Break Time

Break time

reblog to give the person you reblogged this from a fucking break

Welcome to Falconreach

After nearly an hour of walking and small talk, the trio came to a bridge crossing a large river. Just beyond the other side, the walls of Falconreach could just be seen over some trees. 

“This is the bridge of the hydra,” Twilly said cheerfully as he began crossing.

“Uh,” Velyn said, “why is it called that?”

“Because a hydra lives in the waters here.” Twilly responded.

“Oh,” Velyn said, tightening their grip on their sword in case it would be needed.

“Don’t worry Velyn,” Celestia said with a smile, “the hydra hasn’t been seen around these parts in a few years.”

“Ah, okay, cool,” Velyn said calmly, though their grip didn’t loosen on the hilt of their blade until the three of them were safely across the bridge. 

“So Twilly, you said you spend a lot of time in Falconreach?” Velyn asked.

“Yep!” Twilly responded, “I view this town as my home. There are a lot of adventurers that come through here that often need healing or a bit of advice and I enjoy helping them out where I can!”

“That’s really nice of you,” Velyn said, “I don’t know that I could see myself really staying in one place for too long. I like travel too much for that. What about you Priestess?”

Before Celestia could respond, the sound of bells ringing could be heard from the direction of the town. 

“Those are the alarm bells,” Twilly said, his pace quickening, “we should hurry.”

The three of them arrived at the edge of town ten minutes later where there were some people wearing silver and gold armor seemingly preparing for some sort of battle.

“Guardian Anna!” Twilly shouted, causing one of the figures to turn and look in their direction. 

“Twilly!” Anna shouted back, surprise in her voice, “Did you bring us reinforcements? Wait, is that Priestess Celestia?! What are you doing here ma’am? Falconreach is under siege from an undead army!”

Before Twilly or the Priestess could respond, Velyn cut in. 

“Undead? Tell me what’s going on, I’ll do what I can to help.”

“We haven’t seen an army like this since, well, forever honestly,” Anna responded, “We’ve been doing our best to hold them off but we’re getting pushed back with each wave they send. This gate is our last line of defense! Look, I don’t know who you are, but if you’re here to help, follow the path north to the front line!”

Velyn nodded at Anna, then to Celestia and Twilly they said, “It was nice meeting both of you,” before they sprinted northward toward where the guardian said the front line was.

Once Velyn reached the mishmash group of guardians, adventurers and even a few paladins they stopped for a moment to gauge who seemed to be in charge. There was one paladin who stood out form the rest, with short brown hair and a large golden axe. Everybody seemed to be giving him an added amount of respect so Velyn ran up to him.

“I’m Velyn, where can you use me sir?” They asked quickly.

The paladin turned and looked at them with a big smile on his face. 

“If you’re hungry for a fight with the undead, I could use you with me!” He said cheerfully.

Velyn’s response was to grin and nod. The two of them ran forward and crashed into the newest wave of animated skeletons that were charging toward the town. They slashed, sliced and smashed any enemy that came within their reach. As time progressed and more waves of enemies came, the number of people guarding the town slowly dwindled as they became injured and had to retreat. But the paladin and Velyn continued to fight, not stopping until the enemy numbers each wave dwindled and eventually ceased altogether. It took nearly an hour and at the end of it the two were left panting heavily and standing surrounded by broken bones.

The paladin once again grinned at Velyn and held a hand out, “I’m Artix.”

Velyn took his hand and returned the grin, “I’m Velyn, nice to meet you.”

Guardian Anna appeared, a couple other guardians with her.

“Did the two of you really destroy the army on your own?” She asked in bewilderment.

The two heroes looked around and smiled sheepishly, Velyn saying, “Yeah, I guess we did.”

“I’m impressed!” Anna said, “There may be a place for you in the guardians, stranger. But where did these undead come form? Ah, don’t worry about that, we’ll take care of things from here. The two of you should head into town and get some rest.”

Artix shook his head though and said, “I wish I could Guardian Anna, but I need to return to the Doomwood. Amityvale may need help.” Before receiving a response, Artix was already headed off in the direction the undead had come from.

