“Move, move, move!’ Seth yelled from behind as Dominic stood, his sword outstretched, defensively covering the only doorway to the stairwell. His mind cursed the racer that took his shield from him as he set his feet. At least he could be thankful for the narrow hallway as two large almost molten looking dogs slowly closed in before him.

  Their orangish-red fir covered a dark brown armored hide which was all surrounded by the flaring of the occasion flame. As the rearguard it was Dominic’s job to ensure these two wouldn’t reach the rest of his team. Sweat beaded up on Dominic’s forehead as the two beasts continued their slow stepping forward, the ambient temperature on the rise as he narrowed his eyes.

  Karduze female

  Age nineteen

  Eatheral density mid orange

  Threat moderate

  Eatheral reserves high.

  The information of the beast filled his mind as the blue scales on his body started to crack from the intense heat. His paperman started to flash with a yellow exclamation point above its head followed by the words extreme heat warning.

  “Thanks, never would’ve guessed.” He mumbled to himself as he lowered his stance.

  Mist. Dominic’s skill erupted from him draining a chuck of his Eatheral reserves. He could almost hear a hiss as the smoke clashed with the dogs before him. The fire on the beasts rose violently in response before it fell to a small tongue of flame. At the same time, the exclamation point quit flashing, though the words Heat Warning remained.

  The beast to the right lunged towards Dominic who had to fight his instinct to dodge. He couldn’t let these things through the door to the soldiers racing up the stairs. Instead, he brought his sword point to meet the beast and managed to slice a cut into its right shoulder. Unfortunately, it still crashed against him, the angle made worse by his strike. The force knocked him off balance and the two of them hit the ground. The heat slammed against him more than the weight as he rolled for position.

  Dominic shot out with his left fist and the impact echoed in the narrow corridor as his arm slid across the beast’s muzzle. Faster than he could pull back the teeth snapped at his forearm. The scales slowly started to crack under the fierce pressure of the creature's jaw. As his arm started to ache, Dominic felt a sudden shift in the Eather behind him and noticed a blinking red dot in the corner of his vision.

  “Not good,” He mumbled as he dropped his blade and brought his right hand and leg under the hellhound’s abdomen. With all the strength he could muster he shoved the creature over his head towards its friend. The beast’s teeth tore at his forearm as it was ripped from its perch. A wave of flame flashed, diverted mainly by the figure Dominic just threw.

  “Could use some help,” Dominic sent as he rolled himself to his knees, eyes locked on the tangle of dogs.

  The familiar tingle of eather flowed across his limbs as his skill worked to repair the damage. With an effort of will he shoved more Eather into Scale than it was asking, as much as he knew his body could handle. All in an effort to speed up the process. The tingle grew to a minor burn as the icy blue cracks began to visibly vanish.

  Dominic snatched his blade as he rose to his feet, the jumbled mess of dogs slowly broke apart. He felt a weight lift off his shoulders as his Sense told him that the soldiers above him were almost out of the scrapper. While Bethany and Tylor were in their own struggle against the last owlmair, they at least, could handle themselves. His hope was that Seth would be able to race back down once he had the soldiers settled.

  With his Eatheral reserves holding just above half he could last, for a few more minutes at least. His real issue was his lack of any true means of dealing damage to his foes. His blade just wasn’t enough to pierce through their hide. As a battle of attrition, it was a fight he couldn’t win.

  Just as he resettled into his stance, both beasts lunged. Dominic was, unfortunately, forced to dodge as he couldn’t stand against such weight. With a step back he brought his blade down on the nearest foe and sparks flew as he connected with its armored backside. A yip came out as his sword managed to slide between the gap and dug deep. The beast spasmed, the sword was snagged, ripped out of Dominic’s grip as the hound fell in pain.

  His body turned, having sensed the other beast already in mid lunge. His hands came up defensively as he fell backwards. He slammed against the ground and the scales on his back cracked. Dominic held back a scream as pain radiated from his left hand, the beast having once more chomped down upon it. The force of the fall along with the bite almost completely shattered the icy scales on his forearm and hand.

  He slammed his right hand against the creature’s head and more pain radiated from his left. Just as he was bringing his arm back for another swing, there was another shift in the Eather.

  Then the pain subsided as the beast went limp. Blood poured out of its neck as a voice spoke. “You having fun down there?”

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  Tyler stood to the side, bloody knife in his hand, Shadow drone dissipating into the Eather. Dominic simply looked up at him before he grunted and shoved the beast off himself.

  “Plenty, you should try it some time.” Dominic retorted as he looked at his hand. The blue scales mostly held though a few were pierced and dyed from the trickle of blood leaking through. Luckily the wounds were shallow, even so it would probably take an hour to heal. Add the wounds to his left forearm and it would be hard to use his left hand for anything productive till then.

  Dominic sunk into a combat stance and Tylor spun as the window in the other room shattered.

  “Were the stairs too much trouble?” Dominic asked as he relaxed a bit, having sensed it to be Bethany.

  “They really were,” Bethany answered as she swept off some of the glass on her uniform. “Besides I heard someone screaming down here.”

  “Right,” Dominic drew out the word as he turned his Sense upwards. “We can talk about Tylor’s habits later, the squad is waiting for us at the top.”

  “Well, then after you oh fearless leader,” Bethany replied with her arm outstretched to the stairs going up.

