Chapter 3

The Month of Blaze, the 16th day, Highday, early morning…

Waking from a dream was akin to bursting free on the surface of water, the sluggish weight of sleep flowing away as air returned and thought flowed like breath, jerking and stumbling in spurts until it found the steady rhythm of consciousness.

Such was the nature of the great black creature as it burst suddenly awake, groggy and confused as reptilian eyes opened to take in the alien world in which it now existed, rather than the house he knew. He gazed about, seeking a foundation for understanding what was happening and finding none.

"Where, what happened? I remember… falling," he tried to recall but everything was garbled. He remembered a sensation of falling, the sound of rolling dice, his daughter-

"Laila!" He shouted out her name, leaping to his feet as he gazed about, hoping against impossible hope to see some sign of her right before his eyes. No such sign appeared, no sense provided clues. He could remember pieces only, of that nightmarish definitely-not-a-dream where they had been pulled down to here. He stopped suddenly, looking at his hands. Black scales, white claws, red tipped with polish... He remembered this from the dream… was he now Coal? Splintered trees surrounded him, destroyed in his landing. There was even a crater, yet he seemed completely unharmed. More trees surrounded the crater, a whole forest of them.

The trees- He shouldn’t recognize them. He knew he had not seen these variations of trees before, yet even so he knew them. Cypress, poplar, something that was not an oak, yet resembled it. The acorns were twice the size they should have been. He knew what they were, what they were called, yet he also knew he’d never seen them before in his life.

Coal knew these trees, not August.

“Is this what Laila called Isekai? Trapped in another world? Are all of us here?” He remembered they had all fallen, yet he could remember no other faces in the dream save his, or rather Coal’s and Laila’s. Or was she now Cumuloregalis? That face, so near to the real Laila’s, yet just different enough. White skin, white hair, red eyes filled with terror and then hope.

“I have to find Laila. Cumulo could handle this world, but Laila, she’s never lived in a fantasy world, she’s-” the same girl he’d taught to hunt since she was eight. The only reason the pair of them hadn’t started sooner was where they lived. Conflict rich Afghanistan was no place to teach a young girl how to hunt. The military wouldn’t have let him, anyways. Civilian contractors getting kidnapped was a recipe for death.

He took in a deep, centering breath, and let his hunting experience take over. Unknown forest, unknown world. Not so different from Afghan. Unknown number of hostiles and friendlies. This time though… he looked once more upon his body, what he could see of it. He was inside the body of Coal, his character from their tabletop game. That was certain. Right? Well, he couldn’t prove otherwise. He knew things Coal would know, even if he shouldn’t. Perhaps he could do other things Coal could do. That might be helpful. He’d leveled Coal to twenty just before the, well, call a nightmare a nightmare. At that level, Coal had a lot of equipment already. Honestly their dungeon master had overloaded them. If he had Coal’s body, it wasn’t a stretch to think he might have his equipment, too.

He started checking over himself. On his belt hung a pair of massive saw-toothed sabers. His pack was on his back, his bag of holding also hung at his waist, and he wore his armor. He was wearing his cloak, too. Hadn’t he activated it when he was dreaming? He shrugged his shoulders and imagined wings. His cloak transformed, becoming wings as those of a bat, spreading out from his back.

“That is going to be useful,” he mused, realizing as he searched through his pack and his bag of holding that he did seem to have all his equipment. He took a look around his surroundings once more, picking up no signs of humans or other creatures. He had a lot of resources to help him find Laila. He couldn’t remember if the others were here, but it made sense. He’d rescued Laila and then… what?

A blast. He remembered some kind of blast had blown them apart. He’d seen the ground from above. Could he remember which direction his daughter had been thrown? He looked to the sky. “I need perspective, but I don’t know what’s out here. Flying up randomly could be dangerous but I’ll have to take the risk. I’ve got to have perspective. Stealth and caution come once I know where to go.”

The wings on his back flapped, and he soared skyward. He could feel his tail streaming out behind him, and realized quickly that twisting or shaking it back and forth affected his flying. He aimed skyward, trying to go as high as possible as fast as possible. He wasn’t moving as quickly as he’d prefer. These wings weren’t exactly fast, he recalled. He’d love to have more speed, but he couldn’t grow wings, so this would have to do.

The world faded beneath him as he soared higher, leveling off slightly to circle every so often as he continuously increased his height, trying to gain enough perspective. His item’s wings could be used indefinitely, but his slow speed still required an immense time commitment to gain height.

