Geeky Vampire Developers

by peregrin01

That, which has no life, can't regret losing it... And can manage far more work than before!

6. Fifty Shades Nerdier

Fifty Shades Nerdier

Everybody (all eight of them) was back in the basement. Alas, Emmett and Rose were still changing so they couldn't participate in the conversations taking place there. Carlisle discussed their current situation with Bella and Edward while Esme was talking with Jasper and Alice about the story.

"Well," said Carlisle. "I think this was the last time they underestimated us. Only a fool does the same mistake twice ergo third time may be a charm even for a fool. They won't send an assassin this time around, they'll send a cleaning squad. We need to be ready."

"This ARM processor shares some of the vulnerabilities of Intel and AMD ones, right?" remembered Bella. "Can we exploit them somehow? I mean besides by sticking an USB drive in them."

"Well, we have the software which runs them now," replied Edward. "I can disassemble it, read it, and reverse-engineer their communication protocol. The question is whether there's going to be anything useful."

"Have you found anything interesting in the recording of their remote commands?" asked Carlisle.

As they had found out, the drone had been using standard cellphone connection. That, in addition with the used OS and software, explained the sluggishness of the drones.

"It's all encrypted," answered Bella. "So, as Edward is surely going to find out, it won't be easy, maybe not even possible, to take control of them or send false images to their operators. It will be simpler to perform a denial of service attack on the drones."

She opted not to mention that blowing all the cell towers in the area up would also do the job.

"And stall them long enough to stick an USB in them?" remarked Carlisle with a smirk.

"There will be four of us," argued Edward. "We can simply tear them apart just as well."

"True."

At the same time, Esme brought up a highly controversial point to Jasper and Alice. Perhaps her choice of this moment to discuss it was prompted by Edward and Bella being occupied.

"You need to make the story more relatable to normal people," she said. "People with lives."

"Of course," agreed Jasper. "What exactly does that mean though?"

"Romance! At least a light one and not fleshed out deeply."

"No!" protested Jasper. "We can't do that. It goes against everything geeks like us stand for."

"Plus, there are no lady dragons around," seconded Alice.

"I wasn't thinking about the dragon," clarified Esme. "A romance between a follower of his, perhaps the very first one, and his love interest. So, it's going to be a sort of a vicarious thing."

"But we don't know anything about things like that!"

"I can play a consultant on this one. Plus, it doesn't have to be anything special. Marriage and a bunch of kids. The dragon can work with their descendants a century later."

"You know, it can broaden our player-base," pondered Alice.

"OK, as you wish," surrendered Jasper. "But the others have to agree. Emmett especially - he'll be implementing it."

After some more discussions and mingling, Bella and Jasper went to buy groceries. Edward worked on some game functionality and Alice drew artworks. Carlisle and Esme made some phone calls and sent some e-mails to arrange for their absence.

Rose and Emmett were going to wake up soon.

---

The dragon returns from his dream journey to the waking world and opens his eyes. The cave around him looks almost exactly the same as when he retreated there eons ago. Even any marks of his presence there are negligible because his metabolism was slowed down tremendously during his sleep. When he moves, he hears cracking of a thin layer of solidified dust covering his body.

He crawls out, dismantling his barricades on the way. Only when he emerges from the caves does he see the difference. Where used to be bald hills, there are forests now. It's a different time of year but he can tell from the vegetation that the temperature has risen slightly. He computes that this enhances agriculture which will lead to population increase in turn.

He hunts to replenish his nutrients and explores around. Civilization has not reached the area yet but he discovers remains of a hunting cabin. Most people wouldn't even notice it from what little has remained of it but he reconstructs it in his mind.

The dragon begins his trek back to the "crime scene". He doesn't hurry, he has a lot of work to do on his way. He processed the fundaments of the theory of magic during first few decades of his sleep. Now, he needs to put that theory to praxis.

As expected, the spell is quite difficult. Someone's first thought could be that it's not a good first spell. Alas, the dragon isn't an "ordinary" practitioner of magic and the black dragon knew what was he doing. Knowing only one magical pattern, he has no other choice but to put all his time and effort into it. Still, he suspects that if he had searched long and hard enough, he could have found simpler spells somewhere.

He still can't cast the spell when he arrives. That's not a tragedy. He uses his conventional camouflage and searches the area.

The villagers are gone. The dragon leaves investigating the remains of the village for later.

There are no other people living in vicinity, just like before. Alas, civilization still seems to be present in the region. There's a road passing through an edge of the area. It seems that more people traverse through here in this era than before. Alas, he sees no truly recent marks of passage.

There's a small burned out outpost by the road. The dragon finds some human bones there. No weapons and no armor (or anything metallic for that matter). Both the outpost and the bones don't seem that old.

He finds something else nearby - a head of a stone ax. The handle has rotten away. Was this weapon used in the attack? Judging by its design, it was meant for somebody of smaller stature. Somebody like a goblin, let's say.

There are more signs of human presence in the area though none as interesting. Some of them are old enough to be left there by the villagers, some are as new as the outpost.

Finally, he returns to the village. Since there's no one there anyway, he unmasks. It's time to find out what happened here after he left.

A pile of pieces of granite in the middle of the village catches his attention first. They are covered by moss, elements eroded their edges, and many are missing. A human eye would have trouble discovering which pieces belonged together. Alas, all the pieces used to be part of one whole and in his inner eye, the dragon can see the whole as it was before it was broken - it used to be a statue. A statue of him, to be precise, and not a bad one either as far as he can guess. It's hard to tell but while it doesn't seem like an artist's work, it's no amateur stuff either. There was a mason in the village so it's probably his product. A lot of time had to be invested in the statue which means that the other villagers had to feed the mason and his apprentice for free while they were working on this "pet project". Moreover, there's no granite quarry in vicinity so the material was imported. A lot of trouble for a statue of something they saw for only few short moments. Then again, it seems to be more accurate than that. Perhaps those two young ones helped to get the details right?

The dragon shakes his head. He's starting to have a bad feeling about this. Maybe the century-long hibernation wasn't meant to prevent him from making the situation worse. Maybe the black dragon wanted the results of his actions to grow and fester so he would learn his lesson.

There's no point in dwelling over this so the dragon gets on with his investigation. He searches remnants of dwellings and finds a few broken statuettes of himself. He suspects that there used to be way more of them.

One of the buildings was probably a place of worship. A worship of him, of course. A disturbing detail is that it was also an administration center.

There's something which seems to be remains of a half-finished palisade at the side of the village which faces away from the road and the outpost. Maybe it's due to the decomposition but even after reconstruction it looks laughable.

Having all the pieces and clues, he returns to the middle of the village. It's time to perform one of his oldest "tricks" again. He gazes through time and sees the settlement as it used to be in its prime. He already knows the answer but there's no dodging it now - the villagers worshiped him. He remembers what it did to the goblin tribe. He has little doubt that this worship caused the downfall of the village. It seems that his intervention did them little good.

His promise to the black dragon is far from fulfilled. He still needs to find out what exactly happened and to seek out any remaining ripples of his actions and deal with them appropriately. However, he doesn't know where to go yet and how to find the descendants of the villagers. So, he decides to remain and observe. The area seems to be active so it's his best bet to find out more. He practices his magic and rests.

A few weeks later, his mind registers presence of sentient life in the area. They don't seem to be human. He gets up and investigates. A group of goblin scouts. They seem to be similar to the ones who worshiped him when he was in an egg. They find out that the area is empty and they retreat. Were they looking for victims to capture? Or perhaps scouting out enemy movements? Finding out more would require venturing to the neighboring areas.

He keeps practicing the invisibility spell until he can cast it reliably. He thinks there's space for improvement but it will have to suffice for now. He needs to try it out in praxis before he gets more comfortable with it.

He finds a hiding place and goes to sleep. A little deeper one, so that goblins won't disturb him unless they get close to him but anything with greater mental presence will wake him right away.

Months pass before he's roused. This time, it seems to be a human mind. Finally something interesting. Hopefully.

When he sees the man, he's stricken by his similarity to the lad he saved along with his sweetheart in the woods all those years ago. He's much manlier and scruffier but that's due to the fact that he's at least thrice as old. Certain features from the girl can be recognized on him as well. So the two of them got married and had children. That's heart-warming.

The man wears a sturdy leather jerkin and has saddlebags slung over his shoulder. He's armed by a bow and arrows and he's also got an ax made of wrought iron hanging from his belt. All in all, he looks like a scout or a ranger. Is this area a no man's land between territories of humans and goblins?

The man searches the area and finds tracks of a goblin party. They aren't from the ones the dragon saw earlier, they are newer. More goblins must have been here during his second sleep.

The man prepares a number of punji traps on the most traversed routes and notes their positions on a flat piece of wood by his knife. He masks the pits by vegetation. When he's done, he goes to the ruins of the village and makes camp in the worship building but he doesn't make fire.

As the dragon observes from distance, the narrator's voice returns:

"I found it a strange irony of fate to be in that place. However, the rewards for goblin heads were good and I saw no rational reason to avoid the place. And yet, I couldn't shake a feeling that somebody was watching me. Oh how right I was."

