I looked at some papers that we stole from the bandit camp. There were marks everywhere and some drawing. Though, I could not read the words, I could still get the whole idea of what the maps are showing.

“It seemed that there was two other groups around Aon…” I mentioned to Sarjay. We were sitting on top of Alph, the war tortoise. This beat walking as I would like to enjoy the lazy afternoon lying on my back.

“Means those bandits we left behind won’t be stuck there for long, Boss.” Sarjay yawned. He rested his head against a crate. I looked over the side and was watching the others who couldn’t find space on top of Alph. Although Alph was big, almost the size of a small elephant, there wasn’t space on top of Alph to fit all of us and the loot we stole.

“The Bloodied Rags would be able to find us quickly, you know. All they had to do is just look for a giant tortoise travelling around,” Asha said. That is true. All the more reason to get to the dwarven city faster. I can’t wait to see the city. The people...not so much.

I got off Alph’s back and started walking with the others. Daggerless came up to me and chatted with me, “Boss, I’d like to ask you something about Alph.”

“What is it? You don’t like tortoises?” I asked.

“No, I’m wondering, how do we feed Alph?” Daggerless asked. That’s right. Because we didn’t need food, I didn’t think about that in the first place. What do large demon tortoises used for crushing gates and walls eat? I only knew what demon tortoises were, but I wasn’t an expert in taking care of one.

“Asha, what do demon tortoises eat?” I asked. She told me that they eat large animals like deers. That’s a bit troublesome. We had been moving for almost a day, and I wasn’t sure if Alph had eaten.

Actually, this was a good time to eat something. We hadn’t eaten for a while now. Asha had some supplies, but I’m sure she’d appreciate some good cooking. We camped out again and had my men hunt something for Alph and us to eat.

“I didn’t know you guys could cook. One would expect that if they don’t need food, they wouldn’t know how to cook them,” Asha pondered.

“We still enjoy the taste of food,” I replied. My men eventually came back with some carcasses. We fed two deer corpses to Alph and he was overjoyed. It’s probably because he might not have been fed well by those bandits.

The rest of the bodies, two boars, were cooked by Maven over a fire. She carried some ingredients so she was able to spice the boar meat for us. I should get her some more ingredients such as vegetables.

We got out utensils from a crate that we stole from the bandits and started eating the boar meat. As I stared at the boar meat, I’m having some flashbacks of what happened back in Aon.

I poked the boar meat with a fork expecting it to whisper a cry for help. “Boss…” Maven looked at me, sending me chills down my spine. I quickly stuffed boar meat through the mouth hole of my mask.

The flashbacks melted away and I remembered that Maven had already improved her cooking with intense tenacity. Now, the meat melted through my mouth and I could sense a hint of the spice she used.

Sadly, whatever food that goes down our mouth simply ‘burns’ away so we can’t have the luxury of chewing the food to enjoy it longer. Asha was enjoying her meal, however.

“This is amazing! I’ve never had something like this! There’s nothing in the western continent that could taste as good as this. And I should know, because I’ve travelled throughout the continent” Asha said as she chewed. She said with a face of pleasure. I hope she doesn’t start stripping out of nowhere.

“Of course, a thousand years of cooking will do this. I mean...figuratively speaking. Don’t take it literally. I am not a thousand year old undead,” Maven chattered.

When our meals were done, we huddled around a campfire. Alph was snoring away and my companions were doing their things. Daggerless was hugging his dagger, muttering something like, ‘Wait for me, my one and only..’, Sarjay was cleaning his sword and Maven was cleaning the dishes.

Asha sat near me and started to ask, “Tell me where you came from. I’m very curious.”

I looked to her. Although, she probably meant that imaginary far away land that we lied about, it still made me remember about my home a thousand years ago. I’d like to return to that place someday, if it still existed.

I looked to my companions. Some of them came from the same place like me, such as Sarjay. Some of them, came from other places. I wondered if I should ask them if they want to go there? Would they be excited? Would they be struck with sadness?

“Where I came from...it isn’t really too interesting. I’m more interested in meeting some old faces here. I wonder if they’re still around?” I told Asha.

“Not interesting? Ha...a place full of mithril, strange magic and questionable people is not interesting. Well, at the very least, what are you doing anyway? I mean, you were in Aon, but now you’re joining me to see the dwarves,” Asha asked me.

“Nothing, really. We just wanted to explore the world,” I answered.

“Oh, you’re one of those people with wanderlust, huh? Must be boring back in your homeland,” She muttered as she laid down on her side facing me.

