Sollus' Adventures Part 5: Timendi Causa est Nescire
So concludes the first half of my planned 10 chapter story. This one was a long time coming folks, it is quite hard to write good action scenes and keep them compelling, I underestimated how hard it would be to include so many characters in a single scene. I hope you enjoyed it anyways! As always PLEASE let me know what you think, I crave any sort of feedback I can get and immensely appreciate it. See you all next time!
The Adventures of Sollus Dellager.
Part 5: Timendi Causa est Nescire
Moreth stood there, implacably calm and still, only his robe moving in the slight breeze as the fire enveloping his hand crackled in the moonlight. By his illuminated features, he was clearly an older man, at least 50, but he stood with a posture that gave a feeling that it would be unwise to underestimate him. His robes were a deep purple, with yellow trim along the seams as well as a yellow cord around his waist. He had a single ring on his right hand, it had a solid ruby embedded in it, which flickered as it caught the fire's light. Lifting his left hand he pulled the hood back, revealing his thinning silver hair. At last he spoke.
"Well, now this is quite interesting, I expected to find a full size dragon here, but all I find are two dragonkin..." He turned to focus his eyes on Sollus. "Oh yes, I know what this is. You...there is something about you, I sense something magical..." Sollus remained still for a moment before speaking back to the wizard.
"Allow me to solve your mystery for you." With a grunt and a quick muttering of words Sollus allowed his illusion to drop, he grew taller and fell down onto his front legs as his body thickened and two massive wings sprouted from his back, soon he was back in his natural form, standing over Zach protectively as his armored tail swished behind him, scraping along the stone floor audibly. He fixed his red eyes at the wizard, and lowered his head in a position that looked like he was about to break into a sprint towards the man. Moreth did not flinch for a second during the transformation, standing perfectly still with the same calm expression.
"Ah, you are skilled in illusion magic, I see...I happen to prefer the more...offensive forms." Moreth waved the hand around, still holding the magical fire, ready to throw it should the need arise. "I have always been jealous of the natural abilities of dragons when it comes to magic, it is as natural as breathing to you, they say some baby dragons are accomplished spell casters within their first month. But its so unrefined, simply raw talent, they are often...clumsy. I suspect you have used your talents to remain hidden for so long, a human guise perhaps? " Sollus bristled at the man taking the situation so casually.
"What do you want Moreth?!" the dragon barked. the man chuckled to himself.
"You know my name...then you must have some way of walking among the town, I doubt you can maintain invisibility long enough, no you must have a form, someone large, to deal with the mass problems, someone with a good alibi, no one living in town..." He began to pace, mumbling to himself, still holding the fire in his right hand while the left cupped his chin. Suddenly he stopped, and turned abruptly, pointing at the dragon with a wicked smile on his face. "Sollus..."
The dragon failed to hold back his surprise and his eyes widened, giving him away to the man. Whose grin broke into a smile.
"Hah, I knew it, I am surprised I didn't figure it out earlier..." Sollus narrowed his eyes, giving the man a look that would reduce most to sobbing uncontrollably.
"So then, what now Moreth, why are you here?! Why did you send dragon slayers after me?!" The man would not drop his smile.
"Oh, I want something of yours Sollus..." He twirled the magical fire across his fingers for a moment. "your eyes." Sollus snapped his head back quickly, his crimson orbs widening in shock and disgust.
"My...eyes? For what, one of your stupid potions?!" Moreth returned a smug look
"Not just any potion, I have finally found the formula for an immortality potion, out of the most common ingredients no less! It's been right under my nose the whole time. The only sticking point is one ingredient. Dragon eyes, fresh ones. I thought I would never get them, trapped in the castle under the command of that fool, Horace Pavel." He spat the name, clearly disgusted. "So, imagine my surprise when I sneak out into the forest for ingredients and see a dragon flying overhead back to this very cave, I ran back to town as fast as possible and sent that letter off immediately."
The man was pacing again, lost in his monologue as he continued to talk about how much he hated his life in Temaria, lord Pavel, and his fixation on immortality. This entire time Zach crouched underneath Sollus, listening to every word with his friend. Slowly though he began to move out from under the dragon, inching towards the small pile of weapons Sollus had nearby. Catching sight of this Sollus moved to engage the humans attention.
