'heroes'."

"Then there's still a chance." Adrion spoke up, an idea already forming in his mind, "If they said it's just for 'heroes', then it's possible they don't know about the Lizard Men. We still might have an advantage here."

"You have a plan?" Skarr asked, turning back to the wizard.

"I do," the wizard said, "But you need to listen VERY closely."

…

A few minutes later, Adrion and his company went ahead of the lizard army as they followed Hope to where she and Ureka spotted the Snake Men. On the way there, she filled them in on the Snakes' weapons and weaknesses till, eventually, the fog began to thin out as they arrived at a larger clearing. The area around was still mossy and wet, but the terrain was a lighter green color than the rest of the Marshes; or that's what it looked alike at first. As the company looked closer, they could see that the ground was actually glowing; something was shining out from underneath.

"The piece," Hope marveled, "It's making its presence known."

"Amazing." Kai'sair gasped.

"You can say that again, pal." Paletar agreed.

"Okay," Adrion ordered, "Let's just find the piece and get out of here."

"Uhhh, guys…" Hope whimpered as she head movement all around them. The others looked around them as shadowy figures appeared around them, reveling themselves to be a fairly large group of orcs and Snake Men.

"Well, well, well," taunted an orc, "looks like a few little children have wandered a bit too far from home."

"Yeah," laughed another, "Ain't it past your bedtime, little kiddies?"

River flicked out her daggers as she growled in response: "Keep that up and I'll put each one of you in a different kind of bed."

The monsters simply laughed at her threat.

"Oh, please," one of the Snake Men hissed, "You'd never get all of us before we tore your flesh to pieces."

Adrion snorted: "Did you notice we have two dragons on our side. I doubt you'd even be able to touch us."

As a response, one of the orcs pulled out a horn and blew it into the air. As it sounded, Bone Wraiths began crawling from the water and muck, drawing their weapons as they stood. As if that wasn't bad enough already, three wyrms also appeared from the water, glaring at the heroes.

"I told you that you would pay for that earlier." The wyrm in the middle hissed. Rhogar growled in return.

"Now then," the lead Snake Man declared, "All that's left for us to do is to kill you off, and the take the pieces of the relic for ourselves."

Adrion raised his staff in defiance: "I'd like to see you try."

The other heroes as well as the dragons readied themselves in various attack poses, determined expressions on their faces.

Kai'sair held his sword in a ready position and taunted: "Bring it on!"

With that, the monsters charged, swarming in from all sides, but just as they reached the heroes, Adrion slammed his staff on the ground, sending out a flashing light that blinded them all and caused them to stumble back in confusion.

"Hope, now!" Adrion commanded, and Hope brought out a war horn of her own, blowing into it. As the horn's dep noise echoed throughout the Marshes, the monsters began to look around them in fear as the Lizard Men army appeared from the far outer rings of the clearing, waving their weapons and roaring in all their warlike fury. Even the Snake Man leading them began to tremble.

"No…it can't be!" he whispered.

Before the monsters had a chance to recover from their shock, Skarr brought his axe down and shouted: "ATTACK!!", signaling the Lizard Men to surge forward into the terrified monsters. Then, all hell broke loose.

The event that followed would come to be known as the Battle of the Marshes, and it was one of the shortest, yet most intense battles in Pandreian history. The Lizard Men broke into the lines of the dark creatures, slaughtering them by the dozens; those that survived were crushed or eaten by the Saurians. When the monsters tried to flee, they were met by Adrion's company, who now seemed more intimidating then before.

Adrion himself began summoning bolts of lightning from his staff, striking the creatures and vaporizing them. River ran into the horde, gracefully leaping above and around them while cutting them down with her daggers or tripping them over with her tail. Kai'sair and Hope climbed onto Paletar's back, and the dragon charged into the enemy, crushing and biting every monster that got too close while the knight swung his sword in deadly arcs, cleaving head after head. Hope had her bow ready, firing arrow after arrow into whatever vulnerable monster she could find. Rhogar, however, was the most terrifying as he became a blazing tank, shooting streams of flame as the heat within his body intensified with his battle fury.

At another end of the battleground, the Snake Man leader faced off with Skarr, and the two clashed their weapons; the Snake's scimitar against the Lizard's axe. The Snake, being faster, parried Skarr's heavier blows, then seized his opportunity to thrust at Skarr's abdomen, but the blade bounced off the armor, jarring the Snake's arm with it.

