by Cat Wilder
"How do you figure that?" Izzy asked. "We kicked Qaath's butt easily enough. He defeated Vikarous, so the dragon should be a lot easier."
"Not necessarily," Garik said. "We don't know how the fight between Qaath and Vikarous went down. All we know is Vikarous made a stupid mistake by touching the Dragon Lance, probably done in the heat of battle."
"Exactly. I want to err on the side of caution," I said.
"You want to be cautious? Since when?" Izzy asked.
"You're so funny," I replied, and turned my back to her and spoke to Garik. "I also have some loot in my inventory I want to sell."
We all had treasure we looted from Qaath Yazn's Black Tower before we departed. But for all the locked chests he had gathered in the top chamber, he had possessed scant real treasure. Apparently, the undead necromancer was a pack rat hoarder who kept junk like dragons keep treasure. Still, we divided up a small pile of gemstones and jewelry.
After we asked Ana about the best shops to visit, I led the way out into the streets. I loved the cool, crisp air of early morning at that elevation. I checked my inventory as we pushed through the crowd. My Bracers, Gloves of Strength, Bow Rings, Dagger Ring, and the all-important Dragon Lance filled five of twenty slots. I could only put one item per slot, but I could trick the inventory's magic by placing multiple small things together in a bag or box. So I could keep my purse safe from cutpurses in one slot, and I had a pair of 2-by-3 foot caskets full of exquisite jewelry mostly from my short tenure as Queen of Gotari. So that left me with seventeen empty slots, which had been filled with potions.
I couldn't store just anything in my inventory. It had mass limitations, and half the weight of everything in the inventory got added to my body weight. I could only carry so much weight, and the more I weighed the slower and less agile I became. The two caskets of treasure hung a consider amount of extra weight that I needed to be rid of before facing off with Vikarous.
First stop, the town's most successful jeweler. Ana said he bought and sold gemstones and jewelry, as well as created new pieces. We found his shop just a few hundred steps from the inn.
"Be welcome," the rotund dwarf greeted us. "I am Belrik, Master Goldsmith. How may I be of service to you this fine morning?"
"I have some beautiful jewelry I picked up in Got," I said. "It is weighing me down, so I'd like to sell it. You can pay in Dragon Notes, correct?"
Kingdoms in the game had their version of paper money, only it only came in large domination Notes. Gotari issued Royal Notes, while the Dragon Realms called theirs Dragon Notes. Kolms just called them Gold Notes. Merchants might accept the Notes of a neighboring kingdom that they did business within, but not guaranteed. The best practice was to cash in all Notes before leaving a kingdom, and then buy more once you crossed over into the other kingdom. Most border towns and large cities had moneychangers, who bought and sold Notes.
"Yes. Let's see what you have to offer."
Belrik looked eager when I removed the first casket, so I hoped that meant he'd be willing to pay more. His display counters looked rather sparse, but he might hide his best stuff to discourage thieves and robbers. The dwarf's eyes got big when I pulled out the second casket.
"That's quite a bit of treasure you have," he said. "Maybe more than I can afford."
I opened the caskets. "Pick out what you'd like. Every sale lifts some of my burden."
Neither box was full. There had just a little too much to fit into one casket, so I divided my loot up evenly between them. Belrik pulled out his loupe, and carefully examined every piece.
I smiled and flirted with him, doing everything in my power to wheedle as much from him as I could. Belrik made his dwarven ancestors proud with his bargaining skills. Everyone knew he got the best of me, but he had me at a disadvantage. I had to sell more than he needed to buy. I managed to pawn off two-thirds of my loot for 42 gold. I kept the empty casket, with the other less than a quarter full.
I can fill them up with healing potions.
I accepted ten Dragon Notes from the goldsmith, each Note good for ten gold coins. I took the remainder in silver and copper coins, which I intended to leave in Horncastle's magic shops.
He bought all of Izzy's and Garik's loot. They only had their share of Qaath Yazn's meager loot. Still, it was a year's pay for a commoner.
"Now we have to worry about getting robbed," Izzy said.
"Don't jinx me!"
