Sands of Time - 2. Chapter 2

The next morning found the group very busy. Thane and Lucas went back to the settlement to see what was going on there. Depending on what they found, the situation would decide how they approached the place. Meanwhile, the rest of them packed up the camp.

Xavier yawned several times as he didn't sleep well the night before, mostly due to the noise that was going on all night long. He was decidedly not used to the winter night sounds of a forest. He could have gotten used to those. It was the Bear Scorpions and the Gargoyle playing all night that had kept him awake!

They all gathered around the cart when Lucas and Thane returned. "What did you find?" Xavier asked.

"The most notable thing is that the caravan pulled out right after we got there." Lucas started. "As far as the settlement goes..."

"Wait," Xavier said, raising his hand. He looked at Garnet as he asked his next question. "What would you think about approaching the caravan instead."

After a few moments of thought, he answered. "They would be more accustomed to strangers approaching them."

"It would keep us away from the Orc." Thane chuckled.

"As long as the strangers did not appear to be threatening," Olpha added.

"Which means we can not send you." Thane deadpanned, but then added a cheeky smile when Olpha fixed him with a glare.

"You should feel lucky that Malachi would be upset if I broke his cart… over your head." She said as she lifted up the side of the cart. "Which still probably would not have stopped me if you had not been accurate in your statement." She finished off the last bit with a grin of her own, that showed off her tusks fully.

"Do you think we could get in front of this caravan?" Xavier asked, seemingly ignoring the banter, although even he was smiling.

"Yes," Lucas said quickly. "The trail they took will lead them to the trading path a bit south of here. The trail here will lead us to the same path, but we can move quicker than they can. Especially with the snow on the ground. Our Skimmers are just as good in the snow as the sand, even if they grumble about it."

Xavier looked at Garnet who gave a nod of agreement. "Okay, we will go to the caravan." A few minutes later, they were moving down the trail.

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As they rode, Xavier was glad that he was wearing his desert cloak. While it might be light, it was designed to cut the wind, while giving full movement even if it did cover him from eyes to feet. The very light fabric was tan in color and worked well to deflect the sand in the desert. It worked just as well for the snow that occasionally blew up and into his face. He also noticed he wasn't the only one, as everyone else had their head wrappings in place, leaving only their eyes visible. Either way, he had already decided he preferred the warmth of the desert to the cold of this place. Once again he thought about his Falconling friend Gordech, and his absolute hatred of the cold.

It was just before midday when Lucas stopped his Skimmer, slid off, pulled out his axe hammer, and slowly took a knee to look at the snowy ground. They had been moving slowly, at a walking pace, since this trail was barely wide enough for a regular wagon to pass through. As one, they all dismounted and drew their weapons. After a few moments of silence, Lucas stood and continued forward. He was moving much slower, as his eyes were alternating from the ground in front of him to the area around them.

They rounded a bend in the trail, where they all saw signs of a battle including a turned-over wagon and bodies on the ground. Using hand signals, Garnet had everyone tie up the Skimmers wherever they could, and spread out, while he and Xavier slowly moved up to the flipped-over wagon.

Garnet stopped and looked over the first body they came across, a human middle-aged male. He had been stabbed several times with what looked to be small swords. That fit with the fact that some of the other bodies were Troglodytes. It truly bothered him that the human had been stripped down to nothing, and then tossed to the ground.

Xavier surveyed the scene and felt anger rising inside. He wasn't surprised at seeing the small lizard-like creatures, since they were always doing things like this, but whoever was leading them did not take the time to bury the dead. No matter what, you always either burn or bury the dead. Everyone knew that if they didn't do this, the dead might get back up later. So far, he saw three dead humans and six dead Troglodytes. The fact that one of the humans was a little girl younger than him, angered him even more.

He was close to coming unglued at the carelessness that was shown to the humans. Even the little girl was just in a loin cloth and seemed to have been discarded here. He was sure that they would start to rise at any moment, so he drew his sword and took the head off the girl. That would have to be enough till they could bury them. Around the clearing, he saw the rest of his friends doing the same to the dead nearby.

When they got to the wagon they saw that something with a big horn had slammed into the side of it, causing it to flip. Strewn out around the wagon were torn and empty bags. They looked to have contained some type of grain. Additionally, there were some boxes that looked to have held other types of foodstuff. Xavier figured this was a family that was headed to town to sell their excess.

"I do not think they are here anymore," Syth said as he collapsed his bow and placed the rod into his belt, while still scanning the forest.

"Look around and see what we can find," Xavier said, as he himself started to look around. Before he took two steps he heard Malachi curse. He looked over in the Garm's direction and saw him holding a small sword at arm's length, with only two fingers, looking at it like it might be poisoned.

"This is bronze!" He exclaimed. "BRONZE!" He dropped it with a sneer on his face. Xavier started to chuckle when Malachi moved a few feet and kicked at another weapon, this one looked like a small pole axe. "This thing too." He looked up and around till his eyes fell on Xavier. "Where in the name of all the Demon Lords did we end up?" Xavier shook his head and went back to his investigation.

It was roughly a quarter of a turn of the sandglass later, while Xavier was checking over the body of the adult female when he heard Lucas call him to where he was kneeling on the ground near the front of the upside-down wagon.

Xavier moved over to Lucas, as the Highman rose to his feet. "We have a problem." He said, which got the attention of everyone else. "So far I have counted about two dozen other Troglodytes than the dead ones here. I have seen the tracks of a half dozen Orcs, an equal number of Dragonlings, four Rhinolings, two being very young, and a single Lizardman."

"That is quite the force," Syth said, his eyes watching the tree line.

"Not if they are all using bronze." Malachi spat, then walked towards the wagon.

