Chapter 05 of Wayward Ranger by J Scott Miles

“What do you think, Tarna?” Elease asked, still noticeably delighted by the dragon kill. “Do you smell any trails leading away from here? This green wasn’t more than a few years old, but if we’re lucky, it might have started collecting a hoard already.”

Tarna’s bright yellow eyes narrowed, and she glowered at Elease.

“I know you’re not a hound,” the half-elf said, putting her hands up placatingly, “And I know you don’t like using your nose to track anything but prey. But it would be a huge waste to leave a hoard out here unclaimed if there is one. With a dragon this young, I’m sure there aren’t more than a few coins and maybe a trinket or two that it’s scavenged. Even so, we should look, don’t you think?”

Elease knelt in front of her familiar and kissed the wolf on her furry forehead. “You already did such a good job noticing this green dragon’s scent. I’d hoped we’d find our first youngling dragon down here along the coast, and we did. This is an incredible start to our Dragon Foe quest. I’m so proud of you.”

Tarna’s eyes rolled, but she licked Elease across the face with her huge pink tongue, then pulled away and began traversing the area around the dead dragon, nose down.

“Dragon Foe quest?” Aidan asked as he cast Minor Heal on himself to ease the ache in his forearm from where the infernal bow’s bowstring had slapped him repeatedly.

“Yeah, Tarna and I just started working on it,” Elease replied absently as she followed behind Tarna, scanning the ground. “It’s the first of the title quests for dragons. Our first step to Dragon Slayer.”

He had heard of titles earned for slaying certain types of monsters and beasts, although Ranger Dallen had always downplayed titles as silly and useless. Aidan was coming to realize there were a lot of things his former mentor had found silly and useless, and despite that, he was curious. “So, why do you want to be a Dragon Slayer?”

“Dragon titles are the hardest titles to earn, and once Tarna and I have gotten to Dragon Slayer, no one will ever be able to dismiss us again. Even at Dragon’s Bane, my da will have to respect us.”

In her excitement over their first dragon kill, Elease appeared to have revealed more detail about herself and her motivations than she’d intended or was comfortable with because her mouth abruptly clamped shut and she glanced over to Aidan with an angry frown as if he’d just tricked her or done something underhanded.

“So, killing this green was a requirement of your quest to obtain your Dragon Slayer titles?” He asked in an effort to put her at ease and keep her talking. He was actually finding the insight into her as well as the information about titles interesting.

“No, killing this green was a requirement on our quest to get our Dragon Foe title,” she replied after a few moments of silence. “Once we complete the Dragon Foe quest, we can progress to the Dragon Hunter quest. Then Dragon’s Bane, and then Dragon Slayer.”

“Got it,” Aidan replied with a nod as he racked his brain for everything he’d ever heard about adventuring heroes and their titles. “There’s a level higher than Slayer, though, isn’t there?”

“Scourge,” Elease replied. “But there’s never been anyone that I know of who’s completed the Dragon Scourge quest, not even the heroes of old.”

“Sounds like something a party would be helpful for.”

Elease snorted. “Parties are a pain in the ass. They’re far more trouble than they’re worth. Tarna and I are doing fine on our own.”

The wolf had tromped off through a gap in the undergrowth and Elease followed. So, after looking for the arrows he’d lost, Aidan did as well.

“Hey, by the way, what’s with this bow?” he asked as he rubbed at his forearm, where the effects of his healing spell were beginning to make the bruised flesh itch.

Elease turned her head to look at him with the hint of a smirk. “What do you mean? It’s a good bow. I used it for years. And you put that arrow right through the green dragon’s mouth with it. That was an impressive shot.”

“Thanks,” Aidan said, as he scratched his arm again. “But this bow really slaps.”

“Does it?” Elease asked, and although she had already turned back around to follow Tarna through the undergrowth, Aidan was certain he heard a hint of mirth in her voice.

She knows exactly what I’m talking about. No wonder she was willing to part with this thing for nothing more than my panther pelt. I knew there had to be another reason besides her simply wanting me to be armed.

Talking about the bow reminded him of another question he wanted to ask. “What kind of arrows are you using? The ones you gave me wouldn’t even penetrate the dragon’s scales.”

