{Arthur}

He flew through the sky, four thousand gold in his claws. Arthur had sold the jewelry and explained everything to Donald, who seemed understanding of his decisions. They had parted on a good note, and he could only feel satisfied with how it all turned out.

He landed in front of his lair entrance, glancing around the camp. Goblins and bugbears were still eating around a pit fire, and Alek was nowhere to be seen. Arthur wasn’t worried, Alek was either in a tent or doing his own thing outside the camp. He headed inside the lair, taking in the dusty air and moving to his hoard in the middle of the cavern.

The kobolds were scampering about, cleaning any loose debris and transferring it all outside. He watched Kaia and three other kobolds fill up four baskets with dirt and stone from one of the piles and heft it all outside. Kaia and the kobolds shouted out greetings, dropping their work to crowd around Arthur as he dumped the four thousand gold bags he had onto his hoard. It was coming along, all the shiny coins complimented by the few rubies and other precious metals. But it’s not enough his mind whispered. It wasn’t even close to “Um, Arthur, can I talk to you?” He turned to see Alek standing inside his lair, looking around nervously.

“Yes, one moment. Kobolds, give us some space.” Arthur circled his hoard and laid down, front claws resting on the gold and his body facing Alek. The kobolds begrudgingly went back to clearing debris, leaving Alek free to approach Arthur.

“What is it, Alek?” The satyr cleared their throat and started,

“Well, uh, gosh this is hard to explain. I thought just coming forward and telling you would be the easiest way but standing in front of you-” Arthur interrupted his ramble, saying,

“What are you trying to explain?” Alek scratched his head and sighed.

“I’m, uh, afraid. Of you.” Alek looked up at him nervously. He was… afraid of him?

“Now, I know that sounds bad, but I mean it. Even though I know you’re different and all, I can’t help but feel afraid sometimes. And I don’t want to feel like that! So I thought talking to you-” Arthur suddenly snarled, making Alek stutter and stop.

“Your AFRAID of me? I have been nothing but kind and understanding, and your still AFRAID of me?” He rose from his position, making Alek back up, wide-eyed. Arthurs mind was seething, and he was struggling to contain himself. “If your so afraid, then leave. You stayed only to watch me. But now you’re regretting that arent you? Starting to fear me even more now? Then this is the best option for you. Gather your belongings and go.” Alek sputtered and started to speak but a glare shut him up. Arthur absentmindedly noticed the kobolds all watching the scene, looking nervous, Kaia included.

He laid back down and watched Alek silently leave. He exhaled slowly, smoke billowing out. That satyr really thought he could waltz in here and say he was scared of him? After how accommodating he was for him? He suddenly turned to look sharply at the kobolds watching him, which made them hastily get back to work. Argh, he needed time to think, to calm down.

Arthur laid there for ten minutes, calming himself. He started slow, asking himself questions. Was banishing Alek like that rational, or reasonable? Was it fair? No, he thought. But it didn’t matter, Alek would already be gone by now.

He rose and went outside, going past concerned-looking kobolds. Sure enough, Alek was nowhere to be seen. He exhaled sharply in annoyance, smoke blowing out. Should he go after the satyr? He’s screwed this up when it didn’t have to be. No, he would leave Alek be for now. Arthur returned to his hoard, laying down once more. He glanced at the spellbook he got from the wizard. Screw it, may as well learn some magic. Anything to take his mind somewhere else.

For the next hour, Arthur went through the spellbook and his two remaining spell scrolls. The book had junk spells except for two that caught his eye, haste and dispel magic. He learned those two along with the other two spells from the scrolls, pyrotechnics, and misty step. He figured since there was generally going to be a lot of fire when he got in fights pyrotechnics could definitely have a use, not to mention for putting out fires, and misty step was a cheap and reliable teleport. The only problem would be having enough space to teleport, but he would figure it out. Arthur could imagine it, fighters and barbarians rushing at him only for him to teleport behind them, attacking the fragile spell casters instead. He always wondered why enemies seemed to ignore spellcasters, blindly chipping away at a raging barb instead. In an actual fight, he supposed it would be hard to break away from fighters to chase after wizards, but that didn't really apply to him.

Now that he thought about it, were his scales even impenetrable to swords and axes? Unless they got a lucky hit at his slightly more vulnerable underbelly or between his scales, would he even be hurt? And little scratches from those weapons wouldn't do much to him anyway. He continued to idly muse to himself, all the while learning one first-level spell he thought would be useful, unseen servant. He immediately cast it and made the invisible force hold up the spellbook. He couldn't help but feel pleased with the casual magic.

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The rest of the day was uneventful. Arthur stayed in his lair brooding and distracting himself with magic, and the kobolds led by Kaia finished cleaning the debris, the goblins and bugbears pitching in halfway through. All of the minions carefully left Arthur alone, sensing his bad mood, and Kaia cooked a feast for all the minions, personally bringing Arthur his lion's share of meat. Arthur eventually slept, and his minions followed suit. Guilt gnawed at Arthur as he drifted off to sleep, hoping Alek was doing well on their own.