"I would guess that either one of the Dragonlings or the Lizardman is in charge," Olpha added.

"The Lizardman is in charge," Lucas said with an air of certainty.

"How can you tell?" Came from Thane.

"Because he is not just a Lizardman. He is a youngish Green." Lucas said as he locked eyes with Xavier and then pointed to the ground. "You can see where he shifted right here. And here you can see the rolled claw on the outside of each paw. Over there is where he finally caught the horses and ate them."

"Blasted Greens!" Garnet hissed out; then both he and Xavier dropped to the ground retching. "No.." Garnet said quickly. "Still can not shift."

"There must be something else we have to do to shift," Xavier said as he rose back to his feet.

"OVER HERE!" Malachi was eyeing the wagon to see if it could be repaired. A wagon this size would be easier to carry his travel forge and supplies than the cart. He was on the far side of the wagon when he saw a furry hand sticking out from under the overturned wagon. He didn't pay it much mind till the hand moved slightly. "There is someone stuck under here. They might be alive still."

Garnet was the first to reach the wagon. Between him and Malachi they lifted it straight up and off, revealing a dark-furred Pantherling laying there. "He must have gotten trapped under there when the Rhinoling gored the wagon," Garnet said as he moved back.

Olpha quickly took over as she started to look for and treat his injuries. She was muttering to herself as she pulled off her pack, reaching in and pulling out her healthman's bag. She reached in again and started to pull out various herbs. "I do not think we will need to use any magical healing."

"Not a good idea to waste force unless we need to, especially with a rogue Dragon running around," Garnet said, knowing as he said it, that if it meant saving this Pantherlings life, they would use what force was needed.

"The attack on this family was not too long ago. Fifteen minutes at most. With a rogue Green, we need to track down, and deal with this band of outlaws as quickly as possible!" Thane said with determination filling his voice.

"I am doing the best I can, as quickly as I can," Olpha growled out, causing Thane to take a couple of steps back, even though she never took her eyes off the Pantherling. Thane was about to apologize when it sounded as if a tree was shattered right next to them. They all spun towards the cart only to see Malachi raise his axe again. This time when it hit the axle, it snapped in half.

"MALACHI!" Xavier growled out.

"The blasted hub was made of bronze!" Malachi growled out and slammed his axe back into its sheath. "BRONZE!"

"Quit your whining and bring the cart over here. We'll load him on top of the ingot cases. He's stable, but I had to give him some herbs to keep him asleep." Malachi grumbled but went to get the Skimmer that was hauling the cart, as Olpha stood up and looked Garnet dead in the eyes. "When we find this group, I call healer’s rights on the Rhinolings."

"Given what happened to the wagon, it would have to be one of the two adults. But we do not know which one." Garnet stated with a bit of confusion.

"That is fine… I'll take them both on," Olpha said, with a feral grin.

Olpha's grin only grew when they heard Lucas softly comment, "That… is my girl."

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Thanks to the speed of the Sand Skimmers, it was not long before they started to hear the sounds of combat. Without a word, they dropped the reins of the pack Skimmers so they could stay with Malachi’s cart. Taking their mounts from the fast walk they were using, to a fast trot. They would have gone faster, but the woods were too thick, to let the Skimmers have their heads. Moments later, they all drew weapons, the din of battle growing closer and closer.

Malachi was only slightly upset that he would probably miss the battle, but someone needed to protect the cart, the injured Pantherling, and the pack Skimmers. Still, to be on the safe side, he drew one of his hand axes and followed… at a much slower pace.

Garnet was the first one to break from the trail, and out onto a much larger semi-road. It was little more than a large trading path as far as Garnet was concerned. His well-trained eyes saw immediately that the 'raiders' had picked a good spot for the battle. The area they came out of was wider than the rest of the path due to the fact that there weren't trees coming right up to the road. This left a grassy area about 10 meters wide on both sides of the road.

He grinned fiercely when he saw that the battle was just barely to the south of them. The enemy had a small to medium-sized caravan surrounded. Many of the bandits had their backs to him. He checked to make sure his crossbow was tethered to his saddle. He raised it, and fired, dropping it almost as quickly as he drew close to a Dragonling.

The bolt slammed into the back of a Black Dragonling and did exactly what Garnet had hoped for. The creature whirled to face his attacker. The turn brought the Dragonling’s face right in line with Garnet’s khopesh, severing the head from the rest of its body. Garnet did not even need to use any of the sword's magical abilities in that strike.

Syth was right behind Garnet. As soon as he saw the battle layout, he knew where he needed to go. They all trained on how to quickly identify how a battlefield is set up and where they would each be the most effective with their skills. With this in mind, he didn’t turn into the battle right away, instead, he headed to the far side of the road. Controlling the Skimmer with his legs as he got off two shots before he turned towards the fight. The first arrow found the back of another Dragonling, this time, a green. A second arrow sunk in almost the same place, both arrows were fired while also activating the bow’s Frozen Flame enchantments. The first arrow hit with a burst of ice, freezing the Dragonling’s lungs. The second arrow struck with an explosion of fire. Turning towards the battle, he put his bow away and drew his renders.

Following behind Syth was Thane. As soon as he was clear of the trees, Amakiir took to the air, while the two Bear Scorpions rushed directly at the group attacking the right side of the caravan. Thane thought about using his bow, but with Garnet in the way, he wasn’t confident enough in his ability to shoot while on the back of a charging Skimmer. Instead, he drew his scimitar, and gave the Skimmer his head, rushing towards the group of Troglodytes.

