A crack echoed around the valley, waking James from his sleep. His eyes shot open as he tried to pinpoint what had made the sound. Pushing himself into a crouch he looked over the small wall of the abandoned silo.

He forgot how peaceful night was when there were no lights to block the view. Thousands of stars shone overhead, constellations and patterns that he had never seen before, no sign of the moon but the lights gave off enough light for him to make out the shapes of the hills.

An orange glow came from the direction James had been traveling, upriver. Moving in quickly in his direction, another crack resounded around him, a whip? Slowly James climbed over the low wall. Keeping crouched he dashed towards the nearby riverbank. Laying down in the long grass he kept still, holding his breath he half expected a dragon to come roaring over the hill.

And his half expectation was proven half right as he watched the light source crest the small hill. A man held a torch high, stopping at the top as he surveyed the area, his face visible thanks to the torchlight was elongated and covered in dark red scales. James saw a forked tongue hiss out as the dragon man watched, for an instant his eyes settled where James was hiding. His held breath now begging to escape but a feeling in his gut told him to hold, to not move. The gaze moved off James before the Lizardman waved a hand behind him and started walking towards the silo base.

Air rushed into his lungs as the need to breathe outweighed his fear of being heard. The sound was overpowered by the crack of another whip, and another as James watched two giant reptiles pulled themselves over the hill. The beasts shoulder reached the chest of the leading lizard man who himself would have been a head or two taller than James, putting him in the realms of a pro basketballer, although that would have been hard to this guy as james saw a glint of clawed hands and a spiked tail.

As he watched the beast continue to lumber over the hill he realised it must have been several meters long, powerful legs pulling something behind it. A gasped escaped James as a cart came into view, all wood and metal. But it was what inside that made him gasp, people. Not Lizardmen like the leading man, but actual human beings. The thoughts of him being the last human quickly fled his mind. But even in his joy he felt fear. The caged humans were beaten, even in the faint torchlight he saw cuts and bruises covering them. Their hair shone red with blood as they slumped in the cage. James was into a half push up, ready to run to the cage before he caught himself. Following the cage were three more of the Lizardmen, two carrying whips that repeatedly cracked against the side of the beasts, torches in their other hands. Bright steel armour shining in the light. The last lizard carried no sword or weapon that James could see. Its claw instead held a pure white staff. James would have called the man unassuming if not for the fact that the staff was glowing emitting a fire like light but no flames were visible. Still staring at the final figure he hadn't realised how close the first had gotten.

“There's something here” The voice caught him off guard, whatever he expected to hear from these men it wasnt english.

“Another from the empire this far out?” the last lizard asked, the light coming from the staff increasing as he held it higher.

James heard a groan come from the cage, as the light illuminated those in the cage. He counted six, he could see three with longer hair, but whether they were female or not he couldn't tell.

“I don't think it is, the taste is different from them. Spread out. Some more light would help.” the leading Lizard flicked his tongue again, jumping easily over the low wall where James had been sleeping not long ago.

The two other weaponed lizards walked in opposite directions, their tongues flicking in a similar motion.

“[Light]” a small ball of pure white light shot into the air, lighting up the hill and river for a hundred meters in every direction.

James felt fear then, no amount of grass was going to hide him from these men who seemed to be able to taste him in the air. Slowly he started th inch back towards the river, careful to make as little noise as possible. When his left foot made contact with the river, he stopped. The first lizard jumped onto the wall, claws digging into the brickwork. His head darting left and right before settling in the direction of the river. Right. At. James.

“There” roared the Lizard “Incoming”

Adrenaline rushed through James as readied to run, but at the same moment there was another sound.

“Arooooooo” from behind james came a pounding of feet before a whoosh of air. James saw the four lizardmen react in an instant, even some movement in the cage as the humans saw something to challenge their captors.

Landing in front of and to the left of James was a wolf the size of a great dane. There was no fur on the wolf, instead the thing was solid muscle, the light showing different shades covering its skin, as if it were carved from the mountain itself. Most shocking though were two wings sprouting out of its back but the beast didn't seem to fly, charging towards one of the Lizardmen.

“Gargoyle.” The staffed lizard shouted.

The two whip wielding lizards changed forward, their whips cracking as they seemed to stretch, impacting the beast's head as it growled back, snapping at the whip as it came down. James saw its back legs bunch as it lept, wings spread out as it leapt. Gliding the thirty meters to land near the staffed lizard. A hiss escaping him but not in fear. It seemed to James that the lizard was smiling. Holding out his hand a burst of fire erupted, engulfing the gargoyle in a moment. The growl quickly turned into a whine as the beast turned and lept out of the flame, but with no fur it seemed no permanent damage had been done. It leapt again, deciding one of the whip wielders to be easier prey, it landed biting down on the lizard's arm, a pained shout following. All the while James saw the first lizard was still standing on the wall, not having moved since the beast appeared.

