"Better than binoculars," he said.
Screams out in the plaza reached them as they walked down the corridor to the entrance. Killum raced forward, Power Sword in hand, to see what the trouble was all about. It was utter chaos outside, with men, women, goblins, orks, and minotaurs all running in every direction. An elf, three humans, and a pair of hobgoblins pushed past them into the Enchanter's Hall.
"It's a dragon," Tiana said. She pointed upward. "Isn't it beautiful?"
Dragon (Lvl 66). Neutral.
The dragon had to be at least a hundred and fifty feet long, snout to end of his tail. He was mostly black, with lots of sharp horns on his triangular head and along his spine. He was a four-legged dragon, and his wings were huge and leathery like bat wings.
"And it breaths fire," Fergus said when a torrent of flames shot out of his mouth. The flames hit south of the plaza, and they heard the building explode. "We should find a stone building to hide inside."
"Too late. Here he comes," Killum cried.
They all dropped into defensive stances, but the dragon ignored them. He came to a landing in front of the castle. And then his voice boomed.
"I come for my tribute!" he shouted. "Give it to me now, or I'll burn this town to the ground!"
"Tribute?" Rand asked. "Are they going to give him a beautiful virgin?"
"Don't worry, Rand," Fergus said. "You're not that good looking."
"No," one of the humans that escaped into their building said. "Dragons only want treasure. They hoard it for some reason. Gold. Silver. Jewelry. Anything of value."
A platoon of soldiers marched out of the castle. All carried long spears they kept pointed at the dragon. Between them they carried two large chests. After setting the chests before the dragon, one of the soldiers opened them so the dragon could see what was inside.
"Accepted."
The soldiers closed the chests and quickly backed into the castle. The dragon grabbed the heavy treasure chests and leapt into the air. Rand took off running, his battle-axe lifted high and ready to strike. Killum and the others cried out for him to stop, but had to follow when he failed to do so.
"Treasure!" Rand shouted, leaping high as he swung his axe. He missed the dragon by inches. "Damn. Fergus, shoot and make it drop one of those treasure chests!"
"No," Killum said. "Let it go."
They didn't go unnoticed by the dragon. Its vicious looking head craned around. When its mouth opened wide, Asha shouted for them to duck.
"It's going to breathe fire!" she screamed.
Killum grimaced, prepared to die again. Burning alive had to be horrific. But Asha moved before them and pointed a fist at the dragon. A second later a thick stream of fire rushed down at them… And was deflected by a purple-hued magical shield.
The dragon flew away.
"Well, that turned out well despite a moment of absolute insanity by Rand," Asha said, glaring at the dwarf. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"I wanted one of those treasure chests," he said defiantly. "That's why we're here, to win treasure."
"Maybe," Fergus said. "But if you made the dragon drop a chest, you know the soldiers would just come back out and take it away from us."
"And they'd throw us in the dungeon for trying to steal it, too," Tiana said. She rapped him on the helmet with the flat of her sword. "Idiot."
The redheaded dwarf ignored her as he stared off after the dragon. "I wonder how far away the dragon lives?"
Killum called up his HUD, and then checked the map. When he asked the question, the map shifted and a spot on the side of a mountain began to glow and pulse. Distance was two days walk. Even better, it was to the north, and not too far off the road to Warlord's Castle.
"Interesting. The dragon's lair is on the way."
You've been offered Quest to Conquer the Dragon's Lair! Death and danger are assured, but the rewards are unknown. Do you accept this quest? Yes or No?
"Shall we accept the quest to conquer Dragon's Lair?" he asked.
The others received their offer, making them stare up into space. Killum wondered what the mobs thought when players did that.
Rand nodded. "Yes, I accept."
The others agreed, and accepted the quest. So Killum agreed.
Congratulations! You've accepted Quest to Conquer the Dragon's Lair. Fight to the death! No quarter given or received! Let the glory be yours and conquer!
"I have a feeling we're going to need to buy a lot of mules, or even cargo wagons, to haul our treasure out," Rand said.
"Or the dragon will burn us into crispy critters," Fergus said.
"Or eat us alive," Tiana said.
"Sounds like an adventure," Killum said, and headed toward the north gate and the Forest Road. "I love this game."
Chapter 30
They made good time that first day out of Knaresburg. The mule slowed them down a little, since it developed an attitude a few times and didn't want to cooperate. Ultimately, they discovered the mule only really liked Rand. He could cajole it into doing his bidding, mostly using baby-talk. The dwarven warrior was not pleased, since that meant he had to lead the beast most of the afternoon.
"I found a great campsite," Fergus said after he appeared out of the woods.
The terrain was becoming hillier as they neared the mountains. The road wended between the hills, and sometimes went straight up and over them. The forest covered them thickly, blocking out the sun most of the day. Killum was grateful for the shade; being from Texas he understood how hot it could get out in the open. The tree cover didn't help his feet, which ached by the end of the day.
"Is it far?" Killum asked.
Fergus volunteered to be their scout early on. He'd enabled them to avoid some large groups of Dread Ones, and then gave them enough warning to setup ambushes on a few small groups. Unfortunately, the Dread Ones provided no loot or magical objects.
Night came quickly in the mountains, and also in an old-growth forest. They still had an hour or two before dark, but would need that time to prepare their camp and find dinner. They turned off the road and headed up a game trail. The mule objected, until Rand baby-talked it into compliance.
"You have a magical bedroom voice," Tiana said, grinning wickedly. "So deep and sexy no beast of burden can resist you."
"I'll make you my beast of burden," the warrior dwarf muttered.
Tiana laughed as she followed him up the trail and around to the other side of the hill. It was fairly easy passage, and soon they found themselves standing on a level shelf under a rocky overhang. An old fire pit was already dug and lined with stone, the ashes under several inches of fallen leaves. Firewood was stacked under the overhang, so in decent condition. Killum estimated it was more than enough for one night.