Devourer

Chapter 24: Breaking Eggs and Dwarfs

I flew above the peaks of the mountains as I scanned the world below me. I was going further north now, at my current speed it wouldn’t be long before I entered the so-called Dwarf territory. When Cecilia told me about this so-called territory she did so with a set of air quotation marks. It turns out this territory is only recognized legally. 

The Dwarfs are proud and reclusive people preferring to stay under their mountain, in their cities carved out in the stone of their mountain home. They drew these borders and everyone else just accepted it. It wasn’t like anyone could do anything with that horrible mountainous terrain anyway. The Dwarfs themselves couldn’t even keep it safe so they rarely traveled into this so-called piece of sovereign land.

I still remember Cecilia’s laugh as she described it, a so-called sovereign land that the sovereign nation can’t control due to the presence of Wyverns, Phoenixes, and all the other creatures that inhabit these mountains.

Well as long as I stay away from them, it should be fine…

Then I spotted a glowing signature down below. I looked down to see a phoenix swooping down on something…

What the hell? It looks like it was attacking a convoy…

I immediately began descending so I could get a better look at what was happening. As I got closer I realised what was going on. It was a Dwarven convoy and the phoenix seemed hell bent on killing them. The dwarves looked strong too for a humanoid, about gold to... maybe mithril rank? I could take them no problem but still there was the risk of discovery…

As I landed on a nearby ledge and peered at the battle down below I saw the Dwarves desperately trying to fight the phoenix off. That phoenix looked pissed… it was just sending wave after wave of fire attacks right at the Dwarves. I spotted several Dwarf bodies on the ground burnt to a crisp.

“GET IT AWAY FROM THE CAGE!” one of the dwarves shouted as it hefted it’s crossbow and fired a glowing arrow at the Phoenix the shot hit home and a large explosion appeared where the bolt landed. 

The Phoenix however just seemed to be knocked back slightly and it roared in rage as it flapped it’s flaming wings and a wave of fire bolts flew out. Most of the Dwarves survived either dodging the blasts or using magic barriers to withstand the attack. One however, wasn’t so lucky and I saw his burnt remains drop onto the stone ground. It’s armor melted onto its flesh. The thing that made me worried about fighting this Phoenix was that it’s fire wasn’t orange, it was blue… and when I switched my vision to thermal I saw the Phoenix’s heat made it look like a glowing sun.

“RETURN MY CHILD STUNTED FILTH!” the Phoenix roared as it fired off another wave of fireballs.

Huh, I knew Phoenixes were rather intelligent, they were about as smart as humanoids but I didn’t know they could talk. Maybe this one learned the common language of this world. Cecilia did tell me Phoenixes were immortal, this one might have been alive for quite awhile, long enough to learn to speak.

Interestingly I found myself able to understand the languages in this world. Not only could I understand it, I could speak it and even read it now. I’m not completely certain why I could read it now, considering I couldn’t read the tablet at the start. My best guess was that my [Memory Assimilation] and [Advanced Cognition] allowed me to learn their text from their memories subconsciously. Cecilia said the different races spoke slightly different variants of what is known as the Common Tongue. But to me oddly, it sounded exactly the same, just with a bit of an accent.

“LIKE HELL WE WILL! YOU WANT IT? COME AND GET IT YOU STUPID FIRE CHICKEN!” the Dwarf roared in reply.

The Phoenix’s eyes narrowed at the insult and then it’s body split into two. Now a pair of Phoenixes now flew side by side and the pair flew apart trying to attack the Dwarves from two sides. Both Phoenixs flapped their wings and two waves of fireballs flew out and the Dwarves got ready to meet the attack. Surprisingly the attacks from both phoenix's created damaging attacks. I watched as the wave of fireballs blasted the Dwarves. Most of them survived but I could tell they were tiring under the strain...

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.♚.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

Dunan Greatbeard growled as he lowered his enchanted shield. This mission was dangerous, everyone knew that. But they had no choice, the king decreed that a Phoenix egg was needed for the good of the realm. So the king sent Dunan, a Dwarven Ranger, on this great task. The Rangers were elite soldiers and sworn to the Stone Throne. Dunan was chosen to lead his team of Rangers to steal a great treasure. 

