Myrellia stank.
Quora was greeted by the mighty stone walls of the Holy City and guards dressed in brass armour and red tabards, who were more than happy to let someone through the impenetrable gates based on looks alone. She could see the looming arches and spires of sun-washed white stone of the Cathedral of Myratel, the goddess of these lands. That was where Myrellia's beauty ended, for beneath Quora's feet was dust and mud, and all around her, the fly-ridden citizenry bustled about their rundown homes. The smell would be much to bear for a human, but it was overwhelming to a dragon's senses. Quora scoffed at all of what she saw.
Humans will take this and call it justice.
She felt the eyes on her, but here they were not as prying as before. She would have assumed the people's dismal hope to be the cause, but the whispered gossip suggested otherwise. The people speculated this woman must be an envoy to meet with the elite of Myratel's faith, or perhaps she was called there by the pope, who was alleged to be rather indulgent. Disgusting. Quora would love the opportunity to kill him.
One such conversation caught her ear.
"She could be a witch. Could the church be turning to sorcery to handle the monsters?"
"It would help with their coffers - mercenaries like Hadtrane don't come cheap."
"And the papal soldiers too...Stragor's goblins might be small, but they're relentless! So many wounded..."
Quora was quite intrigued. She imagined herself changing into her draconic form, razing Myrellia's slums, and devouring half of the pope's warriors, all to have it written off as another monster attack. She counted Myrellia's people lucky that her hunger didn't come often. Quora realized she had lost herself in her daydream when she bumped into someone small. Looking down, she watched a young girl with blonde pigtails carrying a bucket of water fall and spill the contents all over herself and on Quora's leg.
"Julia! Are you okay?" a man with blonde hair and the same scent as the girl rushed to her side. Julia nodded and looked at a stuffed rabbit she had dropped, now sopping wet and covered in mud.
"Chippy's ruined, Caerven..." Julia lamented. She looked at Quora, "I'm really sorry, pretty lady..."
Quora sensed a tinge of fear in Caerven when he asked her how he could make things right. It was difficult for her to think of how he could—she had the impression these two were among the less fortunate of Myrellia's people. She felt pity for them and extended a hand to Julia.
"Give Chippy to me," said Quora.
Julia picked up the toy, "You...want Chippy? But he's mine, and he's so dirty..."
"I don't care."
Julia acquiesced and handed Chippy to Quora. She looked at the filthy thing in her hand and wondered how humans could form such attachments to objects like this. She realized the irony in doing so when she recalled Moonfang's hoard of scrolls and writings. Perhaps humans weren't so different from dragons, at least in some cases. Quora centred herself and called upon just a little magic - the people had figured her a witch of some sort anyway; it was of little use to hide the fact. As she slowly waved her hand over Chippy, he glowed a pale blue. Caerven and Julia watched with awe as mud and grime from years of love sloughed off of Chippy, leaving his white faux fur soft and clean like new. Quora returned Chippy to Julia, who was delighted to have her toy back.
"Look. Chippy's good as new, Caerven!" Julia said ecstatically. She looked up at Quora with eyes full of joy, oblivious to the dragon's heart which she filled with warmth. With a big smile, she said, "Thanks, pretty lady!" Julia's head darted from Caerven to Quora, "Say...are you looking for a boyfriend?"
Caerven's face turned beet red, "Uhh, Julia?"
"He's my brother," said Julia proudly, "He works really hard and gets tired a lot - maybe if he had a girlfriend, he wouldn't have to!"
Quora was amused by what her kindness had caused - and was pretty confident a woman like herself would make Caerven even more tired.
"I seek a treasure in this city, but that is not it..." Quora said, leaning close and tweaking Caerven's nose. She whispered in his ear, "...for now."
Quora took her leave of the siblings, much to Julia's chagrin. She heard Caerven's insistence that he get Julia home and warmed up in dry clothes. Quora felt oddly good about helping Julia - she had never once thought to help a human when they were in need, but she barely thought twice about magically cleaning Julia's toy here. Perhaps playing the lie of being human for so long had extended to her subconscious, or maybe it was an effect of the magic sustaining her human shape. She thought to look into it later as she approached the Cathedral of Myratel.
