Talderbenta perked his ears and listened to the night sounds. He had heard something out there in the woods. His house was quiet, sleeping as it was, over to the side of the clearing. His sword was by his side. He put his paw on the heft of his sword and listened with all his might. Being a mole as he was, made it hard to hear much though. 'There it is again...' he thought to himself. It sounded as if two people were coming this way down the path... so he waited. He was the king's messenger, and the emblem on his shoulder should protect him from most.
Rednose and Cockyears were arguing as they walked down the path. "But when we see him what do we say?" asked Rednose. He held up his webbed paw. "You don't think that he will really care about Mudpond do you?"
Cockyears snorted. His ears were larger than most otter ears grow. It is also where he got his name. "Sure he will. We have the token and Fitz has to be at least a thousand years old... at least!"
They rounded a bend on the moonlit path and spotted a small camp in a clearing by the side of the path. "Oh oh oh oh... let's stop for a bit, Cocky. My feet are tired!" Rednose rubbed his muzzle. He was not really made for walking this much.
Talderbenta took his paw away from the sword and grinned. Otters wouldn't be any danger. He watched them waddle on over to his camp and flop down with a flourish. "Hey, hello!" one said. "Hiya!" the other said.
He shook his head. "Hello, fellow travelers. What brings you so far from the river?" Talderbenta relaxed and leaned back into his carrybag again. He did wonder why otters were so far from the river. They didn't come into the mountains much at all.
Cockyears looked over at the mole. Nice looking chap, and by the emblem on his clothing he worked for the Calderman Kingdom. Otters didn't really have much to do with Kingdoms though. "Oh... we be going to see Fitz. He is a dragon that has moved into the mountains." Rednose nodded happily.
Talderbenta sat up fast. They were going to see the dragon!??! They know what its name was?!?!? "I am also going to go see the Dragon," he exclaimed. "I have a message from the king welcoming him to this land, as well as an inquiry about any problems he might be having. We were hoping to come to an understanding before the villagers got it into their heads that he was a danger or something."
Rednose and Cockyears looked at each other, almost bumping noses. "Fitz? Make trouble? ...nah." They both shook their heads. "We have an old dragon token you see, and we're going to ask for his help in aiding Mudpond with it." Both otters started to look very sad.
Cockyears brightened up though. "Fitz will help!"
Talderbenta looked at the two otters. He knew they might be a lot of help to him in finding the dragon, and with what they know..... "Would you two like to travel with me?"
Rednose and Cockyears leaned close together and chittered at each other for a moment, then both turned to Talderbenta at the same time. "Yes," they said together.
"Very well," said Talderbenta, somewhat amazed by the good fortune of finding these native guides. "We'll get a bit of a rest and start out in the morning. Would that be acceptable?
The otters looked at each other, looked at their feet, and looked up at the mountain they still had to climb. They nodded. "Very acceptable," one said, and Talderbenta nodded.
The trio stayed for a while longer, resting. "We should leave at first light. We won't make much progress while it is dark." The otters looked at the mole, then at each other, "Ok."
Dawn came over the group slowly, but the mole was awake already. "Come on you two, we should get moving before the sun is up too far."
Rednose grumbled a bit at having to get up already, and stretched slowly. "So soon?" He poked Cockyears in the ribs to roust him and slowly got to his feet. "C'mon, my friend." Cockyears yawned and joined his traveling companions.
"It's going to be a long day. I hope our otter feet will survive the climb up that mountain."
The three started off up the narrow path in the direction of the dragon's lair. The path was narrow and seldom traveled. Cockyears took the lead. After traveling for about an hour, he called a halt beside a stream of cold, clear water and reached down to get a drink.
Talderbenta watched the otters play around in the water as they also got some to drink. He was keeping an eye open on the treetops and the bushes all around as well. Anything could happen out here.
Cockyears screamed from the stream and leaped out of the water pointing into it with his finger. "Its dead!"
Rednose was out of the water in a moment as well, shivering. "Truly, ...it is dead."
