Between hills of ice were the crags of a frozen vale. Of course, the crags were ice as well. And they dotted the valley like a neighborhood of skyscrapers. As Thierry leaped from crag to crag, he plummeted from peak to summit. Again and again, until he landed upon the nadir of the vale and found himself in the shadow of towers. Thierry then ballooned his cheeks and gnashed his teeth, grimacing as his knees buckled from the exertion and pained him thoroughly.
The buckle and pain brought Thierry to a pause until an echo greeted Thierry. "After the boy!" heard Thierry as a resound throughout the valley. Then came the pit-pats of pursuit and a quiver of terror that Thierry could not withhold. "Get him!"
"No, no!" screamed Thierry in his thoughts. That mental scream was abruptly followed by physical screams, as the pit-pats became thumps. Again and again, Thierry heard thump after thump. And again and again, a figure arose into the heights of the vale. At first, there were dots of shadow amidst the towers' umbra. But as the air was filled with figures, the land was obscured by shadow. Until the darkness erased the light.
As the figures' descent revealed their knighthood, exposing their arms and plates of steel, fear overcame pain at last. With a flail of his arms and a flurry of his legs, Thierry burst into a floundering yet firm sprint. The flight caused Thierry's knees to quake in their sockets, yet Thierry continued his retreat.
Quickly, Thierry's breaths grew both colder and harder to take as well. Eventually, as a cave's ceiling displaced the sky and the towers were replaced by the cave's walls, Thierry's breaths hastened to their maximum speed and weakened to their minimum strength. At this point, Thierry barely had any more breaths to take. Yet it was Thierry's knees that gave rather Thierry's lungs.
Thierry collapsed onto his bloated knees and then dropped face first onto the cave's floor. As Thierry did so, he could still hear the clang of flapping plates and the screech of steel sliding along steel.
"Oi…" heard Thierry from ahead of him rather than behind him. Thierry blinked at the greeting and then heaved himself onto his knees with a push. "…any cave this deep is bound to be a dungeon, y'know?" continued a scolding voice.
And then the cave's dark was banished by a pair of bright and reptilian pupils. Pupils that were as black as the night yet as bright as the day as well. The pupils were slitted, and each of them zigzagged like a bolt of lightning. And their irises were circles of lightning, water, and wind. As if they had been clad in the rage of a storm.
Before Thierry was a draconewt, a boy-dragon with the eyes of a hurricane and the power of a wyrm. The boy-dragon appeared as a 12-year-old child with a height of 4'0", a lean but muscle-less physique, and a complexion of dark skin freckled with black and lustrous scales. In addition, the boy-dragon's blue and sparkly hair was matted into downwardly pointed spikes and reached as far as the boy-dragon's waist. And the boy-dragon's claws and fangs gleamed with all of the blue and sheen of a sapphire.
"It's an enemy!" exclaimed a knight as his fellows and he arrived as a stampede of steel. At such a close distance, the drumming of the knights' feet was like a peal of thunder. As such, Thierry's attention was diverted away from the boy-dragon and toward the knights.
With a ball of his fists, which bloodied his fingers as they accidentally clawed the ground, Thierry forced himself from his knees onto his feet. But again, Thierry's knees buckled and then collapsed as well. Thierry dropped, eventually impacting against the icy floor with a booming thud. Yet Thierry arose. With a headbutt and a howl, Thierry arose back onto his knees and then glared at his pursuers.
"Dumb NPC…" snapped the knight charging at the front. Subsequently, that Vanguard seized his anelace's grip and then withdrew the anelace from its sheath. The anelace was a cinquedea with a Reuleaux triangular blade, a crescent guard, a 1-handable and rounded grip, and a rose-shaped pommel. The blade and grip were colored gold, while the guard and pommel were colored roseate. For, like all anelaces, the cinquedea was ceremonial rather than practical. "…just die already!" demanded the Vanguard as he joined Thierry on the ground.
Wait, what?