The man makes regular patrols and the dragon observes him through birds. At first, he scoffs at his stupidity because he's leaving footprints all over the place. Then he realizes that he's making them on purpose to lead any trackers into his traps. It wouldn't work against humans probably but goblins aren't as bright.

An animal falls into one of his traps one day. The man tracks it down and puts it out of its misery. He still doesn't make a fire and dries the meat in the sun instead.

One day, goblins come again. The dragon detects them first while the man remains oblivious. He contemplates tipping him off somehow but then the man notices a flock of birds flying off as if startled by something. It makes him to go to investigate. The dragon leaves his hideout

There's a column of four goblin scouts. They find the man's old footprints and follow them, utterly oblivious to the fact that he's behind them. Soon enough, the one in front falls in a hole with punji sticks. At the same time, the man shoots the last one. The remaining two stand back to back, assuming an ambush from multiple enemies. Not a smart move, considering that they are being shot at. The man kills one and then the other. The dragon has to admit, the man has some skill and he's quite quick for his age.

What follows next is rather distasteful. The man uses his ax to sever their heads and carries them back to the village. There he finally makes a fire and starts giving the heads a rudimentary preservation treatment. He gives one of the heads much better care than the others. While they are getting smoked, he makes a round around the remaining traps and disposes of them.

The dragon has a difficult decision in front of him. The man's business in the area seems to be concluded and the dragon doubts that he's going to be back anytime soon. If there's anybody who can help him resolve the situation, it's him. The black dragon mentioned that he can have helpers, after all. On the other hand, the man can blame the dragon for the decline of the village and refuse to help him. That would be quite a precarious situation because exposing his existence is serious.

So far, the "mental vibes" the dragon has been getting from the man passively haven't revealed anything worrisome. Still, the dragon would like to learn more before making his decision. He cancels his invisibility (while staying masked) and tries to get a better read on the man. It doesn't go well - the man feels his presence right away. Having suspected that somebody was watching him for this whole time, he also notices something among trees and has an arrow notched in a blink of an eye. If he was twenty years younger, he would send an arrow there immediately. However, he's wiser now and realizes perfectly well that whoever or whatever it is, it could have attacked many times over by now.

"Show yourself!" he shouts instead. Obviously, his voice matches with that of the narrator so it's confirmed that it's him.

The dragon decides to take a leap of faith and cancels his masking. He tries to say "Do not fear me" but only first two words come out (heavily garbled) before the arrow slips from the fingers of the stupefied man. It breaks harmlessly on the dragon's scales and not just because the bow was no longer fully drawn when it happened.

"I'm sorry!" cries the man out and drops the bow. "It was an accident!"

When he sees that the dragon isn't charging, he adds to himself "It was all true. It was all true!"

The dragon tries to speak again and makes a noise which sounds like "Arrr Rrrrigt". He meant to communicate that he's all right.

The man seems utterly unsure what to do. Seeing that verbal communication won't work for him, the dragon tries another approach. He contacts the man telepathically. He conveys that he's a friend and that it was him who helped the two villagers in the woods a century ago which eventually led to him repelling the raider attack. He also tries to explain that it was a big mistake for him to be seen by the entire village in broad daylight and thus unnaturally influence their lives but he doesn't get that far. The man clutches his head and collapses with a grunt.

The dragon lies down and waits for the man to recuperate. To his credit, he didn't faint. He sits up slowly after some time.

"That was overwhelming," he remarks.

The dragon nods.

"Do you understand me?"

The dragon nods again.

"But you can't talk."

The dragon shakes his head and starts writing something in the dirt.

"I'm not good at reading," interrupts him the man. "In fact, I can hardly read at all."

The dragon stops and gives the man an expectant look.

"By the way, those two you saved before the main attack, those were my grandparents," divulges the man after a while.

The dragon nods to communicate that he suspected as much.

"So, what I'm really trying to say, I'm really grateful for what you did. I wouldn't be here otherwise. I don't have much going on in my life but I really enjoy being here in this world."

The dragon makes a little bow with his head. He tries to make it look different from an affirmative nod. There's another silent pause.

"I've never thought it would be like this," remarks the man. "Well, I've never really thought about this, to be honest. The priests, those would get a heart attack from this! All that time, they were telling everybody that decisions of divine beings were beyond our understanding but if I'm reading this right, you were just at the right place at the right time and wanted to do the right thing."

The dragon sees that they won't get anywhere without proper means of communication. Establishing a telepathic exchange is harmful for the man. However, what if he brought the communication to a lower level? After all, all he needs is to bypass his lack of vocal cords. He attempts to send him words instead of images. Not the actual sounds (because he doesn't know yet how human brain interprets sound), nor their meanings (because that would be almost as bad as sending images), but their abstract symbols (or rather icons) which identify them in the vocabulary of the language.

"Is. This. Better," he sends over.

The man's eyes widen but he doesn't show any pain.

"I can understand you!" he exclaims. "Without hearing anything. Very strange."

"What. Is. Your. Name," asks the dragon.

"Syward. I don't particularly like the name but I guess my parents could have picked something much worse."

"Tell. Me. Everything," requests the dragon.

"Everything," repeats Syward contemplatively. "Very well. I'll tell you what I've heard from my mother and my grandparents. After the bandits ran away and things calmed down, the village elders declared your intervention a divine one. They said that the village was under protection of a god - a dragon."

"What. Is. That," interrupts the dragon.

"What is what?"

"The word. You. Said."

"Dragon?"

"Yes."

"That's you. It means a manifestation of a god. The word didn't exist yet back then. The priest made it up later and everybody agreed that it was a fitting name."

It's not a word the dragon can relay at the moment. However, he doesn't need to - he can use "me" instead. He tells Syward that he's not a god but the man understands as much already from their first connection. Syward clears his throat and continues the story.

"Not everybody bought into that but they thought that what few bandits survived will surely spread the story and that such such a legend could help to protect the village. My grandparents were the only ones who protested. They said that they had got a different impression from their encounter with you. However, the elders told them to keep silent. They had other things to worry about, like getting married and starting a family, and they didn't want to make waves so they complied. They even helped the mason with a statue of you."

Syward stops to see if the dragon has any questions.

"No. Bandits. Survived," says the dragon. "No. Stories. Told."

He doesn't have to tell that he was the one who killed them all. After all, the villagers were the ones who cleared the bodies away.

"Well, that's... impressive," remarks Syward. "The elders said that you hunted most of the survivors down as a punishment but obviously it was my grandparents who were right when they said that you didn't want to leave witnesses. You don't do anything halfway."

The last bit is not true, obviously. His interference with the village was the embodiment of halfwayness. He points that out to Syward. Alas, he was forced to go to sleep afterwards. He reveals that as well but he doesn't say anything about the black dragon from space. He suspects that the concept would confuse Syward at this point. Instead, he simply says that it was a punishment for his rashness.

"Well, perhaps," replies Syward diplomatically. "However, it was our elders who, in their greed, decided to create your cult and it was all the others who decided to blindly follow their preaching. In following years, instead of training militia and building a palisade, the villagers constructed a hall of worship. This proved to be quite a mistake later on. The militia and the palisade, I mean. Bandits, wild beasts - this village was completely open to any danger. Luckily, an aspiring feudal lord started to consolidate neighboring areas. He arrived to this village too one day and offered the elders membership in his alliance. That's how they called it back then. The elders accepted. In their foolishness, they thought that the other villages would protect them and they would spread their religion into the entire region. Of course, they weren't dumb enough to tell him that. The lord was no simpleton either and he had heard rumors. He laid two simple demands for improving the village's defenses: a militia and a palisade. The elders promised to remedy the weaknesses but they didn't deliver in full for as long as he lived. Those who tried to take the power from the priests ended up in a pillory."

The dragon listens intently. All of it sounds very familiar to what happened to the goblin tribe. He notes that Syward keeps talking about the village and the villagers in third person. That's no great surprise.

"This village started as the most backward and most ridiculed place of this land and remained that way until the end. For as long as this village's weakness affected only itself, everybody else was alright with it. After all, it drew all the outside dangers away from them. When bandits wanted to raid this land, they always chose this place rather than some well defended town. I guess that's why it kept its autonomy for so long. That changed in the time of the second lord when a tribe of goblins arrived and claimed a territory east from here. I think it was a mere coincidence but the other settlements believed that they chose the weakest link intentionally and saw it as a proof of an upcoming invasion. The village elders kept promising that the dragon was going to return and deliver them from all danger."

The dragon has trouble believing that "his" religion could have caused such idiocy. At the same time, he realizes that it wasn't a matter of faith for all those who saw him. He has to admit that such a sight had to affect those ordinary people profoundly.

