Survival in a Mythical World

He had no idea why the dragons would attack like this, or why there were so many of them all of a sudden. Normally, they only heard one or two a month, distant roars or flaps in the sky. But this was an organized attack. Were they looking for something? He pushed the thought aside. It didn't matter why. The dragons were an enemy, just like the Lizardmen. He decided to focus on the threat he understood, the one he had personally suffered under. He would get stronger. He would hunt the Lizardmen that did this. Maybe there were exceptions, like Sesh, but he had to do something about the others. Though he was surprised at how behavior to each other was to humans. Maybe he could set some straight.

But first, he had to survive. His body hurt, his stomach was empty again, and his throat was raw from screaming. He began to scavenge through the ruins of his own home. He found a waterskin that had somehow survived, half-buried in the dirt, and filled it at the village well, which was thankfully still intact. He searched the remains of the communal food storage hut. Most of it was burned, but he managed to find a sack of dried fruit that had been protected from the worst of the fire. It was something.

With a little food in his stomach and water to drink, he thought about this strange ability he now had. He needed to practice. He went to the edge of the clearing, lifted his hand, and tried to cast the Meteoroid spell again. He focused, picturing the squeezing and throwing, just as he had before.

Nothing happened.

He tried again, putting more effort into it. Still nothing. Not even a tiny spark. He tried five more times, his frustration growing with each failure. Why wouldn't it work?

Cold dread began to cut through his anger. Without that power, what was he? Just a boy in a strange robe with a brittle sword. The forest was full of monsters like the six-legged panther. There were dragons in the sky. And there were entire villages of Lizardmen. How was he supposed to fight them? How was he even going to survive the night? The ability had been his only real hope, and all it was good for was scaring off animals. He didn't even know if the bigger animals would run in the first place. The whatever-it-was spell just sizzled out from the sky and did no damage whatsoever. It wasn't even working right now.

"Ugh!" Kai grunted, casting his arm down and trying again. "Damnit!"

Maybe I'm too angry? He thought to himself. That would make sense. He took a few deep breaths and tried again. Still nothing. Kai breathed out, fluttering his lips. "Whatever, I'll figure it out later."

He debated whether or not he should go in the direction of the lizardman village, now that he had his bearing. He was still weak, but maybe he could spy on them without being caught. It was pretty stupid, but Kai thought just maybe, it would be useful. He would find out if there were others like Sesh, or if they were all monsters like Vorlag. He would start there.

He began the long walk back, trying to retrace his steps from memory. The forest was just as menacing as it had been before. On the first day, he saw two huge beasts locked in a brutal fight. One looked like a massive boar with tusks like sharpened stones, the other was a giant, feathered lizard that spit a green, sizzling liquid. They were so focused on killing each other they didn't see him. He was grateful and scurried away, his heart pounding.

He walked very quietly while constantly listening for the distant roars and flapping wings that sometimes could be heard. He pressed on, but after a day of walking, he realized the landscape wasn't familiar at all. He had overshot his direction. He was lost again. "Are you serious?" He muttered to himself, kicking at a root. "Can't even walk in a straight line?"

The next two days of finding the village was pure survival. He stumbled into a grove of plants that looked like giant, open mouths with sharp, leafy teeth. One of them snapped shut just inches from his leg, and he scrambled away, his hands getting scraped on the rough bark of the trees. Later, he was chased by a swarm of huge, buzzing insects with stingers as long as his finger. He had to dive into a muddy creek to escape them. He was getting tired, and his new robe dirty but surprisingly not torn. "I know it's the wild, but why does everything have to try and kill me?" he grumbled, pulling a thorn out of his arm. "Can't I just get a break?" He felt utterly alone, and was wondering when or if he would actually see another person. I hope I can- Just then, he heard something, he held his thought. A low growling sound. Or two slightly distinct ones. They were dragons. He crouched low in some bushes and watched them lumber past. They were growling to each other while walking. Their footsteps were loud on the soft ground. As they got closer, though still at a safe distance, he could make out their appearance. One dragon was all tan scales, with a lighter underbelly. What was striking and what he never noticed was that the dragon had a black scorpion stinger on its tail, and fangs. The other just had fangs, but was larger, and also had tan scales, but it was dotted with auburn. The larger one hissed at the smaller one and pushed it with its large arm. Holy shit, these are monsters. He thought to himself. He waited until the fully passed. He let out a breath and sat there for while. That was the closest he had been to a dragon ever.

On the third day, he found a small village hidden in the underbrush that he's never seen before. "No way," he murmured as he parted the leaves revealing the sight. However, just like his own village, there were charred bodies and rubble. On closer inspection, the bodies were from lizardmen. It was another village destroyed. It had to be the dragons. He kept on searching the area. He scavenged for any items, but this village was completely gone. "Shit," he muttered, scratching an itch on his neck. He took a step back and turned to the right. There was a very hidden foot path he could barely make out. He decided to follow it quite impulsively. He saw more familiar birds, some quite large on the way. There was a massive hawk with red and black feather circling above. It was hard to gauge, but Kai estimated the wingspan of the bird to be around ten times his, which was crazy. That bird could easily snatch him up. He eyed it cautiously as it flew away to another spot.

The path opened slightly and Kai ended up in another village, one that was quite larger. It was destroyed like the last one. But something seemed maybe a little similar. He couldn't quite put his finger on it at first on what it was. But then he realized. He was sure the market stand where he was shoved into a small cage and sold was right in front of him. What made him upset was the fact the building was the least damaged in the town as far as he could tell. Kai widened his eyes slightly. That means Briar is here. He gave a sideways glance at the broken cage in front of him. Or what's possibly left of him. He had a feeling calling out his name would just attract attention of a dragon or some other unwanted animal, so he refrained. He didn't realize it at first but there were definitely tears falling. He looked around. Everything was gone, and he looked back at the challenges he faced during this grim time. He sniffled, then began crying. He couldn't control the tears. He realized he may never see the ones he loved most ever again. "It's been so hard!" he wailed out, falling to his knees. "I'll figure this out, I will! Even the leaves look up to the stars, right Ceruss!? Isn't that the quote you are known for!? I thought you were some prophet of god! Why did you let this happen!"

He cried until there wasn't any tear to cry, on his knees for minutes in the double digit. He had no clue where Briar would be. He gave a half-effort in trying to find anything that could lead him to his friend. Obviously he was dead. Nobody survives a dragon attack. He thought about Sesh as well. He walked in the orchard's direction. Just like the rest of the buildings, it was torn down. He was not going to shift through the wooden rubble to find nasty remains, if they really were in there. They were probably not in there, but not really worth the risk. He felt bad for Sesh, if he was even alive still.

It was all too sad. It really was. Kai felt the tears coming back, welling up in his eyes. He took a shaky breath, trying to hold it. Everything that he was holding felt like it was crashing down on him.