Elease gave him a smug grin. “Only a fool goes dragon hunting with common arrows. Or common weapons, for that matter.”

“I wasn’t intending to hunt dragons,” Aidan replied. “And it’s not like I had a choice of arrows. Speaking of which, I’m almost out. I was only able to recover one of the arrows I just shot.”

Elease chuckled. “Calm down. I was just giving you a hard time. You really need to lighten up. I’ll grab you a few extra arrows, but that’s going to mean you owe me, even more than you already do from saving your life.”

“What are you talking about, save my life?”

“We found you. We let you come with us. I armed you. I kept you from cutting into that dragon carcass and poisoning yourself,” Elease replied with a shrug. “You’d be as good as dead out here without us.”

“I would not be as good as dead,” Aidan protested, but his protest fell on deaf ears as Tarna yipped from up ahead, ending their conversation and drawing their attention.

Elease pushed their pace to catch up to her familiar and when they found the wolf, she was standing just outside a small, partially obscured cave entrance sunk into the hillside. Dappled light filtered down through the tree canopy, speckling the veil of vines draped across the cave’s entrance.

“This is it?” Elease asked Tarna. “This is where the dragon’s scent leads? Do you smell anything else around here? Any other dragons? That green was too young to have a brood of her own and too old to have a mother still lurking around, so I doubt we need to worry about another dragon, but this cave entrance looks way too big for that dragon we killed.”

Tarna yipped again, and Elease nodded, then asked, “Any of them near?”

Tarna’s shaggy head shook slightly.

“Okay then,” Elease replied. “Let’s see if there’s anything worth looting inside.”

“More dragons?” Aidan asked warily.

“No, she smells kobolds. But she doesn’t think they’re close,” Elease replied as she approached the entrance cautiously, right on Tarna’s heels, with her bow at the ready.

Aidan knew what kobolds were, even though he’d never actually seen one. They were smallish, reptilian humanoid creatures about half as tall as an average man. Their scale-covered bodies and long snouts were reportedly very lizard or crocodile-like. They also wore little in the way of clothing and fought with tooth and claw as often as they used scavenged weapons of the more traditional varieties.

He eyed the forest surrounding them as he brought up the rear of their little group with one of his last two arrows nocked. He desperately hoped he wouldn’t have to use the bow again, though. Not until I get some bracers. I’m not sure how many more slaps from this thing I can endure. I’ve tried every technique change I can think of to minimize it, but nothing’s worked. I’ve never shot a bow that slapped this badly.

Parting the cascade of vines across the entrance, Elease and Aidan were forced to crouch in order to slip through the cave’s low opening, and even the fur on Tarna’s back rubbed along the entrance’s arching apex. Inside, the air was thick with an earthy scent, mingling with the subtle, far less pleasant stink of decay.

Elease cast an illumination spell which produced a tiny pebble-sized sphere of light that illuminated their way deeper into the dark confines of the hillside. He marveled at the glowing orb. Now that’s a useful spell. I hope something like that comes up for me in the upgrade-market. I definitely never got an option to buy something like that back home.

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No more than a dozen feet in, the narrow passage abruptly opened into a roughly circular chamber scarcely larger than a humble human dwelling. Veins of quartz ran like rivers through the domed stone ceiling and walls around them, glimmering and sparkling with the reflected light of Elease’s magic orb.

“This is beautiful,” Aidan whispered.

“Indeed, it is,” Elease agreed. Although it was clear from the direction of her gaze, she wasn’t referring to the shimmering quartz veins like he was. “I can’t believe a tiny youngling dragon like that has a hoard this big. It must have had help with this.”

As Aidan’s eyes tracked downward to the earthen floor, he paused, taking in the macabre scene. Stacked skulls ringed the room, two or three high and two or three deep in places. Most were the skulls of forest animals, but there were a few human and several roughly humanoid skulls as well.

A few of the human and humanoid skulls still wore helmets, but all were stripped of flesh, their empty eye-sockets facing inwards toward the center of the room where what had truly caught Elease’s attention lay.

Aidan’s eyes widened. The dragon’s hoard.

The hoard didn’t compare to the heaps of gold and jewels the stories and bards talked about, but there were several dozen coins of various sizes and metals, a handful of both cut and uncut gemstones, and one battered gold chalice. The valuables were scattered across a mound of moss, lichen, and what appeared to be random bits of clothing. So, it is true that dragons nest and sleep on top of their gathered treasure.