"So the reigning lord, the founder's son, arrived to the village with a bunch of muscle. He declared that the village defied his father's orders. When the high priest tried some sermon on him, he had him put in the pillory and tore down your statue. Then he put the village's most important patriarchs in charge. You know, the blacksmith, the miller, the innkeeper, the biggest farmers, and so on. Unfortunately, all of it was too little, too late. And at the same time, too much for some people. If the lord had thought that he had ended the cult, then he would have been a fool. It continued underground with the dragon priests still in charge despite the humiliation of their prior. The problem was, most people didn't like having their faith spit on. So, as you can guess, the building of the palisade and the training of the militia didn't go too well. Then one night, half of the village traveled away under the leadership of the priests to regions unknown. With a village that hobbled, the new village council couldn't possibly build any real defense against the goblins. Even before then, the population was dwindling because many parents preferred to marry their daughters to other villages and many young man preferred to seek fortune elsewhere as well. After the exodus, it was clear that the fate of the village was sealed. The lord refused to send any help and his stance mirrored that of every village and town around here. Goblins somehow smelled that the village was ripe for plundering and attacked. They took everything that had any value to them. Those who could sought new lives in other settlements. Those who couldn't spent the rest of their lives in the spaces in between. And that's it, as far as this village is concerned."

The dragon still isn't surprised by anything said so far. All of it matches the pattern. However, the sentimental part of him would like to hear more about Syward's grandparents - the root cause of it all.

"Tell. Me. About. Your. Family," he requests.

"My family?" asks Syward, perplexed. "I don't have any family."

"Tell. Me. Everything."

"You mean starting from my grandparents you saved?"

The dragon nods.

"What's your deal with them anyway? Why did you save them back then and why are you so interested in them?"

"I. Was. Studying. Human. Courting/Mating. Rituals."

He meant to relay courtship but a brain of a common man like Syward failed to interpret it properly.

Syward stares at the dragon for a moment. Then he starts laughing. It's as if some last seal is broken and the dragon is no longer a divine being for him. It's a person with his own traits and peculiarities. And some peculiarities they are!

"You... You watch people as they..." stammers Syward between hiccups of laughter.

"It. Is. All. For. The purpose. Of. Learning. More. About. You," replies the dragon. He growls instead of an exclamation mark.

"Very well, as you wish," says Syward finally. "Those two you saved, my maternal grandparents, had two daughters. They had one right away because the future of the village seemed bright back then. When they saw the direction the village's ideology was going, they decided to postpone any more children for more stabler times. Then they got older and the situation wasn't improving so they had another daughter, my mother, while they still could. Despite the reputation of their village, they managed to find a good match for the older one in another settlement. Unfortunately, she died in her first childbirth, along with the child. My mother went with her parents after the village's collapse. They built a small cottage in woods in a middle of an uninhabited area which became a new frontier after this one was claimed by wilderness. She stayed with them until she herself started getting on the older side. That was when her parents convinced her to get married. They told me later that they felt that it was the right thing to do - that her dying without leaving children would discard what you had done for then at the very beginning of it all. So, the three of them found an older childless widower who needed a wife to take care of him. They had one child - me. So, here I am."

Syward seems unsure whether the dragon wants to hear more so the beast makes a twirling motion with a claw which corresponds with an index finger to communicate that he does indeed.

"I guess it won't come as a big surprise when I say that it wasn't a happy marriage. Those two really didn't like each other but you know what they say - live together or die alone. I didn't like it there so I spent more time with my maternal grandparents then with them. My father's parents were dead already and my mother was glad that somebody was helping out her parents who were getting quite old at the time. That was when I heard all the details about their encounter with you. I didn't believe it back then but I didn't disbelieve them either. I was right in that area in between where you don't really care about the truth. When I was old enough, I left the home for good. I became my uncle's apprentice. The one who was married to my mother's older sister. He had not married again so I was the closest thing to a son he had. He was a ranger and, as you have noticed, he taught me well."

The dragon gives him an expectant look.

"There's nothing more to tell. My grandparents died of old age. My uncle was wounded by a boar during a hunt and perished from it. My father died of old age as well and my mother died of pneumonia several years back. In quite an advanced age I must say."

The dragon remembers that Syward told him that he has no family. Still, he has to point out the obvious.

"You. Are. The last. Of. Your. Family."

"Yes. At least I hope so. And don't tell me that I owe it to my ancestors to start a family of my own. As I said, I am grateful to you and I'll repay you with my assistance should you request it. However, I'm not some horse to be bred."

This gives the dragon a feeling of futility. Still, Syward is absolutely right. More than that - he has no reason to be grateful to the dragon either. He ought to tell him that.

"You. Owe. Nothing. Nor. To. Me. Neither. To. Your. Ancestors."

"Thank you. Still, I'll assist you in any way I can, if it's all the same."

"Tell. Me. More," requests the dragon. "What. Happened. After. This. Village. Perished."

"Of course. I don't know what happened to the those cultists who left but I can tell you what happened here. With the village gone, the goblins were no longer our neighbors. This area became a no man's land. There's a road passing through here and traders needed to use it so an outpost was constructed to guard it and to keep an eye on any goblin incursions. There weren't any. At least not back them. The goblins didn't progress any further and we didn't try to reclaim what was lost. We expanded in the opposite direction though and that was also where I worked most of the time. There was peace. The second lord died and was succeeded by his son. He gave himself a title of a baron and spent next few decades consolidating the fiefdom, thus creating our current society. Then, several years ago, the goblins renewed their hostility and started raiding again. This empty area was like a wedge cut into our borders. A weak point. The outpost fell first. Several times over, in fact. Each time it was manned again, the goblins would strike again, slaughter everybody, and burn it down. In the end, it proved uneconomical to maintain military presence there and the usage of the road was abandoned. When a rare caravan traverse it for some reason, they bring their own escort. There was a counteroffensive, of course. The baron assembled an army and led it into their territory with an intention of culling their population. I was there myself. However, it's a wilderness over there and there's no one alive who knows it there so we didn't celebrate much success. In fact, we killed only a little more of them then we lost of ours and not always to them. Ever since then, this war was mostly led through rangers such as myself. We get paid for every goblin head we bring back. At the same time, goblin parties make occasional incursions into the barony. Mostly, they just take food, tools, and weapons. However, I've heard a few claims that they were even kidnapping people. But who knows, maybe those just got killed in fighting and carried away to be eaten. Waste not, want not."

The last bit of information catches the dragon's attention. He has a theory of why they might kidnap people. All it would take is for them to have some kind of a connection with the goblin tribe which discovered his egg. He explains the whole business to Syward. Once again, he doesn't reveal that his egg came from space. At the same time, he doesn't say that it fell from sky because it could make him doubt whether he truly is not a god.

"It's little hard to believe that they would still remember you after all this time," argues Syward. "They are quite dumb."

"Indeed," agrees the dragon. "They. Are. Not. Smart. Enough. For. Any. Of. This."

He further theorizes that while their arrival in the region during the reign of the founder's son could be explained by some external factors which forced them to do it, they are most certainly way too stupid to give so much trouble now.

"Do you think that someone else is pulling their strings? Who?"

The dragon has got a suspicion but it's not in his nature to make baseless accusations. So, he merely insinuates.

"We. Do. Not. Know. Where. The priests. Led. Your. People."

"Now that's some seriously paranoid idea! Why would they help them? Why would they help each other?"

The dragon makes no answer. It's a long shot but what if the priests and the goblin tribe somehow managed to share their legends and find out that their beliefs are related? At this point, his theory is as good as any.

"I have another theory. I bet there's some other land to the east, on the other side of the wilderness. It's populated and ruled by people just like us. They want to expand into our territory but they do not wish to pay with their blood for that. So, they send goblin mercenaries to soften us first."

Syward's theory is as probable as the other. Moreover, the dragon doesn't even know what's on the other side of the goblin territory. He didn't come from that direction but this is the only civilization he has encountered on his way from his lair. He can fly there later but first, he would like to have a look around the barony. They discuss their immediate plans next.

"I was going to backtrack those four rascals and do some scouting. See if they were a part of a bigger group. But I'm not going to do that now that you're here. I need to pick my horse up and turn the heads in. Perhaps we'll come up with some ideas in the meantime. However, I see one big problem about you following me into the barony. People are bound to notice you, even with that scale color thing of yours. I'm not even talking about the sound of your wings or your footprints."

That's not entirely true. Even his ordinary masking is more than sufficient when he's up in the sky - if the weather is right. As it is, however, he has other tricks in his sleeve. He explains about the true invisibility.

"So, you won't be able to talk to me," muses Syward. "What about scratching a sign in dirt?"

The dragon gives a negative answer to this and a few more asinine ideas.

Syward packs his things and removes any apparent signs of his presence. The dragon casts his spell and disappears completely. Syward is quite perceptive and notices that he should see on the ground in front of him that something heavy is standing there but he does not. Then he hears a sound of the dragon taking off and indentions and trampled grass appear in front of him. He shakes his head and starts walking back where he came from.

Next day, they arrive to an inn. The dragon flies ahead to take a look at it. It looks fortified. The men around are armed and hardy. It seems it serves as an economical alternative to a military outpost.

Syward stops a long distance from it, next to a large tree. He waves and waits there until the dragon lands on it. When they hear the wood groan under the weight, they wonder whether that doesn't count as communicating the fact that he's there.

Syward takes the one head which he preserved better than the others. He leaves a sack with the remaining three under the tree.

"Could you watch these, please?" he asks. "Wouldn't want to give those guys there any temptation. I'll be back shortly."