“Get the prisoners out of here.Tarhuss leave the gargoyle for me Where there is one, more will be here soon. Go'' The leading lizard spoke calmly, no shouting, no fear or glee in his voice. Just commands.

“Yes sir” the second whip lizard responded, his whip shooting out into the side of the wagon beast. James saw now most of the occupants were watching the fight, fear evident in their eyes. Whether that was from the Gargoyle or their capture he couldn't tell. As he watched he saw one man drop something out of the cage while he thought no one was looking. The shining glint falling into the long grass.

James turned his view back to the Gargoyle. It had pulled its back claws up to rake into the lizards belly his screams turning to gurgles as its long claws pierced into him. The Gargoyle raised its head releasing another howl. Before it could finish, before James even knew what was happening the howl turned into a whine of pain. He watched as the leader appeared beside them in a flash a sword, now glowing slicing through one of the gargoyles wings. Turning toward the leader the gargoyle bared its fangs, snarling in the lizard's face. He responded with violence. One, two, three cuts and the gargoyle was without both wings, its lower jaw sliced cleanly off and a sword protruding from its skull.

There was a moment of silence as James tried to understand what he'd seen. Fire barely affected the beast and yet this man, this lizard had finished the beast as if he were carving a ham.

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The silence was filled by the screaming of the whip lizard trying to keep his stomach from falling to the ground. His claws trying to hold the tears in his stomach together, the scaled belly having been ruined.

The leader looked down at the moaning lizard, looking over his shoulder to see the wagon disappearing over the next hill, the staffed lizard walked over.

“Impressive. A mature gargoyle in what, four cuts.” The staffed lizard not even acknowledging the one dying on the ground before him.

“250 gold for a potion to heal this one.” The leader simply said.

“Not worth it. He knew the risk, and he won't heal enough to keep our pace. Leave him, it's an acceptable loss” The staffed lizard didn't even look down as he moved to follow the wagon. Muttering a few words as he went and again darkness took its hold as the light floating above them disappeared.

“No, no please, Honoured. I can pay you ba-” the lizard's begging was cut off. James looked back to see his head coming to a rest, beside his body. The leader standing tall over him as his tongue again flicked in and out. One final time he saw him look towards the riverbank. Before a chorus of howls in the distance caught its attention, and he finally started to jog off in the direction the wagon had gone.

James kept still for another minute, there were more howls in the distance but thankfully they seemed to be following the wagon rather than coming to their dead packmate.

Slowly he got into a crouching position, moving towards the dead gargoyle and lizard. A metallic tang filled the air, blood. James wasn't unfamiliar with the smell, Living on a farm and hunting involves its fair share of death and blood. But he'd never once seen a body of something that could speak. That could beg for its life.

He crouched beside the lizard, its head thankfully rolled looking away. Blue azure like scales covered its body, It had been wearing metal armour but the strength obviously not enough to withstand the claws of the gargoyle. James felt sick at what he did next, but he ran his hands over the lizard man's body, finding no pockets, but a smile crept across his face as he felt a leather pouch as well as a short hunting knife. Pulling the blade out of the sheath he saw that the lizard had kept good care of it. A sharp edge glittering in the starlight. He resheathed it and attached the blade to the back of his jeans, looping his belt through the sheath.

The bag turned out to be worth its weight in gold. Meat. Dried meat. Jamess stomach rumbled as he felt the toughness in it, instantly shoving a small piece into his mouth, savouring the spicy flavour that exploded across his tongue. A small moan escaping him. He ate two more pieces before looking back at the lizard man. The chest armour was ruined, and the pants were made to accommodate a spined tail, something James unfortunately lacked. Even the boots were useless to him as more claws protruded from the leather.

Still moving as quietly as he could he moved to where the wagon had stopped, ruts were visible as the weight of the people weighed it down. He spared a moment to think of the giant tuatara looking lizards that were pulling it along, spotting deep claw prints running adjacent to the wagon tracts.

It took some minutes of looking but soon his hand wrapped around a small signet ring. A crest was embossed into the silver, a circular dragon pinned by a sword. Was the captive trying to toss this before the lizardmen saw? Or was he leaving it behind to create a trail. Either way, the giant tracks were more of a sign of where they went than anything so he sipped it onto his right pinky. At the least he should be able to sell it for whatever they use for money here. The staffed Lizard had mentioned gold, it seemed some things traveled worlds.

