Heya there partner! Liking the story so far? Let me and other readers know by tossing out one of those there reviews so I can get me some of that tasty, tasty reader-base I want. Can you draw? Do you want the world to know how Bran should really look like? Submit your art to me at [email protected] and the top three will be featured in chapter 12! The top three will also get a name of their choice featured in the story. The names of course must be within reason. Hey there guys! Tis your humble story overlord here! "Wow" you might say, "was Bran getting some actual character development in that last chapter, or was I dreaming?" You aren't wrong dear readers tis true Bran is going to be a fully fledged character by the end of this so help me god. Also a quick shout-out to NuitBlanche! He/She is one of the very first to comment on my humble story and his comments are one of the things that allows me to continue it! Please do message me questions if you have them and I will try to respond ASAP. Also for you guys another smaller chapter will be released either today or tomorrow so look forward to it.
Waking up inside of a cage is never a pleasant experience. Waking up inside of a cage to hear a dragon devouring something that was screaming was less so.
Looking over at Astarte I saw her look back at me. She appeared to be quite satisfied with whatever she had eaten. Human or not, it still screamed and I wasn't sure if I wanted to know what it was. It had been three weeks since I had come to this world and I would say that I'm adjusting quite well. Most days I would peacefully awake and move to one of the twelve doors in the semi-circular antechamber and make myself breakfast. Most days, but not all of them. Sometimes I awoke to hear gurgled sounds, screaming, one time I even heard what sounded like pleading. Honestly I was starting to get quite a bit afraid. The pleading was the first of these incidents and whenever I looked at Astarte she looked back, almost as if she was waiting for me to ask. Enough was enough I had to know. There was no way a typical goblin made that noise. Though Astarte had taught me most of the common language which was called Adysan I had yet to speak a word of it to anyone but her. Red and Blonde hadn't shown up once and I was starting to wonder if the screams were from them. Well, only one way to find out I guess.
I stared at Astarte, and she stared back at me. a significantly more threateningly sight considering she lay atop a giant red cushion her golden scales gleaming in the torchlight along the walls.
"Alright Astarte what was that screaming?" Hesitantly I asked.
"How silly little one! There is no screaming, it must have been your imagination." She replied curtly, almost as if she was afraid to say too much.
"Are we really gonna do this right now? Are you really going to make me name the fact that it has happened quite a lot in the past three weeks? Really? If it was only once maybe I would've believed you." I said as calmly as I could.
It was funny really. Over the past few weeks I got frequent tired spells. Times where it seemed as though I couldn't keep my eyes open. When I asked Astarte she replied that I probably wasn't used to this worlds environment. I guess it made sense considering that I was always having trouble breathing in the smog of densely populated cities. It was still a little too coincidental that I just so happened to wake up from these frequent naps to hear Astarte eating something. Something was up.
"Little one we both know that you are suffering from frequent tired spells. Maybe you need more rest?" She looked like she was getting desperate, like something was closing in.
"I'm completely awake. Now let's talk about why I wake up to hear you eating something every time one of these "tired spells" happens?" I replied slyly, I had her cornered now.
"You look positively famished. Maybe you should eat something?" She pleaded.
Something was up. Something was gonna happen that she didn't want me to see. Maybe it was some dragon ritual thing? If it was then what was the screaming? As I opened my mouth to say that I wasn't hungry a curious thing happened. One of the doors in the room directly opposite Astarte opened. Out of it stepped what looked to be a rag-tag group of adventurers. Three of them walked into the room and looked directly at me, their mouths open as I stood in my cage, my arms crossed in what must've seemed like anger towards the giant golden dragon. What a role reversal this was. Every member of the party was a woman, good for them. I hated seeing fantasy books where women were only meek and submissive. After all women were just as varied as guys were, no two were the same.
"....."
"....."
So we stood there. A young man in a golden cage, a dragon that looked like a bundle of nerves, and a party of beaten and bruised adventurers. I looked at Astarte.
"I never asked you about magic did I?" I asked coldly.
"Now is not the time little one.' She replied, clearly uncomfortable.
"Oh, I think it is though. Tell me Astarte can you make someone fall asleep with magic?" I was clearly furious now, and my voice was raised quite a bit.
"Ok little one I will admit it. I have been casting magic on you to put you to sleep." She looked like a beaten puppy.
"Am I correct in assuming that what I have been thinking is correct then? When I am asleep adventurers come and you kill and eat them?" I continued to raise my voice as I scolded her.
"Yes, but little one you do not understand the reason I do this. It is to protect you." Astarte replied with a cold, hard look in her eye.
"How is killing people who come here possibly protecting me and not yourself? If it's you they are after could you not just make them fall asleep with magic and send them away?"
"It is not that I cannot it is simply the way of things. They come here to take my daughter from me, they would sell her to evil men and leave my body to rot. While I am sorry I lied to you little one they are here and now that they have seen you they can not be allowed to live."
At this she turned to them and bared her considerably sized teeth ready for a fight.