"You are no match for me human...wizard or not..." the man laughed loudly.
"Oh, I think I could take you, but I did not come here to challenge you. I would not take such a risk as openly fighting a dragon. No, I hoped to catch you unaware, kill you in your sleep..." Sollus eyed the long dagger, sheathed at the man's side. "But I had a backup plan if you were already awake. Oh yes, of course..." Sollus planted his feet firmly
"We cannot allow you to leave then..." the dragon said darkly. The man raised an eyebrow.
"We? Oh yes, how silly of me, the other dragon." He turned to look at Zach who had since grabbed a sword and was now standing next to Sollus. "You wont have to stop me from leaving, because I have no intention of doing so. Did you not wonder why I came here and just rambled for half an hour?" Sollus thought for a split second and then he raised his brows and shouted as he grabbed Zach in a claw, and held him to his chest
"Hold on Zach!" With a loud battle cry the entire Blackstone company crested over the hill into the cave and charged. An arrow sang past Sollus as Lanzo shouted to him.
"You killed my brother you monster!" Sollus was more worried about a particular weapon in their arsenal however, fixing his eyes on Otto who already had the massive crossbow in position to fire. Sollus focused his mind and projected a shadow image of himself to the side that appeared more solid than his own. Otto took the bait and fired the giant weapon at it, the massive bolt passing right through the head of the illusion, as well as another arrow from Lanzo. Moreth shouted at the Blackstones.
"He is using illusion magic you fools, focus!" channeling, Moreth threw the fireball he was holding for so long at Sollus, the dragon lowered his head to meet it, cringing at the heat, even feeling it through his armor plates. He couldn't stay here. Alda and Randar were closing fast and he was having trouble with just the ranged attackers. Keeping his head lowered and thankful that the crossbow would take a long time to reload he dived to the side before charging straight at Moreth, clutching Zach tightly to his chest. As he ran though Alda reacted quicker than he estimated, she swung her massive sword at his leg. The giant weapon bashed his knee, thankfully not cutting the scales as it had been the flat of the blade, but it succeeded in sending Sollus off balance, holding Zach already hampering his escape. He tumbled towards Moreth now, who leaped with agility contradicting his age out of the way, Sollus managed to roll out of the cave, still clutching Zach tightly to his chest, but he had lost his momentum and was in no position to take off. Tumbling down the hill, he bashed his back against a tree, cracking it in two. Groaning in pain he lifted his head to see his assailants scrambling down the hill after him. He released Zach and shouted at him.
"Run Zach!" the boy stood there for a moment, still in his draconic form before shouting back.
"No Sollus, they will kill you! I would rather stay here and die with you than run just to be hunted down later!" Sollus grunted in pain. he couldn't watch Zach die, he just couldn't. Raising himself up he limped on his weak knee. He couldn't outrun them, and the trees stopped him from flying. he would have to try and fight. He had to...The humans had reached the bottom of the hill, all with weapons at the ready, Moreth with fire in his hands. Sollus readied himself to fight again, likely for the last time.
Suddenly, a massive gout of flame landed next to the humans, instantly setting a lone tree ablaze, and almost burning Lanzo to a cinder. The party immediately turned to Moreth who appeared just as surprised as them. A deafening roar pierced the night as the humans looked up. Randar shouted.
"Dragon! Another one!" Sollus' eyes shot wide open at the proclamation. Taking advantage of the momentarily distracted humans he lowered his head and dove right for Moreth, partly because he was the largest threat but mostly because if Sollus was going to die, he would make sure this bastard wouldn't live forever. Randar and Alda turned to try and punish the dragon again for leaving himself wide open but were unable to position themselves in time and were bowled out of the way, Alda falling unconscious as she slammed her head against a tree. Turning to see a very angry charging dragon rushing at him Moreth attempted to leap, but did not get enough distance. Snapping his jaws quickly Sollus caught the wizards foot in his mouth, instantly severing it from his leg. Consumed with rage Sollus loomed over the man, who howled in pain, he tried to conjure a spell, sparks flashing on his fingertips before quickly fizzling out, he was in too much shock to try and cast anything. Grumbling deeply Sollus spoke to the man.
