Primordial Slime: I Devour The World

Calian ran.

His boots slammed against the trees’ roots, forcing his way forwards as he pushed against the underbrush. Limbs and leaves slapped against his armor; more than once, a root caught his feet and sent him sliding but he forced himself to his feet once more and kept running.

He couldn’t stop.

Couldn’t think.

His lungs burned, his chest tight. His body screamed for him to stop and rest but instead, Calian kept running. He didn’t know where he was going. All he knew was that he had to put distance between himself and the battlefield. Behind him, there would be nothing but silence. No army, no monsters, no Gareth.

There would only be the trees. Calian looked over his shoulder. The trees had swallowed the battlefield whole, shielding it from his eyes. He turned back around and faced forward, his hands trembling. He clenched them into fists.

"Why am I still alive?"

The words escaped his lips before he could stop them. He remembered it all.

The battle.

Gareth fighting and Tanaka fighting.

The dragon that had stormed onto the battlefield with a force that had sent shockwaves across the skies. He could still remember the feeling of powerlessness as his legs nearly gave out, as the soldiers around him fell like wheat before the reaper.

Fire had swallowed the sky, consuming everything in its path. Calian swallowed hard. He had never seen anything so fearsome. It wasn’t just flames; they devoured, incinerating whatever they touched. Weapons, armor, bodies... even the souls inside them all were devoured by the massive blaze. There hadn’t been anything he could do. Calian’s Unique Skill had shielded him.

Vanguard.

That was all he knew.

He hadn’t remembered activating it but he’d awoken to the stench of blood and the bodies around him, all of them erased. Gareth was gone too. Gareth, the Empire’s greatest warrior was nothing more than ash in Calian’s eyes. There hadn’t been a single body left. Calian stumbled, his shoulder colliding with a tree before he forced himself to his feet and kept running. For a moment, he’d forgotten why he was running in the first place.

A noise echoed ahead of him. Calian stilled. His eyes narrowed.

Footsteps.

Someone was coming. He reached for his sword but only found empty air. He cursed under his breath. The weapon was gone.

Calian dropped to a knee, preparing himself to fight with whatever he could if the stranger decided to attack. The footsteps drew closer. A figure stepped out from between the trees, making Calian’s eyes widen in surprise.

"Commander Lucien?"

He called.

Lucien halted, taking a moment to take in the sight before him. He looked just as surprised to see Calian as Calian was to see him.

"Calian?"

The two men stood there in silence for a few moments, taking in the others’ appearance.

Lucien’s gaze swept over Calian’s torn armor, the blood smeared across his face and the dirt clinging to his clothes before he looked towards the battlefield behind him.

"I felt something." Lucien said. Calian frowned. "What did you feel?" "An aura."

Lucien replied. "It reached all the way into the woods. I’ve never felt anything like it."

Calian said nothing in reply. Lucien took a step forward. "It was so powerful I could barely move. Then there was a flash of light. What happened?" Calian looked down at his hands. "That was the dragon." He said with a sigh. Lucien’s eyes widened. "A Dragon?"

Calian nodded. "Yes."

"What happened to everyone?" Lucien asked already regretting the question.

Calian exhaled, looking past Lucien towards the battlefield. "The army was destroyed."

Calian started. Lucien’s face was contorted.

"Destroyed!!" He exclaimed. "Everyone?"

He asked. Calian looked towards Lucien, his expression grim. "Commander Gareth too." Calian said with a sigh. Lucien’s jaw tightened. He’d known Gareth was powerful. He’d seen it for himself. But hearing the man was dead was like a knife to his gut. Lucien swallowed and asked; "Was it the dragon that killed them?" Calian nodded. Lucien’s eyes widened in shock. Calian continued before Lucien could ask anything else.

"I don’t know its name. I don’t know where it came from. I only know it appeared above the battlefield and consumed everything in flames."

He looked down at his hands. "It used some kind of strange flames." Lucien’s expression was dark. "And you survived?" Calian let out a humourless laugh. "Apparently." He looked down at himself. "I should’ve died." Lucien said nothing. Calian’s eyes hardened. "My Unique Skill saved me. Vanguard." Lucien studied him. "So that’s how it happened." "Maybe."

Calian didn’t know for sure.

