by Pirateaba
“What? What is—”
He turned his head towards the cavern wall and paused.
“Ah.”
Teriarch’s illusory human form was perfect. He looked exactly like a normal human, albeit one made in flawless perfection and with slightly elven features. But he had forgotten one important aspect.
Ryoka stared as the shadow of the dragon looming huge on the wall behind Teriarch. It stretched out from his robes, lengthening impossibly until it perfectly reflected the dragon, not the illusion.
“My god. What—”
Teriarch sighed. He pointed at Ryoka, and she felt her head go blank.
“Let’s try that again.”
—-
Memory flooded into her. Words.
Teriarch stared hard at Ryoka as she stood, immobilized by the magic on her. He frowned, tapped at a lip.
“What has happened in the world since I have been asleep?”
Ryoka blinked at him. Since he was asleep?
“How long have you been asleep?”
“Ah. Well, I mean…”
Teriarch blinked at Ryoka a few times, and then waved his hand in front of her face.
“Forget that.”
Ryoka blinked. Teriarch frowned at her. He paused, and then spoke.
“I wish to know of any ongoing major wars between multiple nations, new technologies or spells developed, legendary monsters sighted or slain—import of that nature. Tell me all the news you have heard of in the past several years or so. What has transpired while I have been…secluded here?”
The human girl paused, and then shrugged. Even bound by the truthfulness spell, her tone projected quite a lot of insolence.
“Dunno.”
“Excuse me?”
“I don’t pay attention to world news. You probably know more about what’s going than I do.”
Teriarch harrumphed and glared at Ryoka, but the truth spell on her was still active. He changed tact.
“Do you at least know if Magnolia Reinhart still lives?”
“…Yes.”
He nods sagely, stroking his beard.
“Indeed, indeed. That is good. Well then, have you heard of a strange child known as Ryoka Griffin? She is a Runner, like you, although presumably high-level in the [Runner] class, unlike you.”
Ryoka opened her mouth and Teriarch continued, irritated.
“Although why Reinhart wants me to find the wretched girl, I can’t imagine. Do I look like I have the time to search for one annoying bratling all the time?”
“…Didn’t you just say you didn’t know if Magnolia was alive?”
Teriarch paused and then pointed at Ryoka.
“Forget that too. I do not know Magnolia Reinhart.”
He paused, and then amended his tone. Teriarch looked at Ryoka.
“Now, tell me where Ryoka Griffin is. Reinhart said—blast!”
He poked Ryoka in the head again and she forgot. Teriarch closed his eyes.
“This is why…”
—-
Ryoka paused as she stared at a massive broadsword hanging from one of the walls of the cavern. It was far too large for any human to use, or even a Minotaur. Teriarch stroked his beard proudly.
“Ah. Are you admiring my collection? That was a giant’s weapon, once. I took it from him when I—well, it was another time. Note the exquisite tempering of the blade.”
“All this gold and magical items…”
Ryoka stared around at the room, freed from Teriarch’s spell. She looked at a pile of ruby gemstones, each one larger than her fist.
“I’m…a collector.”
“This isn’t a collection. This looks…like a hoard?”
Teriarch waved his hands in Ryoka’s face hurriedly.
“This is not a hoard. You will not think it is a hoard.”
Ryoka blinked emptily at the air for a few seconds. Teriarch paused. Then he spoke conversationally.
“Do you like my collection? I have amassed it from every corner of the world.”
She gazed around, taking in the magnificence of the room for the first time. Ryoka had to admit, it was impressive beyond belief.
“How did you collect it all here? It looks…magical.”
“Oh, it’s quite magical. But I have my ways. And besides, when you can fly, amassing such things is fairly simple.”
Ryoka stared at Teriarch. He paused, and swallowed.
“Flying with magic, is what I mean. Not that I know of any other ways to fly, of course.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
“Right.”
“Of course. Ahem. Do note the Orb of Scrying. It’s embedded in pure jade and enchanted with several enhancing spells that increase the range and scope of the spell itself.”
