Shon’s eyes watered and he held his nose as the dead skunk burned in front of him. The skunk had no poisonous quills on its body, which meant that it must have been poisoned by secondhand contact. Shon didn’t know what the diet of skunks consisted of, but Solimar suspected the animal was poisoned when it ate a grub or rodent that had eaten some larger carrion poisoned directly by the dragon.

Shon and Solimar only had one day left before they had to return to Alderfold to meet up with Tarun, Krall, and Piggy, but he felt certain that they were getting close to finding what they were looking for. Though when he was honest with himself, Shon had to admit that he wasn’t even entirely sure what he was looking for. In the past two days he and Solimar had found more and more animals killed by the strange purple poison, though the more they found, the more time they had to spend burning the bodies to prevent further contamination.

“Did you mark this one down on the map?” Shon asked Solimar. His voice sounded strange with his nose still covered.

“Of course,” replied Solimar. “And I marked it with a dot, as you asked. It’s still just as random as ever, though.”

Shon held out a hand, and Solimar handed him the map. Shon studied the several markings on the paper. There were X’s anywhere that Shon and Solimar had found a “primary kill,” or animal that had visible poisonous quills on its body. There were short dashes to indicate where they had found a “secondary kill,” or animal that they suspected was poisoned by eating a primary kill. And then there were small dots showing where they had found a “tertiary kill,” or animal that they thought was poisoned by eating a secondary kill or other tertiary kill. As Shon studied the markings, he had to admit that Solimar was right about it looking almost entirely random.

Shon folded up the map, handed it back to Solimar, and then rubbed his temples. The constant aching in his head was getting worse, but he was also starting to get used to it. The way that he and Solimar had been able to find so many poisoned animals was by Shon opening his mind to its limits to magically sense any of the pain caused by the purple poison. The method had been effective, but had also come at a cost. At times Shon felt as if he were sensing the pain of the entire forest.

The flames from the skunk began to die down, and Shon dared to unplug his nose for a moment to test the air again. The scent of burnt flesh hung in the air mixed with a smell that was strangely metallic to Shon’s nose. The lingering smell was foul, but bearable enough for Shon to begin breathing through his nose again.

“This fire seems to be under control,” said Shon, kicking some loose dirt onto the skunk’s charred remains. “We should start searching for the primary kill that started all of this.”

“I already searched the area while you were starting the fire for the skunk,” said Solimar. “I found a few of the poisoned quills, but the kill itself was nowhere to be seen. From the amount of blood left behind though, it must have been something big. Perhaps an elk or a moose.”

“You think the dragon must have come back for the animal?” asked Shon.

“I think that’s exactly what she did,” replied Solimar. “Any other animal eating it would have left some remains.”

“Yeah, well it’s too bad she didn’t come back for the animal sooner,” Shon said with a sigh. “If she had, at least a few more creatures would have been spared that kind of suffering, like our little friend the skunk here.” After a moment of thoughtful silence, Shon added, “Why do you think she takes so long to come back for some of her kills, Solimar? Wouldn’t she want to eat them just as soon as she could?”

“I could not say,” said Solimar. “This dragon’s behavior is most unusual for its kind. Most dragons hunt in very predictable patterns from their lairs, which is why establishing a hunting perimeter is so important. But this dragon’s hunting seems to be completely random.”

Shon had to admit that for all the tracking and note keeping they had been doing, it felt like they were no closer to locating the dragon. They had learned quite a bit in the past week about the behavior of the poison however. They learned that after a poisoned creature died, the poison began to break down and lose some of its potency. They also learned that it was this breaking down of the poison that made it combustible, so the longer a poisoned animal had been dead, the more flammable it was.

Yet for all they had learned about the poison and its effects, the behavior of the dragon itself seemed as mysterious as ever. Shon would spend hours every evening staring at the markings on the map, trying to pin down a pattern or clue that would reveal the dragon’s movements. He felt as if he were on the edge of understanding, but there was still a piece of information that he was missing. The sensation of feeling so close, yet so lost, was maddening for Shon.

To make matters worse, Solimar had allowed Shon to direct their movements for the last several days, and it did not seem to be going well. Something in the back of his mind told Shon that they were going in the right direction, and yet they were finding fewer and fewer primary kills than they had before he started setting the direction. He knew that Solimar wanted to travel back to the areas where they had found more primary kills, but for some reason that idea felt wrong to Shon.

“Give me just a couple of minutes to rest my brain,” said Shon. “My headache is starting to get me distracted. Once I’ve had a chance to clear my thoughts a bit, I’ll start searching for the next poisoned animal.”

Shon pulled the hood of his cloak completely over his head and closed his eyes. As he began to relax and focus his breathing, he put a hand over the pocket where his mother’s familiar egg laid securely against his chest. Once again he was struck by the thought that the stone seemed to have a slight pulse. Shon realized that he must have been more exhausted than he thought, because almost immediately after his eyes were closed, he was caught up in a dream.

In his dream, Shon saw the map with the many markings of the animals killed by the dragon’s poison. Except instead of the map being the size of a piece of paper, it was the size of the whole forest. Shon found himself falling towards the enormous map, and as he did it began to become a cross between the map and the forest itself.

As a paper sun rose over the forest map, Shon saw an inky black shape move across the surface, leaving large X’s wherever it went. The X’s moved around across the map as well, but eventually, each of them would stop moving and wherever the X’s stopped, lines and dots began to appear. Shon watched the sinister inky shape move almost until the edge of the great paper, and was relieved to see it go, but before it was gone, Shon saw it turn completely around and head back in the direction that it came from. As the inky shape moved back along its original flight path, Shon noticed that any X’s that had not moved far enough away would disappear when the shape passed by them the second time.

Understanding began to wash over Shon as he saw the pattern emerge. As the black figure continued to move back to its point of origin, there were fewer and fewer X’s, so that only the points farthest away had any X marks left at all. Shon’s excitement at the discovery was replaced by horror however, as he noticed that the inky black shape was heading exactly for the spot where he was now standing on the map!

Shon tried to run away, but the ink on the page began to pool around his feet, and he found himself stuck to the black liquid as if it were tar. The shape continued to come closer and closer, devouring large X’s in its path, and Shon’s head began ringing with pain. He could feel the tiny heartbeat sensation of the familiar egg in his pocket become as hard and fast as a drum, and the stone began to grow hot on his chest. He clutched and pulled at the cloak, trying to get the stone away from him before the heat burned him, and a moment before the huge hideous black ink monster was upon him, he managed to throw off the cloak.

Shon was suddenly aware that he was sitting on the forest floor, out of breath, heart racing, and eyes wide open. His cloak lay in a small heap next to where he sat. He looked around at the peaceful woods surrounding him, and saw Solimar walk over with a puzzled expression.

“What’s the matter?” Solimar asked. “You said you were going to get some rest.”

“It was a dream,” said Shon, panting. “Thank goodness. I didn’t even realize I was so tired. Solimar, how long was I asleep?”

“What are you talking about?” Solimar asked. “You just told me you needed some time to rest, and then pulled your hood over your head. An instant later you began flailing around and pulling off your cloak, and now you’re sitting here asking me strange questions. You actually think you fell asleep and had an entire dream in a matter of seconds?

Shon was confused. His dream hadn’t been exceedingly long, but he was sure that more time must have passed than mere seconds. He had seen so much. He had seen the map forest and the black form and the X’s and lines and dots and…

Shon’s head shot up as he remembered what he had learned. “Solimar!” he shouted. “I’ve figured it out! I know the dragon’s pattern and why we’re finding so few new kills here!”

“Calm down,” said Solimar, giving Shon a look as though he were becoming mentally unstable. “It’s obvious we’re finding fewer kills in this area because we’re getting farther away from the dragon’s lair. I figured that out this morning, but thought you’d be too sensitive to listen to reason.”

“What? No!” Shon said, shaking his head. “We’re finding fewer kills here because we’re getting closer to her lair.”

“Shon, I’m glad you’re trying to be useful by using your abilities,” said Solimar, “but I think that mentally tracking down these demented animals is having an effect on you. You’re not making any sense.”

Shon grunted in frustration that Solimar didn’t understand what now seemed so obvious to him. “Hand me the map,” he said.

When Solimar handed him the map, Shon began tracing a finger along the markings, looking for the right pattern. “Ah ha!” he said after a moment, drawing a line with their charcoal pencil. He then made another line, and then another. When he finally turned around to show Solimar the map, he had drawn six lines across the paper, all branching outward from one spot like the rays of the sun.

“You see,” Shon said, pointing at the lines, “every morning the dragon leaves her lair to hunt. As she goes, she uses her quills to poison animals large enough to get her attention, and then keeps flying in the same direction. Near the end of the day, she turns around and flies back to her lair, eating the animals that have since died of the poison.”

“But why would she wait to let the poison kill her prey?” Solimar asked. “She’s a dragon. She could devour them the moment she spotted them if she wanted to.”

“I don’t know,” confessed Shon, rubbing the top of his head. “Maybe it has something to do with the way the poison breaks down after the animal has been dead for a while. Maybe she thinks they taste better that way. Or maybe she thinks the poisoned blood doesn’t taste as bad once it breaks down some. Maybe that’s why we found more primary kills further away from her lair, because they hadn’t been poisoned long enough to be appetizing before she headed home.”

“That’s nonsense,” scoffed Solimar. “Coming back for long-dead meat is not the way dragons eat. There are no dragons that hunt the way you’re describing.”

“But that’s just it,” said Shon. “You said yourself that this dragon doesn’t behave the way she’s supposed to. That’s what’s made tracking her so difficult. Look at the map! See those areas where we found so many secondary and tertiary kills, but no primary kills? Doesn’t it seem strange that the placement of all the primary kills is so random, but the areas with only secondary and tertiary kills line up almost perfectly? And they all lead back to the same area on the map!”

Solimar took the map from Shon’s hands and studied it quietly. After several minutes, Solimar looked up from the map and raised an eyebrow to Shon. “I’m not convinced that you’re right,” said the elf, “but the area that the lines point to is only a couple of hours away, and the idea is plausible, even if it is ridiculous.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” said Shon. “We’ve got a dragon to find!”

***

Looking directly at the mouth of a cave littered with bones and poisonous quills was not nearly as gratifying as Shon had imagined it. In fact, it felt much more like the sensation he felt as the huge black ink monster had been flying toward him. The seriousness of the situation hit Shon as soon as they found the cave, and it left a pit in his stomach.

“Well who would have thought that crazy one second dream of yours was actually right?” whispered Solimar. The two of them crouched, peering through the dense trees surrounding the large clearing in front of the cave. “I guess Krall was right about sending you with me after all.”

“Speaking of Krall, we should probably head back to meet up with the others now,” Shon said, beginning to shake unconsciously. “I’m sure they’ll all want to hear about – AHHHHH!!!” Shon clutched his head and writhed on the ground in pain.

“Shhhh!” hissed Solimar. “Shon, be quiet! What’s wrong with you?”

Shon tried to say that the pain was far more intense than it had been the first time he had encountered the dragon. He tried to tell Solimar that something had changed, and that it was now more dangerous than ever, and that something was terribly wrong. He wanted to say all these things, but the pain in his mind was so great that no words could escape his mouth.

He tried reaching out to Solimar’s mind to express what he could not say, but the attempt only produced the effect of causing the elf to fall to the earth in pain as well.

“Stop it!” Solimar said through gritted teeth. “What are you doing to me?”

Shon somehow managed to pull his hood over his head. To his dismay, he found that even that did not block out the pain completely, but it was enough to break his connection with Solimar. With the hood over his head, Shon was able to weakly blurt out the words, “Get. Away.”

Solimar must have understood Shon’s plea, because the elf began to slowly drag him away from the cave. When they had gotten some distance away, Solimar led Shon to a small brook where he could take a drink. Shon found splashing the cool water on his face refreshing, but even more calming was steady sound of the stream. “That sounds familiar,” Shon muttered.

“What happened back there?” Solimar asked, once Shon was standing again.

“We have to get the others,” said Shon, looking Solimar in the eye. “There’s something in that cave, and it’s even worse than we thought.”

Illustration of Shon by Ryan Salway

The day that Tarun, Krall, and Piggy arrived at Lake Vedion was the hottest it had been since they parted ways with Shon and Solimar. They had been walking nonstop at a steady pace since sunrise, and sweat was beginning to accumulate and run down the side of Tarun’s face. When he saw the sun shining off of the clear blue water of Lake Vedion, Tarun thought it was one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen.

The lake itself was surrounded by thin pine trees and scraggly-looking bushes. There was very little grass or undergrowth around the lake, so the air was fairly dusty in the heat. Behind the lake there was a flat-topped mountain that was gray and bare of trees. To Tarun it looked like a large mountain that had lost its pointed peak somehow, and was now much shorter than it should have been.

After finding a suitable area, Tarun and Krall began setting up camp while Piggy tended to the tauroks and his boar. “When will we begin looking for the Vedionite?” asked Tarun.

“We’ll begin gathering Dragon Stone just as soon as I’ve taught you how to swim,” said Krall.

“Why do you need to teach me to swim first?” Tarun asked.

“Because most of the stones we’re looking for will be in or near the water,” Krall said, “and I don’t want you nearly drowning like you did at that other lake. Now finish setting up that tent, change into some britches, and I’ll teach you enough to keep your head above the water if you fall in.”

***

Tap… tap… tap… CRACK!!

The nearby fire crackled and popped in the clear night air as Tarun focused his attention on the large flat stone across his lap, trying in vain to ignore Krall’s constant grunts of disapproval. Despite the cooling temperature of the evening, Tarun could feel sweat accumulating on his forehead. The pressure of the task in front of him would have made him nervous under normal circumstances, but the current argument with Krall seemed to significantly enhance the tension Tarun felt.

The long piece of Vedionite was starting to take shape. Tarun was surprised how easily he had been able to shape the incredibly sharp tip, but the further along he went down the side of the stone, the more likely it seemed that the whole thing would be a big shattered mess before morning. The last blow he had dealt to the stone had broken off a larger portion than he had expected, and he didn’t know how sturdy the blade would be if he took off many more pieces that size.

“I don’t understand why you’re being so stubborn and selfish about this,” growled Krall, for what seemed like the hundredth time to Tarun. “I’ve told you again and again that Dragon Stone is not good for making swords. It’s perfect for making arrowheads, and can even be used for the spikes on Piggy’s club and the occasional knife or dagger, but a sword just isn’t practical. What you’re doing is a waste of our time, and time is something we simply don’t have to waste.”

“How am I wasting our time?” asked Tarun, not even looking up from the stone on his lap. “It’s too dark out right now to be looking for more Vedionite, so it’s not as if I could be using my time to do that.”

“You know that’s not what I meant,” grumbled Krall. “That is the largest piece of Dragon Stone we’ve found this whole trip. If you just gave it to Piggy, he could probably make enough arrowheads and spikes out of it that we would be done here by tomorrow.”

“You mean it’s the largest piece I’ve found,” Tarun said. “You didn’t even want to search inside that cave. I had to go back by myself during lunchtime just to look around in there, so I’m going to use it.”

“That isn’t how this works!” shouted Krall. “We didn’t come here so you could collect a pile and I could collect a pile. Everything goes in the hunting party’s pile. I never expected to hear something so selfish come out of your mouth!”

