Fan Fiction ❯ Divine Flame ❯ The Grumpy Old Dwarf ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2: The Grumpy Old Dwarf

Arkeson was lying in what looked almost like a traveling circus. The cage he was in was huge, packed with straw and only one side was a wooden wall. The other three sides were tall and strong bars, and the goblin guards around the cage jeered at the prisoners daily, throwing food in accompanied with rocks. There were about twenty prisoners in that cage, including Arkeson. Most of them were humans captured from Legna, like Arkeson. There was also a dwarf, who sat in a corner, keeping to himself, raising his head only when the guards opened the cage door.

When Arkeson awoke, he immediately worked himself up into such a fury that he flung himself at the gates, howling. His eyes narrowed to slits, his irises glowed red, and his hands were suddenly covered in blue scales as he punched at the bars, denting them. His claws were so sharp that any guard who tried to stop him was immediately impaled. An aura so intense surrounded him that the guards soon gave up trying to stop him, and instead surrounded the cage apprehensively, their weapons drawn and ready. Arkeson was just about to knock out a whole section of the cage, when a cloaked figure stepped up to the cage.

"Can't you fools do anything?" The figure snarled in a deep voice. "No, I suppose not. You are goblins, after all." The goblins around the figure scowled, but the figure was apparently somebody of high rank, for none dared to go near him. The figure was waving his hands about, tracing arcane symbols in the air in front of Arkeson and murmuring strange words. A ring of flame appeared in the air, and a fiery beam slammed into Arkeson's chest, intended to kill. Arkeson was flung to the other end of the cage with a cry of rage and pain, but he almost immediately got to his feet again, to the surprise of the figure.

"Bastards!" Arkeson spat, staggering forward, his body smoking. The figure repeated the spell multiple times, ending with a fireball smack in Arkeson's face, and Arkeson collapsed, unconscious.

When he awoke again, this time he was in what looked like a crude hovel carved out of stone. A single bed rested against the wall, filthy and small. A sharp pain tore through his head and he fell back onto the ground with a groan. Then a frightening though jolted him temporarily back up. He felt about his back and was instantly horrified to discover that his sword, along with all of his belongings, was missing! Slumping down in despair, his head hurting worse than before, he stared around blankly, taking in his surroundings in detail for the first time. He was in a small cell, among many others, apparently built deep underground in a slave mine. A few torches lit the dank and gloomy tunnel twisting out of his sight. A group of goblins were gathered around a small wooden table, playing some game known only to their race, laughing harshly and loudly, piercing the ears of the slaves. Two of them, wearing sneers on their faces, patrolled the narrow corridor, rattling their clubs against the metal bars, creating a din. But none of the prisoners dared to retaliate. They just sat in a dark corner, their will crushed, thinking only of the dark fate that awaited them.

"Hey there, lad." A gruff old voice said, a gnarled hand tapped Arkeson on his shoulder. Starting, Arkeson got to his feet and whirled around, his hand reaching for the sword that wasn't there. An old dwarf stood before him, his brown hair and beard tinged with long strands of white. He was dressed in ancient armor, with a long flap stretching almost all the way down to the ground, hanging behind his feet, and protecting them from attacks from behind. His helmet was equally ancient, topped by a tuft of red cloth. However, his armor was dented in many spots, and blackened by flame. Dragon fire, Arkeson realized abruptly.

"Erm… hi." Arkeson said lamely, not knowing what to say to the wizened old dwarf.

"Name's Ralin Firesword." Ralin prompted, supporting himself on one leg, staring at Arkeson with a speculative eye.

"Mine's Arkeson. Arkeson Drake Goliathes." The dwarf raised an eyebrow, but remained silent for a moment, still staring at Arkeson intensely. Finally, he took a step forward.

"You're a dragon, aren't you?" He said. Arkeson's mouth fell open. How did he know? It was impossible!

"Y-yeah… but h-how did you know?" Arkeson said, his voice faltering, noticing that the dwarf's eye now was filled with anger. Smothering anger. Ralin didn't say a word, and merely pointed at Arkeson's right hand, his sword arm. Arkeson glanced at it, and gasped. There wasn't human flesh there. Instead, it was covered in smooth, hard blue scales. What should have been his fingers were now long claws, glittering in the weak flame of the torch within his cell. The scales stretched up to his elbow, and there they stopped abruptly.