The reports from other Ranger teams have discovered that a Phoenix had laid an egg. This was a miraculous and rare occurrence. The Phoenixes laid eggs once every thousand years so this opportunity could not be passed up without at least an attempt being undertaken.

Dunan’s team got the egg with no issue but halfway back to the city of Iron Hammer the mother came looking for them…

It was just his luck that the mother happened to be a Blue Fire Phoenix, if it was an Orange or Red Fire this would be so much easier. At least the ancestors gave him enough luck to avoid running into a White Fire or even a Violet Fire...

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Now here he was pinned on this mountain trail with a third of his team now nothing but melted corpses. They had to kill this Phoenix or at least drive it off. But it was very clear the mother would not leave her egg, so perhaps killing it was the only option. 

His mages were running dry and his fellow Rangers were running out of Wyvern Bolts. But he had a plan, he was gifted with a new invention for his mission. He just needed a good moment to use it…

“Return fire!” Dunan ordered as he planted his shield into the ground and took out his crossbow. 

Dunan needed to buy time, he knew the Phoenix couldn’t keep up her clone and attacks for long. The Phoenixes lacked stamina in prolonged fights, once it tired Dunan would spring his trap.

Dunan could only hope this trap would work, it was their only chance. Blue Fire Phoenixes are at least two thousand years old so this one was no fool. Dunan’s family line didn’t even go back that far…

“I WILL TURN YOU TO CINDERS!” the Phoenixes roared in unison as they opened their maws. 

Dunan raised his crossbow and muttered his incantation, [Enchant: Ether Jammer]. Dunan fired his crossbow at one of the Phoenixes as he saw the rest of his team do the same at both of the Phoenixes. The one Dunan fired off released a ray of light from its mouth but as the jamming bolts flew out it caused enough interference for the ability to blow up in the Phoenix’s face. 

Unfortunately the other one didn’t get hit by enough bolts and the [Sun Ray] raked across his men, turning another three of his team to ash. That Ether explosion however was enough to weaken the  Phoenix. Dunan watched as the two Phoenixs flew back together and remerged into one. He could tell it was getting tired, but to be fair Dunan was also running out of men…

This fight will come down to the wire, it was the Phoenix’s firepower against Dwarven endurance and stubbornness… and the Dwarves were famously stubborn…

“Alright boys let's do it…” Dunan said as what remained of his team nodded. This was the moment of truth, he could only hope it would work and that he wouldn’t lose too many men in the process.

The Phoenix roared as it swooped down into a dive, when Phoenix's tire they switched to less strenuous melee attacks. That would be their moment... 

“NOW!” Dunan roared and all his Mages stood up from their cover. 

[Binding Shackles] all his remaining Mages intoned and a wave of blue orbs flew at the Phoenix.

When the spells hit the Phoenix sets of blue magical chains appeared and binding the Phoenix. It shrieked as it crashed onto the mountain trail, tumbling into the dirt. 

“These chains cannot hold me for long stunted ones.” the phoenix growled as it struggled against the chains. Dunan knew it was right, the raw heat from its body was already eroding the magical chains. But he didn’t need long.

“Skewer it!” Dunan said as he turned around and saw one of the carriages pop open. The four walls fell away revealing a ballista on a gimballed mount. Dunan turned back and saw the Phoenix’s eyes widened at the sight of the weapon.

Dunan knew if he revealed his hand too early the Phoenix would destroy it instantly, that would be the end of him and his team. But now with it bound, they could land the fatal blow…

Dunan heard the thunk of the ballista firing and he watched as a two meter long Mithril siege bolt slammed into the body of the Phoenix. It shrieked in pain but it didn’t die, it only glared hatefully at the Dunan and his men.

“When I am reborn I will turn your city to ash.” the Phoenix said weakly.

“You’ll be met with a wall of those, you stupid chicken.  HIT IT AGAIN!” Dunan roared and another mithril bolt slammed into the body of the Phoenix. 

It still wasn’t dead surprisingly but Dunan knows with these wounds the Phoenix couldn’t fight anymore. It would succumb to it’s injuries soon before reverting into its egg form. They couldn't bring the egg back for two simple reasons, this same Phoenix would eventually pop out of that egg in a blue ball of fire at full strength. No way in hell he was bringing that back into the mountain.