Laila… Laila had been flung off towards a peninsula, he recalled. A massive river split the continent, visible from a very great height, though he could not see it from here. He could see a town however. This was taking a considerable time, and he wasn’t getting high enough to see enough. He saw no landmarks his murky memories of the dream could match with. He needed a map. A map might help him decipher where his daughter had been flung. It might give him a direction to look. The town was at the extreme range of his vision, tens of miles away.

He set to drifting, falling slowly as he glided in that direction, descending even as he moved forward. Should he fly into town? No. Something in this world was hostile. He’d risked enough flying up this high to achieve nothing beyond knowledge of the town. There was a road leading to it. Best to walk in, try not to appear too obvious. He didn’t know this region. Maybe lizardfolk were rare or outcasts here, or maybe they were common and popular. He couldn’t say, but there weren’t many ways to find out. He needed information, and he wasn’t defenseless.

Defense. Would he have to fight someone? Could he? “I'll find Laila, the rest of those questions… I’ll find Laila.” He would find her. That had to come first. The image of her terrified eyes surfaced in his memory, etching itself. He had to find his daughter. That wasn’t even a choice.

He made the decision to land around a few miles from the town, already flying low over the treetops. It seemed like a good place for it. As he did, he felt his stomach rumble. Food. When had he last eaten, rather when had Coal last eaten? Meals had, often as not, been an assumed part of downtime or camping during their campaign, and he couldn’t remember. The big feast, five sessions ago? But days had passed in the game between then and the session they would have been having tomorrow night. “Well, not like the session matters now.”

The clopping of hooves resounded in the quiet of the woods along the road. Out of the woods on the other side of the stream there came running a horse, set for riding, yet bearing no rider. The horse galloped across the stream, neighing in terror as it did.

“Hold there, friend!” He called to it, acting on instinct. He ran forward, leaping to grab the horse by the saddle and pull it to the stop. “Hold now, still, calm… I’m no threat to you,” he told it, offering soothing words as he stroked the beast. He wasn’t certain why he knew what to do. He guessed once again Coal was providing his own skills.

The horse took a minute or so to stop fighting and calm down. “What happened to you, friend?” he asked it, though he expected no answer. Speaking with animals was neither August nor Coal’s skill. Well, Coal could talk to reptiles. Not exactly useful here.

Laila, by contrast, had done that and so much more. She’d taken to horses and other animals instantly. They had four dogs, and only one of those was a hunting dog. The other three were simply because Laila picked up strays. Three cats too, for the same reasons.

Perhaps that was why his daughter chose to play a druid in game. He’d expected her to play some sorcerer or witch, to match the black clothes and dark make-up. In a way, she’d played true to that. He remembered when she’d crowed excitedly about discovering her favorite race was now available in the game she’d roped him into, how she’d chosen storms because of her love of sitting up to listen to the thunder and play games in the dark whenever thunderstorms rolled through their home in the States. Even in Afghan, she’d loved the sound of thunder and the night. Not the stars, but the black expanse of the night when clouds covered the sky and the lights of the city were cut back by the pouring rain.

He didn’t understand it, but she loved it. It was why they both loved camping together. Getting away from the city during stormy weather, camping out where the light of the city couldn’t ruin the darkness…

Another sound cut into his memories as he calmed the horse and inspected it. It sounded like the sedate steps of more horses, or maybe another animal, and the rattle of- wagon wheels? He’d really only heard that sound on tv, but it was still a sound he, August, recalled.

It wasn’t close, and he had time to decide if he wanted to meet this traveller. His stomach rumbled again. He looked down at it, and then decided if he was going to meet someone in this world, this was as good a place as any. He inspected the horse, which did not seem to have suffered more than superficial wounds, but he had no medicine skills as Coal. He doubted what he knew as August worked with horses, even assuming he had the proper tools. Instead, he pulled out a potion bottle and coaxed the horse to drink it. That seemed to do the trick, as the wounds healed and the horse calmed completely, standing still beneath his touch. “There, that’s better,” he murmured to it.

At last, as he finished checking the horse, there came round the bend a large covered wagon, almost a carriage, pulled by a massive reptilian creature. It looked like a giant iguana crossed with a gecko. Seated in the driver’s seat was a bundle of cloth topped with bright green hair standing straight up. August stood straight, watching as the bundle flicked a stick at the massive reptile pulling the cart. He did not strike the beast, but flicked the stick past the side of its head, and it came to a halt.

