It was a beautiful early autumn morning with a clear sky, bright sun and a refreshing breeze. The squalls gently rocked the poplars beside the road, the horses were fresh and cheerful, and the three of us sprawled lazily on the top of our wagon.

The 2. of September promised to be a pleasant day.

“Where is Rhodarr?” asked Beldrak, yawning. Seemingly, even the dwarf wasn’t in the mood for lessons.

“I saw him yesterday around the spirit-wagons.”

As with every proper caravan, we too had some liqueur-dealers with us. These worthy merchants had carts that were crammed with all kinds of soft and hard liqueurs. Our esteemed teacher usually could be found in the vicinity of these, all too often in a thoroughly inebriated state.

“So we won’t see him before lunch?”

“I very much doubt that we will.”

The tiefling yawned too and then stretched, letting out a satisfied sigh.

“In that case, I will sleep… one… more… what the hell?!”

Suddenly Jim was standing, not a trace of drowsiness in his poise, inhuman, pitch-black eyes peering into the sky. By then, I saw it too, and I instinctively reached for my pila, even though the beast was too far away for my javelins.

“Mordred, stop the horses! Don’t let them bolt!” ordered Beldrak, his sharp voice cutting through the peaceful breeze. Mordred obeyed. We got down from the wagon. Jim and I had weapons in hand, Beldrak was chanting… But it was late, it was all too late! The beast was already upon us. Its giant shadow covered the poplars, the road, the wagon…

And then the enormous, snow-coloured dragon simply sailed over the road, not sparing a look for us.

We stared at each other dumbstruck. Then Jim smiled.

“Huh, I was worried there for a moment!”

“Would Calcryx have become such a giant beast too, had we not killed her?” I asked.

“Over some time,” nodded Beldrak. “I would put the age of that monster around a hundred years or so.”

“It’s good then that we have done away with the beast while it was still small,” I said.

Mordred was even more shaken than us.

“Will it… will it come back?”

“I doubt it,” answered Trueanvil. “It was fat. The beast has gorged itself. Old dragons, like this one, sleep a lot on their hoard. Otherwise, they would have to eat up the whole world. I think no one will see this monster for a few years now.”

“It reminds me of the dragon Lady Hucrele talked about,” I mused. “The one that was troubling her cousin’s estate. I wonder if that beast was just as enormous as this one.”

Jim shrugged.

“I don’t think so,” Beldrak said shaking his head. “But who knows.”

Mordred was still fixated on this particular beast, though.

“If it comes back…” he said pale and shaking. “If it comes back and catches us in the open…”

“It could make short work of our column,” I agreed. “Given how a tiny dragon like Calcryx was able to freeze a grown tiefling, this monster could take out a wagon with a blast. Maybe even two wagons.”

“But thankfully, this did not come to pass,” said Beldrak. “I know dragons as well as anyone, and I say that this one won’t come back for us.”

Trusting Beldrak’s judgement, we sat back onto the wagon. The column, that had ground to a halt when the dragon flew over the road, now slowly started forward again. It seemed that everything was alright again after the great fright and that we would proceed as if nothing had happened.

But it didn’t take half an hour, and a rider came trodding towards the end of the column. He stopped at every wagon and said something to the drivers.

“Soon we come to a fork,” he explained to Mordred, when he reached our wagon. “We drive on the western path, towards the Káed Forest, and not the eastern road, like it was planned.”

Mordred nodded, but as the rider wanted to continue, Beldrak leaned over the edge of the wagon and took the man by his arm.

“What kind of idiocy is this? Who gave this order?”

The rider shrugged.

“The caravan leaders had a talk, and they decided we take the western route. The drivers will see it anyway, but the old men love to give orders, so they sent me to deliver their decision to all wagoneer and merchant.”

Beldrak let the courier go and sat back. His lips were thin like a knife.

“Is that bad news?” I asked.

“I wish I knew,” he sighed. “I have not done my reading on Káed Forest. Sky Hall, where I grew up, is barely three days away from the edge of the forest. We have many myths and children-tales about the big bad scary forest and all the things that live in it. My sister loved to tell me how all those monsters will tear me into tiny bits and eat me alive.”

Hearing that, I couldn’t stifle a chuckle. That sounds exactly something that I would have done to Decia Maior or Lucius. Elder siblings are elder siblings in every world, it seems.

Beldrak stared daggers at me. “Yes, I am afraid of Káed Forest based on a bunch of children-tales. Extremely amusing. However, there is more to it. While I haven’t done my reading, I do know for sure that caravans disappear in the woods.”

Jim tensed up.

“How much?”

“One in twenty or one in ten. Depends on whom you ask. Sometimes mercenaries come to scour the woods, but it’s just too damn large. You cannot kill everything that lives in it.”

“But our esteemed leaders would rather take their chances with the forest than with the dragon,” I mused. “Understandable, to be fair. If I did not have your insight, I would find the dragon far more terrifying as well.”

“Maybe you should talk with them,” Jim suggested. “Talk the old men out of their stupidity.”

“I will try,” Beldrak sighed. “I will try.”