“Calm down,” Tarun said, his attention still fixed on the task before him. “I’ve found a lot of Vedionite since we’ve been here, and everything else has gone directly into the ‘hunting party’s pile,’ as you call it, for Piggy to work with. It’s just that there’s something… special… about this stone.”

“That’s an understatement,” said Krall. “That’s got to be the largest piece of Dragon Stone I’ve ever seen. When you brought it back to camp I thought we would be able to end here four days early and go help Solimar and Shon. You do still care about your friend, don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” replied Tarun. “But even if we did finish early here, we would have no way of finding them until they arrived back at Alderfold. We’ve still got four days before they’re expecting us to head back to meet them, and that’s still plenty of time for me to find more Vedionite for you.”

“Besides,” Tarun continued, “all I’m asking for is a chance to work with this stone. I’ve watched Piggy working with the Vedionite every night since we arrived here. I’m well aware that every time I hit the stone to shape it, I could very well break the whole thing in half, anyway. If I do, then I would give it to you and Piggy to make anything you want. But until I break it like you think I’m bound to do, I’m going to keep trying to make this sword blade, and ask you to be patient.”

“Well you certainly are trying my patience,” said Krall, shaking his head. “What I don’t understand, is why this whole idea of making a sword is so important to you in the first place.”

Tarun held the rock in his hand, about to bring it down to hit another piece off of the Vedionite to shape it, but paused. He finally took his eyes off of the stone to look up into Krall’s face. “You’re always encouraging me to trust my instincts,” said Tarun. “What I’m doing here with this stone feels right, Krall. It feels like something I’m supposed to do.”

Tarun then turned his eyes back to the stone on his lap before he spoke again. “But there’s something else too,” he said. “For the last couple of nights, I’ve seen things while I’ve slept.”

“You mean a dream?” asked Krall, his tone and expression suddenly shifting.

“Is that what a dream is?” asked Tarun. “I can’t recall ever experiencing that before. Usually I fall asleep, and then experience nothing but quiet and darkness until I wake up the next day.”

“This is the first time you’ve ever dreamed?” Krall asked. “Tell me about it. What did you see in your dream?”

Tarun hesitated, as if he were afraid or embarrassed. He wished that Shon was there so his friend could simply read his mind, instead of having to talk about the dream. Suddenly the task of shaping the Vedionite seemed easy in comparison to telling Krall about his dream. “I’m not sure how to begin,” he said. “So much of it didn’t make any sense to me.”

“That’s often the case with dreams,” said Krall. “Just start by telling me what you can remember seeing. Where were you?”

“I was standing on top of a wall,” said Tarun. “There was some kind of fight or battle going on all around me, but I wasn’t fighting anyone. Except for the dragon.”

“A dragon?” interrupted Krall. “Was it the dragon we’re hunting now?”

“I don’t know,” Tarun said. “The dragon seemed to be very far away, but somehow I was fighting with it. I was holding a large sword in my hand, and when I pointed the sword at the dragon, it flew away. I had defeated it somehow.”

“You killed the dragon by pointing a sword at it?” Krall asked.

“I don’t think I killed it,” Tarun said. “Just defeated it. It started to fly away, and that’s when I woke up.”

“You said you’ve had this dream for the last couple of nights,” said Krall. “How many times exactly have you had this dream? How similar were they?”

“I’ve had the dream twice now,” said Tarun. “Both times was exactly the same. It always begins with the battle, and it ends with defeating the dragon, and a feeling of great… weight. It’s as if the eyes of everyone in the world were looking at me and expecting something important out of me. I always wake up feeling both strong… and afraid.”

“When do you think the events in your dream take place?” asked Krall. “Do you think these might be images from your past?”

“I don’t know,” Tarun said. He hadn’t considered this idea before. “Since I can’t remember anything about my past, it may be possible, but I have no way of knowing for sure. All I know is that the whole encounter seemed very… distant.”

Krall sat for a long moment, staring into the fire in front of him. At length, he turned back to Tarun and spoke. “Keep working on your sword,” he said. “We’ll find more Dragon Stone in the next few days. Perhaps we can even search in that cave of yours again.”

“You changed your mind about this quite suddenly,” said Tarun. “Why?”

“I’ve learned that dreams are often more important and more powerful than most people tend to believe,” Krall said. “After all, it was a dream that eventually freed me from Vdekshi’s grasp.”

“What do you mean?” asked Tarun. “How could a dream free you?”

Krall squinted at Tarun in the firelight, as if he were measuring Tarun from the inside out. “Realize that what I’m about to tell you is very personal,” Krall said. “Even sacred, in a way. I’ll have to insist that you never tell anyone else about it without my permission. Is that understood?”

“Of course,” Tarun replied.

“Years ago, when I was still owned and controlled by Vdekshi, I had nearly given up my will do live,” said Krall in a somber voice. “I wished only for the suffering and horror to end, and for death to visit me, as it had all the other orcs in Vdekshi’s service.”

“That night, I had a dream that I was in the middle of a huge untamed forest, and I was visited by Nomad, the Orc Immortal. He was riding on his companion dragon, Wander, and they had come to set me on the path of the nomad.”

“The dream lasted for what seemed like hours or maybe even days as Nomad spoke to me of orcs and our race’s true place in the world,” Krall continued. “He told me that we could never be whole or happy staying in one place for too long. It would always lead to orcs who become malcontent, territorial, and bloodthirsty. That was why he had always tried to teach our race to live as nomads, like himself.”

“When we finished speaking and walking through the woods, he told me that it was unnatural and unhealthy for Vdekshi to bind me to one place for so long, and he had come to give me the gift of Wander. That is when his great dragon stood before me, breathing an enormous blast of green flame at me. As Wander’s flame washed over me, I could feel all of Vdekshi’s enchantments and hold over me burn away, even as I remained whole.”

“When I awoke from the dream, I simply walked out of Vdekshi’s fortress never looking back,” said Krall. “Somehow I knew that looking back or trying to return for vengeance would undo the gift that Nomad and Wander had given me. Because even though I was one of Vdekshi’s prized slaves, he has never sent any of his servants or minions in search of me. Those ties have been severed, and the only one who could bring them back is me.”

“That’s an incredible experience,” Tarun said. “I didn’t know that the Immortals were still involved with the affairs of mortals.”

Krall chuckled a bit. “Funny you should mention that,” he said with a smirk. “Nomad actually told me that the Immortal’s king had forbidden them from interfering with mortals hundreds of years ago. But then, Nomad has always had a difficult time following rules like the other Immortals.”

“But I didn’t meet an Immortal in my dream,” said Tarun. “And you’re still willing to change your mind based on that dream?”

“You may not have met an Immortal, but I still believe your dream has some meaning to it,” said Krall. “Besides, it was Nomad who taught me I should follow my instincts. I’ll trust you to follow yours.”

“Thank you,” said Tarun. He looked back down at the Vedionite across his lap. He eyed the spot that he intended to hit with his rock to break off the next piece to shape the blade. He tapped the spot a couple of times, and as he raised his hand to bring down a hard strike, he felt something grab his wrist to stop him.

Tarun turned around to see Piggy holding his wrist. The dwarf said nothing, but brought a thick finger down to a specific spot on the Vedionite shaft. Piggy tapped the spot a number of times with his finger for emphasis.

“You want me to strike the stone there instead?” Tarun asked. The dwarf nodded. Tarun raised his rock high and struck the Vedionite at precisely the spot Piggy had pointed to.

CRACK!

A long, flat shard fell away from the stone, leaving a sharp, polished looking edge along the length of the blade. Tarun smiled. It was really starting to look like a sword.

Dawnold
Arty By Ryan Salway

Shon ran through the forest, nearly out of breath. He darted past trees, ducked under branches, and leapt over roots, all without slowing his pace. He was miles away from any road or manmade path, yet he was acutely aware of his position and surroundings. He moved past his surroundings and obstacles like wind through tall grass, leaving little more than sound in his wake. Shon was amazed at the freedom he felt as he experienced the world through the senses and perspective of Solimar Silverbow. The feeling was so exhilarating that he nearly forgot his terror at being pursued by a crazed and ferocious black bear.

Of course the first three days that Shon traveled with Solimar had been nothing like this. Knowing that Solimar didn’t appreciate company, Shon had tried to be the best traveling companion that Solimar could ask for. During the first day, he had tried to make friendly conversation with the elf, asking questions about Solimar’s past and conveying how willing and eager he was to learn how to track like a real dragon hunter. Solimar’s responses to the friendly banter were curt replies at best, and total silence at worst.

Shon changed tactics the second day, deciding to keep absolutely silent and to only speak when spoken to, hoping that Solimar would open up better if Shon didn’t come off as so over enthusiastic. This approach did lead Solimar to speak more, but only to criticize Shon for how slow he was going, for walking too loudly, or for just holding Solimar back in general.

By the third day of their journey, Shon had lost his patience and decided to confront Solimar about how he felt he was being treated, and asked what he was supposed to do to earn Solimar’s respect and guidance. “How am I supposed to help you track this dragon if you won’t take the time to explain anything to me?” Shon had asked.

This strategy had yielded the worst result of all. Solimar had angrily replied that “Some things just can’t be explained,” before running off alone into the woods and not returning until hours later with a freshly killed deer for their dinner. After eating the venison, neither of them said a word to the other for the rest of the night.

On the fourth day of journeying together, Shon was starting to miss Tarun’s company terribly, and began to wonder how he could possibly endure two whole weeks spent alone with Solimar. As he walked silently through the forest behind the elf, the idea seemed to bother him so much that he started to develop a headache. When the headache abruptly became increasingly severe, he realized it wasn’t actually his own.

Shon had barely had time to shout, “Look out!” before the black bear came crashing through some nearby bushes. Fortunately the warning was enough to allow Solimar to jump out of the way, spin around, and fire an arrow into one of the bear’s front paws.

Solimar had expected the shot to scare the animal away, but the bear had instead lifted its injured paw to its mouth, snapped off the shaft of the arrow with its powerful jaws, and then growled at both of them through large teeth covered with purple foam and drool.

At that moment, Solimar looked directly into Shon’s eyes, and something inside the wizard’s mind had clicked. There was fear in Solimar’s eyes, but also a strange kind of acknowledgement as well, almost like permission. In the same moment, Solimar had shouted, “Run!” and darted away into the trees.

Shon had immediately started running after Solimar, not even sure if the black bear was pursuing them. At first Shon had been too frightened to notice anything different about the way he was running and moving through the woods. Then he had looked over his shoulder to see if the bear was chasing them, and found to his horror that it was. Despite the fact that it was running with only three paws, Shon was amazed at how fast the large animal could run. When he turned his head back around to look at where he was going, he saw a branch that his face was about to smash right into.

And yet, Shon had managed to duck his head just in time to avoid hitting the branch. As he continued running, in disbelief at his own reflexes, he noticed that he wasn’t stumbling or running into any of the usual obstacles that typically slowed him down in the forest. At one point, he had grabbed a branch and instead of using his strength to push it out of the way, he had grasped it firmly and kicked his legs in the air to suddenly make a sharp right turn. It was at that point that Shon realized that he was moving in a way completely foreign to his body.

Somehow he had connected to Solimar’s mind and was allowing it to drive his movements and actions. He wondered for a moment if the elf had somehow taken over his body, but when he raised his hand in front of himself and wiggled his fingers, he was certain that he was definitely still in control of himself. Rather, it was like his body was a boat floating along in a stream, and as long as he didn’t fight the current, he continued to run at a pace that kept him out of the jaws of the bear.

As the exhilaration of the experience began to set in, Shon started to realize what Solimar had meant about being unable to explain some things. As Shon felt himself move through the forest, he knew that if Solimar had tried to tell him how to maneuver like this there was no way he would have understood. It was all so strange and alien to him, and yet every muscle and instinct in his body was telling him that it was right. Until, that is, his heart and lungs began to tell him that he couldn’t keep up his current pace for much longer.

Just as Shon was beginning to think that he couldn’t run any further, he saw Solimar standing in front of him with a drawn arrow, and steely gaze. “Duck!” Solimar shouted, but Shon had already dropped to the ground and rolled to one side of where the elf was standing. Solimar let loose the arrow, which lodged firmly into the shoulder of the oncoming black bear.

The bear roared defiantly at them, but then made a strange sort of snorting sound, rolled its head back, and stopped moving. Shon laid on the ground, gasping for breath, and felt the intense pain from the beast’s mind slip away, and he realized that the creature was dead.

“Good shot,” Shon said between great gasping breaths.

“That shot shouldn’t have killed it,” said Solimar flatly. “I was only trying to slow it down some more and make it mad enough to chase after me. It was obvious you were just about to collapse.”

“I can’t argue with that,” said Shon. “But if you didn’t kill the bear, what did?”

“I believe those are what actually lead to the bear’s death,” said Solimar, pointing to several long black and purple quills sticking out of the bear’s back.

“Oh no,” Shon said. “Not more of those freaky quills. Do you think that means that crazy dragon is around here somewhere?”

“I’m sure she must be somewhere in the area,” said Solimar, “but it’s impossible to know how close she is at the moment.”

“Do you think we should pull out some of those quills and take them back to Krall to look at?” Shon asked.

“No,” Solimar replied, “I think that is the absolute last thing that Krall would want us to do with those quills. He believes they are poisonous in some way. In fact, I believe we should avoid touching the entire bear, if possible.”

“Well, what should we do then?” Shon asked. “Just leave it here, and keep walking?”

Solimar considered this for a moment, but then said, “No, I believe we should find a suitable hiding place and wait for the dragon to come eat the bear. I believe this dragon may only eat creatures she has first poisoned them, so waiting for her to come here may be our best chance to see the direction she will head next.”

“Aren’t you worried she might catch us by surprise?” asked Shon.

“I thought that’s why you’re here,” said Solimar. “So make sure you don’t put your hood on or take a nap.”

Solimar moved a good distance away and began constructing a rudimentary shelter out of branches and leaves where they could hide. Shon wanted to help with building the structure, so he tried reading Solimar’s mind to figure out how to build it. To Shon’s frustration, he found that the harder he focused on Solimar’s thoughts, the harder it became for him to distinguish what the elf was thinking.

Feeling somewhat foolish, Shon began picking up leaves and sticks that he hoped he could offer to Solimar for the structure. Once he began to collect the sticks and allow his mind to wander, however, he noticed that he was picking up specific branches and arranging them on the shelter along with Solimar. Shon began to realize that in order to connect with Solimar’s thoughts, he had to be doing something that could be influenced by them. He pictured Solimar’s thoughts as a river current again. If he wanted to be lead by the current, he would need to be in motion like a boat, rather than stationary like a stone.

Once the shelter was built to Solimar’s satisfaction, they both crawled inside and waited. The canopy of the shelter leaned against a nearby tree, and was just large enough to fit Shon and Solimar if they laid flat on their stomachs. A small hole in the leaf covering allowed them to see out to the body of the bear.

Shon was tense and ready for a confrontation with the dragon, but after several minutes passed and nothing out of the ordinary happened, he began to grow restless. He tried to calm himself by taking in his surroundings the way Solimar did. He heard the birds chirping above him, and the buzzing of flies that were starting to gather near the bear. A minute later, he was able to make out the sound of a distant stream.

