Ash. The Legends of the Nameless World. Progression Gamelit Story by Kirill Klevanski (essential reading .txt) 📗

turned around, looked at the tired faces of her companions, and made the only sensible decision.

“We’ll wait out the storm there!”

The rest of the group responded with clapping. Then again, they were probably hitting their shoulders and legs not out of joy, but in an attempt to somehow warm themselves up. The journey to the cave, though not more than twenty yards long, took about an hour. Tul, who was leading the way, was using his musket to clear the rubble. No sane person would’ve ventured into the mountains without one such weapon. Unfortunately, the definition of “sane” didn’t apply to the Stumps. Ash, still leading, didn’t risk melting even the smallest bit of the pat for fear of causing a landslide or worse.

The travelers arrived to the cave, covered with ice and a thick layer of snow. They had enough of it to keep several pounds of meat cold during the entire summer.

The mage was the first to enter the darkness of the cave. He whispered something, and a small, but bright light danced at the end of his staff. The flames shooed away the gloom, which, just like the cold and snow, seemed to have been reinforced with someone’s magic. There were no stalagmites or stalactites in the cave, just a flat floor. The place was big enough to accommodate a small town hall or—

“A dragon,” Blackbeard breathed out, pulling off his cap and shaking snow and ice off his cloak. Turning around, he saw his friends frozen in horror. Mary was trying to get the ice out of her hair. Lari was unsuccessfully chipping the frost off the guard that held his blade glued firmly to the scabbard. Tul, almost weeping, breathed softly on the musket, cleaning it with the sleeve of his padded jacket. Alas, the weapon was clearly broken. One shoot would be enough to turn the barrel into a flower in full bloom. Alice was rubbing her cheeks with her hands, looking as sweet and charming as always.

Ash, looking tired more than anybody else, hit the ground with his staff, releasing a ball of flame. It looked like he had lit a fire without using any wood. Well, that was what mages were for, to impress people with all sorts of tricks.

“Don’t be afraid.” He smiled, and moved to the entrance to draw a Circle. “Dragons haven’t been seen here in a couple of eras.”

“He’s right,” Blackbeard said, brushing his beard that now looked like a bush on a winter morning.

Having calmed down a little, the rest of the Stumps went about their business. However, they were still cautious, peering into the gloom and looking suspiciously at the arches and the walls. They, too, looked smooth, as if some giant had sanded them down. The imprints of ancient coins were still visible on the floor. The dragon’s fire had burned it into the rock, its greed had once brought gold and riches here, and its wings and scales had carved the walls and the floor.

Soon, the boys were hanging their clothes by the fire, leaving them to dry on weapons that had replaced hangers and racks. The Stumps sat in a circle, and Tul, who was in charge of provisions, handed them each a few buns of bread, a piece of dried meat, and a small skin of water. Luckily, they could get plenty of the latter, as they could just melt snow and drink until their throats were frozen.

“The bags are almost empty.” The archer sighed, rolling up another empty bag. “If we tighten our belts... We could have enough food for three more weeks. I hope.”

They then turned to Ash, who had stuffed the bun and the meat into his mouth and washed it all down with the water from his skin.

“Wfat?” he asked. “Don’tf wook at mfe!”

Mary rolled her eyes, and the others just smiled, knowing that Ash really wasn’t to blame for the lack of food — the journey was much more difficult than they had imagined. Even taking into account the emergency rations, they’d have to be very careful if they didn’t want to starve.

Mary, as befitted a leader, tried to reassure her friends.

“Don’t you worry, guys, we’ll walk around Lurk like in the good old days. We’ll soon leave behind the burnt earth and dead creatures.”

“There’s also the Forest of Shadows,” Alice reminded her.

“Ser Arlun will help us there!” Lari beamed, but he wasn’t fooling anyone. Everyone knew he wanted to go back that way only because he hoped that the knight would help him master the technique.

“That’s right!” Mary smiled, grateful that her companions will still as chipper and marry as always.

Ash said nothing. He couldn’t tell them about the man’s death. It wasn’t that he thought that the Stumps wouldn’t understand his story, just that it’d take him too long to tell it as there was a lot to explain. Like, how a clumsy idiot like him managed to defeat the champion of the Arena.

“Well, we won’t go to no weddings, that’s for sure,” Blackbeard said with a smile.

“I’ll drink to that!” Lari, agreed, lifting his waterskin.

“Even if the food is good?” Alice winked.

The two looked at each other and even Ash joined them in reply.

“Even if the food is excellent!”

The Stumps laughed, while Lari choked on his sip of water. Blackbeard slapped him on the back, making Lari not only spit out the water, but almost cough up his soul and lungs. His shouting made them all laugh once again.

The boys joked and chatted about the most random and insignificant topics, but Ash, smiling, kept an eye on Alice. She was looking around the cave, shivering and pressing against Lari’s shoulder. The latter, caught up in the chit-chat, didn’t notice her distress. Ash was about to perform some funny trick to cheer her up and calm her down