The blue dragon blasted lightning towards the sky, the lightning crackling with death. Any average man or woman would easily die within the blast, and even Experts would find themselves upon death’s door. The sailors watched in sheer awe at the approaching dragon, with a foolish hope.

A hope that they’d be able to survive the day.

“Step back! I will deal with her!” Morkarai commanded, his voice full of royal authority. He placed the stone back into the crate cautiously, as though he could destroy the ship by dropping the stone. He rolled up his sleeves towards his elbows, before his entire body began to shift, growing taller and taller rapidly, until the ship began to creak with his weight, and he slowed the magic to transform him until he was only twice as tall as the others around him. ‘This should be enough.’

Adam pulled back along with the others around him, only just realising how much the Prince had held back in their fight previously. ‘Damn! He’s built like a damn tank!’

Morakarai flexed his muscles, feeling the way his clothing strained with his physique. The giant blade upon his back was now truly a giant’s blade, though only Jaygak understood how it was still considered small, since Morkarai was not yet standing at his full height. The excitement flood through the Iyrman in great anticipation. Morkarai inhaled deeply, holding out both of his hands in front of him, his stance low.

Lucy’s eyes pulled away from Morkarai, with much effort since he was suddenly such a treat, to glance towards Adam for a short moment, before her gaze returned back to the blue dragon. She rested the axe over her shoulder, waiting for the dragon to come to them.

The dragon snarled and growled, though Adam could hear what the true meaning behind the snarls.

Joyous laughter.

The dragon dove with sudden alacrity, approaching the fire giant Prince with joy, before slamming against him, the pair a mixture of blue, black, and red, a painting of strength. As the pair wrestled, the dragon’s body landed upon the ship, almost breaking the railings around her. Morakrai growled as the pair wrestled, his minute form an equal drawback to the dragon trying not to destroy the ship within their fun, before finally the fire giant Prince pinned the dragon beneath him.

“This bout is mine!” Morkarai shouted as the dragon continued to squirm under him, half her body off the side of the ship, having finally destroyed the railing. Eventually the dragon stopped struggling within his arms, before he allowed her free, only for the dragon’s body to shift, and moments later a woman of equal height to the fire giant prince, save perhaps a hair taller, stood before them all. The large horns atop her head could skewer any of them, the scales, blue as the deep ocean, ran along the side of her forehead down the side of her neck and into her shirt. Her tail, long and spiked, flowed behind her with every breath. She carried with her no obvious weapons, though she wore jewellery on almost every finger, and various necklaces, each like rivers of silver and gold.

The woman spoke with the low gruff tones of the giant tongue, her teeth wide in a wild grin.

“You should speak the Aldish tongue,” Adam said.

“Who has issues with me speaking the tongue of the giants?” she asked, her blue eyes darting to the side, noting the Iyrman, the demons, and the half elf. She narrowed her eyes towards the half elf and the demons, a queer smell floating out of them.

“We don’t have any issues, but Morkarai asked us not to beat you, so you should at least show some politeness.”

“You should refer to him-,”

“Karza,” Morkarai growled towards the half dragon woman.

The woman replied in the giant tongue, with Morkarai confirming something. “Hah! You should be glad that Morkarai is vouching for you.”

“You’re the one who should be glad Morkarai is vouching for you,” Adam replied, courting death from the blue dragon. “We’ve killed quite a few dragons, but Jaygak here loves killing blue dragons most.”

“I will only hope that Morkarai will stop protecting you,” Jaygak said, her entire body buzzing with an eagerness she had almost never displayed before, not to Adam, not to the demons. Jaygak, so timid was she was normally, glowed so Iyrmanly.

“I am a Drunda.”

Jaygak snorted, before glancing aside, almost disappointed. “We have no blood between us then.”

“She cool?” Adam asked.

“Yes.”

“Oh, well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Lady Karza, how do you do?” Adam asked, reaching out his hand to shake her forearm.

Karza howled with laughter. “Are they companions of yours, Morky?”

Morkarai remained silent, causing the woman to laugh.

