Dragon Hero II: Bounty of the Blood Witch

by C Woodward

  Teltar walked back with a mellow expression. “I can only find one wanting to travel to Felmun” Teltar said in a disappointed tone.

  I looked at him, “That is still fine! We just need some money and then we can make the rest of the trip on our own.”

  Teltar shrugged, “Oh. That makes sense.”

  Kalus and I looked at each other. After a silence I spoke, “So Teltar, um, when are they leaving?” Teltar looked at me, “They are planning to leave early tomorrow. I think you might have to come with me to talk with them.”

  I smiled from under my helmet, “Oh, good! That’s perfect. We have a full day to get ready then.”

  Teltar took us to who wanted to hire us for the journey. I spotted a balding dwarf by a covered wagon. He wore a simple shirt with suspenders and looked at us with a smile. “Ah, good! You told me you have other company!”

  The dwarf walked up to me and stared at me, “Armor like that, you appear to be some form of rogue knight!” He glanced at Teltar and whispered loud enough to be heard by everyone, “Is he trustworthy?” I rolled my eyes.

  Teltar whispered something to the dwarf. The dwarf smiled and looked at me again, “If he says you are useful then I will believe it!” He extended his hand, “The name’s Grum, and here is my brother.” Grum turned around, took a few steps to the back of the wagon and yelled, “Hey Dhurm! Get out here! He’s always meddling with his junk.”

  Another dwarf hopped out from the back of the wagon. He had the same facial features and brown beard as the other dwarf. It was clear that they were related except Dhurm had a full head of hair. He wiped his hands on his grey work shirt and extended his hand, “How do you do?” I shook his hand and gave him a nod. He shook Teltar’s and Kalus’ hands. Behind his back, Kalus wiped his hand with a handkerchief.

  Grum looked at Kalus and said, “He doesn’t look like he knows how to use a sword.”

  Teltar shrugged, “He is Blake’s friend. I think he can heal.” Kalus sighed but didn’t feel like arguing.

  Dhurm poked at his brother, “Hey, isn’t that the same Blake?” Grum shoved him away, “Don’t be stupid! That isn’t the same one!” Grum muttered, “We need escorts to reach Felmun. My brother and I sell tools and it isn’t that safe to travel anymore; not with the threat of bandits and that dragon.”

  “Dragon?” I spoke out. Grum nodded, “Yeah, a few months ago near the Icreryn Canyons, a dragon was spotted in the area. Where we are going, we should be fine, but bandits now travel on the same road we want to take. So, my brother and I need some hired swords to keep us safe.” Grum reached into his coin pouch, “Our money is tight but Teltar tells me you are desperate for work, so I guess you won’t be so picky!”

  I looked at Teltar. I wished he hadn’t put it like that. We might have gotten more for the job. Teltar raised his hand, “Is it alright to ask for some money now so we can get provisions?” Ah, good job Teltar. You redeemed yourself.

  Grum took out a few coins, “That is fine. You go get supplies and I will interview your party.” Teltar grabbed the coins and walked off. He is trustworthy enough. “Now, are you a healer?” Grum asked Kalus, “I don’t think we really need one, but I guess if things get bad you will come in handy.”

  Kalus lowered his head and just gave up, “Yeah, I am a healer” Poor Kalus.

  Grum looked at me, “Do you have any have any experience dealing with bandits?”

  I answered under my helmet, “I have slain many Shadens.”

  Grum nodded, “Very good!”

  Dhurm took a step toward me, “Do you know that other Blake? I mean you both have the same name.” Grum smacked him in the back of the head, “I am sure this fellow gets pestered with that all the time! Shouldn’t you go get that shipment of iron?” Dhurm lowered his head and muttered under his breath while he walked off.

  I debated if I should tell Grum who I really was but I was curious how long it will take for them to figure it out. I decided to humor them, “So Grum, what do you know about this other Blake?”

  Grum looked at me with surprise, “Where have you been? He took out Xum’gol! I also heard he is from another world.” I smiled from under my helmet, “Really? He sounds dangerous.” Grum walked closer and whispered, “To tell you the truth, I met him before he defeated Xum’gol. He just looks like an ordinary human. He was on some quest for a dragon armoire or armor; I think it was armor. Dragon armoire would just be stupid!” I tried not to laugh.