"Those who seek power are often destroyed by it." Clenching his paw into a fist he raised it above the man's head before bringing it swiftly down, crushing the man's skull in an instant. Leaping up and whipping his tail to hit any of his attackers Sollus turned to see Alda draped over Otto's back. Randar was facing him with his shield up, but backing away slowly.
"We weren't counting on you having a friend, but this isn't over dragon. Zaed will be avenged! Blackstones, fall back!" As Randar finished the words another ball of fire landed on the hill to Sollus' cave, not twenty feet from the man. The mercenaries burst into a sprint into the forest, running back to Temaria.
As the humans fled Sollus immediately turned his attention to his missing friend.
"Zach! Where are you!" He darted his head from side to side trying to find the boy. Finally Zach came out from the trees.
"Sollus...are you ok? The dragon stood on his feet, his knee still throbbing in pain as well as his back and wings from the tumble down the hill.
"I...I think so...we have to leave, now, we cant wait for them to come back." Sollus stretched his wings, wincing in pain. Zach noticed.
"Sollus you are in no condition to fly, certainly not for long enough to get far enough away, and not with me on your back." Sollus looked at the man, taking note that he still had the features of a dragon. Zach was right, he wouldn't get far, he would probably pass out from exhaustion. Sollus sighed deeply.
"You are right, lets just get back to the cave for now, I need to think." The two began to climb the hill back to the cave with Zach leading when a massive whooshing sound was heard followed by a hard thud and a voice.
"Ho there!" The pair turned. Of course, the other dragon. How could I have forgotten? Sollus thought to himself. Sollus eyed the newcomer, his scales were jet black, two horns jutted back from his skull on each side of his head, just above his emerald green eyes, his proportions were the same as Sollus, but he was larger, most likely older than him by a decade or so. He spoke again.
"Are you alright? I was flying overhead and I saw a burst of flame that was clearly magical, who would have known upon my investigation I would find a fellow dragon pinned down by damnable dragon slayers." Sollus stared at the other dragon for a moment, still wrapped up in the fact that he had not seen another dragon for as long as he could remember. Finally he replied.
"W-who are you? Why are you here?" the black dragon raised his head proudly.
"I am Dalik, and I will tell you my story once I get you back to your home. I would like to know yours as well." Sollus coughed.
"Yes, of course, this way." As the green dragon turned Dalik caught sight of Zach. He raised an eyebrow.
"A dragonkin? Here?" Sollus turned his head back.
"I will explain inside." Dalik nodded and the three entered the cave, Sollus laying down on his furs as Zach sat down in front of him. Dalik took position on the ground with his back to the mouth of the cave. The black dragon still had his eyes focused on Zach before speaking.
"I've never seen a dragonkin before, my mother told me about them, she said that the humans had killed all of them except a few small colonies to the north. Tell me little one, where do you come from?" Zach opened his mouth to speak, but Sollus interrupted him.
"I found him living in this cave when I came to the area, unlike you I had never heard of such a creature, but we quickly became friends and I have protected him ever since." Zach, playing along with Sollus' ruse, assuming he had a good reason for it nodded towards Dalik.
"Yes, I have lived here for a very long time, I was happy to have a big dragon here to protect me from any humans who would try to hurt me." the black dragon tilted his head and spat.
"Humans...disgusting little creatures, I saw the town nearby before I caught sight of you. I assume they are the ones who hired the slayers to come after you?" Sollus lowered his eyes.
"Yes, they are, I managed to live here for a long time in hiding without attracting any attention, but they finally found out I was here." Dalik growled deeply. You should come with me. I'm headed off to join Kranoth up north in the Mountains. Have you heard of him?" Sollus thought back to when he heard Korel mention the name.
"No, I have heard nothing of this Kranoth. How did you?" Dalik smiled.
"He is going to save all of us, all dragons. Before I left, I was living in a cave near a swamp for about forty years, occasionally trade caravans would pass through, braving the marsh for a faster route. Naturally I would prey on them, enjoying a few humans to toy with to break up the tedium of life there, I would usually keep at least one alive until the next caravan came in order to keep myself entertained." The dragon's smile widened at the thought, showing his teeth. Zach backed up a little bit into Sollus, who looked down at him reassuringly. Dalik continued.
