She looks worried, but curious as she stares up at my face. Curiosity wins out as she steps up the vile steel and starts drawing on my magic to cast her spell. It doesn’t seem to be working quite as well as she expected, judging by the frown on her face. Another pull of magic and her frown deepens before she asks Raya to form a fire bolt.
Raya is quick to comply, earning worried grumbles from the gathering of kinda annoying grumblers grumbling about goblins in armor wielding magic. That’s really beside the point here, the focus is Raya right now. It’s a little soon to get annoyed at the politicians, but here we are. Raya’s the diplomacy expert anyway, not me.
She does seem to focus on the magic for a bit longer than usual before forming the firebolt.
“The armor takes some of the magic.”
With her investigation completed, Raya throws the fire bolt at the vile steel, blasting the branch of evil into a lying down branch of evil. It didn’t do much to it, aside from making it glow bright orange. Which on its own is also quite interesting.
Lauren didn’t even flinch as the firebolt whizzed past her, which I’ll interpret as trust in a friend and that these two are becoming great friends! There’s a stronger pull on my magic as Lauren begins casting her healing spell. This time, it looks to be forming and she directs it at the vile steel.
The wicked metal glows brighter and brighter until it starts evaporating into shiny motes of gold. She continues to draw on my magic and I’m starting to feel a difference, as more of the vile steel poofs into fancy motes. It doesn’t feel viable for her to use magic to destroy it, but it’s good to know that it’s a possibility.
“Lauren, please stop casting. It’s taking too much magic.”
The spell fizzles out and the drain drops. I can tell that I’m still fine on magic, but that was a lot compared to what is usually consumed by their spells. It has drawn the attention of the adventurers, though, and Turgai seems quite interested in what Lauren is doing as he steps up to her, requesting that she cast the spell on him to cleanse any potential taint he might be carrying.
Judging by the cautious frown on her face, Lauren appears to feel unsure of whether to do it. So with an encouraging rumble from my throat and a nod, she begins forming her healing spell again before casting it on Turgai. I’m sure he will be fine. Who ever heard of people being healed to death? Aside from the people Lauren healed to death. But we aren’t gonna focus on negativity like that, though.
As the magic flows into Turgai, his body tenses while he very obviously holds back a scream. He does not seem to think the healing is comfortable, and I’m curious what it is doing to him, but who knows how many tainted potions he might have drunk over time. Those can’t be healthy for him.
Oh right! Magic sight! Turning on the flow of magic, the world lights up in dancing colors and I see the golden fiery glow of Lauren’s healing bash against small crystalline structures throughout Turgai''s body, shattering them to pieces before consuming them with glorious flames.
As the magic fades, he slumps to the ground, landing on his knees with rapid breathing, as if he has just returned from a long sprint. His ordeal seems to have drawn some attention, but not enough for anyone to act, aside from the Commander helping Turgai up again.
“What in the hells was that?!”
“Do not worry, Ayra. I need but a minute to recover, but if my estimation is correct, any of the Affront tainting me has been purged. I must pray on this come evening. By Lord Faran’s glory, that is a trial of suffering.”
Turgai sounds exhausted as he breathes hard, getting to his feet. With Turgai back on his feet, the Commander steps up to Lauren and extends his arm in a very handshake fashion. As they clasp hands, he puts his other hand on her shoulder and thanks her for the spell. For some reason, he looks tense and Lauren’s face turns into a scowl for just a moment.
After they let go of each other, Lauren adjusts her leg plates and they continue talking about healing other people, and what to do from here. She seems to enjoy talking to fellow adventurers again.
I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do now, I don’t want to talk to the council members. Raya is busy with Banyai, and she’s supposed to be the diplomacy expert. Lauren and the Commander are now chatting about spells, healing, and the difficulties of herding small critters from the sounds of it.
I want something to do, so I’m gonna grab Turgai and go talk to Lunch about how he’s been doing. He struggles a little as my tongue wraps around his waist, but he’s no match for the might of my tongue! With him secure, we move the small distance to Lunch, it’s really more like just turning around and there’s Lunch. Well, we’ve still arrived, so I just lie down as I place Turgai on the ground in a mostly upright position. Aside from being surprised, he didn’t seem to mind it too much.