He goes to the inn and when he returns, not only he does so with his horse but also with a purchase of vegetables and other merchandise. It seems that he has used the preserved head as a currency to pay for stabling the horse. Morbid but practical.

Back at the inn, several man prepare to ride out too. Syward told them about goblin movements, no doubt.

The horse seems unsettled and the closer they get back to the dragon, the more panicky he is. Obviously, he can smell the beast. Syward does his best to calm him down. The dragon takes off and when Syward collects the remaining heads and rides away, he follows.

It doesn't take long before the horse smells the dragon again. Soon afterwards, Syward sees that he has dropped his invisibility. He dismounts and leads the horse closer.

"I. Could. Calm. The Horse," offers the dragon.

"No way," refuses Syward. "I don't want his brain scrambled. Besides, you can't go with us to the town anyway. People would still hear you. You would still leave tracks."

"There. Is. A way. Even. When. Invisible. I. Can. Watch. Through. Your. Horse's. Eyes. Without. Breaking. The spell."

"That still sounds like scrambling his brain."

"Horse. Mind. Is. Simpler. He. Won't. Mind. Or. Notice."

In the end, they agree that it is the simplest way (besides doing the same with Syward himself). Using another animal would be complicated without controlling it as well - and that would break the spell.

Syward doesn't want to arrive to his destination at night so they don't hurry and spend another night in wilderness. They arrive to the town next day. Once again, the dragon flies ahead to take a look.

It's one of the larger settlements. It has a solid palisade which is in some places doubled with the space in between filled by dirt. There are over two dozen houses inside and there are more houses and farms outside.

The dragon knows from Syward that it's even larger than the capital from which the baron rules. However, that's because the capital is actually the baron's fort surrounded by a small village.

Syward is approaching the outskirts of the town so the dragon lands on a nearby rock and watches through the horse.

Syward slows down as he rides by a tavern with an attached stable and a wagon warehouse. It seems like a rest for traders and travelers who don't need to enter the town itself. A corpulent woman in her late twenties or early thirties is sweeping the porch.

"Hylda!" greets her Syward.

"Back from your prowl, you old dog?" she responds.

"Aye! And not without a haul too! Do you want to take a look?"

He shakes the sack with the three goblin heads as he asks that. The dragon notes the differences in the way he talks to the woman from how he talks to him.

"Oh shame on you, you dirty lecher! Haven't they taught you not to show these to girls?"

Syward is about give a witty response when the front door open and an old man walks out. He's obviously older then Syward but probably not by much. The difference between their fitness, on the other hand, amounts to a whole generation.

"Leave my granddaughter alone unless you want her to stable your horse!" he barks.

"Sorry, I will need it to carry the stuff I'm going to buy once I get paid," replies Syward, bows his head, and rides on.

The dragon wonders what was that about but he can't ask Syward now.

Syward dismounts and continues on foot. A guard by the gate greets him by his name and he responds. It seems he's a regular visitor here.

He stops at a war office first and turns in the heads. The horse is outside but the dragon can still hear what's being said inside.

"That's not too many," comments the officer. "You've quit early this time around."

"I stayed there too long as it was. Those rats are getting careful in that forsaken place and that entire section of the border. Waiting there for more heads to stroll in is a waste of time. Unless you're willing to live there and that's asking for trouble."

"My, my. Aren't you getting wise in your old age."

"Maybe. In that case, let me share my wise plan with you."

There's groaning of the wooden floor. Maybe he's walking to a map.

"I'll continue further along the border, away from the goblins. Then I'll ride out into the wilderness and patrol there for any raiding parties trying to flank our defences. A few of my comrades should be doing the same on the opposite side."

That corresponds with their plan of having another palaver after turning the heads in. Also, it sounds like a good idea and a chance to capture a live goblin.

"That seems unlikely," disagrees the officer. "Such a move would be too complicated for goblins. They are too dumb for that!"

"They are too dumb for any of what we've seen from them in this war. I'm getting convinced that someone is advising them."

Talk about presenting someone else's ideas as your own. Alas, the dragon isn't petty.

"That's wild!" exclaims the officer. "Why don't you go tell the baron about that?"

"Not without proof. Say, would a captured goblin be worth more than a mere head?"

What a coincidence. Great minds think alike?

"A head is a head. It doesn't matter whether it's cut off or attached to a living body."

"You can't interrogate a dead head."

"Neither a living one. Do they even have a language?"

"They do, trust me."

"Then you can interrogate one yourself! Now go, ranger. Do your job and stop wasting my time."

"Will do," replies Syward and walks out.

He goes around his shopping then, buying various supplies and essentials. On his way away from the town, he spots Hylda and they wave at each other.

The dragon waits for Syward on the other side of the town.

"What. Was. The business. With. Her. About," he asks.

"Oh for crying out loud!" exclaims Syward. "Don't you know anything about privacy? And don't we have bigger problems to worry about?"

As was said to the officer, they travel further along the border and then diverge into the wilderness. It's a territory which isn't claimed by anyone with the exception of wild beasts. Between the two of them, they aren't worried in the least by that.

They make camp and discuss their plans. The dragon stays camouflaged to be safe. Syward's horse is getting used to the dragon's presence.

The dragon learns that no goblin has ever been interrogated because no one knows their language. On one hand, that's no problem for the dragon who has experience with goblin languages. Even if this tribe's dialects proves to be too different, he can still read a captive's mind. On the other hand, he can't interrogate a captive this way without killing him afterwards.

"I can't go to the baron's people and tell them that a dragon told me that he had read something from a mind of a captured goblin!" insists Syward. "And let me guess, you will never reveal yourself to the baron."

"Rrrrigt!" growls the dragon out laud (but not too loudly).

"That wouldn't be a good idea anyway. He would get a heart attack in his age..."

Syward trails off, stricken by a sudden idea given to him by the dragon's rare vocalization.

"There could be a way for you to conduct the interrogation through me," he says. "And we need to learn to communicate better anyway. The way you talk to me now is very difficult to follow. Is it possible for you to talk to me more naturally? Like when someone is truly speaking?"

The dragon nods and adds, "It. Will. Take. Time."

"Well, we aren't going anywhere, are we?"

That was the dragon's original goal. His current way of symbolic communication limits him to most common words and prevents him from saying sentences properly. This way would be like normal talking but with vocal cords and ears taken out of the process.

They get to it right away. Syward considers using the time to lay traps but they decide against it in the end. If traps are going to be necessary, the dragon can uncover enemy movements and tell Syward to place traps only where needed.

The time spent with Syward has prepared the dragon well so in a few days, he's able to talk to the man the new way better than the old one. It's still quite strange. Before, Syward understood without hearing. Now, he hears without hearing anything. The dragon can tell him whatever he wants but he's still de facto voiceless. However, there's no doubt that this is the most natural way of communication he can have with people. Anything further along would be an illusion - a matter of magic rather than ordinary telepathy.

No goblins are coming yet so they proceed to prepare for a possible interrogation too. Understanding his own language is one thing for Syward but hearing and repeating an alien one exactly is another.

After several more days, the dragon detects a host of incoming goblins. As usual, there are four scouts and the main body trails behind them.

They have two options. One is for the dragon to attack the main group from behind and slaughter them all. That would leave them free to deal with the scouts at leisure. The other is to to use the dragon's senses to ambush the scouts, capture one of them, kill the rest, and escape before the others catch up. In the end, they decide for the way of lesser exposure.

The dragon tells Syward where exactly are the scouts going. He prepares a noose trap at an animal trail they are using and when it springs, he opens fire from his bow. This time around, one of the goblins starts running away to warn the others but the dragon paralysis him for a second which is all that Syward needs to put an arrow in him as well.

While Syward binds and blindfolds the captured one, the dragon observes the rest of the group. They do not progress when the scouts fail to report back. After a while of bickering, they send forth two more scouts. The dragon reports this and they dispose of them as well.

Not wanting to push his luck, Syward lays the captive over the saddle and leads the horse back to the border. The horse is rather unnerved by his cargo but he's trained to obey. The dragon observes the goblins for a little while longer. They understand at this point that there's an enemy presence in front of them. Not wanting to try their luck, they do the same as Syward and go back. They don't travel back to their territory at a straight line but backtrack their own route instead. It makes sense - it's a route they know.

That night, Syward sets everything up as planned. The goblin is frightened and docile. He isn't trying to speak to Syward because he doesn't expect him to know his language. The dragon approaches the camp so that he's behind the goblin's back and stops a sufficient distance away at a spot which provides some concealment. He makes an active contact with Syward and a passive one with their captive. Just like with the horse, he can read his mind without him noticing.

"Can you understand me?" asks Syward, repeating exactly after the dragon.

The goblin's eyes widen in surprise and he replies. Thanks to the dragon, they know that he said, "You speak the language of my kind?" Obviously, he didn't understand entirely.

Little by little, the dragon decodes the nuances of their captive's dialect. Syward himself is starting to get the basics of it. They don't learn anything beyond what's common knowledge among the goblins though. Still, it's far more than anybody in the barony has ever learned before.

According to what older goblins say, their tribe didn't migrate from their ancestral lands to this region out of their own volition - they were running from something. According to general belief, this something has caught up with them and is calling the shots now.

