Chapter 3 - Gold
Hedt and John once again meet, they look at each other- John grabs him by the collar, bolting to a nearby alley. The glares of people whiffs past them, some gossiping, but it subsides. John takes off his hood, he stands just barely shorter than Hedt, his skin tanned and his jet-black hair a bit long for a man. His right eye has seen better days, but he seems to have been eating well lately.
"John, I thought you died!" Hedt whispered loudly. "I thought you did, but the sky during the night of ash, was that you I saw? It's been years since I've seen it, but it never left my mind." He responds. "And the handle from the day before that! It glowed and killed a man, are you actually a warlock?" He asks, his words hissing through his teeth. "You've decided to only stop the night of ash now? The people plan on celebrating, some still plunder. But what are you doing here?"
"Look, John, even I don't know what's going on alright? This handle, this warlock thing. I used to be just a freak moments ago… Years? It's only been a week hasn't it? I was wondering why everything changed so much but… years, really?" Hedt grabs his hair in shock, pulling at it.
"What happened to the others? Is Sohn alright? Is Belle alright?"
"Belle is fine, but Sohn… When the night of ash started, she fell sick and died a year later." John replied. "We should… head back to the others, Belle is waiting for me, maybe even you too." John turned the other way, flipping his hood back up. His horns are now bigger and embroidered with chains.
"Others? The other villagers didn't die from it?" Asked Hedt, "Right, but… They don't really like me for being able to use the magic the ash gave to many," John replies, "They still think magic is for the cursed."
"Seems ironic."
They arrive at the village, the village seems to be doing better, the buildings aren't rotting and neither are the people. Many people were shocked as they left their houses to greet John, to find Hedt also standing with him. "You're alive?" a villager asks, "Luckily." he replies. "What happened?" Asked another.
"Well-"
"Save it for later, go back to what you were doing." John interrupts, "Belle's in the old house." John tells Hedt, the house Hedt and Sohn lived in, it's been painted over and the roof's been fixed. But the blood smeared on the frames are long gone.
"The blood, why is it gone?" He asks, "Monsters came regardless if we put the blood up or not, not sure if it'd be any different now. They've grown during the night of ash as well." John replied.
Hedt heads over and opens the door, the squeaks that came with it are gone, inside was a house filled with inventions and schematics, chests filled with scraps to the point where the mouth is permanently wide open. The cauldron's been replaced with a workbench made of stone with a furnace directly over the fire pit.
Belle walks down the stairs while scrawling and doodling on a leather book, paying no attention to her surroundings. "John, I think my new invention can help with the-" She pauses for a moment as she looks up to see Hedt in the flesh. "Hedt? I-I can't believe it…" She hugs Hedt, you could hear Hedt's back crack a little.
"What happened to you?"
"He doesn't know, apparently. But I know he has something to do with the ash." John tells her, "But maybe he wasn't, I don't know either."
"Well I'm glad you're alive and kicking! I'm sure you want a refresher on what happened?"
"Oh, I already know, John told me on the way. I just want to make it up to all of you after disappearing for years, what can I do to help?"
"Aw really? Well, you could start with the farm. Animals keep disappearing and no one knows why, you took care of the animals right?" She tells Hedt, "Now that I think about it, you kind of did everything around here, besides cooking and building."
"Ha, I did, didn't I?" Hedt turns to John, who looks a bit unamused. "John," He puts his hand on John's shoulder. "I'll make it up to everyone, okay?"
"...Sure" John rests his eyebrows. "Just… don't leave again."
"I promise you that I won't." Hedt reassures, he walks to the barn, the animals are clearly stressed, the chickens are shedding feathers, the pigs all lay on the floor, almost corpse-like.
The handle tugs at his belt, its golden glow pulsating. Confused, Hedt unbuckles it for the first time, the handle flies and latches onto his face, turning into glasses. His vision sharpens, fine details enlarge with a simple glance.
"Weird, as if you know what I need."
Hedt looks around the barn, only finding a trail of animal blood and small burnt straws on the nests. It smells of ash, of course, but also a bit like saliva… Breath of a dragon. A trail of it leads Hedt out to the open field, holes the size of wells scattered across the ground.
