by Logan Jacobs
“Not at all?” I trotted over to the priestess, and I took Goliath’s reins from the lieutenant.
“I come from a very poor family, believe it or not,” the elven-like older woman informed me. “Horses are expensive, and my father always wanted one but could never afford it.”
“That’s unfortunate,” I said with a frown. “You must have had a really tough life.”
“No more than most.” Sarosh waved her hand dismissively. “Maybe worse than the life of a god, but most likely no more so than any of your followers. Well, except for the duke’s daughter, that is.”
“I can hear you,” Eva observed as she joined me by Goliath’s side. “I may have come from a privileged life, but at least I’m not going around trying to get people to kill themselves.”
“I meant no offense,” Sarosh said as she cocked her head, and her silver locks cascaded down her back from the motion. The movement of her hair was hypnotizing, and I had to shake my head to come back to reality.
“Meaning no offense is different than not offending anyone,” I pointed out. “But I’m sure Eva is willing to let it go.”
“Yes, Great One,” the duke’s daughter sighed.
We travelled for a couple of more hours as the sun cast shadows through the trees. The leaves left a dappled pattern on the ground, and the wind stirred the branches, but the temperature was still high as the giant celestial orb began to sink below the western horizon.
It was almost time to set up camp for the night when suddenly, another traveler approached on the road. They wore a dark, soot-stained cloak with the hood pulled over their face, so I couldn’t make out any characteristics, but the smell of smoke and ashes clung to their clothes, so I assumed they’d faced some kind of tragedy.
“Ahoy there,” I greeted. “Where are you coming from?”
“Hello, strangers,” the traveler said in a weary tone. “I come from Bronzeberg, up the road a ways.”
“What happened to your clothes?” I asked. “They’re all burned up.”
“There was a dragon,” the stranger sniffled and coughed. “It burned down my house… my store… everything.”
“That’s awful,” Bron said with a frown, and I knew he was thinking of his own store that had burned down in a fire with his children inside. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“The dragon was nearby?” I pressed as excitement coursed through my veins. Maybe this quest would be easier than I thought.
“It was when I left,” the man said, and he shook his head. “I’m not sure what’s left of Bronzeberg, but there’s nothing for me there anymore.”
“We have to help those people,” Eva interjected in an urgent tone. “Great One, we have to get to Bronzeberg right now!”
“And what about Sarosh and her followers?” I asked. “We can’t just leave them behind and go riding off into the darkness.”
“We could set up camp,” Riondale suggested. “Some of the men can stay behind to guard the civilians.”
“I’m going with you,” Sarosh said suddenly, and she lifted her chin with stubborn pride. “If some of your men stay behind, you would have plenty of horses.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” I frowned. “Do you even know how to protect yourself?”
“I merely want to witness your power for myself,” Sarosh insisted. “I have to be present in order to do that.”
“You’d be mad to go to Bronzeberg tonight,” the stranger coughed again, and his voice was hoarse, presumably from the smoke and soot he’d inhaled. “That would mean certain death.”
“Sir Sebastian is on a quest to defeat the dragon once and for all,” Eva informed the man, and her gray eyes glinted with pride. “He isn’t afraid, and neither am I.”
“You’ve all gone crazy,” the man grumbled. “I’m escaping, you can die if you want to.”
Then he shook his hooded head and continued down the road, so I shrugged and turned to my companions.
“Alright, people, listen up,” I began. “I’m going after the dragon. The rest of you will make camp in the best spot you can find nearby. Riondale is in charge, whatever he says goes.”
“Sir, are you sure that’s wise?” Riondale questioned with a worried look, and he gripped the hilt of his sword as he watched the stranger pass. “You might need some help against the dragon.”
“I need more help guarding Sarosh’s followers,” I pointed out, and the young lieutenant nodded reluctantly.
“Very well, sir.” Riondale motioned to a few of the other men, and they began to usher everyone off the road.