Another howl broke the silence, this one too close for him to ignore. Deciding a bit of speed was needed now he ran. Upriver, not wanting to run back into the wagon, or the so called Honoured leader.

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As the sun rose James was still running. He was puffing, exhausted, his feet ached and legs felt heavy. But still he ran. Because the howls hadn't stopped. Sometimes they were distant, sometimes he felt like he saw a flash of grey in the edge of his vision, sure he was taking his last breath. So he ran. He followed the tracks that the wagon left behind. The lizards had to have taken the people from somewhere. Thoughts of swords slashing through him, balls of light and flamethrowers. Impossibilities. And yet he'd seen them. Smelt them. Feared them.

“What a fucked up world” he croaked as he ran, the path had led him away from the river as it curled to the left. The tracks moving right, close to hugging the mountain now. Still the grassland of the valley rolled. Whenever he hit one peak the next covered his view but for the next hundred meters or so. Turning back he could see further, make out the glistening blue of the fjord in the distance.

That's how they appeared, resting to recover his breath he thought on when he'd last heard the howl. Half an hour? An hour?. His mind had wandered and James realised he'd lost track of time. And of his surroundings, a thundering approached, one he was somewhat familiar with. Hooves. Approaching him quickly. Too quickly to hide.

So he did what came naturally now. He ran. Sideways towards the mountain, at least whatever came wouldn't be able to circle him.

Looking towards the sound James could see small stones on the ground start to rumble. A moment later they crested the next hill. A dozen horses, most of which seemed to have a rider, the first one to crest the hill instantly saw James running towards the mountain, altering their course to come directly at him.

“[Halt]” The voice boomed from the rider.

James felt his whole body seize. Muscles that were already tired cramping as he fell mid stride. His face grating against the dry mud below.

“Camp guard. Why are you running?” The voice calmed now, james still couldnt move as he heard the horse moving closer, followed by the rest of the group.

“Speak” the voice spoke again, he could tell it was a female voice now that the booming had disappeared.

At the word his body relaxed, his muscles releasing, camp took his hamstring as he rolled, groaning in pain again as he tried to stretch it.

“Who are you? Were you taken by the Takona? How did you escape?”

His eyes finally settled on the speaker, a human woman. Middleaged was never a nice thing to say about a woman but she must have been about forty. Winkles prominent on her forehead and eyes as if she spent all day frowning.

“The Lizardmen? A Gargoyle attacked in the night, they missed me hiding as they fought it. Waited for them to leave then ran back following the tracks. Im James” James couldn't decide whether to mention he wasn't with the captives in the first place but decided to just omit a few details. His instinct proved right as a small orb the woman was holding flashed a bright white.

“He's telling the truth, someone get him some water and food. I am Guard Captain Neil, we received word of the abduction from the ship as it docked and pursued. But we have little information on the Takona, How many were there? What classes did you see? How many other prisoners. There were many dead at the ship..” a softness crept into the captain's voice as she mentioned the dead.

“Eight were captured. There were four Takona with the caravan, one died in the gargoyle attack. One used magic, they called him Tarhuss. There were two that used whips to drive the wagon. One of them died as the gargoyle attacked.” James heard whispers coming from the other guards now surrounding him.

“Did he say Tarhuss?”

“Only four?”

“Why didn't they fight back?”

“Enough” The Captain “What of the last Takona”

“He… He used a sword. He managed to kill the Gargoyle in four strikes, he just watched as it tore into the other Takona. He seemed to enjoy it.”

“What did they call him?” The Captain asked.

“I only heard them call him, Honoured” James replied.

“An Honoured? Here?”

“He must be lying, they stay close to their clans.”

“I said enough.” The captain boomed. The rest of the guards now showed small signs of weariness.

“Captain, if there is an Honoured with them…. We won't be enough. We could request help from the Army? Or one of the Gold teams” One of the guards spoke up.

Looking around the group James had to agree. While they had looked formidable riding towards him, now he could see they wore rag tag armor. Mostly leather which he imagined the Tokonas sword would slice through like butter, let alone the flame from the Magic user.

Captain Neil seemed to think the same. As she looked around.

“Which of you is a [Scout]?” She asked.

Two guards came forward, James seeing that one of them was a woman, she looked no older than he did.

“Mam” they both said.

“Follow the tracks, if they enter a passage, or the water. Mark it on your map and report back. Find the Gargoyle attack the adventurer spoke of, bring back what you can. The rest of us head back to Camp. The adventurers guild won't be happy but their freshies are gone.” She looked back towards James. The two scouts were already galloping away.

“Except one” She finished.