Ironheart Part 3
Diana brought Bean, Elfo, Luci, and Koga into her home. The group stepped into her house and entered the living room. "Make yourselves at home," She said, puffing her cigarette and exhaling the smoke. Her home's dining room was spacious, with a fireplace in the front of the room. They looked around the dining room. The room's atmosphere was cozy and warm, filled with the sound of crackling fire from the fireplace. "I'll get you guys something to drink. Anything you want?" She asked, looking at them.
"Beer!" said Bean, Elfo, and Luci.
"I'll just have a glass of water," said Koga.
"Booooo!" The trio said, mocking Koga.
"Lightweight," Bean whispered.
"Shut it!" Koga glared.
Diana scoffed, then chuckled. "All I have is wine with me at the moment. Is that ok?"
"Oooh, fancy!" said Elfo.
"Yeah, that's fine with us!" said Bean. Diana entered the dining room, reached into the cabinet, and pulled out a bottle of wine and four glasses. She returned to the living room, placed the glasses on the table, and filled them with wine. "Can you leave the bottle?"
"Uh, sure?" Diana hands Bean the bottle.
She takes the wine bottle and begins to chug it. She let out a burp once she removed her mouth from the bottle. "Oh yeah, this is the good stuff!"
Diana's jaw dropped. She laughed and asked, "What kind of princess are you?"
"The drunk and clumsy kind," said Luci.
Bean shrugs. "He's not wrong," She downs the wine once more.
"I don't think we ever got your name," said Elfo.
"Diana," She replied.
"My name is Tiabeanie, but you can call me Bean!"
"Hi! I'm Elfo!"
"The name's Luci,"
"Koga," He rested his cheek on the palm of his hand. "So, is there any way we can meet your dad?"
Diana walks over to the fireplace and stands beside it with her cigarette between her fingers. She takes a puff of it and blows out the smoke. "Sorry to disappoint you all, but my father passed away years ago."
"WHAT?" They all gasped.
"All that's here is my mom and I. She's been bedridden ever since he passed," Diana taps the ash off her cigarette. "Nothing much of value is here either."
"I'm so sorry to hear that…" said Bean, frowning.
"Thanks, but it's ok. All that's on my mind now is ensuring my mom is well. It's hard getting out without running into jackasses, as you saw earlier," Diana scowled. Her eyes fell upon Koga's broken sword. "That was the last sword he made before he passed too…" Bean, Elfo, and Luci looked at the sword and then frowned at Koga.
"Nice going, Koga," said Bean.
"For shame!" said Elfo.
"Nobody loves you!" said Luci.
"Will you all shut up!" Koga shouted. He groans and rubs his face. "So much for getting my sword fixed."
"I can make you a new one," said Diana.
"You can?!" Koga bats his eyes over at her.
"For six thousand gold pieces,"
Koga's eyes widened. "You gotta be kidding me.." he said disheartenedly.
Diana raised a brow. "Did you think just because it was the last sword my dad made, I would get sentimental and make you one for free?"
Koga stared at her for a moment. His eyes shifted away from hers. "N-No…of course not…"
"Isn't that what you said on the horse ride here?" Elfo asked.
"Shut up, Elfo!" Koga snapped.
Diana looks over at Bean. "Aren't you a princess? Can't you pay for it?"
"My dad doesn't pay me an allowance. Like…ever," The Princess replied.
"You don't do anything to warrant an allowance," said Luci.
"Fair enough," She agreed.
"Dear," said a soft and gentle from the other room. "Is everything ok?"
"Yes, Mom, everything is ok," Diana reassured.
"Are you sure? I heard yelling!" Diana's mother stepped into the dining room. Diana's mother, Stephanie, had long blond hair, wrinkles around her eyes and cheeks, and looked slim. She gasped as she looked at the group. "O-Oh, w-who are they?"
"These are my guests, Mom. Nothing to worry about," Diana walked over to her mother and gently placed her hand on her shoulder. "What are you doing out of bed? You know you don't have any strength to walk. Come on, let's get you back to your room."
