Ash. The Legends of the Nameless World. Progression Gamelit Story, Kirill Klevanski [great reads .TXT] 📗

eyes, remembering the screams of his soldiers, and the feeling of blood-soaked grass underneath him.

“The king,” he whispered. “I knew that Garangan ordered us dead.”

“Then for what?!” Racker’s roar was probably heard even in the Jasper Palace. “What are you fighting for?!”

“For what...?”

“Nor for what,” the mage said, shaking his head. “But for who.”

“You’re risking your life for the daughter of the man who betrayed you?!”

Ash looked into Racker’s eyes, but saw no glimmer of reason in them — he had long been taken over by madness.

“There’s no parental sin big enough to make a child atone for it.”

The dragon roared again. It arched, its stomach glowing with a steady white glow from within. It opened its fanged maw and released a stream of white flame. Ash managed to jump off the ledge at the very last moment. Turning around, he saw a hole in the mountain. The dragon’s tail, having gained a life of its own, smashed the side of the mountain, creating a shower of smoking rubble.

“Show it to me! Fight with all your might! I want to see your true form!”

“Yes...” Ash said quietly, and held out his staff in level with the horizon. “The time has come.”

The gray cloak fluttered behind him and turned into a pair of leather wings. White flames shot out of the fanged mouth. The final chord of the battle was struck, finishing off the symphony that was alien to human ears.

The ends of the staff flashed with blue fire. Magic gathered around Ash, crushing the stone, its light growing brighter until it exploded in all directions. Like a hungry beast, it licked the stones, evaporating them.

“Sixth Form: The Destroyer of Cities,” said a cold voice, “Ash!”

The flames and the magic were gone, leaving only a black-gray cloud, around which there were almost no rocks. The cloud trembled and formed a gigantic blade. Five yards long, it towered over the dragon’s head like an executioner’s ax.

Racker opened his mouth and engulfed the blade in white flames. Ash struck with his staff and the weapon disappeared, turning into a cloud once more. Circling around the dragon, Ash pierced it with a hundred daggers, hit it with giant hammers, and cut it with spears.

The dragon raged and trashed, but each breath it exhaled released more ash than fire. Finally, he was trapped in a cocoon. The mage struck the ground with his staff, and the cocoon began to shrink. A cry was heard and then white rays burst from the inside. Ashes filled the air, and the dragon soared into the sky. It disappeared among the burning clouds and then fell like a stone.

It was falling like a diving falcon, and its mouth was surrounded by flames. Ash struck the ground with his staff for the third time, and a wave of blue flames produced countless clouds of ashes, which then took the shape of a huge bow and arrow.

The dragon roared and exhaled fire. The bowstring hummed and the arrow struck the flame, hitting the wall and spraying the ground with molten stone.

When Racker, unable to slow down the fall, got close to the ledge, Ash jumped.

“First Form: Incarnation!”

A small ball of blue flame pierced the armored scales. The stench of burnt flesh singed the nostrils. A deafening roar rang out. The dragon’s wings hung limply as the two fell to the ground. Their fall was swift, and their landing left the ground trembling for a long time. The floor of the citadel broke and caved in, shooting pointed slabs of granite upward.

Ash, towering above the body of the fallen dragon, watched its burnt heart beat slower and slower through the hole in its chest. Racker slowly assumed his true form. The wings retracted into his back, the claws turned into nails, and the giant limbs slowly assumed a humanoid shape. The young mage, whose strength was almost gone, knelt down in front of his opponent and lifted his head with difficulty.

“That... was a good... fight...” Racker wheezed. “I had to... try...”

Ash nodded.

“It’s time to sleep for a very long time, my friend.”

Racker coughed up blood and bared his teeth.

“Can’t say... that I’m looking... forward to it...”

Ash flinched.

“Do you know where Sporangia is?”

Racker’s eyes widened and he laughed. After a moment, his head fell back on his shoulder and his eyes glazed over. Death had claimed its prey.

Ash scrambled to his feet but almost fell when his eyes fell upon a gruesome scene. The Stumps were still huddled in their corner, but the shields were gone. Blackbeard’s shield had gotten so hot that it had fused with his arm, but he endured. Alice’s wand was cracked and split in two, and Lari and Tul were holding Mary’s body and pushing back tears. Pale as a birch tree, she pressed her hands to the stone that had pierced her stomach.

The mage ran over to him, throwing aside his staff. A trickle of blood ran down his chin.

“No, no...!” he wailed, trying to cover the wound. His hands slid over the bloodied fingers of the others but... “It can’t... It... It doesn’t have to be like this!”

He looked at the faces of the Stumps, but they either hid their eyes or shook their heads. One couldn’t live with such a wound, and a healer couldn’t do anything without a wand. A catalyst was both the stronger and the weakest point of any mage.

“Flower...” Mary whispered. Her lips were crimson with blood, but she pointed a trembling hand behind the Stumps. “Flower... Girl...”

Ash turned and saw a beautiful Star Flower in Racker’s clenched hand. He might’ve not been noble in life, but he must’ve remembered what honor was before he died. Touching his staff, Ash spoke a Word, and the flower flew over to them. It floated through the air