“Are you friends?” Adam asked.

“Friends? Who would want to be friends with him?” Karza replied, laughing even wilder. “He’s good for wrestling and fighting and drinking and not much else.”

Morkarai wondered if he should threaten her, but he understood how much trouble she could cause, and if it was just some disrespect, he could let it pass since he was mostly incognito. Meanwhile the sailors and passengers around stared at the dragon who had suddenly arrived, although one continued to smoke his pipe, staring out to the sea.

“Alright, well, it’s nice to meet you anyway,” Adam said, pulling his hand back awkwardly.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Right, you shake your arms to greet one another,” Karza said, extending out her arm. “It’s been a while since I talked to you mortals.”

“Right, well…” Adam shook her forearm, unsure of how to feel about someone who was almost as cringe as him.

As they shook forearms, Karza asked something in the giant tongue, to which Morkarai replied back softly. Karza then let go of Adam’s forearm, crossing her arms. She glanced towards the demons, and asked the same question to the Prince, who replied awkwardly.

‘They are Adam’s friends.’

“Are you Adam?”

“Yes?” Adam replied, narrowing his eyes towards the dragon.

“What has you so afraid?” Karza asked, noting his change in demeanour, which had been so eager to fight when he knew she was a dragon.

“Usually trouble follows.”

“What kind of trouble do you bring?”

“I don’t bring any… much trouble at all.”

“That’s what they all say.”

“I bring some trouble, but usually trouble comes to me.”

“Does it come to your friends too?” Karza asked, her eyes glancing towards the pair of demons.

“The only kind of trouble that comes to them is the kind we can’t kill,” Adam replied, his tone lower, while Mara crossed her hands over her navel, standing taller.

While the group threatened the dragon, the other passengers tried to make themselves smaller, with the Princess wrapping her cloak around herself, her heart thundering within her chest, her companion beside her, cloaked head to toe beside her, remained focused on the dragon, the greatest threat to its liege.

‘Don’t,’ the Princess dared to command with her mind, hoping it could not sense their telepathy.

The other Wizard walked away towards the under deck, his heart beating wildly. ‘Of course a dragon would appear now that I’ve left Aldland.’ He reached up towards his amulet, with half a thought to summon the chimeras from within. ‘No, how ridiculous. The Order of Wings has no connection to the dragon…’ Yet he couldn’t help the feeling the dragon was after him.

The Wizard spun on his heel to notice the young woman who had stepped passed him silently, as though having blended into the shadows. She stopped, turning her head to face him.

“Do you wish to speak with me?” Kitool asked.

“No,” the Wizard replied, a hand clutching around the gem within his hand, ready to cast his spell. He tugged on his hood as though tipping a helmet, before he casually stepped away towards his room.

Kitool approached the group, with a familiar sight, even if the figures of the familiar sight had changed. Morkarai held an annoyance on his face to try and keep Karza from acting up, and her heart sympathised with the Prince.

“Okay?” Kitool asked.

“Okay,” Jaygak replied.

“What’s up?” Adam asked.

“It is nothing.”

“Is Vonda okay?”

“Okay,” Kitool replied, nodding her head.

Adam let out a relieved sigh, his shoulders finally relaxing. “Thanks.”

Kitool bowed her head once more, glancing at the dragon, who definitely wasn’t a Gryn.

The Captain of the ship remained silent, unsure if he was meant to charge the dragon for her travel, or if he should be glad that the dragon wasn’t going to ship his sink or take his coin.

The days continued to pass by, the party spending little time within the Aswadian ports. Adam thought to send word back the Iyr, but he decided against it, only sending word back to Manager Dunes.

Adam chewed his kebab as they made their way along the ocean, wondering when there was going to be a sea battle, or when there was going to be an issue with the navy. He expected it because of course it would happen, since it was him.

“There are several dragons who make their home to the north of us,” Jaygak said, staring out towards the southern coast of Western Aswadasad. “The nearest is within a hundred miles.”

“Really?” Adam asked.

