I woke up at almost noon. “Pem?Lax?” Rubbing my eyes and sitting up I see three dead wyverns but not Lax or Pem. My weapons and Lax’s bow and quiver are still here. I get up and walk toward the closest wyvern. They seem much larger in the daylight.
The first one had four arrows in its scaled throat and lower jaw area. The second one had two arrows in its back, a giant gash down one of its wings, and a spear head lodged in its chest. The third looked like a porcupine with about fifteen arrows lodged in it and a mangled tail.
Lax and Pem wouldn't leave me right? Are they okay? I look around for evidence or tracks to help tell me what is going on. There are a few sets of footprints leaving the campsite. Deciding to wait just one more hour before leaving towards Nardun. Passing the time I try to remove the wedged spearhead of my halberd and retrieve some arrows. Using my knife I recover my spearhead and eight arrows.
While working on the ninth arrow I spot a younger male elf heading my way. “Are you the Hero Tom?” He yelled from quite a ways away while still walking towards me. Why would I be called a hero? “I’m Tom but I’m certainly no hero.” I yelled back. “ Right, if you would just follow me to our current headquarters.” He was only a few feet away now and I remembered him at the meeting in front of the magistrate’s building. I wipe my knife clean and stand up.
“Lax and Pem there?” “Yes sir. Pem was called on early this morning to help with an investigation. Our camp is only about a thirty minute trek up the pass from here if you would please follow me. I retrieved everything I followed along. The spearhead, knife, and sword on my hip was fine but having a shield, bow, and quiver on my back with a smaller pack was a nightmare. The halberd does make for a nice walking stick.
Thinking about how you never see this problem in games or movies another wave of reality donned on me. This is actually happening. I helped kill three wyverns and now am following an elf up the pass to the main camp, which is full of elves and dwarves to help them fight or run off a dragon which reminds me. “How did we fare last night?” After a moment he replied. “Well Tom sir, we lost twenty three of the fifty eight in our group and all the greedy ones ahead of us,we have not heard from them. If last night happened to them as well, they are all probably dead. At least sixty wyverns are dead which is about how many we thought there were in total.”
After another minute of silence I wanted to know more. “So there’s thirty five of us left?” “About forty now sir. A few more showed up this morning after the fighting.” “Do you know of any plans moving forward?” “Just that you are needed sir.” “Thanks.”
We continued through the gray rocky mountain pass in silence. It took thirty minutes just like he said. Just off the trail there was a large flat area with four massive green tents placed in the shape of a diamond with only a few feet between them.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“In there sir.” He points to the northern tent. There were about twenty bodies covered and guarded by a few people just off the trail between the trail and tents. Walking towards the northern tent I see in the center of them is a fire with about a dozen sitting around mumbling and staring my way. Time to see what’s up. I take a breath and head inside the northern tent.
“Tom my boy, it is good to see you.” “You too Lax. Pem” I nodded to her. She seemed sad and not paying any attention to us. “The hero finally arrives.” I look over to the deep voice I recognize. “Master Stilldar, it’s good to see you again.” He took a deep breath. “Tom, I apologize for my words. You did not deserve them.” He did a small bow. “Apology accepted. Now what’s with this hero nonsense?” Looking back to Lax.
“You saved the life of a Prince.” He smiled. “So cleansing a party member is all it takes to be a hero?” “It is partly in jest but you did save my life and many have been called heroes for less.”
“Okay seriously now, what’s next?” “We continue with the plan.” An older heavily scarred elf in green plate armor replies. “Didn’t we kill as many wyverns last night as we thought total and do we have a new guess as to how many are left? Also any word on reinforcements on either side?” The old scarred elf took a step toward me. “It does not matter. If we do not do our job many will die.” he turned around to face the rest of the group in the tent since I was still alone at the entrance. “We leave in thirty minutes!” And he walked past me outside.
Heading outside I was thinking how much I didn’t like this when I heard pleading coming from my left near the bodies of the fallen. Two men chained down with their heads on a stump where who were the ones pleading. Master Stilldar's massive Dratoric friend was their executioner. He swung his massive greatsword down cleaving both heads at once.
“They lied….” Pem said next to me in a broken voice. I looked over and saw pain in her face. Instinctively I wrapped an arm around her. As she cried lightly into my chest, I realized she had just put two people to death. Lax walked up and explained. “In the chaos last night these two were looting the dead. To be more accurate they killed the injured first then looted them. They denied it of course.” He pointed to the old scarred elf man in charge. “Commander Zinkas knew Pem was on this mission and she has settled disputes like this before. She is rather famous along The Great River actually.” He said in a way that showed he was proud of his great niece. She stood up straight sniffing the last of her sadness away. “Thank you, Tom.” “Anytime Pem. Guys I don’t like this one bit.” They both nodded. “Agreed. If all thirty eight of us were as good as uncle I would still not like it.” “Oh right. Here Lax.” I hand him his unstrung bow and quiver. He grabbed it but I could see he was deep in thought. “We have to try, don’t we Lax?” “Yes my boy we do…be smart though. Stay in the back and run if there is no chance.”
After a moment of silence taking in Lax’s words I thought of something. “How does one kill a dragon anyway?” Lax points to a few men struggling with some equipment. It looks like a giant crossbow. “We had four ballista but lost one last night. The elves have many of them.” I walk a bit closer. They really seem like giant crossbows. The barbed bolts are over an inch thick and over five feet long. It has a crank kind of like bicycle pedals to pull the string back. It’s attached to a foldable tripod and seems to be carried on two soldiers’ shoulders.
“Time to move out!” The commander yelled. Seven hours until this sunset. We left the tents, bodies, and two injured men behind who were headed to Girroc to give news and bring reinforcements for the bodies and the fighting.