Sir Nicolas yawned and looked up at the sky, his trusty steed knew where they were headed and did not need his guidance. It was a beautiful day, the sky was a clear blue, the sun was high and air was comfortably chilly.
He looked down to his steed, Strongwing, a dragonnel he met as a child. It was a stormy night back then, he had run away from his home, a fortress located between Hillsfar and Yûlash known as Callisway, and had run into the forests of Cormanthor. In the forest he was suddenly surrounded by Drow.
He couldn't clearly remember what happened and why, but he remembered Strongwing running in with a deafening roar. His mighty claws slashing the throats of the stunned Drow. After saving him, Strongwing brought him home and his parents rewarded the creature by allowing it to stay.
The two had been friends ever since, and when Nicolas had grown to a strong man, and a fully trained Knight, Strongwing accepted him as his rider. Nicolas had accepted his title as Sir Nicolas Primion of Callisway III with Strongwing by his side.
They had been on many adventures together, they had fought dragons in the Forest of Wyrms, raced nomads in the Plains of Purple Dust, battled Goblins in the Jungle of Chult and tested their strength with the Dwarves of Icewind Dale. Strongwing had been a good and loyal friend, and he was going to stay that way for many years to come.
He looked over his shoulder at the woman sitting behind him in the saddle. Her name was Scarlett. A wandering Paladin he met just a couple years ago, on one of his adventures. She told him that she was wandering the land, following glimpses of memories from a past life. Nicolas wasn't sure whether to believe her or not, but he knew that a paladin could always be trusted, as were the common knowledge of any adventurer, so he decided to aid her on her quest. This quest had taken them around most of Faerun, and they were now on their way to Neverwinter. Scarlett had seen her past self riding in there on a horse and entering an inn. It seemed that the more they followed her memories, the more she remembered. And so they flew over the land on Strongwing, and after a few weeks, Neverwinter was finally within view.
"We're almost there, milady." Nicolas said. "Soon, we'll be able to rest up properly." Scarlett smiled. "Rest up properly?" She asked in a teasing tone. "Are you saying that the hard ground is too much for a big, strong knight such as yourself, Nicolas?" Nicolas laughed. "You've got me there, milady, I must admit that I am still not quite used to sleeping in a tent for several days in a row." He looked at Scarlett again. He wasn't sure why her name was Scarlett. It was clearly the color scarlet turned into a name, but there wasn't a hint of anything red on her. Her long, wavy hair was a dark brown, and so were her eyes. There was no sign of makeup on her face, and her lips weren't naturally red. He had asked her about this before, but the only response he got was 'my sisters gave me this name'. He didn't know exactly what she meant by that, but he decided not pry any further.
"It's rude to stare, Sir Nicolas." Scarlett said with a teasing smile. Sir Nicolas was forced out of his train of thought and blinked several times before looking up at the sky again. "My apologies, milady, I was caught up in thoughts." As he looked up, he saw something above them. A great beast was flying right above them, it's black scales glistened in the sunlight. Sir Nicolas looked at it, he could tell that Strongwing had noticed it as well. "Steady, my friend." He spoke to his loyal steed in the tongue of the dragons, as this was the only way to communicate with him. He could tell that Scarlett had seen it too, she was holding her breath. He could hear the sound of metal sliding along metal as she drew her sword. "Has it seen us?" She asked, Sir Nicolas glared at it. "Even if it hasn't, it can easily smell us from here." Scarlett shifted in the saddle, she had both legs on the same side of Strongwing. Sir Nicolas could tell what she was planning, and knew that it would be impossible to speak her out of it. She was a paladin, and that black dragon was the very definition of evil. He told Strongwing to fly above it, and be ready to dive.