  Teltar came back a little while later with filled packs. I reached for them “Thank you for all the trouble.”

  Teltar shrugged, “No problem.” I peeked inside and saw paper wrappings of meat, fruits and other goodies that will keep us full until we reached Felmun.

  “Meet us at the east gate at first light,” Grum told us. All three of us nodded in agreement and watched them drive off.

  Teltar mentioned, “I decided to put all our food together. What I bought is in our packs.”

  Kalus peeked inside, “Looks like you bought bulk.”

  Teltar nodded, “I know a guy who sells his goods cheaper that way.” Kalus grinned, “At least we won’t starve.” Kalus looked in his coin pouch, “We should get some straps to put the packs on Alpo for travel.” I really wanted to laugh. I can be a little immature.

  We finished getting the supplies we need for our trip. It should take five days to reach Felmun, so we should be fine. Kalus got some straps to secure our packs on Alpo along with a saddle that looked well-worn but still in good shape. I debated about trying to ride Alpo myself, but felt like the weight of my armor would be too much. He was a work horse and strong enough to lug around a carriage but that is pulling and without carrying a lot on his back.

  For the rest of the day, we hung out in the inn. The dwarf was back but kept to himself. No one else seem to bother us. Kalus and I were playing a simple board game that was similar to checkers, but with a few different rules. Kalus won, since my experience with the game was Talestria and I playing it a few times before. Afterwards, we had a cheap dinner and went back to the room. I again slept on the floor. With all that they were doing for me, I couldn’t argue. Kalus woke us up. I groaned and yawned as I put on my armor. It was still dark and the morning air was cool. There was a glow from the eastern horizon as we walked to the meeting place at the edge of town. Grum and Dhurm were waiting for us. Dhurm had his eyes closed and leaned against the wagon. Grum waved at us and elbowed his brother to wake him up. Dhurm muttered something to him and then noticed us and waved. “Good timing! Shall we be off?” Grum said cheerfully, “You two on horseback, take the lead.” Looking at me, he said, “You can sit in the back to guard the rear.”

  I tossed my pack inside. There were heaps of crates filled with all sorts of tools plus a small workstation. Dhurm climbed in and gave me a smile. He searched for some items and then went to work. He didn’t waste any time. Once I got in the back, the wagon took off.

  We rode all day, but took brief breaks to let the horses and their strange looking ox rest. I felt like I had traveled with these guys before because I seemed to recall two dwarves with a strange water buffalo-type ox with bad gas. I guess it might be true, after Grum mentioned having met me once.

  Dhurm kept to himself by making fittings for handle sand then dumped them into a crate. He repeated the same action most of the day. There wasn’t much action on the road, once we ventured away from Golashe. We covered a lot of ground and Grum had mentioned that he might be able to cut half a day from the trip. I grew bored and tried some small talk with Dhurm but he was so preoccupied with his work that he just gave out single word answers.

  That night we camped in a small, open field. We could be easily seen which would make us easy targets. The two dwarves slept by the fire. Teltar put his bed roll across from them. Kalus was doing his meditation further away and I hoped he would take notice of anything wrong. I rested by the wagon keeping my armor on and my sword next to me. I had kept my helmet on all day. It was uncomfortable but I wa
nted to look somewhat professional for Grum and Dhurm. The only sounds I heard were the snores from the dwarves and the wind. I was feeling restless. I kept thinking about our upcoming travels. Eventually my eyelids felt heavy and even the armor wasn’t uncomfortable enough to keep me awake. I was halfway through a pleasant dream when I heard footsteps.

  I opened my eyes and peeked around. I didn’t see any movement within the camp, but I heard the footsteps again. They were coming from the other side of the wagon. I slowly took out my sword and continued listening. The footsteps were getting closer to my side of the wagon. I began to sense their feelings as they got closer. I felt their sense of thrill and excitement. It was still so weird how I sense these things.

  I had no time to ponder that because now I could hear them whispering, “Hey, how many are there?”

  The other one replied, “Three dwarves and an elf that sleeps in a funny way.”

