A short while later, the captain appeared with two far more mundane guardsmen in tow. He was a fit and trim man somewhere in his late 30’s or early 40’s with dark hair and a five o’clock shadow and the kind of face that might have put him on the cover of a romance novel. As he sat down across from them, he folded his arms and put his feet up on the table as he twirled his thumbs and studied the small party before him.

“Only the three of you?” he asked. “I thought there would be more.”

Lefty waited for Feathers to cut in, but the duck was more concerned about the contents of the nearest rain puddle, so he did his best to keep a straight face as he listened to the captain.

The captain straightened his coat, “Anyway, I have seen parties of three do great things. It would seem to me that you have a fairly balanced one, no? Let’s see …” he squinted at them as he pointed, “… a ranger, that’s good, a wizard it would seem, less good but useful if he lives, and a … what are you sweeties, a rogue?”

“A delver,” Calista said.

“A delver. Less good than the ranger, but more good than the wizard. You will be useful as you will need to get through the mountain pass where there may or may not be a dungeon. Yes?” He smiled. “You will have fun.”

None of them responded. Before the captain had arrived, they had all collectively agreed the captain would be likely entrusting them with something just short of a suicide mission and that they, in turn, would do whatever they could to get out of it.

The captain continued, “I have called you here today because we are in need of your help. You see, my name is Captain Manuel Rivero Padral and I have been tasked with keeping this fort by the Republic of Tameria1. As you know, we have our hands full with these goblins. They have been raiding villages up and down the river. This has created a crisis. My fort is now filled with refugees demanding to be clothed, fed, housed, and cared for. Since I am a man with limited resources, limited men, and limited time, I have called to my superiors for aid. However, it will take time for them to reach me with relief. Even when they do, I am afraid we will be hard pressed to care for all of these displaced people and seal up our side of the border.”

Lefty tapped his staff nervously. “And so what is it exactly that you think the four of us are going to do?”

Captain Padral looked at him quizzically. “Four? I see only the three of you here? Perhaps you have an invisible friend?”

Lefty gestured to Feathers who was inspecting a toad. “My partner is over there. As to these other two, we’ve only just met.”

The captain smiled, “Ah, I see. I should have known. I have a great deal of experience dealing with adventurers such as yourselves and thought the bird was only your familiar and not a fellow peer.”

Feathers gave an unconcerned quack.

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“He says it’s not a big deal,” Lefty replied. “Happens all the time.”

“Excellent,” Captain Padral nodded. “As I was saying, this now brings me to what it is I need the four of you to do. You see, the source of the goblin issue just happens to lie on the other side of the border within the Empire, with whom we are at peace. Because I aim to keep it that way, I cannot simply lead a force of men across the border to dispatch this new threat. However, because the goblins have now become such a massive threat, I cannot simply sit back and hope it goes away.”

Grumner cut in with a sarcastic tone. “Let me guess, you want us to go take out the goblins?”

Captain Padral laughed. “Would that you could brave dwarf. Although I am sure you could account for many of their number, I do not believe in sending anyone to their deaths, especially not adventurers. You see, because there are so many dark and evil things in this world, you will find that the people of the Republic value your kind above all others. No, I will not be sending your party on a death mission to single-handedly destroy the goblin threat. No. You see, I have it on good authority that what I am dealing with is a much more insidious threat than a mere goblin horde. There have always been goblins in Sommerdale. Before, they were mostly content to stay on the Empire’s side of the border as the Lich Ikzurash was fond of keeping them as minions and was mostly content to keep his machinations to the other side of the river as he knew that if he did too much mischief over here, that one of us would send a party of adventurers after him. However, I now have it on good authority that Ikzurash has fallen and a new leader has taken his place. So what it is that I am doing, is I am asking the three … no, four of you if you are willing to travel to the Fortress Rumadrane to identify this new leader and, if possible, to bring me his head.”

A text box appeared at the corner of Lefty’s vision: [Quest Available: Travel to the Fortress Rumadrane and identify and kill the leader of the goblin horde.]

“I just came from Rumadrane,” Calista said. “The fortress was attacked by a black dragon at the head of an army of goblins. I fear that is your new foe.”

Captain Padral’s eyes narrowed as he thought on this. “Do you know who this dragon is or who it is that he serves?”

“It’s a she,” Calista answered. “I know this because I have seen this dragon before. I encountered her in a dungeon in … another realm. I know that then she served a master who was a powerful wizard, but I slew that wizard and are now here. So if that dragon is here and is in control of this new army, I don’t know who she serves if not herself.”

“There!” Lefty said excitedly. “You know who the dragon is. So you don’t need us now, right?”

The captain gave Lefty a surprised look. “If it was your friend who slew the wizard, why would I now turn down your services in dispatching this dragon?”

“Uh …” Calista scratched her head. “… I’m afraid that we’re not … as you might say, not as powerful as we were when we slew the wizard. So, I don’t know that we can do what it is you’re asking of us.”

“What is this dragon’s name?” Captain Padral asked.

“Vevic,” Calista answered.

Lefty felt his heart sink when he heard the name and he looked over at Calista who glanced back and nodded. “That … that dragon got out?”

Calista nodded again. “Unless I’m mistaken, it was her. I don’t know how. I don’t know why. But she’s here and she’s in that fortress.”

“I thought you two had just met?” Captain Padral asked.

“It’s … it’s a long story,” Lefty said.

“I see. Well, if the four of you have no further questions, then I will simply state that the reward is … let’s say that because I am sending you on a dragon hunt, that the reward will be one thousand gold per person if you succeed in slaying this Vevic the Black Dragon.”

Grumner raised his hand.

“Ask your question, brave dwarf,” said Captain Padral.

“Did Ikzurash work for the Empire?”

“Yes. He was their provincial governor for the province of Coros,” answered the captain.

Grumner asked, “Then why don’t you just wait for the Empire to take care of Vevic?”

“Because if I were to do that, then I would risk this new leader making an alliance with the Empress. She has been known to keep monsters like that along this border to antagonize us and I will not risk another.”

“What if we just, like, live and come back?” Lefty asked.

“Then I will pay you absolutely nothing and tell all of my other officer friends that the four of you are completely useless,” answered the captain.

Lefty turned to Grumner and Calista, “I’m totally okay with that.”

“I might be too,” agreed Grumner.

Calista grabbed the other two by the shoulders, “We’re … going to talk about it.”

Captain Padral chuckled, “As you wish. I will give you until nightfall to give me your answer.”

1Check this name later.