The second reason was that it would leave behind a Blue Fire egg, and that egg would be too hot to transport. The only eggs that could be safely transported would be Red Fire eggs which are the newborns. The Orange Fire was possible but difficult and what would emerge from it wasn’t worth it. The Blue, White and Violet eggs could melt stone, so no they couldn’t bring it along. 

“When I am reborn I will repay this grievance a thousand times over…” the Phoenix said weakly as it’s flaming blood spread on the stone ground.

“Consider me terrified then.” Dunan said with a scoff. 

They’ve taken heavy losses but at least they got their prize. Normally this would be a thoroughly wasteful fight, they couldn’t bring the Phoenix back. The most they could do was collect some stray feathers. Their bodies turned to ash when they died so the real value was in their eggs. The yokes of the egg had powerful properties that could aid in creating powerful enchanted weapons. The king’s own sacred warhammer had enchantments made from the yoke of an orange fire egg. It was named Bloodoath, for all the lives that were sacrificed to create that sacred weapon. 

“Leave it alive, it’ll take awhile to die. Buy us more time to get back to Iron Hammer. We need to get back soon, mount up, we're already behind schedule. No one other than the king and the Lord Ranger knows we’re here so we better head back before they send a search party. We don’t want our brothers to run into this thing over here.” Dunan said as he cast a gaze at the slowly dying Phoenix.

“Aye Captain.” his men said but then he heard the Ballista fire again, followed by a loud crash. 

Dunan turned to see one of his mages skewered by a Ballista bolt. He whirled around to see the Dwarves manning the ballista dead and a 5 meter tall white feathered creature standing next to the empty ballista. It was using one of it’s massive hands to aim it, the beast then brought one of it’s hands down on the Ballista splintering the wooden structure.. 

The beast then let out an ear splitting roar and charged at one of the Mages. The mage panicked and raised a barrier. However, the beast's claws cut through the barrier and the mage’s body like paper. 

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?” one of his Rangers shouted in panic. 

Dunan has never seen something like that before. All he knew was that the beast just took out their best weapon and it was very dangerous… 

The beast darted towards another Mage and cut him in half. It had four arms, the upper two had blades while the smaller lower arms had three taloned hands. 

“PROTECT THE MAGES!” Dunan roared as his Rangers sprang into motion. They fired their crossbows but the beast was fast. Two bolts hit home but it looked like all it did was inflict a flesh wound. The beast didn’t even flinch, it just continued it’s rampage. 

Two of his Rangers rushed forward, grabbed their shields and drew their swords. They had to rescue their back line. The Mages were their main source of firepower if they died, the rest would be finished...

The beast slashed at the first ranger and he raised his mithril plated shield in defence. Dunan looked on in shock as the shield was cut in two and the Ranger was knocked back as it clutched it’s stump of an arm. The beast then turned and shot a breath of fire at the other Ranger. The Ranger wasn't expecting a fire breath attack and was trying to get an attack in while the beast was distracted.

The fire consumed the Ranger, one of the Mages immediately cleaned the fire off him but the beast's claws flashed and the Ranger was cut in two. 

“HIT IT!” Dunan shouted when he saw that three remaining mages were now behind their front line. The Mages [Thundering Gale] the mages roared as they shot a wave of lightning bolts at the beast, if it could breathe fire it might have fire resistance. 

The beast turned just in time to see the lightning bolts hit it’s body, then the body vanished into motes of light…

“Huh… a decoy?” one of the Mages said in confusion.

“What the hell is this thing?” one of his Rangers said as they looked around warily. 

“I don't kn…” the mage replied but was cut off. Dunan turned to see his three mages now in six pieces as the beast emerged from invisibility right behind the mages.

This was really bad, he only had six Rangers left and no Mages were left. His company of twenty four was now down to seven…

True to their training two of the Rangers charged as the rest of them aimed their crossbows. Dunan did the same and they let fly a wave of bolts. However, their crossbow bolts weren’t the only things that were in the air… 

The beast shot a wave of 1 meter long spines from it’s shoulders and it skewered the two of the Rangers who were standing next to each other. With their crossbows in hand they didn’t have time to grab their shields. They were just impaled in the chest by several spines.

