Legends of Nahvra: The Koldryth Beast
Chapter 2: Journey

The silence was deafening as Tarquin finished his speech. The man we had all looked up to for years had betrayed his own brother. No way. It had to be more complicated than that. But for now, who knew? After all, we do have a murderous beast trying to make an all-you-can-eat buffet out of the castle walls, so we needed to act fast. Perhaps this Koldryth Keep had just what we needed to defeat the monster, or maybe we’d just have to keep searching.

“Tarquin, buddy, we hate to say it, but we need your help,” I said, trying to sound as polite as possible. I didn't necesarily want Tarquin working with us. Drakel and Hanako didn’t look too thrilled with the idea either, but it was all I could think of. After all, he was the one who knew how to defeat this thing. “Ugh, fine. I’ll help you out, but just this once.” Tarquin seemed just as annoyed with the situation as we were.

“Great, let’s get going then,” Drakel said, calling over Nora, who was now fully healed. Drakel and I hopped on Nora’s back, while Hanako and Tarquin followed closely behind. The sun was setting, and darkness was quickly taking over. The Koldryth Beast was still out there, wreaking havoc, and we needed to stop it no matter the cost.

Unfortunately, the journey was painfully long, and we had little to no food, save for a few measly berries and a stale loaf of bread. “So, Tarquin, how much further to the Koldryth Keep?” I asked, my voice weary and my stomach growling. “I don’t know; it’s not like I have a map! All I know is that we need to travel quite a bit further,” Tarquin said, clearly irritated.

After what felt like an eternity, we were all exhausted and starving. Drakel wisely suggested that we take a break and rest for the night. With no real food in sight, I volunteered to forage for something for us to eat. As I ventured into the forst, I stumbled upon a bush with a bunch of juicy red berries. I grabbed as many as I could replace, hoping it would sustain us for a day or two. I also decided to pick up some firewood for later.

I returned to camp after about 20 minutes, only to sense a thick layer of tension in the air. Hanako and Drakel weren't happy in the slightest about Tarquin joining us. I couldn’t blame them - after all, he was the moron who got us into this mess. But unfortunately, we needed his help to take down that damned monster.

“Hey, cheer up, everyone! I found some food and some firewood. Yeah, it’s not a fine-dining feast, but it’ll do for tonight,” I announced, trying to lift everyone’s spirits, even if just a little.

“Thank you, Kazz,” Drakel said to me as he handed a few berries to Tarquin. “I may not like you, but I don’t want to see you go hungry. Here, take these,” Drakel sighed, trying to be polite.

“Thanks...” Tarquin thanked Drakel as he ate a few of the berries. I doubted he was happy about this situation either. Nobody was. Hanako looked around the forest; she found a nice place to build our resting spot. It had plenty of room and wasn’t too far from us. We all got together and built a makeshift tent out of sticks, leaves, and other materials. It wasn’t much, but it would last us a night or two.

“Let’s rest here. We’ll continue moving when we wake up,” Drakel stated as he got up. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” I replied to Drakel as we all got inside of the tent. It wasn't all that comfortable, and the ground was rough and grainy. Despite that, most of us managed to fall asleep. I was the only one still awake.

I looked outside of the tent only to see that the creature was much bigger, either that or it was closer. I couldn’t tell, but either way, it was bad news. As the hours passed, I was finally able to fall asleep.

A few hours passed, and we woke up to a large crash nearby. “Come on! Move, move, move! It caught up to us!” Drakel exclaimed loudly, trying to get everyone as far away as possible! The creature was here, and it was attacking. “How the hell did it replace us!?” Tarquin yelled out as we ran away from it. “Now is not the time, Tarquin!” I replied quickly as we continued to run. “Ah!” I exclaimed as I tripped on one of the rocks. As I tried to get up, the creature grabbed me, and I couldn’t break free.