"The little humans are usually terrified and rarely defiant, just traders after all, but once I managed to get the drop on three very well armed travelers. I incinerated two in an instant with a well placed fireball and landed in front of the last, a smack of my paw and he was disarmed, I carried him back to my cave, and locked him up, but he just kept shouting at me. Screaming curses to someone named Kranoth, I asked him who that was but he ignored me, he quickly changed his mind with a few precise...scratches. You should have heard the screams...delicious." Sollus could feel Zach cringe against his body, he was clearly quite afraid of this dragon now knowing what he was capable of. Sollus was a little shaken as well, never even considering the kinds of things this dragon had no doubt done to humans before. Interrupting Dalik momentarily Sollus tried to get him back on track.
"So, who is Kranoth exactly?" Dalik chuckled.
"Ah yes, Kranoth is an ancient black dragon, around three-hundred years or more in age and quite skilled in magic as well. The human didn't know much about his past obviously, but he has been gathering dragons to the Causus mountains, and has allied with the dragonkin colonies up there as well. Its a smart position, highly defensible against land bound humans. With the army he has amassed they have been terrorizing the northern countryside, both kingdoms have put aside their differences temporarily and sent the bulk of their armies up north to try and deal with the problem, but with every passing year Kranoth gains more dragons, the humans have been able to hunt us near extinction because we are spread out, easily picked off by experienced dragon slayers...but together...we can turn the tables and establish our own kingdom, hopefully exterminate all of the humans in the process as well." Dalik's tail was wagging in earnest now, pleased with the thought of a dragon kingdom and no more humans. Sollus felt a little sick and couldn't imagine what this news meant to Zach, who he could feel shaking against him. The black dragon stood up on his paws and looked out of the cave.
"The sun will be up soon. You two had better get some sleep, I will keep watch." Sollus nodded at the dragon and moving a paw clutched Zach against his body, hoping to make him feel a little safer he lay his head down and snaked it down next to the "dragonkin" one large crimson eye looking at him and another facing out at Dalik, he whispered to the boy.
"Don't worry, I wont let anything happen to you...go to sleep." Zach nodded and allowed himself to doze off. Sollus followed quickly after, the efforts from the day finally catching up to him as he closed his eyes and drifted off.
Sollus awoke to being sore all over, his knee still protesting as well as his wings and back, but he felt better, the sun was already high in the sky, they must have slept a long while, looking down he saw Zach waking up as well, no doubt disturbed by the dragon's movements, he looked to the entrance of the cave but Dalik was not there, he surveyed his cave to find the black dragon but he simply was gone. Sollus sighed deeply, hoping that the dragon had left for good. He still did not know what to think about Kranoth and what he was trying to do, was it not the fault of humanity? Were they not to blame for pushing dragons to fight back against them, and was this the right way? To kill them? Sollus looked down at Zach, still waking up and still in his dragonkin form and resolved in his head that it wasn't right, humans and dragons could learn to work together, to live in peace...they had to. Zach looked up at him sleepily.
"Good morning...Is Dalik gone?" the human's eyes darted from side to side, clearly still a bit shaken from the previous night. Sollus smiled down at him.
"Yes he appears to be gone, he may come back though. I think I can fly, but not far..." the human got up and Sollus undid his transformation, letting him fall back to his normal human form. "Heh, I was starting to like it..." Sollus smiled at the human as he retrieved his clothes and got dressed.
"Hah, well, I'm afraid i'm not skilled enough to make the change permanent my friend." suddenly, a breeze rolled into the cave, and upon it Sollus caught an unmistakable scent the made his heart jump. Fire...He leaped to his feet and bolted for the entrance of the cave, praying that his fears would not be realized. He could see smoke in the distance. A lot of it, but the forest did not appear to be on fire.
"No..." Sollus breathed. He turned and shouted back at the human. "Grab a weapon Zach! Temaria is on fire!"
~
As Sollus flew through the air he could clearly see now where the fires were coming from, a good portion of the village was ablaze, he looked up above the town and his deepest fear was confirmed. A black dragon was circling overhead, occasionally shooting blasts of fire down upon the town. Dalek... Sollus touched down outside the village and shifted to his human form. With Zach behind him the two ran to the front gates, panicking townsfolk were running out of the town screaming holding valuables and running for cover. A guard spotted Sollus and ran up to him.