Hedt grabs his air, forgetting he lost his bow. As the realization sets in, it's too late for him to leave, the drakes come crawling out the holes, 5 dragon-like monsters appear, their teeth sharp as razors with claws that can easily tunnel earth. Their wings are too small and weak to lift them off the ground. Hedt plants his feet on the ground and raises his arms in the air, his other pair flailing beside him.
Sweat trickles down his cheek as the drakes crawl towards him with caution. His arms tremble, adrenaline spiking his body, his eyes dart to each drake, trying his best to keep all 5 in sight… But as he counts, "(One, two, three, and four…)" His eyes widen, sparks fly from behind him, hot air hissing out the throat of the fifth drake. Its teeth strike against each other, sparks flying, Hedt was just a hair away as the hot air combusts into flame.
The drakes rush in, running circles around Hedt, bashing their tails against him as they spin. Hedt is covered head-to-toe in bruises and cuts, he tries to get up but his arms tremble from the pain, blood running down his nose. The drakes suddenly stop, leaving a trail of dirt beneath their feet, they unhinge their jaws, air hissing from their throats, and with teeth like flint, sparks fly and combust. All that was left of Hedt was ash…
The drakes turn to leave, but before they can take another step, the ashes swirl and glow, the ashes twist and clump, sculpting itself into flesh. Hedt stands again, stunned and disoriented. All that was in his head was him wondering whether he was Reborn, Reformed or Regenerated. But before his thoughts could linger longer, a drake rushes over with its teeth and claws bared.
Hedt raises his arms in panic. The drake bites like a lion, but its teeth barely penetrate Hedt's skin. Pain spikes his arm, he grunts in pain before punching the drake's eye out. The drake whimpers in pain, its entire body starts to hiss, the gaps of its scales glow bright red. Hedt eyes widen, diving out as it explodes into bright red dust.
The golden handle tugs at his belt again, Hedt impatiently rips it free of its chain. "You turned into glasses, now turn into a spear. You can do that, right?" The handle extends, the tip transforms into a gleaming spearhead, long and slender like that of an arrow, glimmering in the sun. The drakes approach him slowly, Hedt counts them again, "One, two, three…" Sparks fly behind him, air hissing out the fourth Drake's maw. But Hedt had foreseen this, jamming the spear straight into its throat and ripping off its teeth. Hedt pulls the spear out, making the blood spill from the drake. It coughs and hacks, air hissing out of its body, it panics, running around frantically as the pain gets into its head, it tumbles down on the road, sparks fly everywhere as its scales grind on the gravel. It combusts, its parts flying everywhere.
The last three drake stand weary, they outnumber Hedt, but their fear betrays them as they shiver in place. All they could do was lay down and whimper. Hedt's eyes turn from rage to compassion. He approaches the drakes with his hand reaching out to pet them. The drakes were reluctant, but eventually accepted his embrace. Monster or not, they are still creatures equipped with emotions and thought. True monsters… are freaks of nature.
Hedt turns the handle into a leash, leading the drakes back to the village, John and Belle's eyes widen upon the sight, three drakes in complete loyal behavior under Hedt's command. "Hedt, how in the hells did you manage this? I heard explosions just a few minutes ago!" John says, perplexed. "Also, why are you covered in burn marks?" Belle asks.
"I'll explain that later, about the drakes. Remember the many times we used to find drakes? Well, it seems they bow to dominance, unlike the others…" Hedt tells both of them. "What do you mean, unlike the others? Are you telling me you studied monsters at night?" John replies.
"That's right, the times where my mind just couldn't stand still, I went out to the forest and watched the monsters… But, that's for later. For now, these drakes should listen to the person holding the leash." Hedt hands the ropes to the leash, the drakes follow attentively to John as he holds it.
"They're also the same drakes that were eating up the animals, looks like they've been doing it for a while. Let's talk in the house." Hedt walks off, his leg still somewhat limping from the fight. John hitches the drakes to the fence before following Hedt with Belle.
"...I may be the new phoenix."