"This may be a sign that your theory isn't correct," thinks Syward.

"I wouldn't rule it out just yet," answers the dragon. "However, another theory just dawned on me. What if there's truly some powerful creature controlling them? Our friend's story share's some similarities to my own experience."

"If there was another dragon, they wouldn't have ran away from it."

At the moment, they don't know enough to make any conclusions. Further interrogation proves useless so they call it a night.

Next morning, Syward starts his trek back to the town. They travel just like before - the goblin on the horse and Syward on foot. He finds the arrangement rather annoying but it's faster than the other way around.

As they are nearing the town next day, Syward decides to make a "triumphant return" with the captive.

"Very well, buddy," he tells the goblin. "We'll switch places now. Wouldn't look good this way."

The goblin understands perfectly. He also knows that he's to be a gift for the baron. All in all, he's getting much better treatment than he expected so he complies willingly. The dragon, well hidden back in woods, smirks at the vanity but he can't begrudge it.

They do catch attention but not the way Syward hoped for. First, he notices signs of a recent battle. Then they see goblin heads on display. Initially, Syward thinks that the office decided to use all the heads in their possession as a decoration. Then he notices that they are too fresh and too dirty. It ought to raise questions but all he thinks is, "What if someone were to steal those heads and try to turn them in later?"

He notices that the goblin is no longer walking in front of him but is being pulled along by the rope. Syward stops the horse and turns in the saddle. The goblin seems scared.

Shouts can be heard. News of his arrival is spreading. A growing crowd surrounds him.

"Look! He's got a live one!" exclaims some woman.

"Let's hang it!" yells another one.

"No, that would be too easy for such a miserable creature!" roars a man. "We must make it suffer!"

Syward finally finds his voice. "What has happened here?" he asks loudly, trying to be heard over the crowd.

"They attacked while you were gallivanting around!" responds somebody. "Is this what we're paying you for?"

"Now, now. I've discovered useful..."

He doesn't get to finish. Some people try to grab the goblin. He yanks him back to him and jumps down on the ground. Good thing he has - the horse is nervous from the crowd and starts kicking around. It makes some space.

"Now listen up!" he booms. "This goblin is my captive and he's going to the baron!"

"So he can chop its head off and put it on display for his friends?" cackles the same woman who demanded hanging of the goblin. "What does he know about fending off goblin attacks?"

"Order! Order!" implores a new voice. It's the officer. Syward can't believe that he's glad to hear his voice.

"Syward! You did it! You brought one back!" congratulates the officer. "I'll take him from here."

"Now wait a moment. He's got some important information. There's more going on in this war than meets the eye. He needs to go to the baron."

"Don't be ridiculous. This crowd is rather bloodthirsty at the moment, if you haven't noticed. Here, did you say that a live one should be worth more than a dead one? I think you are right - twice as much!"

He thrusts a pouch of coins in Syward's chest who takes it absent mindedly. His eyes meet the goblin's who seems to have accepted his fate. The crowd drags the goblin away to do terrible things to him.

"What happened here?" asks Syward when they are alone.

"They hit us," answers the officer. "Twice. The first time wasn't so bad. After you left, I put the guards on alert. When they arrived, we were prepared. They weren't even trying back them. It was more like a test of our defenses. They lost a few, we none. Goblin attacks are uncommon here so the folks threw a little celebration yesterday. They hit us again in a middle of it."

Syward asks when that was but he knows the answer already. It was the same group he turned around in the wilderness.

"It was ugly," continues the officer. "I've never seen such zeal from them. Or cunningness. At least by their standards. They split in two groups. Most of them attacked at one place. They got slaughtered but managed to get a few of our people as well. But it was a mere diversion. Several of them raided the most outlying positions on the other side."

He doesn't need to say more. Syward rides to Hylda's grandfather's establishment. It's all burned down.

Subsequent questioning reveals that the smaller group attacked after the guests ran off to catch some easy goblin heads. Hylda and her grandfather probably tried to fend them off and the fire started during the struggle. The grandfather was dead - they found his bones in the ruins after the fire died down. There was no sign of Hylda. Some of the neighbors who came to fight the fire saw the goblins carrying someone away. They couldn't had gone after them. Even if there had been a tracker as competent as Syward, it was night.

Syward doesn't even bother with buying additional supplies. Even though he could pay extra, the town needs all of them for itself right now. He rides off in the direction where the goblins were seen to retreat to. The dragon meets him there.

"I think we both agree that saving Hylda is our next course of action," he tells Syward.

The man wants to shoot back some kind of a witty response but then he realizes that this is exactly what he wants. He still can't fully wrap his mind around the fact that the dragon wants to participate in such a mundane quest.

"Besides," continues the dragon. "We might learn something more about the mysterious menace behind the goblins."

"You still can't watch us... you know what," thinks Syward.

He knows that it wasn't what the dragon meant but he still can't help himself from making the jape. The dragon doesn't rise to it.

Syward follows the tracks while the dragon scouts covered by his invisibility. He doesn't fly too ahead because he doesn't want to risk getting separated. He doubts that he could find the goblin group before they reach their territory anyway.

The tracks head diagonally away from the road into the wilderness. At a sufficient distance from the border, the goblins changed their heading to be parallel with it. Syward has to lead the horse in most places.

After some time, the tracks disappear in a stream. That was quite dumb from them - Syward knows in which direction they had to go and on which bank were the tracks probably going to reappear. Still, the terrain (both in the stream and in the dense forest around) is quite difficult to negotiate for a horse, even when Syward isn't riding on it.

"Stay here and let the horse rest," says the dragon. "They couldn't have gone too far through this stream. I'll find the tracks again and scout an alternate route for you."

He doesn't trample around but sends a hare to follow the stream instead. He himself searches from the air for any visible marks of their passage. He calculates that at this point, they had to stop for some rest.

He's right. He spies a clearing and finds out upon closer examination that the goblins were there. He finds a better route there and returns to Syward. In the meantime, the hare makes a run along the tracks from the stream to the clearing to make sure that the group didn't split.

Upon arriving, Syward searches the clearing. Hylda's footprints are still plainly visible among the goblin ones. Also, he finds another sign of her passage.

"Now look at this!" he announces, holding up something small.

"It's a goblin tooth," observes the dragon.

"Can't say I'm surprised."

"And I'm not surprised that her dead body isn't lying here. Whoever controls the goblins wants the captives alive."

Syward rubs his eyes and forehead. Then he comes with a proposal.

"You know, I think my horse is proving to be a hindrance in this endeavor. Perhaps I should leave it at some place with a lot of grass."

"Perhaps. And perhaps you and Hylda will need to escape quickly. Maybe I can carry one of you but most certainly not both."

That gives Syward a pause. He looks at the dragon speculatively.

"No," the dragon answers the unvoiced question. "I can't be ridden. But let's say I can grab a person and carry it a short distance away. You, to be precise. I don't think I can get airborne with Hylda."

Syward thinks that it meant "won't be ridden" rather than "can't" but he doesn't ask for details.

They continue for a while longer before the sun sets. While Syward and the horse rest, the dragon repeats his trick and sends a few animals to follow the trace. At morning, he leads Syward to the point to which he has followed the footprints.

They enter the goblin territory before too long. Syward no longer rides - not even when he doesn't need to examine the tracks. The dragon's help is invaluable here. With his passive senses, he can detect any patrols way in advance.

Some time later, the pursued group was joined by another. From that point on, they seem to have progressed much faster to their destination. Tracking is no longer necessary, their heading is quite obvious. The dragon flies ahead while Syward hides.

"I've found her," he reports when he returns. "They hold her in some kind of a cave in what seems to be a regular goblin village."

"Is she all right?"

"I haven't seen her on my own eyes but she felt healthy. Whatever the reason for her kidnapping was, it's not there. I believe the village is merely a midway stop. Other goblins are probably going to transport her to her actual destination - after the celebration."

"What celebration?"

"They are celebrating those several survivors as heroes. Whatever is going on here, they needed her badly and are glad to have her."

"So it's confirmed - they were getting desperate. That's why were they willing to sacrifice themselves like that."

Sunset is still quite some time away so they don't hurry. They move closer to the village and start formulating a plan.

"Let me guess," asks Syward. "You can't swoop in, grab her, and carry her away."

"No. I can't let the goblins to see me."

Syward bites his tongue. He hears the implied detail that Hylda can see him. He doesn't wish to involve her in the story of his life but if it's necessary, then sure, he prefers her to be exposed to the truth rather than to death.

"I have an alternative idea though," adds the dragon. "I'll need to take a closer look through a proxy first but from what I've seen so far, it should work. It will require your horse though."

"For what?"

"I'll need to take remote control of him but I'm fairly confident that it won't, as you said, scramble his brain. At least not permanently."

Once again, Syward sees the same logic as before - better to sacrifice a horse than Hylda.

"Very well, I'm listening."

That was, of course, a mere figure of speech - the dragon isn't talking out loud.

