Skippy soared north through the road connecting Yutis to Heath. Aidan was in a lot of distress when he requested this special mission of him and the little dragon was overeager to accomplish it. It was a strange feeling. Skippy's usually cool and collected and totally awesome guide and mentor was afraid of this enemy. It was up to him now to bring peace of mind to Aidan.
The dragon recalled once more the conversation.
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Skippy met Aidan and Dawn at the Princess' balcony in the academy dorms. The little dragon noticed that the girl smelled of blood but was not wounded. It was a different kind of blood smell, one he sometimes smelled on females of the people races. She was not in pain, so it must've been that kind of blood. The little dragon perched on the rail in front of his best friend.
"Skippy. How is it going, buddy?" Aidan's voice had a different quality to it this time. He was unsure, maybe even... no. There is no way he would be afraid, Skippy thought. He was spending too much time training pigeons and it was getting on the dragon's nerves.
Skippy bobbed his head and squeaked, opening a grin afterward.
"That good? I hope you are not causing mischief in the city."
Skippy scoffed and wove a paw negatively. He never caused trouble. If anything, he solved the trouble.
"Say, buddy... I have a huge request to make." Aidan asked, unsure. It made Skippy perk his head and raise his neck frills fully erect. He flared his nostrils and gazed deep in Aidan's eyes.
He raised the front paw and made a circular motion.
"There is a carriage coming in from the north country," Dawn told Skippy. She was afraid. Skippy leaped from the rail to the girl's lap. Dawn had the best pillows a dragon could hope for. Totally better than a pile of gold, Skippy was sure of it. She hugged him and Skippy felt like he could sleep a century in there. But there is a time for everything, and now he needed to stand tall and hear his friends' request.
He looked at the girl very close, nodded his head and snuggled it against her cheeks.
"So, this carriage. It is bringing an important person that wants to hurt me..." Skippy cut her off and roared, tiny tongues of fire erupting from his nostrils. Who dares? Dawn quickly calmed down the dragon caressing him in all the right spots. "No, hear me out. Calm down! This person is important and powerful so we can't harm him without preparing first. So all we can do is to delay him and buy time."
It makes sense. Important enemies require preparation and planning. Skippy shuddered when he remembered how he got trapped and wounded in that sewer with Abby and Maggie. It was because he rushed in without a plan thinking just being a dragon was enough. And he almost lost to mere wererats. Shame!
Dawn continued after the dragon didn't react, "Travel north through the road until you see a fancy carriage with this heraldry. Then make your best to delay that carriage the best you can." Skippy growled to signal he accepted it. "But it will be dangerous. These people are evil and powerful, they can harm or capture you. So be careful. You have to come back without fail."
Dawn caressed the dragon again and the little wyrm cooed, making himself even more comfortable on her soft cushions. Dawn giggled and hugged him tighter.
"Listen up. Go and delay them the best you can. If they spot you for a dragon, you get hurt, or they get past the wetlands north of here, come back to us. If you come back unhurt, I'll give you all the cuddles you want," She told Skippy with a kiss. Now that's a deal!
Both Aidan and Dawn gave Skippy a healthy amount of mana of all six types before he left.
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Skippy flew for two whole days at his top speed before he spotted the carriage. It was really easy, the heraldry was stamped on flags of all the four corners of the gilded carriage and there were eight heavy knights riding along with it. He did a flyover and smelled the scent of enchantments on the carriage. Troublesome. The Knights' armor and the horses barding were also enchanted. But their awareness was not that good. Not one of them glanced at Skippy as he did three flybys.
Time to disenchant that carriage. Skippy flew back and over a hill and dug a hole in the middle of the road, burying himself and changing his color to that of the dirt. He closed his nictating membrane to avoid getting dirt in his eyes. It made things hazy and hard to see but that's the life of an Earth dragon for you. Not much use for sight when you have opaque dirt all around you.