“What about you? What’s a halfling like you doing in Aon?” I asked her.

“Halfling? I’m not a halfling, I’m a human. Besides, halflings are just myths,” She nonchalantly replied.

Ha?! She’s not a halfling?! No, more importantly, halflings are myths? Halflings were one of the most common races around, next to humans! You’d almost think that they were just mushrooms that grew everywhere!

“What do you mean halflings are myths? Also, how old are you?” I asked Asha.

“I mean it when halflings are myths. You look like you’ve actually met one. That’s crazy. Also I’m fifteen, why are you asking?” Asha replied.

“Fifteen?! You’re a master smith and only fifteen?!”

“Quit shouting. It’s disturbing this nice night scenery. My family’s gifted in the ways of the fire. It also happened that I’m a prodigy with the way of the metal. I guess I’m just born lucky.” Asha yawned.

“A family gifted in the ways of the fire, huh? That reminds me of Sarjay in a way…” I looked at Asha and realized she was already sleeping. I sighed and lied down, looking at the skies. The stars were bold, and I could clearly see the bright moons. As the fire cackled and slowly died out, I was left in peace to collect my thoughts silently. This tour seemed to get more complicated as the days went by.

.

.

.

It had been a few days since the day I found out that halflings were gone. I also told Sarjay and the others about this. They had mixed responses - Some were puzzled, some were amazed. We all had the same question, though. Why had the halflings disappeared?

However, we didn’t press this on any longer. There’s no point in worrying about that. Besides, an entire race disappearing doesn’t entirely mean our tour around the world was ruined.

As we neared the city of Azkator, I sent scouts ahead to check if the place was clear. I don’t want the Bloodied Rags following us to Azkator.

When Maven and the rest of the scouts returned, their reports surprised me.

“Boss, there’s a dragon ahead fighting the dwarves.”

What on earth? I went to check the place out with only Sarjay. Sure enough, from a distance, I could see that a dragon was flying around a mountain with a fort sticking from one side. Its scales had a tint of orange and had a leathery body. Its four wings were massive and the mighty beast’s protruding horns were long and sharp. On its tail, instead of scales, were bones, giving an impression that the dragon’s tail was cleanly skinned of meat and flesh.

Supposedly, dwarven cities were built underground inside mountains, but they also had outer forts that served as entrances and a first line of defense against enemies.

The dragon landed and roared towards the fort. A large rock flew from the fort and smacked the dragon on its side. The dragon stretched its wing and flew up in the air. It glided near the fort and spat fire at the defenders.

We went closer towards the fighting to find what was going on. I strained my senses to focus on my hearing. I could hear a very posh voice.

“You vile beast! Have at ye!” Said the voice. No. I do not want to admit it. Perhaps the dwarves had hired humans to defend the fort?

The dragon didn’t like that taunt and started to spit more fire at the defenders while in return, the defenders launched more projectiles at the beast. From rocks to ballista bolts, the dragon was kept at bay.

“Oh dearest me, it would have appear that my arm have been scorched! Woe is me!” Another voice resounded.

“By joves, I would require assistance in taking down that foul beast, gentlemen!” A voice commanded.

The dragon landed in front of the fort from a distance away and took a stance. Sarjay and I had walked all until we were just behind the dragon. It sensed us and looked behind, then proceeded to roar at us before it opened its large gaping mouth.

“Foolish beings, I am the great dragon Ajax! Fearless you may be, but I shall send you straight to Death’s doors!” He roared at us.

“I’d rather you don’t do that, Ajax. I’m not fond of Death.” I scratched my head.

“Wait. Is that you, Boss?” The dragon Ajax looked at me with surprise, “I thought you were dead!”

“Well, I am technically dead.” I shrugged.

“No, not like that, you idiot! Dead, as in gone. Perished. Nothing but lycan food.” Ajax moved his head closer to me. He relaxed his stance and started to casually chat with us.

“Sarjay! It’s been a long time.” Ajax smiled as his tail was swaying side by side slowly like a dog wagging his tail.

“Hello, Ajax. I haven't seen you since the Yoke of Endlers,” Sarjay greeted Ajax back.

“Yoke of Endlers? Oh, we don’t call it that anymore. Or at least, the continent doesn’t,” Ajax explained.

“What? What do they call it now?” I inquired Ajax. He was about to answer but a rock smashed against his side. He looked towards the people that flung the boulder at him and walked on all four towards the fort.

“Will you all please stop hurling things at me while I talk?” He angrily roared at the dwarves.