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“Wellll,” a high pitched voice cried out. “And isn’t this just a poor turn of luck for me, a bandit on the roadside,” the voice mused.

“No bandit, just a lost traveller far from home,” August replied. “I’ve no interest in any-” his stomach rumbled quite loudly again. “I’d be interested in buying food, if you’ve got any. I have coin-” and he then realized he didn’t know if his coin was good in this world. He knew he had it, but the currency here was probably different. Would anyone accept foreign coins?

A flick of the rod, and the massive wagon was pulled forward halting again when it had drawn close to horse and holder. He saw now that what he'd taken for green hair was not hair but grass, and indeed the clothes were woven plants. A leaf green face peered out at him. "A Leshy?" He exclaimed in surprise, though he did not know why.

"Yes, indeed, a leshy, good sir iruxi, a leshy indeed I am. Just leaves on the wind, blown from place to place making a living buying and selling what draws my curiosity. Food I have, and for the novel experience of this encounter a copper I'll ask for it. Jerky in plenty to offer, spiced delicious as a Blossom Fair Roast." The small plant creature stood up from its seat, and opened a small hatch on its wagon's front end. "Your coin, good master?" The slightly gravelly voice asked, holding out a hand.

August reached into his pouch and drew out several coins. "I've no local coin to my name, but I've both silver and copper. I can pay extra if the exchange is inconvenient." He knew back home few merchants took foreign coins, despite known exchange rates, because of the hassle. In game it had come up once, and so perhaps a single test of weight would suffice to declare the coin good.

"Foreign? No surprise, Republic coin is not unknown to me. Let's see the copper," the leshy ordered. August handed it the copper coin. "This is no Republic coin! This looks… well I don’t quite know… hmmmm," it drew out a copper coin and appeared to weigh them by hand. "Accepted, for now. Novelty is often its own reward, so says Discovery." Pocketing the coin, it began digging into the wagon on the other side of its small hatch. August let loose a breath of relief at his fortune. In short order the Leshy crawled free of its hatch and offered up several long strips of what August presumed to be jerky, though it was nothing like the store bought kind back home.

He looked at it curiously, and drew in a deep waft of the smell. No scent of the sickly-sweetness of rot assailed his nose, and it did not smell precisely unpleasant. He took a bite of a strip, tearing a piece free and attempting to chew. It's taste was… not awful, though certainly foreign. He did not recognize the spices, but swallowed it without facing any urge to gag. Only after did it occur to him he wasn't even sure he had molars to chew with… was he an omnivore or a carnivore now? Well, he'd managed to chew the jerky. He took another bite.

Once he swallowed, he turned and offered his hand to the Leshy to shake. "My thanks, friend. It's good," he said.

The leshy stared at the hand confused, and so August retracted it. "Of course it's good. Friend, is it? So who is my new friend?"

August blinked then smiled and laughed. "I've been rude, haven't I? My name is… Coal," he hesitantly answered, deciding to run on instinct with the name of the character.

"Coal, eh? Well, I'm Sun Shining on Leaves, and it's probably rude, but what do I know? I'm just a leaf with a brain. Good to know you, Coal."

"Now that's a mouthful. Sun Shining on Leaves… is it also rude to ask if you've a nickname I might use?"

"Some folks call me Ssol, so that would do, wouldn't it? What brings an iruxi to Silvitas-Stalar when he's not even from the Republic? Not the best place for iruxi, tensions flaring as they are."

"I… have no idea. I can’t remember how I got here," he fibbed, stretching the truth a bit. He didn't remember all of it, and still questioned how much had been real. Iruxi? What the hell is an iruxi? Is that what they call Wyrmblood? No, wait, wasn’t that sort of a special thing our DM did? Normally Coal would be a lizardfolk. Maybe that's what he meant.

"Ah, really? That's worse luck still," the Leshy, Ssol, mused. "Bad place to be an iruxi with no friends. Bad place. Do you have an idea where you be heading?" it asked, rubbing its mossy chin with a leafy hand. The moss gave Ssol the appearance of a beard, though a stubby one.

"There's a town that way, I think, I hoped to learn more and buy a map there," August replied, pointing off down the road.