"Sollus, a dragon is attacking the town! By the Gods, we're doomed!" Sollus shook the man by the shoulders.
"Where is Korel, where are the other guards! I'm here to help!" The terrified guard regained some composure.
"they are in the town square, trying to keep the fires under control, the Blackstones should be in there somewhere as well, trying to ground the dragon, with some weapon they brought with them." Sollus patted the man on the shoulder and nodded to Zach, together they ran through the streets, this part of the town apparently not on fire yet, they reached the market square quickly, one half of it up in flames as guards passed buckets of water from the well in an attempt to keep the fire back. Korel caught sight of Sollus as he approached and yelled to him.
"Sollus, Zach! Over here!" The duo trotted over to him. "Gods Sollus am I glad to see you, we cant keep the fires back with that dragon starting new ones all over the place, we need him taken down and fast, the mercenaries are over by the tavern with some sort of ballista they designed to ground dragons, they haven't fired it yet, but go see how you can help, my men and I will keep trying to keep back these fires! Zach, I want you here, help my men!" Sollus and Zach exchanged nods before separating.
As he approached where the Blackstone company was Sollus noted that Lanzo was not with them. Otto was fiddling with some kind of giant weapon they had hidden underneath an overhang from the tavern. Upon seeing his approach Randar gestured Sollus over.
"You there! Sollus was it? Sollus ran quickly over nodding.
"Yes that's me, it seems you were right after all, how could I be so stupid to miss a dragon living nearby..." Randar waved his hand
"Not just one dragon, but two! A green one as well as this black one. Still no sign of the other though, we can count ourselves lucky for that! Listen...we lost Lanzo in the initial attack, incinerated when he tried to land and arrow in the dragon's eye..." Alda piped up from behind him.
"Hes with Zaed now, brothers don't stay separate for long." Randar grunted.
"Indeed. Listen Sollus, he was our best marksman, Otto here is used to more stationary targets. How is your accuracy?" Sollus looked at the machine behind them.
"Good with a bow, but I have no idea how that thing works." Just then a fireball landed across the road from them, the building beginning to catch fire quickly. Randar shouted back at Sollus.
"Well, time to find out, we will all be cinders if we don't try. Otto! Wheel it out!" Otto nodded and braced himself as he pushed the giant weapon out from its hiding spot. Sollus leaped behind it and placed his hands on the release lever. Dalik was flying in a predictable pattern, he hoped he could follow the shot.
"Left a bit! Up!" He shouted orders at Otto as he adjusted the aim. Sollus placed his hand on the release lever...waited for the right moment... and pulled. The giant contraption shuddered and knocked Sollus off onto his back as it released a projectile that resembled two cannonballs tied together by a thick chain. The object rocketed towards its target. But as it neared Dalik turned to see it and dove sharply down, it flew right over his head. A miss. Dalik saw where it came from though and veered off to destroy the weapon before it could be used against him again. Randar cursed.
"Run! Get down everyone!" Sollus and the mercenaries sprinted out of the way to hide in the side streets just as a fireball hit the ballista dead on. It exploded into splinters and flaming boards. In the alley Randar dropped his head.
"We have no marksman and no ballista, we'll never ground that damn thing!" Sollus stood up to his massive height. His face resolute.
"I know a way...This cannot be allowed to continue..." All three mercenaries turned to look at him, shaking their heads.
"What, do you have an army of imperial soldiers just waiting in the forest for your word? Or can you fly forester?"
"The second one." Sollus said with a smirk. The humans scoffed at him as he left the alley, but they were nonetheless intrigued, and they followed him to the town square. Korel met up with them.
"I saw the shot...and the miss. What do we do now?" Randar gestured to Sollus.
"Your woodsman here says he can fly of all things." Korel looked at him with incredulity
"What are they talking about Sollus?" The "human" gestured for everyone to move back. He turned to Korel and to the mercenaries.
"We aren't all monsters..." With a wave of his hands his body grew immensely, stretching up and out as his wings sprouted from his back and his rocky tail pushed out as well. Within a few seconds he was standing in the town square fully a dragon. The gathered mercenaries and town guardsmen all gasped as one. Pausing for a moment he turned his head to look at the Blackstones
"Get your weapons ready, I will bring him down." not giving them a moment to consider giving him a chance Sollus jumped into the air with a flap of his wings and moved towards the black dragon.
