“It has been a very long time since I have had any guests,” the dragon said. He snorted a gout of steam and motioned with his massive head off to the side.
Steve’s bat-like form was hanging upside down on a perch designed just for that purpose, right over a bowl piled high with wriggling green worms. The keinse gorged himself happily on them.
“As you see, refined guests are less common in these dangerous lands. Part of the allure, I suppose. But now I have new guests! Ah, yes. Yes. My name. Very tricky business, names. I know yours of course. Vorax could not stop gushing about you.
“Incredibly rare, that. Mimics usually detest anything but their next meal or a shiny bauble. Quite a feat you’ve managed, Hal. Oh. Right, my name. I’ve gone and done it again, haven’t I? My name is Orrittam. And I have been waiting for you for a very long time, Hal.”
“You have?” he asked, the tension easing out of him as curiosity got the better of him.
“Oh, goodness no! I just thought that was quite a pleasantly suspenseful thing to say! I always wanted to say something dark and mysterious like that.” Orrittam barked a laugh, a twin jet of gold flame erupting out of his nostrils.
“Mister Shimmerscales is muchly hearth-giver!” Lurklox proclaimed, stuffing another cookie into her… mask-mouth-thing. Hal tried not to think about it too much. He politely averted his eyes, focusing on the grandiose dragon.
The creature was beautiful, though it took up most of the cavern with its long serpentine neck and twisting horns, it somehow managed to seem less imposing than before. Gold barbels draped off his golden snout like great whiskers.
The rest of its body went far back into the cavern gleaming in the dark like a wall of solid gold. Hal got the distinct impression that it was stuck. Why it didn’t simply bust out with its draconic strength, he didn’t quite know.
“Komachi would love you,” Hal said with a chuckle.
80
Orrittam Shimmerscales was a gracious host, insofar as a dragon could be. Which, according to Hal, was a far sight better than most humans could manage.
They ate cookies, twinkies, and various other snack foods that were well past their expiration dates but still tasted fine. They drank earl grey tea from chipped teacups and mismatched saucers.
The only finery that Orrittam Shimmerscales seemed to possess was a massive collection of books. Of which he was all too happy to gush about at length, often getting sidetracked from the conversation at hand.
He was unlike any creature Hal ever met.
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Hal said, turning his gaze to their host. “How is it you’re trapped in here?”
While it was obvious that the cavern system was much bigger, this side showed several open-air portals that gave a breathtaking view of the Shiverglades. And Hal’s little Settlement below.
He walked over to the nearest opening, sidling past a stack of books lit in a pale blue. The Settlement, what little there was of it, looked so small and insignificant. But even then, it was beautiful.
The whole valley was glorious and Hal deeply enjoyed the view. He actually enjoyed it so much that he entirely missed Orrittam’s reply. He turned back to the patient dragon. “I’m sorry,” Hal said, motioning to the view behind him. “I just-”
“Yes,” Orrittam said. “Quite the view, is it not? Your people are busy working, even though you just arrived. A commendable start. I look forward to seeing what you build.”
Hal raised a brow at that. “You don’t want us to leave?”
He had avoided that line of questioning on purpose, hoping that he could somehow convince the dragon to let them stay. He didn’t harbor any notions of being a dragon-slayer and even if he did, the gold dragon was much too kind for him to truly consider it.
But that Orrittam would willingly want them there… he didn’t dare hope.
“Oh yes, I love watching civilizations rise. It is the best part of being immortal, you know. I could, if you were interested, help guide you from time to time. I have seen much in my many years, traveled to many faraway realms.” As if to drive home the point, the dragon looked to the shredded up packages of snack foods.
“Though my current status is… regrettably stationary, I have at my disposal a wealth of knowledge. Both experienced firsthand and in the books I do so love to collect. Already I see that the Shiverglades has taken offense to your settling.
“No surprise, that. And you are already building fortifications, you need not worry about attacks from any direction but the mouth of the valley. I have many friends who make sure the ridges and mountains are safe. No enemy will be at your back. Unless you consider me an enemy.”
“Not unless you want to be one,” Hal said with a surprising amount of confidence. “I would be honored to receive your guidance. To be honest, this whole leading thing is a bit more than I bargained for.”
The gold dragon nodded sagely, quoting Shakespeare in an eloquent accent, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”
Hal snorted. “That it does. And so, I would graciously accept.”
“We both would,” Noth said, snacking on a twinkie. “This is amazing. Where did you get all this from?”
“Earth,” the dragon replied with a sly grin. “In my youth, I used to be quite the realm walker.”
That perked Hal up. “You can travel between worlds?” Noth shot him a concerned look. “Where else have you been?” Hal asked, more to allay Noth’s worries about his interest in going back to Earth.
He was wholly dedicated to Aldim but… Earth was his home. No matter how long he may live on Aldim, it would always be his home. Visiting might be nice. Once things settled down and there were no pressing threats to deal with.
Noth relaxed a little, the gold dragon didn’t miss anything with his keen amber eyes. He gave a slight nod. “I, like many others who can realm walk, can only travel to another Worldshard.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It is an important distinction but for the time being, not pertinent or important to your task. Which, at this very moment is being threatened. I wish I could join in the active defense of your people but all I can do is give you the aid of my keinse.”