Talderbenta ran over to the side of the stream and looked in at what had excited the otters, then gasped.
In the stream lay the dead body of a freshwater merfolk. Talderbenta stared at it for a few moments, seeing that is was a male. "This cannot be a good sign." The two otters sat away from the water, shivering. Talderbenta fetched a long stick from the side of the trail, and using it as a makeshift hook, pulling the body to the edge of the stream. "I don't know what has happened to this poor soul, but we should be a bit more cautious on the way up this trail." The body had slipped from the bank and had started floating downstream. Talderbenta let it go. It was a water creature, it should remain there, even in death. "You two, are you going to be ok?"
Cockyears and Rednose looked at each other, then at the mole. "Yes, we will be ok. It is just... just... it was a dead thing."
Talderbenta was worried. It could just be an unrelated death, nature taking its course, but it could also have been something else. "We should get moving again, are you up to it?"
Both otters nodded to Talderbenta and started the climb again. As they walked, Rednose emptied the waterskin he had just filled, not wanting to keep it now. The path became steep and twisting as they climbed higher. All three comrades walked carefully and kept their eyes open wide, jumping even at little noises. The stream crossed back and forth across their path three more times before they reached the dragon's lair. They did not see any more dead things in its waters, but Rednose did not refill his waterskin. Finally, they reached the lair and stood outside to catch their breath. Talderbenta looked around curiously. The mole had never been upon a mountain before, but he had a job to do for his king.
The entrance to the lair was a large natural cave in the side of the mountain. The three stood dwarfed by the huge opening. A deep rumbling noise from within made their fur stand on end....
Rednose pulled torches from his knapsack, and struck them alight with a flint. Talderbenta led off. They slowly moved into the dark cavern, the flickering light from the torches creating eerie shadows on the walls.
"Is this the right way?" Cockyears asked
"I have never been here before, but this seems to be the only way to go..." Talderbenta replied. The rumbling grew slightly louder, and the three could make out a faint glow on the cavern walls ahead of them...
Talderbenta took a step forward. This *had* to be the right place, and that meant the dragon lived right over there in that---
"Hold it right there!" yelled a new, unknown voice, husky and deep with authority. Talderbanta skidded to a surprised halt, a hand going to his sword instinctively, but stopping short of drawing as he realized this might be Fitz.
It was with a look of surprise and confusion that Talderbanta looked at the battered and scarred middle-aged badger that stepped into view from around the bend.
Renose and Cockyears gaped at the newcomer while Talderbanta considered him carefully.
"Wh-who are you?" asked Cockyears, nervously eyeing the rather large broadsword the huge badger carried over his shoulder.
"My name," he growled, "is not important. More to the point, who are *you*?"
Talderbenta finished his inspection of the badger. 'Obviously a fighter,' he thought to himself. 'And those clothes, they seem a little too well-maintained for a drifter....'
Talderbanta paid special attention to the odd clasp holding the badger's cloak closed at the right shoulder. It looked almost like a unit insignia, but not one he recognized... 'Maybe my friends here would know... ah, never mind,' he thought, looking at the terrified otters.
So instead, he stepped forward and introduced himself, his friends, and spoke of their quests. The badger grunted non-commitally, looked him over, and finally said,
"Oh, fine, I'll take you inta meet old furnace-breath. *He* can figure out what to do with you. Not my job anyway."
The two Otters began to relax a little at the remote possibility that there was friendliness in the badger, and followed Talderbenta down the hall, led by the badger. After a few minutes of walking through a complex collection of caves and passageways, the badger finally stopped and stepped aside.
The three walked past the badger a little and stopped abruptly in their tracks as a 20 foot tail flew across the room and smacked into a wall. The two otters huddled on the ground together, frozen in fright, while Talderbenta walked a little further.
Talderbenta walked just a little more and stopped again. Then, he sheepishly let out a small voice, "F-F-Fitz???, are you there?"
Talderbenta ducked very quickly and retreated to huddle with the otters, when a fireball flew past him.