It did give me time to smell him properly, and he has a curious scent of power and something I don’t know. He doesn’t seem to have any body odor, but there is a hint of blood around him. So Turgai smells of power, something, and blood. My obsession with smelling him is interrupted as he lets out a light chuckle.
“Although not uncommon among my people, it has been quite some time since I have had to brace myself with my tail. I would like to request that you limit yourself to scenting me, as I fear a taste from a scrumptious treat such as myself would cause adverse effects in regards to my health.”
I have almost no intention of tasting him, so he’ll be fine. Well, maybe a lick eventually, but biting is not part of my plans right now.
“You would so casually joke about the Dragon feasting on you, Turgai?”
“My youth was spent with a Dragon, Lurram. They are temperamental creatures, but not unpredictable.”
A sudden wave of being offended washes over me as we hear a loud ‘hah’ coming from Lauren’s direction. As I turn to glare at her, she sticks out her tongue at me, but I have a much bigger tongue, so I stick out mine at her and blow raspberries at her! Take that, Lauren!
After clearing a glob of saliva from her face, she stares up at me with that distinct exasperation before laughing and trying to wipe the rest of the, quite frankly, too much saliva from herself. As Turgai spots the Commander being even more soaked than Lauren, he bursts out laughing, drawing the attention of Raya and Banyai. Lauren doesn’t appear disgusted by something like that anymore, so she’s probably getting used to it.
“I’ll admit I’m to blame for that... At least my armor repels liquid...”
“Kirarmor.”
“No.”
Pfft, spoilsport. Looking at her, it does appear that the armor is quite good at repelling my projectiles and she’s right about it being hydrophobic. Am I hydrophobic? Looking back at my scales, it shows me that I’m not sure! The rain seems to roll off me without much issue, but I have been caked in gore before, so maybe, I guess.
Well, we have other subjects to deal with, such as wiping my face on the wet grass to get rid of the lingering goops of drool. Doing that makes me feel refreshed and dirtier than when I started. The grass did not hold up to the assault of my scaly face and now I’m muddy...
“Don’t do it, Kira.”
I’m not sure what she’s talking about, so to begin with, let’s get rid of this mud, and then I can ask her. With a mighty shake, most of it flies away, and I’m sure the rest of it will be taken care of by the drizzle of rain.
Turning to Lauren, it’s clear that I wasn’t the only one who decided to get a little messy, but she doesn’t have as easy a time shaking it off as I do, so she should think about that in the future. Pointing this out to her earns me a glob of mud in the face and some laughs. She’s pretty great at throwing.
There’s a curious tingle of magic behind me and the moment I turn to face it, a torrent of water blasts me in the face as I sputter against the waves coming my way. As the water flow ebbs, I get a moment to spot the culprit standing among the laughter. It was Lunch! How dare he be emboldened by the casual interaction of others! Puff of Punishment smoke at him!
A tingle of magic alerts me to more magic being cast as a gust of wind clears the smoke away, and I’m reminded that those unpredictable humans can cast all sorts of magic. Wait... Lunch wasn’t human, that’s like the one thing I know about him. That warrants investigation, and as I take a couple of steps toward him, he starts worrying as the scent of fear flows off him.
Giving him a few sniffs doesn’t make it clear what he is, but he looks human... Flicking on my magic sight reveals that he has a lot more magic flowing through him than humans do. He’s closer in magic composition to me than he is to them. How curious...
“Uhm, Cleric, how do I prevent my demise?”
“What color are her eyes?”
Lunch stares right into my eyes for a moment before calling back to her.
“White is surrounded by green. Am I in danger? What does that mean?”
“You’re fine. The colors you need to watch out for are orange, red, and violet.”
Now Lauren is giving away my secrets, too? Dang it... I still want to know what Lunch is, though. Smelling him isn’t bringing me any closer to an answer, since I don’t know this scent either. That’s two scents from two people today that I’m unfamiliar with.
Lunch doesn’t seem all that reassured as I continue trying to identify his scent, but how can I possibly give up now?
“Why are you sniffing him, Kira?”
“He smells different, and I want to know why.”
For some reason, that amplifies the scent of fear even more than when I spoke with my face right up against him. Which suggests to me that his secret getting out scares him more than my teeth. Geez, that must be a serious secret.
