The Bladeweaver [Book 1 Complete]

The group moved through the ancient expanse of Fellskogur, where towering trees blocked much of the sky above. The forest grew thicker the farther they traveled, with tangled roots and dense undergrowth sprawling across the ground. Moss blanketed the trees, damp from the ever-present moisture in the air. A faint chill drifted through the forest, the kind that made Kale pull his cloak tighter around his shoulders despite the sweat gathering at his brow.

This is it, Kale thought. This is exactly the kind of moment where some nightmare creature would leap out of nowhere, all teeth and claws, screaming like it had a grudge against the whole world. And him, specifically, of course. Probably while he was mid-step. Always mid-step.

"It's quiet," Kale said, scanning the forest. "Too quiet."

Liliana floated just ahead, looking around with suspicion. "The kind of quiet that hides something."

Rika, however, was unfazed. She strolled ahead, her warhammer slung lazily over her shoulder, humming a cheerful tune. "Relax, Kaley. It's just a bunch of trees. Nothing's going to jump out at you."

As if in response, a faint tremor shook the ground beneath them, causing small pebbles to clatter against the roots. Kale froze, his hand instinctively moving to the hilt of his dagger.

"That's the second one," he said. "They're getting stronger."

Liliana floated closer to him. "We should stay alert. I've got a bad feeling about this."

They pressed on, venturing deeper into the heart of the forest. The canopy overhead grew even thicker, blotting out what little light remained, and a low fog crept in from the forest floor, curling around their legs as they moved. The tremors came more frequently now, each one a subtle reminder of the power lying beneath the earth, waiting to awaken.

Kale was mid-step when an unnatural cry split the air, and a pack of creatures leapt from the shadows. They were twisted things, their bodies resembling wolves covered in jagged, stone-like plates that left patches of flesh exposed, their eyes glowing. Their movements were unnatural, jerky.

Always mid-step, Kale thought, twisting just in time as a clawed limb slashed through the space where he'd stood a heartbeat before. He barely had time to recover before another lunged, jaws snapping for his throat.

Rika jumped forward, her warhammer swinging. It collided with one of the creatures, shattering its stone-covered skull with a crack. "Now that's more like it!" she shouted, grinning as the creature fell to the ground.

Liliana's eyes flared with crimson light as she focused on the fallen creature. Blood seeped from its shattered form, rising into the air in twisting tendrils, latching onto two of the beasts and ripping them apart with ease. "Barely worth the effort," she said.

Kale dodged another creature's swipe, his dagger flashing as he slashed through its exposed underbelly. The animal fell with a gurgling hiss, its body crumbling into the dirt.

The rest of the pack fell just as easily, their bodies cracking and shattering under the group's onslaught. Within moments, the forest was silent again.

Rika leaned on her warhammer. "See? Told you it was just a bunch of trees and a few ugly rocks."

"That wasn't so bad." Kale said.

He glanced at the bodies scattered around them, then down at himself. Huh. I'm stronger than I thought. The realization settled in, a spark of confidence flickering to life. Fast, deadly, a natural with the blade… I mean, let's be honest, at this rate, I might actually be a legend in the making. The next great warrior. The name people whisper in awe.

Then he noticed Liliana watching him, one brow raised.

Kale cleared his throat. "I mean… yeah. Not bad. I mean, we weren't bad, they were… bad. Uh. Very bad. You know what I mean."

"Pathetic, really," Liliana added, floating beside them. "If that's the worst Fellskogur has to offer, I think we'll be fine."

Kale let out a small chuckle. "Hehe, yeah."

Phew. Saved myself there.

Rika side-eyed him. "You're sweating."

"I do that sometimes."

Confidence began to seep into their movements as they continued forward, their steps lighter, their conversation easier. Rika started cracking jokes, her laughter filling the eerie silence of the woods, and even Kale found himself smiling, despite the tension that had gripped him earlier.

"Maybe the elders were just overreacting," Kale said with a shrug. "We've handled everything so far."

Rika grinned. "Exactly! It's just a big old snake, right? How hard can it be?"

***

As they delved deeper into Fellskogur, the tremors grew more violent. The ground shook with a slow, rhythmic pulse, like the steady heartbeat of something immense lying just beneath the surface. The once familiar sounds of the forest—rustling leaves, the distant calls of wildlife—had all but vanished, replaced by the eerie silence that pressed in on them from all sides.

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Kale's earlier confidence ebbed with every quake. He could feel it now, that subtle shift in the air, as if the forest itself was holding its breath.

"Just a big old snake, right?" he muttered.

Rika was still grinning, though her steps had slowed, her warhammer resting more firmly in her hands. "Yup. And when we find it, I'll knock it right back into the ground."

"Something isn't right. The magic in the air, it feels... wrong." Liliana said.

They reached the top of a small ridge, the forest thinning ahead of them. Beyond the trees, a massive stone formation loomed in the distance, dark and uneven, its silhouette cutting sharply against the dull gray sky. At its base, the entrance to the cave gaped open, wide and waiting. The fog that clung to the ground was denser there, swirling, shifting unnaturally, as if it had a mind of its own.

"There it is," Kale said. "The cave."

Rika let out a low whistle, her grin fading slightly as she took in the sight before them. "Looks welcoming."

Kale did not think it looked welcoming. Maybe—maybe—if you ignored the unnatural stillness in the air, the sharp stone around the entrance that made it look like the maw of some waiting beast, and the fog creeping over the ground like a living thing.

