Here be Dragons!
Chapter 5
It took them almost three days to get across the mountain. Part of the delay were all the switchbacks to get up then back down again. And finding a place to set up the tent that wasn't directly on the road meant going backwards twice to find a good spot.
Except for the delay it was a simple enough crossing. Once on the downside at the bottom of the mountain Rick turned south and went out into the tall grass.
"Why this way?" Kate questioned, knowing full well that where they were going was in Rick's head.
"Due east is a very large desert. Rumors say it's full of undead. Yes, the path goes that way but we don't need to go east any longer at the moment. We want to go south until we reach a city, a very large city actually," Rick explained.
"Oh!" Kate liked that plan. She still felt better being in a city.
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Almost two days later they came across what looked like a forest. Based on the height of the trees alone Kate was betting it was an old forest.
"That's a lot of oak trees." Rick was impressed. Even the ones he could see at the edge of the forest were really big, meaning they were very old. "I'm thinking we should skirt the edge. Try and stay right on the edge. Part forest and part grass," Rick suggested. "Just over there is a smaller mountain range. We shouldn't have to enter it. Hopefully. That or we enter the forest."
Kate was happy to not go onto another mountain so soon. That and going through what looked like a dense forest might prove to be difficult. "Works for me."
They hadn't traveled all that long when they knew the sun was going to start setting soon.
"Just there maybe?" Kate pointed and followed Rick to her site.
Rick liked it. "This will work."
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With the tent up and the horses in the tent resting Kate was thinking about getting her sleeping bag out as Rick opened his portable hole.
"Pippi's turn with the feedbag." Rick handed it to her and went back into his portable hole to fish out some of his small animal traps. Once out he closed it up and tucked it away on his body. "Stay here, I'm going to go set up some traps. We could all use some fresh meat in the morning if we get lucky. Or we can stay longer to get fresh meat."
"I can stay for some fresh meat. Our fresh bags are mostly empty." Kate was willing if it meant skipping trail rations.
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Kate was ready to start cooking and her sleeping bag was out when Rick finally came back. "Not sure what we'll get but it'll be nocturnal whatever it is." He began stripping down like normal since they were done. However, he stopped long enough to get Dog some water and give him a piece of jerky to chew on for a while.
"So where are we going?" Kate was curious and was wondering just where.
"Well one of two places. Either Suzail which is the capital city of Cormyr or Westgate which is on the south side and a little more east. Sometimes called the The Gateway to the West. Both are large trading cities specializing in seagoing ships. One or the other should be able to get us a good bit farther east. A lot faster than going around by horseback," Rick explained.
Major cities sounded good to Kate. "What's the catch?"
"The catch is that in the middle of the Sea of Fallen Stars are a large number of small islands that are home to a large number of Pirates. That's the catch," Rick admitted.
"Wonderful. Good thing I know how to swim," Kate joked.
"We'll be fine. Pirates aren't nearly as dangerous as you think. Just depends on what ship we get and what we're carrying to make it worth it to them," Rick argued. "How's dinner?"
"I've used the last of the meat which wasn't much. Dinner's going to be a mixture of what we have left. After this it's going to be all trail rations." Kate sighed.
"Sounds like we'll be staying at least an extra day then." Rick finished changing into night clothes.
"Suits me. Just so long as we reach one of those two cities." Kate would be happy to be back in a city again. Get some real food and maybe buy a couple more things.
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Two days later and they were ready to get moving again. They didn't have much in the way of fruits and vegetables any longer though they at least had a fair amount of meat now.
"Where to? Still going as planned?" Kate mounted her horse.
"No reason not to." Save for a stupid attempted ambush everything was going smoothly.
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About an hour later Dog barked and began blinking around. "What's got into him?" He had so far only done this when he was happy to see them.
"Trouble is what it means. I just don't see from where. His hearing and sense of smell are a lot better than ours so it must be one of those. What we need is to see something." Rick looked around.
"You're not going to like it but we're going to need higher ground." Rick pointed at the small mountain range just to the east.
"If we must." Kate followed him toward the mountains.
It actually took them about an hour just to reach the lowest section that their horses couldn't easily navigate.
"We need height so we can see something." Rick pointed up.
Kate raised her eyebrows. "How do you propose to get up there?" They had a few ropes and could climb it. They also had some flying potions or there was one other method.
"Shifting to a Dragon would draw attention. I'm thinking an invisibility potion and a flying potion," Rick said.
"A lot of potions just to look at something that might not be anywhere. For all we know what Dog spotted was in the forest. It was closer after all," Kate commented.
"Point taken. However out here it's better to be safe than sorry. Besides we have the money to buy more once we make it to either of the two cities. We've barely touched what we were given. Then there's what we've gained," Rick noted.
"Let's get started then." Kate searched for her two potions while Rick did the same.
