"Over here," waved Armondo as he lead the group up the hill. Tig was carrying the much bigger Ceto, balanced impossibly on her back, Gerald helped her by guiding his feet so they wouldn't get snagged on any vegetation, while Lady Tessa was bringing up the rear with blade in hand in case there were any more skirmishers in the woods.
"So where are we going exactly that is defensible against a dragon?" asked Tig as she struggled up the slope carrying Ceto. While it looked ridiculous for the small gnome to shoulder most of his weight, she briefly mentioned something about an 'ant haul' potion which made no sense to Gerald, but he tapped a finger to his head as if he knew what it meant.
"There's a ravine with a hidden cave on the slope nearby. I only poked my head in the cave, but it's big enough for the lot of us. We can fight at the ravine and retreat into the cave if the dragon uses its breath on us," explained Armondo. "He'll have to stick his head into the cave if he really wants to roast up. I say we can give him his licks if he wants to push it that far."
"Hey. I found Lady Tess in a chasm nearby. Do you think they might be connected?" asked Gerald though no one really listened. All they were concentrating on now was getting out of the open before the dragon arrived. While Gerald had no experience in fighting a dragon, even he knew that a dragon's flames were bad news if you were let's say….fighting outside….in the middle of a forest. You didn't need to be a professional dragonslayer to know that.
After roughly five minutes, they reached the ravine that Armondo had mentioned. Actually they passed several ravines but this particular one was the widest, and sure enough at the back of it there was a cave obscured by a large boulder. Gerald thought the difficult terrain would proved difficult to move Ceto through, even with Tig's ant power, but remarkably the big half orc struggled to his feet and made the rest of the journey himself, despite the gnome's protest.
"Nein! Stay still! You'll tear open your wounds!" pleaded Tig, her voice choking back tears.
"I'm alright," grunted Ceto in his own stoic fashion.
Gerald didn't care if they threw him in, or if he fell in by his own power. He was just glad everyone was safely in the cave as the dragon soared overhead. While Armondo guarded the ravine with his bow, the rest huddled in the cave behind the boulder. It wasn't enough to stop the dragon if it really wanted to root them out, but it would prevent them from being roasted alive from a distance at least.
Gerald also noticed that Armondo had replaced his regular arrows with a black oversized metal shaft at the ready. It looked too heavy to actually shoot, but the half orc seemed to handle it easily. While Gerald didn't know a thing about dragons or archery for that matter, that arrow just screamed dragonslaying to him.
"Well…it looks like we finally got our dragon," smirked Armondo with his black arrow nocked. "Though I would have preferred it if it hadn't softened us up with his minions first, that's just bad sport."
"PRINCE AARON!" shouted the dragon. "YOU CAN NOT HIDE! I CAN SMELL YOUR COWARDICE!"
At first Gerald was confused, there was no Prince amongst them. Then he checked his trousers and breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't him that was emitting a cowardice smell.
"Acht! Prince Aaron? What's he talking about?" asked Tig. Everyone in the cave shrugged.
"SIR RIDLEY AND LADY TESSA ARE MY PRISONERS….SADLY SIR BEAUREGARD DID NOT MAKE IT!"
"No…not Beau..not him," cried Tess.
"Eh? I thought Lady TESSA was with us?" asked Armondo. The group stared at Tess, who simply weeped as she shrank a bit back into the cave.
"DO YOU NOT WANT TO SAVE THE REST OF YOUR …SILVER GUARD? DO YOU NOT WANT TO SAVE YOUR WOMAN? " screeched the dragon overhead.
"What's he talking about?" Tig asked Tess. "Why does he think you're the prince? "
"I'm more concerned of why is he not attacking?" asked Armondo coolly. "This ravine is narrow, but not that narrow, and a dragon that big could easily sling this boulder out of the way, or worse yet jam it in and attempt to suffocate us. I have this black arrow with his name on it, but I'm not going to use it from this distance. I have to make this shot count and even then I'm not sure its powerful enough to kill that beast outright."
"Maybe he doesn't want to hurt the 'Prince' who he thinks is with us," shrugged Gerald as he eyed Tess suspiciously.
"SURRENDER YOURSELF TO ME AT THE OLD TOWER AT SUNRISE, AND I WILL RELEASE YOUR REMAINING COMPANIONS! FAIL TO ARRIVE AT …THEIR…PERIL!" threatened the dragon before it flew away.