He thought about it for a second. Nope. Even without all that, it would just be a cave. And in his humble opinion, caves weren't exactly inviting to begin with.

Maybe Earthborn saw things differently. Rika certainly did. Then again, that was Rika, and by now, he was fairly sure she was special, even among them.

Liliana floated closer to the entrance, her eyes narrowing. "Alright then."

The ground trembled again, harder this time, sending loose rocks tumbling down the ridge. Rika tightened her grip on her warhammer, glancing back at Kale and Liliana. "Last chance to back out."

Kale forced a grin, though his heart was pounding in his chest. "What happened to the whole 'just a big old snake' thing?"

Rika chuckled. "Hey, maybe it's still just a snake. We won't know until we get in there."

Liliana hovered near the cave entrance. "The magic is strong here. Whatever's inside... it's powerful."

Kale swallowed hard, stepping forward to stand beside Rika. "So, what's the plan?"

Rika hefted her warhammer, resting it on her shoulder. "Simple. We go in, find this snake, smash it, and walk out heroes."

"Optimistic, as always," Liliana said.

Rika shrugged. "Everything breaks if you hit it hard enough."

Kale wasn't sure that applied to ancient, land-shaping, probably-indestructible stone serpents, but hey, confidence was important. Maybe if Rika hit it hard enough, the laws of reality would just politely step aside.

As long as we're not the ones that get hit, he thought. That'd be great.

The mouth of the cave loomed larger with each step, swallowing them in shadow as they crossed the threshold. Inside, the air was cold and damp, the walls slick with moisture. A faint, rhythmic vibration thrummed through the ground, in time with the tremors they'd felt outside.

"Feels like the ground is... breathing," Kale said.

Liliana floated a little closer, her eyes glowing brighter as she scanned the depths of the cave. "We need to be careful. If Jarosormur is awake, it will know we're here."

Rika snorted, though the tension in her posture betrayed her unease. "Let it know. I'm ready."

As they delved deeper into the cave, the rhythmic tremors grew stronger, more defined. The walls pulsed with the vibrations, sending shudders through the rock. It felt as if the cave itself was alive, responding to their presence.

They rounded a corner, the narrow passageway opening into a vast chamber. Stalagmites jutted from the ground like the fangs of some ancient beast, and the ceiling rose so high it was lost in shadow. In the center of the chamber, the ground dipped into a massive crater, the stone blackened and cracked, as if something had burst forth from the earth.

"That doesn't look good," Kale said.

Liliana floated closer to the edge of the crater. "It's been disturbed. Recently."

"Alright, so where's the snake?" Rika said.

As if in response, a low, rumbling hiss echoed through the cave, reverberating in their bones. From the far end of the chamber, a powerful tremor shook the cavern walls. The ground trembled beneath their feet as a massive shape began to emerge from the shadows, slithering forward slowly, deliberately.

Its body stretched impossibly long, each movement grinding against the stone with the sound of boulders scraping together. Its skin was rough and uneven, as though the earth itself had molded the creature from its deepest stone. Every ridge and scale bore the marks of centuries, hardened by the land it once commanded.

Its eyes—two shimmering orbs, like polished gold—stared out from its massive, serpentine head, unblinking and cold. There was no warmth in those eyes, only an ancient, terrifying intelligence.

The sheer presence of the creature pressed down on them, its size beyond anything they had imagined. It loomed above, a living mountain, coiled and ready, its immense strength visible in every shift of its colossal body.

Jarosormur had awakened.

For a moment, none of them moved. The size of the creature was overwhelming, dwarfing even the cavern itself.

Kale's breath caught in his throat. His hand moved to his dagger, but he felt it, the utter futility of the weapon against something so massive. "What the hell…" he muttered under his breath. "That thing is..."

Rika, for once, didn't have a quick quip at the ready. Her usual grin faltered. She adjusted her grip on her warhammer, her eyes fixed onto the serpent. "Alright... that's a little bigger than I was expecting."

Liliana floated beside them as she studied Jarosormur's movements. "This... this is no ordinary creature. It's older than I imagined."

She narrowed her eyes, focusing on the aura surrounding the massive serpent. "The magic... it's ancient. I can feel traces of what it once was, something protective, almost benevolent. But it's been twisted, corrupted. What was once a force of balance has turned destructive, like the earth itself has been poisoned."

The serpent's golden eyes gleamed in the low light, its gaze locking onto them. Being seen by it was like facing the will of the earth itself. "We're not prepared for this," Liliana said.

The ground trembled again, the vibrations growing stronger as Jarosormur coiled tighter, its massive form shifting like the tectonic plates of the world beneath their feet. Rika readied her warhammer, shaking off the hesitation. "Ready or not, we're here. Let's smash it."

Kale didn't reply, his heart pounding in his chest. His earlier confidence completely gone in the face of this ancient force.

Man, this was definitely one big old snake. A lot bigger and older than he was hoping. And from the way it was looking at him, it knew it too.

Kale gripped his dagger, though a part of him knew it would be about as useful as throwing pebbles at a mountain. What was steel against stone? Against something that had once shaped the land itself? The thought crept in, unwelcome. Are we supposed to win this?

Jarosormur's golden eyes locked onto him, unblinking. It wasn't just looking at him—it was staring him down. A silent, ancient challenge. First to blink loses.

Kale swallowed, suddenly feeling very small.

This was a pretty bad idea, he thought.

Kale blinked.