  The first one said, “Yeah, but the only one that looks a little tough is a dwarf, but I can slit him before he even wakes up.” That was all I wanted to hear of their sinister plan. I wasn’t sure how many they were but, they didn’t seem to be a big threat. I waited for them to come closer and jumped out in front of them.

  I found myself facing two men. They both had their swords drawn and looked surprised. They wore the simple Shaden masks and stared at me. I slashed at the one in closest to me who was too surprised to even parry. Blood shot out and he let out a little scream before dropping. The other guy slipped behind me and grabbed me but found one of the sharp parts of my armor and cursed out loud. These two were incompetent fighters, and I made quick work of the second one. My blade sunk into him, which ended the fight. Either I am getting better or they are getting worse.

  My blade dripped with blood. I saw Kalus staring at me. He walked up to me and whispered, “You got them?”

  I looked around. There was no sign of anyone else, “Yeah, I think that’s all of them.” Kalus let out a yawn, “Glad you took care of them. Let’s go back to sleep.” I cleaned my blade and went back into the wagon to see if I could finish my dream.

  I woke up to the commotion of the two dwarves talking about the corpses near their wagon. I got up feeling sore from sleeping in the armor. As I hopped out of the wagon, I called out, “Had a good night sleep?” I looked up in the sky to see the sun just coming into the horizon.

  “Did you do this?” Grum asked while pointing to the bodies. I looked down and saw the rogues lying dead in a small pool of blood. The blood was soaked into the dirt.

  I twisted my back to pop it and replied, “Yeah.” Grum smiles, “Good job! You have already earned your worth!” Kalus was trying to wake up Teltar. Teltar grumbled and staggered up and to his dwarven pony. I walked around and stretched for a little bit and did some business behind a bush then came back into the wagon and away we went.

  By mid-morning, we reached the northern desert pass. We covered more ground than I thought. Getting up so early and taking a few short breaks, make the miles add up. Dhurm was busy working on his tools. He finished yesterday’s work, and was working on the next stage of production today. I watched the desert road behind us and tried to get some extra sleep. Dhurm was a bit loud with his hammering sounds but, at least I wasn’t walking.

  We found a small area with a refreshing well. We stopped for a little rest on some benches. I filled my wineskin and nearly emptied it and then filled it up again. The heat of the day was fully out and I was hot in my armor.

  “All right! Let’s move out. We don’t want to be out here when the sun sets. Sandpedes can be dangerous!” Grum instructed.

  As I climbed into the wagon, I heard Dhurm talking out loud, “I heard they can get massive!”

  Grum laughed, “That is stupid! They are big but no bigger than a chogul!”

  I laughed at that. Dhurm looked at me, “What is so funny?”

  I smiled from under my helmet, “Your brother is wrong; they can get massive.”

  Dhurm put down his hammer, “Really? Have you ever seen one get really big?”

  I nodded, “I encountered one that grabbed and tossed a human.” Dhurm stared at me with an impressed look in his eyes. “Pffft! That is a bunch of dung!” Grum muttered from the front of the wagon. Before I replied, he laughed, “If you encountered something like that you wouldn’t be here now.”

  I laughed while taking my helmet off to wipe the sweat off my eyebrows. Dhurm pointed at me, “Hey!” He turned to his brother, “I was right! He really is that Blake!”

  Grum looked at him then at me and his face dropped. “You are! Oh wow!” Grum said with a surprised tone. I grinned, not used to dealing with the fame yet. The novelty of it still felt pretty great.

  They took turns asking me questions about my battle with Xum’gol and I happily answered them while sharing other tales of adventure. The trip went by much quicker. They asked why I was going on this trip and I explained the long story. From my tales, they figured out to whom I was married. I felt safe telling them my story since I no longer needed to keep a low profile with them. I wanted to divert attention away from Talestria. We chatted until we neared the end of the desert road. The sun was almost down in the horizon and so we camped for the night.

  That night, we continued talking. Even Teltar added to the stories. Kalus enjoyed the stories and even wrote down bits and pieces. We continued our usual watch arrangement which was Teltar snoring away and Kalus doing his thing. I wasn’t fond of sleeping in armor but it seemed like the best plan. Jumping into combat wearing armor was better than without it so I felt it was worth the cost of comfort.