“Drakel, help! I can’t break free!” I yelled out; I could feel its arm crushing my stomach. It was painful. I tried to stab it with one of my weapons, but it was no use. I was about to pass out. Luckily, Tarquin was able to shoot it in the eye. “Take that Koldryth bitch!” Tarquin yelled to the monster, and I fell to the ground. “T-thank you, Tarquin.” I said to him in disbelief. “Let’s go!” He added.

The creature then slammed one of its arms down, nearly crushing Hanako. She was able to dodge it, however. As we kept running, we found a small hiding spot. It worked for a little; however, the creature found us, and we were forced to run again.

After quite a while of running, we reunited with Nora. “Drakel, take Hanako with you! Me and Tarquin will fend off the Koldryth Beast!” I said to Drakel. He seemed hesitant, but in the end, he agreed. “Tarquin, watch out!” The beast then slammed one of its tentacles down; however, I pushed Tarquin out of the way. “Thank you, Kazzura.”

We continued to attack the creature; however, it only seemed to distract it from the others. By now, they were far out of sight. It was just me and Tarquin. The creature then picked me up again. Luckily, I was able to get out of its grasp. I then ran up onto its back and stabbed it with my blade. Unfortunately, it only seemed to scratch the thing.

I kept on stabbing it at the same spot until it started to bleed. The creature then let out a massive roar, and I had fallen off of its back. It gave me and Tarquin enough time to run. After what felt like hours, we finally escaped it for now. As we kept walking, we got to the walls of the kingdom. There were no guards, so it was possible to escape.

We kept on walking until we eventually stumbled upon a large temple. “What is this place? I have never seen it before. Is this-”

“The Koldryth Keep, yes! We made it,” Tarquin interrupted. “I see. It seems as if the others made it too!” I stated aloud.

“Kazz! You’re finally here! My guess is that this is the place Tarquin talked about?” Drakel said to me. “Yeah, this is it!” I replied to him. Tarquin then said that he needed to show us something. He pulled out a key from one of his pockets and used it to open the gates.

“Welcome, to the Koldryth Keep,” Tarquin said, opening the doors. We walked inside the temple and noticed ancient treasures and magical items were everywhere. “Woah, what is this?” Hanako said, referring to a strange black gem similar to the one on the necklace. “Don’t touch that! It’s an Umbral Gem, and they are very dangerous,” Tarquin said audibly. “I see!” Hanako responded.

“Everyone, follow me. I have something you might want to see,” Tarquin said as he opened a door which led to an underground armory. He told us to gear up and grab what we need. There was a ton of magical armor and weapons ranging from paladin armor to mage robes to assassin gear. Tarquin put on a mage outfit and grabbed a grimoire. Hanako grabbed the assassin armor, and Drakel grabbed the paladin gear. I decided to grab some magic armor. I then picked up one of the longswords Tarquin had. They were much stronger than anything we had before.

“I have an idea that could bring down this beast for good. See, I’ve been keeping a close eye on the creature, and I’ve noticed something peculiar - its vulnerability lies in its eye. I have been studying Koldryth magic, and I know one thing, it is weak to Arcana. If we can weaken it, then bombard it with Arcane Magic, we might be able to defeat it,” Tarquin said to us with a confident grin.

“That is true, but we need to act fast and prepare ourselves. The Koldryth Beast’s skin is practically impenetrable, so we need to be strategic and work together to take it down. I’m sure we can make it happen though,” Drakel added.

“Where exactly can we replace that much Arcana? Last time I checked, Arcana or Arcane Magic is found mainly in Mana Crystals, and those are scarce,” Hanako stated.

“Yes, that’s correct. Luckily for us, I know a way. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Arcane Labyrinth?” Tarquin said to us.

“Yeah?” Hanako replied.

“Well, it’s real. I have been there. In the middle of the labyrinth, there is a powerful item, the Forerunner’s Staff, Unfortunately, the maze is locked away in the Koldryth Realm, and the portal has been destroyed. If we are able to get it, we might just be able to stop this creature,” Tarquin said with confidence, crossing his arms.