Exhaustion ached in my bones. I left so much evidence of my existence and I didn’t have the strength to cover my tracks. However I had stopped a dire threat that would have grown too immense for me to stop alone. It didn’t bode well that I would face the next calamity of the world alone.
I debated how best to help find the people that had fled and decided that their only hope is if I expended more of my precious magic. If the people survived and told the tale of their rescue to others I would recover some of my strength more quickly. I pulled my lute free and took a page from an old tale and began to play. I infused the music to carry wide and far and to call people in my direction. Walking slowly I began to sing along with it.
For whom I call?
The lost and scared.
I call for thee.
To guide you home.
The night is dark.
So heed my call.
I’ll guide you home.
I’ll keep you safe.
For whom I call?
The lost and scared.
I call for thee.
To guide you home.
The demon is gone.
The dragon will slumber.
It’s time to follow.
So heed my call.
To whom I call?
The lost and scared.
I call for thee.
To guide you home.
I could hear the sounds of shuffling people as I scanned around me and saw a couple emerge from the darkness. Their voices quivered with intense fear, “who are you? Why…”
I pushed a calmness and acceptance of my guidance in my song and the people quieted. I spoke to them. “Sing with me, let us save those that are lost.” With three voices we sang in unison.
To whom we call?
The lost and scared.
We call to thee.
To guide you home.
The night is dark.
So heed our call.
We’ll guide you home.
We’ll keep you safe.
For whom we call?
The lost and scared.
We call for thee.
To guide you home.
The demon is gone.
The dragon will slumber.
It’s time to follow.
So heed our call.
To whom we call?
The lost and scared.
We call for thee.
To guide you home.
The night continued and my fingers ached but more people came to the song. They joined into the singing and I needed less and less power to maintain the spell I had cast. The natural inclination of mankind to infuse it with their own strength and latent magic. It swelled with more power. Soon a dozen voices were calling out to those in the forest.
To whom we call?
The lost and scared.
We call to thee.
To guide you home.
The night is dark.
So heed our call.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
We’ll guide you home.
We’ll keep you safe.
For whom we call?
The lost and scared.
We call for thee.
To guide you home.
The demon is gone.
The dragon will slumber.
It’s time to follow.
So heed our call.
To whom we call?
The lost and scared.
We call for thee.
To guide you home.
By the time we were on the road nearly two dozen of the people had heeded my song and I could feel the immense drain I had taken, but I could not have abandoned the people. I looked to the moons for guidance to town and began the people marching with me singing. These people I had saved were from a dozen towns. They would tell my tale and my strength would return. I would have to hope the gods saw that path as fit.
Guards approached in the darkness caught in the spell and encircled the people as we entered the town. I wrapped the song up and let my shoulders and body sag from the weight of it all. The people began to talk, their fear returning. The guards listened and called others to help calm and listen.
I walked to the nearest wall and slid down to sit on my backside. I put my lute away and gave a false story to the guards when they questioned me. I told them I had noticed people running in the woods by my camp and they came to me for help. I could only think of one thing and that was to sing. “What else could a minstrel do?”
People of the town began to come to the commotion and I spotted a familiar face. Maisy noticed me slumped and hustled over to me. She knelt and looked into my eyes. I could tell she could practically feel my exhaustion so she grabbed my hand wordlessly. She was dressed in a yellow nightgown. Having left her home quickly without worrying too much about her modesty. She brought me to a man that had been standing with her.
“Harold, this is the bard I was talking about. The one that brought all the customers, you remember.” Her voice was stern and I could see the coming request register in the man’s eyes.
His forearms were massive and muscular. I could smell flour and yeast from him and guessed he was the baker that worked the Tea Loaf stoves. He looked me up and down and spoke in a gruff tone. “You help these people?”
I nodded and stumbled, my body giving out on me. Harold wrapped one of my arms around his shoulders and snaked another around my waist. “Thank you,” was all I could manage to get out.
Maisy held my other hand and guided us both through the streets to a home behind the Tea Loaf. Several children ranging from maybe a half dozen years to nearly full grown men and women met us at the door. Another of the boys took me and they carried me to a bed of straw. The two men stripped off my gear and left me in my underclothes. I couldn’t stay awake as they pulled a blanket on me.
I feared the slumber would take me. Would leave me too vulnerable and give away what I was to the people. I did not dream and my mind raced. Who had summoned that fiend? Was tracking them down more important than finding Profitable? I begged the gods to answer me but they did not come.