When Xavier entered the trading road, his focus was to find the Lizardman/Green Dragon. Not seeing it right away, Xavier spurred his Skimmer down the tree line, to the left of the caravan, avoiding the fighting as he looked for his target. He only gave a quick thought to how this was completely against the training they had, they should always stay together.

When Olpha exited the small trail, she kicked her Skimmer up to a full run heading right for the closest Rhinoling, both of her battle axes were drawn and ready to spill blood. The nearly 4-meter-tall creature was preparing to charge at a wagon in the hopes of dislodging the driver who was using a crossbow. When it heard Olpha’s war cry, it stopped, stood up fully, and looked for the source. When it spotted Olpha, the creature grinned, turned, and started to charge at her.

Lucas was right behind her and stayed there. This was a maneuver they had used a few times and practiced often enough that Lucas didn’t need to be told what to do. He already knew what she was planning before they even left the previous clearing. Having never seen a Rhinoling before, he began to wonder if the plan was going to work. The hoof prints he had seen back in the clearing didn't do the size of the beast justice at all.

Xavier took stock of the fight as he was rushing toward the front of the caravan. He saw that the caravan seemed to be fairly well guarded but was for the most part outmatched by the dragonlings and orcs. The Troglodytes were nothing more than a nuisance, but there were enough of them to cut down a few guards and injure others. The two adult Rhinolings were doing a number on the wagons and the drivers. However, to a trained eye, they were not trying to destroy the wagons, or the moose camels pulling them. Obviously, this group of raiders was more interested in the goods and supplies these wagons held.

As he got closer to the front, he spotted a middle-aged man standing on the top of one of the wagons, spell book in hand, and unleashing some pretty damaging magic. Below him, engaged with the other adult Rhinoling was another human male wielding a large two-handed sword, and a small red-headed boy fighting without any weapons at all. The man seemed to be outmatched strength-wise but was using his sword and his speed very effectively. Xavier gave the Rhinoling only a few moments of life left.

The child, though, was someone that Xavier wanted to get to know. Going toe to toe with a Rhinoling with only his fists and feet is the kind of insane thing that Syth would admire.

A few feet away, facing off against three large orcs was a woman wielding a mace. She was obviously an Animal Adept as she was flanked by a large silver-backed gorilla on the right and a creature he was surprised to see a human controlling. The creature stood about 1.75 meters tall and had powerful legs allowing it to run faster than most other animals. It had a dragon-like maw with a powerful jaw and wickedly sharp teeth. It also had feathered wings on its back that could be used to glide short distances, but the interesting part was that the front of the wings was Brass covered and sharp as blades. It was a lesser dragonkin of the Brass dragons called a Kulkodar. He watched as the orcs charged. He couldn't help himself as he shook his head. They were about to get cut down quickly.

Standing well away from the combat, flanked by the young Rhinolings, and some sort of weird dragonling in chains, Xavier saw the lizardman, naked, holding his belongings. Just as he spotted it, he saw the lizardman curse, shove his bundled belongings into the arms of the larger Rhinoling, and start to shift, causing the three beings with him to scatter. Xavier gritted his teeth as his own urge to shift was almost overpowering. But he didn’t dare allow that instinct to take over. Instead, he drew his sling and grabbed a ruby sling stone. Obviously, some dragons could shift, but he wasn’t sure if there was some new trick that was needed since the magic was off here. He was certain though that something was different as the greens shifting was taking much longer than it should. That worked to Xavier's advantage.

Garnet turned his Skimmer hard, using the back four legs of the Skimmer to trample a small Dragonling, while his sword bit into another one. This time his blade was coated with electrical charges rippling along the blade, when the blade found purchase, not only did the blade slice into the Dragonling, the electrical charge hit as well. The Dragonling hit the ground quivering.

Garnet cursed as he saw Xavier speeding towards the front of the Caravan alone. He looked around trying to figure out how to disengage from the remaining three Dragonlings and follow Xavier when he saw Syth charging right at him. “GO!” He heard Syth cry. Garnet wasted no time and kicked his Skimmer to a full run trying to catch up to Xavier.

Syth dove off his Skimmer and drove his renders deep into the neck of the final Black Dragonling. He did not need to activate any special powers, as he simply allowed his weight to pull the Renders down, nearly cutting both arms off. He yanked his Renders out as his feet hit the ground, spinning to face the two Green Dragonlings. Behind him, the Black Dragonling hit the ground. Not dead yet, but with both arms nearly severed, it was not going to be participating in the fight any longer.

Olpha let out another war cry as she got close to the huge Rhinoling. Pretty much being ignored behind her, Lucas began casting his spell. At almost the last moment, he remembered that spells took longer to get off than he was used to, so he had started early.

Olpha prepared to dive off her Skimmer, her nearly 2-meter frame dwarfed by the Rhinoling she was about to attack. Just as she left her saddle, Lucas’ spell took effect sending a large gust of wind at the charging Rhinoling. The hope was to drive the creature off its feet, allowing Olpha to slam both her battle axes into the prone creature. The Rhinoling didn’t get blown off its feet, it merely faltered in its charge. Lucas cursed and peeled off to the side.

Olpha’s axes embedded into the Rhinoling’s chest and abdomen. Its tough hide and extreme muscle mass meant that the axes did not get the purchase that Olpha had hoped for. However, the concussive blast from one, and the electrical blast of the other, did knock the rhinoling back. As it fell, it was able to catch Olpha and fling her off to the side, slamming her into the wagon it had been about to charge. Thankfully, since the battle axes had unique grips, she did not lose them. She was, however, seeing stars after she hit the ground.

