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"Hey sir Lucian!" the young man said, getting his horse to catch up.
"What is it Felix?" Lucian responded back, looking at the young man with dirty blond hair matching well with his dark blue eyes.
"Do you know how long we have left until we're gonna dismount?" Felix asked, tilting his head slightly letting the Harvest moon's orange hue spread over his face.
"I don't really know, as I'm not the one with the map. Ask Sir Sidrian's retainer Seth, he's keeping track of the route and map." Lucian said with a gentle smile, his bright green eyes complementing the distinctive moles positioned beneath each eye. His jet black hair remained mostly hidden under an unusual kettle helmet, an uncommon choice among knights, but one that suited his personal taste. His polished armor gleamed in the orange moonlight, a giant sun crest emblazoned on his chest. He also wore a sun necklace as a cherished keepsake. At twenty-five, he was the youngest of the knights in the Solarin kingdom.
Felix, nodding to the answer Lucian gave, galloped over to Seth who was slightly in front, right beside Sidrian.
Seth had a well-braided ponytail that fell to his shoulders, his brown hair complementing his hazel eyes with green flecks scattered throughout. He wore a large backpack containing most of their supplies, as he served as the group's carrier.
"Hey Seth, how far is it left until we get off horseback?" Felix asked, looking at Seth with a more casual and relaxed expression as he himself was also a retainer.
"Um.. let me check uhh.. Yeah! Now I know, about right now." said Seth with a confident grin creeping up his face, as Felix looked with a dumbfounded expression, trying to show how stupid Seth was being with his answer.
"No Seth, we're about ten minutes away. I know you're learning, but check properly next time. Make sure what you're saying is correct." The man named Sidrian was a tall knight. He had his helmet's visor raised, revealing dark brown eyes nearly as black as the void, framed by light blond hair that spilled from beneath the metal. At thirty-five, he carried himself with the authority of experience. His armor mirrored Lucian's polished steel with the same sun crest.
Seth, being slightly embarrassed, nodded at Sidrian. Felix, getting the response he wanted, rode back down with his white horse to Lucian. Felix then gave his response to Lucian.
Lucian nodded at Seth's answer, preparing himself to dismount. They had been riding for about a week to reach the designated cave King Sol had given them as a mission.
As they started approaching their dismount spot, the woods began darkening. They heard fewer and fewer animals and birds. The grass grew thicker, the leaves on the trees grew denser. It was as if they were approaching the dark places from the folklore stories they were told as children.
The harvest moon's eerie orange glow filtering between the dense leaves only made things worse. When they had traveled far enough into the ominous forest, Sidrian raised his hand and said calmly, "Stop, we are at a safe range now. It's time to dismount and begin the witch hunt."
Everyone dismounted and secured their horses to a nearby tree. Seth then pulled out a detailed map of the forest since Sidrian had only glanced at the previous map and couldn't recall the forest's layout fully.
"If we continue straight forward to where I'm pointing, we should arrive at the cave pretty soon," Seth said, a little proud of himself as this was the first time he'd handled the map on a mission.
Sidrian looked over at the map Seth was carrying, then started clapping and gave him a proud smile. "Correct, my retainer. Perhaps soon enough you can fend for yourself and be promoted to a knight, but don't expect to become a Royal knight anytime soon - or even in your lifetime."
"Thank you, Sir Sidrian," Seth said with a slight smirk, rubbing his nose. "But I already know how hard it is to become a royal knight. My goal is just to become a self-sustained knight who can fend for himself - nothing more, nothing less."
"That's fair, Seth. Becoming a royal knight is extremely difficult. I don't see myself becoming one either, but you young ones might still have that burning passion for it. Anyway, we need to get a move on. The witch might have already fled and started a new life elsewhere. You never know what a witch is up to," Sidrian said with a slightly saddened expression. Though he was now considered old by today's standards, he quickly donned a serious demeanor. Killing the witch was far more important than his personal feelings, he thought.
They all began to move forward. Strangely, the forest was indeed growing denser and darker, the interwoven branches above blocking out the harvest moon's orange glow and making it difficult for them to see anything.