The carriage came, the horses went by the sides of Skippy. The carriage came and he latched himself to its bottom. Opening up his greedy gullet he started to feed off of the enchantments. Ten minutes or more passed and the ride became more and joltier. Still not enough. Half an hour and it was finally dispelled.
"That good for nothing enchanter!" A haughty female voice came from inside the heretofore silent carriage. "I'm going to have him flogged. To think his shabby work would fizzle out in the middle of the road!"
"We are still two weeks away." Groaned a male. "I can't believe we are going to shake all the way there. Can't you do something about it, sis?"
"The gall! You expect me to work? Get your heavy bum out of the carriage if you want to be of any use. At least it will shake less."
Arguing siblings, if Skippy ever heard them before. Well, he wasn't there for fun and gossip. Time to stop that vehicle. He drove a claw to the axle joint and let the spinning motion of the wheel do the grinding. Just before it was about to break he dropped down, curled, and hoped the knights would take him for a rock.
The carriage didn't move more than ten meters away before the axle broke. The carriage was dragged for a few more meters before the knights stopped and moved their horses in a circle around it. Skippy had to remain still, one eye half-open and a knight just a few meters away. Luggage fell from over the vehicle and several trunks broke, spilling their precious and fancy content by the roadside.
Screaming, shouting, cursing came from inside. Skippy did his best to ignore it. How rude these people could get?
Two young people, probably a Prince and a Princess from the looks of it came outside. A maid like the ones following Princess Pearl everywhere also came out.
"Now just what we needed! Where in tarnation will we find a wheelwright in the middle of nothing?"
"Your Highnesses," One of the knights, an older man said. "Please stay inside the vehicle. It might be an ambush and we don't want to risk your safety."
"What are you saying? If there are bandits, let the rabble come at me! I'll show them!" The Prince, a man in his early twenties, boasted.
"Allow me to seek our foes." The Princess, a woman in her early twenties but with too much makeup started to cast a spell. Her wizardry was not that good but Skippy decided to bolt it.
He ran to the undergrowth by the roadside.
"What was that?" The Prince turned to look. His battle senses were acute, Skippy took note.
"A common lizard, your Highness." A knight in the rearguard reported, "It crossed the road near us."
"Brave Brody, afraid of lizards!" Teased the Princess.
"Shut up, you dolt. What about that detection spell?"
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"There is nobody with hostile intentions toward us in a hundred meters. Satisfied? Want to go and enact justice to the lizard?"
"Shut it, Sierra. You, repair this carriage!"
The knight-captain was confused by the order but he knew better than talk back to his Prince. "Your Highness, please make camp while my men fix the wheel."
"My luggage! My dresses!" The entitled Princess finally saw her broken trunks.
The knights rode around the crash and found no dangers. They cleared an area of undergrowth with good visibility next to the road and started to raise a pavilion tent. It could bunk thirty troops but it seems it was only for the Royal siblings as they also erected other campaign tents for themselves. After an argument, the Knights split into recovering the Princess knick-knacks and fixing the carriage. They had to cut a tree branch and carve another axle.
During the night Skippy visited the camp. Most of the Knights were keeping guard around the tents and the horses, not much attention for the currently under repair carriage. The dragon slithered on the ground and reached the vehicle belly once again. Well, time for another surprise. He gathered Abyss mana, what was left of Count Bentley's mana. 'Serve your country one last time in death, Bentley' Skippy dirged. Clad in the Abyss mana, he slowly trickled wisps of noxious, rotting Dragonbreath. It seeped into the wood spokes of the wheels little by little, weakening the good wheels. They would break after a few hours of movement. He took care to change how much he weakened each wheel. It would do no good to have all of them break at the same time.
None of the knights was a wheelwright and the repair job took them an entire day. They refit the broken axle and refit the wheels metal boxing over the wooden pins. Overall they remained camped in that spot for two nights. Skippy felt sorry at the amount of verbal abuse these knights were subjected to.
