The Ashlands lived up to their name when Sheilah and Fialla stepped out of the long, narrow passes. Everything was uniformly gray and lifeless, including the sky, which was thick with heavy clouds that hung low. Embers sifted down from the clouds themselves.
There was a patter of footprints in the ashes; it was obvious that once the others got through the passes they had scattered in search of their prey.
There was a short mesa with an easily scalable cliffside off in the distance; Sheilah pointed it out and began trotting towards it, bow in hand. She wasn’t certain if Fialla would follow her or if she would find her own place to hunt.
The air was hot and dry and tasted of strange chemicals; here and there cracks were broken in the ground venting clouds of oddly-colored smoke. Sheilah steered clear of those and kept trotting, never stopping.
Her feet never made a sound in the soft, ashy soil; all she could hear was the creak of her leathers, the dim rattle of the arrows in her quiver, her short, quick breaths.
Most of the time spent in the Redstone was spent running- fetching water, going to the tribe’s farm, fetching tools for the family at the forge, checking the traps laid for whelplings, checking the Clan’s territory for dragonling sign, running to the training area to learn how to fight using the weapons your ancestors left behind, and always running down to the passes that bordered the lands between the Redstone Valley and the lands claimed by Stormheim.
There were many different ways to run; hers was a steady, ground-eating trot that wasted no energy, something that could be done for almost forever. She could carry a bucket and run at this pace and never spill a drop.
As she approached the mesa, part of the sheer cliff split open with a crack of shattering stone like thunder, and molten rock jetted out in thick syrupy ropes. The blast washed over Sheilah like a wave, knocking her on her ass in the ash-strewn wastelands while the ground thrummed and heaved underneath her.
“Wait, you were running towards that?” Fialla shouted behind her, pitching her voice to be heard over the roar of collapsing stone.
“I thought I’d take the high ground; get a good vantage.” Sheilah replied over her shoulder as more ash jetted into the sky, along with an unpleasant brown smoke.
Fialla helped Sheilah to her feet, and then pointed with her spear. “If you’re taking suggestions, I think we should head out towards that gap in the mountains, there.” She replied. “It looks defensible.”
Sheilah nodded, and followed the smaller elven girl towards a short pile of boulders and an overhanging cleft of stone.
As they rounded the boulders, a hand stuck out and waved them in.
Sheilah and Fialla exchanged glances; Sheilah slung her bow and pulled her sword, knowing Fialla was doing the same.
In the cleft created by the overhang and the boulders were several clansmen, all their age.
“Seems like you had the same idea as all of us.” A half-elf girl Sheilah didn’t know chirped brightly. “Neera, of the Horned Snake.” She finished by way of introduction.
“Sheilah, of the Dragon.” She offered neutrally.
“Fialla, also of the Dragon.” her shadow added.
The others quieted their murmur of conversation at this announcement.
“Well, I say you’re welcome.” Neera offered, and then pointed to the boulder, and the lip of the overhang. “There’s plenty of Dragon marks here.”
Sheilah glanced at what the others were doing, hunched against the side of the boulders, and realized that they were trying to carve their own clan marks into the stone.
“Which direction did you come from?” Neera asked.
“We came from the north.” Fialla replied. “We were going to climb the mesa, but it blew up on us.”
“That must have been the rumble we felt.” Neera nodded. “Some of them were worried that this place would collapse.” She jerked her thumb at the others.
“Why’d you come here?” Fialla asked.
“Well, we were talking, you know? There’s no reason why we shouldn’t work together, right? Like, we’re going to be clan and tribe leaders someday, right? Why not help each other out now, and in the future we’ll help each other out later.”
Sheilah and Fialla immediately backed out from the shelter. “I don’t think we’ll get along very well.” Fialla offered, Dragging Sheilah away.
“I was going to-” Sheilah growled, and Fialla nodded.
“So was I.” She shook her head. “Work together? They should be ashamed. It’s a test of Individual skill.” She spat.
Sheilah eyed Fialla at that. “Says the one following me around.”
“When I spot a dragon, you’d better believe that I’ll face it alone.” Fialla replied. “And I won’t interfere with your hunt, either.”
“Then why-” Sheilah began, only to be cut off by Fialla.
“We need to secure food and water, right?” She asked.
Sheilah nodded.
“That’s what we’ll do together.” Fialla replied.
Sheilah sighed, and then nodded. “Agreed.”
They set off down the slope together.
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After several hours, Fialla pointed out a mountain. “There’s trees on that mountain. Towards the top, that is.”
“Never expected to see that in the Ashlands. I thought everything was supposed to be on fire.” Sheilah observed.
“It was described that way to me, too.” Fialla replied, rubbing her mouth in thought.
“Doesn’t matter. We’ll dip down over there, and then we should be able to climb up over there.” Sheilah replied, pointing out their path.
Fialla nodded, adjusted her spear, and followed Sheilah. Overhead, the sky rumbled and lightning crackled.
As they traveled up the slope of the mountain, Sheilah realized this was a path that had been tended.
“This was made.” She observed, and then sheathed her sword, unshouldered her bow, and nocked an arrow.
“Made by who?” Fialla asked.
“We’ll probably find out soon.” Sheilah replied, trying to hear over the thunder in the sky and the pounding of her own heart.
