{Donald's POV}

Donald was stressed, as usual. The town of Graycott, Mirfield's closest neighbor, was having more bandit problems. They were asking for Don to send some guards their way to help, but he couldn't really spare the manpower, Don didn't have many guards in the first place, and living in the middle of the forest wasn't exactly cozy and safe either. He was pondering this problem when a guard opened his office door, Donald looking up to see Benny the guard.

"Sir, the dragons back with a dead beast, torn in half." Donald sighed and stood up to follow Benny to the gate. Sure enough, the second he came outside Don spotted Arthur, towering over his walls, two halves of a beast gripped in one claw.

Don realized these light jogs he did to catch up to Arthur were doing wonders for his stamina. Don was not fat or a skinny man, he just sat at a desk all day handling the many problems of a town in the middle of the woods.

When he got to Arthur the dragon rumbled out, "Hope I'm not troubling you too much today Donald, but this Behir decided to attack me a few minutes ago, I was wondering if I could get anything for its corpse?" Arthur slowly reached over his metal gate and set down the two halves of the Behir, blood and guts still leaking out of the ends. It smelled fresh.

Donald waved away Arthur's concerns and studied the Beast briefly, his ex-merchant instincts telling him this beast was likely very rare, and its scales and claws and teeth would sell for a lot. Donald rubbed his chin and said, "I'll buy the whole thing for... a thousand gold pieces?" He glanced to Arthur who nodded assent.

As he snapped at a guard for them to fetch the gold from the bank in town, Don made small talk with Arthur, asking about his day and assuring he was fine to come by any time of the day. A flash of inspiration went through his thoughts, and Don said, "Arthur, the town of Graycott is currently having trouble dealing with bandits, and if I were to make a personal quest for you, would you take it?" He left the question in the air, and the dragon rumbled out,

"Graycott? I have never heard of the place. But if it's just simple bandits, I'm sure I can deal with them readily. I will need directions. And how much will this bounty be?" Donald smiled happily, already knowing those bandits were screwed. He really didn't mind paying Arthur, and he was usually stingy with money, as basically any quest that was given to him was guaranteed to succeed. Donald replied to Arthur,

"Thank you, Arthur. You’re going to save a lot of money and lives for Graycott. Regarding the location of the bandits, I'm sure the town master of Graycott can provide the nitty-gritty details. And it seems your money is here." Donald said that as he heard the clanging armor of the jogging guard approach.

Donald took the money bag from the guard, holding it up for Arthur as he usually does. It’s always frightening and his pulse always quickens despite himself when Arthur slowly reaches towards him with his massive, sharp claws. Then it’s over, Arthur taking the bag and pulling his clawed hand back. Arthur gave his customary nod of politeness to Donald and flew off after a farewell.

Donald sighed again, and everyone started to slowly come back outside. The town residents had gone outside when Arthur visited once, and Don had warned them all to stay in their homes. Benny the guard captain approached him as the other guards settled down and said to Don,

"Are ya sure about sending the big dragon to another town? Don't ya think the town master from Graycott would appreciate that?" Donald looked to benny, the man who had been guard captain as long as he had been town master. Don replied firmly,

"Arthur's shown that he can be trusted with quests. And taking out an entire bandit group for a thousand gold is worth it every time. If Graycott doesn't like it, then ill make sure their complaints are received by Arthur as well." Benny sighed and said, "But still..."

"It'll be fine, Benny. If there are any consequences, I will deal with them." Don said with finality. Benny shrugged and climbed up his watchtower. Four guards at his direction brought the beast to the hunters headquarters in town. Don headed for his office after that...

{Kaia POV}

Kaia moved another pile of dirt and broken stone into the second pile of rubble. Some could say this was tedious, but Kaia's god had willed it, and so she moved each pile with energy and happy determination. Kaia hummed a kobold song, and the other kobolds joined in, getting in rhythm with the jaunty tune with each pickaxe or shovel strike. They were making a slow but steady process with the ramp. It was slowly taking form, and Kaia was sure Arthur, her god, would be pleased.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

As the kobolds toiled away, Kaia heard the flapping of wings coming from outside. Kaia turned excitedly, seeing her god in his full majesty walk in the entrance of the cavern with a bag clutched in his claws, the pelts parting and sliding off her god's back. She walked over, saying in a chipper tone, "Welcome back, Sire! We have made good speed on the ramp so far, come and see!"