Velyn shook their head with a smile on their face, “What a weird guy. Is there an inn that I could find in town?”

Anna nodded, directing a young looking boy with brown hair and what looked to be training armor to come over.

“This is Ash Dragonblade,” she said, “Ash this is Velyn. Please lead them to the inn Serenity is getting ready.”

With that, Anna and the other guardians went after Artix. Ash smiled up at Velyn, waving for them to follow behind him. 

“Come with me, I’ll show you to the new inn!” He said excitedly.

Velyn smiled and followed the boy into the town.

By the time the two of them had reached the inn, the exhaustion from the fight had set in and Velyn was barely conscious enough to comprehend the words being said to them.

Velyn awoke to the sound of knocking and a woman’s voice teasingly saying, “Wake up, lazy-bones, it’s time to save the world!”

Velyn stretched out a little bit but didn’t respond. The woman’s voice came again, “Come on, I made you a hero’s breakfast!”

Velyn groaned and sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes and looking around. They were in a single bed in a small room that seemed to have been thrown together quickly just for the purpose of giving Velyn a space to rest. As they looked toward the door they were met with a woman looking in at them. She had long blonde hair and emerald eyes, lips in a small smile. 

“Once you’re ready just come on out,” she said, “I’ve got a table set just for you in the common space.” 

Then the woman disappeared, closing the door as she left. Velyn sat up and realized they were still wearing the armor they had battled in earlier. Or was that the day before? They didn’t actually know how long they had been out for. Shaking their head, they stood and stretched a bit more before walking over to the door. Their sword was leaning against the wall beside the door, so they grabbed it and returned it to the sheath which was still on their waist.

I must’ve been really tired after all that fighting, they thought to themself as they exited the room. They were immediately met with thunderous applause and as they looked around at everybody that was clapping they figured at least half the town had to be there.

“Oh, uh, hi, I’m Velyn,” they said somewhat anxiously.

The woman that woke them up stepped forward and held her hand out to shake Velyn’s.

“I’m Serenity,” she said smiling, “the townsfolk just wanted to give their thanks in person for what you did.”

Ash excitedly cut in at this point, shouting, “it was so cool! I saw you out there, you had to have defeated at least a hundred of those skeletons!”

A man that looked to be in his forties with brown hair, a mustache and a neatly kept beard patted the boy on the shoulder and laughed, saying, “alright everyone we’ve given our thanks, let’s let them eat in peace.”

With that the man led the everyone out, leading Ash with a hand on his shoulder.

Saving the Priestess

The sun had just begun to bathe the land with its light when Velyn Alfyr stabbed an ornate gold and silver blade into the ground at the edge of a cliff overlooking Greenguard Forest. They pulled a jar full of ashes from their pack and smiled sadly down at it.

“See, dad? You knew we’d make it back to this spot.” They said quietly to themself as they pulled the lid off before dumping the ashes off the cliff. Almost as if on cue a heavy gust of wind came from behind Velyn, catching the ashes and taking them swiftly over the trees. As Velyn pulled the sword from the ground a shadow fell over them. Before they had a chance to look up, something large seemingly crashed into the ground at bottom of the cliff. Velyn held the sword toward the foe, hand held steady only thanks to years of training. A full grown red dragon slowly leveled its gaze on the human before lowering its head and revealing the two riding on its back. A small red Moglin, an almost catlike creature that stood like a person, and a woman wearing an ornate white and gold robe with a hood that obscured her features kneeling next to it. The moglin leapt from the dragon to the cliff with little effort, offering Velyn a nod.

“Hiyas,” he spoke before turning back to the woman, “The path is clear, Priestess!”

The woman stood, carrying an odd black box with her that Velyn hadn’t noticed before. 

“Pardon us, we’re just passing through.” She said as she walked after the Moglin, whom had begun to walk further into the trees, away from the cliff. 

Velyn stood blinking for a moment as they processed everything that had happened over the last twenty seconds. The dragon lifted its head slowly and stared at the human once more before it spread its wings and launched itself into the sky once more. 