Ryoka glanced into it and froze. Teriarch stared at her with concern.
“What? Did I leave it on?”
He looked over and cursed.
“Tamaroth’s beard!”
The Scrying Orb was reflecting the room they were standing in. It showed a small human girl standing right in front of a golden dragon. This time Teriarch’s expletive made the cavern shake.
Teriarch thrust one claw at Ryoka as she turned to run. He spoke curtly.
“That’s it. Forget everything except the part where I gave you your instructions. Get out.”
Ryoka turned around and walked out of the cavern. Teriarch cast an irritated glance towards the magical orb and his tail flicked the globe off its pedestal. It shattered in an explosion of mist and magic against one wall.
“Wretched thing.”
—-
And once more. One last memory made Ryoka shudder on the hardwood floor of the inn.
The stink potion was keeping all the monsters away. Ryoka had to smile as she walked towards the entrance of Teriarch’s cave. But she froze. Down the winding canyon path, she saw something out of the corner of her eye.
It was just for a second. But Ryoka saw it duck back behind a large boulder as she whirled. She froze in place, and her hand went to her size. She had a knife she used for camping and other tasks at her belt. Normally she’d fight with her hands, but…
The thing peeked out its head again, and Ryoka’s hand gripped the hilt so hard her knuckles cracked.
It looked vaguely human. It had a human head, a normal torso and legs that protruded slightly around the edge of the boulder. But it was naked.
And it wasn’t right.
Its face wasn’t right. One of its eyes twisted right until it was nearly vertical, and the other one was looking in the opposite direction of the first.
A tiny pupil stared at Ryoka from across the hundred feet that separated them. Then the thing came out from behind the boulder, and Ryoka froze. Her mind was overwhelmed by horror. It shouldn’t move like that. It shouldn’t—
It reached out for her, one horrible clawed arm stretching out, out across the long distance. Flesh stretched like gum, skin rippling and peeling to reveal something red and pulsating inside. Ryoka couldn’t move. Her body was filled with true terror. The thing’s finger reached out for her face—
And a roar of fury filled the air. The creature looked up, and suddenly it’s hand retracted in an instant. It turned and ran as a massive shadow turned the world around Ryoka dark. She looked up.
Teriarch flew overhead, golden scales lighting up even parts of the mountain as the sunlight bounced off them. He landed with a crash on the ground that sent Ryoka to her knees. She couldn’t do anything but stare at him.
Teriarch’s massive head snapped towards the thing and it fled, running in a jerking, halting manner back around a bend in the canyon. He breathed fire after it—a concentrated jet of flames that missed his target by inches. Then the creature was gone.
The dragon—Teriarch—sighed and looked around at Ryoka. The her of then had no idea who he was, and she could only stare up at him, transfixed. His voice was like an avalanche heard from far away as he spoke to her.
“You must be warier, Ryoka G
riffin. Darker things lurk in the High Passes. They do not smell—or if they do, they have different opinions than we do.”
He shrugged, as if the encounter meant nothing. To him, it did not.
“Come in, then. We have much to discuss. Forget what you have seen here. It will only burden you.”
But she did remember. Ryoka remembered it. She knew. And the knowledge was glorious. She had seen one. Seen a legend in the flesh.
A dragon.
—-
Erin stared worriedly at Ryoka as the young woman lay on the floor, staring blankly up at the ceiling. She looked around at Val and the others.
“Shouldn’t we do something? It’s been thirty minutes already.”
Ceria shook her head. She was sitting in a chair, watching Ryoka intently. Other than moving Ryoka so she wasn’t lying at an awkward angle, she hadn’t let Erin or anyone else touch her.
“It’s best not to, especially if she’s experiencing something magically. Movement can mess with her perceptions and affect her mind. Unless you’ve got a different opinion, Pisces? You know more mind manipulation spells than I do.”
Erin looked at Pisces. He was inspecting Ryoka just as intently. She remembered that he did know some spells that created illusions, like when she’d first met him.