Then, to their amazement, a 50 foot dragon covered in gold scales, with fiery red eyes and blue hair, bounded out from the back of the cave, making the whole place tremble. He glared down at the three, frightening them twice as much. Then he relinquished his stare and boomed, "Who Summons me, and are they worthy to live five more minutes???"
The otters were frozen in fear at the sight, but the badger was obviously untroubled. "Fitz, these - kids - wanted to give you a message or somesuch. Apparently, they think it's important."
Fitz leaned back and regarded the children silently.
Talderbenta stepped timidly forward, message in paw. "I-i-it's from the k-king. S-sir." He dropped to his knees suddenly - "Please don't eat me!"
A low snorting came from Fitz, accompanied by a small cloud of smoke. Then another. And another - soon, the dragon was giving a low, snorting laugh.
The dragon's mood changed noticably - he chuckled, "Oh, I'm not going to eat you... After all, you probably heard the story of the last knight who fought me? Sir Doran? How he died a grisly death, as my dinner?"
The dragon pointed to the badger. "That's him."
"I wouldn't actually eat anyone, you see - but I can't let the other dragons know, what would they say? So I pretend. It works out in the end. So... what is this message?"
Doran looked slightly shocked. "But - but - these are just children! They could have come from anywhere..."
"Doran, you've got to learn not to be so paranoid. These are just kids, what harm could they do?"
Talderbenta handed the folded piece of paper to Fitz, who broke the wax seal (noticing the King's sign). Suddenly, a cloud of greenish dust arose from the letter - the dragon gave a short snort of surprise, and, taking a few swaggering steps to the side, fell.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" The old Badger rushed them, broadsword in hand.
Taldarbenta dropped to his knees. "I don't know. I-I didn't do anything!"
The two otters wrapped themselves around each other, eyes large and colorless. Their ears twitched and they stared on in horror.
"WHAT MANNER OF WITCHERY HAVE YOU DONE? Doran brought the sword to bear, point pressed against Taldarbenta's chest.
"Please, Sir Knight. I am only a messenger, bidden by the king to bring the message to the dragon, and no more. I-I am sorry . . . I-I didn't know anything . . . I'm innocent!" Taldarbenta cowered. He glanced at the two otters curled in fetal positions. A lot of help they were. . . .
Sir Doran grabbed the two otters by the scruffs of their necks and dragged them away while they pleaded and cried. Moments later he returned and grabbed Taldarbenta, also dragging him away.
Taldarbenta cried out, "Sire, please . . . I did nothing wrong . . . I-I only brought a message . . . Please . . ."
"Aye, a message that has sent my Lord and friend into deathly stupor." Doran opened a door and threw Taldarbenta into the darkness. He slammed the door and locked it. "Here you will all remain! I have to call up a consult. If Fitz is harmed, you have seen your last sunlit day!"
Fitz dreamed... the images in his mind dancing and playing with the edges of his self. What formed out of the mist was something that happened in his childhood. So many thousands of years ago. "Mom, she didn't taste very good though. Can't I just eat fish? They are so much better!" The ghost of Fitz' mother-form turned to him, "Don't you give me that. I want you to clean up your meal now." Fitz looked at his mom and set the frightened princess down. "No.. I will not." His mom looked at him with sad eyes. "Son, if you don't you will be taking a very hard path... are you sure that you want to take it?" Fitz nodded to his mom... "Yes." The dreams twisted and ran away again, leading him through his past.
In the real world, Doran got out a crystal... time to summon that wizard.
Talderbenta sat in the dark, thinking. He was very scared, but he could not help that. The two otters were in here somewhere, whimpering. He just couldn't believe that his king had done what he did. Poisoning the dragon Fitz, instead of talking with him. Now he knew something that had been niggling at the back of his mind for some time now. He had become expendable. As for the two otters, he was sorry they had started walking together. Now they might suffer the same fate as he, whatever that might be.
Doran sat at the crystal, using the incantations to contact the sage on the other end. Doran jumped back as a voice came booming out of the crystal, "What are you bothering me for! I am a busy person!"
