This chapter is where the gore tag and a certain other one comes in. It won't be common, but this should be a metric of what it will be like when it does happen.

  Madog and Conrad stood outside a clearing shortly after the evening meal.

  A crossbow bolt hit a small feathered dinosaur that had been watching them from a tree, “Yeehaw!” Conrad shouted in exultation, “Got ‘em!”

  One of Unatraq’s underlings grinned as he walked over to pick up the skewered dinosaur, “Tell him, he did a good job.”

  Madog turned to Conrad, “He said ‘good job.’”

  Conrad cleared his throat and straightened his clothes, “I would dare say that after only three days of practice my ability is already exceptional.”

  Madog had done it on his first day, but he already knew how to fire a gun, which helped, “Think they’ll let us go hunting today?”

  Conrad crossed his arms and grinned, “I am sure they will joyously welcome our aid.”

  Madog turned to the underling, “Can we go hunting today?”

  The underling gnced at the sun, “I suppose we could go look around.”

  Madog smiled, “Hope no one misses story time tonight.”

  Sure, Madog enjoyed telling stories, but a break would be nice.

  Conrad still hadn’t tried to learn the nguage, “What didst the d speaketh?”

  Madog rolled his eyes, “He’s older than you… Anyway, he said we can go look around.”

  Conrad tried to hide his excitement and put on a poor facade of calm, “That is fortuitous news!”

  Madog rolled his eyes again, but smiled this time, “I’ll let him know we can leave any time.” He turned to the young man, “We can leave when you want.”

  The young man nodded, “We leave after I tell your… friend to go back.”

  This confused Madog as he watched the young man walk to some nearby bushes at the edge of the small clearing.

  The bushes rustled and Inura popped out, leaves and sticks stuck in her messy hair, “I’m going to!”

  Conrad squeaked and backed away from Inura.

  The young man shook his head, “You will get in the way.”

  Inura ignored him and trotted up to Madog, “Please?” She fluttered her eyeshes and gave him puppy dog eyes, “I’ll be quiet.”

  Madog wondered how long she’d been watching them while trying his best to not succumb to the girl's pleadings, “He’s right. You’re too sick. You fall down away from camp, it will be hard to come back.”

  Inura grabbed his hand and tried pulling him down to her level, “Please?”

  Madog shook his head, “Sorry, Inura.”

  Inura crossed her arms and pouted, “I will follow anyway.”

  Madog sighed, “Then we won’t go.” He turned to the young man, “We will try going another day.”

  The young man nodded his agreement, “Yeah.”

  Inura hung her head low, “Okay… I’ll go back.”

  ***

  Inura turned around and headed back to the caravan.

  She knew they were right and had known this would happen, but she wanted to try, anyway.

  Inura lifted her head back up and took a deep breath. She needed to not let things get to her like this. She wanted to be happy, even if life told her she shouldn’t. Ina had told her once that life was how you let it be and Inura didn’t want to be sad. Happiness was what she wanted. She wanted her st year or two of life to be filled with lots of happy memories. She…

  Inura choked back her tears and wiped her eyes with her arm.

  It was so hard.

  Everywhere she looked, there was something that reminded her of her sickness. Just by being in the caravan, everyone who saw her there knew she would die soon.

  She stopped and turned back to Madog.

  She could see every time he saw her, the sadness of knowing she would die. The fear of catching her disease. He even sometimes wore a face covering to stop her sickness from reaching him.

  Still, he treated her with kindness. She knew he would never think of her as a woman, he’d even told her as much, but she’d needed someone like him.

  Inura reached the wagon where her mother rested.

  Her mother had the same dark brown hair and round face she had. She was on the shorter side, and Inura thought she would be the same if she lived to become an adult.

  Her mother opened her eyes as Inura climbed inside the small wagon, “Madog didn’t let you go?”

  Inura sat and hugged her legs, then ughed awkwardly, “No. You were right.”

  Inura’s mom smiled, “Thank you for not following him. You know you can’t walk far.”

  Inura squeezed her legs in frustration. She knew that if she had really gone, she’d have forced them to come back early.

  Inura’s mom looked at the worn canvas that covered the wagon, “Inura…” She started coughing.

  Inura didn’t look up as her mother’s coughing fit happened. They were happening a lot now, and her mother could barely hold a conversation, so she had gotten used to waiting.

  Inura’s mother stopped coughing, “I know I say this a lot, but please forget about him. For both your and his sake.”