  “As they say, ladies first,” Dominic gestured with his left hand, his face grimaced slightly. Bethany took one look and understood his underlying message.

  “At least someone still knows how to be a gentleman here,” Bethany said as she pivoted and began to march up the stairs.

  “How am I not considerate, I totally left you the last owlmaris,” Tylor defended as if he had been hurt. Dominic just shook his head and gripped his sword. He then leveraged the beast under his foot and ripped the blade out. The creature let out a whimper before Tylor finished the job.

  “Wouldn’t happen to have a rag, would you?” Dominic asked as he flicked the blade sending the blood over the walls. Dominic sighed as he saw Tylor shake his head. With no other choice he would have to use his own clothes.

  “Let me,” Tylor interrupted right as Dominic had resigned himself to wiping his blade on his pants. Dominic paused then held out his blade. The next moment brought a shifting of the eather as Tylor ran his hand over the blade. The mist shifted slightly in its wake revealing a freshly cleaned blade. “Eventually I might be able to sharpen a blade with that trick. Not sure how to just select a specific part of the metal though.”

  Dominic brought the blade to his face looking for what it was that Tylor might have done. “You two lost?” Bethany’s voice carried down the stairwell.

  “Coming,” Dominic answered as he sheathed his blade and turned towards the stairs. He could hear Tylor following a few seconds later.

  A long sigh left Dominic as he stared at the crumbling mess before him in trepidation. Where once there were solid concrete stairs there now stood a path just wide enough for two of his feet side by side. To make matters worse it was on the left-hand side of the wall. As Dominic contemplated his path, his eyes darted to Tylor who was making steady progress on the stairs below him.

  With a quick inhale of breath Dominic charged the pit, his body leaped out. His left foot sought any purchase it could grip before launching himself further upwards. He hung for a second before his right foot caught the next batch of solid stairs while his hand shot out to grab the railing and settle his movement.

  “How did everyone make it up these so quickly,” Dominic asked himself as he turned the corner. A bit of relief was felt as he saw the next flight of stairs were mostly whole.

  “What I want to know, is how these looked when they were new.” Tylor answered from below. His voice carried up the enclosed space.

  “I heard that there are historic buildings in Ports that are similar in make,” Dominic replied as he carefully measured each of his steps. While unlikely that they would crumble under his weight, it was better safe than sorry.

  “I’ve seen them,” Bethany answered from higher up. “Sky lines I think they're called. They are truly massive works, not unlike the airship ports. I actually think one of them was used as an airship port at one point in the past.”

  “Interesting,” Tylor’s voice echoed off the walls. “So, then you have any idea what these markings on the walls might mean?”

  Dominic looked at the walls, his eyes seeing only shadows in darkness. “What markings?” He asked as he turned back and continued his upwards march.

  “Every so often I see markings, ones that have colors like red or yellow or blue. At first, I simply thought it was blood, but they’re too consistent and varied to be that.” Tylor replied, having almost caught up to Dominic.

  “Couldn’t tell ya,” Bethany answered, having stopped at the top of the next round of stairs. Dominic’s heart fell, expecting more trouble along the path before he realized she was at the top of the building. “I’ve only ever seen the outside of them. But if they are consistent, they could be floor markers or something.”

  “Makes sense,” Tylor answered as Bethany opened the door and light flooded into the building, overwhelming Dominic’s eyes. He closed his eyes for a moment before he opened them and locked his gaze on the stairs a few steps ahead of him. By the time he had exited the building his eyes had mostly adapted to the bright midday sun. Tempted as he was to bring out his ETGs or Eatheral Tinted Glasses, his laziness won and he chose to simply lift his good arm up to shade his eyes for a bit.

  “I see you’ve all been enjoying the Sun Spot,” Tylor said from behind Dominic. Dominic turned his head to see a few of the soldiers leaning up against the large maple enjoying the rest and trail rations.

  “You three ready, or do you also need a rest?” Seth asked as he turned from his watch.

  “I’m good,” Bethany answered her gaze looking out over the canyon they just came from. “Though Dominic’s arm looked like it could use a moment or two.”

  Dominic enjoyed the small patch of sun for a few more seconds before he looked down at the bruised and bloodied arm. “I can go if needed, though my arm could take some time to recover.” As he replied, Seth had walked over and began to examine his arm.

  “Does wanting to enjoy the Sun Spot count as a reason to rest?” Tylor said as he leaned against the large maple like tree at the center of the roof. Dominic understood the sentiment well. Though the eather was never truly safe, Sun Spots were among the safest areas one could be in. Something about them drove most beasts to avoid the area. One still had to be cautious though, so guards were still advised. It was as Vistan always said, never take anything for granted in the mists.

  “Alright, we will rest for twenty then head out. I want to try to avoid camping tonight if we can.” Seth said as he looked up from Dominic’s arm. “Captain Prescott, your group will have watch.”

  “Sir,” Prescott answered in confirmation. “Watch routine four,” he then ordered his own group.

  “I will take watch,” Bethany said as she walked up next to Dominic. “You focus on resting.” Dominic nodded and watched her walk a few paces before she kneeled and closed her eyes. The next second he felt her Sense roll over him.

  With nothing else to do Dominic walked next to Tylor and sat against the tree. His head rolled against his shoulder and he closed his eyes. Since he was to rest, he might as well get as much as he could.