Doran blinked in alarm. That isn't the right voice.... "Oh, crud," he thought, "I've got the wrong number, milord...." He apologized to the irate whatever-it-was on the other end and set down the crystal, standing up and heading for the hall.
Talderbenta sat morosely in his cell, pondering his next move. He refused to just give up out of hand; that was not the soldier's way. "There must be *some* way to convince Sir Doran I'm telling the truth," he murmured, ears pricking as he heard footsteps overhead.
A very irate Sir Thaddeus Seigfried Doran, Esq. stalked down the hallway, headed for the stairs like a freight train (whatever that is). The Council of Mages and the Conclave of Rulers had all had been supremely unsympathetic in his search to aid the stricken dragon. That only left one choice, and a difficult one, but he would do his duty for the great dragon... this favor for his old and dearest friend.
Doran pounded down the stairs and threw open the door. The mole inside, what was his name, no matter... blinked at the sudden light, and squawked in surprise as Doran threw his sword to him. "Come, I've got a trip to make, and you're helping. And remember, I'm not sure you're not a murderer yet, so watch it."
Talderbenta blinked. "Trip? Where? What about the otters?"
Doran answered, "We're going to get help from the Council of Dragons. By force, if need be. And they're staying."
Talderbenta became angered at the idea of leaving the otters behind. "But..."
Doran turned. "No buts."
Talderbenta looked up again, building up courage, "Could we please take the otters, I'm afraid they dont know their way," and smiled at Doran.
"Very well" said Doran, and they headed to leave the cave.
On the way out, they stopped by two more cels. Inside each were the otters, more comfortable now that they were being freed.
Beginning their quest, they strode down an old dirt road toward the forest of darkness, where many things cannot pass alive. Only the bravest and strongest might dare to enter it.
They were about to enter the forest when all of a sudden a knight on a stallion troted out from behind a bush. He yelled, "The king's messengers have been enslaved by a giant!!! CHARRRRRRGE!" ...and rushed toward Doran.
Yet the knight posed no threat to Doran, for he simply drew his sword and choped the knight's head off with a single swing.
They then ventured into the Forest of Blackness and stuck to the path, careful not to stray from it.
Soon they heard clicking and buzzing noises from all around. Doran and Whats-his-name Mole discovered that the two otters had disappeared!
They strayed from the path, following the clicking noises. Soon they came upon a clearing where they saw two white cocoons high up in the trees.
"There they are!!!" exclaimed Talderbenta, pointing at the cocoons as they moved and wiggled.
Doran, being a fairly large badger, climbed the tree and uncuts the two from their prison.
Soon, they all started to hear buzzing and clicking noises again, and 20 two-foot spiders rushed in to recapture their prey.
Talderbenta and Doran drew their swords and hacked away at the rushing spiders. Soon, they were lying about, dead, and plenty of green goop everywhere.
They returned to the path and continued upon it out of the forest, reaching the Council of Dragons.
The four walked inside, shocked and amazed at the number _and_ variety of dragons. Small red ones. Humongous Green ones. Blue, black, brown, purple dragons everywhere congregated in a meeting. They all turned around from their seats at the presence of the four intruders. Doran stepped forward and spoke, "Dragons! Hear me! Fitz has been poisoned by King Alacoth with dragonsbane, ...he needs a remedy!"
One of the dragons fumed, "Who poisoned the Great Dragon???
Talderbenta stepped forward "I unknowingly poisoned him with a letter that the king told me to give to him. I-I-I'm sorry..."
All of the dragons stoked up fire in their eyes, and rushed in front of Talderbenta, acting as if they might kill him....
"WAIT!"
All eyes turned from the small mole child to the booming voice coming from the entrance. It was Fitz, the Great Dragon.
Fitz continued. "When the dragonsbane wore off, I read the message the king gave me... It was a note demanding that we end the raids on the humans, or else their armies would attack. It would be a war. This messenger is innocent... Our enemy is clear."
One of the other dragons - a lean red one - spoke up.
"Well, why don't we let them come? We're dragons, we can take on a bunch of lousy humans, right?"
