The island seemed elusive with the thick forest surrounding the walls, even though they covered about only about 15% outside the walls but the fog made it impossible to discern what was real and what wasn't or at least that's what my experience has taught me. For some reason this place triggered some memories at the back of my head even though I've never been here. we went around the walls trying to find an entrance but it was closed on all sides which was strange. Then I noticed something, among all the forestry surrounding this fortress there was a specific type of vine. The engrowth was an unusual type of flowering vine that grew in extremely dense areas of forestry where the life energy was abundant, either that or areas with a large amount of death energy since both are polar opposites making them both possible sources of food for these vines. They could grow towards the sky for miles and miles as long as they have a regular supply and when their supply is cut off, the entire vine goes dry immediately and it dies.
With the proper tools made we could climb it over the wall to get a better view of what's inside, I could easily climb with Joyle in tow but I didn't wanna endanger her so I left her in the care of chreshield.
I initially asked them to remain in the boat as it seemed to have run out of energy or spirits to run it. I went towards the engrowth and I could instantly feel the energy it was emanating or rather it was feeding on. This was draconic energy, which made this journey even more dangerous since I had to head in to find food for us since our reserves in the boat were running low.
Then I thought if there was a dragon going around here, the safest place Joyle would be is with me so I called them back and asked them to go with me. I found some rope in the nearby dock and made ice hammers and ice axes to assist us in climbing the wall using the engrowth but apparently chreshield didn't need it at all. She converted from her semi human form to a complete Zyon tiger. She now had two tails, a shield across her back and retracted claws. Her fur was the color of the late evening sunset.
She quickly climbed the engrowth with Joyle and Arthold in tow, leaving me to climb by myself. I cut and climbed the vines of the engrowth with ease. The engrowth itself was sturdy enough to support my weight. Though it did take me an hour to climb the wall, I finally reached the top where chreshield and Joyle were waiting while Arthold was playing with Joyle.
I turned towards the inside of the wall and was shocked to see the sight it produced. A city ravaged and in pieces. The skeleton of a dragon kind in plain sight. This screamed danger to me but there was no choice but to travel and find food. The palace was in pieces as it seemed from afar. Then I saw a grappling hook which we could use to travel inside to the town.
We used it to slide down to the heart of the city. This place seemed familiar which is when I noticed the symbol on a flag, a dragon with its wings spread while facing a human with a sword. This was the great city of "Pancratius". In my previous life, this city was famous for its production of dragon slayers.
Ever so rarely dragons would go on a rampage or they'd become corrupted and so the first dragon king granted this kingdom's ancestors certain powers which allowed them to kill the corrupts in exchange for the power and allowed them to flourish. I guess they got done in by a dragon considering there's a huge skeleton here.
The weird part was that even though the dragon has died, this land remains uncultivated and uninhabited. I didn't feel any dangerous miasma going around the city so the palace must have some secrets and hold something useful for me because the dagger I fashioned from the cretinas was starting to break into pieces.
We roamed around the city trying to found some edible food which to our luck was impossible. The city seemed to have been uninhabited for quite the number of years. The skeleton of the dragon seemed to cover around 50% of the large city including the palace. It also seemed as if it had been stabbed by the sharp point of the palace. After another hour of walking, we finally reached the palace. Another weird thing I noticed was that for a place rich in draconic energy the number of monsters we encountered was zero.
We finally reached the palace. It was a majestic palace with the sunlight shining across its walls. There were graffiti and paintings across everywhere. Each telling their own story but I didn't have the time to go through all of them.
The palace was Neo-gothic with a Romanesque style of architecture. Something was trying to come from my memory from the back of my brain but for some reason I couldn't remember it. The doors were as large as an orc standing 20 feet tall. I tried to force it open but that didn't work. Then I created a thin blood blade from the bone marrow of the dragon and ooh did it do wonders.
I slid it through the gap of the doors and slowly tried to feel the mechanism of the door. It wasn't too complicated and with a simple click the doors opened. Then I collected some more of the dragon blood from the bones by drilling some more holes and used battery magic to store all I could get.
My reserves were completely filled. Yet I couldn't help but feel familiar with the dragon too. Though I had met the people of Pancratius many times on the battle field we didn't interact a lot but this dragon seemed pretty familiar for some reason. Then we headed inside the palace which had its roof blown off and was completely spacious at the same time it had the feeling of death. Even after a few years the death energy from Grim, the god of death still lurking around the corners of the palace which made me sick.
Then suddenly I heard the howl once more and this time it was directly in front of us. An 8-foot-tall werewolf, with claws sharp enough to tear through metal stood at the top of the staircase ready to pounce on us. I screamed get back not at the wolf but at chreshield and Joyle.