It was nearly mid day as two redhooded servants hastily Ran ahead of them to open the large doors into the court yard. Garion, The two Dragon slayers and The Inquisitor Stepped forward into the sunlight. “You there” he shouted to the gate keeper who was sharpening his short-sword on a small stall next to the portcullis “Prepare my self and Captain Thorne’s Horses.” The gate keeper hastily sheathed his sword and made off to the stables without a word. The Inquisitor turned to Dragon-slayer Mariana “Im sorry to leave you hear my love but i will be back in a few days” he pulled her in and gave her a deep kiss witch she reluctantly returned. “erm yeah, see you soon i guess” she muttered to the inquisitor “Stay safe brother” she said to Captain Thorne. The captain gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze “You will do me proud little sister” he said to her as the gate keeper came back into veiw with two horses with expensive looking saddlery. The two men mounted there respective steed and galloped through the portcullis of the castle and out of site. As the gate lowered behind them Mariana rolled her eyes.
“Sorry about him” she said to Garion, “He gets intimidated by other men” Garion smiled at her “It’s fine, as long as your happy with him, i am not going to make any moves to jeopardise that. I promise you he has no reason to be intimidated by me” Garion tried to reassure her. He tried to think of a subject other then Mariana now departed dearly beloved. “So what can yu tell me about dragons?” Garion finally asked her trying to bring them back to the professional mindset of the day.
“of course” Mariana replied “But can we find some food first, ill anser all you questions about our dragon problem once we are eating” she smiled and Garion lead head back inside, he easily rememberer the path through the dark castle back to his library and unlocked the enchanted staircase. The two of them climbed the stairs in silence, Garion could feel Jezta waking up and stretching in his hood as they climbed, the tiny kitten climbed from the position he had been in out of sight behind garions hair to get a better view of there surroundings “Good to see you awake” Garion telepathically said to the familiar.
As they entered the room garion gestured to the now fast growing sapling in the centre of the room. A small pile of fresh fruits lay at the base of the plant in the soil. “Those are all fresh today eat as much as you like” Garion said to the Dragon-Slayer. Her eyes widened at the freshness of the fruit as she tested a large blue apple for freshness. She bit into it. Turning to Garion as she chewed she asked “So what do you want to know about dragons?” Garion paused for a second, he was unsure of how much he could trust a member of he Dragonslayers, even one as seemingly trust worthy as Mariana. “well let’s start with how long dragons have been a known problem in this kingdom?” Garion asked eventually after deciding not to lead with the questions about the previous wizard of Brackenfall’s demise.
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“as long as i've been alive, the dragons have been coming. Rumour is that the old king cursed the kingdom to be a dragon infested swamp or something. Its why our guild is so powerful in the kingdom, without us they would all be ash by now.” Mariana said picking up her second piece of fruit. Garion nodded. “how long have you been a dragon slayer?” He asked. Jezta jumped from inside his hood to the table beside where Garion was standing with the young woman and began to explore the large circular room. Hunting in both the primal and magical senses. “Six months” said Mariana “How long have you been a wizard?” she asked Garion in return “Twelve years” Replied Garion. It was true technically speaking. At age seven he had been inducted into the academy. In his culture that was enough to be considered a wizard. “is that your cat?” asked Mariana, “Yes, He is called Jezta but he's not a cat he's a Familiar, so don't under estimate him.” Garion answered. With his anser Mariana quickly withdrew the hand she had been stretching out to pet the cat with “is he dangerous?” She asked cautiously. “when he needs to be” replied garion.
“How many dragons have you seen?” Garion asked Mariana, she paused for a moment stopping in-between pieces of fruit to count in her head. “Around 50 give or take” she answered finally “although i have only killed three” she gestured to the three scales on the chest plate of her armor.
“did any of them have horns?” Garion asked her.she took another moment to think. “did they have horns or antlers?” he pressed. “what's the difference?” asked Mariana “they here dragons, big scary breathing fire.” she said indignantly as if she believe Garion doubted her some how. “horns” Garion said slowly raising his hands to his forehead in to points. “or antlers” He mimicked the antlers of a stag with his hands. “Oh” said Mariana in sudden realisation. “now you mention it every one ive seen has had antler’s. Not a single one has had horns.” the said “what does this mean Wizard” she asked him after while. “it means that the dragons your seeing are males. And the reason there coming here is looking for the female.” answered Garion. Mariana stared back at him with a blank stare, she rolling her hand in a gesture for him to explain further and he did. “it means if you want to stop the males from being attracted to this area you need to find and kill the female.” Garion finished.