"Can you see invisible objects or creatures?" Rick asked her since he knew he could.
"Using one of my Tattoos, yes." She would have no trouble following wherever he went.
"Dog, Stay, Guard." He could follow by blinking but he was better off here with the horses.
"Drink hearty then." Rick drank invisibility first then fly and flew up to a higher point so they could look around.
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It took some time to reach a good height then find a place to land together. Rick saw the problem straight away. "Definitely not in the forest."
"No. And to think without Dog we would have ridden almost right into it." All right, maybe the noise when they got closer would have alerted them but it might have been too close. "Looks like they're laying siege to something. But what?" Kate wasn't following.
"Well it's either the mountain we're on or that smaller mound of hills with the small forest in the middle. I'm not sure but they might be waiting for something," Rick commented as they both watched.
To Kate it looked like they weren't doing anything. It looked like a big campsite to her. "So what are they? I see the few Trolls and the few Hill Giants I recognize, but what are the others?"
"The ones that look like dogs walking on two legs are Gnolls. Looks like that's what are mostly there. The big guys are indeed Hill Giants. The few that are almost as big are Ogres. While the brown hairy guys walking on two feet are Bugbears. Save for their numbers the Gnolls and the Bugbears aren't really all that dangerous. It's their numbers that give them strength. These Hill Giants, even though there aren't many of them, are the strongest. The Ogres which also look to be few in number are a little weaker. Those three Trolls you already know."
"I count three Trolls, four Hill Giants, and I think four Ogres," Kate said.
"I'm guessing about nine hundred Gnolls and two hundred Bugbears, more or less. Even the sight of a Dragon will send all of them running. Just not any of the others."
"You're thinking of attacking them, aren't you? I don't really like the odds," Kate said nervously.
"At eleven to two neither do I. However, I think I can even out those odds a little," Rick said thoughtfully.
"I'm listening." She was Good and everything down there was Evil and they had gathered for a reason, even if they didn't know what that reason was.
Rick reached into his backpack, took something out, then did it again and again. "This is a miniature idol of an Adult Gold Dragon. This one's a horn that will summon an Adult Bronze Dragon. And this horn will summon constructs that will be human in size and will attack like mad barbarians with no fear of death. If the Gold Dragon were somehow managed to be killed it will turn back into an idol that can't be used for a month. Even if it doesn't it will only last a few minutes then I can't use it again for a week. The same for the barbarians.
"None of these will last longer than a few short minutes, or so I'm told. About 10 minutes at best." Rick had something she didn't know about until now.
"How many barbarians?" Kate inquired since having two adult Dragons was certainly a good thing even if they didn't stay long.
"Anywhere from two to five is all but they're each better than any of the Gnolls or Bugbears. And they have no fear and won't run away from any Dragon," Rick answered. "Six to nine versus one thousand one hundred eleven. Better odds."
"Than what?" Kate demanded. "They're camped like they're waiting for something!"
"We come back up here and wait to see if someone or something shows up. If it does we decide what to do then. If it gets here before we're done we just keep attacking. We need to let our help do most of the work. Except to get the barbarians one of us needs to be down there." Rick gestured. "Both of our potions are about to wear off soon. Long before either of us get down there." Rick saw a problem with getting down there unseen.
"Call the Dragons and let them attack alone. Give them a couple of minutes then we shift and attack. If necessary we shift back and you can summon the barbarians. Then we retreat back here and wait." Kate threw back her shoulders and looked like a Warrior Queen.
"Works for me." Rick handed Kate the idol and told her the command word. "Once we're down there don't forget your Elemental Gems. They can help protect your backside. Besides me, that is." Rick smiled at her and leaned down. Kate had kissed him a few days ago at the Green Dragon and Troll. Now it was his turn. Kate saw it coming and didn't stop him and even kissed him back. Once he broke from the kiss she smiled at him.
"Throw the idol and yell the command word and I'll blow the horn. …Now!" Rick didn't wait to see her throw it but did wait for her to get the command word out then he blew his horn.
In seconds one large Adult Gold Dragon and one large Adult Bronze Dragon appeared and Rick yelled for his to attack below followed by Kate.
They both watched for a bit. Sure enough every Gnoll and Bugbear yelled and ran for their lives. That just left the Ogres, Trolls, and Hill Giants for both Dragons to deal with.
How both Dragons fought was up to them. There was no way to actually command them as to what to do from this distance. However, Rick smiled as each made a side by side run and they both used their breath weapons. Gold used Fire while the Bronze used a Lightning Bolt that went in a straight line instead of a cone that affected an area sixty feet wide and forty feet deep. While the Lightning Bolt was eighty feet long by ten feet wide.
Then each made a wide sweep around and came back in. By now they were ready and waiting. The Hill Giants picked up large rocks and threw them when they got close enough and each Dragon was hit once, though the rocks mostly just bounced off their scales.