Thane as well as the two Bear Scorpions made short work of the large group of Troglodytes. Feeling this was more of a game than actual combat, the two Bear Scorpions impaled the same Troglodyte. They wrestled it back and forth for a few seconds before the troglodyte was ripped in half. Each half then made its way into the maw of the terrifying creature.

When one of the orcs came to try and help, it got crushed by the nearly 300 kg Gargoyle that fell from the sky and landed on its head. Thane laughed hard enough to drive him to a knee as Amakiir, now covered in gore, lifted up one paw, looked at it, and whined, speaking a single word in a very guttural Dragon tongue. "Yucky!", then took back to the air. Amakiir had done this before, but he had only ever done it against bone walkers. Never a living being. The Gargoyle simply wasn’t ready for the mess that crushing a living creature would cause.

Thane looked around and saw no enemies for his group to face. That was until he heard and then saw a large green dragon. He cursed loudly, then mounted his Skimmer and ran full tilt towards the dragon, knowing his friends would be doing the same thing.

Olpha jumped back to her feet just as the Rhinoling started to stomp its way toward her. She was enraged that her first attack did not do more damage. Before she moved, she made a backswing with her left axe, cutting into the wagon behind her. She barely saw Lucas rushing up behind the creature, his axe hammer ready to strike. Rushing forward, Olpha timed her blow to land at the same time as Lucas’. Just as the creature lifted a huge three-toed paw to stomp on her, Olpha jumped to the side, and swung one of her axes with all the strength she had, right at the knee of the leg holding all its weight.

Just as the axe bit into the creature’s knee, with a concussive blast, Lucas’ axe hammer slammed into the back of the creature’s neck, cracking vertebrae as it hit. The result was the Rhinoling falling forward, forcing Olpha to continue her roll to get out of the way. Lucas had to make his Skimmer jump to avoid trampling her. Showing she was much more agile than her bulk would suggest, Olpha was back on her feet, swinging with her other axe, embedding it into the same spot that Lucas had hit.

The gravely injured Rhinoling coughed out blood, no longer able to move. “Please…” it said in a heavily accented and hard-to-understand version of Drylander, “Protect… littuns.” It coughed one more time, then stopped moving altogether. Olpha wasn't sure what it meant since she couldn't understand everything the creature said.

She did not have time to worry about that now. Looking around she saw she and Lucas were the only ones standing. All of the raiders and many of the guards and some drivers were dead. The survivors were nearly all injured to some degree or another. Olpha watched as the survivors either took a knee or went to their fellows. She was about to help when they heard and then saw the Dragon as it roared. Many stood to try and flee, having never seen a Dragon this closely before. Olpha let out a battle cry of her own and charged to where the Dragon was.

Xavier spared a second to glance around and saw that the caravan’s guards had taken heavy losses, but their sacrifices had helped to decimate the bandits. Knowing that the Green would try to flee, Xavier started to swing his Dragon hide sling, with the red ruby stone in it. He was rather surprised to see that it was a True and not a Great like he had expected. He was even more surprised to see that it appeared to be only slightly older than he was.

As the Green finished its transformation, it reared back and roared. Those that had not known there was a dragon here, knew there was one now. Xavier did not know this at the time but almost every single surviving member of the caravan suddenly had some wetness in their loin cloth. At first, they were certain they would all die, but then suddenly this new group showed up and they had help and hope. That hope died when they realized they are now facing a dragon as well.

Xavier grinned knowing the True would do the same thing he did every time he transformed with the intent to fly. When the Green threw its head back and roared, it also threw its wings wide, just like stretching an arm that you slept on too long. Xavier released the sling stone and the magic of the sling took effect quickly growing the 60-gram slung stone to just over 1 kilogram stone. It had grown from something that fits into the palm of his hand to something just a bit smaller than his head.

When it struck, the magic of the ruby took effect as it hit with a fiery explosion. Xavier's aim was perfect. The stone slammed into its side, right where the wing connects to its body, effectively blowing a large section of its wing off. The dragon roared in agony; its eyes wild trying to find what had hurt it so badly.

Xavier kicked his Skimmer into a fast run as he re-drew his falcata. He held it for a moment as the blade started to glow red, then let it slide across the scales of its left side, the side opposite of the now mangled wing. The scales parted easily under the intense heat of the very sharp blade. With younger dragons, the scales had not yet hardened as adults would. Xavier used that to his advantage here. The dragon's head snapped around trying to bite at Xavier only to have a battle axe slam into its snout.

Olpha had been rushing towards the dragon as fast as she could but knew she would not get there in time, so she threw one of her battle axes to make sure Xavier did not get mauled.

Before the Dragon could focus on Olpha, a large ball of lightning flew out of the extended hands of the man standing on top of the lead wagon, and slammed into the dragon’s chest, causing it to rear back and roar in a combination of anger and pain.

Xavier’s Skimmer was going at a full run, with Xavier trying to slow down to turn and make another attack. Suddenly, the Green’s tail lashed out, taking the Skimmer out from under him. Pain shot through his entire body when he hit the ground hard, and rolled for several yards, coming to a stop as he hit a tree. The intense pain from his arm and shoulder, coupled with the pain in his chest and abdomen, made him black out for a few moments. When his vision cleared all he saw was the tree he hit. The pain made him moan and not want to move at all. In spite of the torment, he forced himself to roll and try to rise to his feet. He was not able to and fell back to the ground blacking out again.

The Dragon slapped Lucas off his Skimmer after the boy hit it with a pair of shots from his axe-hammer. It then turned to try and finish off Xavier. Before it could though, an arrow slammed into its chest scales and embedded just enough to cause it to hold before a force explosion blew off some scales. The dragon roared in pain, then reared its head back and drew in a great breath. Its head lunged forward as it blew a highly poisonous cloud on the archer. Through the cloud of gas, another arrow flew out and slammed into its chest right next to the other one. When the second arrow hit, the sapphire tip flashed and suddenly the greens chest was covered with a thick coating of ice.

