Chapter 15: Dragon's Mouth

CHAPTER 15

Focusing on the village, as I was making my way through it, I noted that behind the stains of recent events this village could be the perfect scenery for a peaceful, idyllic life. Smells of wood and cheese permeated the streets; on the ground, some of the stones were covered with colorful symbols, evidently drawn by a child’s hand. Narrow alleyways were filled with empty buckets, tools and ragged pieces of cloth.

Exiting the village, a field of green pastures opened up before me. Many pieces of the land were separated and marked by wooden stakes which were bound together with metal strings. Some of these separate gardens were filled with vegetables or fruit, others with blooming flowers. Off in the distance I saw a cave that I assumed was the one Regan had told me about.

Coming upon it, the name for the cave became obvious. The opening was at least 3 meters in height, the eroded rocks at the top looked like a pair of sharp fangs overheard. Atop the entrance were two small trees which seemed like a pair of horns on the head of this dragon of nature.

I looked around it first but could not find anything in particular that stood out. I paused at the threshold of it and peered into the cave. I saw that sunlight managed to get in to some extent. I stepped inside and as soon as my foot stepped on the dirt of the cave I heard a faint click in my ear. I looked around with my dagger drawn but could not notice anything out of place. I decided to go further in.

Strange noises assaulted my ears as soon as I was inside. The sound of ground parting and branches bending and breaking. All of my senses were in unrest, there was no doubt that I had found myself in the midst of danger. I turned around and saw a flash of green and red right next to me. I raised my hands in a defensive stance but it was a little too late. My right bicep was struck by a maddening pain as I was sent flying deeper into the cave.

I coughed as dust entered my lungs and the pain in my arm made me feel nauseous. I looked up to the two figures that could just barely be seen under the sunlight that fell inside the cave. They were not human. Some sort of golems, perhaps, I guessed. Tall yet slim figures made of intertwining wooden branches, with dark earth as their flesh and insides.

One of them had wooden tendrils spiraling upwards to form a pair of horns while the one next to it had a stream of vines on top of its head that fell down its back, giving an impression of hair.

The horned one had a long arm that extended into an axe, with a sharp rock as the blade. On the other hand a giant, round wooden shield could be seen. The other figure bore the shield as well but instead of an axe, the other golem had a large arm made up of long stony claws. They were fast. One instant they were in front of me, in the next they were right next to me, one on each side.

I ducked and barely evaded their rapid attacks. With [Layer of the Abyss] already applied I swung my dagger and caught the axe-hand at its thigh. The branches parted when the dagger cut through them but they reconnected as soon as the attack was over.I jumped back and away from both of them.

“System, I could use some help.” I shouted.

[Speak your request] the system said.

“Do you know what I’m dealing with? What are these creatures’ weaknesses?” I asked.

[Negative. The system must have a sample of the enemy in order to identify it.]

“I almost got my arm broken by one of those things. Is that not enough for a sample?” I asked while desperately dodging the attacks.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The system refused to say anything else. Stupid system!

What could I possibly do to handle these things? Since they were made of wood, perhaps fire would work against them well enough but where in the hell would I get fire? If only Meili was here, I thought. Perhaps it was the fear of potential demise closing in on me but I once again could not help but feel infuriated at my lack of power and my urgency to throw myself headlong into danger without proper preparation.

Just because I had a few abilities that proved useful before, did I really allow that fact to create the delusion of me being some unstoppable force? I imagined a future version of myself, someone more cautious, someone more prepared, someone more powerful. I thought of these things on a whim, as a sort of lament for a future that may never come to pass because I was minutes away from my permanent demise but these musings had the opposite effect and empowered me.

I wanted to reach that future, I wanted to live in it, mature Oren with incredible abilities at his disposal. Going on quests, slaying monsters and saving the innocent.

I launched myself at the claw-hand and cut a piece of his shoulder. I took the small piece before it could heal and reattach itself to the rest of the body and I swallowed it. It was ludicrous but I had to do something. The bitter taste was as assaulting to my taste buds as the pain in my bicep. I ignored that as the piece of the branch scraped its way down my throat.

“System,” I said, “there’s your sample.”

[Processing…] the System chimed in, [Enemy identified. You are facing a wooden construct. Wooden constructs are beings created by powerful mages, typically placed as guardians. Unless the mage is nearby to give them new orders, wooden constructs are rather simple beings following a single command.]

“Great, how do I stop them?” I groaned.

[Wooden constructs can be destroyed by fire. They also have flux cores somewhere inside their bodies. Remove the core to disable them.]

“Thank you, System.” I yelled.

I flew towards one of the constructs, the axe-hand, and instead of cutting it I tackled it to the ground. I restrained the axe-hand with my left arm and restrained its other arm with my right knee. Under the twisting branches that made up its chest, I saw a pale yellow light. Right as I was about to pull it out I heard a sharp whistle cutting the air.

I jumped away at the last moment and saw a long arrow already piercing the ground where I stood moments ago. There were more of them, I realized with horror. A ranged fighter was keeping an eye on me somewhere from inside the cave besides the two closed-range constructs. Perhaps the bowman could tell I did not figure out its location and decided to withhold the next arrow for the time being. In the meantime his two colleagues continued their assault.

I tried to find a way out, I wondered if fleeing was an option, perhaps once I am away the constructs would deactivate and that would be it. But on the other hand, there was also the possibility of the constructs being let loose into Tobermory and I would not allow such a thing.

I was not that powerful, I admitted the fact for a thousandth time perhaps, there was potential maybe but only a speck of it had been realized thus far. The only ability at my disposal, besides decent physical strength and [Layer of the Abyss], was the [Footsteps in the Night] ability, which I got from the ghoul leader. That ability was enhanced hearing, that was it. It had come in handy in some cases but it would not make up for strength where it was severely lacking.

Enhanced hearing, was there really a way I could make use of it in this situation? It wasn’t even enough to let me locate the archer in the shadows. Was that perhaps because I was relying on other senses as well? Was the myth I heard so much about back on Earth actually true? Did the loss of one sense truly enhance another?

System said that constructs are simple creatures following a single command to the best of their abilities. These constructs were likely given the task to attack intruders of the cave. Cave was a naturally dark place and the mage who would station his constructs here would certainly account for that, would he not? Certainly, he would…

But on the off chance that he didn't...perhaps it was worth giving it a shot. I remembered being a kid and playing hide and seek with the other children in my neighborhood. That moment of finding a great hiding spot, one embraced by darkness and while being there, closing your eyes with a grin on your face as if that would somehow prevent the seeker from spotting you. Wasn’t there a greater awareness in those moments? Being able to hear everyone’s steps and whispers while residing in a dimension of your own. I was looking for such a sensation now, even when all of this was perhaps mere nonsense.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, turned away from my enemy and then I began to run.