"I just wanted to see if you're ok…" She whispered as the two left the dining room.
Koga sighed. "Well…it was worth a try. Come on guys, let's roll," He gets up from the table and sheathed his broken sword.
"Come on, we can't give up yet. We can try and widdle down the price!" said Elfo.
"We could try taking the mom hostage," Luci suggested.
"Luci, no!" Bean glared at him.
"Hey, it's our best option at the moment,"
"We are not taking a sick mother hostage. What's wrong with you?" Elfo crossed his arms and looked at him disapprovingly.
"Hey, I don't see you two coming up with ideas! How about giving her some of that milk stored in your shoes? Maybe that has some value to it." The demon said sarcastically.
"No way! My shoe milk!"
"Enough, come on, let's go," said Koga, heading for the door.
Diana returned to the room before he could place his hand around the doorknob and said, "Wait!" They all turned to her. "Hold on a second. Look…maybe there Is something we can work out..."
Koga raised a brow. "What's with the sudden change of mind?"
Diana sighed. "I need help getting somewhere. I've tried going on my own, but…it's too difficult for me...and too dangerous. I need a bodyguard."
"Where to exactly?" Bean asked.
"Heading north of here…there's an area where I can acquire the best ore our land has to offer. If I can get there, I can make you a better, stronger, and more durable sword," Diana crossed her arms. "There's a material I can get that's personal to my dad. If I can get it…it might help my mom get better…"
"Sure, we can help!" Bean smiled. "With Koga on your side you—"
"Hold it," said Koga, putting his hand on Bean's shoulder. "You're being pretty vague about some things. What area are we going to, and what should we look out for on the way there?"
Diana took a deep breath and began to explain. "I'm guessing you don't know all of the bedrock kingdom's history. It's not just a home for all sorts of ore for smithing. The bedrock kingdom itself is a resting place for deceased dragons…"
"Resting place for dragons?!" Bean gasped
"Huh…so that explains the giant skeletal remains we saw earlier…" said Luci.
Diana continued. "Hundreds of years ago, dragons inhabited this land like any other enchanted creature. Large, vicious, firebreathing winged creatures that terrorized the lands. If it wasn't fire, they were breathing; it was some kind of weird and obscure magic that could level kingdoms. Great warriors from all over the world teamed up with neighboring kings. Each of them led an army to combat the dragons, and the war occurred here in the land of the bedrock kingdom. The war itself lasted months…"
"I remember hearing about the war with the dragons. My brother always read that stuff to me when I was little. I didn't believe it all back then, but we ended up seeing a dragon ourselves," said Bean.
"Oh, yeah, I remember that one. It didn't seem hostile at all," said Elfo. "It was just worried about it's egg."
"Wait, you two saw one?" Diana asked, shocked. "I guess the rumors I've been hearing are true. They're still small amounts of dragons flying around the land…"
"If these dragons were so powerful, how the hell did they all end up dead?" Koga asked.
Diana leaned back in her chair. "Well…the turning point of the war started when a man from the land of Cremorrah taught the knights how to harness the power of dragons. They took their magical capability and turned it against them. Certain warriors were mastering what they call dragon arts and practically becoming dragons themselves. Some of them were fighting dragons one-on-one and winning. The area I want to go to is called the Isle of Dragons. It's full of dragon remains…"
"Sounds like a nice tourist spot," said Luci.
"So, if it's just full of dragon remains, what makes it dangerous?" Bean asked as she crossed her arms. "It's not like any of them come alive and will try to attack you."
Diana looked at Bean.
Bean stared at Diana and gulped. "They won't come alive, right?"
"Like I said, dragon's magic is obscure and beyond our understanding. From what I've heard…the dragon remains have changed the terrain and environment around the Isle of Dragons. It's even…created things. Adventures who've shown up here to explore it have never seen again."
"Wellllp," said Elfo. "That was a nice story. Come on, guys, let's go home!" The elf turned around and headed for the door, but Koga grabbed him by the back of his shirt. Elfo sighed. "Oh goddamn it…"
"Isle of Dragons, huh?" said Koga, pondering on what he just heard. "And you'll make me a new sword if we take you there to get what you need?"