It looked like the trail wrapped around the side of the mountain. If it was anything like the trails in the Redstone, there would be a point where they’d be exposed, and she intended to sneak around that bend as much as she could, just in case.
Suddenly, a giant appeared around the corner, holding its dress out. Things seemed to hang down from it, as if she was using it as a makeshift container.
Sheilah took a half-step back to brace herself, drawing the fletchings of the arrow to her ear; Fialla immediately rammed her spear into the giant’s knee.
The giant spilled the contents of her dress, some large unidentifiable roots with a roar that was cut off as Sheilah’s arrow lodged in the giant’s throat. As the sixteen-foot tall woman crashed to the ground, Fialla immediately lunged forward, thrusting her spear forward into the giant’s skull.
She jerked her spear free, panting, and turned to look at Sheilah, her face running with sweat.
“Well, now we know where the giants are coming from.” Sheilah opined, and Fialla nodded. She picked up one of the roots the giant was collecting and cautiously sniffed it.
“What do you think?”
“Gather up a few and we’ll see.” Sheilah replied, drawing her sword. “There’s probably more giants around though, so we’ll eat later.”
Fialla picked up several of the roots as Sheilah cut her arrow free of the giant’s neck, and then peeked around the corner of the mountain path they’d been following.
She ducked back and spat a curse.
“What? What is it?” Fialla asked as Sheilah sank to her knees and rubbed her face.
“Have a peek and tell me what we’re going to do next.”
Fialla dropped to the ground as Sheilah used her sword to cut a swath of fabric from the giant’s clothes and wiped her face with it.
Fialla inched forward and peeked around the corner.
Below the mountain was a settlement of giants. More than a settlement; the ground was churned up and stone laid down for streets.
“A city.” Fialla breathed. “A city for giants.”
“Tell me you think we’re in the Ashlands now.” Sheilah dared her in a tired voice. “Where are the dragons? The Horned Snakes? The Thunderbirds? The Glass Spiders?” Sheilah asked rhetorically. “I think we need to go further north- through the city.”
Fialla peeked again. Certainly, there did seem to be a path that led further north, but she wasn’t certain. She’d need to get closer- much closer- to tell.
“I think we’re screwed.” Fialla observed almost clinically.
“We can’t go back without a dragon.” Sheilah replied. “So the only recourse is to go on.”
“We could go gather those weaklings-” Fialla began, but Sheilah reached over and slapped the half-elf’s ass.
“Rely on them? I’d sooner wed one.” She spat vehemently.
“Well, we’re outnumbered.” Fialla replied. “I don’t think you have enough arrows to deal with all of them.”
She edged over to the mountainside and peered down. “If any of them have a head on their shoulders, they’ll be coming this way eventually, anyway.”
Sheilah let out a small chuckle. “A useful diversion.”
Fialla frowned at that. “Weak as they are, Sheilah, they are fellow Clansmen. We should be leading them, not waiting for them to walk into a trap.”
“What would Father do?” Sheilah asked, addressing the dragon-tooth sword in her hand.
She pushed herself to her feet. “Gather the roots; as many as can fit in both of our packs. Help me push this giant down the slope. We’ll go down and find our clansmen and lead them like true Dragons would.”
Fialla nodded.
Neera jolted when Fialla and Sheilah appeared from the shrubbery in front of her, raised her dagger, carved from the horn of one of the horned snakes, inlaid with one of the fangs.
“Dragons.” She observed coolly, much less friendly than before. “What do you want?”
“We’ve come bringing gifts of food.” Sheilah began, her eyes lighting up. “And you all are going to help with a little problem.”
The teens from the various Clans listened with rapt attention as Fialla and Sheilah explained the giant’s city. Fialla even drew a layout of the buildings and streets, something that surprised Sheilah.
“So what do you expect us to do?” Neera asked irritably.
“It’s not a terrible thing we’re asking.” Sheilah replied. “We’re just going to kill them.”
Neera looked back at the other Clan teens.
“There’s not many of us, and it seems that there’s more of them.”
“We haven’t even reached the Ashlands yet. To get there and challenge our Totems, we’re going to need to go through- or around- them, and then again, on the way back.” Sheilah replied. “Like it or not, this is part of our trial.”
“We’ll eat... and then we’ll have a look at what we’re dealing with.” Neera decided. “So... how do we cook these things?”
Sheilah and Fialla led them back up the mountain after baking the roots in the coals of a small fire. They turned out to be quite delicious.
As they passed the corpse of the female giant Neera eyed Sheilah and Fialla speculatively.
“This path is certainly easier than the one we were following.” Neera observed. “Leave it to the Dragons to find an easier route.”
“We like high places.” Fialla replied simply.
“Yes, it’s well-known that you like to look down on everyone else.” Neera sneered.
Fialla let the insult slide. Maybe it was the dragon blood, maybe it was the Dominion of Supremacy at work, maybe it was just clan custom, but something in the Clan of the Dragons caused them to seek out the high places in the Redstone. It wasn’t even intentional. If there was a flat place with a small hill, the Dragon Clan would choose the small hill, even if there was no merit to it.
“So then... what’s the plan?” Fialla asked Sheilah.
Sheilah blinked at the realization that everyone looked to her for guidance.
It made sense. She was the daughter of the Dragon Clan. She was the daughter of the First Blood. She was the daughter of a Clan chief. It was her responsibility to lead them to victory.
She took a breath.
“First-” She began.