  Inura knew her mom was right. It wouldn’t be long before she would be like her mom. Near death. But… She didn’t want to give up. It scared her. Giving up meant accepting that she was already dead, even if she still breathed.

  Inura sniffed some snot back up her nose, and finally looked back at her mom, “No.” She then scooted over to her mom and held her hand, “We’re almost there. The Heam missionaries there will help us.”

  Her mother looked away, “I hope so.”

  Inura knew the chances were low. The Avrim Inquisitors tracked and killed any Heam they could. Even if it was in neutral territory.

  Inura y next to her mother. Her mother’s breathing was weak and bored. Almost as if it would stop at any moment.

  ***

  Madog returned to camp, their bow instructor the only one who had made a kill. It was getting dark, so he and Conrad had just set up camp and then meditated.

  “Madog!” Came Inura’s chipper voice, “Did you catch anything?”

  Madog cracked an eye open, “Nope.”

  Conrad, who had been meditating as well, jumped up and walked away, “I havest the desire to relieve myself in the yonder woods.”

  Inura ignored Conrad, “Madog will get better!”

  She patted him on the shoulder.

  “I hope.”

  Inura sat in a meditation pose like Madog was, “Can I medi… meditute tonight, too?”

  Madog chuckled as Inura still fumbled with the English word ‘meditation’ he had tried teaching her when she’d first seen himself and Conrad doing it a few days ago, “Yes, you can join us every night for meditation.”

  Inura grinned and closed her eyes and hummed happily as she began her meditations.

  It had only been three days since Madog and Conrad began meditating. He had never done it before, but could already feel a difference today than when he had just started. The only problem was the life-changing event.

  A bird squawked, and Madog noticed a dove watching him.

  He felt a chill go down his spine as it stared at him, continuing to watch.

  Suddenly Madog heard shouting from the front of the caravan. It wasn’t a word he knew, but the camp immediately burst to life, the st vestiges of twilight giving the scene an ominous feeling.

  Inura opened her eyes and looked in the direction the shout came from and repeated the word as a look of fear grew on her face.

  “Inura, I don’t know that word. What’s wrong?” Madog asked, hoping he was reading too much into the situation.

  Inura jumped to her feet, “Bad men coming.”

  Madog jumped to his feet, too, and tried to look through the tents and wagons towards the commotion happening at the front of the caravan. “Bandits?”

  Inura ignored him, “Momma!”

  Just as Inura was about to head off in a run to her mother’s wagon, there was shouting and an enormous crash.

  Both Madog and Inura turned to look and saw a wagon getting crushed and knocked to the side by a triceratops.

  Madog briefly wondered if one of the caravan’s triceratops had escaped, but soon noticed an armor-cd rider sitting on its back. The rider held a sword and a torch and touched the tter to the wrecked wagon.

  Inura screamed and clung to Madog as two more riders joined the first.

  Madog grabbed Inura’s hand and rushed to his bag, “Go into the forest!”

  Inura looked too scared to act and clung to him.

  Madog pulled his M1911 from his bag and turned the safety off, “Cover your ears.”

  Inura was clutching onto him, crying, her eyes squeezed shut.

  Madog took a breath and aimed his gun at the closest rider. He was confident hitting targets within about thirty yards and could probably hit a target farther than that on a great day.

  His hands shook from his racing heart and his own fear. Madog doubted he could hit the man from this distance, so pulled Inura along, “Let’s get to your mom.”

  Inura blinked and nodded.

  The screams were growing louder as fires spread among the wagons and people fled.

  The attackers continued to light fires and Madog saw them cut down anyone they could get close to.

  Madog scooped Inura up with one arm and ran to the wagon Inura’s mom y in.

  There was a screech from what could only be Utah raptors, each with their own mounts.

  Madog looked to see feathered raptors as they pounced on people and bit at them as they ran through the camp.

  Just when Madog thought it couldn’t get worse, the raptor riders started using magic to attack the camp.

  Madog looked away as one used magical fire like a fmethrower to burn a man with leprosy alive and another used lightning that arced between multiple victims, paralyzing them.

  Madog wretched in disgust, but focused on keeping Inura safe and reaching her mother.

  A raptor screeched and lept onto a wagon, screams coming from inside as the weight of the animal crushed its occupants.

  The rider noticed Madog and pointed at him.

  Madog leapt forward as a ball of fire formed in front of the man, who unched it at Madog, narrowly missing him, hitting a wagon behind them that exploded in a fountain of fme.