Hal furrowed his brow. “Maybe we could help you-”
Orrittam was shaking his large head. “I would welcome the help any other time, but you cannot afford to split your attention at this important juncture. I have seen the attention the Shiverglades gives to new arrivals.
“You will not survive if you spend days aiding me. I have been… in my present predicament for some time. I will gladly take you up on the offer should you survive the initial assault. But until then, I will not allow you to doom your people.
“But come, let’s talk about something that I can do for you. Namely, the use of my keinse. They are small and scatterbrained at times, but their hearts are in the right place.”
Vorax echoed Orrittam’s assessment.
The dragon’s amber eyes slid from Hal to the mimic and back. “You are a strange creature,” he said with a wide grin. “Rare is the man that can befriend a monster. Rarer still is the man that takes council from a monster and holds it in high esteem.”
Hal wasn’t sure what to say to that. Thankfully, Orrittam saved him from needing to.
“I can see praise still sits uncomfortably upon your broad shoulders,” he said with a chuckle so deep that the air seemed to bend and warp with the dragon’s voice. “Then let us talk about something else. My keinse are numerous and while they may be strange, they will heed your orders if I tell them to.
“You have never met a keinse before.” The gold dragon realized with a nod of his oversized head. “That makes sense. Keinse possess a very potent version of echolocation. They can see quite well despite their bat-like nature. They are able to detect fluctuations in mana. I suppose you could call it manalocation.
“Naming schemes aside, they are capable of pinpointing creatures hundreds of feet below them. And a common keinse -
let alone my skilled friends - can range ten miles or more in a single night.”
It took Orrittam explaining the peculiar nature of the keinse for Hal to understand where the dragon was going with all this. The keinse would be the perfect scouts.
With the keinse ranging out ahead, they could detect where monsters were clustered and what paths they were taking. The Rangers could take that information further, setting traps and thinning out the ranks of the creatures before they ever got within striking distance of the Settlement.
But Hal wasn’t so naïve anymore that he thought Orrittam would do this out of the goodness of his heart. “What do you want out of it?” he asked politely.
The question seemed to take the dragon off-guard. “I suppose you should not expect to receive something for nothing,” he said, lowering his head to the stone floor. He seemed sad.
“I can only imagine the trials that have brought you here. Suspicion is a natural reaction. But I tell you truthfully, I request no payment in kind. If you truly wish to know what I will gain out of this, besides a friend, then look no further to the defense your rising Settlement will provide me.”
Hal wasn’t so sure about that but it was Noth who spoke his mind first. “It would seem like we would be more annoyance than defense,” she said. “I doubt the Shiverglades is going to lie down and accept us if we push back one incursion.” She caught a look in the amber eyes of the dragon. “I am right, aren’t I?”
He nodded. “You are,” Orrittam replied. “The Shiverglades is not a kind place. Only the strong survive here and those that you face will have survived many generations of life here. The monsters that come against you will be suited to the climes of the Shiverglades.”
“Then how are we a defense?” Hal asked. “It sounds like we would attract attention more than anything.”
Orrittam chuckled, tiny jets of gold flame snorting from his nostrils.
“What’s so funny?” Noth asked.
“Mortals,” Orrittam said as if it was answer enough. He cleared his throat, realizing that his two guests hadn’t caught on. “Oh. You do not know.” He turned to the koblins who were watching the exchange with rapt attention. “You see it, do you not?”
“Kobbies eye-peek Havior’s shifty-make,” Buffrix said with a nod. His green lenses glinting in the light of the cavern.
“What shifty-make?” Hal asked.
“You no longer need to think in terms of days, weeks, or even years,” Orrittam kindly explained. “It will take some time to adjust, I am sure. Such things always do. But you need to align your worldview to that of a dragon. You are immortal Hal. Both of you are. So long as that Manaseed thrives, you will live on.
“And that, my friends, is why I am so pleased to have you as my neighbor. Immortality is a lonely existence. I do not look to the coming weeks or months, or even years. I look to the decades and centuries. I see tall gleaming walls of white welcoming visitors from across Aldim.
“I see a people who will know struggle and strife, and will be better for it. I see a strong nation being born. You ask what I will gain from helping you? I gain a front-row seat at the birth of an Empire.”
81
It was one thing to suspect it, and an entirely different thing altogether to be flat-out told he was immortal. Not just that, but that Noth was as well. Though, she hardly seemed surprised by the revelation.
The woman only recently was mortal, barely a vacation. Hal shook his head. “I don’t suppose you have any armor or weapons we might be able to use,” Hal said looking around.
Nothing of the sort leaped out at him, though he did notice a great many crafting stations. The forge looked more than serviceable, and he spotted an [Alchemist’s Bench] off to the side.
“Unfortunately, I am not that sort of dragon,” Orrittam said with a toothy grin. Ivory teeth gleamed in sharp contrast to his golden scales. “However, what I do collect is knowledge. I may have a few blueprints and designs here that might help you along your way. Unfortunately, the bulk of my library is… currently inaccessible.”