"Not an entire army's worth, I fear. We dragons are a dying race. There are only a few hundred of us left - and the king's army is in the hundreds of thousands. Those are not good odds."
"So what do we do, give up eating people? With all due respect Lord, that's insane. That'd be like asking the grass not to grow - it's part of our nature as dragons. I mean, _you_ eat people, right?"
There was an embarrassed pause.
Doran walked before them all, gazing at them expectantly. "The fact IS, -you- DO eat people from time to time!"
An embarrassed silence followed.
"Come on, come on!" Doran put his hands to his hips in exasperation. "THAT is where your problem is! Whether or not you admit it, everyone knows you EAT people! Why else would they attack? Why else would Fitz be made a target when we all know he'd rather eat fish?" Doran took out his sword and leaned on it indulgently. "IF dragons ate something else besides people, then people would not be out to kill dragons wherever they decided to settle."
The leader of the council grinned, showing all of his 'sharp pointy' teeth. "My, you ARE the cocky one. You stand before us and DARE to tell us our problems! I wonder how Badger tastes?"
Doran smiled with amusement. "Ho . . . I do not think you to be that brainless. If my sword did not find its way to your heart first, Fitz would take you all to task. Perhaps you should talk with him and find out why he IS an Elder of ranking and you are not!"
The lead Dragon snorted flame and smoke. "The arrogance. . . ."
An older, blue dragon waved the dragon leader to back down. He turned to Fitz. "Do you have something you might add to our discussion? You ARE a ranking elder here."
Fitz nodded and came forth. "We all have the same problem. We are a VANISHING race because WE have allowed it to happen. Wherever we go, we are immediately set upon as a danger to the population."
"Are you suggesting what I think? That we deny our nature? That we not eat people?" The lean red dragon spat on the ground before Fitz. "That I will never do!"
Fitz rose up in ire, towering above the red dragon, glaring down at him. "Then you will not mind telling us all what you last ate!"
The red dragon shrank back silently.
"OUT WITH IT!" demanded Fitz. "What did you last EAT?"
The red dragon cringed, grinned humiliated and spoke. "Two sewer rats, a couple of days ago. They were not very good......"
Fitz whirled on the other dragons assembled. "Pitiful! I openly admit I do NOT eat people, and others are incredulous!! I invite them to dinner to prove my worth and they are my guests, NOT the main course. They find I can cook a mean fish steak or beef BBQ! THAT is why I am an elder and without a scratch!
People come to trust me and -know- I will not harm them. If they should ask, I tell the truth! I tell them they taste crappy . . . and, they DO!" He glanced around scornfully. "Out with it! When was the last time any of you ATE another person? Out with it? How long ago?
The other dragons glanced about at each other in alarm. For all their ferocity and bravado, none spoke up.
"Come on, it's not like we're all that hard to find," Sir Doran said with a smile.
"Fact is," said Fitz, "we are all busy hiding and protecting what is left of ourselves. We all know the truth! Our kind is dying. Why? I ask why? The answer, our adherance to an old premise and a reputation that has done nothing but get us killed off! Time to admit the truth to ourselves and fit into this world. We are no longer masters over this world. We are merely remnants of what once was. Either we admit our own wrongness and ally ourselves with others and give up what once brought fear and groveling by others, or we find ourselves at the mercy of armies of people who will do us all in .....and for what?"
"A reputation? FAH!" Sir Doran turned to the two otters who held each other in mortal fear, and winked at them. "When I went to slay Fitz, he taught me a few things about all of you. I was amazed, and then stayed to learn more. Of course, the tales of my death were slightly overexaggerated, but suited me at the time. I think 'tis time for me to tell what I know to the rest of the world."
"You can't!" The red dragon stared at him wide eyed. "You can't!"
"Then, you do it!" Sir Doran snorted. "Will you have your race die for an undeserved reputation, or will you step forth and join the world community in truth? Admit it! Eating people is NOT your favorite thing to consume! The TRUTH!"
The dragons assembled looked at each other in silence. "Well . . . to tell the truth, I'd rather eat beef," admitted one of them.