But he just shook his head absently.
“This is far beyond my abilities to comprehend. There was a warding spell mixed into the first spell, did you notice?”
“I did.”
Olesm said that from a far table. Val nodded. He was crouched next to Ryoka, studying her face.
“So did I. That spell took out a powerful charm. I need to see a [Mage] about that. I was told my charm would catch any spell and remove any enchantment.”
“Now there’s an empty boast.”
Ceria’s words were the last thing spoken for a while. Everyone watched Ryoka sleeping—or dreaming—in silence.
Erin worried. She wasn’t sure if she and Ryoka were good friends—they’d barely spent more than a day together, although they had rescued Ceria and fought monsters, so that had to count. But she cared about Ryoka. Not only was she Erin’s only lifeline to her world, but Ryoka knew how to do things Erin did not.
It seemed like an hour had passed, but probably only a few minutes had when Ryoka suddenly sat up, gasping and clutching at her head.
“Ryoka!”
Erin leapt forwards, but Val was closer. He steadied Ryoka with one hand as she flailed and grabbed at his arm.
“Easy. Ryoka, are you okay? Did the charm work?”
“What? What? I—I’m okay. Yes. It worked.”
Ryoka stared around the room, wide-eyed and out of breath. Ceria abandoned her seat to come over, and Olesm moved one table closer.
“What did you see? Did you remember anything important?”
“I—it was—”
Ryoka closed her eyes. When she opened them, something flickered behind her gaze as she shook her head. Erin saw a tinge of sadness—joy, even a bit of fear, but most of all, what she could only say was wonder in that look. It was an expression she’d never seen Ryoka make.
It looked…innocent. Not like Ryoka’s normally unreadable expression or her dour face.
“It’s a secret. I’m sorry. But I can’t say.”
“Damn. I thought as much.”
Val shook his head. He was picking up fragments of the burnt dreamcatcher off the floor. Erin really, really doubted he could fix them, but maybe they were still useful? She began to help him pick them up.
“I’m uh, I’m sorry about your charm.”
Ryoka stared at the pieces on the floor, and then her singed clothing. Val sighed as he nodded and Erin looked at him.
“Was it expensive?”
“You could say that. I paid over a thousand gold coins for that charm.”
“A thousand—”
Pisces choked and spat out a mouthful of water. Ceria stared at the blackened remains of the dreamcatcher and Ryoka turned pale.
“I can pay you back for it. I’ve got a delivery—”
Val waved a hand at her, shushing Ryoka. He looked at her seriously.
“Just tell me, from one Runner to another. Was it worth it?”
Ryoka hesitated. Then she nodded fervently.
“It was. It was worth anything and everything.”
“Then forget about the cost. It was my decision to lend it to you—I’ll take it as a lesson on giving things away. Although whether it was a mistake or not…”
Val shrugged. Then he grinned.
“Today is full of surprises, huh?”
Pisces and Ceria gaped at Val, and you could have picked Olesm’s jaw off the floor, but Ryoka only smiled. She flexed her hand, and stared past it. She smiled, with such genuine feeling that Erin was taken aback.
“Thank you. It was worth it.”
“Think nothing of it. We’ve got to look out for each other, right?”
A thousand gold coin’s worth of magic didn’t sound like ‘nothing’ to Erin, but Val just swept the few burnt pieces into a bag and put it in his belt pouch. And that was it. Debt forgiven. That was so awesome Erin didn’t have words for it.
Val was a stand-up guy. Erin smiled, ran into the kitchen, and came out with a steaming burger which she put in front of him.
“I can’t pay for that, but have another hamburger on the house.”
It had been meant for Ryoka, but the other girl was still staring at nothing, and Erin didn’t think she’d mind waiting a few more minutes. Val eyed the hamburger. He’d already eaten four, but his stomach rumbled. He smiled up at Erin.
“You are very kind. But ah, could I have some of that red stuff on it? What did you call it?”