Noth narrowed her eyes at the dragon. “Are you… blushing?”
“The entry to my library is in a sensitive location that even if you were small enough to pass by, I would not feel comfortable allowing you to do so,” he said without looking either of them in the eye. “And let us speak no more of it. But what I have up here is yours to peruse. I only ask that you do not take anything from here.”
That brought a snort of laughter from Noth, and Vorax promptly abandoned his ideas of poking around the dragon’s prison-home.
Hal rested a comforting hand on the mimic’s lid. “I had an idea about starting a library, an athenaeum that houses information about the world and its various systems. What Classes and Professions there are, and techniques for learning them.” He looked hopefully at the dragon, but his golden barbels were swaying as he shook his head.
“That is currently… below. I am sorry, but for the time being, I cannot help with that. Not to be rude, I doubt you even have a blueprint for an athenaeum presently. And, as I said, splitting your attention could prove disastrous.
“Hal, you now have the lifespan most mortal creatures commit vile acts for the mere suggestion that they might attain a fraction of a longer life. You have the ability to devote yourself wholly to a single task even if it takes a century.”
“But first I have to safeguard the Manaseed,” Hal finished for him. He pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded. Ashera’s problem would, unfortunately, have to take a backseat for the time being. “Very well, tell me how I can direct the keinse.”
They talked for a long time, and though the koblins fell asleep at the table they never even thought to leave Hal alone with the dragon. Not because they distrusted the gold-scaled creature. In fact, they clearly seemed to love and adore Orrittam.
He was unlike any dragon Hal ever knew of. Smart, cultured, and disturbingly kind. He supposed that if he had the power to crush villages and castles easily, he would feel comfortable being kind and sweet as well.
Anybody who tried to take advantage of him or use it to harm him would quickly find out why so few people claim the title of dragonslayer.
Hal learned a great deal from Orrittam. They talked well into the early light of the morning, and the view that greeted Hal from the window was a magnificent one.
As the sun crested to his left, it stretched long inky shadows over the swirling fog eddies of the Shiverglades. Cold fog spilled up and over the ridges to fall gracefully into the valley.
Fires were lit and lines began to form for the various cookfires set up. Hal knew somewhere down there Ashera would be making food and as tired as he was, he couldn’t wait to get down there and share the good news with them.
They had a dragon for an ally.
How many people could say that?
Hal looked over his shoulder to find Orrittam close by, peering out of the same rounded hole in the mountain. “It is a beautiful place to settle,” he said. “I have watched over this place for nigh on half a century. I know many of its secrets. The next time you visit, please feel free to use the stairs. I feel you will enjoy the trip much more. And, of course, that will mean you are likelier to visit again!
“I do so enjoy having visitors, Hal. From one immortal to another, I will be keeping a watchful eye on your burgeoning Settlement.”
With that, Hal, Noth, Vorax, and the koblins all left. They took the stairs, just as Orrittam suggested and the entire way Hal went over everything the dragon had told him.
From ideal places for defenses to fertile plots of land for farming - not that he had access to farming Building Schematics yet - the dragon seemed to know pretty much everything about the valley.
Anything outside of the valley, well that was an entirely different matter.
The descent was uneventful, just the way Hal preferred it. The koblins chattered back and forth in their typical adorable language. Hal responded when prompted but otherwise kept t
o himself.
He couldn’t help but plan out the Settlement based on the new information that Orrittam had provided to him. And with the keinse, they would have an early detection system.
Several notifications blinked in the corner of his vision, demanding his attention. Now that it wouldn’t be rude to do so, Hal looked at them.
The last thing he ever wanted to do was offend a dragon.
Your Leadership has risen to Level 27(32).
+1% Party damage (+32%).
+2% Leadership efficacy (+64%).
You have unlocked Tactician Level (0).
Tacticians ply their trade in a wide variety of ways. From civil engineering projects to plotting the ambush and downfall of enemy troops, a Tactician wears many hats. A difficult skill to come by, often requiring high Leadership for the worldview afforded one in such a position, Tacticians gain perks every 5 Levels instead of the typical 10.
Your Tactician Skill has risen to Level 1.
+1% Planning efficacy (+1%).
+1% Ambush & Trap success (+1%).
-0.5% CP cost of Building Schematics (-0.5%).
+0.5% Building Schematic parameters (+0.5%).
I didn’t even know that skill existed. He nearly tripped on one of the stairs reading the skill description and the host of boons it came with. Not only that, but it gained perks at twice the rate of other skills?
He was happier than ever to have met Orrittam.
On the way down, Hal instructed Vorax to reach out to the bat-like creatures and relay the orders Orrittam had given him. There were hundreds of the things and though they were ill-suited to battle, they were perfect for Hal’s plans.
The golden dragon gave Hal full reign of them with the stipulation that he wouldn’t unduly expose them to harm. And Hal had no intention of harming the goofy creatures.
All he wanted was to protect his home. To that end, he would need to go out into the Shiverglades. If he truly was going to play a pivotal role beyond the generic leader, he needed EXP.
Beastborne Page 48