"Map? Good thing to have, if you’ve a poor memory. Myself, I've no need. I know the woods everywhere I go, so I'm never lost. I'm heading there myself. If we start off now, ought to be we arrive well affore supper is readied. Say you ride alongside me, big intimidating fellow such as yourself, and we don't have much trouble with anyone before we arrive?" The proposal was sound, though August chuckled a touch at the way Ssol spoke.

"I accept," he agreed, by instinct offering his hand. "We seal agreements or other things by shaking hands in my own land, to show we are equals and our respect," he offered as an explanation.

Ssol nodded, reaching out a leafy hand and shaking a finger of Coal’s large hand. That done, the pair of them set off, August riding the horse he'd found, Ssol driving his wagon.

As they rode they talked, Ssol asking questions of what sort of life "Coal" had lived, and answering more of the same about the life of a peddler. Where Coal was a hunter and a builder of bridges and streets and even sewers, peddlers lived on the road. The wealthy ones had bodyguards. The poor ones, like Ssol, had to protect themselves. The leshy peddler wouldn't clarify exactly how he did that, at first, but Coal’s nose could smell something the character's knowledge seemed to recognize. Charcoal, brimstone, and rotten eggs among others. An alchemist or a wizard, probably.

As time passed the town came into sight, and at last they approached the town and its gate. Stone walls guarded the town, with wooden walls extending their height for further protection. Two guards stood at the gate, where a few people were being allowed in. Some ten in total, and all of them paid at first no heed to the peddler. As the loud wagon drew near they took notice, and also saw the wagon's apparent guard. Though a peddler was cause for considerable excitement, the sight of the massive humanoid reptile Coal set them on edge. Even the guards seemed to freeze up momentarily at the sight of him.

Despite that, they made no move against him, and slowly processed those who had arrived before the peddler and hunter. However, no one seemed to line up after them.

When the time came for Coal and Ssol to face inspection, five extra guards appeared. August tried to raise an eyebrow he did not have, and instead found himself giving the guards a side eye. Six in total held long spears, while the seventh, who had a crested helmet, bore a side sword. Their armor, light though it was, reminded August of Roman Legionnaires more than typical medieval soldier types. Of course, he wasn’t all that familiar with the latter.

"State your business." The leader had a gruff voice. He did not look happy. He rubbed at his stubby blond goatee as he talked.

"I am Sun Shining on Leaves, good Sergeant Barker. I am again here to peddle wares as I please, and make a bit of coin in your fair town," Ssol said, standing.

"And?" He asked, glaring now at Coal. "This one?"

"A room for the night, a meal, and a map," August responded simply, trying to keep his nerves calm. He could feel how on edge the guards were.

"That right… Very well, two silver entry fee," the sergeant demanded.

"Ah, Sergeant, Though our acquaintance is brief, he did serve as my bodyguard for the trip," interjected Ssol. "I believe law holds he is covered under my merchant's writ, yes, and so need pay no entry?"

August couldn’t help but flash Ssol a grin of gratitude, which made a guard jump. He had not realized there would be an entry cost and he had only foreign silver.

"True, pass inside then. Oh, your name Bodyguard," the Sergeant tacked on gruffly just as Coal thought they were clear.

"Coal Glittersgold," August replied automatically.

"Right," the Sergeant eyed him as he muttered his reply, doubtless wondering what gold was glittering on those black scales. He stepped aside, and the pair of them rode forward, under the gate arch. Suddenly, as the cart passed under the arch and Ssol's lizard of burden cleared the short tunnel, two rattling sounds could be heard and the portcullis at either end came crashing down, breaking the harness of Ssol's wagon and trapping the pair of them inside.

"As if I'd trust the words of at best a thief! Where did you find that horse, thieving lizard? And you, Peddler, I will find out why you helped!" The voice of the Sergeant was angry and loud now. Six more guards appeared with long spears that could reach their prisoners through the bars of the iron portcullis.

August felt a rumble start in his throat and become a loud growl as he glared at one of the guards. To his surprise, the guard stumbled backward and then turned to flee, screaming in terror. That brought everyone to a halt, August included. Had… had that been him? Could he do that?

“I will have your family executed with you if you run away like cowards over a damned lizard!” the Sergeant shouted out, hidden out of sight. “You, Lizard!”

“I am no lizard, asshole,” August felt his mouth run, anger at the situation not under control. “I am Wyrmblood! Do not call me a lizard!”

“I call you as I wish! Thieving lizard, where did you get the horse?” the sergeant demanded.