Armondo raised an eyebrow as the dragon left. "Well…that went better than expected. I was sure he was going to attack us and take what he wanted."
"Maybe he was scared. We did kill all his minions," suggested Tess.
"Hardly," snorted Armondo. "While I was scouting at the top of the hill, I saw his army pouring out the mines. He has another five hundred strong, and they're on the march to Daggerhall. "
"Eh? That's much more than a dragon's normal contingent of guards. Even the blue we slew in Ylarrum didn't command that many dervishes," puzzled Tig.
"Maybe he's not here to make a lair. Maybe he's here to conqueror this land?" shrugged Armondo. "It's not a bad idea if you're a dragon actually. You fly around to scare the local populace, and since you are a dragon the villagers won't summon the army, because they have half a mind. An army would be dead meat if it met a dragon in the open field. So the townsfolk send knights or dragonslayers or…ugh…adventurers…to dispatch the beast, allowing you time to move in your own army under their noses. When you do attack, the defenders won't have enough men to stop you. This land might not have any ruins, vast stores of treasures, or any artifacts to be plundered, but the land itself is worthwhile for its natural resources."
Tig shook her head. "Nein. It still doesn't make sense. Why get an army though? A dragon could simply attack the town directly and take it over. You saw the size of that thing, it could destroy Daggerhall in a night of flames."
"Aye, the town's militia only number in the twenty with another twenty they can call upon as reserves. When the dragon arrived they reinforced their meager defenses by adding extra rain barrels around the town and supplying more bows to the militia, but they didn't increase the militia's number, for that would have been folly," said Tess confirming Gerald's thoughts about armies fighting a dragon. "Even with their motte and bailey, they would not be able to withstand the horde you described without reinforcements for long, and certainly would not be able to stand up to them if they had a dragon at their lead."
"This seems to be a lot of effort to conqueror a small border town. I mean who even wants it? It doesn't connect to anywhere save the rest of Westholding and the Dool lands up north. If this dragon wanted to claim a kingdom, he should have done this little scheme on Old Brighton or Cloverworth. Those two towns we passed coming here. They seemed much more worthy to conqueror, and their defenses aren't that much better than here," shrugged Tig.
Gerald gulped hard at the casual way they were describing the death of his town. While it was simply a hovel of shacks to these people, it was still his home. Fat Inga, shrewd Sanngror, and even annoying Wilton were all part of his family, and even though he didn't particularly like any of them, he would not want to see them come to harm.
"Maybe our dragon isn't what it seems," said Armondo. "Maybe its not as powerful as it looks. I did not feel the terrible presence of a dragon 'aura' but it wasn't technically attacking us, so maybe it didn't to choose to radiate it. Maybe its a lot smaller, and uses its magic to make itself more formidable. Like your enlarge spell. That would explain why it would use an army and didn't attack the town directly. I mean, it hasn't attacked anyone that was a challenge really except for the Knights. Even then it supported its attacks with giants and goblins. "
"Eh?" asked Tig. She considered his statement and after some thought she seemed to agree with his idea and pulled out a small box from her satchel. She stared at the box nervously before flipping its lid, and seemed relieved when the strange jagged stone inside still glowed. "Well the dragonstone says that there's a dragon nearby, and a fairly powerful one as well. So there goes that theory."
"What is that?" asked Tess in surprise. "I've never seen such a thing."
"It glows when there is a dragon roughly a mile from here," said Gerald knowingly , even though he only just seen it a few hours ago. "It also indicates the relative power of the beast as well."
"Colour and species as well, " added Tig. "But…I'm not skilled enough to read everything it says. From what I've learned, the dragon nearby appears to be red….but I'm getting strange readings on its thoughts and alignment. It appears to be in a state of mental...depression and anxiety. Though I'm not 100% sure."
"Perhaps the creature is insane," said Armondo. "He's not like a normal dragon, did you notice he didn't declare himself. Most do that as a point of pride to spread their fame and strike fear into their enemies. Even the little ones do that, which I find quite amusing. Also , you heard him go on and on about a Prince. Well…I'm pretty sure we don't have a Prince. Unless Gerald is one in disguise."
Everyone chuckled at that, but Gerald had another option in mind.