"Wait, what‽" cried the Vanguard as his face imploded alongside his helm. Subsequently, the Vanguard hurtled away from Thierry and in a whirl. The knight then crashed into and knocked over his fellow knights, like a bowling ball striking down every pin on the lane! After that, there was a bit of groaning. But mostly silence. Until the knights and Thierry heard a landing's thud.
"Your equipment sucks," declared the boy-dragon as he landed on the tips of 1 foot's toes. "It's faction gear," added the boy-dragon as he gracefully spun into a stand onto both of his feet. "Ceremonial, not functional,"
"B-b-but I didn't aggro it!" complained the Vanguard, in a whine, as he and the other knights crawled over each other in their attempts to stand. "Th-Thierry wasn't attacked, so why was I‽" he noted and questioned in his next whine.
"That enemy is protecting him?" guessed another of the knights in a gasp. "The mobs are protecting each other!"
"No, it's because he drew a weapon!" spat a third knight. As soon as he was away and untangled from his fellows, the Spitter arose onto his feet and flourished a halberd with a blurring spin. But the Spitter did not attack just yet. Instead, the Spitter planted the halberd's blade into the ground. And then, like a frog hopping towards prey, the Spitter erupted into a lunge and straight towards the boy-dragon's fist!
Wait, what?
"Wait, wha-" began the Spitter just a moment before his face was punched and he spun vertically! All of the knights gasped as the Spitter backwardly hurtled from the punch and into the sky. Then all of the knights winced as the Spitter became embedded face-first into the cave's ceiling by an impact with it!
"That enemy is really protecting him!" cried the Guesser. As he did so, like a carp ascending a waterfall, the boy-dragon burst into a leap towards the Spitter. As soon as he reached the Spitter, the boy-dragon punched the Spitter again! But this time the punch was an uppercut and the ceiling did not crater but rather splintered! So the Spitter was knocked through the ceiling and into the cold outside! The break in the ceiling caused a rain of stone, as boulders broke off from the ceiling and plummeted towards the cave's floor.
"Was Thierry a tamer this entire time‽" considered a knight as he and the others fled the boulders and scattered as they did so. "Could we have just sold or traded him?"
"No!" refuted another of the knights. At this time, the boy-dragon descended alongside the boulders and into a kneeling land. "If that thing was tamed, it would be a companion, not an enemy!" noted the knight as the boy-dragon arose into a stand and then glared at all the knights. All of the knights froze where they stood as the boulders broke into dust from their crash and covered the cave in a darkening dust. Because in the black of the dusty smokescreen, all the knights could see was the boy-dragon's glaring and glowing eyes!
"I've seen your lot plenty of times," asserted the boy-dragon as the boulders ceased to fall and the dust started to vanish. As the dust settled and spread into a vanish, the knights caught sight of the boy-dragon in full and eyed the boy-dragon with disbelief and fear alike. More specifically, the knights noticed and were terrified of the boy-dragon's attire. As to be expected from any dragon, the boy-dragon was not clothed in much. Dangling from the boy-dragon's left ear was half a heart-shaped and sapphire earring. Other than that, the boy-dragon was wearing a blue and glistening pair of greaves and sabatons atop a pair of black and dull breeches. Notably, the sabatons' appearance was evocative of Tyrannosaurus rex's feet!
"First you enlist into a faction of NPCs and then you kill all of the NPCs so that you may claim the faction's headquarters, resources, and symbols for yourselves!" accused the boy-dragon in a growl and with bared fangs. "All because you're too cowardly and weak to build or anything yourselves!"
"How did you know…" murmured Thierry as he watched the boy-dragon stand between the knights and him. "…no, how is an enemy talking?" he questioned next. "How?"
"Don't falter!" roared the Vanguard in a shout over the boy-dragon. He then grasped his deformed helm before pulling the helm into a rip off his head, tearing the helm's metal as if it was paper! "Band up, party up, and reform the company!" ordered the Vanguard. His order rallied all of the other knights! So in an instant, all of the knights were brandishing their weapons at the boy-dragon and huddling together into a makeshift phalanx!
