Chapter 3: Kishtro

  Corin left Livia in the great hall and continued his search around the structure.

  Now by himself, all he could think about was the voice. He reached for his pendant and rubbed it.

  I heard it for sure. Cyril spoke to me.

  He couldn't stop thinking about his older brother’s voice. In the middle of the fight, he was sure he heard him as if he were there in the room.

  Perhaps it was my head trying to spur me to move. Or maybe he is still watching over me.

  After his near-death experience, Corin made sure to be more careful. He saw an ornate spear in a different room and had to resist the impulse to grab it.

  For now, Corin stuck to finding the items that Livia had asked of him. They had already found some dragon powder. In his subsequent search, he had also discovered some ingots of steel, but now he was searching for dragon glass.

  As Corin continued in his search, he began to feel uneasy. He could not shake the feeling that he was being watched.

  From the corner of his eye, it was as if there was a shroud following him, but the instant he turned his head, he would not see anyone. He picked up his pace, eventually dashing, but did not hear any other footsteps behind him. He followed the most convoluted paths he could find to trick his possible pursuer. Yet despite all of this, and never actually observing anyone after him, Corin could not shake this unease that had settled over him.

  Maybe this place is getting to me. It does seem a bit more unsettling now without Livia. I'll look a little longer and then head out.

  Although they had not spent as much as they thought in the structure, Corin and Livia had already grabbed a considerable amount of supplies. Once he found the glass, he would turn back.

  Two more rooms and that's it.

  He moved along the hallway, continuing for a while with nothing of interest. Along the path, he encountered a door with unusual markings on it. He had seen many like it along the way, but something within him wanted to see what was in it. He pushed the door open and found himself staring at a large circular chamber.

  It was unlike any he had seen so far. At first, he was terrified. In the middle of the room stood four menacing figures. His heart beat with such intensity that it might burst through his chest and he reached for his blade, but then he realized something.

  They’re only statues.

  Corin breathed a sigh of relief.

  Nothing to worry about.

  His tried calming himself down, but could not do a good job of it. The ruins had been a rougher experience than he had expected.

  Corin stepped into the room expecting something to happen, but nothing did. It was a large circular chamber with four statues surrounding the center. Each of the statues faced outward.

  They certainly look menacing. I should leave.

  Corin started to turn away but stopped. He didn't know why, but the fear and trepidation he had felt mere moments ago was replaced by something else, a sense of curiosity.

  Corin felt as if deep down he knew there was nothing to fear here. Whatever was in the center of the room would be worthwhile. Growing confident, Corin turned around and walked up to the middle of the room and stood next to two of the statues. The four of them were identical, each with a large stone hammer in hand.

  Corin looked beyond the statues to the center of the room and was perplexed by what he saw. In the center was a stone pedestal with one item. The grand object was a pyramid about as tall as Corin's hand with a large, hollowed-out center.

  All this for a stone pyramid?

  Despite the underwhelming discovery something within Corin urged him to grab the stone pyramid. It was as if he had come here for this very item.

  He grabbed it, and shortly the stone statues started to stir.

  Corin started to backpedal.

  Damn it! Livia’s going to be really angry!

  But the statues froze in place. Corin stopped as well to see what they would do next, but they were static.

  Alright, it’s time to leave.

  He made his way toward the exit before a voice shouted, “Kishtro!”

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  As he turned around, a large person covered head to toe in metallic armor swung a massive pike at him.

  Corin dodged the swing. Where he had stood, the pike buried itself into the floor.

  “Give it back!” an angry voice from the armored person growled at him with a peculiar inflection.

  Corin was reminded of the reliefs he had seen earlier in the great hall. The assailant was large, much taller than Corin, and was entirely covered in metal armor. But unlike the reliefs Corin had seen, this one was real and was ready to strike.

  Corin dropped his bag and readied his blade.

  I guess today’s theme is violence.

  The assailant lunged at Corin, who deflected the attack with his blade. The shoulder where he had been bitten flared up in agonizing pain, but just as the pain flared he felt the rush of battle overtake him, and the pain faded. This assailant was fast, quickly stepping into Corin's space and pushing him off balance with a slam from its shoulder.

  Corin tumbled and fell on his back, but he used his momentum and rolled backward, hearing the pike crash into the floor where he had just fallen.

  “Stay still, coward!” the assailant screamed.

  “Coward? You came at me from behind!” Corin yelled as he stood up and prepared for another attack.

  “AAA-ARGH!” The armored figure ran toward Corin, ready to pounce on him.

  Oh, great job, Corin, you enraged this thing that is trying its best to cleave you in half.

  The assailant abandoned finesse for pure power, raining down blows on Corin with its pike.

