“The swamps are not a place that most humans would care to visit on a regular basis,” he replied. “My reason for being here is to get away from life so that I can focus on death.” He paused, reviewing the confused expression on my face and huffed. “Believe what you will, Jasmine. Your mind is fragile and naive like the rest of them. I speak from centuries of experience. If the words of this old Dragon mean so little to you, then I will not waste my breath trying to convince you otherwise.”
Before I could reply, he stormed out of the laboratory in a huff, leaving me to continue my work in silence. However, my mind never ceased its racing thoughts.
Chapter 9
Hunger struck me again once I had finished my tasks. With Master Dagg still away, I decided it was an ideal opportunity to go hunting again. The cave was quiet, save for the occasional sounds of dripping water and the stray winds that passed through the small crevices in the walls and ceiling. I also heard the faint, pattering sounds of rain above, which affirmed my assumptions of the swamps being shrouded in more dreary weather. I stopped by my sleeping quarters briefly and changed my dirtied clothes. The long, white and black-trimmed, frilled dress I wore that day had begun showing signs of tearing in different places. I could only imagine how beautiful the dress must have looked when it was worn on its last victim. That same elegance and beauty did not have the desired effect on my own frail body, as much as Master Dagg wanted me to believe when he gave me the dress. I felt like a tainted soul wrapping myself in clothes so pure and once full of life and energy.
I changed into a cleaner, knee-length black dress which also carried a similar design. Master Dagg spoiled me with such beautiful gifts. He seemed to make quite an effort to choose certain designs. In just the short months I had been with Master Dagg, my body had become more pale and frail in appearance. While I did feel stronger inside, often, I had feared my body would eventually wither away at some point.
After getting dressed, I left the cave and surveyed the wetlands. The rains poured down relentlessly, showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. Several, large puddles began forming near the banks, which soon merged into the larger bodies of water. For a moment, I simply stood and allowed the rushing rains to drench me. Strands of my snow-white hair stuck to the sides of my face and along my neck, dripping endlessly with excess water. The dress I wore lost its natural outward flare once the heavy rains penetrated it. I discovered a new beauty within the dress's seemingly drab features.
The air was cool and refreshing, despite the sudden chills that ran through my drenched body. The skies, though cloudy, were dark enough to ascertain that it was nearing dusk or evening time. After many weeks of routine and practice, I eventually learned the times of day when the larger morsels of food would emerge.
Hoping that I would have better luck this time, I proceeded towards the banks and into the shallow waters, which only went just above my calves when I waded in fully. With the constant, pouring rains, however, it wouldn't be long before the water's level rose even higher. It was difficult to make out the fish below with the raindrops disturbing the water's surface.
It took several minutes of trial and error until I finally managed to spot a medium-sized carp swimming around near the bank. As I moved in to catch it, I suddenly stopped in my tracks upon noticing a large shadow moving across the ground. Quickly losing interest in my meal, I looked to the skies.
The large, faint outline of a creature that circled the area was practically camouflaged against the dark clouds. It continued this patterned motion for several minutes, as though it had been watching me from above.
I remained perfectly still and kept my eyes on it, preparing to sprint for the cave entrance should it attempt to dive towards me. Through the hissing of the rushing rains, my ears perked at another faint sound of sloshing swamp waters in the distance.
I briefly drew my eyes from what circled above and averted them towards the new presence. The image of several men could be discerned through the mist caused by the pouring rains. I hesitated in running now, fearing that I had already been spotted from afar. I began treading deeper into the swampy terrain where the water level continued drawing further up my legs.
The band of eight men drew nearer and I soon made out Banin's armored form leading the group. The other men were dressed similarly, each with various types of weapons drawn.
I suddenly began running through the waters, sloshing noisily, not caring at this point that my beautiful dress was becoming stained with the murky waters that splashed upon it.
“Miss!” Banin's voice called out. “What are you doing out there?! It's dangerous! Please, come back before you get hurt!”
I immediately froze upon hearing Banin's booming voice and looked behind me.
The other men stopped and sheathed their weapons at their leader's behest. Afterwards, Banin made a small gesture to one of them and he dashed towards me.
I immediately broke into a full sprint to get away from the stranger, attempting to run as far away from the cave as possible. Looking back briefly, the armored man was still chasing me and approaching quickly with his long strides in contrast to my own. As I prepared to change direction in order to confuse him further, I felt my left foot sink down into the murky ground, my sudden movements causing it to torque unnaturally, which sent a wave of pain down my leg. I went down quickly, my body crashing into a heap and becoming covered in mud and murk. I whimpered in pain and my eyes blurred from the rain hitting them.
The armor-clad man caught up to me; pulled me effortlessly out of the mess and then carried me back to his comrades.
I wanted to struggle against him, but my body was too numbed to do so. I leaned my head back in his arms and stared up at the sky, hoping to find that mysterious flying creature again, but it was gone.
I felt my body slip gently out of the stranger's arms and into Banin's own. My eyes darted towards Banin's large form fearfully, but I made no effort to escape.
“Girl, are you mad?!” Banin exclaimed, his voice muffled through the sounds of the drenching rains. “There is a Dragon afoot and you are foolishly running around these swamps!”
I wanted to smile at his words, but the sharp pain in my leg prevented me from doing so. Instead, I maintained a calculating stare into his own brown eyes, hoping he would be wise enough to turn back while he was still able. Master Dagg still hadn't returned from his errands; though, I did not wish to see the displeased look on his face if he ever caught me in Banin's clutches.
My cold, silent staring made Banin appear uneasy. He promptly averted his gaze towards the rest of the swamp as though he were expecting to see the Dragon at any moment.
Banin held me close to his body in a protective gesture as he yelled out to the ghostly shadows that danced about the area. “We know you are here, Necromancer! You were foolish enough to show yourself in Lakis with that pathetic disguise. You cannot fool us any longer! Show yourself!”
I had my doubts in Master Dagg showing up, but I still watched the area expectantly.
As the rains finally began showing the slightest signs of calming, the creature from the skies returned. It circled us from above again, its shadow looming like a hungry vulture.
Suddenly, several large, feathered forms fell lifelessly from the creature and into the murk around us.
Banin and his men scrambled about, trying to dodge the incoming attacks from the sky, which, upon closer inspection, were actually decaying harpy corpses.
Banin's face paled at the sight of the corpses which now littered the swampy waters and he turned his attention back to the flying creature.
“Have you become such a feeble old Dragon that you can no longer withstand my blade?!” he shouted. “Are you truly so weak and pathetic that you toss corpses at us, now?!”
We all stared at the skies in silence afterwards, only to realize that the real trouble came from below.
Even in Banin's arms, I could feel the small vibrations that the swampy earth gave, parting the waters into seeped crevices formed by the tiny quakes. The murky waters came alive, taking the forms of harpies covered in mud and filth.
Their eyes, which had been gouged, were replaced by crimson orbs of glowing magic, which seemed to be the source of their animated state. They stood hunched over, their bodies limp and moving seemingly to another's