It was to my great relief that I was shaken awake sometime the next day. Maisy and Harold looked at me with a fresh loaf in hand and a cup of soothing tea.
As Harold helped me sit up against the wall Maisy spoke, “We heard what you had done for the people Dolan. You’re far more special than any of us could imagine you to have been. The people spoke of a dreadful story, a dragon has been spotted, a nest of thieves lurks somewhere not too far from our lovely city, it’s all so terrifying to think of.”
Harold brought the tea to my hands and I drank greedily. “You can stay until you’re recovered. No charge.” He handed me the loaf and I began to eat.
Maisy pressed a hand against my forehead and cheeks. “You’re running a fever, Dolan. I pray to the gods you’re not ill. Rest up for now, no more tea for you. Just water.”
“Maisy, step out and I’ll help him to a chamber pot. It’s men stuff.” He nearly fully picked me up and propped me so I could use the chamber pot instead of shuffling outside. Relieved he laid me back down and nodded. “I won’t be surprised if the Duke calls you. Rest up so you can be awake enough to have manners.” His strong arms pushed me down and he covered me up.
Vague memories of cold clothes being put on my forehead and worried conversations filled my mind. I fought against the slumber that would take me and could feel the story of the people's rescue spread and give me strength. I was incredibly weak though.
It was a week later that I was summoned to see the Duke. Harold and Maisy helped me get clean and shaved. Dress me in my nice minstrel clothes and handed me over to the guard.
The captain greeted me and I still felt weak on my feet but I stood proud and hid away my exhaustion. Many townsfolk approached us and were shooed off by glares and warning whistles. I could see the sheer curiosity burning in everyone’s eyes.
I was brought through the garden and Geoff didn’t look me over. I was guided into the study and sat down in front of the Duke and his mother. Wine was fetched and the room was cleared. Duke Ursal, his mother, Geoff and the captain were all that stood with us. Geoff poured wine for the adults except himself and things were sipped as we waited for the Duke to begin.
His voice, still a soft tenor, broke the silence. “The story goes that you were found at a campfire in the night but the captain says that doesn’t add up. It was too wet for any fire. You say you were simply resting yet the guards saw blood on your clothes. Tall tales of a dragon and demon, of human sacrifice met our city. I sent my scouts out and they reported back to me some rather disturbing things. A mountain of gore and bodies was found in a gorge not too far from town. Maybe half of the day for a quick team. So as your duke I demand the truth.”
My mind was sluggish and tired, I could not spin a lie good enough to fool the people in the room. I didn’t have the magic to weave it into their minds to accept anything. “May I ask for the utmost secrecy, Duke Ursal?”
The Duke and his mother looked to one another and then gestured for the captain and Geoff to leave. I sighed at what I was about to reveal. Once it was clear and I spilled once more at the wine and rubbed my face with my hands.
“I’m the dragon that saved the people.” I began, the former duchess gasped and put a hand to her mouth. “I used magic and my power to save the people. It took a great toll on me but it was the right thing to do for the gods above.”
“Dragons don’t exist Dolan, be serious.” Duke Ursal.
I looked him dead in the eyes, “Don’t be scared.” I let my hands and eyes transform and become reflections of my true self.
Both gasped as I returned to Dolan’s form. With a shaking hand Duke Ursal grabbed a wine glass and his mom didn’t stop him. The former Duchess gulped down her own. “Why do you need to keep this secret?”
I leaned back and sipped the wine, “There are those that hunt dragons in this world. There are too many tales of how we are evil and bound to destroy the world, we were created to help save the world. Me being exposed isn’t worth the danger. So I need to live a normal life. While I wait for the Call of the gods. I beg you, keep this secret. I’ve already called too much attention to myself by saving the people and killing the bandits.”
The Duke looked to his mother. The face of a child lost in his decision. She straightened and pressed a hand to her bosom. “We swear to keep your secret. We will tell our guards to keep the secret of you being more than just a minstrel in the night. Please let us give you a reward though. You saved so many people under my son’s care.”
I nodded, “Though I feel the secrecy is good enough I ask for a letter of introduction to the royal court. One that does not in any way mention anything but the good deeds of Dolan. I could not ask for more.”
Both nodded and the Duke went over to his desk and started scribing the letter. The Duchess scooted forward and asked, “How old are you?”
I smirked as I looked at her, “Too old, far far too old.”
Her eyes were wide and had an amazement in them. “Will you grace us with a story tonight before you go?” She poured herself more wine as she looked at me. “It would be such an honor.”
I nodded, “it would be an honor.”