The dragon explains and Syward has to admit that it's quite similar to what he would come up with. The dragon sends a bird to perform closer scouting. The cave Hylda is being held in is more like a cavity in a rock. It's shallow, doesn't lead anywhere and has only one entrance. The dragon can't discern whether it's fully natural but it seems to him that it was originally meant for multiple captives. Hylda herself has merely her hands bound (and not even behind her back) but the cave entrance is blocked by a crude fence with a simple gate and there are two guards in front of it. Normally, it would be a reasonable bet to assume that at least one of them is going to join the revels but as it is, it's safer to assume that additional guards are going to be posted this evening. Then again, they don't seem to expect to be attacked here.

"We need something to write on," says the dragon afterwards. "To relay a message to Hylda."

"I can't write. Remember?"

"That doesn't matter. Can Hylda read?"

"Yes. A bit."

"It will have to suffice."

Syward cuts a piece of leather from his jerkin while the dragon writes a short message in the dirt. Syward uses a knife to engrave the message in the leather. He wraps the leather around the knife and fastens it by a string.

They wait until twilight. A raven descends to them and picks the package up. Syward moves in the position.

The raven flies to the mouth of the cave, lining up its trajectory. At a precise moment, it lets go of the package and banks to a side. The dragon releases it then and the bird flies away with panicked cawing. The guards notice it, of course, but they don't pay it much attention. Also, it masks the sound of the knife clanking inside the cave.

At first, Hylda thinks that the goblins threw the package in there. Alas, her curiosity gets the better of her and she goes to inspect it. In the limited light coming from torches outside, she recognizes what it is. She still thinks that the goblins threw it in but she decides to act inconspicuously. She takes the knife, unwraps it, and hides it in her clothes.

She notices the message on the leather. She finds a position which blocks it from the view of the guards but catches some light from the outside at the same time. To her amazement, she finds out that it's from Syward who's allegedly outside the village. With backup. She wonders about one thing though: When has he learned to write?

In the meantime, the dragons tells Syward positions of any goblins whom Syward can't see himself. Then he takes control of the horse. He himself perches on a big tree sturdy enough to support his weight.

Back in the cave, Hylda cuts her ropes but keeps them on to prevent the guards from noticing. With the knife hidden but prepared, she approaches the fence, crouches down, and starts talking to the guards. They don't understand her and tell her to be silent. When she keeps talking, one of them goes to her and smacks the fence in front of her face with his club. That's when the other one is skewered by an arrow. The first one turns around but doesn't even have time to be surprised because Hylda stabs him in the back.

Working quickly, she cuts the rope holding the gate and pulls the guards in. She steps back outside, grabs a club, and puts the gate back in order. The absence of the guards is suspicious enough as it is. She hides at a spot described in the message.

A little while later, three things happen at a same time. A patrol notices that the prison is unguarded and they run there to investigate while shouting at the others that something is amiss, Syward starts shooting arrows at the revelers, and his horse trots in from the opposite direction. When the attention of everybody is aimed at the threat, the horse breaks into canter. Hylda leaves her hiding spot and runs to meet the horse. She fails to mount the horse properly because she has never ridden one before and ends up hanging over his back like a sack of grain. It doesn't seem to matter to the horse as he turns back and gallops away. Hylda has to admit that she's quite confused - she never knew that Syward's horse was so smart!

The next phase of the plan couldn't be predicted but there were only two options so they prepared for both of them. Majority of the goblins were going to pursue either Syward or Hylda. That the latter proves to be the case is a testament of the direness of their situation.

The dragon stays on his tree and leads the horse back there. As they approach it, Hylda can feel the horse slowing down. She starts to panic and shouts at the horse to keep running when she is suddenly grabbed by her leg and lifted up in the tree. The unburdened horse runs away as quickly as the terrain allows.

Hylda is about to start screaming but she hears a voice in hear head saying "Don't be alarmed. I'm Syward's friend. I'm the backup he wrote about. Now don't make a sound."

There's no time to say more. The dragon enfolds Hylda with his wing and casts the invisibility spell. He can tell right away that Hylda is concealed as well.

A crowd of goblins stampedes under them and follows after the horse. Those in front do not notice in the light of their torches that the step of the horse is lighter.

"Let's go meet Syward now," says the dragon when they are gone and lowers Hylda down. "We are visible again so try to stay concealed. It would take only one straggler to uncover the ruse."

Hylda still can't see the dragon who looks like a displaced darkness and branches. Still, logic tells her that he can't be a ghost so she correctly assumes that it's some kind of a camouflage.

"What are you?" she whispers.

"No time. Syward will explain."

He directs Hylda. They circle around the village and meet Syward in the middle.

"He has captured a goblin again. Go on. The prisoner is knocked out but I can't risk getting seen nonetheless."

She does as told and keeps walking until she can hear Syward calling her in a hushed voice. She reaches him a few moments later and sees that the captured goblin is the chieftain of the village.

"Good evening, Hylda!" he greets her. "I see that you've got the same idea as me and decided to enjoy a stroll in a cool night air."

A dozen things to ask him goes through her mind, each one of them competing with the others for priority. In the end, all she can say is, "Syward, that's the village's chief!"

"Aye. And he's getting heavy. Which is why I'm glad to see you."

"Get going you two!" urges them the dragon.

Hylda is startled a little but when Syward grabs the goblin under his arms, she grabs his legs.

"Don't go towards the border," advises them the dragon. "That's the direction in which the horse and the pursuers went."

"We need to interrogate this guy anyway," grits out Syward, swallowing his remark about the horse hopefully being all right.

The dragon keeps an eye out while they carry the captive away. Syward explains in a hushed voice what have they learned about the situation so far.

"Excuse me, are you deliberately avoiding the most important topic here?" interrupts him Hylda after a while.

"What? Oh, you mean the dragon."

"Dragon?"

"Yes. The very one from legends of my grandparents' village. It's all true. With the exception of the claim that he's a god."

"And you just happen to be friends with him?!"

"The coast is clear at the moment," interjects the dragon. "I'll go fetch the horse."

As he finds out, the horse has managed to escape his pursuers on his own in the meantime. It seems that his natural instincts are working just fine and that no "scrambling of his brain" has occurred.

It takes some time to lead the horse back. When they return, Syward and Hylda are quite far away from the village. The chief is tied to a tree and is coming back to himself slowly.

While Hylda takes care of the horse, Syward and the dragon agree to interrogate the goblin just like the previous one. The dragon proposes to take a helpful approach rather than an intimidating one. He reasons that the chief is more likely to cooperate if Syward poses as someone who can deliver them from the menace that plagues them. On the other hand, the goblins are also probably afraid to betray their unknown master.

"I know who your master is," says Syward when he has the goblin's attention. "The one your ancestors fled from."

The dragon can see it all in the chief's head then. Most goblins know that there's some terrible power giving orders but only the chiefs know how dark it truly is. It dwells in a cave at an edge of the goblin territory on the opposite side from the barony. The goblins bring it human sacrifices and it drinks their blood and discards their carcases. It never walks out during daytime. The chief has never seen it on his own eyes but the dragon has all the clues he needs.

"I've encountered these before!" he tells Syward. "A long time ago when I was still small. They are very dangerous."

"The blood-drinker," continues Syward, repeating after the dragon. "Yes, we know about them. At least some of us. Why do you think your master wants to remain hidden? It fears us! We can get rid of this pestilence for you."

The goblin can't believe his ears. It's too good to be true and his ingrained fear of the thing makes it seem impossible to destroy it. It must be a trick to make the dark one turn on his people!

"You don't believe me, do you?" presses Syward on. "Then tell me why does it need you to bring it food? Yes, it can't go into sunlight. If it's so powerful, it shouldn't be a problem for it to catch something to eat and disappear again before morning."

At this point, the dragon already knows everything.

"You know, I don't need any information from you," dismisses Syward. "We already know everything necessary to take it out."

After a brief argument with the dragon, he goes ahead and proves it by rehashing the information.

"The question is," he continues afterwards. "What are you personally willing to do to free your people?"

At that moment, even Syward himself can sense the goblin's desire to see that creature burned to ashes. Nothing comes out of it though. The chief hangs his head and his eyes start watering in shame.

"Well, we tried," observes the dragon.

"I hoped that he would help me to lure it out," thinks Syward.

"You'll have to do this job. Once it's in my reach, I'll destroy it."

Once again, the dragon jumps to a conclusion that Syward has no objections. As before, he's right - Syward wants to destroy that creature. What he "heard" about its kind from the dragon rubs him the wrong way. Its actions against the barony (and the kidnapping of Hylda) makes it personal on top of that. He has one big concern though and asks Hylda to accompany him to the dragon. They leave the goblin tied to the tree.

"Before we go to the creature's lair, I'll have to get Hylda back home," he says.

"We have no time for that," protests the woman before the dragon can react. "Besides, someone needs to look after the horse and guard the chief while you two deal with the creature."

"I have to concur," agrees the dragon. "We have a window of opportunity here. We should exploit it. When the bloodsucker is dead, the chief may arrange for a safe passage back."

In the end, Syward relents. He goes back to the prisoner.

"Well, we'll be going to the monster's lair now," he tells him. "Obviously, we can't let you go and warn it so you'll be coming with us. We'll release you afterwards though."

The goblin's fear is evident. He's scared of what will happen when their master disposes of the two humans and finds him there. He won't have any proof that he hasn't led them there.