Next day they resumed travel and the terrain shifted to open plains with farms here and there. A little before noon a wheel broke. The inertia made it sure that even the good spokes were ruined. Middle of nowhere once again. More cursing about rotten wood and how the carriage was rubbish. Sierra and Brody got into an argument and they almost hit each other. Skippy was following them and landed on a tree near the road. The dragon was almost laughing from the comedic act of the two haughty royals. They ate lunch on the roadside but this time luck was on their side.
A couple hours after lunch a covered farm wagon pulled by oxen was coming from the south. An old man and a young girl in her teens on the driver's seat, happily chatting.
"Halt! Who goes there!" A knight rode to intercept the wagon. Skippy, camouflaged with sky blue flew overhead and landed on another tree.
"G'day to you, Sir Knight." The old man saluted. "Is something the trouble?"
The girl was frozen with fear. The old man was afraid as well, but doing a good job of not showing.
"Our carriage broke, good man, and we need to commandeer yours to resume travel."
"Oh my, oh my. That is quite the pickle. What happened, if I may ask. I might be able to aid you without having to surrender my vehicle. I beg your understanding, sir but I need it to work."
"We need only one wheel. You can keep the wagon and we will pay you for your troubles."
"If it is only a wheel, I have a spare you can have, sir. Let me get it."
The man tied the reins to a peg in front of the seat and got down while the girl went inside the wagon to hide. After a few minutes, he came from the back rolling the spare wheel alongside.
"How much do you want for it, old man?"
"A new wheel is five silver, milord. You can have this one for two." The soldier called another and handed his horse over. Walking to the farmer, he gave him two silver coins and took the wheel. The farmer frowned behind the Knight's back but turned back to his vehicle. "Thank you, milord. I'll clear the way." The man jumped on his cart and pulled it offroad. He went into the plains, shaking and jostling his cart. It was better to go off-road and save his fair daughter from whatever noble was ahead. It was not slow either, looked like the man was fleeing. Skippy shifted his attention to the royal party.
The Knights changed the wheel. They resumed moving but soon stopped for the night. The next day, they started traveling and another wheel broke. The Prince was fuming. He got down, cursed, cursed a bit more, hit a knight, and kicked another wheel. It broke and came down on his leg, crushing the limb and fracturing the bones like a crystal wine flute thrown from the ramparts.
Turns out the sister didn't know any healing spells other than a weak first-aid one that staunched the bleeding. And once again they set up camp. The Knights had no way to fix two wheels and upon inspection, they found the rotten wood on the fourth. They couldn't also move the Prince on horseback or he'd lose his leg. It was a five-day delay while the Knights traveled to the next town and brought back a healing magician and a new carriage.
He came out of the pavilion followed by the princess.
"I'm sorry, your Highness, but this is the limit of my healing magic. But I am sure the court mages at the capital can give him an entirely new leg."
"We are grateful for your services. It is good to know that Yutis and Heath can be friends. Here, for your troubles." Princess Sierra offered the mage a couple gold coins.
He refused, "Your Highness, it was my pleasure to be of service. I'd never — "
"I couldn't help but notice you are devoted to Ceres. Please donate this coin in our stead," She then pushed five gold coins on him.
The mage took one of the horses that brought the carriage and departed, abandoning the old carriage behind after stripping it of the heraldry. Skippy thought of sabotaging the new vehicle, but with a town nearby, it would be a minimal delay. The dragon took wing and decided to scout the road ahead to find the site of its last act of sabotage.
The rule of three was clear in the dragon's mind. More than that and he would tempt fate and Karma. The Powers decided that every trial should come thrice, no more than that. It was ingrained in every magical creature and told to wise man as a cautionary tale.
Thus Skippy followed Brody's new carriage and flew ahead trying to find a good place. A few days' travel ahead there was a mire, wetlands in a lower region where water from the thawing mountains all around Yutis insisted on pooling and lazily evaporated over the course of Summer.
