Dragon Quest - I - Chapter 4, Parts 0+1

Chapter 4 - Domdora (Home) (p135-142)

‘The priest that came from northern Melkid placed the life stone in the newborn babe’s hands and departed’ -- Aleph relied on these words spoken to him by the entertainer Manuel as he headed south down the Old Melkid Highway, crossing over a treacherous mountain range.

He stopped briefly in his old home of Domdora, then continued south until reaching the coast, whereupon he turned east.

The Month of the Unicorn turned to the Month of Anubis, and the seasons changed towards late Fall. The first rains brought with them an abnormal chill that lasted from morning til evening.

He eventually came to the hills of Melkid after crossing a crumbling stone bridge passing over a rivermouth. Nearly sixty days had passed since he had departed the Rain Shrine...

1 - The Town of Winds

The skies were covered in thick grey clouds and everywhere Aleph looked he saw stone mountain peaks jutting upwards, baring their tops like fangs.

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Melkid wasn’t far now. The Old Melkid Highway, which stretched from northern Alefgaard, ended here as well.

Unfortunately, the sounds of the wind and the horrors Aleph had witnessed in Domdora, his old home, had burned into his thoughts and wouldn’t let him go.

It had happened about twenty days prior. Upon seeing the high walls of the desert town of Domdora, Aleph forgot all about the weariness in his legs and broke out in a run. Gasping for breath, he crawled through the broken walls then stopped dead. There were no words for the state of ruin the town was in, far exceeding anything he expected.

The wind blew whirlwinds of grit and dust through mounds of rubble. Shops and their signs, doors and windows were wind-swept and eroded. Roofs had caved in and crumbled to nothing. Stone walls were blackened, likely the remnants of a blaze. The only sound was that of the wind.

Long ago, Domdora served as a military installation for the castle town of Melkid, to the east. Once gold flakes were discovered in the cave streams in the mountains to the north, though, the region became a hotbed for gold prospectors. The collected gold was pressed in the town and merchants carried it throughout Alefgaard. Domdora had reached new heights of prosperity.

An accompaniment of brave, well-paid soldiers defended the town in those days.

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In exchange for extravagant sums, mercenaries and others confident in their sword arms were trained as guardsmen and protected the town and its workshops from thieves, bandits and even monsters living in the mountains to the south.

But then, the great quake of 1348 brought down a great flood of dirt and mud that covered the town, burying the refinery and many of the workers and soldiers that guarded it in an instant. The green, vivacious plains of Domdora also eroded into harsh desert.

It was then targeted for attack by the Dragonlord’s minions. The guardspeople just barely managed to defend the town itself, but with a great toll - only one-tenth of the city’s nearly three hundred thousand people survived.

Then fifteen years ago, the devil knight, leading the Dragonlord’s Dragon Battalion, put a permanent end to the town’s history.

Aleph felt the urge to cry as he gazed out at the wreckage.

This is where I was born. This is my home.

And then the tears came, tracing a path down his cheeks.

If the Dragonlord hadn’t attacked, I might still be living here now, with my real parents! People used to walk these streets, used to live in these homes, used to work in these shops and look out these windows. Damn the Dragonlord!

Biting his lip, Aleph walked off towards the town square.

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Suddenly, he was attacked from behind by a metal slime. But Aleph slid out of the way and cut it down with one stroke.

Metal slimes are a type of slime with abnormally high defense, but it couldn’t compare with the power Aleph had gained. His arm buzzed with fervor. His face contorted with anger towards the monsters that would dare to live in his hometown. Another showed itself from an alley to his right, but one glare was all it took to cause it to retreat back to where it came from.

A giant oak towered over the square, reaching up higher than the ruined spires of the church ahead. Nearly half of the great tree’s roots and lower branches were blackened and withered, likely charred from the fire that was set to the town all those years ago. The branches that weren’t burnt, though, appeared healthy and were brimming with leaves.

Looking up at the great tree, Aleph was moved by its will to survive. Despite the ruin around him, he felt a small sense of salvation.

“Right, the house I was born should be close by,” Aleph told himself, looking around once he shook himself back to reality. Manuel had said it was near the town square. Unfortunately, a large number of roads and alleys branched away from this spot.

A strong wind began to blow. Aleph sensed danger from behind him, and when he turned, he saw an armored monster charging at him, twice his height and brandishing a sword.