"What in the name of…" Arkeson mumbled briefly, holding his hand up to the flame, not believing what he was seeing.

"Dragons…" Ralin rumbled. Arkeson spun around fearfully. "They destroyed my home. The dragons. YOUR race!" The dwarf roared, and flung himself on Arkeson. The two went sprawling onto the hard ground. The dwarf was yelling incoherently, his fists flying. Arkeson raised both his hands to defend himself, and quite suddenly, the scales flashed, a barrier wrapped around Arkeson for a split second, and Ralin was thrown off. Arkeson got to his feet, breathing heavily, wiping away blood from his mouth.

"I don't know why dragons attacked your home. I really don't. But it has nothing to with me! I'm a ex…" Arkeson bit his words, staring at the dwarf defiantly. The dwarf nodded, a look of seemingly savage triumph on his face.

"An exiled dragon. From all the myths I've ever heard, that means you're still considered a juvenile dragon." He said, grinning. Arkeson remained silent, his face flushing a deep red. Ralin sighed.

"I'm sorry, lad. A bit too impulsive on my side." Ralin said, walking over to the bars, scowling at them. "But you have no idea what I've just lost. My home of a hundred years… my friends… everything." Arkeson remained silent, recalling the dark days of his banishment.

~*Flashback*~

It was the tradition, the custom of the dragons to banish the juvenile dragons at a young age, in order to allow them to experience the world in its myriad of colors before coming of age, the age in which they could transform and stay as dragons as they wished. As a juvenile dragon, Arkeson had always been fascinated with the elders. Try as he might, he couldn't stay in dragon form without suffering from excruciating pain.

That night was a gloomy one. The clouds covered the stars; the rain fell in gentle drops. The moon was hidden, the fire that burned in the dragons' homes were all extinguished, as was done whenever they sent a dragon in `exile'.

Arkeson had pleaded with the elders, with his friends, with his family. He didn't want to leave. Not yet. But the elders were firm in their decision.

"But… but…!" Arkeson trembled.

"This is the rule of the dragons, Arkeson. You have to understand." One of the elders, named Mynos, comforted Arkeson.

"I don't want to understand!" Arkeson snarled, shaking Mynos's hand off his shoulder. Mynos shrugged, and resumed his place in the circle of dragon elders, regarding Arkeson sadly. Arkeson's parents were both too grieved to appear at the ceremony. Arkeson hated them for that; hated them for not coming. In fact, at that moment, he suddenly hated the dragons, hated all of them. Why did they want to send him away? Arkeson couldn't understand, nor did he want to.

"Are you prepared, Arkeson?" Mynos asked gently. Arkeson didn't say anything. He simply stepped up onto the circular platform. It was built in a small shrine; all the walls were carved with arcane symbols and strange lines. The platform itself was carved out of a strange marble, a glowing blue orb in its center, a series of lines connecting it to the walls, a ring of symbols written on its edge. It was flat, but anyone standing in it felt as though it was rising to consume him. Arkeson experienced that frightening feeling, and firmly commanded his stomach to stay put. The stairs leading up to the platform suddenly vanished; the symbols and lines began to glow with a variety of colors, so bright that Arkeson couldn't tell what colors they were. The elders gathered around the shrine, uttering words of magic. The orb beneath Arkeson glowed brilliantly; the symbols rose from the platform and began to spin around Arkeson eerily. A pillar of light shot up from the platform, through the roof of the shrine and into the night sky with dazzling clarity. Arkeson felt as though he was being torn from the world, torn from the delicate fabric of life. There seemed to be nothing around him. He was falling… falling… falling for all eternity.

The pillar of light dispersed, the glowing ceased abruptly. Arkeson was no longer standing on the platform.

When Arkeson regained consciousness, he found himself at the edge of a pool, next to a thundering waterfall. Tears streamed down his face as he struggled to his feet, grabbing his sword. He staggered through the woods, not sure where he was heading. Then he came to the end of the forest, came to the edge of a tiny town.

The town of Legna.

~*End Flashback*~

Arkeson was rudely awakened from his dream by a powerful blow right into his chest. Doubling over in pain, Arkeson looked up to see who his attacker was and saw a goblin standing in front of him, sneering, a club in its arms.

"Go work, slave." It said crudely, pointing at the slow line of slaves trudging up to the work area. Arkeson was just about to attack the goblin when he remembered that he had no weapon. So, grimacing, Arkeson dragged himself over to the group of miserable prisoners. He stood next to Ralin, clutching his chest in pain.