Chapter 16
We took to the streets again. Horncastle had to be my favorite city so far. The trees in the streets provided both greenery and shade, plus gave the twisting streets a more surreal quality. As the early morning sun heated everything up, I could see the genius of the trees.
The city's magic shops gathered together just off the central plaza. Fruit trees shaded that street, though not the right time of year to find fruit hanging from their branches. I noticed book shops, spell shops, and others offering just the services of the mage or witch within.
"Alexander the Great's Most Potent Potions," I read on a shop. "I think this is the potions shop Ana suggested. Shall we see if Alexander is really all that great?"
I led the way inside. One of the most ancient looking men I'd ever seen within the game greeted us. He slowly eased off his stool and started shuffling toward us. His gray beard reached his knees, and his snow-white hair hung almost as low. The wizard wore midnight blue robes with gold decorations.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome," he said in a weak voice. "How may I serve such beautiful young women?"
He didn’t look like a dirty old man, but I vowed to watch where his hands went while in that shop. Old men had a thing for pinching butts for some reason. But his smile looked sincere.
"You brew powerful potions, old man?" Izzy asked with more than a hint of doubt in her voice.
He nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yes. I once served in the king's court, mostly helping the army fight our enemies. But my real talent has always been brewing potions." He winked at Izzy, looking her up and down. "Even today the women of the court come here to get their birth control potions."
"Did he just say I am a slut?" Izzy asked.
"You are a slut," I said. "But no, he gave a sales pitch. And a good one, too." I paused to look around. "I'm the warrior-mage here, Master Wizard. I'm running low on healing potions, and I'd like to test one of your mana restoring potions, if you have any."
"I do. I do," he said, turning to shuffle away. "Come. Let me show you."
He displayed the healing potions on a table. We all bought some. I bought twice as many as the others since I could inventory mine. The Mana Restore and Mana Boosting potions came next. His Mana Restore potions gave either 25 or 50 points each, depending on how much I wanted to pay. I paid for the more powerful 50-point potions. Then I turned to the Mana Boosting potions. The wizard explained the difference between Mana Restoring and Mana Boosting potions: restoring potions gave between 25 and 100 points in ten minutes, while boosting potions gave 1000, 2000, up to 5000 points.
"How much for the Mana Boosting potions?" I asked, mouth already watering in anticipation of having some real power again. "And just how much will it boost my mana?"
"My potions boost mana by up to five thousand per potion," Alexander said with supreme pride. I noticed he divided his up by strength: 1000, 2000, and 5000. "I brew the most powerful booster in the Five Kingdoms."
Just the thought of gaining 1000 points of mana a shot left me breathless. I worried the prices could be more than I could afford for anything above 1000.
"Cost?"
He gave me a calculating look, then picked up the weakest potion.
"The potion doesn't just give you a thousand points of mana, but a thousand above what you currently possess," he added. I gave him a get-to-the-point look. He hesitated. "Fifteen gold – "
"That costs almost as much as a flying carpet!"
It wasn't a haggling tactic. That price truly shocked me. I'd never paid that much for anything. Now, I could a
fford it after selling off so much loot, but it still felt like buying a car to go on a road trip, knowing it would completely wear out during the trip.
"But it's worth it, Warrior-mage," he said. "No one uses a thousand mana in a single battle, so you won't have to worry about using it all up."
I've never used so much mana, but I remember seeing the Wizard Artimus use five, nine, even up to seventeen hundred points of mana in battles. Now, I didn't have the same kind of battle magic he possessed, but I could still burn through a lot of mana really fast. Thunderbolts used 50 mana per shot.
Izzy and Garik offered no help. Izzy had no magic, and the collar suppressed any magic Garik might have. Yet, Vikarous did have powerful magic.
I worried my lip a moment, and then bought one of the Mana Boosting potions. That delighted Alexander so much he handed one of those priceless brews over before I paid. I immediately drank it.
I gagged and coughed. It burnt worse than the most powerful liquor. "Holy crap, that burns."
"Yes. Yes. It'll take ten minutes to completely boost your mana," he said, beaming his pleasure.
