It started with a scream.
Valda was traveling through the Endless Canyons, an appropriately named expanse of nearly uninhabited sandrock beds, carved by ancient rivers only a few of which remained. She was resting under a gnarly tree by one such stream, cursing the hot sun as she tried to figure out if she was lost in this dry maze of stone and brush.
She sprung up immediately, grabbing her sword from where it had been leaning against the tree. Another cry pierced the calm air, and Valda realized that it came from just over the nearest orange slope. She flew up the dusty side of the scarp, coming down to her hands as she peeked over the top, and for good reason-she thought she heard a roar.
Unfortunately, she was right.
Valda could just make out the screamer: a tall, thin-looking woman, who had found temporary refuge in a jumble of immense stones. But she barely took note of her-she was far too busy taking in her monstrous attacker. A gigantic, bipedal saurian with a face full of spikes and teeth was gnashing at the gaps in the rocks, slowly crushing them or rolling them out of the way as it tore its way towards the terrified woman.
Valda took a few quiet steps closer, eyeing the monster from above for some clue on how to bring it down. Her sword would be nearly useless, judging by the thickness of its scales. That left only the two hand axes at her side. Fortunately, she had a temporary advantage in height. Valda ran across the cliffside until she was almost directly above the beast, putting away her sword and taking one of her wicked looking axes in each hand.
The girl below was just seconds from death, the hot breath of the giant lizard filling her nostrils with the smell of blood and rotten meat. She closed her eyes and tried to accept her fate-when suddenly Valda sprang off the side of the cliff and landed on the monster's back, locking her legs across its neck as if riding on horseback. Valda knew that her strength on its own couldn't pierce through its armor, but she saw that its scales were laid in a particular direction-meaning that with the right angle she could strike between them. With an enormous heave, she sent one of her axes between the scales under the base of its monstrous skull. The beast reared back with a mighty roar, enraged by the pain and the distraction from its quarry. The wound was not deep, but the ax was planted firmly in it's neck.
Now, it bounded furiously around the clearing, trying to buck Valda off, ignoring the woman still cowering in the rocks. Valda aimed her next ax carefully, doing her best to overcome her body thrashing around as the creature jerked like a wild bull. It came down just next to the first, forcing the scales even further apart. A thick red spray of blood splashed onto Valda as she pulled out the first axe and did the same thing yet again, the third blow leaving a clear gash in its hard armor, the axes holding it open like surgical pliers.
Now was her chance to try something decisive before she was thrown off and stomped like a rat. Decisive-and absolutely insane. But it was the only chance she had. Keeping one hand on an axe handle for balance, she reached for her sword and wrapped it under her arm, her hand holding the dull bottom portion of her long blade with the guard stuck between the muscles of her arm and shoulder like a crutch. Swinging her hips to get as much momentum as she could, she thrust the point into the center of the gash, gaining a few inches as the beast started bucking even more wildly, its eyes filled with rage. Valda's rear was lifted completely off the thing's back for a terrifying second-she was running out of time. She released the axe as her chest slammed into the back of the beast's thick neck, nearly knocking the wind out of her and making her bite her lip as she leaned over, punching the sword deeper by slamming the hilt with the flat of her palm before grabbing the guard from both sides and using her arms to saw it in deeper. Second by second, it went a little further in, all while she felt her grip on the beast slipping, her time running out.
Finally the beast's angry bucking turned into wild, uncontrolled spasms, which grew weaker and weaker as the blood-soaked barbarian pressed the tip of her blade into its spinal cord. It ceased roaring, and Valda leapt off as it buckled and fell on its side, paralyzed and dying. Valda watched it, almost moved to pity by its last moments as she stood up, legs still shaking and laid a hand against the canyon wall, somewhat amazed that she survived.
The other woman crawled out of the rocks and stumbled over to greet her saviour. Her dark brown dreadlocks hung down to her wiry shoulders, and her thin body was tall, but not exactly built like an athlete, more like a gangly bookworm or scribe that had somehow gotten lost out here in the wilderness. The woman looked at the blood-splattered Valda with astonished, admiring green eyes as she approached the bloodied and panting barbarian, "I-I have to thank you. You saved my life, that was incredible!"
