One hour until first light. I’m the first one up for a change. I look across to Pems bed and see Leah asleep with an arm draped over her. Answers that question. Rolling over to face the wall to stop the distraction I think about the last two weeks and what’s to come. Actual dragons and wyverns. I wondered what they would look like. The elves and Dwarves seem to resemble what I would have imagined but there are many types of dragons in earth’s mythology. Wait, is it mythology?

I hear the two elf women whispering. Not wanting to pretend to be asleep I said “Good morning ladies.” And turned over to face them again. They were sitting up and Leah had her left arm draped over Pem’s shoulders. They both seemed sad. “Everything okay?” “We have been friends for a long time. We will miss each other.” “Of course you will but the next time you see each other you both will have lots of new stories to tell.” “Well said my boy. It is time to go.”

Leah and Pem shared a hug then touched foreheads whispering to each other while I donned my new armor for the first time. With the padding it was a little snug on the chest and the mail came down to my mid to lower thigh. I put a gray tunic over the mail armor so I wouldn’t be a shining beacon to my enemies. My para-cord belt with the longsword and bowie knife attached to it held the tunic down nicely. Slinging my shield on my back and grabbing my halberd we all said goodbye to Leah and headed towards the magistrate.

As this world’s red sun came up we could see Mughardin giving orders and organizing about sixty other warriors which included the dwarf Master Stilldar and his large Dratoric friend. A short, very stocky dwarf with black hair and a big black beard was standing on some crates. His deep voice carried far. “….and lastly remember to keep your eyes on the sky at all times!” Everyone around roared and cheered then started heading west in smaller groups. I felt like I was playing warrior when the real deals just left. Going to war with wyverns and dragons.

The short dwarf spoke up again. “To quickly give those left some important information about the mission. The trek to Nardun is roughly a three day walk from here but they can fly hundreds of miles in a day so once you leave be prepared always. The decoy leaves tomorrow morning and the boat will be in position that evening. You should be nearing the pass closest to the river before that time. Do not fight with each other and keep your eye on the sky at all times!”

Lax walked up with a pack, an unstrung bow, and a quiver of arrows on his back. Pem carried the same but Lax had his fine clothes, a rapier, and buckler strapped to his side while Pem had her hard leather armor with two shortswords strapped to hers. “Is there a reason your bows aren’t strung?” Pem smiled at me clearly excited to share and so for hours I learned much about bows and archery in general.

It was gray everywhere. The dirt, the rocks, the sky all gray. Besides the occasional shrubs that’s all there was, gray. Being born and raised in the Rockies this terrain felt almost normal to me. Leaving the giant trees behind and not having anything very foreign to me around me I could almost believe I was back on earth. That is if it wasn’t for my travel companions.

The windy pass wasn’t very steep but after about six hours of walking, most of it being filled with Pem talking about archery, Lax called for a break. I surprisingly felt great but Lax’s poor old bones needed a minute. “Hey Pem do you follow a god?” “Brennen the God of time, moon, and water. What about you?” “Not really. Althea sounds nice.” “I bet she does.” Pem said playfully. I Laughed. “Na, her temple was offering refuge for people in a time of need is all.” She nodded. “She is good.” “Does anyone follow the other twenty four gods?” “Not very often.” We got up and headed back on the trail.

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Lax and Pem seemed really serious now. So most of the walk until nightfall was pretty quiet. I started playing games in my mind like spotting the difference between Magarnia and Earth but kept forcing myself to stop. We had passed quite a few adventurers before we stopped. Most of them were just taking an early night.

During our dinner Lax gave us instructions for the night. He had picked a spot just off the trail where we would have our backs to a large cliff face that shot up hundreds of feet. “Tom, take first watch. Pem you are second and I will be the last watch. Three hour watches and remember air and ground.” “What should I be looking for on the ground?” “Movement. You wake us if anyone or anything comes our way.” Sitting in the dark in complete silence normally would be boring but after the last two weeks and knowing what’s out there, my head was on a swivel and I stayed alert but nothing happened. I woke Pem up and then drifted off to sleep.

I felt someone kick me. “Tom, get up quietly.” Lax whispered to me. Four hours until light. Way off in the distance up the pass I hear roaring and yelling. Pem and Lax have their bows strung. He whispers again. “At least two above us on the clifftop.” after a few minutes of preparing and waiting in silence with the roars and yells in the distance growing louder and closer. Rocks above us start shifting and a few clank down the cliff side.

Pem steps away from the cliff side and sets loose an arrow. A painful scream pierces my ears. The sounds of multiple sets of wings start flapping. Now that they are alerted Lax yells. “Stay against the cliff and stay together! Tom, keep that halberd up, Pem start loosing and watch for the tails!” I start jabbing my spear in the air mostly as a deterrence while the two elves fired arrow after arrow. They had to step away from the cliff slightly with every shot. The first wyvern went down quickly. A second one dove silently off the cliff and struck out and hit Lax in the shoulder with its tail. My halberd struck the winged membrane and cut a large gash before it tried gaining altitude but couldn’t any longer so it glided away in pain. Pem was still firing at the second of the first two.

“Lax!” I yelled. He was on the ground convulsing and foaming at the mouth. I placed my hand next to the wound and cast. “Cleanse.” I imagined the invasive venom to leave the way it came in. And that’s what happened.

I turned to see the cut winged wyvern about to chomp down on Pem. She rolls out of the way as my spear tipped halberd strikes its chest with intense force killing it immediately with the spear wedged in completely. I start yanking it free when the third wyvern slams its tail into my chest knocking me over. Not letting go of my halberd the spear tip breaks off as I fall to the ground gasping for air.

I see two arrows fly over me and get buried into the wyvern hovering above me. As I try to stand up more arrows find the wyvern as Pem gives a battle cry and charges toward it. The wyvern sensing defeat starts fleeing so Pem stops and lets loose more arrows and they strike true as it loses altitude and crashes into the dirt and rocks unmoving.

“Tom!Uncle!” She runs over to me and helps me stand up. Finally catching my breath. “I’m okay, check on Lax.” She runs over and slides to his side. “Uncle….he’s sleeping.” Sounds of fighting both in front and behind us now on the trail that winds through the pass. “Pem, we need to prepare for another attack. We need to fix up his wound and stay on the cliff face. Also Pem, amazing shooting.” Grabbing Lax’s bow and quiver to use, I hand some arrows to Pem. “Thank you Tom. His wound is cleaned and bandaged. You saved him.” “And you saved us. We are a team.” A few minutes later I started drifting off to sleep. “Hey Pem, cleansing Lax has drained me. I can’t stay awake.” “That is fine Tom. Did you know in the winter this pass….”