Shon observed the shadows on the ground from nearby leaves and trees. He noticed that the shadows that had been so long and stretched earlier in the morning were now much shorter and almost directly below the objects casting them. He wondered if that meant it was nearly noon. He wondered just how long he had actually been running away from that bear.

For the first time since the bear had stopped chasing him, Shon became aware of just how exhausted he was from the exertion. Now that the rush of excitement and terror had left him, his legs ached and burned intensely. He closed his eyes and listened again to the peaceful sounds of the forest around him. He was vaguely aware that he could no longer hear the flies buzzing around the bear.

***

A loud squawking sound woke Shon up with a jolt. He was not sure how long he had been asleep, but his body felt stiff and achy. He looked over at Solimar who was staring ahead intensely. “I’m sorry,” Shon stammered, “I didn’t mean to doze off-“

Solimar immediately shushed him. “Forget it,” the elf whispered, “it was only our lives at stake.”

Shon looked ahead at where Solimar was staring. He saw two large black crows sitting on top of the bear’s corpse. They were cawing at one another and occasionally picking at the bear with their beaks.

“Should we try to drive them off?” Shon whispered.

“Why should we?” Solimar whispered back. “They are just doing what crows always do. I know that humans have a problem with death and decay, but it will be better to just let the birds continue until the dragon arrives to eat the main portion. All plants and creatures must return to the life cycle eventually. Let them play their part.”

Somewhere in Shon’s groggy mind, he could feel himself begin to move along the current of Solimar’s thoughts again. Rather than trying to focus on any particular thought, he allowed his still-waking brain to lazily drift along and gain what he could from the elf’s consciousness.

Shon saw the bear in front of him and thought of all the berries, insects, fish, and other living things the bear had eaten throughout its life. He thought of the smaller plants and animals that had been consumed by the bear’s prey, and how many living things had supported the life of the large creature. He now thought of the many animals and plants that would be sustained by the nutrients within the bear’s dead body. Shon’s mind drifted further, and for just a moment he began to see the entire forest as one great interconnected web of nutrients, meals, birth, death, and everything in between. And in an elusive flash of insight, Shon glimpsed the great magical energy that connected them all.

Just as quickly as the insight had come, it had fled from Shon’s mind. He tried to chase the thought, but he harder he focused on it, the further it fled from his memory. He turned to look at Solimar, trying to figure out what had disrupted the current of the elf’s thoughts, and saw an expression of great concern on Solimar’s face.

“Something is very wrong,” Solimar said with furrowed eyebrows.

Shon looked at where Solimar was staring and saw that the two crows now seemed very agitated, and began cawing at one another much louder than before. They began to become aggressive and peck at each other, and Shon could faintly sense a growing pain in his mind. “I think they may be poisoned like the bear was,” Shon whispered. “We should be careful.”

As soon as Shon had spoken, the two crows erupted in a furious clash. Black beaks and claws flashed and darted as each crow tried to finish the other off. The fight was brief, but it was intense and unsettling. When it was over, one crow stood above the other, furiously pecking at its lifeless body. Shon turned to look at Solimar and saw a look of horror and disgust on the elf’s face. “This has to end now,” Solimar said.

The victorious crow finished mangling the body of the other bird, and spread its wings as if to fly away. Solimar stood up from the middle of the shelter, sending leaves and sticks scattering around. Solimar drew back an arrow aimed at the crow, but before the bowstring could be released, the crow’s wings contorted and it fell straight to the ground below.

Shon crawled out from what was left of their makeshift shelter, and ran to join Solimar next to the body of the now-dead crow. They were both unnerved to see purple foam around the bird’s beak, and purple blood seeping from wounds caused just a minute before in the fight between the crows.

Shon and Solimar walked back to the body of the bear, where the other crow lay dead and bloodied. They observed that the murdered crow also had purple blood, and still had a bit of the bear’s purple-stained meat in its beak. As they looked more carefully around the body of the bear, they saw countless dead ants and flies that had apparently tried to eat the bear and been poisoned by its tainted flesh as well.

“This poison is worse that we thought,” Solimar said. “It isn’t just the dragon’s quills that carry the toxin. It’s in the blood of anything it touches. And its effects seem to be almost immediate. And it would appear the smaller the animal is, the quicker it will die from it.”

“What do we do?” Shon asked, remembering the great web of life in the forest. “We can’t just leave it here, or it could contaminate the whole forest.”

Solimar looked surprised at Shon’s statement, but nodded in agreement at his conclusion. “No,” said the elf. “No, we can’t.”

“Should we bury the poisoned animals to keep anything else from eating them?” asked Shon.

“Digging a hole that large would take too long,” Solimar said. “And that would require touching the tainted animals, and we could risk being poisoned ourselves. Besides, there are lots of creatures underground that would try to eat the animals down there. I think we’ll have to burn them”

“Won’t building a fire that large take almost as long as digging the hole?” asked Shon.

“Perhaps,” Solimar replied. “But we still have to do it. I don’t dare leave these creatures in the open where they could poison others. Let’s just hope that the fire will neutralize the poison.”

Solimar decided that before they started gathering wood and fuel for the large pyre, they would first create a small controlled fire around the bear’s body so that the larger fire wouldn’t spread to the plants and trees around it. After clearing away some of the longer weeds and digging a shallow circular dirt trench around the bear’s body, Solimar used small pieces of flint and steel to create sparks to ignite the dry grass and leaves within the circle.

Much to Shon and Solimar’s surprise, the moment that the small flames licked against the bear, the purple blood burst into bright hot flames. The heat and intensity of the flames reminded Shon of the lamp oil Uncle Grodin would sometimes use when working into the night. The smell however, a mix of burning fuel, flesh, hair, and feathers, was nothing at all like his uncle’s lamp oil.

Shon was glad that they had first dug the trench and pulled the weeds around the bear, as he was sure the intense and unexpected fire would have otherwise quickly spread to the rest of the forest. After a few minutes had passed, Shon was relieved to see that despite the volatile heat from the blood fire, the poisonous fuel was quickly consumed, and before long nothing but bones and ashes remained.

When the last of the flames had died down to a few small embers, Shon put his hands on his cheeks to feel the heat on his face, and noticed that one of his eyebrows was now a bit shorter than the other. “Well that was unexpected,” he said to Solimar.

“Yes it was,” agreed Solimar. “But it should make disposal of bodies much more convenient in the future. My only regret is that now we have no bait to lure the dragon back here. I’m afraid we’re back at the beginning for tracking her.”

Shon felt disappointed at the setback in tracking the dragon, but he was glad that they had protected the web of life in the forest. He shuddered to think what would have happened if the web itself had been poisoned. At that thought, there was a tickle in the corner of Shon’s mind, and he could feel an idea begin to form, just outside of his consciousness. Rather than try to pin the idea down, he decided to flow with the current and see where the idea would take him.

“Actually,” Shon said, “I think we may not have to start from the beginning. Follow me!” Shon ran off into the thick growth of the trees around them, with Solimar following closely behind.

Illustration of Sho Thym
by Ryan Salway

There was no time for long goodbyes the next morning. Tarun awoke at sunrise, with the others joining him soon afterward. Though Shon was obviously the groggiest of the group, he still joined the others in packing up the campsite, and afterwards everyone sat down to a quiet breakfast of cold mutton from the night before.

Tarun had felt a rush of excitement the night before when Krall had proposed his plan to split up the group, but he also felt nervous for Shon, and a bit guilty for leaving his friend with Solimar. As Tarun thought more about the plan, he realized that this would be the first time in his memory that he had been away from Shon, and suddenly the mutton he was eating tasted a bit more dry.

Tarun wanted to talk to his friend in private before they parted ways, but thought it would be rude to pull him aside. As they sat eating, Tarun made an effort to establish eye contact with Shon, and then thought as directly as he could, Shon! Can you hear me?

Of course, Shon mentally replied, You don’t have to think so hard at me. Is everything all right?

That’s what I wanted to ask you, thought Tarun. Are you going to be all right with Solimar as your companion for two weeks?

I think so, Shon thought. Solimar doesn’t seem as bad as when we first met. I think I was being too harsh. Actually, I think I was being too harsh on everyone. These dragon hunters really are on our side. Besides, out of the whole group, Solimar is obviously the one with the most knowledge and experience with magic. Maybe I’ll pick something up.

Tarun and Shon continued eating their breakfast, and then Shon mentally asked Tarun, You’re not upset are you?

Why would I be? Tarun asked. He could feel the anxiety in Shon’s thought.

You were the one who wanted to learn about dragon hunting the most, but I’m the one doing the tracking with Solimar, Shon replied. I was afraid you would think I was stealing your glory or something.

Tarun chuckled, but immediately stopped when everyone turned to look at him. “What’s so funny?” Krall asked.

“Sorry, it’s nothing,” said Tarun, feeling embarrassed.

So you’re not mad? Shon asked a short time later.

Not at all, replied Tarun. I mean, I would love to learn how to track a dragon, but I’m sure that will come in time. Right now I’m just excited for the chance to spend some more time learning from Krall. Maybe he’ll even teach me how to make my own weapon out of Vedionite!

Shon smiled, and Tarun was glad he had remembered to use the name that Shon had come up with for the Dragon Stone.

Just then, Krall stood up, wiping his hands on his pants and letting out a light grunt. “Well,” said the orc, “are you two done saying your goodbyes? We’ve got a lot of road to travel today.”

Tarun and Shon looked at Krall surprised and tried to stammer out a reply. Eventually, Shon merely asked, “How did you know?”

“For one thing,” said Krall, “that may be the longest I’ve ever seen Shon sit quietly at one time. For another, nobody uses that much facial expression when all they’re doing is eating. Not even humans.”

“I’m sorry, Krall,” said Tarun, feeling very ashamed. “We didn’t mean to be so rude.”

Krall waved a hand at the comment. “No apology necessary,” he said. “I can appreciate the value of a private conversation. Just try not to make a habit out of it. For a minute I thought one of you might be choking.” Krall winked at Tarun, and his guilt immediately faded.

With the wagon loaded, and Shon and Solimar’s packs filled with gear, there was little left to be done other than head off in opposite directions. “We’ll see you back here in two weeks,” said Krall. “You two watch out for one another and be safe.”

With that, Solimar and Shon began walking back in the direction of Alderfold, while Krall led the wagon along with Tarun and Piggy heading north. None of them looked back.

***

Once on the main road, Krall let the tauroks determine their pace, which was very steady, if not particularly fast. Tarun and Krall walked beside the wagon, while Piggy rode along on the back of his boar. After about an hour, Tarun looked over and noticed that Piggy was slumped over on the bristly animal.

“Is Piggy asleep?” Tarun asked, with disbelief in his tone.

“Looks like it,” said Krall with a chuckle. “He does that sometimes when we have to head out early. He’s not much of a morning person.”

“I’m surprised he can sit on that boar at all, let alone sleep on it,” said Tarun.

“There’s a lot about Piggy that’s surprising,” Krall said. “You’ll get used to it. Especially when we start working with the Dragon Stone.”

“How long have you two been traveling together?” Tarun asked. “How did you first join up?”

“Solimar and I first met Piggy when we were hunting a dragon up near the border of Dragon Country,” Krall said. “It was a particularly ravenous dragon, and from what we’ve pieced together, we think it ate Piggy’s whole tribe and he was the only survivor. Every time we tried to sneak up on it while it was sleeping, Piggy would come charging in on his boar and drive it off again.”

“That sounds inconvenient,” said Tarun.

“You have no idea,” said Krall. “Solimar and I considered coming up with a plan to drive him off back to Dragon Country where he came from.”

“What stopped you?” Tarun asked.

“The fact that the dragon was actually fleeing him,” Krall said. “It made no sense. It was like a bear fleeing from an insect. That’s when we realized that he was actually able to hurt the dragon, as unbelievable as that was for a half-naked hairy little dwarf with no magic, no armor, and no battle plan.”

“We decided that instead of trying to drive him off, we would track him down and try to discover his secret,” Krall continued. “That first meeting between us was… eventful, to say the least. But eventually we were able to come to an understanding, he was able to teach us how to craft weapons with Dragon Stone, and we were able to help him get his revenge on that dragon.”

“How long ago was that?” asked Tarun.

“About four years ago,” replied Krall. “It was soon after Piggy started traveling with us that we decided to get a wagon to carry our gear. Especially since we started using Dragon Stone, which isn’t light. At first we tried to convince Piggy to let us hitch the wagon up to his boar, but he wasn’t happy about that. He treats that thing like his own brother.”

“A couple of days later, Piggy came into camp with two wild tauroks and hitched them up to the wagon,” Krall said. “Solimar and I thought he was crazy, but Piggy was persistent and he eventually got them to go in a straight line without stopping every five feet. He certainly does have a way with animals.”

“What about Solimar?” Tarun asked. “How did you two first meet?”

“That’s a much longer story to tell,” said Krall, and his smile immediately vanished. “First you have to understand I was a very different orc in those days. And I was not my own master, like I am today. Those were very dark days indeed.”

“I’m sorry,” Tarun said quickly. “I didn’t mean to bring up an unpleasant topic.”

“It’s alright,” Krall said. “It’s important for you to know. I’ve told you before that there’s evil in this world, and you should know just how bad it can be. My master back in those days was as close to evil incarnate as I can imagine.”

“If he was so bad, why did you choose to serve him?” Tarun asked.

“I didn’t have much of a choice,” Krall said, scratching an old itch on his wrists. “I was one of his slaves. My master was a powerful necromancer named Vdekshi.”

“A necromancer?” said Tarun.

“A practitioner of death magic,” said Krall. “He could reanimate dead bodies, summon spirits and undead beings, and even give supernatural attributes to living beings who served him willingly. Worst of all, he had the power to siphon the life force out of living creatures at the moment of their death.”

“Is that how he became so powerful?” Tarun asked.

“I believe so,” said Krall. “But I think there was something more than just power that motivated him. There was something wrong with him. It wasn’t just his mind that was evil, it was as if his whole body was corrupted by something inside. I watched him drain the life force of countless creatures, and it always seemed like he… needed it.”

“Like he was hungry for it?” Tarun asked.

“Perhaps,” said Krall, “but I don’t think so. It never seemed like he was satisfied after doing it, like you would be if you were hungry. Rather, he seemed almost relieved. As if he had postponed something terrible.”

Tarun and Krall continued to walk along in silence next to the green wagon. As they walked, Tarun heard the sound of Piggy snoring on his boar’s back and the squeaking rotation of the wagon wheels. He looked behind them and saw the long line of wagon tracks they left, even in the packed earth of their trail.

Tarun looked around at the bright sunshine falling on the trees and grass around them. There seemed to be a hundred different shades of green along their path. In the midst of such a bright and peaceful day filled with so much life, Tarun had a difficult time grasping the kind of death and darkness that Krall was describing.

“Did he have many slaves like you?” Tarun asked.

“Vdekshi had many slaves,” replied Krall, “but none like me. I was still somewhat young when his minions captured me. At the time they had captured some other orcs for slaves as well, but none of the others lasted very long.”

“Were they killed?” asked Tarun.

“Some were killed,” said Krall. “Some gave up their lives willingly to escape the constant nightmare of their existence with Vdekshi. Others became part of Vdekshi’s experiments.” Tarun noticed Krall’s shoulders give a slight shudder after his last sentence.

“What kind of experiments?” Tarun asked.

