Xenarra: The Dragon Throne - Chapter 29 Cultist's

In the night, I was woken up again. This time though, it was Dubh. No thought was needed. My hand went straight to the dagger.

“Adoh, no need for fighting. We are under attack, they have found us. The cult of Asmodai have found us. We need to leave now.”

His words shocked me up and out of bed. I didn’t know who Asmodai was but if he had a cult, that means bad news for us. Cults are usually bad news, they usually practise dark and evil magic. They haven’t been heard of in a long time though. So, I am not sure why they are here.

After making sure all of my amour was on correctly, I ran into the main cavern, sword and dagger in hand. Once I got into the cavern, I had to fight my way through all of the rangers to get next to Erebus. Seeing me, his dark face, lightened up a little but it was still as dark as the thunder clouds.

“Sir, Dubh said something about a cult of Asmodai, what are they?”

“Kid, there is not much time to explain. What you called demons are not real demons, they are just animals corroded by demonic energy. Asmodai is one of the seventy two kings of hell. A real demon. His cult are humans mainly, some dragon kin like us and other races. They live beyond the black border so you don’t see them much at all. We need to go now. Stay close kid.”

Then, we all headed out onto the plateau. Some rangers with bows came running up the pass from the woods. “They are at the bottom, we can’t escape that way. The major was killed as well. Erebus, we don’t know your rank or what unit you are from, but you are the strongest here. Please, lead us.”

Erebus, then against everyone’s expectation, said no. He then pointed out the next highest ranking ranger which unfortunately was Dubh. He gave me a glance before arranging everyone and getting us to move up the mountain on another pass that had been hidden until some cast a spell making it visible.

“Captain Sir, me and my squad would request to be left behind and slow down the cult.”

“Dolok are you sure? You haven’t even finished your full training yet.” Dubh had a frown on his face as he said this slowly, pronouncing every word. Yet, I and everyone here could see he was glad, whether it was because he didn’t like Dolok or just that he was glad someone would be staying behind to slow the cultist’s down no one knew, except Dubh.

“Yes Captain, we are sure.” It was a firm reply. No fear or doubt could be seen on any of their faces.

“Show them the real hell, the hell we make. For we are rangers, the sword in the dark.”

Then we all set off, on the mountain path, leaving Dolok and his squad behind.

“Sir Erebus who are you exactly?”

“Kid, it took you way too long to ask that question. I can’t answer you though, what I do is classified. Just know I am no longer a ranger.”

‘The mysteries about Erebus, just keep on growing. Who knows so much, has advanced combat skills and is greatly respected by all of the rangers but he can’t tell me. He is a special person that I can tell.’

The mountain path was dangerous. The rocks on it were loose, making it so that we could easily slip. To do so would mean, certain death. This is because on one side of us was a solid mountain wall, the other a sheer drop. At the bottom of this, I had been told, were the woods. But at the speed you would fall, if you fell, they would be more like a forest of stakes, each one capable of killing you.

After a while, there was still no sign of anyone following us, Dolok and his squad or cultist.

‘Poor Dolok, he seemed like a good person. His squad as well seemed nice, even if I barely spoke to any of them, the grumpy one was included in that as well. This just reminded me of my own weakness again. If only I was stronger….’

“Kid, there is no point thinking about what you could have done. They died the death they wanted. It was for us, for you. If not, you would probably be one of the first to fall……Focus on the path! Don’t fall!”

I slipped, thanks to Erebus’s quik reactions, I didn’t slip off the path. The sound of rocks bashing onto the cliff as they fell down caused a lot of eyes to look in my direction. My face was heating up and my mistake. Seeing how I was reacting they all began to judge me in their heads, not that any of them said it out loud though.

Then, we slowly began to head down the mountain. It didn’t take long for us all to reach the bottom. Once there everyone sat down, exhausted from the journey. No matter how you said it, traveling for hours on a path in the mountains is hard.

“Everyone, chances are we won’t be able to get back to our frontlines, so we are going to head to one of the other outposts. If they are abandoned we will head to the fort. Move out.”

‘I couldn’t help but compare them to the knights. Obviously they had the main differences. They all acted differently though. A lot of them were more reserved and felt dangerous. The knights were generally quite outgoing, and gave a feeling of calm and that I was protected. They all interacted more as well. The rangers just kept to their squads. That was it.’

“Kid, come on. I am not going to drag you through this woodland. If you want to stay fine, but I will hate to see all of the work I have put into you, go to waste.”

Following Erebus, through the woodland, it didn’t take long to arrive at a ranger outpost. What we found was horrifying.

Their bodies were at stake.

Some had been burned.

Some impaled.

The others, well, had been ripped apart. Their innards were covering the floor and if it wasn’t, birds were pricking their bodies apart.

Leaving that gruesome scene, we arrived at the next outpost as the sun was falling from the sky. This one unlike the other, didn’t have any corpses outside. It had been abandoned. Some people went in and just confirmed most of the guesses we all had.

“Everyone, we will make camp here tonight. No fires.”

Then, Dubh pointed to a few people making them keep watch for the first part of the night. Then I followed Erebus to a spot further away from the others.

“Kid, get some sleep, you will need it. Dubh is well known for not liking people who slow the rest of us down. Can’t have him disliking you more, can we?”

Then I just layed down on the stone, looking at the stars. All I could think of was the scene from earlier. It was different to the battlefield. It was bloody and wrong. I hope Dolok didn’t end up like that.