I made a new save point, though, just in case he ended up being right, and I needed to take the men along. It was always good to have options, after all.
“I’m going with you,” Mahini stated firmly, and there was no questioning the look of determination in her ice-blue eyes.
“Me, too,” Elissa added with a bright smile.
“Don’t even think about leaving me behind,” Eva said as she placed a hand on her hip.
“It looks like it’s me and the ladies tonight,” I laughed. “Get geared up for a fight. I want us to be prepared for anything.”
A short while later, the five of us were mounted on our horses and rode down the road at a brisk pace. The cool air of twilight descended upon us, and the stars began to peek out through the foliage as the light of day faded. The air was cooler than I was accustomed to, and at the speed we were going, the wind was blowing into my face.
The women never complained, though, and even Sarosh managed to stay atop her horse at full speed. I supposed her determination to watch me perform some serious magic encouraged her to adapt to the situation, but it was amusing to see the immediate difference in her riding ability.
We’d been riding for about an hour when I spotted another group of travelers. It looked like a family of five, with an infant strapped to the mother’s back, and two children holding each adult’s hand. They all wore grim expressions on their soot-stained faces, but they looked uninjured.
I pulled the horses to a halt, and the girls followed suit.
“Hello there,” I greeted. “Are you guys okay?”
“Far from it, friend,” the man in the group said in a solemn tone. “We’ve lost everything, and now we have to make the long trek to Vallenwood to start over.”
“Everything?” I asked with a concerned frown.
“Our farm was completely destroyed by a fire-breathing dragon,” the woman sobbed, and she cradled one of the children against her side. “The horrid beast swooped down from the sky and ate our cows.”
“Then he unleashed his hellfire on our farmhouse,” the father said.
“How far away is this farm?” I asked as my mouth watered with battle lust. I was getting closer. Soon, I would face against the dragon again, and this time I would leave with his head.
Smiguel was going down, and I was going to be the one to take him out.
“We’ve been walking for hours.” The father shook his head. “We tried to put out the flames, but it ate everything it touched instantly.”
“The beast is too far away,” Sarosh pointed out. “It would take us days to catch up to something that can fly over the trees.”
“You don’t know that,” Eva countered hotly. “Bash will find it.”
“And kill it,” Elissa added with a stubborn lift of her chin.
“If you say so,” Sarosh relented, and she flicked her silver hair over her shoulder.
“You’re after the dragon?” The father’s eyes widened, and his mouth fell open. “Are you mad?”
“Absolutely bonkers,” I laughed. “I’m on a quest to end the dragon’s reign of terror.”
“Well, the gods be with you, friend,” the mother said in a soft voice. “I hope you survive.”
“I will,” I assured her with a grin. “You guys make your way a little further ahead, I have some troops stationed further down the road who would be willing to share their campfire with you. Tel
l them Sir Sebastian sent you.”
“He’s a knight?” the small girl clinging to her mother’s skirt asked with bright shining green eyes.
“I suppose so,” the mother murmured, and she dropped into a curtsey. “Thank you, Sir Sebastian.”
“You’re very welcome,” I replied. Then I nodded to the father. “I’ll take care of the dragon, and maybe eventually you can return to your farm and rebuild.”
“My only concern right now is to get my family to safety,” the father said. “We are lucky to get out with our lives. But thank you for your hospitality, sir.”
We parted ways with the little family, and then we continued on down the road toward Bronzeberg and the dragon. My thoughts turned to the family who fled their burning farm, and an idea occurred to me.
If the dragon liked cows, maybe I could find a way to lure it to me.
It was pretty dark at this point, and Eva lit some torches she’d remembered to bring with us. We had to slow our pace so the horses could make their way in the shadows surrounding the torchlight, but we hadn’t been riding for very long when we came across a line of people.
There had to be at least fifty of them, and they walked in rows of two and three. They were all weary-faced and soot-stained, and I feared the worst for Bronzeberg.