While Tess was probably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen up close, the dragon's statement had started firing questions in his small bard brain. Especially since he had the same conversation with Mina earlier. Lady Tessa certainly fit the bill of a woman knight with her ample feminine physique, her gentle voice, and even her fair soft skin. Being a bard, Gerald knew the full extent that a proper disguise could make. Skin can be faked with proper foundation and makeup, eyelashes and full lips were easy to do, hair could be a product of a stylist or even a wig. Even something as ample breasts and wide swinging hips could be replicated by two rolled up stockings, a tight corset, and some padding on the butt. While Tessa definitely looked and felt like a woman when she was kissing and hugging him, he had to admit he hadn't seen her underneath the armor. But despite his crazy thoughts about Tess crossdressing, and then the now uncomfortable memory of the hugs and kisses in the cave, he also recalled something that Mina said…..
"Err….are you a man? And if not…are you the Princess?" Gerald asked Tessa tentatively. Everyone seemed surprise that he would pose such questions, even himself.
"Acht! Is she a man? Are you crazy?" asked Tig. "I mean look at her. I'd be jealous if I was a human. It's pretty evident she's a woman."
"It sounds crazy," interrupted Armondo. "But until a few months ago, I could have sworn to be able to tell the difference between a man and a woman. That is until I met that ...errr...lady boy in the that dance hall in Lower Lueders. Really made me think twice about ...things."
"Eh… what?" replied Tess, clearly shaken from the question and comments about her sexuality.
Ceto looked at Tessa then Gerald and back to Tessa, giving her a good hard look. "I think you need glasses."
"I'm just saying that if a dragon was after me, I might disguise myself as a woman too. However, even more crazy that that, Mina had this crazy theory. Well not really a theory, I think she was joking actually. Well anyways, she said she wanted to meet the Prince, but was afraid he'd turn out to be a woman. Her theory went that because the king owed the mad wizard Zerd a princess, so he would disguise his children as boys to avoid that. If that was true, it wouldn't be too hard of a stretch that he would hire a guy to pose as the prince, while the real prince or princess would be nearby. It's not the first time a member of the royalty had a body double, but I doubt it's ever been to this extreme before. I know it's kind of nuts, and I really didn't give it a second thought when I first heard it but …well….that dragon seemed pretty convinced that the prince was amongst us."
"I…I…that's ridiculous…." said Tess.
"You think that anyone could keep up a charade like that for what ...thirty years? Or however long you humans reach maturity? " questioned Tig. "You'd think someone would talk."
"Wouldn't a wizard , well you know…use magic to determine if the King lied to him or something. That's what they do right?" asked Armondo.
Tig shook her head. "Nein. In most cases I would say Ja, but I've heard of this Zerd. He's a specialist, an evoker. He is forbidden from using divination magic. Though that wouldn't explain why he couldn't just hire someone else to cast that spell. However…..now that I think of it, clerics and wizards in this part of the woods are pretty rare…..and someone like Zerd might be too proud to ask for help."
"I don't believe I'm hearing this," protested Tess. "I'm not the Prince or Princess. I'm Tessa. I'm….."
Ceto interrupted her by walking directly next to Tess. The wounded but still heavily muscled half orc cut an imposing figure as he craned his neck down a mere inch from Tess's face. The knight recoiled, suppressing an urge to scream as the big half orc simply took a big whiff of her face, and then lowered his head and breathed in the aroma of her chest. Satisfied he took a step back and grunted. "She's not a Prince, and she's not a man."
Tess was shocked at his bold advance and though he hadn't actually touched her, his violation of her personal space." Are you happy now! Or does everyone else want a smell" she demanded as she stormed off into a corner of the cave and sulked.
Gerald actually wouldn't mind, but he wisely stayed silent.
Tig folded her arms, and seemed upset at the big half orc. Ceto simply picked up the gnome and playfully sniffed her as well. She seemed defiant at first, but soon lost her composure and hugged his head. "I'm glad you're all right," Tig said as they both kissed.
Not a kiss like a mother would give her child, or even an awkward brother sister kiss, but full mouth on mouth and probably tongue on tongue. In fact, since Ceto was so much bigger than Tig, Gerald half expected him to bite her head off as they locked lips.