The dwarves shrugged and waited for the dragon to finish his talk. They took out teapots and started drinking from them.

By whatever holy powers there are, let those liquid be alcohol, not tea. Please. I beg of you.

“Where was I? Oh, right. Yoke of Endlers…it’s called ‘the War with Forbidden Origins’ now. I wasn’t sure what happened. To me, names are names. They’re useless to think about it. It’s pitiful that boxing match between things in the skies had to be called a ‘war’,” Ajax explained when he got back to us. I remembered that Ajax didn’t believe in Gods or spiritual things. He also advocated for progress and upheaval of social structure. I hope his kins aren’t like him...

“Hmm? What happened to you after the Yoke of Endlers?” I asked him.

“As you know, after fighting for extended periods of time, dragons would slumber because we’re all lazy asses. I’m one of the only dragons that is awake, I think. I woke up about two or three hundred years ago. I’m as lost as you are,” The dragon told me.

“What about you? Did you also went into a slumber?” The dragon asked me.

“No, not slumber. More like we just stayed indoors for a thousand years,” I said.

“Ha ha! So you literally lived under a rock for a thousand years!” Ajax laughed at me. I asked him if he knew what happened to the halflings and dwarves but he didn’t have an answer either. So that means that whatever happened to them occurred much, much earlier.

“So? What are you doing now?” Ajax asked me.

“We’re simply exploring the world,” I replied.

“You? But aren’t you a walking pile of bones? I would’ve thought that Sarjay would oppose such a crazy idea.” Ajax turned to Sarjay but he simply brushed off his statement. “But what about the rest of your band? Are they just going to sit inside the stronghold until you come back?”

“No, we all went to tour the world. All of us. I think the only things guarding the stronghold are the traps.”

“Are you insane?! A horde of undead just going all over the world?” Ajax scratched his chin thinking about it for a moment.

“And? What about you? Why are you attacking this fortress? I have some business with those people.” I pointed towards the fort.

“You got business with them? Well, I was attacking them simply because I don’t like them. They sounded like they’re looking down on me,” Ajax replied. I don’t like the idea of dwarves not being dwarves, but I wouldn’t go as far as attacking them. Ajax agreed to leave the dwarves and go somewhere else.

“Look for me at the Dry Mountain. Alright, Boss? Well then, enjoy your tour. Oh, be careful of the queen of the dwarves,” He said as he stretched his wings before flying up the air, then disappearing among the clouds.

“Well, that dragon problem is solved. I’ll go call the others,” Sarjay told me as he jogged back down the road. On the other hand, I stood here as the gates of the fort opened.

A dwarf with plate armor riding a pony came up to me and greeted me, “Pleasant day, good sir. You had driven away the rapscallious reptile. Ergo you have the gratitude of us gentlemen. May I inquire as to why you are here?” He said as he raised his visors.

I inspected the dwarf like an item on display at an auction house. I could only see his eyes, so I’m trying hard to imagine that he had a beard. I did not have good impressions of these...dwarves. I looked at him with disdain, though not visible due to my mask, and said only a single thing to him, “Wait.”

“Wait? I apologize if I may have misheard you, but I am unable to comprehend your intentions,” He said. I simply raised one of my palm and faced it to him, indicating that I was not interested in elaborating.

After some time, the dwarf pointed at a distance. “My word! A demon tortoise has entered the vicinity! Stand back, my good man. I shall defend you with every drop of my blood!” The dwarf exclaimed. This sickened me. The dwarves I knew would break your kneecaps so that you’d be used as bait, then save you, all for the sake for a good laugh and free drink.

“It’s with me,” I told the dwarf. He doubted me at first, but then he saw Sarjay waving at us. The tortoise slowly made its way to us. The fact that the fortress was not firing at Alph meant that they got the message that it’s friendly.

“If your intention is to visit the city, you shall be unable to bring your beast of burden with you,” The dwarf noted. I questioned him for a reason, and he replied that it was because I needed permission from the city governor.

Asha got down from Alph and came up to the dwarf, “I’m Asha of Follis, master smith. This animal is with me.” The dwarf was surprised as he got off the horse then bowed.

“Lady Asha, forgive me for my rude behavior. Come, drag your beast with you and meet with the governor. I am sure he shall be pleased to meet with a master smith,” The dwarf explained.

At least, we don’t have to have Alph waiting outside.With no further trouble, we managed to get inside the city. I wondered what Ajax meant when he said that I should be careful of the dwarven queen?