Jaygak nodded. “We should be glad, since Crimson Horror is no longer considered an enemy of the state.”

“A what?”

“Crimson Horror, who is almost considered Ancient, has lived many centuries as an enemy of the state. Every few decades there is a skirmish between the Aswadians and the dragon, with many armies finding themselves destroyed by the dragon. For the past century there has been little activity. Recently, due to the civil war, there has been a negotiation between the dragon and the country. Aswadasad brought many gifts to the dragon. The dragon northward of the Crimson Horror…” Jaygak paused.

“What?”

“The dragon above Crimson Horror is White Frost.”

History Check (Intelligence)

D20 + 3 = 12 (9)

“The name sounds somewhat familiar.”

“The only White Dragon within Aswadasad,” Jaygak prompted.

“Oh! Yeah, yeah. There was something else about him… her too, right?”

“She is from Lady Jaeryael’s time.”

“Right, right…” Adam remained silent for a moment, the name sounding so familiar, and yet so… “Oh! Right! Right, Lady Jaeryael.”

“It is recent, but White Frost has also…” Jaygak paused. “It seems the times are changing.”

“What do you mean?”

Jaygak shook her head. The deals with White Frost and Aswadasad have been ongoing for a short while, and if Jaygak revealed any more specifics, it could be noted that the Iyr’s intelligence network reaches as far as Aswadasad.

“Does that mean that a dragon won’t kill us?”

“It seems to be that way.” Jaygak inhaled deeply. “We should be careful this year, Adam.”

“I’m always careful.”

“Adam,” Lucy called, stepping up beside him, crossing her arms as she stared out at the ocean. “Jaygak’s right. You need to be careful.”

“I’m always careful.”

“You’ve become so arrogant.”

“Me? Arrogant?”

“We had no idea if the dragon was stronger than Karza or not. If it was a greater dragon, what would you do? With Vonda sick, with Jurot and Kitool watching over them, what would we have done? Morkarai would be safe, maybe, but us? One blast of lightning, one blast of fire, we may have died.”

“It’s not like-,”

“Adam,” Lucy stated, her voice firm. “Wake up.”

“…” Adam could hear within Lucy’s tone something he hadn’t expected, a seriousness which had never taken her voice before. “Yeah. Alright.”

The days on the sea continued until one day the ship no longer aimed for port, but rather, the deep ocean many miles away from land. The Captain held onto his magical compass, which pointed towards his desire, that of a particular section of the ocean.

‘The weather has been too good,’ the Captain thought a few hours before a storm took the ship, though he seemed completely relaxed within the middle of the falling rain, the thunder rumbling and lightning crashing nearby.

“It is time,” Morkarai said, staring at the distant whirlpool.

“Time?”

“We must jump into the whirlpool.”

“…” Adam blinked.

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do,” Adam said, glancing towards Jurot. He sighed. “I don’t really like being underwater, but I guess if it’s for our adorable little…”

As the ship approached the edge of the whirlpool, which seemed to stop at a particular point of the ocean, a shadow formed within the water, before a serpent, its head easily as big as any of them, glared down towards them, made of pure darkness.

Karza grinned wide, clenching her fist as she readied herself, though Morkarai placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her from being an idiot.

“I am Lord Morkarai.”

“I pay you respects, Lord Morkarai,” it replied, its voice as raspy as the sea air. “Why have you come?”

“I have come to meet my betrothed.”

The sea creature’s eyes, a void of blackness, remained focused on the Prince. It bowed its head once, before disappearing into the whirlpool, the whirlpool glowing for a moment.

“Come,” Morkarai said, leaping off the edge of the ship, while Karza followed after.

Adam reached out to hold Vonda’s hand, the woman who was often sick while on the sea. “Let’s go.”

Vonda smiled, holding Adam’s hand, before the pair leapt into the water, followed closely behind by their companions.

Constitution Save

D20 + 6 = 19 (13)

The Captain’s grandson glanced over towards him, unsure of what to say. The Captain remained silent, having only met the being the first time himself. He let out a long sigh.

‘What a time to be alive.’