Angela had moved around a bit during the trip, but each spot was equally uncomfortable.
She hadn’t been sure what to expect, but the ride had been far less smooth than she had hoped.
The wagon had finally stopped, and she had kept an ear out for anyone checking on the wagons, but no one had come near.
Slowly, she peeled back more of the tarp flap from the side of the wagon, and then slipped over the side.
She placed her back against the large wheel and scanned the area. She needed a tree or a rise that would give her a good view of the caravan while she waited for people to fall asleep.
Footsteps approached, and she quickly slipped around the wheel and under the wagon, squeezing herself into the space between the axle and the cart’s bed.
Angela listened as the two porters chatted while checking the contents.
“Why are we keeping them alive?”
“That one with the creepy mask has a storage ring. If we kill him, we’ll lose the contents.”
“So, kill one of his friends in front of him, get him to unbind the ring, and then kill them all?”
“Something like that.”
“What are we waiting for, then?”
“Frank wasn’t sure his sleep spell was going to be strong enough, so he did something to make it stronger and it knocked him out.”
Angela missed the rest of the conversation. The two men had moved on and were now heading out toward the tree she had been eyeing. Probably to relieve themselves.
This was it; she decided. She needed to get to Forge now and wake him before the bandits got organized.
Climbing down from her hiding spot, she found the carriage that Forge had ridden in with his team.
Foregoing stealth for speed, she ran along the line of wagons.
A shout sounded from nearby, and she broke into a sprint to reach the carriage and threw open the door.
She scrambled over the sleeping adventurers to get to Forge and shook him.
He wasn’t wearing his mask and his head rocked back and forth, but he remained asleep.
“Forge, wake up! They’re going to kill you!” she screamed at him.
Feeling a presence behind her, she turned to the man, reaching in to grab her.
Retrieving her dagger, she stabbed down at the bandit’s hand, but he pulled it back with a laugh.
The man’s laugh cut off as his eyes widened and he looked past her.
She turned back to Forge and stared at a creature now sitting on his lap.
“Hi Angela,” it said.
She couldn’t deal with this right now.
“We need to wake up Forge. They’re going to kill him!” she shouted.
A rough hand seized her foot, yanking her out of the carriage.
She screamed, dropping her small dagger as she slammed into the ground.
Her last sight, the face of the red creature on Forge’s lap, watching her.
***
Cinder wasn’t sure what was going on.
Forge had closed his eyes, and the talking had stopped.
Their connection was still new to the both of them, and Cinder wasn’t sure if this was just something he didn’t understand.
There was a lot he didn’t understand, but Forge told him about everything.
He was going to be the smartest dragon ever at this rate.
The silence was so boring, and he debated having a snooze.
Snoozing was different from the big sleep.
When he slept, the other dragons talked to him. He couldn’t remember what they said, but he knew it was important.
He would doze, he decided. Dozing was like snoozing, but much shorter.
Definitely, he thought. A doze, then maybe a cookie or four, then a proper snooze.
Something was happening to Forge.
Cinder thought at Forge, but he didn’t respond.
He was a good dragon. He knew he was supposed to stay in the soul space until Forge said he could come out.
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Something was being said, but Forge was being weird, and the words made little sense to him.
The voice was familiar, though. It was Angela! What was she doing here?
She sounded upset.
He was a good dragon and would check on her.
He left his soul space, and the girl turned to him, surprised.
“Hi, Angela,” he sent her.
She screamed at him. About Forge. About the end.
The ugly man behind Angela yanked her from the carriage and she screamed in fear.
No!
He scurried out the window and onto the top of the carriage, then took in the situation.
There were many men. Angry men. Bad men!
He couldn’t see Angela, so he took off into the sky.
The man who had grabbed Angela was staring up at him, then suddenly threw something.
He dodged aside as the knife whirred by.
The other men had more weapons.
He felt the fire burn inside him.
The feeling that began in the pit of his stomach. The clicking sound his throat made.
“I am a good dragon!” he screamed out.
He faced the bad men as he unleashed the fire inside him.
He beat his wings as he tracked each of them.
The flame stopped, and he surveyed the damage.
He was a good dragon.
Returning to where Angela had fallen, he looked around but didn’t see her.
“Forge!” he sent his bound.
He jumped up into the carriage and stood on Forge’s lap, looking at his face.
Something was wrong, and he didn’t know what to do.
He would protect him.
He was a good dragon.
With that settled, he curled up in Forge’s lap and waited.
No one would hurt his bound.
He was a good dragon.
***
Frank woke up feeling like someone had kicked him in the head.
He closed his eyes and checked his logs.
System Message: Attack Successful! – 1 System Point Awarded.
It was ridiculous. He had single-handedly knocked out four Guildies.
Even if they were baby Guildies, he should have still gotten more than a single point from the experience.
Sighing, he rubbed his temples.
He could feel the heat of a campfire nearby and the smell of cooking meat.
His stomach rumbled angrily, and he sat up and stared groggily out the window.
It took him a long few seconds to comprehend what he was seeing.
A line of flames seemed to mark a path across the camp.