He could still feel the pressure of the flames around him, the intense heat before he’d opened his eyes to find the battlefield nothing but scorched earth and smoke with the dragon watching over it all. He’d expected death after surviving but the beast had merely looked at him, its piercing yellow eyes full of amusement before looking away.

Not important.

Those had been the last words the dragon had said to him before he ran. Calian shook his head. Lucien frowned. "Wha is it?" "Nothing." Calian replied. Lucien looked at him for a moment longer before turning away. "We need to leave. I don’t want to stay here any longer than I have to." Calian followed his line of sight. "Where were you going?" He asked. "Back to the kingdom."

Calian looked at him. "You were?" "Yes."

He replied. "Then why not leave earlier?"

Lucien looked down at his wrists, still bearing the faint red marks where the rope had been. "After Gareth left me, I managed to burn through the ropes." Calian looked surprised. "Then why were you still here?"

Calian asked. Lucien’s answer was simple.

"Because the war was still going. I didn’t know what was happening. I could hear the fighting but I couldn’t see it all from where Gareth left me."

He looked towards the battlefield. "So I stayed in the forest. Watching and waiting."

Calian understood. It was a reasonable decision. Up until the dragon appeared.

They began walking, the forest growing quieter around them. Their footsteps were the only sound as they walked along the narrow trail. After a few minutes, Calian spoke.

"You really planned to return to the kingdom?" Lucien nodded. "I was going to report what happened." "About Gareth?"

Calian asked. "Everything." Lucien replied.

Calian looked at him. "Then we should go together." Lucien glanced at him. "You still want to go?" "Where else would I go?"

Calian asked in surprise. Lucien said nothing. They walked in silence for several minutes, neither man speaking. The further they walked, the easier it became to breathe.

But it didn’t make Calian feel any better.

His thoughts kept circling back to the flames, the way they’d devoured Gareth and the look on the dragon’s face as it’d watched him die. Eventually, they came across a road. Calian looked ahead. "Rosen City shouldn’t be far from here." Lucien nodded. "We can rest there." Calian didn’t disagree.

They followed the road for a few hours, both men growing tired as the time passed.

By the time the walls of Rosen City appeared in the distance, both were exhausted. Calian barely spoke during their walk and Lucien was no different. The city appeared strange and quiet. People walked in and out of the city but they paid little mind to the two men who’d entered through the gates.

Merchants carted their goods from one place to another while adventurers walked the streets with weapons strapped to their backs. Nobody seemed to know what had happened. Calian slowed as they neared the front gates, Lucien frowning as he noticed this. "What?" Lucien asked seeing the look on Calian’s face. Calian looked at the people walking along the street. "They don’t know."

He said sadly. "No, they don’t." Lucien replied. "Should we tell them?" Calian asked. Lucien shook his head. "Not here."

Calian nodded.

They entered Rosen City, the guards giving them little trouble. Their appearance told them everything they needed to know. Inside, the city’s noise wrapped around Calian, nearly suffocating him. He’d spent the last few hours surrounded by death and destruction. Now, people laughed and played with their children. A merchant bickered with a customer over the price of some fruit but Calian only looked away, pretending he didn’t see it all.

They found an inn and rented a room, Calian sinking onto the bed the moment he entered. He peeled off the damaged pieces of his armor before tossing it aside, laying on his back and staring at the ceiling.

Lucien sat across the room, watching him in silence. For the first time since he’d fled the battlefield, there was nothing waiting for Calian but the quiet of the forest. He looked at the ceiling.

"Gareth is really dead."

Lucien looked at him. "Yes."

Calian closed his eyes. He could still see him, laughing as he fought in battle. The confidence, strength and arrogance in the man’s every movement. Then it had all been devoured by flames. Calian opened his eyes.

"I don’t know how we’re supposed to explain this."

Lucien leaned back, watching Calian carefully. "We tell the truth."

"The Empire won’t believe it."

Calian said. "Then we’ll show them what we can." Lucien replied. Calian looked at him. "And if they don’t?" Lucien was silent. Neither man had an answer. After a moment, Lucien stood. "We should sleep." Calian nodded.

Tomorrow, they would continue towards Sylvane. The capital would hear what had happened. The Empire would learn that its army had been destroyed and that Gareth was gone. It would learn what had stood on the battlefield and what had devoured an entire nation in flames.

A True Dragon.

Calian closed his eyes, allowing himself to rest for the first time since he’d escaped the battlefield but sleep did not come easily.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the flames.

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