By the time Amey and Shadow returned to the village, the festivities were finished. Vendors were closing up their stalls while children were being herded back to their homes before sunset; performers were breaking down their stages and returning to their usual attire while other residents labored to return the village back to its normal state by taking down decorations.
Amey, amazingly, was able to slip by with her new friend without being noticed. She led him to a house that was noticeably larger and more impressive than the surrounding huts, but was modest nonetheless. But just as they reached the door, the stern voice of an elder called out to the pair.
"Amey Rosel, what is the meaning of this?"
The two turned around and saw an elderly mauve echidna with a long grey beard, robes woven of soft grass and a circlet made of twigs and leaves. He held himself up with a great gnarled staff. It was no mistake: it was the town's local druid.
"Oh…Elder…um…" Amey stammered, trying to think up an excuse.
"What possessed you to leave the village when we were celebrating YOUR success?" the druid replied in a much more pleasant tone, patting her on the back before noticing Shadow. "Oh, I see you've brought a visitor. Your attire suggests that you come from far away, traveler. Pray, what brings you to this humble village?"
"I met Amey while I was wandering," Shadow replied, still perfectly using the language of the western continent. "My reasons for it are my own."
"Well, you have actually come at a very opportune time, traveler. Amey will ascend the peak to the west to meet with a very important individual. However, as of late the peak has become infested with terrible beasts. I can sense that you are a strong warrior."
"You want me to accompany her on her little trip?" Shadow replied. "You seem to be awfully trusting. I was expecting you to be suspicious of strangers."
"Amey may be young, but her blood makes her a very good judge of character," the druid replied. "I believe that she would not have brought you here if she did not trust you." Amey blushed in response to this praise.
"The individual Amey will meet with is very wise," the druid continued. "Perhaps he will provide you the answers that you seek. You are welcome to stay the night at her home. But you will be leaving at the break of dawn, so rest well."
"Thank you, Elder! I'll make sure he doesn't cause trouble! Have a good night!" Amey said a little loudly and nervously. She quickly opened the door, yanked Shadow inside, and closed the door behind her.
"That echidna was very trusting," Shadow replied as he stepped into the main room of the house. It was a simple, but surprisingly clean environment: slabs of flat stone covered the floor, and the walls were made of similar rock, but it possessed an unusual sheen, the side effect of a spell that made the rock extremely sturdy and difficult to break. A simple wooden ladder rose from the bottom floor to the top, the latter of which was made of rigid leaves, enchanted by the same magic. A large metal pot hung over a pile of fire wood, which was under a tall chimney.
"No, this is really unlike him," Amey replied. "He's always been very suspicious of outsiders. The only reason he was welcoming at all was because it was festival day…in fact, that's the nicest he's ever been to me at all. The rest of the village has been nice to me, but the elder…never mind. Let me go get my guest hammock."
"You live alone here?" Shadow asked. "You seem awfully young to be living alone."
"My mother died from the strains of giving birth to me," the pink hedgehog replied, "…And I've never met my father. I was raised by the rest of the village."
Shadow pondered his own "parent" as he heard this…
Hedgehog, why do you insist on defying me? My people are to stay asleep until the time is right! Yet you woke Maria!
Please forgive me, my lord, it was a moment of weakness. I only wanted to be her friend!
You are a weapon of war, hedgehog! You are your only friend…
No! I…I…
It was foolish to give you so much free will. However, if you truly wish to be independent, then go. Leave this island and never return! You are no longer welcome here!
But Doctor…
"…Shadow?" Amey said as she came back down with a spare hammock, snapping Shadow out of his reverie.
"Oh, sorry, I was just thinking," the black hedgehog replied.
"Don't overstrain yourself. Get some rest," Amey giggled as she ascended the ladder. "If you're hungry, I have some dried galf beast meat in my pantry. I never did like the stuff."
Dawn came, and the two hedgehogs departed quietly for the peak to the west. Once they were far enough away, Shadow once again told Amey of all his knowledge of the outside world. He told her of the Imperium and of the many islands off the main continents, and of how both powers were ruled. Amey took in all this information intently. After a good five hours of travel, they reached the base of the mountain where Ciro, Amey's father, took up residence.
No sooner had they reached the base of the mountain than did they hear an incessant tittering laughter coming from behind some nearby rocks. Out popped a half dozen blood-red, bat-winged creatures about the size of house-cats , all with loathsome visages like a cross between a monkey and a lizard, and each armed with a forked trident.
"…Imps!" Amey exclaimed. "I thought they lived higher up."
Shadow quickly drew his magnum pistol and made two quick shots, blowing the heads off the two imps instantly. But when he tried to fire a third, the gun clicked, indicating it was out of ammo. The imps paused to look down at the headless demon corpses, then continued their advance.
"Crap…that's the last of my ammunition…" Shadow growled. "Guess I better resort to…"
"I can handle this!" Amey cried out. Breathing deeply, she strove to call back the draconic power that the strange elixir from the day before had granted her. Just like before, wings began to form on her back. But this time there was virtually no pain, and the process was much quicker. Shadow fell backwards in shock when he saw the massive pair of wings on Amey's back. The imps were also terrified and halted their charge. Amey grinned and inhaled, feeling the flames build up within her. However, it was more of a tickle than a burning sensation. She breathed out a flaming blast from her mouth that incinerated the four remaining imps, reducing them to piles of ash and cinder.