Sounding slightly amused, her god rumbled lightly, "I can see, well done Kaia. Unfortunately, I'm just here to drop off this gold. I have been requested to put down some bandits far away, so I won't be back for some time. I leave the job in your capable hands, Kaia. Remember to take breaks." And without another word, her god dumped the contents of the bag on top of his hoard, smiling at Kaia before leaving outside once more.

"Please be safe, Sire." Kaia said wistfully. It really made her anxious whenever her god went outside. He should really stay inside his lair, let the kobolds handle his problems. She would feel much better. But Kaia was given a task by her messiah, and she would not let him down. With renewed energy, Kaia returned to her work.

{Arthur's POV}

After dropping off the gold, Arthur made his way to Graycott, following down the dirt road he had found the kobolds on. There were few travelers on the road as Arthur followed it above at a ground eating pace. People looked up fearfully at him or jumped into the cover of the trees surrounding the road. Arthur just sped along, ignoring any travelers entirely.

Arthur had never noticed before, but as his mind was idling during the flight slightly, his thoughts drifted to how warm he felt all the time. It was as if he was surrounded by a pleasantly warm fire at all times, the flames wrapping around and inside his body. It was weird and nice at the same time. He flapped his massive wings, gliding for a few moments before flapping them once more. Arthur was content to live in the moment, flying for a while. As minutes passed by, he saw in the distance the forest ending and opening up to a massive field of tall grass, Graycott snugged a mile away from the forest Arthur was approaching from.

The thing that caught Arthur's eye as he came closer was a sizeable house, built with cut graystone. It looked like some sort of mini-mansion, but it was medieval. Arthur flew for another twenty seconds before approaching the town, slowing and landing in the field, on the outskirts of Graycott. Panic and shouting could be heard from the town, people running to and fro, going inside houses and guards trying to bring order and failing.

Arthur internally sighed. There would be no reasoning with these people. He would shout for the town master, let everyone gather their thoughts with an objective in mind. Arthur rumbled loudly, "I WISH TO SPEAK TO THE TOWN MASTER HERE. I WILL NOT HARM THEM." Arthur's eyes observed Graycott, testing their reaction. Most civilians were in houses and buildings by now, with mostly guards just running around. Arthur gave them a minute, and sure enough a rich-looking Elf man clad in blue robes approached Arthur from outside the town.

The Elf had a grim and weary expression, stepping as if he were walking to his execution. A large number of guards gathered behind the elf, still within the town borders as they all watched with tense expressions. When the Elf got within thirty feet of him, Arthur rumbled out, "You are the town master?" The Elf nodded, uttering a quiet and regal, "Yes, I am the town master of graycott, my Lord."

"Here." Arthur lightly tossed the quest scroll from Mirfield to the Elf, who hurriedly caught it, surprise on his face. As the town master unscrolled it with growing anxiety, Arthur said, "Donald from Mirfield gave me a quest to rid you of your bandit problem. I am here for the location of the bandits, and nothing else." The Elves jaw slowly dropped and his eyes grew to disbelief as he read the scroll. He looked up at Arthur with a bewildered expression. The Elf choked out,

"Y-your here to get rid of b-bandits?! I'm sorry, what?!" The Elf seemed to hear himself, putting his hands over his mouth and fearful eyes turned to look up at Arthur. Arthur gazed down at him and said,

"Yes. I need to know the location of the bandits, so I can kill them and retrieve my reward. I get this may be strange. All you need to know is, I'm not like others of my kind. Now tell me the location." Arthur put a bit of emphasis on his words at the end, spurring the Elf into action. With shaky, fast movements the Elf pulled a scroll from his robes and held it out to Arthur.

"We don't have an exact location, this is the best we have!" The Elf said to him quickly. Arthur reached out and grabbed the scroll using two claws from the flinching town master. He had sudden flashbacks to his first meetings in Mirfield with Don. Arthur nodded to the Elf. He wanted to get out of here, he could practically feel the guard's angst and nervousness rising. He didn't want to meet off with a town by killing their only defenses.

Arthur rumbled, "I will deal with the bandits, and they will no longer trouble your town. Goodbye now, Elf." Arthur flapped his wings and rose into the air. He read the scroll and headed back into the forest where he came from. The scroll said they were camped somewhere in there, so from his birds-eye view he started to search for any telltale signs of human activity.

He wondered what kind of loot this quest would bring him. He was hoping for some magic items. And some scrolls too.