"I'm going… to get us out of here." Arkeson said softly to Ralin.

"How are you going to do that?" Ralin muttered later, as they picked up handcrafted tools and began hacking at the walls, their feet chained together. Arkeson raised his scaled hand. Noting that Ralin didn't quite understand, Arkeson slammed his fist into the wall, and immediately there was a rumbling as a miniature crater appeared. Arkeson flexed his arm and grinned at Ralin, who was watching in wide-mouthed wonder. When the goblins turned away from the two of them, Arkeson reached down and snapped the chain binding their feet together as easily as one would break a twig. Then, as Ralin tried to get the blood back in his feet, Arkeson sneaked up behind the two goblin guards. He then swung his fist into the face of one of them, and he was flung away as a sickening crunch was heard. The other guard whipped around, snarling, but Arkeson simply picked it up by its neck, and crushed the neck with ease.

"Nice work." Ralin commented as he stepped forward.

"Damned goblins have a thick skull." Arkeson said, shaking his head as he rubbed his fist. He and Ralin then ran down the long, dimly lit corridor to the other slaves. As they ran, they came across a door, guarded by a sleeping goblin. Slipping past the guard was easy, and Arkeson was pleased to discover that the goblins used the room within to store weapons. Arkeson located his sword, and handed Ralin a giant axe. Ralin fingered it lovingly.

"Fine weapon, this one is." He said huskily. They left the room, killed the goblin in its slumber and continued their journey down the cave.

"What do you mean, it's impossible?" Arkeson demanded angrily, shaking a male so rapidly and furiously that all that could be seen of the man was a blur.

"Even with all the goblins dead, there's still the dark mage…" The man said groggily. Arkeson and Ralin had succeeded in releasing most of the prisoners, and the guards had either all fled or were already dead. Arkeson and Ralin didn't escape unscathed, however. Ralin had taken a blow across his head, and the blood was flowing freely down his face, forcing to shut one eye. Arkeson was quite badly bruised when he had taken on a group of goblins alone. As he focused on killing one, the others came from behind and slashed him.

"What dark mage?" Arkeson yelled, practically frothing at the mouth. Ralin seemed to know who the dark mage was.

"He's the one who knocked you out when you tried to break out of the cage earlier on." Ralin said, pulling Arkeson off the young man.

"There's just one of him, and a group of us! What's there to fear?" Arkeson said, his fists clenching, and a menacing cracking sound could be heard. The people paled slightly, but none of them said anything.

"Fine! Stay here and rot, if that's what you want! I'm getting out of this place!" Arkeson exploded, grabbing his sword and starting in the direction of the only exit in the entire slave mines. Ralin glanced around almost pleadingly, then, upon receiving no response, heaved a sigh and ran after Arkeson. The people started to look at each other, whispering among themselves. The same young man that Arkeson had nearly devoured stood by himself in a corner, thinking, not paying attention to the others.

"There's the cave exit now!" Arkeson laughed. "And the so-called dark mage hasn't even appeared to stop us!" Ralin didn't say anything as he looked around suspiciously. Arkeson, basking in the light of triumph, didn't notice.

"Dark mage, my…" Arkeson didn't even get to complete his words when there was a mighty explosion in front of Arkeson, and he went sprawling to the ground with a cry of pain. Ralin immediately look at the exit. And there was the dark mage, his silhouette clearly visible against the afternoon sun. He began to chant, and Ralin immediately dragged the dazed Arkeson into a nearby alcove, dodging the fiery beam just in time. He cursed and slapped Arkeson a few times, and the latter opened his eyes slowly.

"You okay, Arkeson?" Ralin asked impatiently, noting that the dark mage was starting to walk towards them.

"Arkeson? Who's that?" The man asked groggily, a comical grin on his face. Ralin slapped him again. Arkeson then shook his head violently and got to his feet.

"I'm fine." He mumbled. Seeing Ralin's dubious look, he cast the latter an irritated glare. "I said I'm fine!" He picked up his partially charred sword, looked at it with a grimace on his face, and peered out of the alcove cautiously. A red beam coming from the mage's hand greeted him, and he stumbled back into the alcove, swearing loudly. Ralin caught hold of him.

"Well, any ideas?" He demanded. Arkeson thought of a brief moment.

"I'll distract him, and you get him from behind!" He said.