After another minute of stunned silence, Velyn turned and began to lightly jog after the priestess. They had only gone thirty feet or so when the moglin came flying through the air back at Velyn, as if it had been thrown or kicked. Velyn threw the sword aside so they could catch the creature, almost being knocked off their feet for the effort.

“You okay?” They asked as they set the moglin down.

He seemed to gather himself before responding in a shaky voice, “No but I thank you for catching me. We were attacked by a gorillaphant, the priestess needs help!” He then began to sprint in the direction that he had just come flying from. Velyn scrambled to grab their sword before sprinting after the creature. Without thinking they ran at the large gray creature, barely registering the priestess standing off to the left. With a yell they swung the sword wildly around in an odd display that made them look larger to the gorillaphant but to any passerby would make Velyn look a little unhinged. The beast snorted then charged at the would-be hero, forcing Velyn to leap to the right. The beast crashed through the trees behind Velyn and continued onward, likely in search of easier prey. 

The Priestess turned to Velyn and spoke, “Thank you for saving us. May I know your name?”

Before Velyn could respond however, the moglin spoke up, “But Priestess, I thought you said their name was Velyn and that they’re the one destine-”

The Priestess cut the moglin off with a loud sigh, “Twilly..” She gave him an irritated look before turning back to Velyn, “Alas, we’re out of time. I must ask an important favor of thee. Would you please let Captain Rolith know that we're taking the shortcut? He's just ahead in Oaklore Keep,” she gestured in the direction she spoke of, “and worry not hero, I am certain we shall cross paths again.” 

“Especially since they’re is going to take that Black Dragon Box and-” Twilly began.

But with another heavy sigh and a much snappier tone, the Priestess cut him off again. “Twilly! We must be going now.”

With that, the two began heading deeper into the woods once more. Velyn stood a moment blinking and wondering what they were supposedly destined to do. With a shake of their head, they began to head in the direction the priestess had pointed out.

The first thing Velyn saw as they finally broke through the trees was the large brown dragon standing next to the main entry gate of the keep. Down by the dragons feet stood a man with a long black beard wearing some dark gray armor that gave him the odd appearance of being partially dragon himself. The keep itself was surrounded by a large stone wall, but the center of it looked as if the original builders used a very large tree as the foundation. As Velyn approached, a knight in silver armor waved them over.

“Hold, friend,” the knight said, “state your business in Oaklore Keep.”

“Oh, uh, sure, this lady in a white robe said to find Captain…Rith?” Velyn said, keeping an eye on the dragon.

“You must be talking about the Priestess. You’ll find Rolith just inside.” The knight said, a smile in his voice. “Open the gate!”

The large wooden gate began to rise, lifting just high enough for Velyn to enter before it began to lower once more. Just inside the gate was a courtyard with a large set of double doors leading into the base of the tree that the fort was built in and around, while to the left and right there were additional knights and doors. Standing just off to the right of the large doors was a man in shining grey plate armor, a large ornate silver and gold hammer sat head down by his feet. He looked over at Velyn with an heir of authority that led Velyn to believe he was the captain they were searching for. 

“Excuse me, sir,” Velyn began, but the other man cut them off.

“Captain Rolith at your service citizen, what do you need?” He gave a friendly smile as he spoke, though Velyn noted that he did shift his grip on the handle of his weapon in case he needed to swing it from its position on the ground.

“Ah, perfect, this Priestess in a white robe said-” But Velyn was once more cut off mid sentence.

“What!? You saw the Priestess?! Where is she?!” Captain Rolith was shouting so loudly that a couple of the other knights around drew their weapons and began to look for whatever the threat may be.

“I, uh, yeah, she said she was cutting through the shortcut to get to Falcronreach,” Velyn said.

“She’s in grave danger, we need to go after her,” Rolith said in a panic, “the forest is crawling with bandits that are looking for her!” 

Velyn nodded and turned around to leave through the gate as Rolith shouted for it to once more be raised. Captain Rolith charged forward into the trees, Velyn scrambling to keep up with him in his mad dash to reach the Priestess.

After a few minutes Rolith slowed, talking to Velyn quietly as he did so. 