"It's just 1 enemy, while we are a company!" asserted the Vanguard. "Remember, it's 3 by 3! 3s of you form a band…" he stressed as the knights divided themselves into groups of 3. Immediately afterward, each knightly trio glowed with a differently-hued radiance! " …and 3s of your bands form a party!" he added as the hues began to lessen as trios formed ranks with other trios and shared an individual radiance. "Now all 3 of our parties unite to form our company!" he declared as, at last, all of the knights were back in the first formation and sharing 1 radiance!
"Just 1 enemy? You're wrong!" refuted the boy-dragon. In response, the Vanguard growled and then led a rush towards the boy-dragon! As the knights followed the Vanguard into battle against the boy-dragon, the cave began to creak from the echoes of the knights' battle cries and footsteps! "I'm not just 1 enemy, I am Isidore Michelmore! The enemy who is going to become the final boss of this game!" shouted the boy-dragon.
And then there was water.
Before, behind, and beside Isidore; there was water! For a surge of water appeared around Isidore and then surged into a torrent! The surge of water acted like a flash flood, as it was able to completely yet quickly erode all of the cave's floor into mud! It also blasted the cave's ceiling apart and smashed the cave's walls into a collapse, hitting with all of the power of a tidal wave! In an instant, the air was choked with dust and moist with water. And of course, the floor was flooded, leaving Thierry knee-deep in cold water.
"I wasn't hit?" questioned Thierry in surprise. As he did so, the cave's remnants melted into a muddy river. It was as if an aquatic hammer had smashed and soaked the cave into muddy pieces! Yet, Thierry was fine?
"All bursts, even my Aqua Hammer, affect only its surroundings and its targets," explained the boy-dragon, Isidore. Thierry flinched at the sound of Isidore's voice, as Thierry had not realized that Isidore was behind him. Thierry then about-faced towards Isidore and gawked at the fact that Isidore was completely unharmed as well! "To put it simply, I missed myself and you on purpose,"
"Y-y-you…" murmured Thierry. As he did so, he struggled to ignore the descent of the knights, most of whom were falling in pieces and like rain. It was clear that Isidore had not missed them as well. "…you're not an enemy, are you?" he asked.
"I am an enemy," corrected Isidore in a huff. "An enemy player that is! But you probably don't know what that means, so just think of me as a boss!" he elaborated. As he did so, he observed Thierry with scrutiny for the first time.
In stark contrast to Isidore, Thierry was an adolescent rather than a child. In fact, he appeared to be an adult youth. As he had the countenance of a baby-faced but 18-year-old man. Also in contrast to the dark-skinned Isidore, Thierry was fair-skinned. It could be said that Thierry was a bit pale. Most notably, Thierry bore an athletic figure that was lean but muscular as well. Though the aesthetic of his build was marred by a deformity in the knees of his legs.
Most notably to Isidore, Thierry's blonde and chin-length hair was curled into a mane of natural ringlets. And Thierry's amber eyes were as brilliantly golden as Thierry's hair. Isidore also could not help but admire Thierry's attire. As Thierry was clothed in a black, turtleneck-collared, and long-sleeved tunic embroidered with branches of gold and leaves of silver. Thierry also wore a pair of mostly gold but silver-tipped gloves, a pair of black breeches, and a pair of gold and silver jackboots. Lastly; Thierry boasted a cape with a black exterior, a gold interior, and a silver lining.
"But you're a child," argued Thierry, awakening Isidore from a trance as he did so. "Child enemies, first-tier enemies like you, can't be bosses!" he stressed.
"I'm a child that just saved your life!" spat Isidore. "Remember?"
"I didn't mean that as an insult!" asserted Thierry in a murmured whimper. "I was just saying..."
"Stupid NPC," huffed Isidore with a cross of his arms and an uppity look away.
"What makes me an NPC!" huffed Thierry in turn and with a stomp of his foot. Though Thierry immediately regretted the stomp. As it pained his knee and splashed water onto him as well. "Why do people keep-"
"What makes me an enemy?" interjected Isidore in retort. He then frowned at the sight of Thierry easing his knee's pain with a rub. "Hey, you-"
"All draconewts are enemies," answered Thierry before Isidore could finish. Hypocritically, Isidore growled at being interrupted. "Duh!"