Dalik paused his flight as he turned to see Sollus approaching.
"Oh, so that's how you have managed to live here for so long, that's a very clever trick you know. Come to join in the fun?" Sollus grumbled at how casual the dragon was about murdering the townsfolk.
"Dalik you need to stop this! Those humans are innocent, they didn't do anything!" Dalik's eyes flared wide.
"Didn't do anything?! Sollus they sent dragon slayers after you! Their kind has hunted us to near extinction! Don't tell me you are some kind of...human lover!" He hissed out the words. Sollus felt anger build up inside of him. He loved Zach, with all of his heart, and this dragon was saying that that love wasn't real, and even wrong! He continued to rant. "I never dreamed for a moment that a dragon would actually defend humans...its...unthinkable! If you side with them...then you are no better than them..." the black dragon lowered his head to glare at Sollus, a few sparks escaping his jaws. Sollus flapped hard with his wings, darting above the fireball as it soared past him. Turning sharply Sollus whipped his rocky tail around and bashed Dalik squarely in the side of the head. The dragon roared in pain from the impact, temporarily thrown off balance, he spun as Sollus dove at the larger dragon, taking advantage of his unarmored back Sollus raked his claws at it cutting slightly at the scales. Dalik screamed at him and flipped his body upside down before releasing a bolt of fire right at the dragon's face, forced to retreat lest he be hit by the full power of the blast Sollus flapped away from his quarry who righted himself and stared back at him.
"You deserve to die just like them!" Dalik screeched. Sollus roared back at him defiantly.
"They only hate us because of what you are doing right now! Burning villages and terrorizing caravans!" Sollus's eyes flashed and his body seemed to blur, two copies of himself moved outwards from him, surrounding the black dragon who darted his head around to try and track them. They all spoke in unison
"They're right about you! You ARE a monster!" All three dove at Dalik, he released a fireball at the one at his front which vanished in a flash of smoke, the two on his sides closed and then he felt pain at the base of his right wing, the one on his left fading away harmlessly. Sollus bit as hard as he possibly could into the thick muscles. Dalik screamed as it felt as if his wing would be torn off, turning as best he could to his side he kicked and clawed at the other dragon to get him to release. Sollus screamed as the claws cut deep into his chest and released the wing form his jaws, but the damage was done, each flap of the black dragon's wings shot unbearable pain through him, he had to land before he fell from the sky. He looked down, right into the town square.
Korel Shouted to Randar. "Get ready here he comes! I will leave this to you. Men! Get back, stop watching the show and put out those damn fires! Dalik collapsed into the market square with little grace, destroying a stall and scattering some barrels and boxes. Sollus landed not far away, clutching his chest with one paw. The cuts were deeper than he initially thought. He planted his feet firm however and glared at his adversary. Dalik got up, blood pouring from his wing, but he remained otherwise unfazed. He gritted his teeth and stared down at Sollus.
"You fool, these humans will kill you if I fail to do so, don't you see, they will never trust us, never will there be peace between dragon and man! Never!" Sollus reached a paw up to clutch his chest again. Seeing the opportunity Dalik grinned and lowering his head shot another fireball at him. Unable to move in time with his foreleg out of position Sollus closed his eyes and braced himself for the pain but it never came, he felt heat in front of him and opened his eyes to see Randar ahead of him with his shield raised, the man looked back at him and nodded before charging forward with a battle-cry. Alda was right behind him, carrying her sword. Otto came up next to Sollus, before bending down on a knee, crossbow in hand as he aimed at the black dragon. Sollus continued to bleed from his chest, he began to feel light headed, his eyes drifting shut, the last thing he thought saw before passing out was Zach, running towards him...screaming.
~
Sollus opened his eyes to the setting sun. In front of him was exactly who he wanted to see. Zach was staring back at him. Opening his eyes further he saw a figure approaching from behind...Randar, Sollus grunted and tried to get up, but collapsed back down on his side in pain.
"get...get away from him...I..." He groaned in agony. Zach reached forward and rubbed along his muzzle, and the dragon grumbled.