“Ack!”

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Aleph ducked out of the way and swung his blade, but the monster was more agile than it looked.

An armored knight, they were called. The Dragonlord used his necromancy to breathe life once more into armor cast off in battle, binding within the souls of those that used to fight against him. They wander old fields of battle and accursed lands, attacking any humans they find without exception.

Aleph swung again and again. The armored knight jumped, avoiding the strike in mid-air, then brought its weapon down and knocked away Aleph’s sword. Aleph rushed to pick it up, but the knight stomped down on it before he could reach it with its armored heel.

“Crap!”

Aleph retreated quickly and chanted the Begirama spell.

A streak of lightning shot out and struck the armored knight in the chest, quickly eclipsing it in a dull yellow-white light. The monster shuddered and froze, unable to move.

Aleph picked up his sword and leaped into the air, crying out as he brought his blade down on the knight’s armored neck. Its head flew off with a metal clang. It took a few staggering steps backwards before falling to pieces with a clatter.

Silence returned to the square. All that could be heard once again was the blowing wind. I’ll just head to Melkid as I planned, thought Aleph. He would find the priest that gave him the life stone and ask about where his house exactly was in Domdora.

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I’m sure he’ll know, Aleph told himself as he redoubled his spirits and headed for the town gates.

The days grew shorter and shorter. Aleph quickened his pace, urging himself to find a place to camp. He came to the top of a hill, then gasped and his eyes widened.

Flatlands stretched beneath him, and in the distance, surrounded on three sides by forest, he could see castle walls. Finally, Melkid. In a much better mood, Aleph ran off towards the town.

Seventy or eighty paces from the gates stood a giant, man-like statue. Aleph stopped and looked up at it, mesmerized. It looked almost ten times his height. Aleph didn’t even reach halfway to the crumbling statue’s hips.

Aleph rounded the statue and headed for the gates when he felt like he was being watched and again looked upwards.

The statue’s eyes, closed a moment ago, were now open and staring down at Aleph. They were frightening eyes, eyes that sent a chill up Aleph’s spine.

It’s eyes flashed and it let out a deafening roar. Cracks ran along its chest and shoulders, forming thick muscle-like shapes while the years of accumulated dirt fell away with a patter. The statue had shown its true form.

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Aleph yelled out in surprise and retreated several steps backwards.

The stone creature was a golem, and only exists here, before the gates of Melkid. The golem suddenly tried to stomp on Aleph with one of its mountain-like legs.

Aleph jumped off to the side and dashed around its ankles, running towards the town walls. Unfortunately, one step for the golem was longer than five or six of Alex’s lunges. With earth-crashing footsteps, the golem had circled around Aleph in no time and cut off his escape. With a creaking groan, the golem brought its palm down from above, attempting to grab Aleph. Aleph dodged nimbly then reversed direction, swinging at the giant’s hand. His sword bounced off harmlessly.

Aleph swore and chanted spells.

Begirama’s lightning ran through the creature as Gira’s flame engulfed it.

But then Aleph was struck by a harsh impact. The spells had no effect, and the golem used his hesitation as an opportunity to grab him. It brought Aleph in front of its face and began to squeeze.

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Aleph released a shout of pain as his bones scraped against each other with a grating noise.

Suddenly, he recalled the words Manuel had told him. The monster that attacked Maira, a giant man-like statue, all those years ago had cowered and fled upon hearing music from the fairy flute.

“Stony bastard!” yelled Aleph and thrust his sword into the giant’s eye with all of his might, embedding it up to the hilt.

The golem roared with a force that shook the earth and pulled backwards, dropping Aleph screaming to the ground. The impact shook his entire body and knocked the wind from his lungs, making it hard to breathe. Unhesitatingly, Aleph reached into his sack, pulled out the flute given to him by Manuel, and brought it to his lips. A high-pitched tone filled the area.

The golem immediately slowed, gigantic fist paused in mid-air. As Aleph continued to play, the anger disappeared from its stony face and it stopped moving halfway through its attack. It had fallen asleep.  
Aleph stopped his playing and looked up at the giant. Like a rabbit sneaking around a sleeping predator, Aleph edged away and dashed off towards the town gates.

The town guards watched him approach with mouths agape.