As I draw my head back and stop my nasal assault on the guy, Turgai approaches him and gives him a powerful whiff as well.
“His scent does not appear to differ from that of other humans.”
“Would everyone please stop smelling me?! It’s making me very uncomfortable!”
It’s true, his scent proves that he is uncomfortable, but he doesn’t smell human. I’ll figure out what he is some other time, I’ve tried enough for now. With that out of the way, I cast my gaze back at... I completely forgot about the council members. Right, we came here with a purpose and should probably do something about that. Nudging Turgai, I ask what we’re supposed to be doing since I haven’t been paying attention.
With a smile and a few pats, he’s quick to tell me that they’ve identified a few of the sources on the tainted potions, and they need to worry about internal conflict going forward. Right, I suggested that they don’t go into my forest and then I would leave them alone. That’s still on the table, but they haven’t agreed yet as far as I know. And just like the Commander, I would suggest they agree.
Just as I think about the Commander, he stands up and claps his hands, and I would assume he’s getting ready to address everyone for some reason.
“Alright. Council of Margwen, you have seen that the Black Dragon of Death can be reasoned with. And her demands are reasonable in exchange for peace. Do you agree to make the Wolven Forest off-limits to hunters and the Guild?”
There’s that name again. I don’t remember signing off on getting such a dramatic name, it almost makes me miss Skelly’s name for me. We should really focus on kidnapping Turgai, and I’m pretty sure I brought that up as well.
Glancing at the council members, they’re huddled together, murmuring about what I assume is the subject of a treaty of some sort. I would rather they agree, so we can get a move on and I don’t end up in some odd situation of having to burn down their town. Okay, focus up, Kira. It’s diplomacy time.
Raya joins us, bringing instant relief as she can do the talking, so Lauren and I don’t end up offending or eating anyone.
“Talk out loud instead of being dummies in a circle. If you need to hunt in the forest, you can pay us for it, and if you need big animals taken care of, you can pay us for that, too. And if you can’t leave our people alone, we will defend ourselves. By killing your people.”Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Ooh! She’s nailing it! I hadn’t even thought of extorting them, I was just gonna let a few trusted people in, but this is a lot better. I wonder what other things the clever little goblin has thought of, but for now, one of the council members steps forward with an expression I’m pretty sure is arrogant. As he begins speaking, Lauren waves over Turgai and Lunch.
“Cleric of Merciferus, control your tiny beast, please. We wish to conduct our assembly with decorum, not idle threats.”
Using her shoulder to bump into Lunch, Lauren gets his attention before pointing towards me.
“Have a look. Remember which colors I mentioned?”
I don’t know which colors correlate to which emotions, but I’m quite annoyed at this jerk dismissing Raya like that. And using the word Hensora to call her a beast makes it even worse.
“I remember, it was orange, red, and violet, correct? What does orange equate to?”
“Mostly trouble. The white outer ring means she’s focused and the orange inner ring means she’s upset. So the council has offended her. If one of the rings turns red, I would wager this meeting is going to end in the same color.”
Listening to Lauren tell Lunch my secrets is a little annoying right now, but it’s also new to me, so at least I’m learning something. I’ll need either Lauren or Raya to give me a cheat sheet at some point so I know these things. She is right, though. These jerks talking about Raya like that are upsetting me, and I do want to end this meeting. We don’t really need them, anyway, we just need Turgai. Although I would prefer if these adventurers all survive. I like them.
“So your recommendation might be to apologize and treat the goblin as a person, correct?”
“If my intent were to survive the day, then yes, that would be an excellent plan.”
Their little talk isn’t exactly helping the council members be less afraid, but it’s a good recommendation. Giving Raya a glance, she looks wholly unimpressed by the council as she twiddles her dagger, completely unconcerned with their opinion of her.
They’ve huddled up again, and all four adventurers are just standing around, not making any effort to help the politicians with the thinly veiled threats thrown around. That just gives them bonus points in my book.
“Ayra, do you have no intentions of aiding us? You were commissioned to protect us from such beasts!”
“No, we’re here to protect Margwen from such beasts; you forced yourselves on us. And if you decide to piss off a Dragon, well, I doubt anyone would condemn me for returning without you.”