"You have no chance against it!" he implores.

"Thanks for the warning. I won't underestimate the bugger."

They load the goblin on the horse. There are two options how to travel to the lair. They can either leave the goblin territory by the shortest route and then circle around through wilderness to their destination or they can travel there right away in a straight line. Considering that any goblin pursuers are unlikely to predict the latter, they choose that option. Besides, the dragon can detect sentient enemies better than wildlife.

They reach their destination in afternoon next day. The setting sun illuminates the side of the mountain where the cave entrance is. Perhaps the monster has chosen it to be able to return home even at morning hours. That's good. They need to lure the creature out and such a thing can be done only after sunset. At the same time, attacking shortly before it would be suspicious normally - especially if the creature assumes that the attacker knows about it avoiding sunlight. However, it makes a lot more sense with the way the mountain and the cave are oriented.

"We'll need to time it perfectly," observes the dragon.

"Yes, let it play for time so it could pursue me outside. It won't scare me away for as long as safety is just around the corner."

"You'll have to make look like a miscalculation on your side. Caused by fear, let's say."

"I guess that won't be too difficult if that thing is at least half as scary as the goblin says."

Another thing they have to think about is the dragon's smell. As they find out, it's not much of a problem inside the cave because the air comes out of it. Still, Syward makes some smoking fires at the entrance to prevent the creature from getting an advance warning even after leaving the caves. It's a little bit conspicuous that somebody would try to smoke the creature out when the air goes the other way but they decide not to overestimate the creature's ability to expect such convoluted plans from them. Nothing can be done about the sound of the dragon's heartbeat other than trying to cover it by shouting.

"I can't feel anything alive in there," says the dragon after taking a tentative feel by his passive senses. He suspects that he could find more by sensing actively but he can't risk that obviously.

Syward lights a torch and goes in. He leaves his bow and arrows by the entrance and prepares his ax instead. The dragon makes himself invisible to nullify any chance of being seen by the creature. He keeps reading the man though, just like with the horse before when Syward entered the town. He can see and hear all that Syward does.

There's no sign of the creature anywhere near the entrance so Syward continues deeper. As he progresses, he keeps expecting to see some bones and skulls but there aren't any. It seems like the creature likes to keep its lair clean. After all, there's no reason to keep the bodies around after they have been drained of blood. Their rotting flesh would merely attract vermin.

After some time, he comes to a conclusion that something lives in there indeed - something sentient. And yet, the signs that lead him to this conclusion are of utterly alien kind. The feeling is vastly different from walking into a dwelling of a human (or a goblin for that matter). There are no tools for preparing food nor any chamber for sleeping. Obviously, a blood drinking creature has no need for a kitchen and Syward starts wondering whether it sleeps at all.

He reaches a point where the cave branches. He can't continue deeper from that point because he can't risk letting the creature cut him off from the exit. He backs out instead and waits. Without taking his attention from the darkness in front of him, he tries to remember if there are any crevices behind him which could be used to traverse to area in front if him. He considers briefly going back and making sure but he decides to stand his ground in the end. He wishes that he had his bow and somebody else was providing him with light. It would make the whole act easier if his role was to shoot at anything that moves.

The creature is hungry and some food ventured freely into its lair - that's what works in Syward's favour in the end. It happens when his torch is nearly depleted. He hangs his ax back on his belt and takes his reserve torch instead. As he's lighting it, he sees movement on the ceiling on of the cave. Not having anything else at hand, he throws the rest of the torch at it and backs off hastily while drawing his axe. He hears an angry snarl as the torch hits the target.

For a moment, he's afraid that the new torch will go out and he'll be left in darkness. Then the little flame dancing on its side spreads and he's got light again. Once again, he sees something at the edge of the reach of the torch.

Suddenly, he hears the dragon's voice in his head. That means that he has left his invisibility.

"Syward! I think the creature is blind."

Syward doesn't need to ask how has he noticed it. While he himself has to pay attention to what's happening at the moment, the dragon can examine the images he receives at leisure.

His finding means two things. On one hand, the invisibility spell isn't needed and the dragon can talk to him normally. At the same time, the invisibility spell (and camouflage) is useless. While the creature is blind, it's far from handicapped. The dragon will have to ambush it the same way he would have to ambush a human without the help of magic or masking.

"Don't forget," continues the dragon. "It doesn't mind the light of torches - at least according to what our goblin friend has heard."

"So it's still playing for time," thinks Syward. "How are we doing?"

"The sun is almost touching the horizon."

Syward starts retreating slowly. He wants to make it look like he's luring the creature into the sunlight outside. The dragon tries to detect the creature by his passive senses now that he knows where it is but fails again. Given the circumstances, he doesn't dare to experiment and possibly give his presence away.

As Syward keeps retreating, he focuses on a thin line between causing the creature attack right away and letting it believe that it will be possible to catch him outside. It seems to work. He reaches the entrance at which point he drops the torch and runs out. The fires are still burning strongly so there's plenty of light which is good because the sun has just set.

Syward puts his ax back behind his belt and retrieves his bow and arrows. While he nocks an arrow and backs away from the entrance, he starts shouting at the creature inside. He makes it look like he's trying to lure the creature out.

And that he does. The creature can somehow sense that it's dark outside and decides to attack. It doesn't run on the ground like an ordinary beast, no. It crawls over the ceiling at a speed at which an average human runs on a good road. The goal is probably to make aiming harder. Syward doubts that an arrow would kill it anyway but he's more worried about it getting too close to the dragon and detecting him. He needs to hit it.

What the creature underestimates is Syward's experience. He waits for his shot and lets loose at the right moment. The arrow embeds itself in its... well, it's flesh technically but Syward is more inclined to use a term "matter". The creature looses contact with the rock but keeps its momentum at the same time. It flies over the fires, twists in the air, and lands on its feet several strides in front of Syward. The monster is humanoid but extremely disturbing. There's something thoroughly unwholesome about it. Syward notices that the arrow didn't have any more trouble piercing the creature than, let's say, a deer. The problem is that it doesn't mean the same thing for the creature as for a human.

There's no time to ponder over this. Shortly after the creature lands, the dragon drops behind it, blocking its retreat back into the cave. The creature turns around with a snarl. It's blind alright but its other senses can still perceive the size of the unexpected enemy.

Syward isn't about to let it form a new strategy. He puts another arrow through its neck. He almost wishes he didn't. Once again, it's like putting an arrow in a straw-man or a bundle of wool. Although, the flesh looks more similar to a mushroom than to either of those things.

The dragon doesn't loose any time either. While the creature turns back to Syward (probably to fight its way out through him), he reaches out and impales it on his claws. The creature starts making inhuman shrieks. Syward has to cover his ears.

The dragon doesn't kill (or rather destroy) the abomination right away but examines it first by his active senses. While the procedure brings the dragon the information he desires, it doesn't have the same effect on it as on normal beings. In fact, it doesn't seem to have any effect at all. The creature notices the probe but that's it.

The dragon decapitates the monstrosity and burns the torso. The head is still active but it can't scream any more.

"What is this thing?!" exclaims Syward.

"It's human. Or was. When it was alive."

Syward looks up with an incredulous expression in his face.

"That's how they reproduce," clarifies the dragon. "It requires a compatible host severely weakened by a disease or old age. They probably use some kind of spores which finish the host off and start turning him. After the original body functions stop, new ones begin. In the end, the host becomes this thing. As I've said before, they need blood of living people to survive."

Syward has no words to answer to such a revelation. He lets his thoughts speak for him instead.

"Then I guess I should search this cave in case there's another one in there," he says after a moment.

"I've just probed it but go ahead. It's better to be safe."

As expected, there's no one else there. However, he finds something disturbing - a few scrolls written on in blood. That makes sense - normal ink wouldn't be of much use to blind creatures. At the same time, it's a very alien concept.

It's not the usage of blood that makes Syward uneasy though. What truly gives him creeps is the fact that the creature was intelligent. There's little doubt that the scrolls were written by the monster right in that cave because the blood is too fresh. Syward skewers the scrolls on an arrow and carries them outside.

In the meantime, the head stops twitching but Syward suspects that it's still "alive" at some level. Not for long. The dragon stabs the brain by his claw.

"Take it to the chief," instructs the dragon. "Be careful when you carry it. You are healthy but let's not take any chances. Tell him to scope out its brain and burn it. The brain - he'll need the head to prove its demise to his peers."

"Won't he get infected?"

"From what I know about them, they are more or less immune. That's why you don't get to see any goblin versions of this thing. We should keep that in mind in case more of these come here."

Syward drops the scrolls (along with the arrow) for the dragon to examine. Then he sticks the head on a sharpened stick and descends back to the camp.

The chieftain is speechless when Syward drops the ugly head in front of him and starts undoing his bounds.

"Eww!" exclaims Hylda. "That's what they wanted to feed me to?"

"Unless it turned you into one of them, which seems improbable. If it wanted to make a companion, it would have done so earlier. Maybe it didn't want to share the food."

"How?" asks the goblin finally.

"Nothing you couldn't have done yourself. And with much less risk. Do you know what this thing was?"

The goblin doesn't understand.

"It was a human. A dead one."