"Racist," spat Isidore. "It's true," he admitted next with a shrug. "But it's still racist!" he asserted.
"Racist?" questioned a stunned Thierry. "What?"
"Of course an NPC wouldn't understand!" complained Isidore in a huff and with a pout. He then crossed his arms and looked away, again. "Dumb NPC!"
"I am not dumb!" huffed Thierry. But then he blinked. "Why am I arguing with a child?" he wondered.
"I'm not a child!" insisted Isidore in a scream. "I'm just a draconewt!" he snapped. "I'm 28 you know!"
"Uh huh," snorted Thierry. "Either way, I need to go!" he asserted. He then began to hobble off. "The others, the women, I need to-"
"Let me guess, they killed all of the men but spared the women?" yawned Isidore before Thierry could finish. This time, Thierry was hypocritically irked by the interruption. "I mean, I doubt any of those fools could get a lover any other way," snorted Isidore.
"How do you know these things?" asked Thierry. Though, really, Thierry was less asking and more wondering.
"So I was right," groaned Isidore. He then eyed Thierry before suddenly smirking. "Well, don't worry!" laughed Isidore with his chest puffed out. "Because destiny, no, fate! It has led you to the best help that you can get!" exclaimed Thierry, flashing his fangs with a grin.
"But you're just a child," snorted Thierry, deflating Isidore's ego as he did so. "I need an adult, not some kid!"
"I am not a child!" screamed Isidore with a raise of his arms into the air. "I'm 28! 28! That's not the age of a child damn it!"
"Uh huh," yawned Thierry in dismissal of Isidore's claims. "Whatever you say, kid!"
"Ahh!" screamed Isidore with a throw of his hands into the air. "Being an enemy is bad enough, I don't need to be infantilized as well!" he complained in a growl. "Especially not by some NPC!"
"Also you're an enemy," added Thierry with a point. He then blinked. "Not that there's anything wrong with-"
"Listen here you racist, stupid NPC…" snarled Isidore next, grabbing the collar of Thierry's shirt with a hop and then pulling Thierry into being face-to-face with his fanged maw. "…I am going to help you and you're going to like it, understand‽" snapped Isidore. "Well, do you‽"
"That's not how helping works!" cried Thierry. Of course, crouching was hell on Thierry's knees. So Isidore was causing him a lot of pain! "Hasn't anyone taught you about consent little boy‽"
"Shut up!" spat Isidore as he released Thierry. "I need an excuse to leave this place, a good excuse, and helping you is that good excuse!" he admitted next. "She'll forgive me for leaving if it's to help someone!"
"Huh?" uttered Thierry. "What are you talking about?" he questioned.
"What do you plan to do with those bad knees of yours, anyway?" cackled Isidore. An instant before he kicked Thierry's knees with a forward stomp! Immediately, Thierry collapsed into a splash within the water. And Isidore laughed. As Thierry choked on and flailed within the water, Isidore laughed. "See?" giggled Isidore as Thierry emerged from the water and gasped for air. "As you are now, you can't get by without me!"
"D-d-damn you!" swore a drenched Thierry in a hiss of pain. "You'll pay for that!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" yawned Isidore. He then grinned quite wickedly. "Look, I need an excuse and you need help!" asserted Isidore once again. Thierry bit his lip at the assertion, but Thierry did not deny it. "I make a mean potion you know!" he added. "With just a short trip through the hills and up the mountain, I can brew a few of the herbs there into a potion that'll fix those knees of yours!" he offered next. Isidore blinked at the offer and then frowned, conflicted now. "And after that, if you bring me along, I'll help you avenge your brothers and rescue your sisters!" he promised.
"You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours," cooed Isidore. "Okay?"
For a moment, Thierry glared and growled at Isidore. But then, after considering Isidore's offers in thought, Thierry sighed.
"Okay,"