  As Corin faced the onslaught, he could not help but marvel at the strength of his enemy. He had sparred many times with the strongest of Trinixo, and none of them hit as hard as this.

  Each blow weakened Corin, who knew that he could not hold out for longer. One more slash at Corin and he dropped his guard. Without any hesitation, his adversary kicked Corin in the gut, launching him several feet back.

  As he flew backward, all the air in Corin escaped him, and he dropped his blade. He could hear his foe quickly closing the distance.

  He reached for his blade but found nothing.

  The pike loomed over him.

  “Your masters are next, Kishtro!”

  The pistol!

  Corin quickly undid the harness and pulled out the pistol. With no time to aim, Corin shot from the hip.

  BANG!

  The projectile blasted out of the weapon. The pike that was sure to split Corin in half clanged next to him, missing him by inches.

  Blood poured out of the assailant’s side.

  “What sort of treachery is this, Kishtro?” the assailant grunted, stumbling backward.

  Now’s your chance!

  Corin moved away from the armored assailant. Even with the wound, he did not think he could best the assailant. He needed to leave, and quickly.

  He got up to run and careened into a solid figure and fell backwards.

  Was there something here before?

  No, he quickly realized he had run into a person. From the ground he looked up, and all he could see was a hooded figure. Under the hood was something he had not expected. A red dragon's face but with a humanoid body.

  “What is—-” Corin began, but the hooded figure grabbed him by his shirt and raised him.

  He was face-to-face with the draconic person and instantly felt his arm snap.

  “AAAH” Corin screamed in pain and dropped his pistol.

  “Thanks for your help, vulgros.” The draconic figure smiled as he threw Corin to the side.

  He was launched across the large room. This draconic person was much stronger than any other furtive Corin had ever met.

  Corin sprawled on the floor, agonizing. He was sure the armored assailant had broken some of his ribs, and now the hooded dragon had broken his arm. His pistol was far from him now.

  This is it. I am going to die.

  Corin’s world began to darken as his eyes closed.

  “Stay strong!” It was his brother’s voice once again.

  He opened his eyes and the world began to come back into focus.

  No, not like this!

  “Strong Nanaua being struck down by a lowly, vulgar human. How pathetic,” the hooded figure sneered as he approached the armored assailant, speaking with the same odd inflection. It reminded Corin of the way his friend Simeon spoke.

  The armored assailant grabbed the pike and prepared to attack the hooded figure, who sidestepped with ease and struck back with his blade. The assailant’s helmet flew off, revealing a red draconic face, just like the hooded figures. But her features were finer.

  “You, Totua. You are the Kishtro,” Nanaua replied.

  “Of course I am Nanaua. Did you believe our lord would send a lowly vulgros to hunt you? The mighty Nanaua? No, it was me all along,” Totua replied.

  “You coward!” Nanaua yelled as she lunged at Totua.

  Totua did not even try to move. As she approached him, Totua smacked her across the face with his blade. She instantly fell to the floor. Once on the ground, Totua hit Nanaua until he was sure she would not try to attack him again.

  “Irascible as always, but dangerous,” Totua said as he caught his breath. “That’s why I knew I could not face you head-on. I was waiting for hunger and thirst to weaken you enough, but this vulgros was a nice surprise. He exceeded any expectations I would ever have of his weak kind.”

  Corin struggled to stay conscious. He saw the pistol lying far from him. He began dragging himself with his good arm toward it.

  “Your treachery brought a lot of pain to our clan, Nanaua. We have worked for generations to secure our place of honor, and you would throw that away for a vulgros?” Totua continued, sounding offended.

  “Our place of honor? We are only a few steps ahead of these vulgros that you seemingly despise. What honor is there in that?” Nanaua shot back weakly.

  “Our clan is privileged to serve one of the strongest lords of the land. If you do not see the great honor that has been bestowed upon us, then you truly are lost.” The hooded Totua sounded disappointed as he raised his blade above his head.

  “Spare me your lectures. If I am to die, I would rather my last moments be filled with silence and not your insipid blather,” Nanaua replied.

  Corin finally reached the pistol.

  The hooded figure was about to strike down Nanaua. Corin hesitated as he held the pistol. He did not want to face Nanaua in combat again. He would wait until Totua killed her and then he would shoot.

  “Act now!” Cyril yelled, his voice ringing in his head.

  Corin aimed, down to his last shot before he had to re-arm the weapon.

  “Farewell, Nanaua,” the assailant added in a somber tone.

  BANG!

  The hooded figure slumped to the floor. Nanaua looked at Corin with a bewildered look.

  “That's why you don't insult strangers,” Corin muttered as his world faded to black.