Elease’s look of joy over the hoard they’d found slowly morphed into something different as she took in the entirety of the dragon’s lair.

“What’s wrong?” Aidan asked.

“A dragon that young shouldn’t have this much loot or been able to kill this many creatures. Some of those skulls look like they should have been formidable foes.” She shrugged. “Oh well, what’s here is here, and it’s ours now. Let’s see what that thing was squirreling away.”

“How are we going to split the loot?” Aidan asked when Elease knelt and began collecting the coins and gemstones.

She paused and looked over at him. “Split?”

Tarna growled from near the back wall.

“Yeah, of course we’re going to split it,” Elease said. “This nest pile looks like it has all kinds of clothing in it, and you clearly need some new gear. I’m sure there’ll be a few items in here that’ll fit you. You’re welcome to anything you can find. And there are weapons stacked over there along the back wall. See if you can find yourself a decent knife or sword for a secondary weapon. I’m not sure what you’re so worried about. You’re going to come out of here with all kinds of new stuff.”

“But you plan on taking all the coins and gemstones for yourself?” Aidan huffed. “I don’t think so.”

He hadn’t even noticed the gathered weapons standing upright in a group along the back wall, and he didn’t dislike the idea of rummaging through them to find himself a secondary weapon to go along with the bow she’d traded him, but there was no way he was going to let Elease take all the valuables for herself. So, he quickly knelt next to her and began collecting what he could of the coins and gemstones for himself.

“Oh, come on,” Elease protested. “Tarna and I are the ones who found this place. You just tagged along. And how are you even going to carry this stuff? You don’t have a bag. Some of these clothes and one of those weapons would be way more useful to you.”

Aidan began stowing the loot he collected in the pockets of his trousers. Most of the coins and stones weren’t large, but despite that, he already felt them weighing down his trousers. He’d lost a fair amount of bodyweight in the days adrift, and he could feel his loose leather pants starting to slide off his hips.

“No wonder no one wants to party with you,” he grumbled. “You’re not a ranger, you’re a damned thief.”

Elease turned her head to glare at him. “I am not a thief. And there are tons of adventurers who would love to party with me. I’m the one who chooses to do this alone.”

Tarna yipped from where she was nosing around near the weapons cache along the back wall.

“Right. I’m the one who chooses to do this alone, along with Tarna,” Elease amended.

Aidan chuckled. “Whatever you have to tell yourself.”

Elease’s glare narrowed, then she reached over and shoved him hard on the shoulder.

Squatting, and outstretched collecting coins, as he was, the unexpected push sent him tumbling over sideways.

“Seriously!” he sputtered.

Tarna yipped again from the back wall.

Elease grinned, clearly pleased with herself. “Tarna’s calling you,” she said sweetly. “I’d go see what she wants. She hates to be kept waiting. And I can finish up here.”

As Aidan picked himself up, he looked over at the wolf, who jerked her nose at him. He supposed the gesture could be construed as a come over here motion. He sighed. I might as well go see what she wants. She’s definitely the nicer half of this duo. Besides that, I think this hoard is just about out of valuables already, and even if it isn’t, my pockets won’t hold much more.

Getting up, Aidan kept a hand on his trouser waistband to prevent his pants from sliding down his legs. He left Elease sifting through the random clothing of the dragon’s nest for the last morsels of treasure and went to see what Tarna wanted.

The wolf had scattered the previously bundled sheaf of weapons and seemed particularly interested in a spear that lay amongst the mess.

As spears went, it was nice, he guessed, with a solid-looking wood shaft and a rather broad double-leaf-shaped head covered in light etching. It seems kind of short for a spear, though. I doubt it’s much longer than I am tall. It does seem to be in better condition than most of these other weapons, though. I don’t see a speck of rust on it.

Tarna motioned to it again with her nose.

“You think I should take the spear?” Aidan asked as he petted the wolf between her ears. “I’m not much with spears. I guess it would be nice to have something with a little range if I find myself in melee combat again. But I think one of the swords might be better for me, even though most of them are in rougher shape.”