"Its ok Sollus we're going to be fine." Randar leaned down to look into the dragon's eye.
"I don't know what happened to Zaed, and I don't think I want to know, but today, you saved my life and the lives of my crew...my family. It would hardly be fitting to kill you afterward. Looking down at his chest Sollus saw bandages laying against the cuts, with a green paste pressing outwards from them. Victor approached.
"A remedy from my days as a forester you should be familiar with...Sollus. Come on and stand up, don't tell me a few cuts is going to keep a dragon down, and certainly not a tough old dog like the Sollus I know!"
The dragon forced himself to his feet, grunting a bit in pain. The first thing that caught his eye was the body of Dalik, dead almost in the same place Sollus had last seen him. He was covered with cuts and gashes, a bolt from Otto's crossbow embedded deep in his shoulder. Alda's greatsword was stuck triumphantly in the top of his head. Noticing his gaze Randar spoke up.
"It was quite the battle...Without the damage you caused to him before he landed there was no way we would have defeated him." Sollus continued to stare at the body, contemplating what he had done. "I understand what it must have taken for you to betray one of your own kind." Sollus grunted.
"I suspect you might human, shielding me from that fireball was the last thing I would have expected you to do." the man chuckled.
"Well, I always love to use my dragon fire shield and see the look on a dragon's face when they shoot fire at me and not only see me still standing, but without a scratch on my shield." Sollus looked to see Alda and Otto sitting over near Dalik's body. They waved casually over at him. Looking around he saw no one else aside from those who had gathered around him. A large part of the town was a smoking ruin, but it looked like most of it had been saved, some guards were running around carrying off debris, but he didn't see a single villager.
"I'm afraid despite your efforts people are still quite wary of a dragon. To be expected I suppose." Korel spoke, walking up. "So Sollus we are all dying to know, what was another dragon doing here? Clearly you and he weren't friends. Randar told us about last night..." Sollus sighed.
"He was on his way to join Kranoth before he saved me from the Blackstones. I suppose I should be happy he came along but...such an expense of life, half the town is destroyed..." Korel smiled.
"You're selfless Sollus, a rare quality, I would be happy to see you guard this town for decades to come...but I am afraid that is not up to me." Sollus raised a brow before seeing a few figures approaching, he squinted and then he recognized the regalia and finery of Lord Pavel, approaching with a retinue of guards behind him. He fearlessly walked right up to the dragon.
"Sollus...because of you, my wizard and advisor is dead, almost half of this town is burnt to the ground, at least fifty dead, and many more left homeless..." Korel attempted to interject but the mayor waved a hand. "Yes, I am getting to it Korel." the mayor rolled his eyes. "However. Without your intervention my town, its people, and even myself would all most likely be ashes right now." Pavel shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Despite all of this though...I must ask you to leave Sollus. It is..."
Sollus grunted and interrupted the mayor who seemed glad to not be required to say what had to be said.
"You don't need to continue Lord Pavel. I understand the fears of the people, their village was just attacked by a dragon, they have grown up hearing horror stories of the cruelty and selfishness of the creatures. With the threat of Kranoth on the horizon, tensions are high, dragons are feared more now than ever." the dragon looked down at the mayor and shifted glances to Korel, Victor, Randar, Dalik...Zach. "The people deserve to feel safe, and if my departure will give that to them then I will gladly oblige such a request." The mayor sighed in relief.
"In time Sollus, after this Kranoth business is taken care of I daresay that you will be quite welcome here, just give the people time." Sollus nodded. Victor spoke up.
"Where do you plan to go?" the dragon looked down at Zach, who nodded up at him.
"Kranoth must be stopped. His dream cannot be allowed to come to pass, he is misguided and I will work to not only save humanity, but dragon kind as well from a pointless war. I will find another way to save my species." He turned his great head to face Victor. "Victor, I'm afraid I will be taking Zach with me, we are going to head to Argoth to learn more about how to deal with Kranoth, and I would much like to have a travel companion." Victor frowned slightly, but nodded.
"Zach's a good kid, take care of him Sollus, I am quite sure you two will be fine...By the way, that was quite the bit of magic you used up there. Illusions is it? Lord Pavel, isn't there a great archmage in Argoth?" The mayor glanced up from deep thought.
