Deathsworn Arc: 01 - The Last Dragon Slayer

by Martyn Stanley

  Harald, Korhan, Saul and Votrex exchanged glances of confusion, Votrex spoke, “You said weapons bounce off its scales... How could you penetrate it?”

  Korhan cut in, “A magic sword no doubt - was it a named sword?”

  “Not a magic sword... Good steel by any standards, but not enchanted beyond a simple and fairly ineffective fire resistance at all. Dragon skin is tough, tougher than leather armour, but its scales are what give it the most protection, they are harder than steel and overlap, but the dragon must remain flexible. When I thrust I didn’t thrust through the scales, but between them... Here, lay your daggers on the table...”

  Votrex, Harald, Korhan and Saul removed daggers from their sheaths and placed them on the table. They then watched Silus lay the blades so one was overlapping the one below. Finally he took his own dagger and prodded it at the overlapping dagger blades with a solid ‘clink’. “You see, this is like dragon scales... I couldn’t possibly pierce the overlaps with a dagger to stab the table, but watch.” then he took the dagger and slid it at a steep angle, making it slide in between the blades and pierce the wood on the top of the table.

  It was a concerning revelation, clearly certain weapons would probably be useless against a dragon, maces, clubs, probably even axes. The weapons that appeared most likely to succeed were long, sharp weapons which had enough length to pierce the dragons skin, having been slid between the scales. Silus continued, “The scales on a dragon are also not all the same size. The larger scales may be impossible to penetrate this way... I’ve told you all I can, the least you could do is buy me another mug of ale and leave me in peace.”

  Saul sighed, “Silus, won’t you ride with us? Your experience could prove invaluable when we-”

  “Haven’t you been listening to a word I’ve been saying? If you’re riding off to face this ‘dragon’ then you are riding to your doom, and I for one don’t want to ride off to die with you....”

  Saul laughed, “Then what, you’ll spend the remainder of your days here in Trest, what do you do here? Farm hand? Labourer? You eat, you drink, you work, you sleep... Hardly the stuff of legend I’m afraid...”

  “I don’t want to be famous; I want to be alive...”

  Votrex cut in now, “What about your companions? Don’t you dishonour them by turning away from this battle? Did they lose their lives for nothing?”

  “Hah! They nearly did! Luck, luck meant I could slay the beast, not skill, or might or great insight into tactics or anything like that - I was just very, very lucky...”

  Votrex shook his head sharply, “It may have been luck that granted you the chance... But you took that chance where others might have crumbled and fled, you...”

  THUMP!

  A hand had landed firmly on the table, causing the mugs of ale to swirl over the brim. Their faces looked up to see a burly, broad shouldered man, with matted black hair looking down at them. Saul spoke in a soft, calculating tone, “What can we do for you?”

  “I wondered if your dwarvish friend here would allow us to test our strength against his famed dwarvish fortitude?”

  Votrex looked up at this, “I have no quarrel with you... I do not wish to fight people with whom I have no quarrel, particularly drunk people who have taken leave of their senses.”

  “Who said anything about fighting, surely you’re familiar with the sport of arm wrestling?”

  Votrex raised an eyebrow at this, taking the situation in context and thinking about it, he decided accepting this challenge might prove less disruptive to their objective than refusing it. “Aye, I’ll take that challenge... Who wants to test themselves against me?”

  The intruder loomed forwards, and grinned showing a set of teeth in a poor state of repair, “Me... Follow...”

  Votrex rose from his stool and shuffled after the man with a slightly mischievous grin on his face. As he passed Saul, Saul placed a hand on his shoulder, “Be careful Votrex, we don’t want any trouble.”

  Harald and Korhan were smirking softly at the scene unfolding. Silus was if anything a little puzzled at their reactions, “What’s the joke?”

  Korhan gestured towards where Votrex was taking a seat on a bench at the opposite side of a long table to the challenger. “Watch...”