I couldn’t stop and help them all, but I paused Goliath for a moment to nod at a few of them. I was even more determined to put the dragon down than ever before, and I clicked my tongue to signal to my steed to continue.
After a while, we came across the village, and smoke hung thickly in the air. Eva covered her mouth and nose with a delicate hand, while Elissa tied a scarf around her face. Mahini braved the dust and fumes with a stoic expression, but I pulled out a scarf and mimicked my wife’s action. Sarosh pulled the hood of her cloak in front of her face to screen out the smoke, but she coughed under her breath as we rode into town.
Bronzeberg was decimated, but there was no sign of Smiguel around anywhere. It was hard to see clearly through the dense haze, though, so the dragon could be lurking above the cloud cover, and I wouldn’t even know it.
It looked like there were only a couple of buildings still standing, and the rest were smoldering piles of burnt timber. The roofs were all collapsed, and there were giant lizard footprints in the mud. The beast had landed here, and it caused total destruction before it disappeared.
It looked like a population of at least two hundred could comfortably live in this village, but now only a couple of businesses and two homes remained. Fortunately, a lot of the people had managed to get away, if the number of travelers covered in soot were any indication.
I halted Goliath in front of the still standing business marked as an inn, and I patted his neck affectionately before I dismounted. There was another building nearby where flames were still burning, and I didn’t want the blaze to spread any further than it already had, so I went about dousing the fire with my ice spell.
“Chs!” I muttered as I walked around pouring snow and ice onto the embers.
“You can summon winter?” Sarosh gasped.
I took it she’d never encountered a real wizard before, and it made me even more curious about who this master of hers actually was.
“I can do many things,” I replied with a wave of my hand. I stayed focused on my task until all the nearby coals were doused, and the steam emitted from the ice melting cleansed some of the smoke from the air.
“Thank you, Great One,” Mahini said with a grateful sigh.
Suddenly, I saw a few people moving around in the burned wreckage. I hadn’t been able to notice them before since the smoke had been so dense, but it looked like they were digging through the remains of homes. It was hard to see in the darkness, but the remaining fires on the edge of town illuminated Bronzeberg like a torch. The shadowy figures had to be townspeople, though, and I would need to talk to them to figure out my next move.
I took a deep breath before I gathered up the girls. We huddled together like we were a sports team planning our next play, and the eager expressions on their faces told me they were just as ready as I was to end the plague of the dragon.
“Let’s split up,” I said to the four women in my company. “We need to interview whoever is still in town. Find out why the dragon came here, which way it went after it left, and if anyone heard it talk.”
“It can talk?” Sarosh asked with wide gray eyes.
“It sure can,” I confirmed. “Many great beasts exist in this world, and it takes a true god to confront them.”
“We shall see.” Sarosh flashed me a sideways, thin-lipped smile.
I could tell Sarosh was starting to like me, but she was reluctant to admit it, even to herself. The older woman was mysterious in some ways, but an open book in others. She looked younger than her years, and was wiser than she had cause to be, and I wanted to learn more about her.
First things first, though, I needed to take care of this dragon situation, so I turned my attention back to the matter at hand.
“Elissa and Eva,” I said as I nodded to the two smaller women, “go talk to those people digging through the wreckage.”
“Yes, Great One,” Evangeline replied with a tilt of her head. Her gray eyes were resolute, and I knew she would serve me faithfully.
“I feel so bad for the poor people who lived here,” Elissa murmured, and her emerald eyes filled with emotion. “It will feel good to offer them my condolences.”
“Good.” I nodded, and then I turned my gaze to Mahini and Sarosh. “You two should see if there are any cows nearby we can buy. Take the horses if you need to scout out a local farm or something.”
“I will make sure it is done,” Mahini assured me with a curt nod, and her blue eyes pierced into Sarosh until the silver-haired priestess also nodded.
“I will be happy to help, of course,” Sarosh said quickly beneath the heated gaze of the desert goddess.