  Madog let Inura go and rolled to a stop before aiming his gun at the rider.

  Madog pulled the trigger.

  The raptor recoiled in pain and staggered backwards.

  The rider struggled to get the raptor under control, giving Madog another chance to shoot.

  Madog held his breath and aimed at the rider’s body.

  Madog fired.

  The rider cried in pain as Madog’s shot hit him in the stomach, piercing his armor and nearly knocking him off the raptor.

  Madog had seen the man use magic and knew he’d have Magic Skin. He wondered if it was enough to save him, but instead of waiting to see, he grabbed Inara and continued to Inara’s mother.

  He wondered if he should flee into the forest, but he couldn’t bring himself to let Inura’s mother die, so pressed on.

  Madog heard the raptor screech in pain again and gnced behind him to see the rider he’d shot about to shoot another fireball at him. But as the rider’s raptor bucked in pain, Madog saw an arrow sticking from its neck. This caused the fireball to miss Madog and Inura.

  The fireball exploded just in front of where Madog was running and saw it had hit a nearby supply wagon.

  Madog raised his M1911. His gun had ten rounds and one in the chamber to begin with, so he had nine left. He fired three more at the rider’s head.

  At least one round hit, causing the rider’s head to snap back from the impact and fall off of the injured raptor.

  Madog turned back around and ran for the wagon that Inura’s mother was currently in. He didn’t have time to check if the rider was dead and just ran.

  The wagon wasn’t too far away, and they ducked behind the back of the wagon.

  Inura jumped from Madog’s arms, “Momma!”

  The front of the wagon exploded into fmes, burning chunks of wood pelting Inura and Madog, and he heard a woman’s scream of pain.

  Inura screamed as another fireball hit the wagon, knocking her off of her feet, and making Madog stumble backwards as he shielded his face from the burning wood pelting him.

  Inura let out another scream, one that would haunt Madog for the rest of his life.

  Madog looked up to see the inside of the wagon burning, including Inura’s mother, whom Madog finally realized was screaming in pain as the growing fire consumed her body.

  Madog was about to climb into the burning and broken wagon to rescue Inura’s mother when another fireball flew into the side of the wagon that sent a burst of fire across Inura’s mother’s body, silencing her screaming.

  Madog wretched, the images of the burning woman repying in his mind.

  The rider was still alive.

  Madog had killed Inura’s mom by not making sure he was dead.

  There was a crash as the triceratops riders came closer, crushing another wagon.

  Madog tried to calm himself as he watched the surrounding chaos.

  He saw more triceratops and raptors, each with riders atop them. He couldn’t even stop one rider, how could he stop so many? His gun could punch through their armor and injure them, but not kill them.

  Madog turned to run, but felt something holding him in pce.

  Madog looked down to see Inura clinging to his legs as she sobbed and screamed in despair and grief before coughing and hacking uncontrolbly.

  He needed to get Inura out of here. It was up to him to protect her.

  So Madog picked up Inura and ran.

  Madog didn’t see any of the sick nearby, at least none that could run.

  Many of the raptor riders had passed through the caravan and were chasing the ones that could down, or at least the few Madog could still see.

  Inura screamed and reached for the burning wagon her mother’s body was in as Madog broke off into a sprint.

  Madog used the wagons and tents of the caravan to keep the attackers at bay and out of their line of sight, although Inura broke into a series of coughs, destroying any hopes Madog had of being stealthy.

  Madog heard a crash and jumped to the side as a broken wagon tumbled nearby as a triceratops and its rider confronted him.

  Madog raised his M1911 as he continued to run. None of the triceratops riders had used magic yet from what he’d seen, so he hoped his gun would work against them.

  The rider ducked behind the triceratops’ bony crest and charged them.

  Madog aimed at the triceratops’ face and fired three times.

  The triceratops groaned in pain but kept charging.

  Madog swore and jumped out of the way, barely avoiding the animal’s horns, though taking a hit to his side, sending a jolt of pain through his ribs as he tumbled to the side, dropping Inura and his M1911.

  The triceratops’ rider swung at Madog with his sword as he charged past, grazing him on the right shoulder.

  Madog scrambled to grab his gun, which had fallen nearby, and shot the triceratops’ rider as his back was now exposed as the triceratops crashed through a tent.

  Madog jumped to his feet before scooping up Inura again, ignoring the pain of the cut on his shoulder.

  Now standing, he noted the triceratops hadn’t stopped running. He wasn’t sure if it was because he had killed the rider or if taking three bullets to the face had sent it out of control.