"That's the most common plan used around!" Ralin said in horror. "It's not going to work!"

"Any other ideas?" Arkeson said irritably. Ralin sighed and shook his head. Arkeson grinned. "Thought so." Arkeson leapt out of the alcove, barely avoided being cooked alive and flung his sword at the mage. The mage easily dodged the attack. But his brief pause gave Arkeson enough time to charge at him. The mage fired off a desperate fireball spell, but Arkeson dispersed the spell by stabbing his scaled fist into its heart. He then aimed a powerful kick at the mage's chest and the mage flew back with a scream. Unfortunately, Ralin, who had just sneaked up behind the mage, was caught in the line of the mage's flight, and they both crashed onto the ledge outside the cave. The mage immediately got to his feet, coughing a few times, blood staining the ground in front of him. Behind him, stuck on the ground, was Ralin, his arms and feet flailing about, his vision blocked by his helmet, which had been knocked down onto his face during his wild flight, his curses echoing throughout the cave. Arkeson grabbed his sword and ran outside, and noticed in horror that the ledge was a great distance above the forest down below, and the only way down was a small footpath. The mage, snarling, cast a powerful spell, and the ground around him began to crack and fall apart as bolts of lightning streaked down from the clear blue sky and smashed into the ground. Arkeson experienced a moment of searing pain as one of them struck him where he stood. The ledge began to tremble.

"We're going to fall!" Arkeson realized. Steadfastly ignoring the pain, he charged forward, got hit a few more times, and finally grabbed the mage by his neck, and pinned him against the mountainside. By this time, his clothes were blackened, and his face was bleeding badly.

"Why did you destroy Legna?" He demanded, breathing heavily. The mage grinned eerily from the depths of his hood.

"It was a threat… to our god… the god Evaelc!" He whispered, his voice cracking.

"A small town? A threat?" Arkeson tightened his grip on the neck.

"Those fool races, living together… in the same… town… Impossible for our… new world to thrive…!" The mage gasped. Then as a final desperate attack, he summoned up a gigantic wall of flame. The fire burned Arkeson's scaled arm, and he staggered back, screaming in pain. The mage began to cackle as the flames consumed him. Then, the flames weakened, and the charred body fell forward, reduced to nothing but ash. Arkeson collapsed to his knees, grasping his right arm in pain. It was bleeding heavily, and the scales were vanishing one by one. Ralin finally pulled his helmet off, glanced around, and looked at Arkeson quizzically.

"What happened?" He asked. Arkeson didn't say anything. The pain and the blood were vanishing along with the scales, and eventually the pain subsided. As he struggled to his feet, he and Ralin heard sounds of battle coming from inside the cave, and they braced themselves for an attack. A large group of goblins charged out.

"The surviving guards." Arkeson said grimly, and gripped his sword tightly. Then, all of a sudden, the goblins fell forward, dead. The group of prisoners stood behind them, weapons in their hands. When the battle rage cleared from their heads, they slumped forward in exhaustion, and some women and children burst in tears.

"He… didn't make it…" One wailed, and Arkeson understood. Some of their number had died in the assault. He muttered a brief prayer.

"But you're free now…" He offered kindly. The young man he had tried to throttle earlier shook his head.

"We're free… but it cost us dearly." He said. Arkeson couldn't say anything. The group of people started down the long mountain path, down to the forest, where they would pick up the shattered remains of their lives, and start anew.

But Arkeson and Ralin didn't follow them. They just stood there, Arkeson staring blankly into the sky, Ralin glancing at the forest below in dismay.

"Home to the elves." He uttered in mild disgust. Arkeson remained silent, listening to the whispering wind as it carried the mage's ashes and words away.

"Our new world…" The wind whispered, and Arkeson started down the path.

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1

2 Notes: Yeah, slow update, but I'm trying to figure out how to write a good story with romance, like Comrade Terror and LdofDestruction. Please R&R!! A few good reviews will really help, even better if you can offer me ideas for the storyline. Thanks.

For the next chapter: I'll be putting in the third character, an outcast elf and maybe another character (I'm not going to say who it will be just yet). And YES, I am aware that Lunar (from chapter 1) is a copy of Renamon, but what can I say? I love Digimon! And I'll just add a disclaimer, then.

Disclaimer: I do not own Renamon, Toei Animation, Fox Kids, and Saban or Bandai owns her. I use their characters for my stories for readers' enjoyment.

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