by K V Deal
I knew there was no way Charlie was gonna let me go and try to find MY stuff, so I figured I might as well distract myself a little. With that thought, I began to strip The Chosen of every piece of magical equipment he had. I mean, they did it to me. Right?
Fair’s fair.
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
Chapter 26
By the time help arrived three hours later, I was long done moving corpses and was sitting next to Rachel again.
Help came in a swarm, Adventurers first, quickly followed by medical staff.
Rachel was quickly lifted onto a stretcher and taken down the hall. Axle joined Charlie at her side.
The medics swarmed around me as well. It was kind of annoying, actually. They wanted me to leave. Personally, I had other plans.
“No! I’m not going to your hospital till I get my stuff!” I growled, glaring down at a doctor. I had waited long enough, and I was damned if I was just going to up and leave when my stuff was this close!
“Your ribs are broken! You shouldn’t even be standing!” For some reason, my glare didn’t even faze the dwarf. Even with his beard, I could see the stubborn set of his mouth.
“You’re really going to put your foot down on this?” Carah said with a sigh.
In the end, we reached a compromise. Carah would go get my gear, and I would go with the doctors to the hospital.
Well, truth be told, Carah just sort of said we were going to do it that way and then told me to behave. She can be very persuasive when she wanted to be.
But that’s what led me to where I was, lying in a hospital bed while I tried to read a book, the one I had on dragon anatomy. Of the Bodies of Dragons was a dry book, but I needed something to keep me busy.
Just when I was about to throw the book off the bed, there was a rap at the door.
Carah?
I really hoped it was. I would much rather talk to her than deal with this book, and I was kind of eager to finally have my stuff back!
“Come in!”
Nope. Not Carah.
My heart sank as a small, green doctor came in. She tugged a hat down over her frizzy black hair and pointed ears. She looked at me nervously from underneath its brim. Pretty sure she was kinda scared of me.
The next person to come in wasn’t afraid of me at all.
Gloria walked through the door and right over to the bed. I raised an eyebrow at her as she checked the stool next to the bed for strength and then, seeming to decide better, simply chose to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Jack, nice to see you sitting up.”
I frowned, there was something weird about her tone that worried me.
“Ummm…it says here that the patient's name is Jake?” the doc said, flinching when I looked at her.
“Right! Jake.” Gloria nodded. “Listen. I’m here because I’ve got some bad news.”
“That’s one hell of a bedside manner boss,” said a strained voice from the doorway.
Carah! I couldn’t help grinning past Gloria as Carah came into the room…with Robert?
I blinked. They were carrying a large chest between them.
“Can we drop this thing here?” Robert grunted.
“Sure.”
The chest landed with a thud and both of them let out a sigh of relief.
Carah shot me a look. “Next time I go and grab shit for you, I’m borrowing your ring.”
“That makes eleven. You should probably stop saying that,” Robert grumbled.
“I told you I was going to tell him, and I did!” Carah crossed her arms and looked away from the dwarf.
“Right. Well, I’m gonna head out now. Plenty of paperwork after all that’s happened.” He sighed and headed out of the room, completely missing the way Gloria winced when he mentioned paperwork.
Carah strode over to the bed and sat down on the edge, markedly making sure to sit closer to me than Gloria was. “What’s this bad news.”
The armored woman turned her head and faked a cough into her hand. “Ah. Right. Well, it goes like this.” She shifted to look me right in the eye. “Jake, I’m sorry to say were retiring you from the Adventurers.”
There was a moment of silence as both Carah and I stared at her.
“What?” It was pretty much all I could get out.
“Don’t take this personally.” She raised a hand palm out towards me. “Look, the problem is your wounds aren't going to heal.”
I looked over at the doctor, and she wouldn't meet my eyes. “It’s...it's the scar tissue the potion left. Your side will heal, but your hip...”
“Wait! Are you saying that after all he’s done, you’re going to just cut him loose?” Carah’s hands balled into fists.
“Nope. Not what I'm saying at all.” Gloria shook her head. “Listen, you’re not the only one going through this. Your teammate? The shapeshifter? Same deal. The potion you gave her saved her life, but it also left scar tissue threaded through her spine. She’s gonna be permanently paralyzed. And she’s just one case. Were down a lot of good people, and with the fight with the Inquisitors getting hot again, there’s gonna be a lot more people like you two. Unless we win on a long shot. That's what I'm asking you to take.”
“What long shot?” Carah leaned forward, her eyes intent on Gloria.
“Let me run through the logic,” the mayor said, getting up to her feet and beginning to pace around the room. “When everything changed, a lot of things shifted to fit into this new world. Most people just think about the physical changes and the magic items, but that’s missing some pretty big things. The important one for us, though, is that the buildings all changed too. Some of them even developed their own magic items or special quirks.”
“Like the dungeons under the school?” Carah asked.