There were bodies on fire, and he didn’t need to investigate further to know they were his own men.
Unwilling to make himself a target, he opened the door of the carriage and slid out, staying low to the ground.
He scanned the area for the horses, but they seemed to be gone.
Either run off or eaten by whatever creature had done this, he supposed.
He stopped.
What if it wasn’t a creature, but one of the Guildies?
He had paid a great deal of money to ensure that none of them were casters before he made his move.
Fear completely forgotten, he calculated his losses.
His men were replaceable, as were the horses, though the horses cost more up front.
Paying the Guild to post the job was expensive, but it would have been worth it to get a Realm Ring, and his contact had assured him that the paladin had one.
He firmed his resolve, grit his teeth, and stood up from where he had crouched.
They had arranged the wagons and carriages into a semi-circle, using a nearly vertical cliff-side to wall off the area.
He spotted the carriage that had held the adventurers, and sure enough, he could see the door was wide open.
Ignoring the wagons and other carriages, he stomped over to where the adventurers had been. Maybe one of them hadn’t made it or had left something worthwhile behind.
Ten feet from the carriage he stopped, spying a slumped over body within.
Digging deep, he prepared his spell.
The Stun spell was often overlooked by other spellcasters due to its inability to affect anything physically.
However, being able to cast it at Tier Two had allowed him to create a new variation of the spell.
While he’d lost a spell slot, he had gained a spell that he could use to knock out even the most powerful of foes. The downside was that it was a slow cast, almost like a ritual spell.
Even if his target had a high willpower, his spell would slip quietly over them and slowly put them to sleep, never alerting them they were ever in danger.
His new focus had increased the power of the spell exponentially. Unfortunately, the drain had also increased with the power, and he had lost consciousness.
Seeing no movement from the carriage, he slowly made his way over.
He stepped around the door, peering inside, and froze again.
A creature stared at him from its perch on the paladin’s lap.
It was a tiny cat-sized dragon; he realized, wondering what he had gotten himself into.
The nature of the flaming corpses outside was now clear.
A predator or a protector, he wondered, bringing his hands up slowly in front of him to show he didn’t have a weapon.
“Hello. I’m Frank and I’m a friend.”
The dragon’s head had come up, watching him closely, but it didn’t seem aggressive.
A shrill voice came from beneath the carriage.
“Frank’s the one that hurt Forge!”
Not waiting for the dragon to respond, Frank cast his Stun spell at Tier Two and braced himself for the drain.
His adrenaline was up, and he gritted his teeth, fighting against the fatigue caused by the powerful spell. Spots formed in his vision, and he struggled to remain standing.
Preparing a follow-up shot, he aimed with his hand as his vision cleared, but the dragon had disappeared.
Something smashed into his head.
He closed his eyes in pain and pushed at the scaly hide of the creature that was clawing and biting at his face.
A strange clicking noise came from the dragon, then everything went white.
***
Angela hadn’t been able to see what happened, but the man’s grunting and cursing had cut off as the rolling heat of the fire reached her under the carriage.
She held on tight to the axle and waited, the sudden heat from the flames causing her to sweat.
There was movement close by, and she slowly turned her head towards it, making sure she didn’t jostle the carriage.
The dragon was sitting a mere foot away, watching her.
She stared at it.
It was sitting with its feet under it like a cat. But that’s where the similarities ended.
The creature had wings folded flat against its back, and a whiplike tail that wound around its body as it sat.
“Angela,” came a young sounding voice.
It had clearly come from the dragon, even if she hadn’t seen the dragon’s mouth move.
“Did you say my name?” she asked.
“Yes.”
That voice again. It wasn’t being said aloud; she realized. It was in her head.
She studied the dragon. He was cute, especially sitting that way. He looked like a loaf of bread.
“What’s your name?” she asked as she slowly climbed out of her hiding place.
“Cinder.”
She sat on the ground in front of him.
“How do you know my name?”
The dragon blinked its large innocent eyes at her in thought.
“Friend.”
“Are you Forge’s dragon?”
“Yes!”
Cinder’s pleased voice made her smile despite the situation, and she reached out a hand toward the creature but stopped herself.
“Can I pet you?” she asked.
“Yes.”
She ran her hand along the dragon’s head, watching as the spiky scales folded down with her touch.
She used her fingernails to scratch the dragon’s head, and he turned to allow her to scratch under his neck and behind his ears.
“Well, you’re adorable,” she told him.
“Yes!”
“Humble too, but you’re right, so I guess it’s just the truth.”
Angela strained her ears for any sounds, but the night was now quiet.
“I’ve got an idea on how to wake them up. Follow me,” she said, climbing out from under the carriage.
She watched Cinder leap into the carriage to check on Forge before jumping back down and following her.
Forge had a dragon, she thought.
Of course he had a dragon. Why wouldn’t he?
She smiled down at Cinder as he followed behind her, swiveling his head to take everything in.
Reaching the bucket next to the horse trough, she used it to scoop up some water.
“Ready to wake up some adventurers, Cinder?”
The dragon’s cheerful smile was all the answer she needed.