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The Cathedral of Myratel was even more massive up close, and Quora found it oddly beautiful - she knew humans were capable of art, but the detail of this structure was monstrous in scale, and all of it was made to stand out with the shadows of the late day sun. Rings within rings etched in numerous stone pillars adorned with images and sculptures of trees and doves, and above it all stood Myratel herself, a haloed woman draped in silk with three sets of feathery wings, her delicate fingers outstretched as a puppeteer would with their charge's strings. Guarding the cathedral was a veritable legion of warriors, the vaunted Papal Knights, donned in golden armour and pure white cloth, their faces made into black voids behind slits in their helms, and they carried golden halberds with wicked heads held high. They were as an army of statues, showing no signs of life until Quora approached one of the warriors. Before she could ask about the cathedral, the warrior's head snapped to attention, and he raised an interposing hand.
"Begone!" he barked, the metallic ring of his helm made him almost intimidating. Quora's insistence was met with the Papal Knight, apparently oblivious to her charms, levelling his halberd at her, and more warriors taking notice. She was still leagues from the cathedral itself, and the sheer number of the warriors became apparent when more of their eyes were on Quora. She fled the cathedral and went back to the city proper.
Quora cursed her luck. She could easily dispatch the warriors, but there was nothing discreet about wiping out scores of Papal Knights. She would need to devise a plan to find a way into the Cathedral of Myratel. She shifted into her bird of prey shape and flew for the city's outskirts.
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The surrounding area of Myrellia was lightly forested, and many white specks of stone between the trees could be seen as Quora flew above. The area was hilly, and the further north of the city Quora went, the more stony and mountainous the terrain. Granted, these mountains were far dwarfed by the Mountains of Moon, but these were very much inhabited. Quora scanned the low mountains until she landed before a cave mouth. She could hear rhythmic rumbling from within, and though the cave was dark, her draconic eyes saw clear through it. She changed into her human shape and ventured into the cave.
The humid air of the cave reeked of some beast. Quora kept low and quietly crept along the slime-covered walls, the rumbling getting louder the deeper she went. She came upon a massive dark shape, the source of the cave's rumble, but the darkness was too great for even Quora's eyes. She used magic to create a tiny mote of light.
The thing revealed in the light was monstrous indeed. Before Quora slept a beast that was a terrifying amalgam of creatures. On three long necks were the massive heads of a serpent, a lion, and a bull. Its body was the most like a lion, but the front half was covered in fur, and the rear in scales and adorned with hooved feet. Great bat-like wings adorned its back, and its tail, splayed on the cave floor, was of a colossal scorpion. Quora cared not for where this natureless thing came from - it would serve its purpose perfectly.
She conjured a dagger of raw magic, which formed in her hand with an opaque orange glow. She cautiously approached the beast, producing a vial from her pocket and pulling off its cork with her teeth. The beast's size became apparent as she got closer, dwarfing a human house. When she was close enough, she cut into the beast's flank and collected its foul blood, watching and listening for any sign of disturbing it.
She saw the serpent head lap the air with its tongue.
Quora could hear the bones inside this thing creak and turn when the serpent head rose to lap the air again. She let her dagger disappear and shoved the cork back onto her vial. Quora ran past the serpent head toward the cave entrance, stopping to look back at the beast. The serpent head stared groggily at her, the other heads still asleep, with the lion head having brought one of its huge paws over its eyes. Quora conjured another tiny mote of magic, except this one would not produce light. The serpent head watched curiously as the mote wafted harmlessly through the air towards it. The mote sputtered, fluctuated.
It exploded with a deafening thunderclap.
The beast awoke with a roar, a hiss, and a bray, a combination that filled the cavern with a horrifying roar that should not exist. Six eyes all fixed on Quora as the thing rose to its feet. It let out another roar that sounded like a tortured moan before the thing charged at Quora.
Quora, grinning widely, fled the cave with the beast in tow.
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Of course the beast would quickly gain on Quora - as expected, humans were hopelessly slow on two legs.
Quora called upon magicks to quicken her feet as the beast thundered behind. She realized her error of flying over the terrain; now, she had to improvise a path for herself and her natureless friend. She deftly weaved between trees and over stones, which did more than she expected to slow the beast down. She heard the beast skid to a halt when she passed through a thicket of trees. She dared pause and check if the beast had lost interest.