Gerald looked at the pair and his mind started to click. "Wait a sec…..Tig…Ceto….how does that even work? Isn't he like way too big…wouldn't she….? "
Armondo simply shook his head. "They hug and kiss, but she also has an enlarge spell if she needs it…remember?" and ended Gerald's questions.
After their embrace, Tig composed herself and confronted the group. "Okay, without actually knowing how powerful the dragon is, we'll just assume we were fortunate that the dragon did not attack. We're lucky that he thinks the Prince is with us while Ceto says he is clearly not. If they don't have the Prince, I'm guessing that he escaped and maybe he made his way back to town, but we can't assume that. He might have stumbled around in the dark and fallen into a chasm, like this one or the one Tess and Gerald found. This is too much for us to handle, but we must warn Daggerhall and the kingdom of Westholding in general that they have a small army at their door steps. We'll rest for an hour, lick our wounds, before we strike for the town before that army does. An army that size doesn't move that fast. Also the dragon seemed hung up on meeting at this old tower, wherever that is, in the morning to do an exchange. I doubt he will attack without his army, so we have that going for us. As long as we reach the town before sunrise we should have sufficient time to muster up its defenses. "
"Can't you simply warn them magically?" asked Tess. "I know several important people that you can alert if you have that type of magic."
Tig shook her head. "Sadly , I do not have the formulae for a messenger extract. I'm just a humble alchemist."
Armondo snorted. "She means, she focuses on abilities that that lets her destroy things rather than master utility magic."
Tig glared at the stout orc , but eventually smiled slyly at his appraisal.
"Wait. What about Mina, and the two hostages the dragon has," protested Gerald. "Won't the dragon execute them if no one shows up at the tower. Come to think of it, do you think Mina is the one the dragon is confusing for Lady Tess. She's not exactly a knight, and she is kind of short, but a dragon wouldn't know one human woman from another…would it?"
"Actually a dragon's ability to differentiate humanoids is quite acute. Often it just memorizes people by their scent. However, without a baseline of the real Tessa," explained Armondo as he nodded at Tess. "It would be logical to assume that he could your Mina with the Lady knight here."
Gerald's heart dropped. While before he simply assumed Mina was in danger, now there existed a very possibility that not only was she in danger, but she was about to be dragon food in a few hours. He didn't know Mina, but she had been a bit amusing, and she was also kind to him. After all, out of everyone in the village she chose him to guide her to the mines. A terrible decision in the end, but one that Gerald felt responsible for.
"We have to do something, we can't let those people die in the tower."
"What do you want us to do Gerald? The dragon wants the Prince. We don't have a Prince. If we show up without one, he's going to not only kill us but his hostages as well. And even if we have the Prince, I do not think it wise to trade the kingdom's heir and possibly the only one that can rally the kingdom's forces to fight this horde to a dragon," sighed Tig.
"Can't we try to use stealth or something to rescue them? You must have an invisibility potion formulae right?"
Tig frowned and confronted Gerald with sad eyes. She even took off her leather skull cap and placed it over her heart. "Armondo is more of a scout than a rogue. Asking him to sneak past a dragon is beyond his abilities. And while I could create an invisibility extract, a dragon can see through it easily. I'm sorry Gerald, I know Mina means a lot to you, but she's beyond our help now. All we can do is warn the town and prevent more people from dying."
"As a paladin of the Silver Guard, I reluctantly agree," said Lady Tessa.
Armondo grunted in approval, while Ceto barely remained conscious.
Normally Gerald would quickly jump on the agree band wagon, valuing his life over a strangers, but …but it just seemed wrong to him. He closed his eyes and saw the girl with the short dark hair, the round face, and the big saucer eyes, and thought he would've liked to have known her more, or at least to know that she hadn't die because he wanted to make a few gold from some foolish sorceress girl with a Prince fetish.
Reluctantly he sighed and bobbed his head.
"Why does that big lizard want a Prince anyways? I thought they go for Princesses..." grumbled Gerald.
"Well, for all we know it is a female dragon, though from his screeching earlier it didn't sound like it. Also, dragons are attracted to wealth and well...treasure. They are creatures that are composed from magic as much as they are the physical. It's hard to explain but the need for 'treasure' or some form of 'wealth' is linked to them both physically and psychologically. To sleep on, to display, to lounge around on...it varies with each dragon. As long as something is valuable a dragon craves it. Be it a coin or sweater collection, antiques, or the more traditional gold and jewels. I've even heard of a dragon that would kidnap Prince and Princes and lock them in a room, just so he can say they belonged to him. To revel in the fact that he had the most valuable 'things' in the land," explained Tig.