Or like that ice orb that had been cooling the freezer of the butcher shop that Carah’s uncle used to own.
Not that I said that out loud, not with how it might affect Carah.
“Right. Or the sparrows,” Gloria said, nodding at Carah.
That surprised me. “The sparrows?”
“Yup. Their roost showed up at the Gray House after the change.”
“Ummm…should I come back later?” the doctor asked, hesitantly raising her finger.
“Oh, right! Sorry about that. Mind giving us some time?” Gloria waved her off with a cheerful look.
We waited till the doc was gone before Gloria began to speak again. “So, here’s the thing. All of those places served a purpose before the change. Afterward, they had magic ways of doing the same thing. So, here comes the long shot. I want you to go and see if you can find the old hospital.”
I blinked.
“Gloria, that’s been lost since all this happened!” Carah waved a hand at the world in general. “Nobody’s had any luck finding it before! Why do you think that now would be any different?”
“Two reasons. One, because it’s him.” She pointed a finger at me.
“What? What did I do?” I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting blamed for.
“You have a knack for finding things and getting into trouble. You also can sniff out magic. I figure that, if anyone would be able to run across that place, it would be you.” Gloria shrugged.
“Jake's injured!” Carah said, putting a hand on my leg in a protective fashion. “
“Which is why I can’t have him as an Adventurer for this. With the state he’s in, this has to be voluntary. It's not an order from the mayor. It's a request. And it can’t really be that if he works for me. Understand? Thats also why I cant send the rest of you.”
“Bet my ring is a plus, too,” I said. “So, when do I start?”
Gloria's eyes glowed brighter. “As soon as the doctors let you out. Oh, and I thought you might want this back.” She tossed something small at me, which I just barely managed to catch. “ Thanks, Jake.”
And with that, she turned and headed out the door, her metal feet clanging on the sandstone floor.
“Are you sure about this?” Carah
asked, worry evident in her eyes.
I nodded, smiling sadly at her. “I owe Rachel that at least.”
I could tell by the look in her eyes that this wasn't the end of this conversation, but she let it go for now.
I turned my mind to thoughts of this new mission.
It wasn’t going to be easy, that was for sure. But if nothing else, I was sure it was going to be interesting.
Time to start the next adventure.
The Hoard Count Wrap up
For dragons the hoard is the most important thing! Want to know what he has right now? Heres the current list!
The Lamp
Black-Leather Backpack
.
Several sets of clothing.
‘Of the Bodies of Dragons’ book
‘Fire Magic for Dolts’ book
‘Magic for Hearth and Home’ book
3 Rings:
The Storage ring. A full-finger ring, made from copper, with an emerald disk covering the top of each joint and with a gap at the end that leaves the nail of the finger uncovered. Its copper surface is covered in patterns forming boxes and chests, each with a spiral pattern inside of it.
The Ring of second chances. Carved from Lapis Lazuli it is a simple band with no adornments. Its deep blue color almost seems like it has a flicker of movement in it.
The Dragon-bone Ring. While made of a material that almost seems to be metal, this ring looks like it was carved from a large bone.
Handful of semi-precious gemstones
Random jewelry pieces
Ruby Coin
Red scale-mail Gauntlets:
6 Magic daggers:
The Flame Dagger, a 10-inch dagger, with the blade etched with Celtic knots. the blade has a red glow to it, and the knots are etched into the metal in silver. It gives off an intense wave of heat when drawn from its sheath.
Breakaway blade. a long dagger with a curved blade; looking a lot like a small scimitar except the hilt swung back up to support another blade that acted as a hand guard
Stretching blade, Built around a long, thin piece of lapis lazuli. It has twin blades that climbed out of the handle, sliding up grooves in the stone and met at the top to completely seal the stone in place.
Great sword
The Queens Fang, a rough looking blade, seemingly carved from some kind of bone. The blade is sharp enough to cut through just about anything with ease.
Pile of gold coins, almost 50 of them
Frost Orb
One invisible chest (sadly empty)
Flame Mace, Also known as the Daystar to the chosen.
A set of elaborate copper house keys
Magic sword. (If you can call it that, it looks more like a razor blade with a handle tacked onto one end)
six large shelves, each stacked with boxes reeking of of magic
Large crate full of sandbags, each filled with the red sand like crystals that Chosen use for magic
Mary’s Iron rod sword. Seems to have the power to increase the strength of the users strikes.
Looted magic items from the chosen:
Spear with unknown magic
Longsword with unknown magic
War hammer with unknown magic
Bow with unknown magic
Strange saw-edged rapier with unknown magic
Invisibility trinket
Three rings with unknown magic
Hey guys! K.v. Deal here!
Heres hoping your enjoying the Dragon Adventurer series! Books one through three have been a blast to write and I’m looking forward to the next three!
This series is planned out to six books so this puts us at the half way point! Hoping you guys will join me for the rest of the ride!
Safe journeys!