The dragon started to raise its head to roar in pain when suddenly a gore-covered Amakiir unexpectedly fell out of the sky, this time slamming into the dragon’s snout with a wet splat. So hard did its upper jaw slam into the lower one, that several teeth cracked. When its snout slammed into the ground, with the nearly 300-kilogram Gargoyle on top of it, more teeth cracked, some even broke.

Amakiir bounced as the dragon's snout hit the ground, rolling to a stop right in front of the beast. He stood up and quickly shook his head to clear it, which made some of the earlier Orc gore fly everywhere. He spread his wings to take flight when suddenly the Green sneezed. Amakiir found himself now covered in Dragon snot, blood, and even a small cloud of poison gas. "Ewww…" Amakiir said with a shake, then quickly took to flight, leaving a falling trail of goo behind him.

Before the dragon could raise its head back up, the small red-haired boy ran up to the side of its head and actually ran into its ear canal. The little redhead put everything he’d learned as a Ferret Sect Warrior into a hard punch right on the creature’s eardrum. Deafening was the roar that erupted from the dragon as it violently shook its head. The boy flew out of the green's inner ear, only to grab onto its outer earflap. When the dragon's head whipped the other way, the boy flew back into the eardrum, where he used the momentum to dropkick the same spot.

This repeated twice more, but on the third time, the dragon screamed in pain rather than roaring in anger. It shook its head terribly, and this time the boy didn't even try to grab the ear on his way out. He was holding onto a bloody mess that had been the dragon's eardrum. He landed almost 20 yards away, thankfully, into a pile of snow. Still, the boy was slow in rising to his feet.

A large man, obviously a caravan guard, with the even larger sword that Xavier had seen earlier when he was fighting with the Rhinoling, ran forward and plunged his sword, hilt deep, into the space where Syth’s arrows had blown some of the scales off.

At almost the same time, Lucas ran in and slammed his axe right next to the man's sword. Lucas though let some of his force flow into the axe hammer causing an electrical blast to drill into the green as he hit. The dragon couldn’t take much more, and its head hit the ground. The creature’s legs collapsed with the rest of the body effectively blocking the trading path and burying the guard's large sword under the several thousand-kilogram beast. It was not dead yet but was very, very close.

Garnet quickly sheathed his khopesh as he wobbly ran towards Xavier, shouting to the man that had the large sword, "Gather the wounded before we kill the dragon!"

Seeing the confusion on the man's face, Syth reached up under his cloak and touched a gem embedded near the right shoulder of his leather armor. The translation stone was a very common but fragile magical item. They each wore several on their armor and had a large number of spares. They already had to change them all out since they had broken during the magical journey here. Syth used a well-known keyword to sync all of their translation stones together.

"You should gather all your wounded and bring them here. When the dragon dies, it will release a magical wave that will help heal the wounded. Being that this is a young True dragon, the magical wave will be rather significant." The man wanted to know how this young person knew this but at a glance at the caravan leader who nodded for the man to do it, he saved his question.

"Everyone who can, find and bring the wounded here. If there are any bandits still alive, put them in irons then bring them here." The guard called out, then pulled a short sword from his belt and stood there waiting to make sure the dragon did not try to attack them. Even though he could not see Syth's face, he could tell by the relaxed stance that, even though he still had the weird-looking blades in his hand, he was not worried.

The caravan master shouted to his guard, “Gradon! Take a tally of the survivors.” Being that Gradon was the captain of the guard, it was his job to know and report back to the caravan master.

“Right away, Sir Mablin.” Gradon quickly responded.

Gradon was dismayed when he saw that there were only eight guards left of the fifteen there had been. Of those, four were showing wounds. One of the cook's slaves was dead, and the other was injured. Thankfully only two of the twelve drivers were killed, but most of the rest were injured in some manner.

The caravan master, Mablin, did not appear to be wounded. Frederick, Mablin's oldest, but mundane son, was also not injured as he had kept his head down and stayed hidden the entire time alongside Diana. Finally, Gradon saw that his wife, Madelyn, and their son Aegir were safe, though her Silverback Gorilla had not survived.

So concerned was he for his people. Gradon did not, at first, notice the others who were coming up, that was until he heard someone speak in an unknown language that was somehow instantly translated into his own tongue. He was momentarily shocked to see what looked to be a human boy, riding one of the weird creatures they had. Walking next to him was a huge creature. He wasn't sure what it was until they were close enough for him to see the six-fingered hand. He barely held in a gasp as he figured out it was a large Illorc.

About that time, the young boy who had deafened the Green, stumbled over towards them, as well as the large dragonling, who was carrying the small being that got tail whipped by the dragon. With them came two smaller Rhinolings, and a weird-colored dragonling wearing chains.

Gradon called to the boy, “Killian, are you hurt?”

“Me be moah dan good, Teacher Gradon.” The boy replied with a wicked grin, as he held up the gore that was the dragon's inner ear bones.

"You are insane…" Gradon said, then turned as he heard a wagon moving. What he saw was actually a cart being pulled by the strange mount things the new people rode. This one though was being walked by a young-looking Dwarf in full plate armor, and several other of the strange mounts trailing behind it.

He saw the dwarf had the helm of his armor off, and was surveying the damage the attack caused. This allowed Gradon to see that the dwarf was very young, close to his son's age.

Gradon saw it a split second before the dwarf did. Rushing from the tree line was an orc, a large axe held ready to strike. Gradon shouted a warning, but it was too late, the dwarf turned towards the orc just as the creature swung the large axe.