The beast had indeed stopped, but what Quora saw and heard made even her stomach turn. It had reared forward, and with a sickening cacophony of shifting muscle and bone, she witnessed the beast changing the positions of its heads. The serpent head was moved aside to make way for the bull head to assume the middle. All six eyes were on Quora, teeth bared in three mouths, thick saliva dribbling out. The beast let out a wretched howl, scraped the ground with a front paw, lowered its horns, and resumed its pursuit, bulldozing through any tree or stone in its path.
The chase was on once more, and now the beast had an unnervingly easier time gaining on Quora, no matter how many obstacles she put between it and herself. She could see the Cathedral of Myratel looming on the horizon, but still not close enough. Longer still did she continue to lead the beast; she began to feel her body weaken and her magicks fade. Suddenly, she felt her foot catch on a root. Falling forward, she deftly shape-shifted into a mouse. Her world turned and grew humongous in scale around her as she tumbled harmlessly into a mass of roots in the ground. Everything shook, jostling her around as the beast passed overhead, apparently driven more by rage than predatory instinct.
Quora was in a daze, her tiny heart pounding, but she was unharmed. When she gathered her bearings, she emerged from the roots to find a ruined path blazed by the beast. She could see the beast still rampaging. She turned into a bird of prey and took flight to see where the beast was headed - directly for the walls of Myrellia.
She lowered into a dive, quickly overtaking the beast. She was close enough to the city that she could hear the men on Myrellia's walls shouting and sounding alarm bells, along with the subsequent cries of fear from the citizens. She headed for a dense thicket close to the walls and thought of Julia when she prepared to shape-shift once more.
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Hadtrane the mercenary always disliked Myrellia - the taverns always had the poorest fare, and the people hiring his services were always so stuck up and set in their ways. Still, the money was well worth it, as the Church of Myratel was famous for being terrible with numbers. It was as if they did not care about their financial situation or saw money as a frivolous concept.
He was a hulking man, covered head to toe in dark iron armour. Over his head was a brimmed helmet with a faceplate with several round holes. Draped on his armour was a bright red sash tied around his shoulders, ending with a cape that barely passed his waist. In his hand and resting on his shoulder was a gigantic cleaver with teeth like a sawblade.
When he heard the alarm bells, he raced to get his equipment on. Myrellia had distinct bells to denote what kind of threat approached, and these bells happened to tell that Hadtrane's specialty was coming. He strode toward the city's main gates and whistled an innocent tune as people ran past him in their panic. The guards at the gate shouted something concerning - the monster was pursuing a young girl. Hadtrane felt dread and quickened his pace as the main gates slowly opened with a creak.
A little girl with long black hair came screaming through the gates, her garb marking her as a peasant. Hadtrane saw the men operating the gate leaving their posts with haste before it exploded with a shower of wood and stone. A grotesque three-headed beast came through the gate and let out a terrifying roar from all of its throats.
"A chimera!" Hadtrane shouted with glee. He clutched his great cleaver in both hands, "You leave this to-"
Hadtrane felt someone bump into him as they passed and saw that the Papal Soldiers had arrived with halberds in hand. They advanced with stoic silence, letting out only a single cry of 'For Myratel!' as they charged into the chimera. They ignored everything else around them, including the girl weaving past them and toward Hadtrane.
"Woah, there!" Hadtrane slung his weapon across his back and kneeled with his arms outstretched. The girl came to him, and he lifted her.
"The soldiers can handle this. Let's get you out of here!" Hadtrane said. The girl nodded and clutched Hadtrane's sash as he rushed away from the danger and toward the Cathedral of Myratel, shoving past the Papal Soldiers he dwarfed as he went.
Once the chimera and the carnage it was no doubt wreaking in the ranks of the soldiers was just noise in the distance, Hadtrane kneeled and let down the girl. A pair of concerned priests in white robes were rushing over to them.
"Alright, this should be far enough," said Hadtrane. You go with those guys and get inside the cathedral until this passes, eh? You'll be safe there."
The little girl smiled, "You're a hero!" she said as she enthusiastically planted a kiss on Hadtrane's faceplate. The priests let out a chuckle while Hadtrane was dumbstruck, putting a mailed hand where she had kissed. The priests thanked Hadtrane for his help and left for the cathedral with the girl.
Quora could barely contain her glee, her childlike face grinning madly beneath the notice of the priests.
Everything was going to plan.