In response to the darkness, Lucian had Seth retrieve the torches from his backpack. Seth hastily pulled off his pack and distributed the pre-made torches to everyone. Lucian took out flint and steel from Felix's backpack, and lit their torches one by one in a chain, with Felix lighting Lucian's torch last.
They all marched through the thick forest, finally arriving at the cave where the mission stated the witches abode was.
Lucian suddenly sensed danger, something dark and cold lurked inside. With every step toward the cave, dread coursed through him more intensely. The ominous presence nearly made him retreat, but his knightly pride held firm. He refused to fail his first witch hunt or appear weak before his closest friend Sidrian.
They entered the cave fully, venturing deeper until they suddenly saw light ahead. Candles and lanterns were scattered across the walls and floor, casting flickering shadows everywhere. This worked in their favor; the witch wouldn't easily spot their torch flames among all the existing light. Lucian, still overwhelmed by the sense of danger, nearly puked but forced it down. Noticing his distress, Sidrian tried to reassure him that everything would be fine.
As they were venturing even further, they spotted a woman foaming at the mouth.
Her skin was covered in scales, her eyes fully draconic with a golden hue and darker golden pupils. The scales themselves were pearl white. She had dark brown hair, flowing down to her neck. She wore a massive black fur robe that reached her feet, its white fur decorated with carved symbols: an eye at the top, a ball beneath it, and a stripe below the ball. This pattern repeated across the entire upper portion of the coat, appearing to be some kind of religious symbol.
Lucian whispered quietly, "Shush, the witch is right in front of us. Luckily she seems distracted by something, so let's use it to our advantage." His face tensed slightly, but his focus remained sharp.
Lucian then spotted a large rock nearby and quickly guided the others to duck behind it, while the draconic witch stared blankly at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought.
Lucian whispered, "Sidrian, if possible, could you distract the witch? We have some bombs in Seth's backpack. I'll circle around behind her while you keep her attention."
Sidrian gave a thumbs up to confirm the plan. He nodded to Seth, who reached into his backpack and pulled out a round, black explosive with ropes wrapped around it and a fuse for ignition.
All of them nodded as Lucian used his flint and steel to light the fuse. Sidrian hurled the bomb above the witch's head where it exploded, the shockwave knocking her to the ground. Simultaneously, Lucian burst into a full sprint, moving through her blind spots while drawing his sword.
The witch, unharmed, jumped up quickly checking her surroundings but ending up seeing nothing. Suddenly a sharp sword was swung right into her neck, with Lucian full sending the swing.
Sparks flew as Lucian's expression became one of fear as her scales deflected Lucian's swing fully, making his sword slide right off and causing his balance to tip.
In a state of confusion, Lucian thought, "What? How did my sword do nothing? This was not what I signed up for! King Sol, what have you led us into?" At the same time, the witch's body did a full rotation, and in tandem with the rotation she had charged a strong wind blast in her fist. Once this hit Lucian, he was sent at high speeds right into the rock wall, knocking some candles over and causing small cracks to form on the wall near his body.
Lucian was fully knocked out.
"What, that didn't work? Lucian was the swiftest and strongest of us. What are we supposed to do now?" Sidrian thought to himself. He then looked at the two retainers who were also in shock. "You guys stay here, okay? This seems to be way out of our hands. While you two escape, I'll fight the witch off," Sidrian said, his voice steady and resolved. "I'm old now. It's nice to have a good send-off, you know." He gave them both a firm smile.
Seth and Felix thought this wasn't right, so Seth interjected, "B-But there must be some other way, right? You are Sir Sidrian, you have a lot of experience in these type of scenarios? RIGHT?!" Seth, his smile jittering, was saying anything to avoid the outcome for both Lucian and Sidrian. Felix agreeing with what Seth said, was also experiencing the same jittering smile.
Sidrian, offering them a final smile, charged out from behind the rock, drawing his sword, both his dark brown eyes glittering with excitement, knowing this would be his final mission he would ever be on.
The witch, spotting him instantly, let out a loud scream causing a giant shockwave to force him back, blowing out a lot of the candles out. But Sidrian forced through, charging at an even higher speed.