Gradon's jaw dropped open as he saw the axe hit the dwarf square in the chest, but instead of cutting through the armor, the head of the axe mushroomed. The orc pulled his top hand off, shaking it since the axe handle vibrated so much. The dwarf was pushed back several steps, dropping his helm. Shock filled his face as he looked down at where the axe struck his chest armor.

When he looked back up his face was a mask of rage. "WHY YOU PIECE OF RAT DUNG!" he shouted, then faltered for only a moment. "Bronze?!?!” He cried in disbelief. "You DARE attack me with BRONZE!" The rage-filled face took on an almost demonic look, as the dwarf drew a pair of hand axes from his belt.

He took a few running steps forward and swung at the orc. Even though it was almost twice as tall as the dwarf, the orc tried to block with the axe, only to have the dwarf's hand axe cut into, then through the blade of the larger axe.

The dwarf’s backswing caught the confused monster in the thigh, cutting deep into the bone, and dropping the orc to its knees. The dwarf didn't take notice but Gradon saw two Troglodytes in the wood line fire crossbows at the dwarf. One missed, while the other hit the youth in the back, only to have the tip break, and bounce off.

As a Teaching Echelon Warrior Adept, Gradon was always critiquing soldiers and their fighting style. He couldn't help but be impressed by the dwarf as it stepped through after dropping the orc. The young dwarf's every movement was fluid as he turned and bought his off-hand axe swinging in a large arc for momentum and slamming it into the back of the Orc's neck. He allowed his momentum to carry him around to the front of the Orc, ready to continue the fight.

"I can't believe…" He started to say when one of the Troggs screamed and ran at him. Gradon watched the dwarf not move a muscle as the ugly lizard-like creature ran at him, a short sword held high in its hands. Just as it got close. The dwarf spun while dropping to his knees. One of his axes came out and caught the charging Troglodyte in the waist. The axe easily cut through the very poorly made and ill-fitting leather armor driving deep into the flesh underneath.

However, with Malachi's strength and the momentum from the spin, the axe did not stop in the creature's gut. It cut the thing in two before coming out the other side.

Gradon was stunned, but more so when he saw the young dwarf notice the other Troglodyte just as the little monster was starting to turn to run. "Oh, I do not think so!" The dwarf cried as he dropped one of his axes, and pulled a wicked-looking throwing axe. He stepped into the throw, putting every bit of strength he could into it.

The throwing axe cut through the ill-fitting chain shirt as if it were not there. The leather behind it likewise did nothing to slow the axe down. It hit the Trogg with enough force to drive him to the ground instantly, sliding a ways before he stopped. Malachi's aim had been true, hitting the creature just at the base of the spine, the axe blade severing his spinal cord.

Malachi turned, the unholy sneer still on his face. "Try that again will you?" Malachi said with rage dripping from his words. He turned, and Gradon thought he heard the boy say something. Suddenly he watched as the axe that had been buried in the troglodyte vanished, only to appear in this bandolier spread across his chest.

He stalked back towards the orc that was now crawling towards the woods, picking up his other axe as he walked. "Bronze…" He brought the axe up and slammed it down into the orc's back. "You...dare...attack...a Battle Forge… with… BRONZE!" Each set of words was punctuated with a swing of his axe into the Orc. By the time he got done speaking, the Orc had stopped moving.

Lucas was standing next to Olpha when Malachi got attacked. She had taken three steps towards their friend when she stopped. The spell that Lucas had started to cast fizzled since he just stopped casting. He watched in awe as Malachi first dropped the Orc, then the two Troglodytes. "Uhhh… Do you think you should stop him?" He asked Olpha as Malachi was cutting into the obviously dead Orc.

"Hells no!" She said emphatically. "This is a full-on Gunching. No way would I stop this."

"I really think you need to, the others are getting real nervous," Lucas said as he glanced at the human leaders.

"OH fine." She said as she took another step forward. "MALACHI!" She bellowed loud enough to echo off the trees around them. It had no effect on Malachi as he was still ranting and now chopping the orc like it was firewood.

"MALACHI!!!!" She bellowed even louder, then again, finally on the fourth bellow, Malachi stopped and looked at her. His face was covered with blood and mud, as was his armor. He was breathing hard as he looked at her, his hair falling in front of his eyes.

"Knock it off! You are scaring the locals!" She scolded, which made Malachi stand up fully, look down at the Orc, then at the caravan members who were staring at him in shock.

"Sorry." He said softly as he put his axes away, and walked back to the Skimmer that was attached to his cart.

Syth knew he needed to get everyone's attention back, so he turned to the adult human. "We still have a Dragon here."

"Right!" The man said, and suddenly everyone seemed to come back to life. Syth turned to look at the boy and smiled under his face wrapping. "Do you use any weapons?"

"Naw…" Killian answered hesitantly as he looked between Gradon and Mablin who had made his way over, helping the dwarf that was driving the lead wagon.

By this point, everyone has gathered around. Anyone able to handle a weapon was ready to use it if needed. The fact that the Dragonling told them all that the dragon was unconscious and near enough to death that there was no danger, was not enough to calm any of them. Just seeing the Dragon's chest rising and falling made them all too nervous.

Many of them jumped slightly when they heard a thud behind them. Spinning around, they saw that it was just the gore, and now a snot-covered gargoyle that had landed between the two Bear Scorpions, who immediately started to lick the squirming gargoyle all over, determined not to stop until its body gleamed like polished agate.