  A small crowd was gathering around Votrex and the challenger, coin was being passed around as bets were took on who would best who. Throughout the preamble, Votrex sported a somewhat bemused look. As things settled down the challenger dropped an elbow onto the table and opened his hand. Votrex, did the same, and gripped the challenger’s palm. The man grinned at him, “Ready? Go!” Nothing happened at first. Votrex and his opponent sat motionless, expressionless... The challenger started to pull his shoulder in, and grip the table with his spare hand... Still nothing happened...

  They were stock still, their eyes locked, but the challenger was starting to show signs of serious effort now, his face was growing redder, and he was clenching his teeth and grunting softly. Votrex on the other hand looked calm and relaxed, so much so - he broke eye contact for a moment and called over to his companions, “Harald, pass me my ale...” Harald smirking picked up the mug and dropped it into Votrex spare hand while the challenger started throwing more and more weight into Votrex’s arm - still not moving in the slightest.

  Votrex began calmly supping his ale while the challenger gritted his teeth, turned his palm and his shoulder in and went redder and redder in the face. He was soon pouring with sweat and panting softly while Votrex sat calm and collected, sipping from his earthenware jug and looking as if he was exerting no effort at all.

  Eventually he clicked his mug down and yawned, “I’m sorry friend, but I think I think our little contest has gone on long enough... I shall begin trying now...” This brought gasps from the crowd, then Votrex smiled, and the first movement of arms in the match finally happened, Votrex snapping his arm over, slamming the challengers arm down, but slowing so the challenger’s knuckles gently kissed the table. He then held it firmly in place. A great cheer broke up around them and coin exchanged hands again.

  The man who had lost, looked surprised, shocked even. It was clear that only his pride was hurt though. Votrex patted him on the shoulder, “You are strong friend, but humans are not built the same as dwarves... “ The man grunted, backing away, his bruised pride giving the party a cause for concern. Coin was still being passed back and forth as Votrex rejoined his party.

  Silus nodded towards Votrex, “He’s strong... I didn’t realise how strong dwarves were... Not that it will do you any good... If you face this ‘dragon’ you will die... All of you, I’ve told you all I know, I’ll not throw what’s left of my life away. Get me another jar of ale and be gone with you.”

  Saul nodded to Harald who left for the bar, only to return moments later with another jar of ale. They rose, banging the table and muttering under their breath in frustration, clearly disappointed that Silus wouldn’t join them. Before they parted Saul leaned close to Silus, “You’ll not throw the rest of your life away? Isn’t that what you’re doing? Only this way, is slower, and less likely to earn you a place in Kirkfell, the banqueting hall of the dead...”

  Before he could respond Saul, Harald, Korhan and Votrex were making for the stables. The atmosphere in the ale house had become tense since Votrex’s display of might and hanging around didn’t seem to be the best option to maintaining discretion.

  They’d been in the ale house for some time by this point, it was getting late, but the rain was subsiding slightly. As they entered the stables, Korhan grunted, “Hmmph! That was a waste of time...”

  Saul paused for a moment, “Not so... We’ve learned valuable information... In truth, I’m not certain Silus would have been much help in his current state anyway. I suspect his prowess with a blade has waned somewhat since his encounter with the Noble Dragon.”

  Harald nodded in agreement, then screwed his face up in surprise, and shouted, “Hey! Stop!” As he’d seen it, the others saw it too - a flash of
black. Someone had been interfering with their horses; their return had clearly interrupted the thief. They quickened their pace, rushing to check their belongings had not been taken. Luckily it seemed nothing was missing.

  Korhan glared at Harald as he checked his saddlebags, “Hah! Looks like we were just in time...”

  Harald nodded sagely, “Aye, another moment and our horses’ loads would have been lightened, that’s assuming we would have had horses... Shall we go after them?”

  Saul shook his head, “No, didn’t you see the speed they moved at? Whoever it was they were quick and they’ve got a good head start on us, we won’t catch them.”

  Votrex rubbed his chin thoughtfully then looked at Saul, “Can’t you use magic to track them?”