  Either way, it wasn’t a threat anymore at the moment.

  Madog heard shouts and turned to see a dismounted triceratops rider and a raptor with its rider circling Cutting Man.

  Cutting Man held a rge serrated sword which glowed with power.

  The raptor lunged at Cutting Man, and the rider fired lighting while the dismounted triceratops rider lunged forward with his sword.

  Cutting Man dodged the tter’s sword while using his sword to not only block the lightning, but redirect it to the dismounted rider.

  The scene reminded Madog that Cutting Man could use magic. If anyone could fight these men off, it would be him.

  Madog turned to join Cutting Man. He only had two bullets left, but if he could kill the raptor or the currently stunned triceratops rider…

  Cutting Man’s arms glowed briefly as he spun, his sword connecting with the stunned triceratops rider, bisecting him at his stomach, his body falling in two halves.

  The raptor and its rider moved to attack as Cutting Man recovered, but Madog raised his M1911 and shot at the raptor rider twice, the gun’s slide locking open as he fired the st round in his magazine.

  One of Madog’s shots hit, causing the rider to spasm in pain and nearly fall from his mount.

  Cutting Man took advantage of this and his arms glowed in a burst of energy and he swung his sword again.

  The raptor rider parried the attack, but his raptor took the hit in the rear, its left hind leg and tail getting cut clean off.

  The raptor immediately fell, screaming in pain at the loss of its limb and tail, its rider leaping off.

  Cutting Man gave the man no time to recover and attacked again.

  The raptor rider tried blocking, but Cutting Man’s attack broke through the block, his sword meeting some resistance, before stopping in the rider’s rib cage.

  Cutting Man kicked the now dying man’s chest, using the momentum to finish bisecting the man using the serrated teeth of his sword to cut.

  Magog finally made it to Cutting Man. Cuts covered the man, his already blood stained clothing now stained in fresh blood. Around him were two dead triceratops, their riders, and the raptor and its rider.

  Madog stopped next to Cutting Man, “Help us!”

  Cutting Man studied Madog and the now catatonic and weeping Inura, “To the forest.”

  Madog nodded and followed Cutting Man, picking up the triceratops rider’s sword as he passed by, trying to ignore the gore from the man’s bisected body.

  By now, most of the caravan was in fmes or destroyed. Most of the attackers had passed through the caravan encampment and were now chasing down those who had fled. Madog could see several returning down the road. They’d need to get into the forest quickly.

  Madog paused when he saw Wise Ina’s broken wagon a few dozen yards away. There was a dead triceratops next to it, covered in burn marks. Next to the triceratops was Wise Ina’s attendant, and Madog could vaguely make out the unmoving shape of a body just inside.

  Madog heard a screech in the sky above them.

  It was night now and hard to see, so Madog couldn’t tell what it was.

  Cutting Man immediately moved into a defensive stance as he scanned the sky, “Pterodactyl.”

  Madog had seen wild pterodactyl flying by occasionally, so that in of itself didn’t arm him.

  Madog saw it. A crackling of electricity, then a streak of light and a crack of thunder.

  A gust of wind blew past Madog, momentarily blinding him with ash and smoke from the fires.

  As Madog blinked, he quickly regained his vision.

  Cutting Man stood next to him, like he had just a moment ago. A massive spear pinned him to the ground, piercing him through the chest. Arcs of lightning arced from the spear and through Cutting Man’s body.

  Madog broke into a run. This was beyond him. He was going to die. Men riding dinosaurs. Mages burning people alive. Pterodactyl riders throwing spears imbued with lightning from the sky.

  Fear overwhelmed Madog. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe.

  Something snapped inside of him, causing him to run even harder and faster than he had ever run in his life, a fresh spring of energy filling him and urging him on. He barely registered as branches cut at his face and bushes cut his clothes and exposed skin.

  Then he colpsed.

  Madog fell into a daze, too tired and too scared to think of anything other than the horrific images he had just seen. Inura’s mother burning alive. Inura’s scream of despair. Cutting Man cutting people in half. Cutting Man speared to the ground.

  Inura’s scream woke him from his stupor.

  Madog realized he was now in the forest. He didn’t remember entering the forest or anything after seeing the Cutting Man speared to the ground.

  Inura screamed again.

  Madog turned to find a raptor rider holding Inura in the air by her neck.