He explains quickly.

"To us, they are like a walking disease. Your kind, on the other hand, is safe. Remember that when its buddies come looking for it."

The goblin gasps. Syward ignores his reaction and relays the instructions from the dragon. Carefully, the goblin picks the head up and starts working.

"I've examined its notes," informs the dragon in the meantime. "The alphabet and language are from a region far south where I discovered these creatures before. The dialect is very old though - even when compared to the time of my visit there."

"Have you found out what was it doing here?"

"The notes don't say that directly but I think that something has happened where it came from which has cut their blood supply short. There wasn't enough sustenance to go around so they started to push their weaker members out. It was writing down highlights of its endeavors here. Finding this land, taking control of the goblins, and so on. The notes were probably meant for others of its kind, in case they came this way."

The goblin finishes his rudimentary clean up of the head and attaches it on a sturdy branch, creating a kind of a scepter. Syward's first thought is how creepy it is but then he remembers that he himself wasn't any different not so long ago.

Syward asks about getting a safe passage back to the barony and the goblin promises to try to secure it for them. The dragon comments that the goblin was thinking briefly about getting rid of them and claiming the victory for himself but has discarded the idea because it's clear even to him that the others would never believe him.

As they journey to a nearest village, Syward tells the goblin that he will speak with the authorities in the barony, perhaps the baron himself. The goblin has never heard about the baron so Syward explains a little.

When they reach their destination, Syward and Hylda wait with the horse a safe distance away while the dragon spies on the meeting of the two chieftains. All goes well and they are given an escort to the border.

"That's twice in a row now," says Syward while they wait for the goblins to collect them.

"Let's just say that I have a certain experience with goblins who can't make a difficult decision. They aren't very bright so when I'm careful enough, they can believe that my voice is their own."

"Huh? That simple?"

"What would you do if you heard your own voice in your head?"

"I would think that I'm going crazy."

"Point taken. Alas, goblins don't do that. Going crazy."

As they travel home, the news spread to other villages. Syward doesn't stop anywhere, he doesn't wish to press their luck. After all, a lifetime of conflict isn't so easily forgotten.

When they reach the no man's land, the dragon warns Syward that his friends are ahead. Without having to wait for the dragon's linguistic help, he tells the goblins to stop. Then he whistles a signal that all is safe.

"Well, thanks for the escort," he told the goblins. "Remember, stay away from our land and we'll stay away from yours."

Goblins aren't sentimental so there's no need for any farewell speeches. Syward is quite glad for that.

He and Hylda mount the horse and ride to meet the patrol. Syward's colleagues are amazed to see them both alive.

Syward and Hylda tell them nothing about what was the creature which controlled the goblins, just like the dragon has advised them. They stick to that when they report to the officer back in town and later on to the baron.

"So what was it then?" demands the baron. "If you killed it than you must have taken a good look at it."

"I guess you need to tell him a little bit more," advises the dragon.

"Milord, it wasn't a goblin or anything remotely similar, that's for sure," answers Syward. "And it wasn't human. At least I most sincerely hope so."

"What do you mean?"

Syward answers by hinting at some of the uneasiness he had from the creature. The baron seems reasonably satisfied with his explanation.

Syward relays the willingness of the goblin chieftains to cease hostilities. The baron agrees to declare a ban on hunting goblins on their territory. Syward cautions him that if the peace holds, he'll have to abolish rewards for goblin heads as well. The baron objects that there will always be rogue goblins wanting to steal and pillage in their lands. The dragon comes up with an idea to fold the rangers into the regular troops, have them patrol the border, and penalize them for every goblin who comes through.

"Well, what are we going to do next?" asks Syward when they are out of the capital. Only Hylda is there to hear him but the question is meant for the dragon as well.

"The worshipers are still out there," speaks the dragon to both of them. "It's a loose end which could be dangerous if left unattended. Alas, flying around and hoping to stumble upon something is hardly a way to find them. The search needs to be narrowed down by following rumors first and that's not something I can do."

"You want to recruit more people?" asks Syward. It sounds awfully unwise to him.

"Not quite."

Something about the dragon's response doesn't sit right with Syward. He finds what when Hylda reacts.

"So that's why you've been going on and on about what a great and responsible man Syward is!" she exclaims.

"Unbelievable!" joins her Syward. "Has anyone ever told you that you push too hard?"

"As a matter of fact, no," returns the dragon.

The fact remains that there's nothing left for Hylda in her home town and that Syward is done with hunting goblins. They stay together in the end and settle down in the area where the village of Syward's grandparents once was. Not exactly there but halfway between it and the road.

The dragon demolishes the ruin of his "church" and brings them the building stones. They use some of them to lay foundations of their new homestead.

Hostilities between the humans and the goblins are vastly reduced. The goblins don't perform any raids into the barony but they sometimes ambush merchants traveling on the border road. They mostly leave Syward and Hylda alone though, probably for their service in getting rid of the blood-drinker. Syward doesn't have any illusions that they will remember for long.

In following years, Syward doesn't hear any rumors about any dragon worshipers or more blood-drinkers. It's probably better that way because he's got his hands full with his family - and a large one it is. It may seem unwise in his age but as time goes by, Syward doesn't seem to be affected by his years as harshly as others. At this rate, it doesn't seem that Hylda is going to outlive him by more than two decades.

Per their agreement, the dragon doesn't reveal himself to their children. However, Syward is going to reveal his existence to his oldest sons when they are old enough. Whether they choose to believe him or not will depend on them.

The dragon does some limited surveying of the lands surrounding the barony and the goblin territory. Syward was right - there's a budding human settlement on the other side of the wilderness which lies east of the goblin territory. They are smaller than the barony but they have access to the sea. Syward's assumption that they could be a threat is utterly ludicrous at this point. The dragon finds a few more settlements after broadening the search. Some of them are known to the people of the barony (because of occasional traders passing through), some of them are not.

Throughout all this time, the dragon practices his magic and grows in size. He manages to discover a few simple magical patterns and a few specialized versions of the one he has got already but neither he nor Syward stumble upon any magical knowledge created by others.

In the end, the dragon comes to a decision that it's best to leave Syward and his family to live their lives without his interference. As he said, there's not much for him to do without more helpers anyway. It's time to go to sleep again.

He decides not to go as far as before but it's clear that it needs to be away from civilization. He finds a spot in wilderness northwest from the barony. The place is unlikely to be reached by expanding territories of any of the surrounding societies within next century. Besides a forest in distance, there are no resources there which could tempt any colonizers. Even the land is unsuitable for farming or pasture.

Most importantly, there's a convenient cave system. It's deepest chamber can house the dragon comfortably and is accessible by two tunnels only. An idea strikes the dragon.

He flies there with Syward. It's the first time he rides on his back.

The plan for the upcoming hibernation has two parts: physical and magical. The physical part is quite simple - use one of the tunnels as an entrance and the other as an exit. They rig the entry one for a cave-in and wall up the exit one.

Syward does his best to make the barrier look inconspicuous but it's obvious that anyone with a good light will be able to see it. That's where the second part of the plan comes in. While Syward watches from the outer side, the dragon goes in and casts an area version of his invisibility spell so that it covers the wall as well.

The result is quite mind bending for Syward. When outside, the effect of the spell is quite comprehensibly for him - he can't see that which is protected by the spell, as if it was gone. The same applies down there as well and yet the result is so different to an outside observer. Both the wall and the tunnel disappear all right but that doesn't mean that he sees a dark hole in the rock.

Overcome by nausea, he looks away. The dragon waits for him to collect himself. When Syward looks back, he has to admit that an explorer stumbling into these caves would never find the tunnel. By visual means, that is. A blind man going purely by touch and echo could find it (unless he broke his neck first).

"Well, it seems that it works," says the dragon and the wall reappears. Once again, it's quite nauseating for Syward.

They fly back in silence, for the second and last time. Syward understands that the parting time is nigh but he can't think of anything that hasn't been said already.

They meet with Hylda and say their goodbyes. As planned, she doesn't know where the lair is but Syward is going to tell her when he feels that death is coming. Hylda will then relay the information to one of their children and so on. When the time for the awakening comes, somebody can collect him there. If the chain is broken, no matter. Somebody will meet the dragon where the village once was.

The dragon doesn't stick around after he makes himself invisible and flies away. He flies straight back to his hideout and starts hunting, just like the last time. When he can eat nothing more, he retreats in the caves.

Also like the last time, he barricades the entrance but only lightly and he makes sure it looks natural. Then he uses the entrance tunnel and collapses it behind him. The wall in the other tunnel holds for which the dragon is very grateful because it would be quite awkward to bother Syward again.

He casts the invisibility spell and goes to sleep. It's time to ponder over mechanics of magic again.

---

Emmett and Rose woke up. Their sensitive ears could hear Jasper and Esme talking in hushed voices.

"I don't mind putting an old geezer as a protagonist of a sub-arc," argued Jasper. "However, a romance between him and a much younger woman is way too weird."

"Hey, have you ever seen Sean Connery? Some men are getting more handsome with time."

Emmett and Rose took a look at each other and then at the others.

"Well, let's get to work," proclaimed Emmett and stood up.