“Terrible ones,” said Krall. “They always involved pain, madness, death, and a strange purple liquid that he possessed. He never revealed where it came from, but he would administer it to all manner of creatures, animals, and even people to see how they would react. No matter what the creature or how big or strong it was, the result was always the same. An incredible burst of strength accompanied by an uncontrollable rage and unbearable pain, followed by an inevitable death. I once saw a human man break iron shackles, bend his cell bars, and knock over an undead ogre as he tried to flee after the poison was administered.”

“Wow,” said Tarun. “So did he escape?”

“He escaped the fortress that night,” said Krall, “but not the poison. I was sent out the next day to retrieve his body. The poor fool didn’t even make it out of sight of the fortress walls before his heart burst from the strain. Of course Vdekshi didn’t mind. It seems a heart isn’t all that vital for a reanimated corpse, so Vdekshi still got a slave out of the deal anyway.”

“If all the other living slaves died,” said Tarun, “why did you survive?”

“Because I wanted to live more than I wanted to escape,” said Krall. “And because I was very good at the job Vdekshi gave me.”

“What job was that?” Tarun asked.

“Hunting dragons of course,” Krall replied. “Vdekshi had the idea in his head that a dragon is the only creature capable of surviving a dose of his purple liquid, and he obsessed over the chance to experiment on a living one. Vdekshi may have had a sizable army of undead and supernatural servants, but dragons can smell that kind of foul magic a league away. That’s why he captured us orcs. He needed slaves who weren’t personally touched by his death magic to hunt the dragons and try to bring them in alive.”

“How many dragons did you hunt for him?” Tarun asked.

“More than I care to think about,” Krall replied darkly. “That was how I first met Solimar. Vdekshi had grown so desperate that he sent me up into Dragon Country to find him a dragon, despite the possible consequences for breaking the truce. Solimar belonged to one of the elf tribes that had tasked themselves with maintaining the border to Dragon Country and enforcing the truce. Our first meeting was… not a peaceful one.”

“Is Solimar the one who helped free you from Vdekshi?” Tarun asked.

“No,” said Krall. “My escape from Vdekshi’s power didn’t come until years later. Still, Solimar did play a direct role in making sure that one dragon I was hunting didn’t make it back to Vdekshi alive, and I’ll always be grateful for that. You see, for all the power Vdekshi had over me, I always managed to bring him dead dragon pieces and plausible excuses. I never did deliver a living dragon to him.”

“What do you think he would have done with it if he had gotten one?” asked Tarun.

Krall hung his head and let out a heavy sigh. “You know,” he said, “ever since I gained my freedom from Vdekshi, I thought I would never have to find that out. Now it looks like I was wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Tarun asked, feeling the hairs on his arms stand on end.

“You remember that cougar with the dragon’s quills in its leg?” Krall asked. “The one that attacked you and Shon, even though it was injured? You said the foam coming from its mouth was purple, didn’t you?”

Tarun felt an ominous chill run down his chest and settle in his stomach. “The poison?” he asked.

Krall nodded. “That’s why this hunt is so important to me,” Krall said. “It looks like Vdekshi finally got his dragon.”

Dragon Hunters
Art by Ryan Salway

That night, Shon smiled more than he had since he and Tarun had left Life’s Edge. They had cleaned up the mess left by the other dragon hunters, and they had a roaring fire going by the time the stars came out. It was larger than the fires Krall had usually built each night on their way to Alderfold, and Shon enjoyed hearing the loud pops and crackles from the wood as it burned. It almost seemed to him like the fire was enjoying the night as much as he was.

For the first time since he had met the dragon hunters, Shon did not feel intimidated or uncomfortable around them. He did not feel as if he were being watched for weakness, nor was he being compared to Tarun’s stature. For the first time that Shon could remember, he felt not only respected, but needed.

Though Krall had been upset about the attack, he also thought they should celebrate their victory over the rival dragon hunters. Since Shon was the least conspicuous of the party, he was sent back into town to purchase some meat from the town butcher. The aroma of the mutton roasting over their campfire was magnificent, and Shon and the others sat in silence and enjoyment while they ate.

After finishing their meal, Krall wiped his mouth on his sleeve and turned to Solimar. “Well,” Krall said, “did those thugs manage to steal anything valuable?”

“I don’t think those idiots even knew what was valuable,” Solimar said, scoffing in derision. “But the dumb oafs did manage to shatter most of our supply of Dragon Stone.”

“What’s Dragon Stone?” asked Tarun.

“Well, I don’t know if that’s its real name,” Krall replied, “but since Piggy is the one who first showed it to us, he can’t really tell us what it is. It’s a very special kind of obsidian, and we call it Dragon Stone because it is one of the few materials hard enough and sharp enough to pierce dragon scales if you know how to work with it.”

“If the stone is so hard, why not make a whole suit of armor out if it?” Shon asked.

“I said it was hard, not durable,” Krall said. “Dragon Stone is also very brittle. I’m not surprised Jarkt and the others shattered most of our supply when they were rummaging through the wagon, but that does pose a problem for us. The blade of my dagger, the spikes on Piggy’s club, and several of Solimar’s arrowheads are all made from Dragon Stone. We rely on it a lot, but we also have to replace it frequently because of its brittleness. If most of that supply is gone, then we will have to get some more.”

“We don’t have time for that, Krall,” said Solimar. “If we’re going to find the center of that dragon’s feeding area by the time she lays her eggs, we have no time to waste at all. Considering the size of her hunting area, it may not even be possible.”

“I agree,” Krall said. “But even if we do locate her in time, we can’t very well expect to win a fight if we’re not properly armed, and Dragon Stone has always been our most reliable option. It’s not as if we’re going to resort to using shadow slip arrows.”

“What are shadow slip arrows?” asked Tarun. “I heard Jarkt’s archer mention them, and Solimar didn’t seem to think very highly of them.”

“They are considered very dark and foul magic,” Solimar said. “The front half of a shadow slip arrow works like a ghost. It is invisible and intangible in the light, and becomes solid only in the dark.”

“Why would that matter?” Shon asked.

“Because it allows the tip of the arrow to move past any hide or armor,” Krall said. “Only once the tip has reached the soft and dark inside of its target does it become solid. It is wicked and cruel because once a shadow slip weapon is in you, the only way to get it out is to pull it out in total darkness. For that reason, it was one of the types of magic banned in the truce between Dragon Country and our land.”

“Even if it weren’t illegal, it would still be incredibly hard to obtain,” Solimar said. “It requires a very powerful magic user to create shadow slip weapons; more powerful than that witch of theirs. On the black market just one shadow slip arrow could sell for more than we stand to make from slaying this dragon.”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” said Krall. “So if they have some, why would they bother using them on this dragon for the money instead of just selling the arrows? There’s a lot of things about these other dragon hunters that don’t add up.”

“What do you mean?” asked Tarun. “What other things?”

“Well, for one thing they’re all idiots, but they’re still alive,” said Solimar.

Shon laughed at the comment, but Krall waved a hand at the comment. “No, Solimar is right,” said Krall. “Amateur dragon hunters never last very long, and these men obviously don’t know what they’re doing. It’s not uncommon to see a few ragtag groups when the prize becomes large enough to make people lose their senses, but the bounty on this dragon is neither large enough nor prestigious enough to make people crazy. We’re not accustomed to running into amateurs on this kind of job.”

“Something else that seems off is that witch,” Krall said.

“You mean besides the fact that she almost single-handedly got us killed?” asked Shon.

“That’s just it,” Krall continued. “Jarkt said that they caught her, and were forcing her to help them hunt the dragon. But if she were really their prisoner, why wouldn’t she just kill them and escape? She certainly has the power.”

“That’s true,” said Tarun. “And why would she have run off in the same direction as them after the fight? Why not just use that as her chance to escape?”

“Perhaps they have some kind of leverage on her that we don’t know about,” said Shon. “Do you think maybe they managed to get some sort of totem or other item of power of hers, and she needs to get it back from them?”

“Nice to see you’re starting to think like a wizard,” muttered Solimar. Shon blushed slightly at the comment.

“That’s a fair point, Shon,” said Krall. “But there’s something else about that witch that makes my hair stand on end. Like my brain wants to make some kind of connection, but I keep missing it. I can’t even manage to remember her name the moment after I hear it.”

“I understand what you mean,” said Shon.

“You’re experiencing the same sensation?” asked Krall.

“No,” replied Shon, “I mean I understand because I’m reading your thoughts as you’re talking about her. You’re right, it’s maddening. I keep sensing thoughts and memories trying to hook up in your mind, but they get turned aside at the last moment like one magnet coming at another from the wrong side.”

“What’s a magnet?” Tarun asked.

“Like those lode stones the merchant showed us back in Life’s Edge,” said Shon. “The ones he uses to make compasses, remember?”

“Yes, well I’m very glad you can describe how I’m feeling,” interjected Krall with a hint of impatience in his voice, “but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. Or dangerous. I suspect she used a few more spells today than the one we knew about.”

“You think we might have been under some kind of enchantment?” Shon asked.

“We might still be, judging by Krall’s thoughts,” said Solimar. “Tell me, what do you remember of the way she looked?”

“Treshigan just looked like a young woman wearing the clothes and jewelry of a witch,” Shon replied.

“That is what I saw as well,” said Tarun.

“Use more detail,” said Solimar, leaning forward. “Tell me exactly what you saw.”

“Well, she was quite pretty despite the weird piercings on her face,” Shon said, hoping the others could not see his face blushing in the firelight. “She had brown hair and eyes, a pale complexion, and…”

“Hold on, that’s not right,” Tarun interrupted. “She certainly was pretty, but her skin was dark brown, like mine. And her eyes were blue, not brown.”

“Tarun,” said Solimar, “how many other people with dark skin and blue eyes besides yourself have you seen in this part of the land?”

“She’s the first,” replied Tarun.

“And you didn’t think that was strange enough to comment on?” Solimar asked.

“Not until just now,” Tarun said. “And now that you mention it, thinking about it kind of gives me a headache. I mean, I thought her skin was brown, but now I’m not so sure I’m remembering correctly.”

“To me she looked like a female orc, just a bit younger than I am,” said Krall. “But now that I think about it, that would have been ridiculous. Jarkt obviously hates orcs too much to let one travel with him, even as a slave.”

“I suspect that each of us perceived her in a form we would find easiest to trust,” said Solimar. “It’s impossible to know how long the effects of the spell will last, but I recommend we stop talking about her for the night. It will probably be more productive to have this conversation tomorrow after we’ve all had a good night’s sleep.”

“Then the conversation will have to wait a while,” said Krall. “Because first thing tomorrow we need to break camp and head to Lake Vedion.”

“Where’s Lake Vedion?” Tarun asked.

“It’s a couple of days north of here,” Krall said. “It’s the best place in the region to collect more Dragon Stone.”

“I already told you Krall,” said Solimar, “we don’t have time to go collecting more Dragon Stone. We’ve got to start tracking that dragon tomorrow, or we’ll lose our chance.”

“And I told you I agree with you, Solimar,” Krall replied. “That’s why we’re going to have to split up for a little while. Tarun, Piggy, and I will take the wagon to Lake Vedion to get the Dragon Stone. You and Shon are going to start tracking that dragon.”

“Is that wise?” asked Solimar. “You know I travel fastest alone. And I believe you remember what it was like traveling with me alone before Piggy joined us?”

“I’m aware of both of those things,” said Krall. “And I don’t expect this to be easy or pleasant for either of you, but we’ve got a job to do, and you’re going to need Shon to do it.” Krall waved a hand at Solimar’s expression. “Don’t make that face Solimar, you know it’s true. You could run into that witch again, or worse, be caught by surprise by the dragon. Shon is your best chance in either scenario.”

“What if you encounter Treshigan on your way to Lake Vedion?” Solimar asked. “Then you’d all be left defenseless instead.”

“I don’t think that’s likely,” said Krall. “Those dragon hunters obviously don’t know anything about Dragon Stone, so they would have no reason to go there.”

“How long?” Solimar said with a heavy sigh.

“Two weeks, then we’d all meet back here,” said Krall. “That should give us enough time to collect enough Dragon Stone, and give you and Shon enough time to start establishing the borders of her hunting area.”

“Fine,” Solimar said, “but I expect you to be waiting here when we arrive in two weeks. I’ll do my best to keep the boy alive in the meantime.”

“What do you say, Tarun?” Krall asked.

“I’d definitely like to learn more about collecting Dragon Stone,” Tarun said. “I’m alright with the plan if Shon agrees. What do you think, Shon?”

Everyone looked over to Shon and realized that the wizard was sitting with his hood over his head, and appeared to be deep in thought.

“Shon?” Tarun said, nudging his friend. “What do you think?”

“I’ve got it!” shouted Shon, pulling his hood back so fast that the others stared for a moment in surprise.

“Got what?” Krall asked.

“The Dragon Stone,” Shon said, as if it was obvious. “You said you get it from Lake Vedion, right? We should call it Vedionite! What do think?”

The others stared at Shon in the firelight. “Well,” grumbled Solimar, “at least he’s got his priorities in order.”

Dragon Hunters
Art by Ryan Salway

It was early evening when Shon, Tarun, Krall, Solimar, and Piggy had climbed out of the valley. Shon looked down upon the little green valley with longing, but not regret. He told himself the next time he entered that valley it would be to begin tracking down his parents.

When they reached the top of their ascent, Shon looked across and saw the outlook where Shon and Tarun had originally seen the valley, and realized they were now on the other side. “We’re not going back the way we came in?” Shon asked.

“Well, not that small winding deer path you came in on,” Krall replied. “We’ll be going back the way I came in. It will put us closer to the trail that will take us to Alderfold.”

“What’s Alderfold?” Tarun asked.

“That’s one of the three towns that is paying to have the dragon killed,” said Krall. “Alderfold is a big grazing destination for shepherds, and the dragon has already eaten dozens of their sheep. We’ll go there to talk to the headman and discuss the details.”

As they rounded a corner, Shon was surprised to see the dragon hunters’ dark green wagon, with the two beasts yoked to it munching lazily on a nearby shrub. “How in the world did you get that wagon all the way up here?” Shon asked.

“From this side, the climb isn’t as steep as what you and Tarun experienced,” said Krall. “Besides, the tauroks can make their way up just about anything as long as you don’t try to rush them.”

“Is that what those animals are?” asked Shon. “I’ve never seen anything quite like them before.”

“I’m not surprised,” Krall said. “It’s not likely you’ll see a team of them like this again. Tauroks are difficult to train because they’re so slow-witted. I’ve had these two for about four years and they’ve mastered ‘go’ and ‘stop.’ I’m still working on ‘don’t eat that.’”

“But if they’re so dumb, why don’t you get a couple of horses or oxen?” asked Shon.

“Tauroks aren’t bright, but they do have some advantages if you’ve got the patience,” said Krall. “They can eat just about any vegetation, so feeding them is easy. Their hides are incredibly tough and they almost never spook, so wild animals are no problem. And they have unbelievable endurance. They can walk an entire day pulling a load without stopping, and they can even keep walking in their sleep if I let them.”

“Wow,” said Shon, “that sounds great! Does that mean I get to ride in the wagon to Alderfold? It sounds like the tauroks won’t mind.”

Krall let out a loud, booming laugh. “Nice try,” he said, “but not a chance. Your training as a dragon hunter starts today. The tauroks may have plenty of endurance, but you could use some more. We’ll be walking to Alderfold at a pace that will help you build yours.”