Valda acknowledged her with a wave of the hand before stumbling over to the fresh carcass to retrieve her weapons. Wrapping her hands across the handles one at a time, she strained her arms and pulled the axes out one at a time before gingerly starting to pull on her sword, taking care to keep pull absolutely straight. Her efforts were for naught, however, and with a quick, anticlimactic crack, her sword broke, and half of it slid out with a gross schlick. Valda held it up, staring at for a moment before tossing it aside with revulsion.
Valda let out a string of curses that would curdle milk as she sat down on the dead beast's limp leg. Now all she had was her axes-it was hard to even fashion spears with the dry, twisted wood of these heat-blasted canyons. How long would it be before she could replace her sword? And what if she came across another monster? She was proud of her skill with the axe, but she was still a swordswoman at heart.
Her cursing had evidently spooked her rescuee. When Valda finally turned to the nervously staring stranger, she fell backwards, landing on her back.
Valda raised an eyebrow at the woman. All things considered, the woman was relatively attractive, only she obviously didn't have it together. While she was young and had a striking face, her clothes were tatters and she had a generally shifty, slightly unfed look. It reminded Valda of the small urchins she sometimes saw in larger cities, although the woman didn't appear to be starving or anything. "I don't suppose you're from a nearby village?"
The woman awkwardly stood up and brushed herself off. "I-I'm sorry, but afraid not." She muttered.
Valda went back to ignoring her, now examining the large amounts of blood drying across her body with disgust.
"Um, it's a cabin, not a village, but I don't live far from here, why don't we go and get that blood off of you? I can at least offer you a bath and a meal," offered the dusky stranger.
Valda examined herself through the reflection of one of her axes. Even her face was partially covered in dinosaur blood. She sighed.
"Yeah, alright. That sounds good," Valda said with a resigned tone. It had been a long day.
She smiled nervously, "G-good. My name's Grendy, I'll show you the way."
Valda's eyebrow raised again.
Grendy sighed. "Yeah, like the monster. I'm just a human, though. A sorceress, but still, there's no reason to worry."
Now Valda was interested. A spellcaster... maybe she could come in handy after all.
The sorceress lived in cleverly hidden cabin built inside a twisting ravine. The facade, such as it was, looked like a delapitaded shack, with just a wooden front and roof, the walls on both side just being the cavern walls. Indoors, however, it was surprisingly roomy, and comfortably cool compared to the heat outside. Grendy's home was built next to and partially above an underground river, the hot water of which the witch had somehow channeled into running indoors through fissures in her rock walls. Conveniently shaped stones formed a "sink" in the main area, although Valda could hear much more running in the next room, which she correctly guessed was where Grendy bathed. Grendy led her into this bathroom, which was quite decadent as far as cabins in monster-infested wastelands were concerned-several founts of hot water emptied into a large recess in the floor, which flowed back into the wall through cracks on the bottom. Valda merely had to walk down a roughly hewn staircase in the water and she could enjoy a nicely heated bath.
While the barbarian was bathing, Grendy prepared herself to properly host her guest, starting by cleaning herself off with the sink. Valda was definitely upset about her broken sword, and on the way back, the enchantress realized she might be able to do something about that. It almost slipped her mind, but now Grendy was almost certain she was going to remedy that problem for the barbarian-she just needed to check her rescuer for certain qualities first, lest she waste a valuable gift.
Valda came out in one of Grendy's robes, her formerly blood-stained laundry hanging outside to dry (which probably wouldn't take terribly long, considering Valda hardly wore anything). She found Grendy in a fresh white robe, sitting cross-legged in a meditative pose next to a pentagram she had just drawn onto the floor.
"What's going on?" Valda asked with a cautious tone, giving the arcane symbol a wide berth.
"I-I wanted to thank you for what you did."