“I said not to call me a lizard,” August growled in Coal’s voice, dismounting from the horse and stepping up to the portcullis and shoving the metal. It gave a half-inch, and his eyes widened in eager surprise. He started shoving the metal a little more.

“Excuse me, Coal?” the voice of Ssol broke in. “Could you stop that?”

Spears surrounded the large lizard that had hauled Ssol’s cart into the city, and several more pointed at him and Ssol both. One had apparently tried to stab Coal in the gut, but between his armor and his level, the spear hadn’t hurt him. Coal really was hard to hurt.

“Mr… Wyrmblood, please stop,” a guard asked, gulping nervously as he held a worthless spear towards Coal. “The sergeant will order us to attack Mr. Ssol too…”

“I will indeed,” the sergeant’s voice rang out, now on the other side of the wall. “You will cooperate and maybe I won’t kill anyone.”

“You will kill neither of us,” August replied, but drew in a deep breath. Could he save Ssol? Maybe, but he’d ruin the leshy’s life, and he’d have to fight a bunch of soldiers just trying to do their job. Actually, these… well they didn’t quite feel like soldiers. They were fatter in many cases, a little less disciplined than he’d have expected, though maybe that was his own memories skewing things, not Coal’s. Guards? Police. Cops. He was fighting cops just doing their job.

“I’m not a thief. I didn’t steal this horse, I found it. It was running scared a few hours walk from the town. I caught it, calmed it, and rode it in because it was easier riding than walking.” His eyes met those of the sergeant as he spoke, locked one to the other. The man had stepped into view on.

“There’s blood on that saddle, did you not notice it?” the sergeant questioned.

“I…” he hadn’t. He hadn’t actually looked at the saddle. “The horse was injured. Could be horse blood.”

“Doesn’t look injured now,” the sergeant pointed out.

“I fed it a potion,” Coal replied.

“You wasted a potion on a random horse you found in the woods?” the sergeant replied, incredulous. “That’s ridiculous, no one would do that for a random animal, except perhaps a horse thief.”

“If I’d known the horse was stolen, would I have ridden into town on my prize?” August replied. “Seriously, that’s the dumbest logic I’ve heard in days,” he growled back.

“Are you calling me an idiot?” The sergeant’s face grew a little red.

“If the boot fits…” August started, trailing off quickly.

“Coal… maybe don’t antagonize the man with weapons to our necks?” Ssol pleaded.

“How do you fit into all this, Peddler? You’re known around here. I wouldn’t have expected you to deal in goods stolen from your destination,” the sergeant barked, smiling maliciously.

“Please, good sergeant. I do not deal in stolen goods ever. I met this ah, iruxi, Mr. Coal, on the road. He was standing besides the horse, which looked much as it does now. I too expected him to be a bandit, but he did not rob me. He bought some jerky from me. I proposed we ride to town together, to avoid any trouble from real bandits. I did not recognize the horse, and did not know it was, um, of questionable ownership.”

“That’s Sir Jasper’s horse, it is. Stonebreaker, and it should be with Sir Jasper! Where is he?” the sergeant demanded angrily.

“How should I know? I never saw anyone else. I don’t know any Sir Jasper. Is he a knight?” August asked, annoyed himself, but trying to keep marginally under control.

“Of course he is! Well, the mayor’s not going to have the time to deal with you just yet, but we’ll get there. You’re being arrested. Cooperate and I will presume to believe the peddler’s story.”

It was an offer. Maybe even something like a good one, given his situation. Coal narrowed his eyes, then turned towards Ssol. “Just out of town quick as you can, once this is fixed. Before they change their mind. Thanks for being a decent soul. Very well, Sergeant. Arrest me, and release Mr. Ssol.”

The sergeant glared at him still, but August meant it. He’d cooperate for now. He could bend the bars on portcullis. He could likely do the same to whatever prison they tossed him in, even once they’d taken his things, which they would. He’d be able to find it easily enough if he really could use Coal’s skills.

The arrest happened quickly enough. He stuffed most of his equipment into his bag of holding and bound it tight, but they got upset at that and demanded he let them arrest him already, or they’d start stabbing at Ssol. So he surrendered. They reached through the bars, bound his hands, and slowly raised the portcullis. They bound his feet next, and he hobbled carefully out. None of the guards were willing to touch him more than necessary. August wasn’t used to being so large or being treated with such deference… He hoped things would stay peaceful… maybe the rest of the guards weren’t so bad.

They still took his remaining things and threw him in a cage in the town square.