As the Snake Man stumbled back in pain, clutching his arm, he looked up to see Skarr raise his axe.

"You should have stayed in the shadows where you belong." Skarr growled before bringing the axe down, cleaving the Snake's head in two, sending forth a burst of blood.

Back with the heroes, Adrion continued to fry any monster that got too close with fire and lightning magic, though he now had his sword drawn and was hacking at any that somehow avoided his magic. Suddenly, a wyrm appeared from behind, ramming him in the back with its head. Adrion sprawled to the ground, his staff and sword flying out of his hands. Before he could recover, the wyrm picked him up, wrapping him in its coils. Adrion struggled to summon his staff back to his hand, but it was getting harder to think as the monster squeezed him tighter and tighter.

"Time to make that dragon of yours pay" the wyrm hissed, "He kills one of my friends; I kill one of his."

River noticed from her side of the battle and cried out: "Adrion!" as she started running over to try and help, slicing through the monsters getting in her way. Kai'sair had also noticed and guided Paletar over to help as well, but it was unsure if they would make it with Paletar still having a wounded wing. Rhogar also looked over and noticed the wyrm as it opened its mouth to bite down on the wizard, who now slumped, unconscious.

"NO!" Rhogar yelled, and, before anyone knew what was happening, Rhogar jumped into the air…and unfurled his wings to their full span, his injured wing breaking through the cast as he launched into the air and let out a booming roar that stopped everyone else on the battlefield and caused them to look in awe. Even the wyrm stopped and looked up, only to see Rhogar, the heat inside him now wreathing his body in flame, swoop down and fire a column of fire at the monster's head before chomping down on it with a force increased tenfold by the dragon's blazing rage. With a twist of Rhogar's head, the dragon tore the wyrm's head off in one clean move, and the severed head fell to the ground in a charred heap, the blood cauterized by the dragon's flame.

The other heroes stared openmouthed.

"Okay…" Hope softly whispered in awe, "Not what I was expecting."

"I've never seen anything like it." Kai'sair marveled, "That's…"

"Terrifying?" River suggested.

The wyrm's coils loosened, dropping Adrion's limp body to the ground, only for Rhogar to catch it and, being sure not to burn Adrion, gently bring him to an empty area just outside the clearing. Setting the wizard down, Rhogar returned to fight, his rage still in full flame; if the death of the Snake Man leader didn't give the other dark creatures a reason to run away, the sight of a fully enraged fire dragon who had just killed a wyrm in one brutal stroke and had now turned on them certainly did.

The monsters scrambled and ran in panic, desperately trying to avoid the dragon's fiery wrath, but they were met by the reinvigorated Lizard Men, who continued tearing into the monsters as Rhogar began to attack the other two wyrms. After that, the battle became a massacre as the dark creatures were quickly cut down by the alliance of heroes and Lizard Men, and within a few more minutes of fighting, it was all over.

As everyone calmed down, they looked around at the bodies of the fallen monsters, as well as those of the fallen Lizard Men.

"Take the bodies of our fallen," Skarr ordered, "And make sure they are properly buried back at the village."

The Lizard Men got to work collecting the bodies, while River and Rhogar ran over to where Adrion lay, still unconscious.

"Adrion!" River cried with worry, kneeling next to the wizard and feeling his forehead and neck.

"Well?" Rhogar asked.

"He's still alive," River replied, "Come on, Adrion. Wake up!"

Here, River shook him a bit as Paletar, still carrying Hope and Kai'sair, arrived. Hope dismounted and walked over.

"Hang on," she said, pushing River to the side, "I have an idea."

Sitting Adrion up, she propped him up on the tree, rubbed her hands together…and slapped him across the face as she shouted: "Wake up!!"

As the elf's hand connected with the wizard's face, he woke up with a start, yelling in pain as he flopped to the ground. Groaning, he sat back up and massaged his cheek.

"What was THAT for?" he demanded.

"Nothing," Hope innocently answered, "Just something I've been wanting to do for a while."

Rhogar took no notice as he helped nudge Adrion to his feet with his snout.

"Are you okay?" the dragon asked, his rage having cooled down.

"I'm fine…mostly," the wizard replied, briefly glaring at Hope "What'd I miss?"

"Well, we killed everything that was left." Kai'sair answered, "and your dragon friend turned into a killer fireball, but that's about it."

"A what?"

"We'll explain later," River assured before pulling Adrion in for an embrace, "Right now, I'm just glad you're okay."

"We all are," Kai'sair said.