It feels a little odd that he’s willing to abandon them to my wrath, but his team seems to agree with their Commander as they stand by his side with Lauren and Raya. Instead of making up ideas about why that is, I’m just gonna ask him about it.
“I pay my debts. You put yourself at risk in the fight with the Steelback, and you got us a very skilled mage. That wasn’t directly you, but it is helpful. And finally, aside from almost knocking over Turgai and covering most of us in mud, what aggression have you shown us? I cannot think of any reason to attack you, but there are many reasons not to.”
Sounds transactional, but I’m okay with that if it means I won’t get attacked, especially considering Lunch being a lot closer to full power now, I assume. He got a couple of good hits in last time, and that hurt, so I would rather avoid that happening again.
Raya glances up at the Commander with a smile before bringing up our demands again, and this time, it appears they’re a lot more interested in listening.
She struts around with an air of pride and arrogance, like someone who knows they’re in charge and nobody can touch her. They certainly can touch her, but I wouldn’t even have to interfere. I might not have time to interfere before they hit the ground.
“Okay, listen up, dummies! I’m the Dragonbringer and if you annoy me, I’m gonna bring Dragons! I have already brought one, don’t make it two! Now, all we want is OUR forest left alone, and then you can go back to doing whatever people like you do. Nobody hunts goblins in the forest, and nobody hunts goblins north or east of the forest. Got it?”
The cluster of edibles is a lot more timid now. I’m pretty sure Raya can’t bring another dragon, but they seem to believe her. The Commander’s group all look stern and disciplined as they watch the events unfold.
“And if you need to hunt for wolves or deer, you come to me and pay for the right. It’s our forest, we have lived there for our entire lives, and you blessed people have hunted us for that entire time. But that is going to change now! Because we have a Dragon and you don’t. And if you manage to get a Dragon, what then? I’ll bring more Dragons! You don’t want that, do you?”
I’m not sure why they’re buying it, but five of them are shaking their heads, clear indications that they do not, in fact, want more dragons around.
“And when you do come to me to hunt in our forests, you have to pay twenty for the right to hunt for one cycle!”
“Twenty ulunarai?! That’s too much! Ten!”
“Eighteen!”
The council members grumble among each other for a moment before returning with a reply.
“Fifteen ulunarai, and we will agree to your terms.”
“Fine. But you get it to me for free!”
After a little more grumbling, they agree. She did it! I knew she would, and now we have a trade deal with very little show of force necessary. Now we just need to steal away Turgai, and we’re good to go. With a clap of his hands, the Commander steps forward, taking Raya’s place as the speaker.
“Now, with that settled, we can expect not to have any problems with the Black Dragon of Death. Doesn’t that make everyone feel better? That means we can focus on our own problems and stop wasting resources defending a wall that won’t be attacked. Banyai, are we heading north or south after this?”
“South.”
The six council members begin walking toward their mounts and I’m pretty sure I haven’t given them a proper look before this, because there’s something odd about two of them. It’s tingling my curiosity and I want to find out what’s going on with them. Following them immediately startles the horses and as they turn to face me, they each stare up at the looming face of mine above them.
The scent of fear permeates the area and it’s hard to pick out which of them smells the worst, so with a deft claw, I start picking them up one at a time and putting them down away from each other. There’s definitely something odd about two of them.
“Not to question the wisdom of a Dragon, but as the guy responsible for security here, what are you doing?”
It’s not unreasonable for the Commander to question me, and I appreciate that he comes at me with words instead of blades, but I’ve got something interesting going on here. I don’t want to tip off the two odd ones, so he just gets a low grumble. With three of the four regular council members separated from the group, it becomes apparent that the overwhelming scent of fear from six people grouped together has hid another scent...
They have begun hiding their nasty stench of the taint, and as only three council members remain, two of whom are related to the undead jerk responsible for all of this, I prepare to strike.
Shadows flow out from one of the odd ones, rushing under me, causing a very uncomfortable feeling that I’m pretty sure is gonna be bad soon. As the shadow cultist works his magic, the other one sprints away, leaving a very confused council member to ponder what to do as the shadow cultist behind him is pissing off the dragon in front of him.
I don’t really have time for much thinking, and reaching forward with my shadows proves that I’m somehow locked in place. I have no idea what shadow magic does, but judging by the current situation, I’m gonna guess it’s restrictive in nature.