The young man who had been speaking for the strange group moved over to one of the strange mounts that were loaded down with gear, completely unfazed by the actions of the animals nearby. He dug around a bit, then pulled out a small sword. Being a Teaching Echelon Warrior Adept, Gradon immediately saw the sword was a gladius. It was sheathed in a fine-looking leather scabbard, and what he could see of the handle meant the sword was very well crafted. He then helped the dwarf bring over a wounded Pantherling, which raised even more questions in his mind. They laid the Pantherling down on the ground carefully, then the young man moved back to Killian.

Mablin was now standing behind Killian with both hands on the lad's shoulder. While he was not Mablin's blood son, the boy might as well have been. Mablin had spent much on his training, and even though he had not yet reached the age of ascension, he was already a secondary echelon Sorcerer as well as a Ferret Sect Warrior, and Ruinseeker. He had only met one being that had more inner drive than Killian did. The fact that this strange group seemed to have an interest in him, made Mablin worry. Especially as he started to really look at this group. He couldn't tell what many of them looked like. But what he saw when they fought, already terrified him.

Syth addressed Mablin first. "May I assume that you are the caravan master?" Mablin, too nervous to speak, simply nodded. The young man stuck his hand out towards Mablin who nervously took it, grasping wrists. "Well met, my name is Sythranel Shunral."

Mablin's head was swimming and he was barely able to respond. "I am Mablin." While he could not see the lad's face, he could see the smile in the eyes behind the head wrap. It was actually the face covering that made Mablin remember where he had seen people wearing things like this, as well as using the strange mounts. He could not remember what the creatures were called as the one and only time he had seen them, he was still a boy, traveling with his father's caravan.

“Well met indeed Mablin. Please call me Syth as it is easier, and I prefer those I am friends with to call me by my shortened name.” Still totally confused, Mablin simply nodded again. It was then, as the young man dropped his hand, that Mablin saw it. His dread rose to astronomical levels.

Syth then stuck his hand out to Killian. "Uhhh." Killian stammered as he grabbed the other's wrist. "Me be called Killian."

Syth tried his best to hide the grimace that crossed his face upon hearing the lad's bad speech. However, Syth was never one to judge people before he knew them, so he continued. "Well met Killian." He stepped to the side and indicated the downed dragon. "Unless your caravan master disagrees, we all feel that you should deliver the killing blow. The courage you showed is something that few have, and should be rewarded."

"Re… rewarded?" Killian squeaked as he looked back and up to Mablin before looking back at Syth.

"I guess you are not well-versed in the death of dragons." Killian's eyes got wide as saucers as he shook his head quickly.

"Me nevah sees one before," Killian said quickly.

"I see," Syth said evenly. "Well, when a dragon dies, it releases a wave of magic. For most it will help to heal wounds they may have, even replenish their force. For those that fought it, there is a chance that the dragon will gift you with some knowledge or an increase in your own magic. But for the one that delivers the killing blow, the rewards are even greater. Being that this Dragon is a True, it should be a significant gifting, even if it has not reached the equivalent of the human age of ascension."

Killian's head was swimming, and nearing overload hearing what this person was saying. He couldn't say much of anything, so just nodded his understanding. "We would also like to gift you with something since we were all very impressed with your action." At this, Syth held out the gladius hilt first to the boy.

"I… ain’t know h'w to use dis." Killian stammered even though he still put his hand on the hilt.

"I would be willing to show you the basics, at least for as long as we stay here. I have a feeling that our… commander," He said motioning towards Xavier who was propped up against the lead wagon "will not be completely healed by the Dragon's death. So I think we may travel with you for a few days at least." Turning towards Mablin, “If it pleases you, Caravan Master Mablin?”

Killian watched Mablin nod his ascent, so he simply nodded in return, then drew the sword slowly. Behind him he heard Mablin gasp, and so did Gradon and Madelyn. "This gladius is one that I have to train with, though I rarely ever use my main one, since I do not really like using it. However, there are times when the gladius is more useful than my Renders. It is made out of Silver Steel, hence it is lighter, so it will be a good fit for someone smaller like you."

Syth was confused as to why the boy seemed to be near overload, especially someone who showed the grit and courage that he showed earlier. However, this was the right thing to do, so he motioned toward the Dragon while drawing one of his renders. "Before we wake the dragon up…" Syth started but was cut off by both men.

"WAKE IT UP?!" They cried in unison.

"Well, yeah," Syth said somewhat stupefied. Have these men never faced a dragon before? "He needs to know who killed him if he is to gift the person," Syth responded as if this was something everyone should know. Figuring they were just worried for the lad Syth smiled calmly. "Do not worry, I will make sure the gas tubes are cut so he can not breathe. Then I will loosen the temple plate so Killian has a nice easy thrust into the Green's brain. It will be a clean death for the Green, which he will appreciate… not that we care much, but it is the nice thing to do after all." After his explanation, he did exactly as he said he would. If anyone wondered why he wasn't affected by the gas when he cut the tubes, they didn't ask. Of course, they may have just been too overloaded watching Syth effortlessly emasculate a dragon.

"Okay," Syth said as he got done removing a scale from the head of the dragon. "Get ready to thrust the gladius in," Syth said and waited as Killian hesitated, then placed the tip of the blade at the spot Syth had exposed. Syth moved and stood in front of the Dragon's eye. He looked around and saw that everyone was watching so he smirked and looked at Killian. "Ready?"

"I… I guess." Killian squeaked out.

Syth gave him a reassuring smile as he drew back his hand and smacked the dragon on the eyelid. There was a loud gasp as the dragon twitched a bit. Syth was readying for another blow when the Green slowly opened his eyes. Syth raised his voice and his words were echoed by the rest of his group:

"Your time has come to an end, son of the Greens
May your wings carry you onto the winds of cataclysm
Until once more you are called to serve"

Syth nodded quickly to Killian seeing as the green was trying to move. Killian shoved with all his might and drove the gladius hilt deep into the dragon killing him instantly.

