Enchantments!

All belongs to Bioware / EA except that which comes from my imagination!
Apologies if there is a story like this, but I couldn't find it when I used the search option. I'm not real good with humor, but at least I gave it a shot :D Thanks for reading!

Our trip to an isolated section of the Sundermount had not been going well so far and I had half a mind to turn back. But we needed this trade route for our mining operation and the Dalish encampment was strategically placed. We had to win their favor, which meant clearing out a particular nasty band of dragonlings for them. But what a chore it had been so far.

One of the young men I had hired for the expedition came to me as we set camp for the night and by the pained expression on his face I knew we would have more trouble.
"Surrah Hawke, the food that we brought… well, some of it is spoiled." He bowed and scraped back away from me as I began to let out a long string of curses. Just one more piece of bad luck we did not need!

After that bit of wonderful news, I shoved my head in my hands as I sat on the small bench near the campfire and tried to tune out the soft chatter of the men around me. My mind drifted from the planning of food rationing to the bad weather that had plagued us to all of the other small incidents that had made this trip one of the worst I had ever had to endure. It was almost enough to drive a man to drink.

The food that was being cooked sent tendrils of delicious odors my way and I felt my belly rumble angrily. It was at that moment I heard raucous laughter coming from near where our supplies and gear had been stored for the night. Curious, I stood slowly and went over to where a small group of three was standing, and peered over one of the younger man's shoulders half expecting to find a fourth member of the group telling stories.

But the first thing I saw was one of my old storage chests. Odd. I had not meant to bring it along with us. How did it get to the camp? Then I saw the subject of their attention – a smallish youth of a dwarf staring back at each face with wide blue innocent eyes. He was standing in the center of the now-opened chest, and it clicked in my brain that I knew him. It was the simple son of my new manservant's…. oh, what was his name? Sanders… Sanden… Samuel…?

"Sandal?" I was fairly certain that was the kid's name and at my question, all eyes turned to me. One of the men stepped back so that I could get closer. "What are you doing here?"

"Enchantments?" His happy voice rang out into the approaching night around us and such a singular utterance seemed to humor the men as they began to laugh. I was more annoyed than anything else. We were too far into the trip to turn back now and I certainly couldn't send him home alone. I could not afford a man to escort him either.

"He's a nutter, that one!" The closest man to me laughed as he barked out the words.

"He's bloomin' looney! Got little bits'o brain, he does!" Another snarked.

"Let's feed 'em to the dragonlings head first then they could become stupid like 'im!" The final of the three clutched his stomach, laughing so hard that the words were barely understandable.

"Hey, hey! Let him be. Go get prepared for dinner, you louts." I shoved gently at each man, not appreciating the way they were treating the poor kid. It angered me since it reminded me of myself as a child. My brother Carver had always teased me because I had been scrawny. Well, things had changed since then, but I hadn't forgotten the pain of being teased so mercilessly.

"He'll get us all kilt, that one will." One of the men groused as the small band disbursed as ordered, leaving me alone with the cheerful dwarven youth.

After a few minutes, I sighed, acknowledging to myself that I couldn't change what had happened and I might as well deal with it. "Are you hungry, Sandal?"

"I like pie!"

It was going to be a long trip.

The next day, things seemed to go smoother. Sandal clung to me, never leaving my side if he could help it, which was fine (that way I could keep an eye on him). As we came upon the nest of dragonlings, I made sure the little dwarf was hidden away in the rocks above the lair, not willing to risk him getting injured or worse. The beasts were not difficult to dispatch with a good sword, but they could be vicious when cornered.

As I slaughtered the last of the bunch, wiping the blade of my two-hander against a bundle of grass nearby, I heard a loud shriek that came from somewhere skyward and my heart sank.
An adult dragon from the sound of it – not good.

"Ahhhhh! Mature!" One of the hired men yelled out, pointing to the sky and I didn't need to look to know we were in trouble. I had no assistance with this and it was too late for all of us to run – we had been spotted. Soon the dragon landed and began to assault the few men who remained behind to fight. They were massacred as we had been ill-prepared for a mature dragon. I could not spare much time mourning for I was the last and I knew it would be a fight for my life as well.

As soon as I attempted to get close, the beast flapped his wings, buffeting my efforts and sending me head over heels away. I tried a few more times, finally getting close enough to swing with my sword. This only served to anger him and he swiped at me with his wickedly sharp talons. I was tiring, desperate to figure out how to defeat the beast so that we could get those unconscious men who survived to safety.

I managed to slash upward, hurting the dragon as I did, but was not prepared for his spiked tail that swung around and slammed into my side. Ow. I could hear my ribs crack as I was sent quite a distance away, smashing against big rocks that jutted out from the side of the mountain. I was dangerously close to losing consciousness but knew that meant I would soon be dragon-snack, so I struggled as much as I could to right myself. Unfortunately, I failed miserably and landed in a heap, staring up at the maw of the beast as it neared to finish me.

And then?
The heavily armored, monstrosity of a dragon exploded. It simply exploded! EXPLODED!

"…." I had no words. Slowly I gathered myself up, staggering to my feet and stared at the remains of what used to be my death sentence. Unable to help myself, I shook my head in disbelief and wonderment. What had happened?

"Boom!"

I cracked my neck at the exclamation and saw Sandal standing nearby, his hand blackened from something, but still outstretched as if he had thrown a rock into a pond. Twice now he had said the same and twice now the ground around the young dwarf had been littered with corpses or body parts.

"Sandal, you did this?" I tilted my head, staring at the strange youth curiously.

"Boom!" He repeated and grinned in such a way that all I could do was laugh. Soon I was laughing so hard that the tears flowed, not just from the excruciating pain of my injured side either.

"Boom!" I imitated him and clapped him on the back. "Good job, kid."
Now all we had to do was clean-up.

The End