I called up my HUD. My mana showed a 102 point increase already, and I watched it ticking up at a phenomenal rate. I started the day out at 1349 points, so my mana was higher than it had ever been. I got all tingly with joy. As soon as I could, I dug out 30 gold and asked for another 1000 point potion.
"Wait at least a week before taking the second potion. Two weeks would be better," the wizard said.
I put that potion into my inventory, in a slot by itself. I bagged the healing potions together in another slot, with the more common Mana Restore potions in another. I felt pretty damned good, but distracted watching my mana increasing so fast.
Garik also bought some Mana Restore potions, drinking two right away. I lifted an eyebrow, so he explained, "Despite the collar, I can still use talismans; some of which need mana to work. I plan to buy some talismans to fight Vikarous before we leave."
"Before you buy anymore magic things," Izzy said, gaining my attention. "I saw a shop where we can buy clothes."
We both looked down at our skimpy attire, perfect to attract horny men in a brothel, but less than ideal on the road. I'd worn my outfit so long I barely gave it a thought most of the time. But she was right. We needed proper clothing.
"Lead the way, my love," I said and winked at her.
"Are you all right?" Izzy asked.
"I'm awesome!" I said, and giggled. "Okay, I might be a little light-headed, a little giddy with power. The potion takes ten minutes, so just put up with it. I'll be fine."
Izzy led us to the edge of the central plaza. The shop occupied the corner, with entrances on the street and the plaza. It proved to be one of the largest clothing shops I'd visited in the game, a resell shop with tailors available to take in whatever we bought.
A thirty-something saleswoman approached, "Welcome to…"
Her eyes turned toward the open plaza door as her voice trailed off. That's when I heard the screaming. We all ran out the plaza door to find people running in every direction, all screaming in terror. Movement above drew our eyes up.
"That dragon's back!" the saleswoman cried.
I saw the biggest dragon I'd ever seen. Easily two hundred feet long, from triangular head to tip of tail. He was twice the size of Garik's dragon-form. His tail did have a barb on the end. Vikarous looked all shiny black like hot tar, with bright red eyes and a slightly paler belly. His batlike wingspread had to be three hundred feet.
"Vikarous!" Garik shouted.
My jaw dropped while I watched that magnificent beast glide down to a landing before us. My heart froze; fearing he'd learned about us and wanted to snuff us out before we threatened him. But the dragon turned towards a large stone structure across the plaza.
Vikarous' voice thundered, "Lord Mayor! I demand a sacrifice or tribute!"
"Sacrifice? As in a virgin sacrifice?" I asked.
"He wants a pretty maiden," the saleswoman said. "Why would he ask for a virgin?"
I looked at Garik. "Will he eat her?"
My dragonkind friend looked horrified. "No! That's disgusting."
"Then why does he want a woman?"
"She'll be added to his harem." I heard an unspoken "duh" at the end of that sentence. "Beautiful women are their own kind of treasure. Great dragons are judged by the size of quality of their harems."
Did Garik have a harem waiting for him to return? The thought both aroused and annoyed me. It occurred to me that both Izzy and Garik could be part of my harem. Of course, they might object to that idea. I liked it. Great dragons weren't the only ones with harems.
"Are you serious?" Izzy asked. She looked so pissed. "You really didn't know dragons collected women like treasure?"
"Hey, I'm not from this part of the world," I said. "Give me a break."
"Oh no, not Charissa!" the saleswoman whispered miserably. "Anyone but her."
I followed her eyes to the stone structure. I watched soldiers drag a kicking and screaming young brunette out. They had tied the poor girl's arms behind her back, so she couldn't put up an effective fight. The four soldiers struggled, but they quickly hauled her toward the waiting dragon.
"This is our chance," I whispered. "Vikarous is distracted and vulnerable."
I took off running toward the dragon, who faced away from us. Izzy and Garik followed. I smiled, feeling we'd easily take the dragon down. We wouldn't have to go to him, and then fight Vikarous in his place of power.