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It had taken Blanche days to make it through the labyrinth with her party. This was one of the most famous labyrinths in the known world and if they conquered it then they would be able to afford whatever they wanted. Wimly her Dwarven friend would be able to restore her father's forge, Jade being the studious Elf she was, wanted to open a library to honor her villages memory, and Blanche, well she would worry about that when she was waist deep in men and booze. They had decided that each would gain 25% of the profits from conquering the dungeon. Originally it had been 33% split three ways but they had decided to hire another member of their party to join them. Her name was Daisy, or at least that's what she told them. Blanche still wasn't quite sure about letting her join them considering that she was both a Draconian, and a high ranking priest of Kulan. Kulan while known as one of the "good" gods was also known by his overly devout followers and their tendency to... impose themselves on others.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Originally the labyrinth had been easy, allowing them to snatch some great treasures from chests and the stronger monsters around the first few floors. This labyrinth was one of the legendary few that had yet to be conquered in this the "Age of Exploration". Now while she watched a handsome young man shout at an almost sullen looking dragon she was flabbergasted. not only was this man in what looked like a golden birdcage furnished with what seemed like a bathroom and bed it also had one lone chair facing the dragon.
As her and her party watched the curious situation of the young man shouting at the dragon , and the dragon staring at him intensely (probably some kind of telepathy.) she assessed the situation. Blanche herself was a melee fighter who used her iron gloves to punch most monsters into dust, somehow she didn't think the dragon would appreciate her giving it's scales a few scratches. Wimly was a guardian, a special warrior caste that used a smith's hammer and a shield to outlast their opponents with their steel-plate armor. There was no way a hammer could hurt that giant beast. Jade was in a difficult spot as well. She was the only one who could perhaps harm the damn thing but her spells took too long to chant. After all the beast would hardly let them slay it. Blanche looked at Daisy to see her looking at the dragon and smiling. Yep. She can do something. Blanche looked around the room at all of the members of her party. They all nodded back at her in reply. They would slay this dragon and conquer this dungeon or die trying. After all what kind of dragon would let them escape?
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[Bran's POV]
As I looked between the adventurers and Astarte I knew they had settled in for a death match. Nothing I said would dissuade Astarte now. One of the things I learned about her over these past few weeks was that she was stubborn, and protective when it came to her friends and family. She had left after that first conversation, she told me that when I fell asleep she went into the tunnel I arrived from and killed the giant spider. Burning the nest to the ground and collapsing the tunnel after her. As she explained it "while I may not know much about you little one, I know your heart is in the right place. We are friends now, and I protect my friends and family with all my might." As I looked between the adventurers and Astarte I knew I had to do something... but what?
I could scream and shout but no amount of that could stop the fully combat-ready dragon in front of me. Neither could I stop the adventurers as they seemed to be nodding at each other now with a "we win, or we die" look in their eyes. They were ready to brawl, so I did the only thing I could.
ahem "He-hello?" I said, the Adysan words were unfamiliar on my tongue.
A human woman stepped ahead of the others. She had an amazing body, probably one of the most fit people I have ever seen. Strangely enough though she didn't seem to have huge muscles or bulging veins, it was more the way she carried herself which brought about the illusion of her strength. As she stepped forward she said something that made my blood run cold.
"Fear not handsome young man we will save you from that evil dragon that has imprisoned you." She proudly proclaimed as she gestured to her companions and then at Astarte.
Oh. My. God. Seriously? That was why they all tried to fight Astarte instead of running away? I took one look at her proudly nonchalant smile and walked out of the opening in the back of my cage. I then walked around the bars of it to stand in front of it and look at Astarte. She was watching me do this while keeping an eye on the adventurers in case they tried a surprise attack. I looked at her.
"Have you ever tried to ask them what they wanted Astarte?"
"No, they usually tried to kill me when they fully entered the room."
"Can you like, I don't know, calm down maybe? This is a huge misunderstanding."
"Little one if they make one move towards you I can guarantee that they won't leave this labyrinth alive." My blood chilled at those words. I took it as sign she was willing to try to talk to them at least. Switching to Adysan I addressed the group of adventurers.
"This is all a big misunderstanding. I'm not being held here against my will. I don't need saving either, so how about we put away the fists and teeth and talk this out like the intelligent species we are?"
The woman's smile faltered and she squinted as her forehead furrowed a bit. It seems she wasn't sure if she could trust me yet. She turned to her party who looked at her and shrugged. They then put away their hammers, weird necklaces and staves. The woman then looked at me and said two words tersely.
"We're listening"
One thing that makes talking to new people more enjoyable is coffee. Well, unless that person is some evil goddess like Atropos. I decided to go to the kitchen room and prepare some of the tea there after telling the women I would be right back.
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[Blanche's POV]
This was completely absurd. Not only was the young man not a prisoner of the dragon he was actually telling us that we had misunderstood! This dragon was obviously the one protecting the treasure room of this dungeon. When he left to "make tea" I was quite worried. What if he brought reinforcements back here? What if he was hypnotised by the dragon's magic and was being controlled? That must be it I thought. When he came to hand us our tea we would grab him and run for the above floors of the dungeon. There was no way that a dragon could fit through these passageways. I looked at my companions, they were all extremely worried. Seeing the look in my eyes though, they knew I had a plan and would follow me.
We all tensed up when he came back with 5 cups of tea on a literal silver platter. It looked so ornate that it had to be worth at least three gold. Note to self: take the shiny silver platter and the young guy. As he came towards us we all smiled and looked at each other and him. When he went to hand Daisy the cup of tea was when we struck. Daisy was the closest to the door. When she saw me reaching for him she understood what I was trying to do. She struck him on the head and knocked him out cold. Then she dashed for the door with him over her shoulder. Me and the others immediately followed after. As we rushed out I could hear the dragon roaring at us so I shouted something back at it.
"Don't worry we'll undo the brainwashing you've done and come back to end you!" I laughed as we ran away adrenaline pumping in my head. As we ran I almost missed the sorrowful howl of the dragon behind us... Almost.