***

Krall was true to his word about their pace to Alderfold. Shon went to sleep every night feeling much more tired than when he was just traveling with Tarun. Still, the exhaustion helped him sleep more soundly than usual, and by the third day he found his legs didn’t mind the walking so much.

The fourth day after they left the green valley, Shon began to notice signs that they were getting close to Alderfold. He could often hear the bleating of sheep, a couple of times they encountered shepherds who were leading their flocks, and even the smell of the air helped remind him that he was never very far away from the animals. By late afternoon, they came to a sign indicating that they had entered Alderfold.

Krall had Piggy stay with the wagon and the animals at the edge of the town, and covered his face with his hood to avoid attention. Even without the hairy dwarf or the sight of Krall’s green skin, they attracted a fair amount of attention from the locals. People regularly stopped and stared at them as they passed through, and Shon had to draw up his own hood to quiet down all the clamor of thoughts about them.

It was while his hood was pulled up that a small boy ran up to Shon and pulled on his cloak. Shon looked down at the boy, trying to figure out if his wide-eyed expression was a result of excitement, terror, or both.

“Are you really all dragon hunters?” the boy asked.

“Yes we are,” said Krall under his hood.

“Wow,” the boy said so quietly it was almost a whisper. “Some of my friends saw the dragon hunters who came through earlier, but I missed it. I was so mad because I thought I’d never have a chance to see dragon hunters again in my life. But now there’s more of you!”

“What other dragon hunters?” Krall asked.

“I don’t know their names,” the boy said. “They scared off my friends when they tried to ask them. But my friends said the dragon hunters were really cool. They were wearing all kinds of bones and trophies and stuff to show off their other kills. They were on their way to talk to the town headman when my friends saw them.”

“Can you tell us where to find the headman?” Krall asked. “We’d like to speak to him too.”

“Oh sure. He’s usually in that building right over there,” the boy said, pointing to a circular-shaped building to their left.

As Shon and the others started to walk away, the boy found the courage to ask one more question. “How come you guys don’t wear dragon skulls and trophies on your clothes like the other dragon hunters did?” he asked.

“For the same reason the shepherds in your town don’t wear sheep skulls for hats,” Krall replied as they walked away. “Because it would look stupid.”

Shon and the others stood outside the building where they were told the headman would be, and knocked. A man soon came to the door who appeared to be in his fifties. “May I help you?” he said with some trepidation.

“You sent out notices that you were looking for dragon hunters to take care of a dragon problem in these parts,” said Krall. “We’ve come to respond to that request.”

“Yes, of course,” the man said. “Well, if you read the notices then I’m sure you’re already aware that this is a joint contract between Alderfold, Tinderhood, and Avendale. That dragon has been a danger and a nuisance to all three of our towns, and we want it gone.”

“We’re prepared to pay the full five hundred pieces of silver promised in the notice,” continued the headman, “but only to the ones who bring back proof of the beast’s death. As I’m sure you can tell, we’re not an exceptionally wealthy town, so there will be no extra compensation for damages or expenses. And don’t bother asking for any kind of advance like the others did.”

“What others?” asked Krall. “I’m familiar with most of the dragon hunters in the region, and I hadn’t heard that anyone else was coming out for this job.”

“The group was lead by a big guy named Jarkt,” the headman said. “Pretty tough and rowdy-looking bunch, though I guess most of you probably are. You ever heard of him?”

“No,” replied Krall, “I never have.”

“Well they looked like a mean bunch, though I guess you’d have to be to go chasing dragons,” said the headman. “I told them we appreciate them getting rid of the dragon for us, but we expected them not to linger in the town. I, uh, suppose I’ll have to tell you the same thing so it doesn’t seem like I’m playing favorites.”

When Krall said nothing in response, the headman scratched his head and shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “Nothing personal, of course,” he added.

“Of course,” Krall quietly repeated. “Tell me, is there an area nearby where we might set up camp for the night without disturbing the townfolk?”

“Oh, yes,” the headman said in a tone of relief. “There’s a clearing just south of the town that’s nice and flat and out of the way. So you shouldn’t be disturbed by anyone.”

Shon could tell without even reading the man’s mind that he wasn’t worried about anyone in the town bothering them. Still, he decided to keep his thoughts to himself and let Krall do the talking.

“Thank you,” Krall said, bowing low. “We will return again once we’ve killed the dragon for you. Enjoy your day.”

As they turned to leave, the headman began to close the door, then opened it again and quickly added, “Be careful.”

“You too,” said Krall after the door had closed.

***

Shon and the others quickly found the clearing the headman had told them about, and wasted no time setting up camp. Tarun, Krall, and Piggy gathered nearby wood to start a cooking fire, while Shon and Solimar cleared away rocks and weeds from where they would set up the tents.

Shon was glad that Krall and the others had shared their tents with him and Tarun. Though the summer air was still warm, it was also starting to get humid, and that brought out several kinds of bugs at night. Sleeping under the stars had begun to lose its charm for Shon, and the smoky tents seemed like the perfect escape.

As Shon threw a couple of angular rocks outside of the clearing, he suddenly became aware of unfamiliar thoughts coming their way. Since he wasn’t holding Stick at the time, he couldn’t make out the thoughts clearly, but it seemed obvious to him that they weren’t friendly.

“Krall,” Shon said quietly, “I think someone is trying to sneak up on us.”

“Yes, I know,” Krall said calmly, continuing to pick up firewood. “They’re doing a pretty awful job of it too. They’re not even smart enough to come at us from downwind.”

“Though to be honest,” said Krall, snorting with a disgusted look on his face, “judging by their smell, I’m not sure being upwind of us would have really helped them all that much. Would you like to try and guess how many of them there are, Shon?”

Shon quickly walked over to where Stick was leaning against a tree and picked up the staff. “There are five of them,” Shon whispered. “Four male and one female. And they’re all armed.”

“Well that’s good to know,” Krall said. “My nose picks up a lot of things, but weapons are kind of difficult to smell. What do you say we surprise them and see if we can avoid a fight, huh? Can you get one of their names, Shon?”

Shon was surprised that with a group of potential attackers on their way, Krall was talking with him instead of Solimar, Piggy, or even Tarun. “Let me try,” Shon said. “Yeah, their leader’s name is Jarkt.”

“Ah. I was wondering when we’d get to meet these other dragon hunters we’ve heard about,” Krall said. Then in a loud voice, aimed at the direction Shon indicated, Krall called out, “Hello Jarkt! I see the headman passed on our message to you about joining us for dinner. I’m afraid you’re a bit early. We don’t have everything ready yet.”

Shon was amused at the confusion and frustration he sensed from the minds of Jarkt and the others. A few moments later, three large muscular men emerged from the bushes around the clearing. They were followed by a young woman covered in ornate, though primitive-looking jewelry and body piercings, and behind her was what looked like a large child, but with a mean face lined with years of unhappiness and anger.

The largest of the three men had long blonde hair covered with grease and dirt. He wore a stained and tattered shirt, and his shoulders and belt were covered with various fur, claws, teeth, and other trophies from beasts he had killed. He carried a heavy axe by his side and the head was stained with a mixture of what looked like dirt and blood. Shon could tell right away that this was Jarkt.

Jarkt eyed the entire party with an unpleasant look, and then turned to walk towards Tarun. “I’m not one to turn down a free meal, kid,” said Jarkt, “but you should know it’s rude to offer a man food when there’s animals around stinking up the place.”

“I really don’t think the tauroks will bother anyone,” Tarun said, looking confused. “Besides, I’m not the one who offered you a meal.”

“I am,” said Krall, walking towards Jarkt with an outstretched hand. “I was wondering when I would get to meet the dragon hunter Jarkt I had heard so much about.”

Jarkt didn’t look in Krall’s direction, but his face became livid as he spoke to Tarun again. “Look boy,” he said, “I don’t use hunting dogs, and I don’t expect other folks to ask me to talk to theirs. So keep yours in line.”

Suddenly, to everyone’s surprise, Solimar let out a high, clear laugh. “Hunting dog!” said Solimar. “That’s a good one. Krall, you big dumb animal, go sit yourself in the corner!” Krall’s expression immediately turned sad and confused and he whimpered a little as he walked over by their wagon. Shon thought the act was a little over the top, but apparently Jarkt looked convinced.

“You’ll have to excuse him,” Solimar said, turning back to Jarkt. “He’s handy when fighting dragons, and blissfully expendable, but sometimes he forgets his place. You said your name is Jarkt?”

“Actually, I didn’t,” said Jarkt. “But somehow you all seem to know it is anyway. We came here to tell you not to waste your time on the dragon. We got here first, and we intend to be the first ones to bag it.”

“We appreciate the professional courtesy,” Solimar said with thinly-veiled sarcasm. “But doesn’t that seem like an awful waste? Dragons are quite hard to kill, and I’m sure we all have something to contribute if we work together. We, for example, have weapons that can actually pierce dragon hide. Do you already have something like that?”

Another man stepped forward, carrying a bow and quiver of arrows. “Why pierce the dragon hide when you’ve got other ways to get past it?” said the man. “We’ve got shadow-slip arrows for that.”

“Shut your mouth, Preke!” snapped Jarkt.

The smile from Solimar’s mouth vanished for a moment, but then quickly returned. “Shadow-slip arrows?” the elf asked. “I don’t know whether to call that resourceful, wicked, or just plain reckless. Whichever one, it certainly is illegal. That’s some rather dark magic you’re playing with there.”

“Have you got something better?” barked Jarkt, jabbing a dirty finger at Solimar.

“Several,” Solimar replied. “We might be willing to barter if we can all just sit down calmly for a bit.”

“I’ve got a better idea,” Jarkt said with a crooked yellow grin, gesturing at the young woman behind him. “This little lady is Treshigan. She’s a witch we caught a couple of weeks ago. She agreed to help us hunt the dragon, and we agreed not to break any of her pretty little bones. The runt you see behind her is Mutt. I’ve got a bet going that he looks like that because his dad was an elf and him mom was a dwarf, and the he’s just the ugly little result. Still, he does whatever we tell him to, so we keep him around.”

“Come here, Tresh,” Jarkt said, in a falsely gentle voice. “It looks like they’ve got a wizard or something with them. What do you think of him?”

Treshigan’s eyes were dark and piercing, but she somehow also looked very innocent to Shon. “I don’t recognize that emblem on your cloak,” she said. “Who is your master?”

“Oh, I don’t really have a master,” Shon said. “I mean, I lived with my uncle for a long time, and he’s a druid, but I’ve just been teaching myself mostly.” Shon was surprised that he would tell so much to this girl he had just met, but she seemed so inexplicably trustworthy for some reason.

“Teaching yourself?” she repeated sweetly. Despite the piercings through her nose and lip, Shon found her smile to be quite pleasant. “Teaching yourself?” she said again more loudly, beginning to chuckle. Something was wrong, and her smile no longer seemed sweet, but menacing. “Teaching yourself?!” This time she practically screamed the words, and followed it with a string of long, high, spiteful laughter.

After a moment Treshigan wiped a tear of mirth from her eyes and turned back to Jarkt. “Easy,” she said, snapping her fingers. She raised both of her hands with palms towards Shon and the others, and began muttering something under her breath.

Shon didn’t understand what was going on until he tried to turn his head to look at Tarun and realized he couldn’t move his neck. In fact, he couldn’t move any part of his body, including his jaw to speak.

As Treshigan continued waiving her fingers and muttering under her breath, Jarkt walked past Shon, and he could tell that Jarkt was speaking to Solimar again. “Thanks for letting us know you had something worth trading,” Jarkt said. “It would have been a shame if we had come all this way for nothing. Especially if I had to be insulted by an orc trying to talk to me like a person!” Shon could hear what he assumed was a spitting noise.

“Of course I don’t mind a good fight to get what we want,” Jarkt went on. “But it seemed a waste not to use Treshigan’s talents while we’ve got her. So we just had to make sure your little wizard here wasn’t any kind of match for her.”

Jarkt walked back in front of Shon and yelled to the others. “Raid the wagon, boys! There’s got to be something worthwhile in there!”

Shon stood motionless feeling foolish and useless. Why did he tell Treshigan that he had no master? Of course she would take advantage of him! He tried again to move, but it was in vain. He tried to figure out some way that they could get out of their situation, but there would be nobody to pull them out of the lake this time. They were under the spell of a powerful witch, and the only one who could stop her was another magic user.

Shon’s eyes began to fill with hot tears of frustration. If only his parents hadn’t abandoned him, or his uncle had taught him properly, perhaps he would have learned the right counterspell to undo the hex the witch was putting on them. Shon attempted to reach out to her mind, and heard the words that she was muttering under her breath.

“Wicked Thread

And Needle Point

Knit the Bones

And Bind the Joint”

She continued chanting the words over and over, making it difficult for Shon to read anything else from her mind. It reminded him of the way Empress would repeat a poem in her mind to keep him out. He tried prying harder to search for a counterspell in her mind, but he couldn’t find any. Even if he had, he suspected it would have been dangerous to attempt a spell he’d just learned.

Shon heard a crashing sound, and Jarkt began swearing loudly. “There’s nothing but a bunch of worthless rocks and plants in here!” Jarkt shouted. “If I’m leaving here empty-handed, I’m at least going away with an orc skull for my belt!”

“Stop it, you idiot!” Treshigan yelled. “You can’t kill him yet. We might need Krall alive.” As soon as she had said the words, she turned her attention back to Shon and the others and began muttering under her breath again. But in the two seconds that she had stopped chanting to yell at Jarkt, Shon realized he had been able to move again, though just for a moment.

With a rush of excitement, Shon realized that Treshigan wasn’t chanting in her mind to keep Shon out. She had to continue her chanting uninterrupted for the spell to keep them immobilized.

Shon tried projecting the most disruptive thoughts he could think of to disrupt her chanting. He tried shouting in her mind, and sending images of fire and storms. He brought up memories of the dragon that had attacked him and the pain he had sensed from her. No matter what Shon sent at Treshigan, the witch just looked at him with a self-satisfied expression and continued her chant. This was exactly the kind of counterattack she was expecting.

The frustration and anger that Shon felt burned hot on his cheeks. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so trapped, helpless, and bullied. The thought made him recall other bullies from his childhood.

Shon remembered back to one particular bully he had grown up with in Life’s Edge named Dref. Dref used to pick on Shon mercilessly, and Shon had once gotten revenge on him by ruining a speech he had to give in front of the whole class. Shon had learned that if he repeated in Dref’s mind his very own words, just a moment after he spoke them, it was nearly impossible to speak coherently. The whole class had laughed at Dref that day, and Shon had earned a week of detention from Empress when she realized what he had done.

He now looked at the witch who was muttering under he breath with a look more smug than anything Dref had ever come up with. Could something so simple work on someone so powerful?

He sent a mental message to the minds of Tarun, Krall, Solimar and Piggy. “I’m going to try something, Shon said to their minds. If it works, I’ll give you a signal to move again.”

Shon was glad that he still had Stick in his hands when Treshigan had frozen him. He focused all of his energy to listening to the words of Treshigan’s chant, and then redirected those words back to her, with just a moment delay. The effect was nearly instant.