"That sounds rather...petty and shallow,"commented Gerald.
"Well to anyone but a dragon it is, but I've only scratched the most extreme examples. Often a dragon just sits on enough for his physical well being, and some even donate a fair share. Remember when I was telling you about alternate forms a dragon can take, well some even disguise themselves as humans simply to engage in mercantile activities and use their business acumen. A creature that can live for a thousand year can sit on its investments longer than you or I and can amass mind boggling sums of wealth. "
"So...what happens when they don't find treasure?" asked Gerald.
"Most wither or die. Some just grow bitter and erratic. Which is a good point. Maybe this dragon does not have sufficient treasure which is why it's engaging in such an unpredictable manner. Stealing gold and gaining tribute is one thing, running a town is quite another. It's not something a dragon is attracted to."
Gerald shrugged. All this knowledge about dragons is fine but it won't save Mina.
"Okay then, I guess our course of action is set. We'll wait here an hour and then we go warn the town," said Tig.
Gerald reluctantly agreed.
As they waited. Ceto took some much needed rest, while Tig simply laid out a mat on the ground and fell into a meditative trance. Gerald assumed she was regaining her extract power or something arcaney like that. Armondo got restless and after making sure the area was secure, he began scouting out a trail. Gerald was still beside himself with his agreement to abandon Mina, and couldn't help but pace around the cave.
"Gerald," said Tess, softly touching his arm. "Can we talk?"
Gerald smiled. He thought his outlandish accusations earlier had spoiled any chance he had with this beautiful knight, but from her soft stare and smile he guessed he might have underestimated his own charm.
"Sure. What can I do for you …..m'lady," he said, attempting to be suave. He knew he failed immediately as soon as he opened his mouth, but it did not seem to deter Tess. She simply pressed up closer towards him. She was a bit odd, flipping from vulnerable, to battle harden, and now into romantic. He knew to stay away from crazy women like her, but he had never been with a woman who was so…so …beautiful, desirable, irresistible.
"I…I'm afraid Gerald," she said her breath mingling with his. "This might be our last night alive. And …I don't want to spend it …alone. The gnome and the half orc might be an odd couple….but I'm jealous of what they have….."
"Err…. What are you saying…"
"No…not here….somewhere a bit more private….." she said as she slipped towards the cave entrance. Gerald was about to protest, saying it was too dangerous to go into the woods unless you were a squat two hundred pound half orc with a great bow, that the dragon might have goblin or bugbear scouts or something of that nature, but she simply kissed him lightly on the lips and winked at him before she left the cave.
Gerald was dumb and often missed cues and hints from the fairer sex, but he wasn't that dumb. He was mesmerized by her scent and taste of Lilacs. He took a glance at Ceto and Tig, and when he saw they were safely sleeping or meditating, he tip toed out of the cave after Tess. His mind was torn between Mina being roasted somewhere soon, to that of Tess's nymph like body that he couldn't believe he suspected to be a man's a little while earlier.
While Gerald expected them to simply kiss a little, or even grope a bit behind a tree, he was shocked and delighted to find Tess had already stripped her armor off, revealing a very shapely woman wearing a light cotton surcoat that barely hid her flawless body. No corset, rolled up stockings or hip padding here. While some armor makers designed their suits to accentuate one's physical attributes, like having iron abs, a big cod piece, or in her case, silver metal breasts, Gerald was pleasantly surprised to find her more attractive without her armor than with.
Tess smiled and easily shed the last of her armor. While Gerald wasn't a knight, he was a bit confused at how quickly she took off her armor. He was sure he saw some squires aid a warrior last year with his armor and it took them like five minutes to put it on for him. He wondered if taking off armor was a lot quicker, or maybe it was more of that magic.
"Turn around," she said and Gerald complied, undoing the buttons of his shirt. He could feel her behind him, stroking his hair, her breath dancing on his ears.
"I'm sorry, but I need a Prince," she said. Gerald puzzled at that statement, before a large heavy blow struck him in the head and all went black.