Each Dragon picked an Ogre and literally landed on him, crushing his body under them.
"Let's go. Shift then breathe on the largest group of Gnolls and Bugbears coming this way. I'm going to pass over and breathe on the other group. Then do what you want. Stay a Dragon and attack or shift and attack. Try to concentrate on the Trolls. I'll do the same." Rick thought they needed to get moving.
Rick shifted first since they didn't have room for both of them to do it at the same time and took off flying. He had the farthest to go.
Kate shifted and followed him, gliding down closer to the mountain. Kate wanted all of them to see her so that they would run the opposite direction so she roared at them and was rewarded with all of them stopping, turning, and running scared shitless back the way they'd come.
Frightful Presence was a very useful thing when it came to weaker enemies. Several would drop their weapons if they had one and run as fast as they could to get away for several minutes. Unfortunately for them, they were now running back toward the Gold and Bronze Dragon who would in turn cause them to turn and run away again.
Kate landed almost on top of one of them. She raised her head, took a deep breath, and breathed Fire onto all of them that she could. Interestingly she saw everyone in the affected cone fall to the ground horribly burnt.
Rick swooped out, turned around, and came back in. Much like Kate he roared to get their attention causing them to run back the way they'd come. Rick landed a little farther away than Kate had. He raised his head, took a deep breath, and breathed on the largest group he could. Just like Kate he saw everyone in that cone fall to the ground, burnt badly.
Kate chose to stay in Dragon form. She looked for the Trolls and saw all of them fighting one of the two Dragons so she sped that way. Rick saw the two summoned Dragons and sped that way to join them in the fight.
Rick and Kate were both amazed. Four Dragons, three of them Gold defeated the Ogres, Trolls, and Hill Giants in very short time. Rick still had time on his horn so he shifted to human form and ordered the Bronze Dragon to hunt down and kill the fleeing Gnolls and Bugbears.
Kate was close enough to have heard him so she was all set to do the same when she saw something else. It was big and it was flying this way. "RICK!"Kate pointed and yelled at her temporary Gold Dragon. "Attack!" Kate pointed at what was coming then shifted back since it looked like she was going to need to be able to fly for this.
Rick spun to look where Kate was pointing. "SHIT!"They had been waiting for something all right and what was coming was bad news. Really bad news.
His Dragon was almost already too far away since getting up off the ground with that much weight took time. "ATTACK THE RED DRAGON!" Rick yelled then shifted and flapped hard to gain altitude. He didn't want to be caught on the ground.
Rick wasn't surprised that the Red Dragon kept on coming even if it couldn't miss seeing three Gold Dragons and one Bronze Dragon. This guy was a little bigger than any Evil Dragon he had ever seen with his own eyes. That meant it was also older and might be old enough to be able to cast spells.
A moment later Rick was proven correct. It turned invisible. He could tell because when seeing someone that was invisible you saw nothing but lines that made up whoever it was. In this case it meant every line from scales, horns, arms and legs, talons and teeth. He was sure Kate would see the same. Unfortunately their two helpers were now at a disadvantage. However he also knew that as soon as it attacked anyone it would become visible again.
Rick monitored that their two helping dragons didn't change course but he did and leveled out to try and gain some speed. Making a wide turn he saw the Red Dragon solidify and the Bronze Dragon was starting to tumble from the air before it righted itself.
Kate, he noticed, had just winged over and blew her gaseous breath weapon and he watched the Red Dragon fly right into it. "Good girl!" He approved of that maneuver a lot.
It also had him flapping hard to get on its tail. It started as tight a turn as it could and suddenly a Lightning Bolt erupted from the Red Dragon and struck the Bronze Dragon dead on. The Bronze Dragon was still in the fight but it looked like shit now.
Rick was giving it credit. With four Dragons against one he would want to cut the odds, too. Meaning attack the same Dragon over and over again as often as allowed until it was gone.
Then the Red Dragon pumped his wings hard, heading right for Kate. He knew it was Kate because she was smaller than the summoned Gold Dragon.
Rick was doing his best to catch up especially since the Red Dragon was trying to gain altitude which caused it to actually slow down. Rick saw the summoned Gold Dragon rising to meet the Red Dragon.
Rick was just about there, just a couple more hard pumps of his wings. Then he snapped his jaws down on the Red Dragon's tail and didn't let go. He intentionally stopped flapping his wings. He was now thousands of pounds of dead weight that was attached to the Red Dragon's tail.
Rick heard the Red Dragon scream from the pain and was tasting its blood in his mouth. Then a moment later Rick let go and pumped his wings for all he was worth to keep from crashing to the ground.
His action caused the Red Dragon to slow down significantly and was now also pumping his wings for all he was worth to keep from falling from the sky.