“Ketchup. But that’s extra. Pay up.”
Val blinked at Erin. She grinned.
“Kidding!”
—-
Ryoka was still trying to get her head back together when Erin came back with her food. Absentmindedly, Ryoka raised the burger to her lips and bit.
Perhaps it was a testament to nostalgia, Erin’s improving skill at cooking, or Ryoka’s state of starvation, but that was what brought her back into reality. Yes. A well-made hamburger could erase even the wonder of meeting a dragon.
At least for ten seconds, which was roughly how long it took Ryoka to inhale the burger. Erin brought her another, and Ryoka repeated the trick.
“Are you sure you should eat so fast?”
Erin asked Ryoka, as the second hamburger became crumbs before her eyes. Ryoka just blinked at Erin, and the girl threw up her hands.
“Fine. But if you throw up, you get to clean it up. Toren’s still missing, and I’m not doing it.”
“That’s fine. Can I get two more? Three?”
It was so good to eat food from her world! But Ryoka did slow down as Erin brought the third hot hamburger out. She was just ravenous, both from her run and her memories.
Val sat next to her, munching on some fried french fries Erin had made. He dipped one in ketchup and eyed Ryoka.
He really wasn’t what she’d expected. And the charm he’d lost because of her—
“Thanks again.”
He shrugged.
“It happens. Better that I found out my charm can be overloaded than get into trouble down the road. Besides, the mage that gave it to me will give me a discount—she better had since she promised it wouldn’t ever break. A few deliveries and I’ll be able to buy it again.”
“Really? How much do you make per delivery?”
Val rolled his eyes towards the ceiling as he munched on a fry.
“Forty gold coins? It can go over a hundred or two hundred if the area’s dangerous or if I need to get there quick.”
“Forty—?”
Ceria choked on a piece of potato and Olesm thumped her on the back until she spat it out. Val looked amused.
“It’s not that much. The nobility has enough gold to throw around, and any Gold-rank adventurer or higher earns
a hundred times that much if they get lucky in a dungeon.”
“Money’s different where you come from, I guess. Here, gold coins are worth a lot.”
Erin said that as she refilled both Runners’ glasses. Olesm nodded, but Val shrugged.
“There’s a different kind of currency among high-level classes. Once you get past Level 30, you become one of…a thousand on the continent? Something like that. Your skills become in such high demand that you’ll earn more money than anyone else. And of course anyone with a class that involves managing land or selling or buying goods earns thousands of gold coins each month.”
Ryoka had to shake her head, although the parallel to her world wasn’t that far off. Erin sighed wistfully at the thought of all that money and then took a seat at Val’s table, smiling at him.
“Well, I’m happy you came here. Unlike some people, you pay for your food and you also helped Ryoka. So anytime you want to come back here for a night or to eat food, I’ll be happy to serve you.”
Val looked regretful.
“I doubt you’ll see me in the near future. I don’t often get deliveries this far south.”
“Really? But you’re a Courier. Don’t you go everywhere?”
“To an extent. But my area’s usually around First Landing. This is far, even for me. In truth, I’m surprised I was called on to do this delivery. Normally there’s another Runner who makes the run around here, but apparently he was busy due to some problem with the undead in the area.”
“Another Courier?”
That was the first Ryoka had heard of this. She wondered if it were a Drake or a Gnoll. Val nodded, and gestured to the window facing Liscor with one thumb.
“He’s a Beastkin named Hawk. I’ve met him a few times. He’s fast enough to get to First Landing and back. I don’t know why he didn’t take it, but apparently there’s been some trouble with the undead around here so he couldn’t.”
Hawk? Ryoka didn’t know the name either, but Erin did. Her eyes widened.
“Oh, I met him just yesterday! He’s so cute!”
Ryoka blinked at Erin. Cute?
Val laughed loudly, and nodded a few times.
“Hah! He is, isn’t he? Just don’t say that to his face. Hawk is even better at fighting than I am, and he gets touchy when us humans make fun of him.”