"That's the deal," said Diana.
Koga looks at Bean, Elfo, and Luci. "Well, do you guys wanna come along?"
"Heck yeah, I do! I wanna see some dragon skeletons!" said Bean, excited.
"I might as well. I have nothing better to do than watch you guys get eaten alive by an already dead dragon," Luci shrugged.
"I don't think I have a choice…so why not," Elfo sighed.
"Well, that settles it. It's a deal," said Koga.
Diana let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you…I'll make preparations now. I need to let my mother know I'm leaving too. So, excuse me," She gets up and heads into the other room.
That's when Bean suddenly remembers. "Hey, Koga, do you still have that weird scaly dragon key?"
"Yeah, I do," said Koga.
"I'm surprised you didn't bring it up to her," said Elfo. "She probably knows something about it."
"Nah," Koga shook his head. "Besides…something about that story she told me doesn't sit right with me."
"Like what?" said Luci.
"Well, for starters," said Bean. "If the dragons were so vicious, why did that Oscar guy say they must be protected? And what truth was he talking about in that letter?"
"Who's Oscar again?" The demon asked.
"Remember that underground hideout we went to months back? The place where we found the key? He had a note and everything!"
"Oh yeaaah, where we fell down the hole, and you had that big scar on your shoulder, and you were bleeding all over the place. Yeah, it's all coming back to me now."
"Wow, Luci, I'm glad you can remember when I got hurt," Bean rolled her eyes.
"It's what I live for," Luci said proudly.
"Anyway," said Koga. "It feels like there are two sides to this whole war thing. I remember that the order of the sword found the underground hideout when we showed up."
"What does this all mean?" said Elfo.
Koga shrugs. "Hell, if I know. All that matters to me is getting a new sword!"
"W-What? Then why did we start trying to piece all of this together?" The elf asked, sounding disappointed.
"It sounded like a fun conversation!"
"Ugh," Elfo rubs his face. "Fine, whatever."
…
"Hey Jim,"
"What?"
"Do you ever think birds have dreams?"
Jim looks at Ben."What?"
"Like, do you think they have dreams of pooping on bigger ships?"
"That is the dumbest question you've ever asked me…"
A group of sailors were sitting on the edge of their ships, fishing. They had just returned with trade and were now passing the time. The two were even paying attention to their fishing rods. They just sat there talking about birds pooping and staring out at sea, bored. It wasn't till Ben had spotted a ship in the distance. It's normal to see ships passing by, of course. However, this wasn't any ordinary ship. The ship was black and gold…and sent fear into his heart.
"Oh no…Jim!" He pointed forward.
Jim looked forward, and his eyes widened. "T-That can't be the dark legion ship…can it?"
The ship had a symbol of cat faces, and in front of the boat was a carving of a curvy woman posing as if someone was painting her. Ben gets to his feet, "We need to alert the captain—"
"UGGGGGLLLLLY!"
"Wot?" Ben pasued.
"LUCIAS IS UGGGGGGGLY!"
"SHUP UP YOU WENCH!" Shouted a deep voice.
Jim and Ben looked out at the dark legion boat. To their surprise, there was another boat that was sailing with them. One had a large skull decorated on the side of the ship.
"YOU SHUT UP!" said the feminine voice. "YOU STALKER!"
"I'M NOT A STALKER! DON'T MAKE ME BLOW YOU AWAY!"
"IF YOU DO I'M TELLING THE GENERAL!"
"TELL HIM!"
The two ships sailed past the boat where Jim and Ben stood.
"What in the hell was that?" asked Ben.
"No idea…was that one of the dark legion's ships? Or pretenders?"
"Search me," said Jim. "Anyway…do you think eagles poop on castles? How do they not get beheaded?"
"Ugh…" Ben shook his head.
The two ships that passed were making their way to the lands of the bedrock kingdom…and were going to make land near the Isle of Dragons.