It also meant that the summoned Gold Dragon got close enough to snap his teeth into its wing and rip his wing wide open, reducing his ability to gain altitude. That Gold Dragon instantly let go and did its best to fly away.
Kate had seen all of this and she also saw the hurting Bronze Dragon coming in from its side then breathed a Lightning Bolt that hit it squarely in the side.
Kate pumped her wings as hard as she could since the Red Dragon was still struggling to stay in the air much like Rick was doing. She flew straight for his injured tail and bit down hard and did what Rick had done. She stopped pumping her wings and became a dead weight.
Though Kate let go a little too late. She couldn't stop herself from crashing into the ground and tumbling away, only stopping just short of the mountain they'd just been on top of. Standing up quickly as she could she shook herself and looked around.
The Red Dragon was pumping its wings madly but it was tumbling toward the ground. She watched it hit hard and stay on the ground for a moment.
Kate smiled. It was out of the air and on her ground now. She shifted and activated her Boots of Speed and ran as fast as she could. While she did she activated one of her tattoos and instantly she was 12 feet tall and now weighed close to 1300 pounds. Her staff was also now the size of a tree.
Rick saw he wasn't going to make it so he did his best to crash with at least some control. A quick look showed that the Red Dragon was on the ground.
"Gotcha now." Rick smiled, pulled out his sword, and activated his Boots of Speed, running toward the Red Dragon.
The now lone Gold Dragon and the Bronze Dragon were still up in the air.
Kate watched as the Red Dragon stumbled to its feet. However, its back was to her and she just needed a few more steps with her now much, much longer legs.
She caught a glimpse of Rick on the ground running really fast. But she was close enough so she jumped, landed on its back, and brought her staff down on just where its wing met its body.
Kate suddenly had a pissed as hell, bucking, Red Dragon bouncing all over. She couldn't stay on and went flying. With her skill she landed on her feet, raising her staff, ready for anything.
She saw it raise its head and inhale. "Uh-oh!" Kate jumped straight up and tried to tuck her legs in nice and tight.
Just as it started to breathe a cone of Fire, Rick ran past it and slashed his sword into one of its lower legs and was rewarded with a gush of blood.
The sudden pain caused the Red Dragon to lower its head and its breath weapon went just below Kate who came away clean.
Rick, though, didn't come away totally clean. The Red Dragon's tail swiped across the ground, hit him solidly, and sent him flying.
Staggering to his feet Rick could taste his own blood in his mouth. "That hurt."
Kate landed and just as she did the injured Bronze Dragon literally landed on it. The Bronze forced it to the ground and bit it. Not batting an eye Kate ran for all she was worth and jabbed her staff straight into its open nose and pushed as hard as she could before pulling it back out.
The Red Dragon twisted its head and snapped its jaws down onto the Bronze Dragon. In that instant it vanished. It had died. Two wings whisked past Kate just barely missing her. Her mind told her that it was about damn time that the 50% chance of being missed finally worked.
Kate aimed her staff for an eye but missed by just a little, however, she still hurt it then swiped her staff at it in its snout twice and connected.
Then suddenly the other Gold Dragon literally landed on it, forcing it to the ground. It was all Kate needed to take one big swipe at its big snout.
Rick was running for all he was worth and watched as the Gold Dragon literally landed on it, forcing it to the ground. Rick kept running hard and slashed his sword at the same place in the leg he had last time and made his gash that much bigger and spilled even more blood this time.
Kate felt one wing go past her. The other one hit her but it didn't really hurt all that much. In return she swung her staff three times and hit the Red Dragon all three times.
Just then the Gold Dragon turned into an idol and fell off the Red Dragon. They needed to finish this before it could recover and try and fly away. This time Kate managed to jab her staff deep into one of its eyes. Pus gushed out and it roared from the pain.
Rick ran past once more and ripped open the same leg even further.
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The Red Dragon hadn't moved for the last few minutes as Kate saw Rick walking her way. She also saw blood trickling out of his mouth so she ran to him.
"You're hurt again!" Kate felt it hit her heart really hard. "Don't move." She activated one of her tattoos and placed her hand against the side of his face.
Rick actually felt better but he still had pain. "I'll be fine. Just give me a few minutes. I have a Ring of Regeneration that will slowly heal me. I'll be as good as new," he reassured her.
Kate didn't move her hand and was tenderly holding his face.
"Congratulations. I think we just killed an old Gargantuan Red Dragon who could cast spells. This better be all these guys were waiting for or we're in big trouble." Rick smiled at her since he liked what he was feeling.
Kate huffed out a laugh at his little joke. One massive Red Dragon was more than enough. Then she noticed that her hand was as big as his head so she canceled her being bigger.
"Pity. I kinda like a woman with really big breasts," Rick teases her.
"Jackass!" Kate said. However, it didn't stop her from lifting up to kiss him softly.