There was really no place to set up that huge pavilion tent and the road was muddy. Most traders would avoid the wetlands entirely, a roundabout road that would cost them three days. After scouting around, Skippy found the perfect spot. A dry rocky mound, probably a low hill during the dry autumn a few minutes' walk from the road. He just needed to make sure the carriage couldn't cross between the road and the hill and these royals would definitely want to set their pavilion on the dry hill.
It was time for landscaping. Skippy gathered Water mana and mixed it with a little of Fire. He then breathed a cone of pressurized steam and dug two trenches between the mound and the road. He left a narrow strait under shallow water that only horses or people on foot could cross. His plan was to separate the entourage from the carriage.
He waited for five days, picking a grudge with a local glurlock tribe, filthy stubby frog-fish people that spoke in gurgles. And they came. Brody's carriage was the only one to brave the wetlands in all these days. In the distance, he could see that all natives chose the long way around.
They had to tie the Knight's horses to the carriage to drag it through the muddy road. The armored men were on foot, pushing the vehicle across the wetlands. It took them two days to reach the mound. It was mid-morning and the princess threw the window open at once.
"Captain, we are camping on that hill and calling it a day. Prepare camp and set our tent."
Her voice was grumpy and weary. The carriage they were using must've belonged to a lesser noble from the town they visited while Brody had a broken leg. Sleeping inside it for a delicate Princess like Sierra? Torture. And with the grumpy Brody brooding inside not even the huge pavilion would have enough room.
It made Skippy cringe. The Knights had to slog through the mud carrying the disassembled pavilion and the luggage. One of them fell into the deep trench Skippy dug. The poor soldiers' erstwhile shining armor was now as if made of clay. Camp set, they came to the moment of ferrying the two royals across the bog. They used two poles and the lid of a trunk to improvise a litter.
"I'll have you demoted once we return home, Captain!" Brody roared as he was carried over the litter. His broken leg was all wrapped in bandages and splints. "Stupid marshlands, why didn't we take the roundabout way?"
"It was your Highness that decided to go straight ahead." The captain tried to defend himself. He shut up with a glare from Brody.
Camp set, the two Royals disappeared inside their shelter. A light rider was sent north and south, finding no living soul on the road both ways. They parked the carriage in the middle of the road and moved the horses and all the luggage to the hill.
Time to strike. The sun was lazily drifting down in the west and Skippy came. Clad in Fire mana and red scales, he flew high from the East, roaring. Without anything behind him to give a sense of distance, he knew he could fool them.
"Dragon! It is a dragon attack!" A knight gave the alarm.
The whole camp swarmed. The few Knights that had bows took them, but they were looking for a way to get out of the hill and away from the approaching legendary creature.
"Hold your fire. The monster is too far away!" Commanded the Captain. "Maybe it is not even coming here for us. There are tribes of savage demi-humans around, maybe they are the dragon's food. Dragons won't like to taste your sorry flesh, you are too tough and stringy. Stand tall and show him we fear not."
The Knights changed their disposition. They stood proud and raised a racket, clanging their swords to their shields challenging the Dragon. Skippy had a knot in his stomach. If anything, that display of defiance made his instincts scream to go there and show who's boss. And probably demand the Princess as a sacrifice.
But Skippy was a civilized dragon. A dragon on a mission. Sabotage. He approached the carriage and focused his Dragonfire as he hovered for a minute. A ball of compressed flames the size of a coconut flew down and blasted the vehicle. Skippy banked south and fled the site, breathing a stream of Dragonfire over the road and disappearing behind the rising steam clouds.
He switched to Steam mana and once again liquefied the ground, destroying as much road as he could and turning that part of the wetlands into a lake. Brody's entourage would have to track back out of the wetlands on horseback and go around. Being harassed by the glurlocks. If that wouldn't delay them for at least one more week, then he'd bite his tail.
Mission accomplished.
Time to go back home and get those hard-earned cuddles.