  The smell of something sweet filled the air. Kalus had brewed up some tea. He walked over to me and handed me a tin cup. I thanked him and he walked back to his spot. The smell of the tea was pleasant but didn’t feel like something warm to drink. I took a sip. It had a peachy flavor. It tasted better than I thought and I took my time enjoying it. It helped clear my head as I pondered what to do with my big batch of problems.

  It shouldn’t be too hard to get into Vunash if I kept a low profile as Wotmire advised. I’d like to be able to talk with Bolam and even Falstrid. They might know some way to stop The Blood Witch. I also hoped to terminate whatever bounty was on my head. I pondered the idea of beating up some rich punk which made me a smile sadistically. I yawned loudly and thought it be best to get some sleep.

  The next day, we had a quick breakfast and headed back out on the road. Dhurm made conversation now while he kept working with his tools. I offered to help but he insisted that it had to be done exactly his way. One thing I learned about dwarves is that they take great pride in their work and find joy in doing so. I asked him about his work but, the conversation grew boring for me after half an hour of him talking about a single tool. He would have talked on but his brother kept telling him to stay busy.

  I noticed something interesting; Dhurm seemed very skilled and dedicated but very low key compared to Grum. His brother had more of a sharp wit; a merchant-type who wasn’t afraid to give out orders. They were twins but with very different personalities. I could hear Kalus strumming his lute and singing a song but couldn’t make out the words over the sounds of the wheels and Dhurm’s hammering.

  We came to a fork in the road. The north road went to Felmun and straight to the Icreryn Village. The south road leading displayed a simple barricade. We saw a small group of guards and some travelers. The guards appeared human and stopped the wagon. Grum spoke loudly, “What is the deal?”

  A guard answered back, “Sorry, but we just recently had an attack further down the road by a dragon.”

  Grum grunted, “How recent was the attack?”

  The guard sighed, “The attack was yesterday and we are blocking the road until further notice.”

  Grum groaned and yelled, “Then, why don’t you go take it down and let us pass?!”

  Dhurm helped, “Perhaps it is best if we don’t tick off the guards.” Grum glared at his brother, “Don’t be intimidated.
It isn’t against the law to lecture the guards over a stupid thing.” The guard sighed but stood his ground. I could tell he hated this part of the job and dreaded meeting an angry, loud dwarf like Grum.

  Dhurm added, “We don’t need to reach Felmun right away. We can travel to Icreryn then run south to Torclyn.” Grum stroked his chin and pondered a moment. He shrugged, “Actually, for once you have a good idea. Why waste time trying to reach Felmun when we can sell tools in Torclyn. Actually, that would be great. We might even get orders from the Lyonus Empire!” I couldn’t help but laugh. So, we turned around and headed toward Icreryn.

  How odd that a dragon was attacking that area. I wondered if could be the same dragon I previously encountered. I hoped I wouldn’t encounter it as I doubted the Dragon Spirit could protect me from it. Grum talked to himself about his business hopes in Torclyn. He looked at me, “I hope this doesn’t hamper your plans but I am willing to extend your pay.”

  I nodded, “That is fine, and we might as well try.” I had never traveled to Torclyn. I pondered the situation. I really didn’t want to go to Vunash but, with the road blockage, there is no way to get there soon. Even if we went around the road blocks, there was the risk of the dragon.

  Grum smiled, “Good! It’s not every day we have a legend protecting us.” Grum tried speaking with Teltar, who just nodded and kept moving.

  Kalus slowed down to the back of the wagon. “You’re fine with this?” he asked.

  I nodded, “We don’t have much of a choice. Besides, I might see my friend, Jerak.” I had nearly forgotten about that and he would be all about helping me.

  Kalus smiled, “Icreryn might have some desirable women for me to charm.” I laughed. By late afternoon, the sky had grown cloudy. Lunch had been brief, as usual, since Grum want to make up for lost time. We kept up pretty much the same pace as before, but now he had a new excuse to get to his destination.

  Dhurm wrapped up his work for the day and wiped his hands on his apron. It was amazing how much work he could do in a covered wagon. He looked outside, “I hope we won’t get any rain soon.” I glanced at the dark sky. It was cloudy but it didn’t appear it would rain anytime soon, but maybe in a few days.