Though Treshigan was still muttering under her breath, her head was jerking around and her words were choppy. She began repeating words or saying them in the wrong order. She repeated syllables and paused longer than she meant to, and Shon could feel the effects of the curse on his body lifting. Slowly and silently, he could see Krall and the others begin to loosen up and move as well.

“Go ahead and deal with Jarkt,” Shon whispered to them. “I can deal with the witch now.”

“Are you sure about that?” Krall whispered back.

“Easy,” Shon said with a grin.

Treshigan saw Krall and the others walk away from her curse, and she began to focus more loudly and intensely the words of her curse. This, however, just made it easier for Shon to take those loud thoughts and redirect them back at the witch, which infuriated her further. A moment before Krall, Solimar, Piggy, and Tarun reached the raiders, Treshigan let out an enraged shriek, but the warning came too late.

The fight that followed was fierce, but brief. Jarkt and his men were plenty strong and mean, but they had thought the battle already won by the witch, and they were completely unprepared for any resistance.

Treshigan had screamed at them to kill Shon at all costs, and the archer Preke had fired an arrow at him, but it was knocked aside at the last second by one of Solimar’s arrows.

At one point Treshigan herself had pulled out an ornamental dagger to attack Shon with, but he continued directing the witch’s thoughts of attack back at her, and her actions seemed to be affected similar to the way her words had been. She hesitated and stumbled, unsure of which steps she had already taken and which ones she was still taking. When she did reach Shon to lunge at him with her blade, he was able to easily dodge and knock her to the ground with a blow from Stick.

After a brief struggle, Jarkt and the others fled, leaving Treshigan behind, still on the ground muttering and holding her head under Shon’s influence. Shon, on the other hand, found that the redirection required very little effort from him, and he was grinning from ear to ear.

Krall walked over to Treshigan and spoke to her. “It seems you’ve underestimated our wizard,” he said. “Do it again, and you might end up dead. Now leave.” The witch glowered at all of them, but she picked herself up, and ran off in the direction that Jarkt and the others had gone.

“Now you owe me an arrow,” Solimar said to Shon.

“Sure,” Shon replied. “And you owe me a spell.”

“Fair enough,” Solimar said with a nod.

As they began picking up the ransacked contents of the wagon and trying to put the camp back in order again, Shon couldn’t help remembering the words Krall had said to Treshigan. “It seems you’ve underestimated our wizard,” he had said.

Shon smiled. He really was beginning to like that orc.

Illustration of Shon by Ryan Salway

Once they were all standing in front of the Soul Trees, Tarun was surprised how much detail Shon used when explaining his parents’ Soul Trees to Krall and the others. He told them about how his father was a mage and his mother was a sorceress. He told them about how his parents had disagreed on how to raise him and how they had left him to be raised by his uncle until they returned. He told them about how before he was born, his uncle had used his skills as a druid to create the three Soul Trees, and how he and Tarun had come here as the first step in looking for his parents.

When Shon finished his explanation, he stood with arms wide, gesturing to the two trees and said, “So if you have any ideas of how we might use these trees to find my parents, please let me know.”

Krall stood silent for a moment with a look of serious contemplation on his face. After a while he said, “What do you think, Solimar? You’re the expert around here when it comes to magical plants. You ever come across Soul Trees before? You think you could track his parents from them?”

Solimar walked up to the trees and began to inspect them closely, by looking, touching, and even whispering at them. Shon tensed slightly, but didn’t move or say anything. “I’ve never much liked Soul Trees,” Solimar said. “They’re usually made by inept druids who are love struck and trying to impress someone. You can usually spot a Soul Tree in a forest because it’s surrounded by a dozen warped and pathetic looking failed attempts.”

“Still,” the elf continued, running a hand along the bark of the oak tree, “these seem to have been done quite skillfully. Perhaps your uncle is not as inept as most druids. And yet, there is something strange about these other two trees.”

“What is it?” Shon asked.

“Right now it is the beginning of summer,” Solimar replied. “And yet this cherry tree has the new buds of spring instead of the fruit it should have during this season. And the fruit and leaves of the apple tree appear as if it’s already autumn. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve been stuck this way for some time.”

“What does that mean?” asked Shon. “Why would my parents’ Soul Trees be stuck in the wrong seasons?”

“I don’t know,” said Solimar in a flat tone. “I’ve never seen this before.”

“You’re the best tracker I know, Solimar,” Krall said. “And you know quite a lot about magical plants. Do you have any idea if it’s even possible to track down the people whose souls are tied to these trees?”

“Perhaps,” the elf replied, “but it would take time. It could take months or possibly a year or more. It’s time we don’t have, Krall.”

Krall paced back and forth, mumbling to himself and absent-mindedly scratching his wrists as if trying to relieve an old itch. He did this for a while, and then turned to Tarun and Shon, exhaling loudly. “Solimar is right,” Krall said in an apologetic tone. “We’ve got a narrow window of opportunity to deal with that dragon, and there is too much at stake if we don’t. But I’m willing to make you a deal if you’ll hear me out, Shon.”

“I’m listening,” Shon said.

“You see, me and Solimar and Piggy, we’re three of the best trackers and hunters you’re ever going to meet,” Krall said. “I think you know I’m not bragging when I say that. Any one of us alone is pretty skilled at locating our quarry, and together we’ve never come across anything we can’t find.”

“How could you ever come across something you can’t find?” Shon asked.

“The point is,” Krall interjected, “that I’m willing to trade our services for yours. Solimar, Piggy, and I will help you track down your parents, for up to a year if that’s what it takes. But first you and Tarun will have to help us hunt and kill this dragon and her eggs.”

“How long would that take?” asked Shon.

Krall smiled, obviously pleased that Shon was taking the offer seriously. “I believe she has about two more months before she lays her eggs. That is when she would be weakest, and that is when we need to strike. So one way or another, by the end of the summer we’ll either be finished, or dead.”

Shon stood silent for a moment, looking over to Tarun to read his expression. “What do you think of the offer?” Shon asked him.

“Two months of our time for a year of their tracking skills?” Tarun said. “That sounds like a very generous offer to me.”

“Too generous,” Solimar grumbled.

Shon suddenly looked up. “Wait, Solimar is right,” said Shon. “That offer is too generous. Even if you assume you’re all so good we could find my parents in two months, it would still be a pretty lousy trade for you. Why do you need our help so badly? Tarun and I know nothing about dragon hunting. What could we possibly offer you three who are already experts?”

“Tarun is strong and brave,” Krall said. “Probably stronger and braver than he even realizes yet. And I may be big, but I’m not as young as I used to be. Solimar and Piggy both have their jobs, but I’m the leader and the muscle of the party. Something tells me we’re going to need more muscle than usual for this dragon.”

“Besides,” Krall said, turning to look Tarun in the eye, “there’s something I can’t quite put my finger on that seems important about you, boy. Like we’ve crossed each other’s paths for a reason. I’m not sure if it’s something you’re going to do for me, or something I need to teach you, but I’ve learned to trust my instincts on things like this.”

“Well that’s great,” said Shon sarcastically. “So Tarun is strong and brave, and you’re just letting me tag along so you get him?”

“When I first offered to let you boys join us a week ago, that was true,” Krall said. “But that was before your encounter with the dragon. Now your magic might make you just as valuable in this hunt as Tarun. The offer I made is only good if we get both of you.”

“What are you talking about?” Shon asked. “My magic was useless against that dragon. I don’t know any offensive spells, or any spells at all for that matter. And even if I did, my magic isn’t powerful enough to hurt a dragon, much less kill it.”

Krall waived a hand as if to dismiss Shon’s words. “There’s plenty of wizards that can blow stuff up,” said Krall. “I need you, because you can do something different.”

Shon was momentarily taken aback by Krall’s words. “What do you mean?” Shon asked.

“That dragon is unpredictable,” said Krall. “Now most dragons are a lot of things. Big. Powerful. Dangerous. Nearly indestructible. But another thing they usually are is predictable. It’s one of the only reasons experienced dragon hunters like us stand a chance. We’ve learned how dragons think and behave, and we’re very good at making plans that fit that behavior.”

“But this dragon we’re after is breaking all the rules,” Krall continued. “Her hunting area shouldn’t be this wide. She shouldn’t be coming back for prey after she already injured it. She should be roaring and chasing anything that tries to run, not sneaking quietly through the fog. Even Solimar was caught off guard when she grabbed that cougar in her jaws!”

Krall then pointed a thick finger at Shon. “But you,” Krall said. “You can sense her. You can sense that pain she’s experiencing that’s making her so crazy and unpredictable. You just may be exactly what we need to track her down or avoid an ambush.”

“And when it’s all over,” said Krall, “we may just be exactly what you need to find your parents. Now I won’t promise this job will be safe. Nothing with dragons ever is. But we will do everything we can to train and protect you. You’ll be part of our team, and we look out for one another. What do you say?”

Shon looked away from Krall and put a hand back on his mother’s cherry tree. “We came all this way to find them,” Shon said quietly. “And now we’re just going to leave?”

Tarun put a hand on Shon’s shoulder. “We didn’t leave Life’s Edge to look for trees,” Tarun said. “We left to find your parents.”

“Do you really think they can?” Shon asked Tarun.

“If anyone can, I believe it’s them,” Tarun said. “Shon, this feels right to me. I think we can trust them.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Shon said, and Tarun noticed he was wiping away a small tear. “It scares the wits out of me, but it does feel right.” Shon continued to rub the bark of the cherry tree. “All this time I’ve been waiting for my parents to come back and find me. Even coming here, I was hoping that when we arrived they would somehow know to show up and make things right. But that’s not going to happen, is it? If this is going to happen, it needs to be up to me.”

When Shon turned back to face Krall, his voice was firm. “Alright, Krall,” Shon said. “We’ll help you hunt down that dragon, and then you’re going to help me hunt down my parents.”

Krall’s mouth opened wide in a toothy grin. “Then let’s get started,” he said.

Illustration of Shon by Ryan Salway

Tarun sat at the shore of the lake, while next to him Shon sat shivering, coughing, and sputtering. Tarun couldn’t tell whether this was a reaction to nearly drowning in the cold lake behind them, or from the shock of seeing the two dragon hunters in front of them. Either way, Shon seemed to be going through a fair bit of shock, and was experiencing a rare and uncharacteristic loss of words.

Solimar and Piggy were still dripping wet standing in front of them, and neither one was saying a word. Tarun reasoned that if anyone was going to start a conversation to get some answers, it would have to be him. “How did you know we needed to be rescued?” Tarun asked.

Solimar glared at Tarun with one eye, water steadily dripping off the elf’s long blonde hair. “It wasn’t difficult,” said Solimar curtly. “You’re rather big and made a very loud splash when you went in.”

“But what are you doing here?” Tarun asked.

“Saving your life, apparently,” Solimar curtly replied.

Shon suddenly got to his feet. With teeth chattering and face red with emotion he shouted, “But what are you doing here?!”

“That’s none of your business,” Solimar said flatly. “Though I suspect Krall will answer you when he arrives. He has an annoying habit of answering impudent questions.”

“Krall is coming here?” Tarun interrupted. “Where is he? When will he arrive?”

“Probably not far,” said Solimar. “He said he would stay close enough to Piggy to hear his horn if he blew it. I’m going to meet up with him to show him where we are.” Solimar abruptly turned and left before Shon could protest.

“I don’t like this,” Shon whispered to Tarun after Solimar was out of sight. “Why are those dragon hunters here? This is my parents’ valley and they shouldn’t know about it.”

“Perhaps they shouldn’t,” Tarun replied, “but I’m glad they did. I’m not sure how else we would have gotten out of that lake.”

Shon sighed through chattering teeth. “I guess you’re right,” he said begrudgingly. “Come on, let’s get changed into some dry clothes before Krall arrives. I’d hate for him to think my teeth are chattering out of fear for the mighty dragon hunter.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Tarun said with a smirk. “I think Krall can smell fear. It probably smells different than the scent of wet wizard.”

While Tarun and Shon changed into dry clothes, Piggy stayed near the shore of the lake, shaking himself and slapping his arms and legs until he was dry. Tarun got the impression that Piggy didn’t like the water very much, and noticed that much of the water simply beaded up and rolled off the dwarf’s greasy skin and hair.

Just as they were all getting dry and the valley was starting to warm up, Tarun saw Piggy’s boar running towards him from out of the brush. Following behind the boar at a steady pace were Krall and Solimar. Tarun couldn’t explain why he was both relieved and excited to see Krall again, but he was glad that the wise orc had arrived.

Shon, on the other hand, did not look happy to see Krall at all. He had a sullen look on his face, and Tarun could hear him mutter something under his breath about “a nightmare come true.” Tarun decided that if this meeting was going to go well, he would have to be positive enough for the both of them.

“It’s good to see you again, Krall,” Tarun said loudly, walking towards the orc. “Did Solimar tell you? Piggy and Solimar just saved our lives!”

“Yes, I heard,” Krall said as he came to stand in front of Tarun and Shon. “What were you two doing in the water if you didn’t know how to swim?”

“We were just soaking our feet,” said Tarun. “But the lake was much deeper than we expected.”

“Yes, lakes will do that,” Krall said with a little chuckle. “In any case, I’m glad you boys are safe.” Krall then turned to look at Shon and his expression turned serious. “I suspect you’ve had enough of pleasantries, eh Shon? You want to know what we’re doing here, and whether we followed you. That is what you suspect, isn’t it?”

Shon was surprised at Krall’s directness, and some of the anger drained out of his face. “Well… yes,” Shon said. “Though I never suggested that you followed us here.”

“Well, why wouldn’t you?” asked Krall, putting his hands on his hips. “How else could you explain us showing up here in the same place as you?”

“I… I don’t know,” Shon stammered. “Did you follow us here?”

“Well, the truth is only Piggy was following you,” Krall said. “I suspected that you two might need some… discreet… looking after. From what I’d observed before, it seemed like you had a harder time sensing Piggy’s mind, so he became the obvious choice.”

“But then what are you and Solimar doing here if Piggy was the only one following us?” Tarun asked before Shon could become indignant.

Krall looked away briefly, and for just a moment Tarun thought he might have seen a hint of embarrassment on the orc’s face. Then Krall straightened his shoulders and continued speaking. “The truth is, I’ve been camped out with our wagon about a mile from here for a couple of days. When I drew on your map earlier, I saw the marking on this location and I figured you would end up here pretty soon. I hoped I could have one more chance to-“

“You what?!” Shon angrily interrupted. “I knew we shouldn’t have let you hold our map!”

“Calm down, Shon,” Tarun said, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We don’t have all the answers yet.” Shon didn’t say anything else, but he began to pace back and forth, staring angrily at Krall. Tarun waited a moment before speaking and chose his next words carefully.

“What I still don’t understand,” Tarun said calmly, “is why Solimar was here to pull us out of the water if Piggy was the only one following us. Or were you both tracking us?”

“I wasn’t following you,” Solimar said with disgust. “I wouldn’t have stooped that low even if Krall had begged me. I had more important matters to attend to. I was tracking a dragon.”

“The dragon we saw yesterday!” Tarun interjected excitedly. “That’s the dragon you were tracking, wasn’t it? And I’ll bet the arrow I saw sticking out of its tail was one of yours!”

“Yes,” said Solimar, with just a flicker of a smile. “And now you owe me two arrows.”

“We owe you a lot more than that!” said Tarun. “We would have been dragon food if you hadn’t shot that thing to scare it off. Can you believe it, Shon? They saved our lives twice in two days.”