I pulled the Dragon Lance from my inventory. We had a plan of attack. Garik said Vikarous was held in thrall by a crystal in his forehead. Garik would distract the dragon, and then he would be paralyzed when I managed to thrust the Dragon Lance into his heart. The cursed crystal would keep Vikarous from dying from that otherwise mortal wound, at which point Izzy would jump on his head and pry the crystal out with a dagger. I had to time it right, and pull the lance out the second Izzy got the cursed crystal off. That way Vikarous would morph into a human and use his magic to heal his wound. We planned to give him a healing potion just in case.
"No!" one of the soldiers shouted, pointing at us. "Stop!"
"Stupid idiot," Garik snarled. "Watch out for the dragon's tail!"
Vikarous swept his long, vicious tail across the plaza before he even glanced back. I jumped as high as I could to avoid it, but Izzy wasn't so fast. The tail flipped her up and over, and straight into me. Garik escaped unscathed.
The dragon spun around on us, roaring his rage. Garik managed to avoid the dragon's front paws and get in close. His sword chopped into Vikarous' thick scales, but didn't penetrate. I dragged myself to my feet and threw a thunderbolt at the dragon as he struck like a snake with open mouth full of scary looking teeth.
The monster screamed in pain and anger when the thunderbolt caught him in the chest and drove him back against the stone building. The soldiers and beautiful sacrifice all scattered. I watched just long enough to see the saleswoman race out to lead her friend Charissa away to safety.
Vikarous' massive triangular head swung around and his gaze locked on the two escaping women. I shook my head woefully. Even trapped in dragon form, he remained man enough to fixate on the woman of his desire. Yep, even dragons thought with their puny little dicks.
"Stab him in the junk, Garik!" I shouted.
That got the dragon's attention. He leapt straight back about twenty feet, looking around for the threat. Garik leapt upon his back and started toward his head. Since he wasn't trying to stab the dragon through his back, I had to assume the scales were too thick and hard, or there was nothing vital he could reach. Dragons were the most vulnerable at head, neck, and belly.
Vikarous started bucking and shaking, trying in vain to shake the dragon-knight off. I saw my chance when he kept rearing up on two legs. Lance through the heart, hang on tight, and then it would be a race to see if Izzy or Garik reached the crystal first.
"Izzy, hit him from the left. I'll get hi
m from the right," I shouted.
The big black beast glanced at me, catching my eyes for one extremely malevolent second, before looking again at the fleeing sacrifice. And then Garik reached his shoulders, and Vikarous gave a violent shake, tossing the dragon-knight off.
Izzy and I converged on his flanks, and the dragon darted forward after Charissa. I wasn't close enough to stab him yet, so threw the Dragon Lance.
"Got him!" I cried, the lance piercing his flank just in front of his hind leg.
He roared and twisted back upon himself. I watched in disbelief as the dragon bit down on the end of the lance, and yanked it out. He flung the enchanted weapon away, and turned toward me as he opened his mouth to flame me to a crisp as I stood in shock.
"Die, monster!" Izzy cried, leaping up to stab at his face.
Vikarous' left front paw swiped through the air, caught Izzy, and lifted her up to bite off her head. Neither Garik nor I were close enough to save her. My heart sank into my stomach as she screamed.
And the dragon paused.
He looked her over, glanced at the empty street Charissa vanished down, and back at Izzy. "Sacrifice accepted!"
"No!" I screamed, racing toward him – too late. Vikarous leapt into the air and started flying away. "Come back, you bastard! That's my girlfriend!"
Chapter 17
Garik and I walked out of Horncastle's western Trade Gate less than two hours after Izzy's abduction. I wanted to head out immediately, but he convinced me we needed to finish buying supplies. I also needed more suitable clothing. So I now wore brown leather pants with silver studs up the outside seam, stuffed into lace-up knee-high boots. Garik insisted the leather pants and high boots were necessary due to the nature of the vegetation higher up the mountain. He also bought leather pants and knee-high boots.
I purchased a chain-mail shirt with an enchantment protecting me from fire. Garik warned it wasn't perfect, and that Vikarous could push his flames through the enchantment if he tried really hard. It was still better than nothing. I finished out my new outfit with a blue long-sleeved shirt and small backpack. I tied my long black hair back in a ponytail.