What the hell was this thing… it could breathe fire, had blades sharp enough to rip through mithril, could use decoys, turn invisible and now it could fire spines?

Dunan reloaded his crossbow as the beast easily cut down the two rangers that were engaged in melee. Their crossbows were doing nothing, he had one last Wyvern bolt left and seeing as none of his compatriot’s bolts exploded they must be out…

The Dwarves greatest strengths was their equipment, they didn’t have the same magic abilities as most of the other races. But they were also excellent warriors and craftsmen. They relied on their equipment and pre enchanted munitions to give them an edge in combat.

He had one last Wyvern Bolt left. He needed to make it count… looks like it was time for an all or nothing gamble…

The beast advanced as it charged at his two remaining men. To their credit they fought bravely, but they were easily dispatched. Dunan waited for the right moment to strike. When the beast cut down the last man he used the opening to fire his crossbow to the side of the beast’s head. He suspected the feathers were armoured so he went for the smooth domed head that wasn’t covered in feathers. It looked like it was the most vulnerable part of the body, the rest looked much more durable. There was an explosion and Dunan looked on in horror as the beast just calmly turned round to look at him. He watched as the burnt gaping wound on the side of it’s head just healed shut… it had regeneration too…

“Good try…” the beast said with a chuckle as it approached...

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.♚.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

As I approached the last defiant Dwarf I saw him draw his sword and take up his shield. So he’ll go down fighting then. Admirable resolve…

I only attacked them because I saw how powerful that Phoenix was and the fact that this one mentioned that they were alone. That and they were transporting an egg, this was a three in one deal. I will get two phoenixes and some of the Dwarf Genome if I take them out. I just had to kill them without leaving any traces, I’ll recover my spines and collect all their equipment to leave no evidence of what I am. I’ll even burn the ballista and the wagons to make it look like the Phoenix was the one that wrecked this caravan. Lily told me the main evidence the humans in Averlon have of my existence is my spines. I left them behind in my first attack, a costly mistake but what’s done is done…

The Dwarf roared a great battle cry as it raised it’s sword and charged. [Mountain’s Rage] the Dwarf roared as his body glowed. 

[Sundering Slash] the Dwarf said as he jumped forward, his sword glowing. I saw the fury in his eyes as he flew towards me... and then I cut him in half down the middle. 

I watched as his two halves went rolling along the ground. That was a really bad suicide charge, he didn’t even raise his shield, he just raised the sword and charged. Well to be fair he was dead no matter what he did, I guess this at least constituted an honourable death. He was the strongest one, he was stronger than a gold rank but I’ve never seen a mithril rank before so he may just be a high gold rank. I’m not sure honestly…

I turned around and saw the last Dwarf lying in the dirt, slowly bleeding out from his stump of an arm and the deep gash in his chest. I opened my mouth and shot a jet of fire at the Dwarf. I watched as it flailed on the ground wailing for about half a minute before stilling.

“What… are you…” the Phoenix asked weakly.

“None of your concern…” I said as I turned to face it. I raised one of my blades and got ready to cut it’s head off.

“No mercy then… such is our way… fellow monster…” the phoenix said weakly as it shut its eyes. 

With a clean slash I decapitated the Phoenix and I watched as it’s body crumbled to ash. Then I saw the ashes revealing a blue flaming egg. It was quite a large egg, it was a metre tall and it was hot. I could see the stone starting to melt around it. In my vision the ether radiating off it made it look like a mini sun sitting on the ground. I don’t think I can eat it as is… maybe if I drain some of the ether…

I opened my maw and began draining the ether out. As I emptied it of about half its ether I felt the heat reduce dramatically. I feel maybe I could just eat the rest of the egg. I reached forward and picked up the egg with one of my hands. It was still hot but it wasn’t burning me. 

Well time to eat. With that exciting thought in my mind I opened my mouth and bit down onto the egg. I felt the shell give way and I tasted the deliciously sweet center of the egg…

Mmmm…

Yeah that’s good…

I should try making an omelette out of one of these...