“Run, you fucking idiot!”
The Commander has a pretty good point as I prepare my flames. The cultist struggles to contain me as I fight against his magic, and with my magic sight fixed on him, I notice small glowing crystals throughout his body. Their glow fades as he continues to hold his magic to restrain me, but the more I fight, the more they dim.
As we struggle against each other, it occurs to me that I’m being stupid... Pulling on my magic, I let it flow into my muscles, empowering me and with my new strength, the crystals burst into shards, shooting out of his limbs. The restraint fades and just as I’m about to burn this filth away, Lauren walks into my line of sight and touches him. The cultist bursts into screaming golden flames as his body is reduced to smoldering ash, which is quickly turned into moist ash by the ongoing drizzle.
Good for Lauren, she got a kill and did a good job of it, but she also stole my kill, which annoys me a little. It feels more like instinctual annoyance than rational, but puff of smoke for her! Dang killstealers...
“By the Gods, would that have happened to me if I had been corrupted?!”
Right, she already used her magic on the Commander and now he’s kinda afraid. That makes sense, that’s a very reasonable fear. The smell of urine and fear sure is pervasive right about now, but at least the Commander isn’t among those who peed their pants. That’s limited to the four council members.
Right, four, that leaves the runner. I should probably do something about that. He ran south, so that’s... where Raya is coming from, carrying a head. Is she a better fighter than me, too? I have mixed feelings about that. I’m proud of her and a little jealous.
As far as fights go, I feel left out of this one. All I did was fight restraints and stand around... With a clap of her hands, Lauren starts addressing the remaining members of the Margwen Council.
“Esteemed Council of Margwen, should you doubt the value of the deal you have agreed to, consider that the Dragon you brokered peace with is now pouting because she did not get to kill anyone.”
Dang it, Lauren, that’s not fair! And now the Commander’s group is chuckling behind me. I might have to go hunt something to feel better. A sudden whistle from the Commander sounds, startling me, and out of somewhere I didn’t see, five horses appear. Every time I move a little, they stop their approach, but when I stand still, they continue their approach, and it’s kinda fun to play with them.
People are staring at me... Fine, I’ll let the horses approach without teasing them... As soon as I stop moving all the time, the animals approach with some caution, and I’m pretty sure they’re expecting me to move all of a sudden. Well, I’m not gonna!
With the mounts in range, the council members each grab one, and as soon as the politicians are ready, they leave without saying goodbye as their horses gallop down the road. I’m not sure they like me. Rude.
As Lauren turns away from the folks riding into the distance, the members of the Commander’s group stop chuckling under the fierce gaze of my friend.
“I believe we should make sure everyone here is cleansed of the taint. It wouldn’t do to let it fester.”
They seem to know that it’s for the best, but witnessing what happened to Turgai seems to have made the rest of them a little reluctant to proceed. As Banyai and the Commander start stepping backwards, Lunch betrays the team with a wall of dirt, blocking off their escape as Lauren approaches.
I’m gonna leave them to their fun and focus on Raya and her head instead. She’s sitting down with it and somehow it continues to move, so I’m gonna guess that it’s undead. The magic circling it seems to be gray, green, and yellow all mixed together and coming off it in smoky waves. I’m kinda curious what would happen if I infused it with my magic... I probably shouldn’t... Redirecting my focus, I nudge Raya, asking where the rest of him is.
“I burned him. I didn’t want to carry the rest back, too.”
That’s smart. I’m not sure why any of it needed to be dragged back, but at least she’s clever about it. It does seem to be biting toward her, but without any body for leverage, it’s doing a very poor job of it. The sensation of a hand touching my arm draws my attention to Turgai, it seems. It appears he’s joining Raya and me as we don’t do much at all.
Considering he’s here anyway, I might as well ask if he’s up for showing us where The Lands Beyond Death are. As I do, he brings his hands together, clasping them, as he closes his eyes, and my magic sight reveals that he’s definitely casting some sort of spell. It’s not something I’ve felt before, so I have no idea what it does.
“I cannot guide you, but if I may have that head, creating a guide may be possible.”
Raya looks up at him before throwing the head of the decapitated council cultist, which Turgai catches without much difficulty. Holding it in one hand, facing himself, he prepares to cast some sort of spell.
