“She cursed you?” asked Millicent.

Rancor nodded. “Yes. She cursed all of us who attacked her. She had a unique and painful method of doing so for each of us.”

“But she didn’t kill any of you?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No. She made it clear that to kill us was beneath her, as we were no threat to her.”

“How many of you were there?” asked Tib.

“A little over a dozen.”

“And you were unable to harm the dragon? Even with that many higher leveled adventurers?”

He let out a kind of manic bark of a laugh. “I could’ve been level one-hundred, it would’ve made no difference. The beast was beyond us.”

Zevrack had the same kind of manic look he always did when there was talk of dragons, but he nodded emphatically at Rancor’s words. “They are gods. You are lucky to not be dead.”

Rancor nodded in agreement. “She was aware we were coming. She sent dozens of other creatures to stop our approach, and created a maze just to keep us from her. I had thought at the time, as had the rest of the party, that it was out of fear that she’d done it. I realize now that it was likely a warning.”

“It’s almost like she was being polite,” said Millicent. “It likely would’ve been a lot less trouble for her to simply roast you alive. As it would’ve been for the villagers she drove from Elm.”

Rancor shook his head. “I think a few of us would rather have died. Still, she seemed to save her most terrible curses for those of us that came closest to harming her, or ignored her words.”

“What was she like?” asked Zevrack.

“She was massive. From below her you couldn’t see the tips of her wings. She was every color I could imagine. Each of her individual scales could be either red, or black, or blue, or anything else you can think of, and a few you couldn’t. When she spoke her voice came not only from her mouth, but it echoed in your mind as well. The power she radiated… It was incredible.”

“And you tried to… hit her with an axe?” asked Patience.

Rancor shrugged. “That's all I know.”

I took a small sip of water from my canteen and sat the rest of the way up with a grimace. “So, what’s your plan now?”

He shook his head. “I’m not really planning on anything beyond getting back to Heracleum. Your companions shared some food with me, but to restore my energy I’m afraid I’ll need to eat my way through a barn or two.” He looked around at everyone. “One thing I’ll be sure to do, is let everyone know that you all saved me. I’ll be talking about you and yours through every tavern, inn, and restaurant all throughout the city.” He stood up, and stretched.

“You’re leaving right away?” asked Tristus.

“Well, I should be able to run back to the city pretty quickly. Don’t want to miss my favorite roast chicken place closing either.”

With that, Rancor bolted away, moving quickly through the woods, his passage through the woods marked by shaking trees.

Once the sounds of him moving through the forest faded, Tristus spoke up. “I think his time in Heracleum will be very beneficial for you Cor. Between him, and the letters I sent, it may be safe for you to return a lot more quickly than I initially thought.”

I smiled. “And how do you think they’d feel if I solved their dragon problem?”

Tib shook his head. “I don’t think they’d feel much of anything, considering you’d be dead. Or at least, cursed.”

I shook my head. “I’m not joking.”

Patience put a hand on my shoulder. “Maybe you should sit down. I think you may have taken an even harder blow than we thought.”

“Think it through with me.”

“Think what through?” asked Millicent. “Rancor and his party were over level 10, equipped with magical weapons and armor, and attacked with more people than we have here. What makes you think we could defeat her?”

“I’m not saying we try to defeat her. Number one, she’d destroy us immediately, and number two, Zevrack wouldn’t help.”

Zevrack nodded. “It’s true. I would join her side immediately.”

“I would as well,” said Nica.

“Well, I think we should just try talking to her.”

“A novel suggestion,” said Tristus, “But why would she listen to you? In a negotiation you need something the other person wants, or to have already built a relationship with them. What is it you could offer a dragon? Considering how fast you and your companions jumped on making fifty gold, I can’t imagine you can meet her price.”

“Well I have a bit of a secret weapon there.”

“Do tell.”

“My full name is Cormac, I’m the champion that earned the dragons their way into the world.”

Everyone paused for a moment as that information sunk in. “You're Cormac?” asked Tib.

“Yep.”

“The champion of a God with no name. That’s you?”

“Well, I know him as Ren, but his full name and domain is unknown, yes.”

Millicent shook her head. “I don’t believe you.” She turned to Zevrack, “Do you believe him?”

He shook his head emphatically. “Oh yes, he is Cormac. Great hero to my people, the mushroom dwarves, and the stonemen. He brought the gods to this world after exorcising an evil extradimensional demon.”

Nica looked at Zevrack, then back to me. “Him?”

Patience nodded. “Agreed.”

I raised an eyebrow in her direction.

“No offense Cor, you know I like how you look at this point, but the champion of a god? You’ve got to admit, you’re not what anyone would expect.”

“What are people expecting?”

“Some kind of red-eyed, massively muscular type at level twenty who can physically move castles with their bare hands,” said Tristus with a smile.

“Well…I’m pretty new, and my god’s at a bit of a disadvantage. The point is, I have an ace up my sleeve when it comes to talking to dragons. The first message they saw when they entered the world, the person given credit for them arriving, is me.”

Tristus shook his head. “You’re assuming that she cares, or will be willing to communicate at all.”

“I am, but it’s not an assumption that’s based on nothing. She has proven multiple times now that she prefers non-lethal methods of solving problems. She burned down Elm, but didn’t kill a single one of the townsfolk. She was attacked by high level adventurers, but instead of merely eviscerating them all and moving on, she took what some would consider a more measured and merciful approach.”

“Hmmm, that is interesting. We also know from what Rancor told us that she can communicate with us,” said Tristus.

Tib shook his head. “Even if we wanted to go along with this and try to go talk to a dragon, we have a job to complete. Tristus, we need to get you back to Itlan.”

I shrugged. “I’d like for everyone to come, but I’d understand if you weren’t up to it. You’re also right, of course. We already agreed to a job.”

Tristus stood silently for a moment. “What if I want to help him?”

Tib stared at his cousin. “What?”

“Cousin, you and I have been working toward something like this for a long time. We’ve talked since we were boys about doing something like this. This is a way to restore our family’s honor. To bring our parents to the city.”

Tib shook his head. “We’ve already been on that path. It’s slow, and steady. We contribute now, and eventually our descendants will complete it.”

“I’m tired of the slow path Tib. I say we take a risk.”

“Tiberius, this is also part of my plan. This kind of thing is exactly what I think it’ll take for me to start our adventuring group. One that can finally make things work the way they were supposed to.”

Tib reached for the grip of his sword, as if trying to find a source of stability. “I… I suppose an honorable death would do as much good as a life of servitude may have anyway.”

Nica gripped his shoulder. “And I am with you, always.”

He removed his hand from his sword and gripped hers.

“Millicent, how do you feel about this?” I asked.

“Well, I was completely against it at first, but I appreciate the case as you’ve broken it down… besides which, who knows what secrets become available through even meeting such a creature?”

“Zevrack?” I asked.

He cocked his head at me.

“Sorry, dumb question. Patience?”

She shook her head. “Absolutely not. I like you, a lot, but this seems like a good way for me to wind up dead. Even more so that what I’m usually up to, and for too little a reward at that.”

I smiled, I wasn’t really surprised. “Oh, you didn’t hear about the reward?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Reward?”

“Fifty-thousand gold pieces.”

“Fifty…thousand?”

I nodded.

“Well, not mentioning the twenty five I’ll pay you once we finally get to Itlan,” added Tristus with a smile.