Shon stopped his pacing and dropped his arms to his sides, looking somewhat defeated and gazing down at his feet. “Yes, I suppose you’re right,” he said. “Thank you, Solimar. Truly. That dragon was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen.” Then, looking up at Solimar, he quickly added, “But wait. Why were you tracking that dragon in the first place? I thought the dragon you three were after was still several miles from here.”

“So did we,” said Krall. “By all accounts, she shouldn’t be anywhere near here. But there’s no mistake; that’s the dragon we’re after.”

“What is she doing here, then?” asked Tarun.

“I don’t know,” Krall said. “There’s something wrong. Very wrong in the worst way. The more Solimar tells me, the less I like it. Still, bad news is better than no news when it comes to dragons, and I hope you boys will tell me everything you can remember.”

Tarun and Shon recounted their encounter with the dragon, each taking turns telling the experience from their perspective. Tarun was surprised at how animated Shon became while talking about the dragon and the pain he sensed near her. Tarun was especially surprised to see Krall’s shocked and worried reactions as they went on, particularly when they described the wounded cougar with the spines and the purple foam around his mouth. They ended the account by explaining how the dragon had balked at Tarun’s pack and then flew off after Solimar shot her in the tail.

When they were finished with their account, it was Krall’s turn to pace back and forth. “This is all of my worst fears confirmed,” Krall said darkly. “You boys don’t realize just how lucky you are to be alive.”

“What do you mean?” asked Tarun. “Is this dragon more dangerous than most?”

“In many ways I suspect she is,” said Krall. “Shon, you said you thought the dragon was projecting pain into your mind as some kind of attack?”

“Yes,” replied Shon. “Have you ever heard of other dragons that can do that?”

“No,” Krall said, “and I don’t believe that’s what was happening to you either. I believe the dragon was actually experiencing that pain herself, and you just sensed it because of your magic.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” said Tarun. “Solimar didn’t shoot the dragon until the end of the encounter, and I didn’t see any injuries on her. Why would she have been in pain?”

“That,” Krall said with a heavy sigh, “would take a very long time to answer.” Krall’s shoulders slumped and he suddenly looked very tired. “Suffice to say for now that she has been poisoned by some very dark magic indeed. I will tell you more another time.”

“Another time?” said Shon. “How long are you planning to stay here?”

“Not very long at all,” Krall replied. “But I’m still hoping to convince the two of you to come with us. In fact, after hearing what you two have told me, I’m hoping more than ever that you’ll join us.” Krall then looked directly into Shon’s eyes and said, “I think it’s time you tell us what you’re doing here.”

“What?” Shon said, voice rising again. “Why should I…”

Solimar interrupted Shon by suddenly grabbing him by the shoulders. The elf whispered directly into Shon’s ear, but the stern words were loud enough that Tarun could still hear them. “I have saved your worthless life two times since yesterday,” whispered Solimar. “If you have any honor at all in that bald head of yours, you’ll stop wasting my time.”

Shon’s body was stiff and visibly uncomfortable as Solimar released his shoulders. He stood silent for a while, his face turning red.

Finally, Tarun broke the silence and said, “Shon, let’s just show them the trees. It can’t hurt anything, and we don’t know what else to do with them. Perhaps Krall and the others can give us some clues.”

Shon looked at Tarun and he could hear Shon’s voice in his head. Whose side are you on? Shon mentally asked. Mine or theirs?

Why can’t I be on both? Tarun thought back at his friend. I think we need their help, and it looks like they even need ours. Can’t we hear them out this time?

“Fine,” Shon said out loud with a serious expression, but less red in his face. “Krall, follow us and we’ll take you to my parents’ Soul Trees.”

Dragon Hunters
Art by Ryan Salway

The sun was already setting when Shon and Tarun were halfway down to the green valley. The narrow trail was no longer covered with overgrowth, which was fortunate because in the decreasing light available, Shon and Tarun had a difficult time seeing their path. By the time they reached the bottom of the trail the stars and moon were out and the night air was alive with the sounds of hundreds of frogs, crickets, and other animals.

Shon and Tarun were not able to see much in the darkness, but they managed to find a somewhat flat area under a large tree where the ground was not very wet. The air had a noticeable chill down in the valley, and Shon looked forward to getting inside his sleeping bag and ending the long and exhausting day that he and Tarun had just had.

However, once his sleeping bag was unrolled and Shon had crawled inside, he found that his mind was wide awake with excitement for what revelations the next day might hold, as well as racing with questions about the prior events of the day. Sleep did not come as easily as he had expected.

“Tarun,” Shon said in the direction of the night sky, “are you still awake?”

“Yes,” Tarun replied from the darkness. “After seeing that dragon’s eyes, I don’t know if I will ever sleep again.”

Shon shuddered at the mention of the dragon. “I know what you mean,” he said. “Why do you think it ran away like that instead of eating us?”

“I don’t know,” Tarun said. “But it didn’t seem to like my pack when I held it in front of me.”

“Do you think it could still smell the Dragon’s Bane you had in there before we sold it?”

“Perhaps,” Tarun said. “Although I think there was more to the dragon leaving than just the smell of my pack. I think it may have been fleeing an attack.”

“What are you talking about?” Shon asked. He sat up and looked in the direction of Tarun’s voice, though he couldn’t see him. “We were the only ones there. What attack could it be afraid of?”

“I’m not sure,” Tarun said. “Do you remember those spines on its back and tail? For just a moment as it was leaving, it looked like one of them was an arrow sticking out of its tail. Perhaps it was from the hunter that the old man told us was in the mountains hunting the cougar.”

“That seems unlikely,” Shon said, laying back down. “I mean, if the hunter shot the dragon to scare it away, why didn’t he reveal himself to us afterwards? Besides, even I know that dragon scales are too hard for arrows to puncture. It’s one of the things that make them so dangerous.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Tarun said.

The dark, chilly air was quiet for a few moments while even the frogs and crickets seemed to calm down. Shon once again broke the silence. “I was thinking about my parents,” he said.

“You think that one of them shot the arrow in the dragon’s tail?” Tarun asked.

“What? No,” Shon said. “I mean I was thinking about whether we’ll be able to find them. Do you think we’ll find any important clues here?”

Tarun was silent for a moment before he replied. “I don’t know,” he eventually replied. “Grodin didn’t seem to think that their Soul Trees would tell us anything specific, but I hope they give us some information.”

“Yeah,” Shon said. “I guess if nothing else it will be good just to see if their trees are alive or dead. Although now that we’re actually here, I’m kind of afraid to find them.”

“What do you mean?” Tarun asked. “They’re just trees. Why would you be afraid of them?”

“I’m not afraid of the trees,” said Shon. “I’m afraid of what I’ll find out about my parents. I mean, if the trees are dead, that means my parents are dead and I’m an orphan. On the other hand, if they’re alive, that means my parents are alive but never chose to come back for me.”

“I understand,” said Tarun. “Still, we can’t find them tonight in this darkness. Perhaps you will feel more enthusiastic about finding the trees tomorrow after a good night’s sleep.”

“Maybe so,” said Shon. He then let out a long, deep yawn and the exhaustion from all the day’s events finally caught up to him. Shon laid his head back, and as soon as it touched the lining of his sleeping bag, he was asleep.

***

Tarun proved to be right about the effect that the night’s sleep would have on Shon. When he awoke the next morning, he nearly jumped out of his sleeping bag as he remembered where they were. Despite the chill in the air, Shon felt an intense mixture of excitement for exploring the valley and optimism for finding clues about his parents.

The sun was just rising over the nearby mountains when Shon got up to stretch and survey his surroundings, and the light reflected so brightly off the nearby lake that Shon had to look away from the water. Although he had been amazed by the sight of the green valley from above the day before, Shon found that looking around at all the different shades of green life surrounding him from within the valley itself left him truly in awe. It seemed like the only area of land in sight that didn’t have some kind of vegetation growing on it was the nearby lake.

Shon found Tarun not far away gathering small pieces of wood together and building a structure similar to the one Krall had instructed them to build for the campfire several days ago. Shon had seen Tarun do this a few times since they parted ways with the dragon hunters, and when he had asked Tarun at the time why he was doing it, Tarun had just responded, “I just wanted to practice so I don’t forget how to do it later.”

“Good morning,” Shon said as he walked up behind Tarun. “Your structure seems to be improving.”

“Good morning, Shon,” said Tarun, turning around to face Shon with a smile. “I didn’t hear you get up.”

“I just got up a little bit ago,” Shon said. “Looks like you’re starting to rub off on me though. I can’t remember the last time I woke up on my own at the same time as the dawn.”

“Actually,” said Tarun, “the sky has been light for a while now. It’s just that these mountains around us are so high that the sun is just now coming into view. This whole valley has been one big shadow all morning until now.”

“Oh,” said Shon, feeling somewhat embarrassed that once again Tarun had been awake so much longer than him. Then remembering his earlier enthusiasm, Shon added, “What do you say we have some breakfast and then try to find my parents’ Soul Trees?”

Shon and Tarun ate a quick breakfast of hard biscuits and dried fruit, and washed it down with some of the water from the clear lake nearby. The water from the lake was so cold it gave Shon a slight headache when he swallowed a big mouthful too quickly, but both he and Tarun found the water to be refreshing.

Finding the Soul Trees did not take them very long. For one thing, Grodin had told them that the trees were located close to the perimeter of the lake so their roots would always have easy access to water. For another thing, most of the normal trees in the valley had dark green needles on their branches, and the three Soul Trees stood in contrast with the leaves covering them.

As Shon approached the three Soul Trees, he tried to remember what Uncle Grodin had told him about them. Shon’s mother had asked for a cherry tree since it was her favorite fruit and she loved the smell of the blossoms, his father had asked for an apple tree because of the versatility of the fruit in recipes, and Grodin had chosen an oak tree because he thought it would most benefit the different animals in the valley.

Shon approached the trees and studied them closely, touching the bark of each one with reverence. The oak tree had grown twice the size of the other trees and had broad green leaves and a trunk so thick that Shon’s arms could only reach about a third of its circumference. The other two trees were much smaller. Their main trunks were about the same height as Shon’s head, and even their highest branches only reached about twice Shon’s height.

In contrast to the bright green leaves on Grodin’s oak, the leaves on Alla Nen’s apple tree were orange and red, and the branches held small yellow apples with brown spots. The color of the leaves made Shon think of his father’s robe that he was wearing, but the sight of the apples made Shon sad for some inexplicable reason.

Shon assumed that the third tree must have been his mother’s. Pedhma’s cherry tree was covered with much smaller green leaves that were somewhat wrinkled in appearance and gave the impression that they had only just started growing. The branches also had several small flower buds that had not yet opened.

The first several minutes that Shon spent inspecting the trees were filled with relief for the young wizard. The trees seemed to be alive and healthy, which meant that his parents were too… somewhere. But after the initial delight at finding and observing the trees, Shon soon began to feel a growing disappointment. There really was nothing about the trees that Shon could see that provided any kind of clues as to where to go next in his quest for his parents.

Shon began looking for any sign, as obscure as it may be, for what to do next. Were the leaves blowing in a particular direction? Were the branches pointing anywhere? Shon noticed that all three trees had moss growing on one side, but then he realized that so did most of the other trees in the valley.

With growing frustration, Shon held Stick in one hand and placed his other hand on the bark of his mother’s cherry tree. With all the energy he could muster, Shon reached out with his mind to the tree, but the only thing he could sense was the same vague sense he had been feeling for days that they were being watched. Pulling his hand away, he spun around to see if anyone was in sight, and saw Tarun reaching for one of the apples from Alla Nan’s tree.

“What are you doing?” Shon snapped. “That’s my father’s Soul Tree, not a snack!”

Tarun withdrew his hand from the apple. “I know,” Tarun replied calmly. “It looked like you were growing frustrated, and I thought that eating one of these apples might provide some magical insight.”

Shon felt ashamed for speaking so sharply to his friend. “I’m sorry Tarun,” he said. “You’re right, I am getting frustrated. Perhaps eating one of my father’s apples will give me some ideas. Since I can’t think of anything else, I guess it’s worth a shot.”

Tarun picked the apple and handed it to Shon. He held it in his hands for a moment with great excitement and hesitance. Could something so simple provide any answers? He slowly brought the apple to his mouth and took a deliberate bite.

Shon immediately spat out the bite the moment after he had taken it. “Ugh! It’s complete mush inside,” Shon said with disgust.

“Perhaps that was just a bad one,” Tarun said, trying to remain positive. “Let me see if I can reach one with fewer brown spots on it.” Tarun reached high and stood on his toes to try and grab another apple, but before he could reach it, he fell back and winced in pain.

“What’s the matter?” Shon asked with concern.

“My foot,” Tarun replied. “It hurts a lot. The way it did when I first woke up in Life’s Edge.”

“Let’s take a look,” said Shon, momentarily forgetting about his frustration with his parents’ Soul Trees.

As they were removing the boot from Tarun’s foot, Shon asked, “How did you get this gash in your boot?”

“I, uh, had an accident trying to use the axe,” Tarun said, looking away. “It caused my sock to get quite soggy yesterday. It was uncomfortable, but I didn’t want to say anything.”

Shon removed Tarun’s sock and winced when he saw the foot inside. “I wish you had said something,” Shon said. “It looks like walking around in that soggy sock has given you a few pretty nasty blisters. We should have stopped to change socks.”

“When would we have done that?” Tarun asked. “I seem to recall we were escaping from a dragon for much of the way.”

“Fair point,” Shon responded. “Still, we should get these blisters cleaned up. Do you think you can walk over to the lake with me?”

“Of course,” Tarun replied with a smirk. “What’s the alternative? You carry me over there?” They both laughed.

When Tarun and Shon reached the shore of the lake, they decided it would benefit both of them to soak their feet in the cool water for a while. After removing their boots and socks and rolling their pants up to their knees, they both gradually began wading into the water.

As Shon walked around in the shallow water, he found the sensation of the cold mud and stone against his feet both pleasant and strange, though ultimately it did feel good on his feet that had walked so many miles in the last several days. At one point, Shon found an area where the floor of the lake dropped off abruptly, and when he looked over the edge of the drop-off, he could no longer see the bottom of the lake. He was about to tell Tarun about the drop-off when he heard a loud splash behind him.

Shon saw Tarun splashing his arms to try to keep his head above water, and he started to panic. He realized that Tarun must have stepped off a drop in the lake floor similar to the one he had just found, but he didn’t know how to rescue him. Shon had never swum before, and even if he had, he doubted he could rescue someone Tarun’s size. In his panic Shon managed to remember that Stick was at the shore, and he ran to grab it to try to pull Tarun to safety.

By the time Shon had returned with Stick, Tarun had disappeared under the water. He ran to the last spot where Tarun had been splashing, and tried lowering Stick into the water with a tight grip in case Tarun caught hold. There was a hard tug on Stick, and while Shon’s grip was firm, his footing was not, and he went splashing into the water where Tarun had been.

As he struggled frantically to keep his head above water, Shon realized that his wet clothes had become unbearably heavy. He mentally called out for help, but knew that there was nobody nearby to save them. Shon’s head managed to stay above the water for a few more seconds, but then went under. The last thing that he heard before his ears filled up with water seemed to be some kind of horn off in the distance.