“Thank you,” I said, and I flashed the four women a charming smile. “I’ll see if the innkeeper is still around, and maybe there are some beds available for us tonight.”
“That would be lovely,” Elissa moaned, and she rubbed on her shoulder with a weary smile. “It is already past my bedtime.”
“I’m worried the people will leave town tonight.” I frowned. “If we don’t talk to them now, we might never get a chance to.”
“I understand,” my wife replied with a smile dancing in her emerald eyes. “It will just make me appreciate the bed even more.”
“That’s the spirit,” I chirped as I pecked her on the cheek, but then Mahini cleared her throat, and I chuckled as I placed a kiss on her face as well. “Thanks, everyone, for helping me.”
“My pleasure,” Mahini purred.
“Of course,” Eva said.
“I love helping the people,” Elissa added.
“It will be worth it to witness a true miracle,” Sarosh insisted.
“Meet back here in an hour, alright?” I grinned, and once everyone nodded, we went our separate ways. I dipped inside the inn, and I looked around the dimly lit interior.
There was no fire burning in the grate, and only a few candles were placed sparsely around the living space. A low bar filled the left wall, and a bald man with a downcast expression stood behind it.
“Hello, there,” I greeted. “I’m sorry to hear about the attack on the town.”
“A stroke of luck seemed to spare my inn the worst of the damage, but I’m afraid Bronzeberg is done for,” the man sighed. “It had such a bright future, too. The mine was thriving… Anyway, what can I do for you?”
“I’m tracking the dragon who attacked your town,” I informed him in a casual tone, “and I’d like to rent a few rooms if you have them available.”
“Y-Y-You’re tracking it?” The man looked amazed and frightened at the same time, and he stared at me with wide eyes and a slack jaw.
“Someone has to.” I shrugged. “About those rooms?”
“You’re crazy
, you know that?” the man pressed. “Who in their right mind would go chasing after a fire breathing dragon?”
“Hi, my name is Sir Sebastian, the God of Time.” I grinned and stuck out my hand to shake his. “I’m on a quest to kill the dragon.”
“A g-g-god?” The man shook his head as if to dispel the hallucination who stood before him.
“What’s your name?” I asked in a calm voice, and I kept my expression friendly.
“I am Gurgi, the owner of this fine establishment.” The innkeeper swept into a low bow, and his bald forehead almost smashed into the bar top.
“Nice to meet you, Gurgi,” I said, and I resisted the urge to laugh at the ridiculous name. He did seem to gurgle a lot, though, so maybe it was fitting.
“It is an honor, Sir Sebastian, the God of Time.” Gurgi shook his head again, and he blinked at me stupidly for a long moment. “What can I do for you?”
“Rooms?” I reminded him with an encouraging smile. “I need three if possible.”
“Yes, yes, of course, I have no guests at the moment, so you can have your pick of any rooms.” Gurgi wrung his hands and nodded his head.
“Thanks,” I said, and I stopped the eye roll that threatened to break free.
“You are most welcome, S-Sir S-Sebastian,” Gurgi stammered.
I went and inspected the rooms, and then I unloaded the small saddlebags from the backs of our horses. Since I had Goliath with me, that meant I had all of my gear and weapons, so I was ready for pretty much anything.
I had a miniature army to myself, but half of them were not technically following me out of loyalty. I would have them convinced soon enough, though, since Sarosh seemed intent on making a decision once I killed the dragon.
A short while later, I met back up with the girls outside the inn. Mahini and Sarosh pulled a cow between their horses as they meandered up the road, but Eva and Elissa were already waiting.
“Who wants to go first?” I asked.
“I will,” Mahini offered. “We had to ride about half a mile east of here before we found a farm with cows still. We encountered several homesteads where the livestock was picked off by the dragon, and the locals are all terrified of the beast coming back to finish them off. They think once the animals are gone that humans will be next.”