Syth took a knee as did the rest of his friends. Seeing that the men were still standing, Syth spoke up. "You may want to take a knee."

"Why?" Mablin asked uncertainly.

Syth shrugged. "It is up to you, but I would strongly advise it."

Mablin and Gradon exchanged glances before they took a knee, motioning for everyone else to do so as well. Just in time too as a wave of green magic blew out from the dragon buffeting everyone but Killian. After a few moments, Killian dropped to his knees, all but passing out.

Syth knew that it would take a while for Killian to process what happened, so he guided him to his feet, then over to where Mablin and Gradon were, before lowering him down to the ground to sit. He looked around and saw that many of the injured had passed out from the intense magical healing. He stood up and faced the two men. "It will take him a little bit to come back to his senses."

"I see," Mablin said. He shook his head slightly to clear it. His ears still ringing a bit from the release of magic he just endured, and thankful for the warning to take a knee. He looked around to make sure everyone was okay then turned and looked at the strange, scarfed boy in front of him, he couldn't contain it any longer. "Who are you people?"

Syth's eyes went wide as he realized he was still wearing his head wrap. "Many apologies, good Caravan Master," Syth said as he started to unwind the head wrap. "We are just so used to wearing these, I forgot I had it on. "Please know I meant no disrespect." The worry was evident in his words as well as on his face, as it became visible. He was not prepared for Mablin to gasp out "Drow!", and take a step back.

"Drow!" Came a chorus of voices, ranging from disbelief to rage. More than one of the guards put his hand on his weapon. "How dare a darkie touch Sir Mablin!"

While confused, Syth's friends saw that he was possibly in danger, and their hands went to weapons as well. "WAIT!" Mablin shouted while moving between the guard and Syth. "Stand down!"

"But it's a Darkie!?" The guard countered with confusion.

Garnet motioned to Olpha and Lucas who came to stand next to Xavier, while he moved closer to Syth, just in case.

"I SAID STAND DOWN!" Mablin roared, causing the man to take a few steps back, his hands flying up in the air showing he was no longer a threat. "Get out of my sight!" Mablin had a bit more control of his voice, but not much. "All of you, go check the wagons. I do not want to see any of you until I come to find you."

He turned around to face Syth, his hands a bit in front of him, and away from his sword. "I am truly sorry for my man's reaction, as well as mine. If you wish, I will have him flogged, or whatever other punishment you deem proper."

"Flogged… Punished?" Syth asked, now completely confused. He looked back to Garnet who was just as confused as he was. He returned his attention to Mablin with a small forced smile. "Whatever for?"

"He should never have reacted like that, after all, you and your… friends have done to help us. Even if you are a Drow." Mablin tried hard and hoped he was able to keep the distaste out of his voice.

By this point, all of the Seandrean group had removed their face masks. Thane thought now might be a good time for a more… delicate tongue to step in. Besides, he was used to dealing with beings that have more coin than brains.

"If I may good Caravan Master," Thane said with a flourish of his left open hand, palm up. He moved forward to stand next to Syth, taking his face covering off as well. Mablin nodded, but then his eyes went wide as plates, and the man started to tremble slightly. Thane was very confused but knew there was only one way to figure things out. "Why does my good friend Sythranel Shunral's being Drow cause you and your men such discomfort?"

"Huh?" Gradon had made his way to stand behind Mablin and just off to the side, hoping to show a unified front, but he could not contain himself at that moment.

"It would seem the answer is obvious to you, however, we…" Thane said as he motioned with his open right hand to his friends who were now standing behind him, save for Lucas and Olpha who was still standing next to Xavier, "are not from this region, and thus are ill-informed as to why my companions' mere presence is cause for such… unrest."

"How… How can you not know?" Gradon started but was interrupted by Mablin.

Mablin had enough. Before he saw that Syth was a Drow, he could have bought the minor noble signet ring he wore. But no one would allow a Drow to hold land and title. But then this Elf came forward also wearing a signet ring. They obviously found them somewhere and were wearing them hoping no one would understand what they meant enough to call them on it. But Mablin was not just an Expert Echelon Mage, he was also a Ruinseeker. He did not get a good enough look at the Drow's stolen signet, but he did the Elves. What he saw at first stunned him since he didn't think anyone could find such a thing, but then it enraged him. For an Elf, any Elf to wear a signet for a Prince of an Alphar house was too much for him. The Alphar died off thousands of years ago, ridding the world of the Drow.

"I have had enough of this farce!" Mablin angrily said as he reached forward and grabbed the two boys' hands intent on taking the signet rings off of them. That was the last thing he remembered for over an hour.

Gradon was taken aback by Mablin's sudden change of demeanor, especially when he reached forward and grabbed the two boy's hands. His jaw dropped but his training kicked in as Mablin flew backward. His sword flew wildly while Mablin rose up on all fours, the contents of his stomach emptying onto the ground.

"That was stupid," Thane said, his eyebrow raised. "More like imbecilic."

"Nah... Rude." Syth countered.

Thane took a breath to argue, but Olpha's voice cut him off. "Argue rude versus stupid later. Why not take a break, help the foolish man, and check the bindings on the prisoners? They were just healed too."

"Yes… A reasonable course of action." Thane said with a nod.

"Foolish? That works as well." Syth added as he moved towards Mablin.

Gradon stood there for a moment, before muttering under his breath. "Signet rings?"

Moving toward the prisoners, and once he was out of earshot Thane quietly mused, "Olpha may be correct. Stupid is fitting."