Shon’s lungs burned for air, but he couldn’t manage to get his head back up to the surface. He could see the light of the sun rippling and wavering above him, but it seemed so distant now. Just a minute ago, Shon had not even thought about breathing, and now air seemed like the most precious thing in the world.

Just as Shon was about to give up and release the air in his lungs, he heard two dull splashing sounds from above, and suddenly something grabbed his arm and pulled him upward. A few seconds later, he broke through the surface of the water and began taking great, gasping breaths of precious air. He walked and crawled to the edge of the lake, and realized that Tarun was next to him, coughing and sputtering as well.

“How did you save me?” Shon asked as he started to regain his breath.

“I didn’t,” Tarun said between great coughs. “They did.”

When Shon looked where Tarun was pointing, he was startled to see Piggy and Solimar standing soaking wet and grim-faced looking back at him.

“What kind of idiot goes swimming fully clothed?” Solimar asked.

Dragon Hunters
Art by Ryan Salway

The next three days were fairly uneventful for Shon and Tarun. They continued along the main road at a steady pace, and the weather remained dry and warm enough that they could comfortably sleep under the stars in their sleeping bags at the end of each day.

Shon began to grow tired of eating the venison jerky, hard biscuits, nuts, and dried fruit that he and Tarun had purchased in Brookdale. He was also growing weary of the monotonous walking and the vague feeling he could never shake that they were being watched. Still, he kept his spirits up by telling himself that every step was bringing him closer to the valley that may hold some answers about his parents.

On the seventh day since they left Life’s Edge, dark gray clouds began gathering in the skies and a wind began blowing that was noticeably cooler than they had encountered so far. That day, Shon and Tarun came to a wide fork in the main road, which was their cue to begin looking for the small path that would lead towards the green valley on their map. It took until the middle of the afternoon just to find the path because it was so overgrown with bushes and shrubs.

The trail looked old, dusty, and disused. It was littered with dead leaves and seemed to lead in a direction towards some rather steep-looking terrain. Upon examining their map, Shon estimated that it was still roughly a full day’s walk from their current location to the spot that Grodin had marked as their destination.

“It looks like there’s a town on the map not far from here,” Shon said to Tarun. “I think we should stay there for the night and start on this trail tomorrow after we’ve gotten a good night’s sleep. Besides, I don’t like the look of those clouds and I’d rather not get rained on tonight. What do you think, Tarun?”

Shon looked up from his map and saw that Tarun was staring ahead at the trail with a strange look on his face. “Is something wrong, Tarun?” Shon asked.

Tarun blinked a couple of times as if snapping out of a daydream. “I don’t know,” Tarun said, turning to look at Shon. “I was just thinking about something Krall said about getting out when something didn’t feel right. I think staying in that town for the night is a good idea.”

For once Shon didn’t mind the idea of Tarun following some of Krall’s advice, and within a couple of hours they arrived in the town of Switchback. It was still only late afternoon when they located the inn at the center of town, but the darkening sky made it feel much later. Tarun and Shon decided it would be best to eat their dinner and go to sleep early so they could get started early the next day.

Once Shon had purchased their rooms and meals for the evening, he and Tarun sat down in the tavern that also served as the restaurant on the first floor of the inn. As they began eating their meal, they could hear the rain begin falling outside.

Tarun and Shon ate in no particular hurry since neither was very tired, and Shon wanted to savor his meal that didn’t consist of dry trail food. The crowd in the tavern steadily grew larger and louder as the rain continued on outside, and Shon eventually had to pull the hood of his cloak over his head to quiet the many minds around them.

In the midst of the noise, Shon heard a loud voice at the table behind him say, “Yep, a cougar all right. Up there in the mountains by the fork in the road. I didn’t believe it at first either, but about five people say they’ve spotted it now and only one of them is an idiot.”

Shon turned around in his seat and saw an old man with white hair and beard speaking to a younger man with a tired expression on his face. “Excuse me,” Shon said, “I don’t want to be rude, but I overheard your conversation…”

Shon was interrupted by the younger man at the table, who now had an embarrassed look on his face. “I’m sorry,” said the man, “we didn’t mean to bother you. My father is kind of going deaf and he doesn’t realize how loud he’s talking.”

“No, it’s not that,” Shon quickly said. “It’s just that my friend and I need to travel towards those mountains tomorrow. Did you say a cougar has been seen in that area?”

“A cougar in that area?” the old man said loudly. “You mean you’ve seen one too?”

“No, Pop,” the younger man said in a loud voice. “They were asking about the cougar YOU were talking about.” Then turning to Shon he quietly added, “I swear, he’s losing his hearing, but not his mind.”

“Oh yeah,” the old man said loudly. “Quite a few people have spotted the cougar not far from here. Mostly hunters who go into the woods looking for game, but one young lady said she saw it while picking herbs. You boys going anywhere near those mountains anytime soon?”

Shon nodded his head to avoid any more shouting. He didn’t want everyone in the whole tavern to know where he and Tarun were headed.

“Well you’d better be careful then,” continued the old man. “Do you boys know the tricks to dealing with a cougar in the woods?”

Shon and Tarun both shook their heads.

“The first trick is to avoid the cougar in the first place,” said the old man. “Sticking to the main road is a good way to do that, but then again there really aren’t any main roads going up to those mountains. Of course this trick doesn’t do a lick of good if you’re like that idiot hunter who’s out there right now looking for the thing on purpose.”

“That brings me to the second trick,” the old man continued. “If you do find yourself facing a cougar, don’t run away. That’ll just make him want to chase you. What you want to do is make yourself look as big and scary as possible. That shouldn’t be a problem for your friend there. Just wave your arms above your head and make a lot of loud noise. That usually does the trick.”

“Thank you for the advice,” Tarun said to the old man. Tarun didn’t shout, but the old man seemed to understand him anyway.

***

Tarun awoke the next morning soon after sunrise, feeling well rested. He awoke Shon, and after a quick breakfast downstairs the two packed their bags and left the inn to find the little trail again.

The sky outside was mostly blue with a few clouds remaining. Tarun assumed that the rain the day before must have depleted the clouds, and he was glad it looked like they would have clear weather for their journey. There were a few puddles on the side of the main road, but the early morning sunshine seemed to have already dried up much of the water.

Tarun and Shon soon arrived at the fork in the road and found the trailhead they had located the day before. Tarun was glad that they had found the trail before the previous day’s rain had begun. The wet ground and overgrowth made the path look even less like a real trail and he was not sure if they would have recognized it in its current state. As Tarun looked at the trail again he felt a sense of unease, though not as pronounced as the day before, and he reasoned to himself that it was just nervousness attributed to the warning they received about the cougar in the area.

Tarun and Shon began to walk forward along the trail and it quickly became apparent to Tarun that although they had avoided the rain, they would not be able to avoid getting wet. The leaves of the bushes and shrubs that they had to walk through on the overgrown trail still held several beads of water from the night before, and the moisture quickly accumulated on their clothes. The ground of the trail that was shaded by so much plant life had dried much less than the main road in the sun, and the dusty trail had become muddy and slick. The boot that Tarun had accidentally sliced with the woodcutter’s axe became particularly squishy and uncomfortable.

Tarun kept any complaints he had to himself, but Shon could see how wet his friend was getting, so he offered to take a turn in the lead so the leaves wouldn’t have so much water on them when Tarun walked through them. Tarun started to object, but Shon pointed out that his father’s cloak seemed quite water repellent, so the idea seemed to make sense.

Before long the trail began to slope steeply upward and Tarun and Shon had to stop more frequently to catch their breath. For the first time since they had left Life’s Edge, Tarun began to notice just how much larger and heavier his pack was than his friend’s. As they continued to climb upwards, the trail became less straight and began to cut back and forth in patterns that allowed them to make gradual progress up the steep landscape. The overgrowth made it nearly impossible to see the direction that the trail was leading them, and the only way they could even be sure they were still on the trail at all was to look down at their own feet and see the narrow path.

They continued their ascent along the trail walking without any clear sense of the direction they were heading or where the trail would take them next, but they kept taking one step after another. The air began to feel much cooler and a light mist hung in the air. After several hours the trail began to straighten out again and through the mist they could see that the ground and trees to their left sloped steeply downward while the ground to their right sloped steeply upward.

About an hour after noon the mist around them was thickening into a fog, but the overgrowth finally started to thin out so that Tarun and Shon could begin to see the narrow trail in front of them. They also saw why the vegetation began to thin. Instead of dirt and mud, the landscape in front of them was much rockier. Both the left and right side of the trail seemed to be covered with flat angular stones of varying sizes that would occasionally tumble down the sloped landscape, causing a fair amount of clattering as they collided with the other light gray stones on the way down.

At one point they came to a portion of the trail that had no overgrowth at all, and both sides of the trail were covered with nothing but the light gray shale that now dominated the sloped mountainside. Shon began to walk out of the overgrowth and on to the rocky path, carefully trying to avoid sending any bits of shale clattering down the slope to their right. Tarun hesitated.

“Doesn’t this feel rather… exposed to you?” Tarun asked.

“Well I’m certainly not crazy about it,” said Shon as he continued to walk carefully forward, using Stick to steady himself on the stone-covered path. “But what other option do we have? Leave the trail or turn around and go back? And to be honest, I wouldn’t mind having a break from all those wet leaves. My cloak is keeping most of me dry, but I’m starting to feel rather steam-cooked under this hood.”

Tarun was still holding back in the overgrowth when he saw Shon remove the hood from his head, and then almost immediately after he saw his friend stumble, scream as if in pain, and fall to his knees, clutching his head. Tarun immediately ran out of the overgrowth to his friend’s side on the rocky trail. Shon had just pulled the hood back over his head when Tarun arrived next to him.

“What happened?” Tarun asked. “Are you hurt?”

“I… I don’t know,” Shon said, rubbing the sides of his head. “I felt such intense pain. More intense than I’ve ever felt before, but it wasn’t mine.” Shon suddenly turned and looked at Tarun with panic in his eyes. “There’s something out here!”

Tarun could hear the clattering of falling shale above and below them, but the fog on all sides made it impossible to know if the sounds were caused by anything other than their own movements. “Let’s get back to the cover of the bushes,” Tarun said quietly. “I don’t think it would be very safe for me to carry you on this trail. Are you able to walk?”

“Yes,” Shon said, gingerly getting to his feet. “I only scraped my knees a little.”

Tarun wanted to stand behind Shon to steady him as they walked back the way they came, but the trail was too narrow for them to safely switch places, so he lead the way back to the overgrowth. But before they could reach the vegetation, they heard a loud growl.

Tarun saw a large, sand-colored animal climbing down the rocky slope, cutting them off from the overgrowth. “It’s the cougar,” Shon whispered into Tarun’s ear. “Do you think we should run for it?”

“No, the old man said that would only make things worse,” Tarun said. Remembering the old man’s advice, Tarun stretched his arms out wide and began stomping his feet and shouting as loud as he could. The cougar snarled and continued descending the rocky slope towards them.

Tarun wondered frantically why the old man’s advice wasn’t working. Had the old man actually lost his mind? Was this some kind of a sick joke he played on travelers? He continued shouting, stomping, and waving his arms until he heard Shon scream in pain again behind him.

“There’s something wrong with this cougar!” Shon shouted as if in agony. “It isn’t what I felt before but… AHHH!”

As the cougar came closer, Tarun noticed for the first time that the cougar had blood running from what looked like large black and purple quills sticking out of its flank, and thick frothy purple drool coming out of its mouth. The series of events that followed took place so quickly that they defied Tarun’s comprehension. He began to remove his pack to reach for the woodcutter’s axe he had secured to the back. Before he could untie it, the cougar leapt at the travelers with claws extended and mouth open.

In a flash, an enormous black reptilian head appeared out of the fog below them and snapped the cougar out of midair and into the creature’s powerful jaws. The cougar immediately went limp once speared between the beast’s huge fangs. The creature swallowed the cougar whole as the rest of its body noisily climbed up the slope. As it emerged from the fog, Tarun could see hard and sleek black scales edged with purple, four thick legs with razor like claws at the feet, two leathery wings folded on its back, and a long powerful tail tipped with dozens of the sharp black and purple quills that Tarun had seen sticking out of the cougar.

Tarun stood awestruck in front of the monster and the only action he could manage was to whisper the one word on his mind. “Dragon.”

The dragon turned its attention to Tarun and Shon with pure black eyes and then let out a deafening roar. The sound shocked Tarun out of his stupor and he began to try again to untie the axe from his pack. Seeing Tarun’s movements, the dragon opened its mouth and lunged at him, but stopped short when Tarun raised his pack in front the dragon out of instinct.

Suddenly the dragon reared its head back as if to gag, and began to slip on the shale beneath its feet. A moment later it whipped its head around and let out a high pitched roar as if in pain, and then flew clumsily through the trees back into the fog. As the dragon sped away, the last thing that Tarun saw disappear into the wet gray air was its spiked tail. For just a moment, it looked to Tarun as if one of the spikes on its tail was fletched with feathers like an arrow.

As soon as the dragon was out of sight, Tarun and Shon scrambled for the cover of the nearby trees and bushes. After a few minutes, Shon held his breath and slowly began to remove the hood from his head. When his hood was pulled all the way down, Shon let out a deep sigh of relief. “I think we’re safe,” Shon said. “It looks like the pain dragon is gone.”

“The what?” Tarun asked.

“Well, I’ve heard there are fire dragons and ice dragons and poison dragons, and so on,” Shon said. “So I decided that one must be a pain dragon.”

“I didn’t feel any pain,” said Tarun. “Just terror.”

“Well whatever it was, it seems to be gone now,” said Shon. “And I think we should keep going forward on the trail before it comes back for seconds.”

Tarun agreed, and they both decided to move along the rest of the trail as quickly as they could. They practically ran across the stretch of path where they encountered the cougar and the dragon among the shale. Once they made it past the open rocky slope and back into the cover of the trees and other vegetation they slowed down a little bit, but they maintained a very hurried pace for another hour.

Two hours after their encounter with the dragon, Tarun and Shon stepped out of the forest onto a large clearing next to a high cliff. A strong wind was blowing near the ledge. The wind was cold but dry, and it helped dry the surface of Tarun and Shon’s clothes. From the top of the cliff they could see a clear blue sky above them, and below them they saw the thick fog roll over the ground below.

“It’s like we’re looking down at a cloud instead of looking up at one,” said Tarun.

“Actually,” said Shon, “that may be exactly what we’re doing. I’m not sure exactly how high we’ve climbed, but it must be pretty high up.”

Tarun and Shon decided that the overlook was a good place to finally stop and eat some lunch. They reasoned that although it was exposed, at least they would be able to see the dragon coming if it tried to attack them again. The sun was moving low in the sky and they had not eaten since breakfast early that morning, and they ate their dinner with enthusiasm.

As they finished their meal, the mist below started to dissipate and Tarun heard Shon audibly gasp. Suddenly in their view they saw the most green and verdant landscape Tarun had ever seen. Even with a heavy shadow already covering most of the land below, Tarun saw a large blue lake, a couple of waterfalls, and countless trees and other plants.

Tarun heard the sound of sniffling and he turned around to see tears in Shon’s eyes. “Are you alright, my friend?” he asked.

“It’s the green valley, Tarun,” Shon said with a smile. “It’s right below us.”