Adrion fiercely blushed at River's embrace, but managed to hug her back unawkwardly as he could. The others noticed his expression and shard a stifled laugh amongst themselves.

After Adrion and River broke out of their hug, Adrion walked towards the center of the clearing, picked up his sword and staff, then noticed Rhogar's wings.

"Rhogar," he exclaimed, "You're healed!"

The dragon proudly extended his wing: "The Lizard Men's healing herbs work very well."

"Well, if you're healed," River deduced, "Than I think Paletar might be too."

"Only one way to find out," Kai'sair declared as he drew his sword to cut the bandages from Paletar's wing. Once he did, the forest dragon slowly extended the wing, then fapped it a few times to test it.

"It's healed alright," Paletar announced with pride. Hope pumped her fist in the air and shouted: "Yes! Now we can get to the Shadow Canyons no problem!"

Adrion nodded: "We have to find the other piece first." And he began walking around the clearing, tapping the ground with his staff.

"What are you doing?" Hope asked.

"Before we got surrounded, I was observing the glowing floor here," Adrion explained, "It seems like the relic is somewhere underneath the ground here."

"Can you get to it?" Paletar inquired.

Adrion scratched the back of his head: "Weeeell, Earth magic was never one of my biggest strengths. I can find where it is exactly, but I need someone else to try and dig it out."

Fortunately for them, Ureka was nearby dislodging her spear from an orc's chest and overheard their conversation. Perking up, she walked over and chimed in, saying: "I might be able to help with that."

"Do what you can." Adrion replied, "I'll keep looking for the piece."

Ureka ran off to find Skarr, then returned riding a quadruped Saurian that had a wide tusk on its chin resembling an oversized shovel.

As she and the rest of the company watched, Adrion walked this way and that, now dragging his staff on the ground as he searched for the strongest source of the magic emanating from the ground. After a few minutes, he pushed an orc carcass out of the way to reveal a bright spot shining out from the ground. The ground must have been slightly dug into during the battle as a piece of metal could be seen sticking out from underneath.

"Here." He revealed, "we dig here."

"Stand aside." Ureka said, "This might get messy."

After Ureka guided the Saurian over to the spot Adrion marked, the beast lowered its tusk into the ground, pressing it into the soft dirt and hauling it out, and also bringing up a shining object hidden in the dirt.

"Hold it!" Adrion shouted, lifting his hand to stop the digging, "Put it down right there!"

Ureka guided her mount to do so, and then the wizard came over to the mud pile, scraping away the dirt with his hands until he uncovered a circular object and pulled it out for everyone else to see.

It looked similar to the first piece. However, this one had a thin yet long crystal inside, which was the source of the light. A gold handle was also attached to the framing.

"This is it." Adrion announced.

The others began to get excited.

"Now all we have to do is get it to the Shadow Canyons and unite the pieces." Rhogar exclaimed.

"We've almost done it!" Hope excitedly shouted, jumping for joy.

Suddenly, a screeching sound could be heard, and the company looked up to see a white griffin and its rider swoop down and hover just above the area. The rider removed his helmet to reveal his now easily recognizable head of blond hair.

"Gale!" Adrion shouted, "We got the pieces!"

"And not a moment to lose," Gale replied, "The Skull Beasts are beginning to overwhelm our knights in the canyon. They can still hold them off for now, but you must get to them and unite the pieces with all due haste!"

Adrion, recognizing how serious the situation had gotten, nodded and immediately ran over to Rhogar, mounting on the dragon's back.

"You heard him," he told the others, "We have to go now."

"How far is it to the Shadow Canyons?" River asked.

"Not far if we're flying," Plaetar replied.

"What's going on?" Skarr asked, having noticed Gale's approach and running up to check it out.

"We have to leave now if we are to succeed at our quest" Kai'sair replied, "We're sorry we can't celebrate your victory, but this is our duty."

Skarr nodded: "You have our thanks, heroes. I'll personally ensure that you will be welcome with us should you come our way again."

"Thank you, Chief Skarr." Adrion solemnly said, "And thank you for helping heal us, Ureka."

The Lizard girl winked: "Your welcome."

Nodding in return, Adrion then helped River mount behind him on Rhogar, then, as River once again nervoulsy wrapped her arms around his torso, he spurred the dragon skyward. Kai'sair and Hope followed soon after on Paletar. As the dragons soared off, Gale watched them disappear into the distance, praying that they would reach the canyon before it was too late.