"Phew…that's my shot for the day," Amey panted. "I just hope there aren't more of them further up."
"Amey…how…how did you…those wings…breathed fire…" Shadow stammered. He had never heard of any hedgehog being able to perform the feats Amey just did.
"Oh…I guess I never told you, huh?" she replied. "You see, my father is a dragon, and he's the one who lives on this peak. He can explain more. C'mon, we still have to climb this thing!" With that, she began flapping her wings and took to the air.
The ascent up Ciro's mountain domain was surprisingly easy. The imps that Amey had incinerated were the most dangerous creatures, and the other, less demonic beasts fled at the sight of the winged hedgehog flying upwards. As the sun reached its peak around noon, the two arrived at the summit, where they found a massive topaz-colored dragon with black horns on his head and ridges all along his scaly body, sunning himself. Stretching forty feet from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail, this was truly a sight to behold.
"…Father!" Amey exclaimed, knowing immediately that this was her father. "Father, wake up!" One of the dragon's eyes opened up, revealing an eye that was like a perfectly smooth topaz. Letting out a long deep yawn, the dragon got to its feet, and opened its wings, which stretched almost twice its body length from tip to tip.
"…Hm?" Ciro looked around, then down at his feet to see the two hedgehogs looking up at him. As soon as he saw Amey, his tired expression turned to a kind smile that nonetheless looked unsettling on his reptilian visage. "Oh, I'm sorry for dozing off. I was expecting you today, but I just got back from a long hunting trip and was rather tired…" But then Ciro turned to Shadow, and his pleasant expression turned grimmer. "You…are you my daughter's bodyguard? I was told she would be coming alone." The dragon lowered his head and took a deep whiff of Shadow.
"Father, Shadow…"
"…is an artificial being," Ciro finished grimly. "He does not smell like any kind of natural being, Mobian, animal or monster." Amey looked at Shadow in the same look of shock that he had displayed in response to her dragon wings and flaming breath. "So it seems the race of humans was not destroyed as the legends say. But here before me stands one of their abominations. Amey, why are you associating with a minion of the demonic humans?"
"Father, I…" Amey stammered.
"Dragon," Shadow interrupted. "I was rejected by the ruler of mankind, and was left to wander this world. While I once did fight for mankind, I am no longer their servant."
Ciro took another whiff of Shadow at which point his expression softened, but gave a simple nod, as if acknowledging the truth of the black hedgehog's words. But after a moment, he continued to speak.
"Amey, the appearance of your friend is not coincidence. During my long hunt I encountered red, egg-shaped machines armed for war marching across the landscape…"
"Egg-shaped machines…" Shadow thought. "They were made by the Doctor. He must be making his move now that I'm not around to question him."
"As your first task as Dragonspeaker," Ciro continued, "convey this warning to the Druidic Council: the humans that were thought to have been eliminated are sending their troops to conquer the Druid-dom and steal its resources."
"Yes, father," Amey replied, bowing respectfully before the dragon turned to Shadow.
"And you, Shadow…I appoint you my daughter's personal bodyguard. She is a capable warrior in her own right, but the journey is long, and a single burst of fire in a single day will not be enough to keep her safe. To aid you in your task, I will provide you with a weapon." With that, he turned around, barely avoiding smashing the two hedgehogs with his tail and entered the cave.
"Where's he going?" Shadow asked. "He said he was going to give me a weapon."
"He's got to dig it out of his treasure hoard," Amey explained. "Dragons are responsible for keeping the treasures from past wars safe, lest we are overcome by greed and stray away from the way of nature."
Just as she finished that statement, Ciro returned with a sheathed katana with a beautifully crafted leather and velvet scabbard, complete with shoulder strap hanging from one of his nails. He laid it down on the ground, and Shadow approached it in order to draw the blade.
"This sword was entrusted to me by an Imperial soldier who forsook violence to live peacefully on the peak. I do not know what caused his sudden change of heart, but I can only assume it gnawed away at his soul until death claimed him. Take it, and use to protect the innocent and the weak as well as my daughter."
Shadow was uninterested in the story of the blade, and rather took it up and began swinging it, before testing it on a nearby rock. The combination of the blade's sheer keenness, the impromptu tempering from the dragon's fire, and his own great strength caused the blade to cleanly slice the rock in two.
"Marvelous…now this is a sword…" Shadow said with a smile just before hearing the last part of Ciro's story. "…Oh, of course; I'll make sure no harm comes to your daughter."
"Don't worry, Father, we'll be fine," Amey reassured Ciro.
"The capital lies far to the west. While I could bring you there myself, I must stay to continue my vigil over the lands surrounding my lair. In the next area over, do say hello to Dizajt. His lair is at the edge of the great river that divides the continent. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some more sunning to do." Without another world, the dragon laid back down and closed his eyes, and immediately began snoring, the rumble sounding throughout the mountain.