{Alek}

Alek cursed for the third time to himself as he made his way through the forest. What had he excepted, the big red dragon to be understanding and not take it as an insult? Stupid, he admonished himself. He sighed and calmed down. Truthfully, he hadn't expected Arthur to react like that. It seemed... out of character for him.

But he was alive, he thought grimly. That should speak for itself. Maybe he was just the straw that broke the worg's back. From what little he saw of the dragon meeting other people, Alek noticed the dragon seemed annoyed whenever they acted with fear. He sighed once more and began to think of a place to sleep for the night.

As Alek absentmindedly navigated around a particularly big tree, the satyr almost ran smack dab into a human.

"AH!" He emitted an embarrassingly high-pitched shriek and jumped back. The human man simply snickered, holding out his hands in a peace offering.

"Oh come on, am I that ugly?" The human mirthfully said in a smooth tone. Alek looked around, wary of an ambush. The human continued,

"I happened to witness what happened back there, with a certain red dragon. And I want to help you!" Alek had heard enough. Some humans he hadn't met before wanting to 'help' him? Yeah right. And The man must've seen something in his expression because he said,

"Now don't go just yet! At least listen to my offer, dear satyr." Alek paused, then cautiously nodded, ready to run. He may as well, Alek doubted this was a trap or it would have been sprung by now.

With an almost predatory grin, the human told him his offer.

{Capital city of humans, Whiteridge.}

King Rickard, second of his name, was distressed. This morning had been normal, his regular routine, but when it was time for the council to gather and discuss the regular politics and progress on defenses for the upcoming war, an urgent message was passed into his hands from one of his towns, Mirfield. He recognized that name because it had been famous as the only town ever to settle in the middle of the great forest and stay there.

King Rickard raised his hand for silence after reading the message, making his council pay attention to him. He cleared his throat and began,

"I have received dire news from one of our towns, Mirfield. An adult red dragon has recently made its lair close to Mirfield." He paused to let that sink in for everyone. More than one person here was stunned by his words. Rickard's commander in military strategy, a tough-looking old man, spoke up, saying roughly,

"We simply cannot send a force large enough to deal with a red dragon while we prepare for war with the hobgoblins. We will have to post a job for the adventurer guild and hope the strongest can take care of it whilst hoping Mirfield can hold out long enough." King Rickard nodded, continuing,

"In addition, it seems the dragon is already taking money from the town and is taking people as slaves." Rickards public relations manager spoke up, saying grimly,

"They are likely dead." She mumbled a prayer for the dead, clutching a holy symbol. The king continued,

"The rest describes the location of the dragon's lair, and finally a plea to come quickly." Everyone at the table was silent for a moment. The strategy commander broke the silence, saying,

"King Rickard, I say act quickly and decisively. Assembling a group of adventurers that can slay the dragon should be my priority." Rickard nodded assent and the commander stood up, respectfully bowing towards him before striding out of the room. Rickard silently sighed in relief, confident his commander could handle the situation. Rickard inhaled and started,

"Now, back to what sir Galliard mentioned..."

{Arthur}

Darkness everywhere. Arthur looked around, vaguely confused. Without warning, a hissing voice spoke directly into his ear.

"YOU." He whipped his head to where the voice came from but saw only black. "YOU ARE NOT ONE OF MY CHILDREN." A new voice spoke into his other ear.

"YOU ARE ONE OF THE IMPOSTERS. FAKES WALKING IN SCALES THAT DON'T BELONG TO YOU." Arthur vaguely thought he saw something flash in the darkness. Who was this, was he dreaming? His mind whirled as a new voice continued,

"I HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOU. YOU DEFY YOUR DRACONIC INSTINCTS. GIVE IN TO THEM, FAKE ONE, AND PRAISE ME AS YOUR GOD. YOUR KNOWLEDGE WILL BE USEFUL." Something was becoming visible in the darkness. A massive red dragon's head suddenly loomed above him, staring at him with piercing eyes, easily dwarfing Arthur. Then four other dragon heads appeared, black, green, white, and blue, all supported by thick necks.

This had to be Tiamat. Why was Tiamat in his dreams? She said she wanted his knowledge, called him an imposter. His thoughts were interrupted by a force on both his mind and body, simply wanting him to submit. He felt all of his mental barriers begin to crumble.

No, he wouldn't submit! He pushed back with a growl, staving off Tiamat's influence. All of the heads simultaneously chuckled making an unnerving and deep sound. The force was increased tenfold, making Arthur let out a cry of pain and anger. "I AM YOUR GOD, YOU WILL SUBMIT!"

As he was starting to lose hope, a light suddenly washed around Arthur's body. An omnipresent voice echoed around him kindly, saying,

"Wake, child. I will deal with this nuisance." Screams of pure rage emitted from each head as they snapped forward to bite Arthur, but Tiamat was forced back as the light shone brighter. "I WILL BRING YOU TO HEEL, FOR I AM YOUR GOD!"

Arthur was thrust awake, revealing his lair. It was light outside, but the kobolds were all still sleeping in their corner. He collected himself, shaking the sleepiness out of his mind.

What the hell had just happened?