Taelroy saw the dragon the next morning. It flew overhead from Paelstead, past the trading post, and landed on a nearby ridge.
Taelroy’s hand flexed angrily on the hilt of the Old King’s sword.
“So proud…” he muttered, standing in a simple shirt and trousers looking out a window at the blue scaled beast.
His quest was unraveling around him. Gaillard had abandoned him, Xalvador had been slain. Even simple Gamil had fallen to the Tyrns. He was all that remained.
No more distractions, he thought, the dragon dies TODAY!
“Tael,” Rosie said softly, “I’m scared.”
The Tyrns had returned after Taelroy that night, throwing Xalvador and Gamil’s mangled corpses before the Trading Post as they raided the building. Luckily, there were a half dozen small houses around the Trading Post for merchants and guards to stay in. Tael and Rosie would have been easy to find if the Tyrns had looked for them, but the brutes left after checking only the main building.
The corpses still laid in the middle of the road. A testament to why the Tyrns made for bad trading partners.
“The Tyrns are hours gone by now.” Taelroy explained, “If they wanted to find us, they’d have search last night instead of waiting for morning for us to expose ourselves.”
Taelroy moved away from the window and sheathed the Old King’s sword. He moved in a familiar routine donning his padded leathers and chainmail hauberk.
“No…” Rosie corrected, “I fear for you. I fear you… thou will die to the dragon.”
“I have grown skilled, Rosie.” Taelroy comforted as he moved on and started donning his armor, “Yesterday I slew a half dozen Tyrns. Brutes that the Paelstead guard take three men to kill.”
“A dragon is far worse than a Tyrn!”
“I will succeed!” Taelroy barked as his patience began to slip, “Justice is with me!”
“Justice? What does justice have to do with it? The law does not hold dragons, any more than it holds horses or cattle!
“Please, Tael. Return to Paelstead with me. Gaillard can help you get a job with House Vael’s guard, or Jasnafih can employ you with House Frimrin.”
She took his arm as she spoke, but he pulled it away angrily. How dare she suggest that such minor houses could restore any semblance of his honor? Did she even know what she was asking of him? No. He would use the bounty from the dragon, now entirely his, to restore his own house as a prominent and powerful house in Paelstead.
“I will not return to Paelstead disgraced! I will slay the dragon, I will collect the bounty, and I will buy House Vael and House Frimrin!”
Taelroy continued in silence donning his armor as Rosie began to weep quietly.
After several long moments, with his armor donned and his sword strapped at his hip, Taelroy knelt before Rosie and wiped the tears from her cheek with gauntleted fingers.
“You deserve the place of a noblewoman, my love. And without the bounty from the dragon, I cannot offer you that.”
“My family never owned more than a bed in the servants’ quarters. Even the small home of a guardsman is more than I ever dreamed I would have. Return with me!”
The pair rose and embraced before Taelroy carried Rosie out of the building and set her atop his horse. He could not tolerate further delays if he was to slay the dragon today, and he could not risk her following him and getting hurt by the beast.
“Go back to Jasnafih.” Taelroy instructed, “When the dragon is slain, I will come to collect thee.”
Without another word, Taelroy slapped the hindquarters of the warhorse. He watched quietly for a moment as it galloped away toward Paelstead.
Taelroy walked through the tall grasses of Wilderland, his pack, waterskin, and scabbard left neatly behind as he walked toward the dragon; sword in one hand, shield in the other.
“My name is Sir Taelroy Polire, Head of House Polire! I am justice incarnate, come for the life of the beast that slew my family!”
The dragon shifted lazily, opening one eye to take in Taelroy.
“You were a fool to come here alone, Justice Incarnate.” The dragon replied, “Leave me now, and I will spare you the fate your family suffered.”
“I am not alone,” Taelroy retorted, “Justice is on my side!”
The dragon fully raised its head at this.
“But you are Justice Incarnate, so you are on your own side. Therefore, as I said before, you were a fool to come here alone.”
“I will not be so mocked!” Taelroy spat.
