Dragons of Destiny

Written by Derek "Slider" Ambrose and Jeston "Drakelven" Dulin

Chapter 1:

There's a First Time for Everything

Slider and Dakotar left the tavern leaving Duraku and

the two ladies behind so they could talk. The two men walked for

a while then Slider pulled out one of his two remaning daggers

and turned around to face Dakotar.

"So how did you get hooked up with such a nice lady

like Veral?" He asked

"Fer yer infermation, she found me raht after the Jéno

Kétran kicked me out onto th' streets," said Dakotar smugly,

"She took me in an' fed me an' bathed me an' took care o' me 'til

I was well 'nough to care fer myself. Then I stayed with her fer a

few years and we got married. Surprisin', ain't it? And if ya don't

mind my asking, what are ya gonna do with that dagger yer

fingrin'?"

"Well I was going to kill the person that is following us

but your in the way. You know, I could just take your head off.

Doesn't that sound like fun?" smirked Slider.

"Oh, okay... Would you mind if I just ducked down

to the ground here? I think my boots come unbuckled..." asked

Dakotar calmly.

"Not at all."

Dakotar fell to the ground as Slider flung the dagger

right where Dakotar's head would have been had he not moved.

All you could see of the dagger was a slight glimmer of light

reflicting from the far off lights of the town. Half of a second later

you could hear the final scream of a gnorph (one of the short,

humanoid vermin of Guranda).

"How the 'ell did ya know it was back there?!" Panicked

Dakotar.

"I'm just that good." Slider said calmly.

As Slider was walking into the direction that he threw

his dagger, he felt a sting his lower leg. He then looked to see

there was a small arrow potruding from his flesh. "Damn!" He

yelled. He then looked to Dakotar who had a throwing knife in

each hand waiting for there attacker to reveal itself to him.

While looking at Dakotar, Slider had absent-mindedly

taken the arrow out of his leg and was standing with slight

difficulty. Slider blinked a couple of times and looked around only

to see a sword heading right at his side. This caught him off-gaurd

and was unable to react but luckily Dakotar was prepared.

Dakotar had already stabbed the attacker with one of

is throwing knives, leaving it stuck deep within the gnorph's spine

and was already reaching for another.

Slider saw out of the corner of his eye a gnorph up in a

tree about ready to jump so he grabbed his bow and one arrow

from his quiver and with one swift motion put the arrow on the

string, pulled back, aimed, and released the string, sending the

arrow directly at the jumping gnorph.

Dakotar was standing over another bigger gnorph with a

sword he had gotten from somewhere (hey, man, don't ask; you

might not wanna hear the sickening details) and was about to deliver

the final blow but he couldn't bring himself to do it (surprisingly

enough, considering he's an assasin...).

Out of nowhere something hit Dakotar in the back of his

head knocking him to the ground. "Ow!" he yelled in pain. Meanwhile,

the sword in his hands was driven right through the dwarf and into

the ground. The big gnorph let out an agonizing scream of pain. The

cry then soon after faded out into slight moan.

At that time Slider tripped and stumbled over to

Dakotar. He saw that a bag of gold coins had hid Dakotar over the

head. The bag had a note nailed to it.

The note read:

Plese do'nt hert as anymore we wer folish two tri two stele yer

gald ant wepans. We giv u this gald as a pament fer tha pane wi

mey hav cast u, n we wil asher dat u hev saf pasaj tru tese

parts an if u evar ned us fer ANY yuse we wil b thar as son as

posibul.

sined, th gnorph trib ov Geronad

"I didn't even know gnorphs lived around this area... but,

hey, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth..." said Slider.

They continued their walk through the forest, continuing

their previous conversation.

"So, I know you were leaving something out when you said

that the Jéno Kétran let you go because we didn't come to get you...

So, what else happened?" Slider asked.

"Well..." Dakotar sighed, wondering how much he should tell

the elf. Part of him said that he should tell Slider nothing, while another

part (the intelligent one) argued that he should reveal all.

Understanding his companion's inner tormoil, Slider put a

comforting hand on Dakotar's shoulder. "I understand. You will tell me,

when you're ready." the elf said, before walking back to the tavern,

leaving his friend in deep thought.