"They did taste a bit . . . odd."
"I don't know, I always pretended to eat them."
Another spoke. "After the first one, I could never get the stench off my breath no matter what I tried. I quit way long ago."
Talderbenta eased himself closer to Sir Doran. "It would seem to me, great dragons, it would better serve you if you were to put your reputation to rest, and let the people know you for what you are.'
"And what do you perceive us as?" The great green leader lowered his head and brought it down into Talderbenta's face.
Talderbenta stood boldly. "People, Sir Dragon. People! Big people, no more. No less. People who want as all people do..... a place to live..... a place to raise families..... to be at peace . . . ."
Fitz snorted. "Well? I think King Alacoth's methods of getting our attention are crass and barbaric, but he has a point. He wants no trouble from me. He will get none. I will go to him and tell him the truth of me. Will you also admit to the truth of it all so we may settle and live at peace in this land, offer our sevices to the others as protectors and mages, and find a modicum of happiness in our lives?"
No one spoke for a moment. Furtive glances were exchanged.
"I agree," said the red dragon with a sigh. "Tis hard to admit, even harder to give up, but I have little ones. I want them to know happiness and not the fear I have carried all my years."
The lead dragon came forward. "It would be nice to be accepted. . . ."
"You have but to tell the King's messenger and he will take it forth," Sir Doran suggested.
"Then, I agree." The green dragon pulled back, head low. "This- ...this will be hard."
"No harder than the life of secrecy I have lived amongst all of you," Fitz pointed out. He turned to Talderbenta. "Go forth, little messenger. Tell your kind from all of us that we wish to live in peace if we may have land to call our own. Tell him we will serve as protectors and sages to the people. We wish only to save our kinds. Tell your king the truth of us! We will confirm it by our deeds and by what we eat."
Talderbenta nodded. "Right away, sir Dragon!"
A small blue dragon ambled up to him. "I believe a gesture of friendship is in order to help convince thy people." He unfurled his wings. "Come, messenger, if I fly you to the King, he will believe!"
Talderbenta drew back in surprise. He grinned. "Yes . . . It would work!"
"Then, let us meet the sky!" The blue dragon lifted Talderbenta to his shoulders and raced from the meeting cavern.
Fitz turned to Doran. "Old friend, shall we, too, go home?"
Sir Doran nodded and gazed wearily at his friend. "You know, I am getting too old to be adventuring all the time. It would be nice to return to my castle to see how it fares under my son's rule. Afterward, we may go home."
Fitz nodded and picked the old Badger up, boosting him to his shoulders. "Hang on tight!"
"Wait! Wait!" The two otters scrambled forth.
"Great dragon, we had this." Cockyears held up the token.
Fitz took the token and smiled a long toothy smile. "And, what request would you make of me?"
Rednose bobbed his head obsequiously. "Great Dragon, our elders hoped you might help our village of Mudpond. The river that once filled our lake and kept us in fish no longer flows. Since the earthquake, it has gone another way and leaves us in dire straits."
The Great green dragon took the token from Fitz and examined it. He nodded and turned to the otters. "I can attend to this for you. Fitz has other duties to perform."
"We thank you, Great Dragon."
"We will travel when you are rested and fed," said the great green dragon.
Two small dragons, only slightly larger than Rednose, approached from behind the great Green Dragon. They walked around the two otters eyeing them appraisingly.
"You need rest!" said one.
"You need to bathe and swim," added the other.
Rednose nodded. "We do . . . our feet hurt."
The two small dragons looked at each other and nodded. "We fix!" They grabbed the two otters and slung them over their shoulders before trotting off into the cavern.
Fitz turned to his friend. "Shall we went?"
Doran nodded and smiled. "This turned out well for all of us. Your kinds finally admit to the truth of nature, and we stop chasing after them all the time . . ." The old Badger thought for a moment. "Of course, when people find out all the things dragons can DO for them . . . we will still be chasing after them."
Fitz laughed, unfurled his wings, and headed out of the cavern to meet the sky.