Both Felix and Seth, refusing to abandon their knights, remained behind the rock in desperate preparation. Felix worked with trembling hands to create their last hope, wrapping flour from their rations in parchment, putting a small tight rope on top to close it off.
It was a crude weapon, but if they could blind the witch at the right time, perhaps they could save both Lucian and Sidrian from certain death.
Sidrian raised his sword high, his battle cry echoing through the cavern as he brought it down toward the witch. She raised her right arm defensively, but at that precise moment, Felix hurled the flour bomb directly into her face. The makeshift weapon exploded in a cloud of white powder, temporarily blinding her. Seizing the opportunity, Sidrian adjusted his strike mid-swing, transforming his overhead blow into a devastating neck strike that found the exact spot where Lucian's blade had weakened her scales, causing a small crack to form.
The witch, brushing it off, let a chain fall out of her robe. Grabbing it, she touched his right leg with it, causing a massive loud noise to echo through the cave, blowing out an even bigger amount of candles and even blowing out some of the lanterns. Sidrian's leg was completely mangled, metal deep into his leg, blood spewing out everywhere.
Sidrian's right leg was utterly destroyed, his armor twisted into his flesh, blood spreading across the stone floor. Dazed and desperate, he tried to use the ruined limb for another strike, but it collapsed beneath him, sending him crashing down.
Felix and Seth, perceiving the scene, started running, now fully understanding how pointless it was for them to pursue continued combat with the witch.
The witch turned her attention to the two young retainers scrambling to escape. There was no urgency in her movements; she had all the time in the world. Drawing her chain, she let it hover in the air, forming a perfect circle before her. Within the spinning metal links, an ominous green light began to pulse and grow. Violent winds whipped through her dark hair as the swirling ball of wind extended thin, visible streams of air that spread across the cavern floor, cracking stone wherever they touched. Her lips curved into a predatory smile, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth.
"Ready..." the witch said with unnerving calm. A devastating wind blast erupted from the circle, shattering the stone floor and ceiling, extinguishing every remaining candle and lantern in its path. Unearthly screams echoed through the cavern—sounds that seemed torn from the depths of hell itself. The attack struck the two retainers before they could even cry out. In an instant, they were obliterated completely, blood and bodily fluids coating every surface of the cavern in a grotesque spray.
The cavern had grown dim with only a handful of flickering flames remaining. Sidrian's mouth hung open in stunned silence, his eyes wide with horror as he found himself completely speechless—no words could capture what he had just witnessed.
The witch suddenly began to scream, blood seeping from every visible pore on her face. Her pearl-white scales writhed and shifted across her skin in disturbing clumps, some small, others large. In apparent agony, she clawed frantically at her own face with razor-sharp talons, tearing deep gashes into her flesh.
Sidrian, seeing this, began crawling toward Lucian's unconscious form. "Lucian, I'm not going to make it out of here. But maybe I can shield you and give you a chance to escape from here," he thought, his expression flickering between a weak smile and a pained scowl. With his last reserves of strength, he dragged himself over Lucian's body as a human shield. "Heh," he breathed out softly before passing out due to blood loss.
The witch's scales quickly recovered every time she cut them, but still bleeding profusely, her scream started emitting a strong gust blowing out from every direction. Every candle was now fully blown out or vaporized, the only thing keeping the light alive were a few lanterns.
The woman lifted her gaze toward the ceiling as her screaming subsided. Her chain suddenly shattered, unleashing a massive windstorm that slammed both Lucian and Sidrian against the cavern wall with crushing force, pinning them there.
As her expression settled into eerie calm, a flicker of rational thought returned to her eyes. "So this is what happens when you go too far... I was reckless with my echo. Roderic, I'm sorry... guess you're stuck dealing with the aftermath." The moment of clarity vanished as her transformation accelerated. Her face contorted and elongated, losing all human features as a draconic snout emerged. Her entire body began expanding, growing larger by the second.
All traces of her consciousness had vanished entirely, leaving only the dragon's will controlling her transforming body.