“Oh, but you will, for you have come unarmed to a battle of wits.”
“I have come to slay thee, not to exchange words!”
“At yet, that is the most foolish thing you could have done. A lone warrior facing down a dragon is the plot of stories and fancies for children – you’ll find I am a foe beyond your capacity.”
The dragon rose, preparing for the battle Taelroy had come for. He was smaller than the Lordling had expected, only standing 7 feet at the shoulders. Taelroy could see the soft underbelly of the beast, protected by thick, muscular limbs; hard, scaled hide; sharp talons; and long fangs.
Before Taelroy could advance, the dragon struck with its most dangerous weapon, fire. Blue flames erupted from the dragon’s mouth, but Taelroy’s shield had been enchanted for this purpose. Still, as the magical blue fire deflected around the shield, the heat was unbearable.
Taelroy gripped the Old King’s sword, his sword, and stepped closer to the dragon, attempting to get within range to stab around his shield at the beast.
“Interesting.” The dragon admitted, “Long has it been since I have seen a Drashyre shield. I should assume then, that your blade is enchanted to cut my scales as well?”
“Come and see.” Taelroy mocked, darting forward, and swinging the blade at the dragon’s foreleg.
The dragon pulled its leg back and snapped at Taelroy, but the Lordling had kept his shield raised against the chance of fire, and he swatted the dragon’s bite away harmlessly.
Taelroy kept the pressure of his blade upon the dragon, lunging forward to strike at chest, arms, and neck. Quickly, it became clear that the dragon had indeed been boasting and was not familiar with fighting a skilled and determined Kin.
“Are you finding your capacity challenged, snake?” Taelroy asked as he swung frighteningly near the dragon’s neck.
“Your blade and shield do present a unique challenge.” It confessed, “But you have still seen a mere sliver of my capacity!”
The dragon turned and leapt off the ridge, spreading its wings to take flight. Taelroy charged, slamming his blade through the dragon’s scales and deep into the meat of the dragon’s thigh. The dragon roared as it took flight, both from anger and pain as Taelroy held tight to the hilt of his sword and was carried into the air with the dragon.
“You are mine!” The dragon roared, “The sky is my domain!”
Taelroy couldn’t pull himself fully onto the dragon’s back with only one hand, and regretfully had to release his shield, allowing the treasure to fall to the ground below.
“The sky may be your domain,” Taelroy replied as he climbed aback the beast and firmly gripped a spike on the dragon’s back before pulling his sword free, “But you will share the fate you inflicted on my family!”
“There are fates worse than death, mortal!” the dragon snarled, “You will envy your parents soon.”
Taelroy felt something strange then, a pulling at his soul. He knew he had to act quickly to stop whatever the dragon was doing. Raising his arm, he slammed the sword downward into the dragon’s heart. The dragon roared again in anger and pain, a satisfying sound, but the pulling at Taelroy’s soul did not abate.
Even as the dragon’s flight floundered and the pair shifted slowly into a rapid plummet, Taelroy felt his soul being torn away toward the dragon.
No, Taelroy thought, not toward the dragon… toward… the sword?
Taelroy lost feeling in his limbs, creeping through his torso and neck as he felt himself slide out of the dragon. He felt his corpse’s fingers slide off his hilt, and then the world began to spin around him. For a brief moment he lost sense of up and down as he spun through the air, the wind whipping against his mithril blade. He heard, somehow, the thunderous impact of the dragon’s corpse slamming into the ground followed by a much softer clanging of his own corpse hitting the ground. Then he felt himself hit too; his blade slammed into the soft ground, burying half of his length into the dirt.
There are fates worse than death, mortal, the dragon had snarled just moments before. Now Taelroy understood. His mind, his soul, was trapped within a mithril blade. A blade that wouldn’t chip or break, would weather the ages… within which he would watch those around him grow old and perish. He had suffered the death of his parents and family, now he would have to continue to suffer the deaths of everyone he would ever know.
There are fates worse than death…
Mortal.