“You go left, I’ll go right. Our mission is to protect the Priestess no matter what.”

And with that Rolith began to rush in his chosen direction, leaving Velyn to run the opposite way. After what felt like years but could have been only a few minutes, Velyn came across the Priestess standing with her back against a tree in a small clearing. The moglin Twilly stood between her and a group of bandits, his small staff raised defensively. Velyn hid quickly before peeking their head around the tree to get a more accurate read on the enemy. Three bandits stood across from the Priestess, two of them were in leather armor with hoods obscuring their features while the third wore a purple cape and an iron helmet that resembled a crown sat atop his dark hair. After a second Velyn realized the man was in the middle of speaking.

“Give us the box, Priestess,” he said with a sneer, “and we’ll kill you quickly.”

Without a second thought Velyn launched forward with a shout, drawing their blade as they moved.

“Velyn!” The Priestess shouted, “we must protect the black dragon box at all costs!”

“Leave them to me!” Velyn shouted back, “I don't know who you are or why you want that box, but you’d better-”

The bandit leader blocks Velyn’s blade, shouting, “My name is Drakath! I am the leader of the Darkwolf Bandits and the rightful ruler of this land! That box is the key to my throne, and there's no way that I'm letting a peasant like you keep it from me.”

Before anybody else could react, Rolith came crashing through the trees like an enraged gorillaphant while screaming “Priestess!”

He charged at the two remaining bandits, swinging his hammer with the same precision you’d expect of a sword user. The distraction of his arrival gives Velyn a chance to push their own attack against Drakath, slamming him with blow after blow of their blade.  Velyn’s blade slice at Drakath’s cheek, causing the man to leap back and snarl, “You got lucky this time, soldier!”

Velyn smirked, “Luck had nothing to do with it, and the name is Velyn. Remember it!”

Drakath glared as he continued to back into the trees while saying, “Oh, I will. You can count on that.” 

The two remaining bandits fled from Rolith, one dropping his dagger as he ran through the trees to escape. Velyn moved over to Twilly and the Priestess, keeping their head on a swivel as in case the enemies running away had been some sort of trap. 

“Are you two okay?” Velyn asked as they looked the others over.

“You arrived just in time, thank you,” the Priestess spoke, “However I must ask, would you accompany us to Falconreach Velyn? I would feel better knowing we had an escort what just happened.”

“Of course Priestess, I’d be happy to help.”

The Priestess seems to pause a second before smiling, “Ah my apologies, it seems I’ve neglected to introduce myself. I am Lady Celestia, of Sunbreeze Grove and this is my traveling companion, Twilly the Moglin.”

Velyn gives a smile and a nod of their head, “I’m Velyn Alfyr, though I believe you already knew that based on what Twilly said when we first met.”

Celestia nodded but didn’t respond as Rolith returned from his chase for the bandits.

“I couldn’t catch them Priestess,” he said, breathing heavily, “apologies.”

“It is okay Rolith,” She smiled at the captain, “you’ve brought me an escort to town. You’ve done more than enough to help.”

“Oh!” Rolith said, looking between her and Velyn, “well in that case, I’ll be returning to my post in Oaklore. Please send me a letter once you’ve reached town.” 

“Of course, captain,” Celestia said with another smile before turning to pick up the box, then to begin walking in the direction of the town. Velyn and Twilly followed behind her, the former holding their blade ready for anything.

Work sucks lmao

I still have the DragonFable brainrot and wanna write more but my time has been so incredibly non-existent outside of work that when I do have any time, I just vegetate because I'm so burnt out. Anyway, sorry guys, I have no idea when I'll get back to my larger fic but for now I'm thinking about doing small little one-off fics. Thanks for taking the time to read this. <3

My primary hero in DragonFable is Velyn Alfyr.(Vell-inn All-fear)

They’re just a lil enby fella who learned how to fight from their father and happened be at the right place at the right time.

I’m working on a fic for them right now, so I’ll probably post the first chapter of that a little later. Moving forward, you’ll also see random posts that will be sort of in character thoughts/journal entries. If you’re interested in those, they’ll be tagged as Velyn’s Journal. (: