The Hero Party
Kron's lair was a cave deep within the cliffs of the Westburka Mountain Range, forever veiled in black mist. Dragon dens were said to be so hard to approach that even finding them was nearly impossible—but the Black Dragon Kron, notorious for his unusually frequent activity, was a different matter. For reasons of his own he had spent decades ranging far and wide to gather materials that only alchemists would ever need (mostly by outright plunder). As a result, humans had known the location of his nest for quite some time.
And one day, a party of six heroes slipped into Kron's lair in secret. Their plan was to ambush and slay the dragon who had already left a trail of countless dead and missing. Intelligence had confirmed that the beast had returned the night before. As a final precaution they scanned the cave mouth with an artifact; the reading came back positive—there was a dragon inside. Believing they were about to catch a dragon that had only just come home to rest, they entered the cave. What they did not know was that Kron, having returned late the previous night, had left again at first light—and that the dragon currently inside was not Kron at all.
The moment they stepped into the cavern they froze in place.
What met their eyes was a black iron stake so enormous it made even a dragon look small, a long, slender black chain fastened to it, and, collared at the end of that chain, a female elf whose entire body was mottled with bruises. There was no hostility or surprise in her eyes. Instinct alone told them this was not Kron.
Lloyd, the swordsman who led the party, stepped forward and asked the others in a low voice,
"This… no, this elf—what in the world is she? Kron's slave?"
He had meant to speak softly, yet his words echoed off the cave walls and carried farther than he intended. The female elf merely gave a faint shake of her head and offered no answer. Her turquoise eyes were empty, as though even reacting would be too much trouble. Only the black mark etched into the nape of her neck pulsed faintly, like a slow breath. Panrak, the middle-aged wizard of imposing build, saw the mark and let out a groan.
"The Flamel Abrogation Method!"
"Abrogation Method?"
Everyone turned to him, waiting for more.
"An ultimate alchemical technique the High Elves once used, when their numbers grew too large, to forcibly degrade hostile High Elves into ordinary elves. I believed it had been lost with the fall of the ancient elven kingdoms… yet it seems the common knowledge was incomplete."
The party finally nodded in understanding.
"So all those alchemical materials he was gathering…"
"Your guess is correct, I expect."
Panrak agreed with Lloyd's assessment.
"Panrak, does that mean this elf was originally a High Elf?"
Calis, the sole woman among them and a spirit summoner, asked. Panrak hummed thoughtfully.
"Only she herself would know that."
"But you just said it was used to turn High Elves into elves."
Lloyd pressed. Panrak shook his head.
"I said that was how it was used—not that that was its only purpose."
"Ah!"
"At its core, this is a forbidden art for permanently lowering an entity's rank of existence. Even if the target is not a High Elf, so long as the conditions are met, it can be applied."
When Panrak finished, the heroes fell into troubled silence. If he was right, the elf before them had once possessed a rank higher than that of an ordinary elf. And in the present age, after the Ragnarok of a thousand years past had swept away so many higher beings, the only creatures that came to mind as superior to elves were dragons.
While everyone pondered, Enzo—the tallest of them, a warrior—raised a hand and spoke.
"Um… I may simply lack the learning the rest of you possess, so I don't quite follow… but if her rank is higher than an elf's, are you saying this lady is a dragon?"
No one could answer him. At last Lloyd broke the silence and took charge.
"All right, all right—if we waste any more time, Kron could return at any moment. Since he doesn't seem to be here, why don't we take the elf lady… forgive me—take the lady and withdraw?"
The party voiced unanimous agreement. Only Panrak shook his head.
"I agree with withdrawing. The problem is the rescue itself. I have never seen any record of elves created by the Flamel Abrogation Method bearing a mark that glows like that. In all likelihood the rank reduction and physical transformation are still in progress."
"Ah! If the Abrogation Method… or whatever it is… had already achieved its purpose, Kron would have had no need to keep collecting materials."
"Exactly. And while I know of the method's existence and its effects, I have no idea what happens if one interferes midway."
The others nodded heavily, but Lloyd raised his voice.
"Even so!"
He pressed his right fist over his heart and continued.
"Once we leave, no one can say what will become of her, can they?"
It was no easy question.
"At the very least, why don't we ask her herself?"
Lloyd's suggestion met with immediate approval. Calis nodded first.
"I agree."
Enzo clenched a fist in agreement.
"I agree as well. If we simply leave this elf lady behind, I know I'll regret it forever."
In the end the party approached Seliac carefully and tried to speak with her. Calis knelt to meet her eyes and said gently,
"Um… Miss Elf? What is your name? We'll help you. Can you tell us what happened?"
Seliac lifted her head a fraction, yet her turquoise eyes remained vacant. She turned her face away as if to avoid their gazes and gave no reply.
"Well… what now?"
"Looks like a refusal to me."
"Doesn't it?"
At that very moment a tremendous wind roared through the cave mouth. Black mist swirled and poured inward. A presence like a nauseating stench settled heavily over them. Then Kron himself glided in on black wings and blocked the entrance with his vast dark bulk. His crimson-black eyes, edged with madness, swept over the party before locking onto the heroes who stood near the elf—no, near the Green Dragon Seliac.
"If so much as a fingertip touches Seliac, I will paint this cave with your blood, wring out your souls, and cast them into the abyss."
Kron's breath belched threatening black smoke that fouled the air. The scrape of his claws gouging the stone floor echoed. Seliac's closed eyes and body trembled faintly, yet there was nothing she could do.
Kron's roar shook the cavern. Black smoke erupted from his maw and surged toward the hero party. Lloyd was first to swing his sword and step forward.
"Scatter! Draw Kron away!"
Calis's spirits whipped up a wind that dispersed the smoke; Enzo's axe sought Kron's scales. Panrak traced a magic circle and raised a barrier, while the remaining members—Uller and Jonas—unleashed every attack they could. Arrows and spells flew, and each time Kron's claws tore the floor as he charged, the party somehow managed to hold even ground—yet the dragon's simultaneous magic kept driving them onto the defensive. Whenever the heroes edged near Seliac, however, Kron hesitated, and so the battle continued without either side seizing clear dominance.
At this rate we'll be wiped out.
Uller, the most opportunistic of the group, reached a decision and slipped secretly toward Seliac. Just as Kron's black flames were about to engulf the others—
"Stop!"
The sight of Uller pressing an arrowhead to the elf's throat made Kron's eyes bloodshot. Rage boiled over; he could not restrain himself and hurled the dragon magic Metal-Eater at Uller. In a split-second judgment Enzo leapt in front of it, taking the spell that could melt even metal. He lost both axe and shield and staggered back. More than equipment was gone: the nerves of both arms had been destroyed beyond any hope of further combat, leaving them hanging limp.
"You will not die cleanly. When you die I will chew every last one of your bones and pickle them in the piss and shit of whores!!!"
Kron's eyes seemed about to drown in uncontrolled madness—then he suddenly ceased roaring and crouched his massive body.
"Heh heh heh… Very well. I shall show you mercy."
The dragon's voice vibrated through the cave.
"I will spare the remaining five. Leave. But you may take neither Seliac nor that one."
The party erupted in immediate protest.
"Bullshit! If we die, we die together!"
Panrak, sounding nothing like a wizard, stamped his feet—yet Enzo shook his head.
"Get out of here, you idiots!"
He kept the arrowhead at Seliac's throat, holding Kron in check.
At last Enzo exploded as well.
"You think I'd feel good selling you out to beg for my life, you moron?! You think I lost both arms just so I could watch that?!"
Uller refused to back down and bellowed right back.
"The only thing those two arms of yours are good for is sneaking out at night to take a piss and jerk off while imagining Calis in the latrine!"
"Kyaaah!! You lunatics!!!!"
Somewhere along the way the polite speech and formal register they had been maintaining had vanished completely.
And the look in Seliac's eyes, as she quietly watched it all, had changed as well.