The dragon roared when it saw the golden creature zip past it. It roared again when it's eye was pierced by a mighty blade, Scarlett had leaped off the saddle just as Strongwing passed the dragon's eye and stabbed it with her mighty Great Sword. Strongwing continued his upward flight, and Nicolas drew his sword and jumped off. He landed in the giant beast's head and held his sword high, just as he was about to swing his blade, it burst into flames. The dragon roared in blind anger as the knight plunged his flaming sword into it's other eye. It spat it's acidic breath out and nearly hit Strongwing on his way down. If the dragonnel had moved just a bit faster, he wouldn't have been able to stop before diving head first into the cloud of acid coming from the dragon's mouth.
The dragon shook it's head violently. Scarlett was still hanging on to her sword that was lodged in it's eye, but Sir Nicolas was standing on top of it's head with nothing to hold on to. He lost his footing and fell off, as he was falling he called out for Strongwing, who quickly swooped in to his rescue. "Be more careful, Nicolas." The dragonnel said. Sir Nicolas rolled his eyes. "You can tell me off later, we have to save Scarlett. And retrieve my sword."
The dragon was twisting and turning, and Scarlett was only barely holding on to her sword. Strongwing flew over the beast's head, and Sir Nicolas jumped off. He quickly moved to pull his sword out of the dragon's eye, but just as he got it out, the beast once again rolled around in air. He lost his footing and fell, just as he was about to call out to Strongwing again, a thin hand grabbed his armored wrist. He looked up at Scarlett, but before he could say anything, she had swung him back up the dragon's head. "Kill it!" She yelled.
Sir Nicolas raised his flaming sword, and plunged it deep in the back of the dragons head. He then let himself fall off the side of the beast while still holding on to the sword. He swung two thirds of the way around the dragon's neck before sword slid out of it. As he fell, he saw Strongwing swoop in and catch Scarlett. He saw the dragon, it's severed head only dangling on a piece of skin, crashing down somewhere in The High Forest.
Sir Nicolas sheathed his sword and spread his arms and legs out. He was falling down at an alarming speed because of his heavy armor, and right now all he could do was try his best to slow his fall, and hope that Strongwing would reach him in time. "Nicolas!" He heard Scarlett call out to him, he looked up and saw her. She was riding Strongwing and was holding his lance out, he had it tied to the saddle as it was nothing more than a hindrance when used on foot. Sir Nicolas took hold of the tip of the lance, and used it to pull himself in.
After getting himself safely back in the saddle, Sir Nicolas steered Strongwing towards Longsaddle. It was getting dark and they needed a place to stay, and the owner of one of the taverns was a good friend of his. The Harpell family and the Primion family, which was the family who lived in the Callisway Fortress, had always been on good terms. They landed by the entrance to the village, and rode in and made their way towards the Ivy Mansion where the tavern 'The Fuzzy Quarterstaff' was located.
"Nicolas, my friend, long time no see." They were greeted a young man. His long brown hair was set up in a loose ponytail. His frail body hidden behind a long, blue robe. It was the grandson of the current elder, Adanac Harpell, his name was Noreyth Harpell II. "Noreyth! It's good to see you again." He hopped off Strongwing and pulled the young wizard into a friendly embrace. "And who is this lovely young lady?" Noreyth looked at Scarlett, who avoided eye contact. "She is a friend of mine." Sir Nicolas walked over to help her down, but she simply jumped right off before he could even reach his hand out. "My name is Scarlett." She sent Noreyth a friendly smile. "Well, we can't stand here all day, I assume you came here to get a room?" Noreyth looked at them expectantly. Sir Nicolas nodded. "Yes we did, are there any unoccupied rooms?" Noreyth smiled and led them inside. "Of course there are, my friend."
As soon as they entered the tavern, Scarlett gasped. It was a beautifully decorated, circular room with tables scattered around in a seemingly haphazardly way that still kept people at a comfortable distance from each other. On each table there was a green crystal. Scarlett could hear people already sitting by a table ordering their drinks, which would be brought to them on a floating, blue disk. There was a calm, orchestral music in the room, though there weren't anyone playing any instruments. The invisible orchestra was conducted by a lone wizard in the far end of the room. "This place..." Scarlett had trouble taking it all in. Sir Nicolas nodded with a satisfied smile. "It is quite impressive, isn't it?"