“What are you doing to it, Scaly?”
Instead of answering, he just smiles and pokes a nail into one of his fingers, causing blood to flow. With the blood, he draws runes and symbols on the skin of the head, each of them glowing with magic. The flow of magic increases as he draws even more symbols. It’s primarily a variety of circles and stars, with runes all around them.
The more he casts, the more offensive it feels to me, making me want to lash out. This feels wrong. With a burst of energy, the head starts moving in a far more deliberate fashion as the flesh melts away, oozing over his hand and onto the ground. With the aid of the rain, it doesn’t take long before he is left standing with only a fleshless skull, clacking its teeth at him.
“The spirit and soul have left the remains. With this, you may now be able to locate Lord Faran.”
So I’m pretty sure that’s necromancy, and I’m pretty sure necromancy is bad. I’m gonna point that out, and as I do, Raya is quick to nod as she agrees with me, but Turgai seems to find it funny as he lets out a soft laugh.
“Lord Faran teaches that no magic carries the merits of morality. That responsibility lies with the wielder. What I and those of the Mura clan practice is not like that of the foolish Dead King. His is the abolishment of will and purity, twisting souls to do his bidding. What our kin practice is the art of bringing unlife to a forsaken vessel. Soul Magics among our people are limited to the Shae, as many who attempt it fall to the allure of abuse.”
Oh! I forgot to ask about his whole name! Nudging the necromancing scalefolk for an answer as I pose the question, he gives me a bow before responding.
“Kind of you to ask, the one standing before you is Mura Unra Turgai. The Mura stand on the precipice of life and dance with the Darkness. Pleased to meet both of you.”
“I’m Raya! I play with fire and make sure Kira doesn’t get in trouble!”
Hey! I don’t get in trouble that often...
“A tremendous task for such small shoulders. Skill and competence must come as second nature to one such as you.”
Okay, now she’s beaming with pride. Geez, she might end up exploding if someone pays her any more compliments. She’s adorable, though, so it’s all good.
Turgai hold out the skull as he bends down to give it to Raya, citing her as the responsible party, and now that I think about it, he might be right... It keeps coming back to that tendency to eat people I have and do I want to eat a necromantic skull to find out what it tastes like? Yes, of course, but I shouldn’t. I’m also not quite equipped to hold something that small. That leaves Raya and Lauren. Lauren might purge it for looking at her wrong, even though it doesn’t have eyes.
So, using some deductive reasoning, yeah, Raya is the best choice.
“Kira! Lunch refuses to be healed.”
Geez, I just found out we’re friends with a necromancer, and now I’m gonna find out we’re friends with an uppity toddler? Looking back at Lauren’s group, I see the Commander, Lauren, and Banyai standing outside Lunch’s dirt shield. They seem to have moved further away, so I’m gonna have to move to get there. Every step I take squelches as my feet dig into the wet soil, and I would be so easy to track on the ground in this weather.
It isn’t a lot of steps until I’m at the dirt ball of defense, but it looks sturdier than it did last time, which means I might not get through it. Especially since I don’t want to kill the guy. Choosing a more civil approach, I knock a few times, asking if he wants to come out and talk.
“No. That magic will kill me, and I don’t want to die.”
Okay, yeah, that’s a pretty good reason to not want it cast on him. Looking back at the three standing around him, I ask them to step back as I promise Lunch that he won’t have to be healed if he doesn’t want to. We can talk about this after all.
The dirt barrier falters as the little mage comes out of hiding. Well, little to me, he’s regular human size, even though he isn’t human. All eyes seem to be on him as folks expect an explanation, but I know how difficult it can be to open up emotionally, especially with an audience. So being the force of destruction I am, I let the others know that we’re respecting his decision on the promise that he isn’t one of the bad guys.
“I''m not one of the undead and I do not belong to the cult, but promising that I’m not a bad guy is a promise I cannot make...”
Well, that’s awkward... Well, we need allies against the undead jerk, and since Lunch isn’t with them, I’m gonna count him as one of us. And just like that, he won’t have to be affected by Lauren’s magic. We could use some more misfits.
“Are you sure this is wise, Kira?”
“I don’t know, but he hid away instead of retaliating, so how bad can he be?”
I am so curious about what he is, though.