"Ah, a decent number of them actually...yes...Moreth mentioned one in particular. He always was jealous of illusion magic in many ways. Sollus, you should seek out Archmage Alondar when you get to the capital, he is a master of illusion magic, he could probably help you refine your skills, quite important for the trials you may face ahead I think." the mayor suddenly snapped his fingers and a guard approached, with an ornate wooden box in hand. "I have rewards for you before you two leave, fitting for your efforts." He opened the box and first took out a letter.
"This letter is addressed from me, Lord Horace Pavel, to the His Majesty King Vasilis Argothan the IV. Within I name Sollus Dellager savior of the village of Temaria, and grant him rights to all the privileges and accolades befitting a hero of the kingdom. With this letter you should have no problem acquiring any resources you may need in your efforts, but chiefly you will need the king's permission to enter the Institute of magic and meet with Alondar. I suggest you seek an audience as soon as possible." the mayor turned and handed the letter to Zach who tucked it gingerly into his vest pocket. again reaching into the box the mayor this time pulled out two short swords and a small dagger all sheathed.
"These weapons came to me early during my reign as a gift from the king himself for my work here, they are made by the best blacksmith in the kingdom and of the finest materials. I would like you two to have them for your travels." He handed one sword and the dagger to Zach, who strapped them on himself quickly. He pulled from the box another item, a large leather strap, probably adapted from the kind that would be used on horses. "You wont always be fighting in your normal form I suspect so this should give you a way to carry a weapon while under your human guise." Korel stepped up and carefully wrapped the strap around Sollus' shoulders and around his neck before strapping the sheathed sword on as well. The dragon lowered his head deeply.
"Thank you. All of you, I could not ask for more." Randar stepped forward.
"We will be leaving with you for a time Sollus before going our own way. Perhaps we will see you again. I would certainly love to kill Kranoth myself. Which reminds me lord Pavel." He gestured over at the corpse of Dalik. "I see a dead dragon, are we getting payed for this?" the older man huffed and stiffened.
"Yes, yes I owe the both of you I suppose, you will get your money Randar..." the mayor grumbled and Korel let out a light chuckle." Sollus looked back at the the politician.
"With your permission Lord Pavel, I would like to stay the night, in my cave. I am still tired, and I want to give my wounds a little more time to heal." Pavel looked back at him.
"Yes, of course Sollus. I suppose we wont be seeing you two for a long time then. Goodbye, I hope when we meet again it is under better circumstances and without the shadow of war looming over us." With a quick nod and a swift turn, the mayor walked back towards his manor. Korel next approached.
"Well Sollus, you take care of yourself out there, you still owe me a few drinks at the tavern remember? Thank the Gods it didn't burn down! I should get back to managing my men. Good luck to you my friend." Korel walked off with a turn, his cloak brushing up some dust. Victor spoke from beside the dragon.
"I owe you a lot Sollus. You have saved my life two times now, once from wolves and again from another dragon, It would be quite selfish of me to keep Zach here, you two are destined for greatness. I know you can stop Kranoth." Slowly the former woodsman walked off to his ranch, not glancing back. Randar grunted , still standing nearby with his arms crossed.
"I was wrong about you. It makes me wonder how many other dragons I might have been wrong about, but doubt is poison in a mind. Nevertheless, I think I might be a bit more cautious about contracts I take from now on. You've changed me Sollus...the moment I saw you change and leap up to attack that dragon my entire world shattered. I hope for the better. We depart at sunrise, If you wish we can accompany each other for a ways. Till next we meet then." Sollus nodded as the mercenary walked off and then looked down at Zach.
"Come, lets get back, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow." Zach smiled up at Sollus.
"The start of of something new, I cant think of anyone else I would rather go on an adventure with than you." Sollus smiled.
"Nor can I." The young man climbed up onto Sollus' back and the dragon leaped into the air.
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And so concludes the first half of my planned 10 chapter story. This one was a long time coming folks, it is quite hard to write good action scenes and keep them compelling, I underestimated how hard it would be to include so many characters in a single scene. I hope you enjoyed it anyways! As always PLEASE let me know what you think, I crave any sort of feedback I can get and immensely appreciate it. See you all next time!