  “True Votrex, that I could... But we’re not here to catch thieves, and anyway - they don’t appear to have taken anything, so being judge, jury and executioner wouldn’t seem fair. We don’t even know if they were trying to steal from us.”

  Votrex grumbled, “Hmmph, I somehow doubt they were ensuring the welfare of our horses...”

  Harald placed a foot in a stirrup having freed his horse and hauled himself up into the saddle, “Come on, I suggest we move... We’ve got a long ride ahead of us tomorrow, we should find an inn.”

  Saul hauled himself into his saddle and pulled his hood up, “I think I saw a place on the other side of the square... We should hurry though - it’s getting late.”

  Soon the companions were all in their saddles, riding out of the stable gate into the square. It was a large square with a raised wooden platform in the centre. It took several minutes for them to trot through the rain lashed square to the courtyard of the inn on the other side. It was a fairly run down establishment, looking as if it had seen better days. In truth there had been a time when Trest had been an important stop off, on a trade route between the dwarven strongholds in the mountains and the main part of the Empire, the plains and the coastal region. The inn’s timber frame looked like it had carried grandeur in its glory days, but now the timbers were rotten and decayed and the plaster was cracking or falling off in places. The inn keeper was unable to afford a squire, so when he saw them trot into the courtyard, he ushered his wife out to tend to their horses.

  They entered the inn and each pulled back their hoods. As expected the innkeeper raised an eyebrow at a dwarf entering his inn, but he showed no signs of prejudice. Coin was hard to come by at this time and dwarvish coin was better than no coin even at the best of times. Saul approached the counter, “We would like a room for the night...”

  “Well, you’re the only guests tonight - so if you take the common room, you’ll have it to yourselves. Stabling is four coppers per horse, that includes hay and water. The common room is four coppers each, rooms are one silver but I have got a room with four beds in it, if you don’t wish to be disturbed.”

  Saul nodded, “We’ll take the private room, we have a long journey ahead of us and would not like to be disturbed.”

  He nodded, “I’ll get Helga to show you to your room when she’s finished with the horses - would you like a jug of mead to take to your room? It’s seven coppers...”

  Saul opened his coin purse and started counting out the money, “Yes, we’ll take that mead... Here...”

  “Thank you... Ahhh, Helga, show these gentlemen to the large suite on the second floor.”

  His wife looked thin, tired and rain soaked. She had bags under her eyes and deep set wrinkles in her face. Her dress was soaked, and splattered with mud and manure. She forced a wry smile, and gestured for them to follow, “This way...” Saul and his companions followed her through the inn. The room was simple but reasonably well appointed, she lit a lamp for them and at that point the innkeeper arrived with a small wooden tray bearing a clay jug and four mugs. He set it down on the small table then proceeded to light the open fire for them.

  Before long they were left in peace, they all sat around the fire and drank their mead slowly. Votrex spoke first, “Silus’s account doesn’t bode well for our success... We are ill equipped to slay a dragon... And we are few in number.”

  Saul nodded, “That is true... But we must try, the Empress has commanded me... I fear that we can only hope the reports are untrue, the village of Brunwelt is far from the capital and there’s every chance it is merely a swamp dragon terrorising the village... It may have already been slain by the time we get to Brunwelt...”

  Votrex raised his cup and drained a little, “I suggest we head straight for Brunwelt tomorrow... Even if it is a ‘Noble Dragon’ it could be a younger specimen than the one that Silus faced so many years ago... There are still many unknowns, but I suspect the Empress would not appreciate us tarrying and waiting for a large unit of soldiers to join us, particularly if it turned out to be false report or a mere swamp dragon...”

  Harald nodded, “Votrex speaks the truth... Let us rest, then ride out at first light.”

  Korhan shook his head, “We’ll have to re-stock our provisions for the trip, I suggest we use the morning to rest, recuperate and to fill our flasks and saddlebags. Then the quickest route will be back to the main road, then north to Duramer, then east to Brunwelt.”