He bent down and picked up the spear anyway and immediately received a notification. Unlike most notifications, it didn’t dissolve away after a second for him to access again later at his discretion.

Spear of the Lynx. Polearm Weapon: Spear. Tier: Epic. Magically imbued. Soul-bound. Grants its soul-bound Movement of the Lynx when equipped and for a short duration afterward. Currently unbound. Would you like to bind?

Aidan gasped. An epic soul-bound weapon with imbued magical properties? By the gods, this thing is worth a small fortune. How did it get here and why wasn’t that dragon using this thing as its pillow? It’s easily the most valuable thing in this cave.

He forced the notification from his vision and glanced down at Tarna, who seemed to be grinning. He wondered if the wolf knew how unusual and valuable the spear was.

The spear’s head was beautifully etched, and it was strangely free of rust, but other than that, it bore no indication of its uniqueness. It wasn’t until he’d touched it and gotten the notification that he’d realized what it was.

He wondered if Tarna had touched it and gotten a notification as well? Does she even get notifications like we do? Does she know what this thing is?

Elease was still rifling through the mound of clothing and gear on the cave floor, and his instinct was to call her over and show her the find, but he stopped himself. She’ll want to keep it for herself, or she’ll want to sell it, which would be fine if I thought she’d split the coins she got for it with me.

He re-summoned the notification.

Spear of the Lynx. Polearm Weapon: Spear. Tier: Epic. Magically imbued. Soul-bound. Grants its soul-bound Movement of the Lynx when equipped and for a short duration afterward. Currently unbound. Would you like to bind?

It was an exceptional find. With a quality of epic, the spear would be able to pierce just about anything, and its imbued magical ability, Movement of the Lynx, sounded great as well.

He wasn’t sure exactly what the imbued ability did, but it seemed obvious it would grant an improvement in movement speed. If he could find someone with an inspection ability or spell, they could probably tell him more, for a price. But who knew if the next town would have someone like that?

He knew little about soul-bound weapons, beyond that they were exceedingly rare, and that once they were bound, they could not be unbound, except by death. Should I just bind it? If I do that, there will be no way to sell it.

“Did you find yourself a weapon back there?” Elease called over.

He rotated the shaft, feeling the smooth but not slick texture of the dark wood. It felt surprisingly right in his hands. I may never come across another epic-tier weapon again. Let alone one with magical properties. I have to make the most of this. If there was a place nearby to sell it and buy more appropriate gear, I would, even if that meant sharing the coin with Elease. But I have no idea how long it will be before we get to this town she’s taking us to, and even when we get there, I have no way of knowing if anyone there will have the means to buy a weapon like this.

I’m not sure I should bind it though either. I have no skill with spears. I could start gaining some, but is that the best thing to do?

“What’d you find?” Elease asked, coming up beside him. “A spear? Not really a ranger’s weapon and it would be hell to maneuver in tight places, but its reach might have been useful against that dragon, providing it’s of sufficient quality to have gotten through that thing’s scales. It looks to be in good shape, though. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s of rare quality, at least.” She clapped him on the shoulder. “Tarna knows what she’s doing. I think it’s a good choice for you. See, I told you, you’d get something good out of this hoard.” She walked away chuckling. “And you were whining about me taking all the good coins and gemstones.”

Her reaction cleared a few things up for him. One she wasn’t able to tell a weapon’s quality by sight, either. And two, he no longer felt bad about not telling her what Tarna had found. He still wasn’t convinced he should bind the thing, though. Like Elease said, it’s not really a ranger’s weapon. If it was a bow or even a short sword, I wouldn’t hesitate. But I think it might be smarter to just hold on to it until we get somewhere where I can learn more about it and possibly sell it to get something more suitable for my class.

Before they left the cave, Aidan also found himself a tattered cloak, a length of cord to use as a belt, and a battered leather gauntlet. The gauntlet was a little too small, but by removing most of the laces he was able to squeeze it over his forearm and he hoped it would make shooting the infernal bow bearable, if not comfortable.

They pushed through the vines at the mouth of the dragon’s cave into the late afternoon light that filtered down through the trees. Aidan walked with the spear over his shoulder and his new cloak around him. The garment was threadbare and had an off-putting funk about it, but all in all, he was in good spirits and more than happy with his finds.