  It took Madog a moment to realize, but this was the rider he’d shot several times. The rider’s armor made it hard for Madog to see how bad his wounds were, but by the blood dripping from the armor, it had done some damage.

  Inura tried to scream again, but it only came out as a gurgle as the rider squeezed her throat.

  Madog tried to move, but his body wouldn’t respond. He barely even had the energy to move his head.

  The raptor rider walked up to Madog and kicked him hard in the ribs, “I’m going to kill your kid while you watch.”

  The kick was hard enough to send Madog rolling and his ribs burst into pain where the rider had kicked him.

  The rider turned his attention back to Inura, “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you right away.”

  Inura grabbed the rider’s hands where they held her throat, and Madog heard her struggling to breathe.

  “Inura…” Madog willed himself to sit up, but only lifted his head.

  Inura’s face held both a mix of fear and hatred.

  “Inura!”

  Inura stopped struggling against the rider’s grip as her face started turning blue, but instead of falling sck, she reached for the rider.

  The rider ughed as Inura reached for his face.

  Madog winced as he rolled onto his side, his injured ribs protesting.

  Inura gritted her teeth, and just when Madog thought she would pass out, a jet of blue fmes erupted from her outstretched hands.

  The man screamed in pain as the blue fmes hit his face at nearly point bnk range and dropped Inura as he clutched his face in pain, ripping his face mask off and briefly revealing a bullet wound to his cheek, exposing some shattered teeth as he screamed.

  Inura’s fmes went wild, catching a nearby tree on fire, before turning the fire back onto the rider.

  At first Inura looked surprised at the magical fmes erupting from her hand, but soon it turned into rage as she recovered her breath between coughs.

  Soon Inura was screaming in rage between fits of coughing as she burned the man alive, just like he had done to her mother.

  Madog started dragging himself to Inura, “Inura! Stop!”

  Inura ignored Madog, but soon enough the fmes from her hands stopped, and she fell over.

  Madog crawled over to Inura and saw she was still breathing.

  Madog looked her over more carefully and winced as he saw the hand marks left on her neck where the rider strangled her. He also saw burns covering her hands.

  There was a gurgling sound, and Madog turned to see the rider.

  A skull greeted Madog as he looked at the rider, his face burned to the bone, empty eye sockets staring at the trees and sky above.

  Inura’s fmes only sted a few seconds, but had been enough to burn the man’s face clean off. His body had only taken it for less than half that time and his upper torso looked more like charred meat than man.

  Madog doubted he would live more than a few minutes, if that.

  Madog turned back to Inara and dragged her away from the dying man, before pulling her into an embrace and passing out.

  ***

  A man watched the encampment of the sick from his perch on his pterodactyl. The attack would begin any minute now.

  He saw his two marks near the edge of the encampment. He knew one of them would run, while the other would help.

  The massacre started, and his mercenaries easily overwhelmed the caravan’s few guards.

  The man felt nothing as the sick fell to the mercenaries’ bdes. His goal was simple.

  The one known as Madog had gone to help, as expected. Still, without magic, even his gun wouldn’t help.

  Surprisingly, Conrad hadn’t run away immediately like he’d expected, but actually shot an arrow at the mercenary Madog fought.

  Madog ran to a wagon, the mercenary he’d shot unching several fireballs at it.

  Whoever was inside was important to Madog, as the man could feel Madog nearly break the magic barrier, causing him to feel excited for the first time.

  Then there was a snag. There was a rank three mage in the caravan. None of the men he’d hired were more than rank one, so they’d stand no chance.

  The man hefted a javelin and began a dive at Madog and the mage. He’d only have one chance, but he wouldn’t need more.

  His pterodactyl let out a screech as he charged his javelin with lightning magic, and just as he’d expected, the men on the ground looked to the sky.

  It was far too te as he threw the spear, easily piercing the mage’s body.

  The man felt Madog break through his magic barrier as he saw the mage die so easily.

  The man watched in glee as magic filled Madog’s legs, allowing him to run at superhuman speeds.

  With Madog’s magic barrier broken, he would see to breaking Conrad’s magic barrier too.

  So, he hefted another javelin, “Witch, take me to Conrad.”

  The pterodactyl blinked its oily bck eyes and screeched in affirmation.

  Conrad would be easy. After all, fear and fighting for one’s life was the best way to break magic barriers.

  Chapters once a week now. Chapter 5 is finished, but I want to edit it more before posting. Not sure about the cover for the story as it's not quite what I picture Inura to look like mostly, but I'm terrible with covers and having one is better than nothing.