  Harald supped his mead and sighed, “If not for this diversion, we could have rode east from Dirsh, followed the edge of the great divide and been there in two days.”

  Votrex shrugged, “This diversion has been useful, we know better what we are dealing with Harald son of Korvak.”

  The rest nodded in agreement, finished their mead, then watched the fire burn down to embers. They turned in for the night to the sound of rain splattering onto the tiled roof and wind howling around the eaves and rattling the shutters.

  Execution

  When Votrex awoke the next day Saul, Harald and Korhan were already up. They’d all left their cloaks hanging up in such a way that the fire might dry them - though in truth the rain had been so heavy, the driest of their clothes were damp, their over cloaks, sodden . Saul looked over to him, “Ahhh, Votrex - the innkeeper has agreed for us to stable our horses here until we’re ready to leave, I’ve also had several flasks filled with mead, I do not trust the water in this town.”

  Votrex swung his stumpy legs over the edge of bed and launched himself upright. “Good, we should get some bread and cured meats for the journey - I don’t want to have to stop to hunt.” Harald and Korhan murmured agreement and the four warriors left the room. After walking through the inn, they briefly checked on the horses before leaving the stables via the courtyard into the main square. The sun was shining, the rain had subsided, but in its wake it had left deep muddy streets. The square was cobbled, but the rain had washed so much mud out of the side streets onto it, it wasn’t much better. As they traversed the outer edge of the square, a crowd started gathering around the raised platform in the centre. Something was clearly happening, something which drew a large crowd.

  As they neared the butchers shop, it became apparent what was happening, a basket was being carried onto the raised platform, along with a heavy wooden chopping block. Following the watchmen carrying the basket and the block was a third, bearing a large axe with a straight edge.

  One of the town’s watchmen saw them eyeing up the proceedings and addressed them, “Execution day today... Should be a good one, we’ve got five today...”

  Saul looked at him in disgust, “Five? What have these poor wretches done to deserve their fate?”

  The watchmen thought for a moment, “Well, we’ve got two cut purses, two burglars... And an interesting one, a Gravian...”

  Votrex raised an eyebrow at this, “A dark elf?”

  The watchman nodded, “Yep, one of the farmers caught him sneaking around in his orchard... Ahh... Here they come...“

  As the watchman spoke a caged wagon drawn by two horses rolled into the square, up to the platform. Sure enough, there were four obvious men, who had an air of sinister malice about them, and wore the expressions of guilty men... Then there was a
gravian, sitting at the back away from the others, he had dark bluish grey skin and long pointed ears, poking out through his long hair. He looked thin, almost emaciated, and his long black hair and beard were matted and straggly. His eyes glowed red, beyond his long, pointed nose... He looked to be in a sorry state, suffering from malnutrition and weak.

  Korhan looked at the watchman, “What crime has the dark elf committed?”

  The watchman shrugged, “None that we know of... But it would only be a matter of time... At the very least he could be a spy, we can’t allow him to live.”

  They walked on, feeling a little unsettled. Dark elves were rare in Torea, almost unseen... Korhan frowned at Saul, “Dark elves? I thought gravians were but a legend, a story to scare children with...”

  Saul stroked his beard, while eyeing the creature, “Little is known about them or their culture. I have heard of them, there are some great works of arcane literature that are credited to them. There have been few to no reports of gravians braving the surface in decades if not centuries... They are reputed to be great warriors and powerful magicians... As they would have to, to survive in the underdeep. They say the Gravian’s have built magnificent cities, which rival the cities of the elves, deep under the ground - though I doubt any human has seen them.”

  The gravian did have inhuman, sinister features... But in his current state he didn’t look much of a threat to anyone, they were all thinking the same thing - that it was not right for a creature to be killed simply on the grounds of belonging to a particular race.

  Korhan stepped into the butchers, speaking over his shoulder, “I’ll get the meats, wait here.” As he disappeared into the shop, Votrex glared at Saul, “We can’t let them execute the gravian!”