That was the only bandit encounter they had on their way to Melios’ territory. A way to imagine the Dragon Isles was to treat each of the dragons as a small city state. They projected a sphere of influence around wherever their hoard was located. Since there were only ever around fifty dragons inhabiting the isles at any given time, there was a lot of space between them that was more or less uncontrolled.

Certainly, many of the people on the Dragon Isles preferred to live as servants of the giant winged lizards with large magical power. There were good reasons not to, however. The primary one was freedom. A draconic master whose word was absolute rubbed many people the wrong way, so they moved out into the wild and formed tribes and migrating villages.

Nothing of permanence was ever built by these unaffiliated people. Why contribute to a civilization that a greedy dragon would eventually extort? Better to live selfishly off the land and the scraps of overambitious adventurers. Many of the people on the Dragon Isles originated from those who made the journey to the place and planned badly for their way back, ending up stranded. After several hundred years of those developments, the population of the area had climbed to a level where it was quite easy to run into people. Eventually there would be enough people that the current balance between dragon hoards and migrating hordes would break down.

That was still a few hundred years off, however. For now, the Dragon Isles were stuck in that simple dichotomy. Adventurers like the quartet made the area a bit more stable. As long as they targeted the awful elements.

Melios claimed a tower as the heart of his territory. Made from greyish brown stone, the vertical structure was all that remained of the fortifications a distant kingdom had built in the area. It had been an ambitious project, executed by an eccentric king to show off the might of his realm. The dragons, unified in that they did not want to allow an army to gain a proper foothold on the only part of the world where they were the undisputed rulers, made a pact and tore down every attempt made to construct these keeps.

The kingdom became bankrupt over the exploits of the king and was later annexed easily by Elomerstir. Only the ruined fortifications remained. Weststir learned from those mistakes and kept its base of operations at a notable distance and low on staff, so as to not draw the dragons’ ire.

Since then, quite some time had elapsed. The tower had survived the initial onslaught mostly intact. Even solid stone had to bow to the march of time and much of the tower had been repaired several times over. Older issues had been patched through by just piling rocks in front of a hole and using fire breath to weakly bind them together. Newer problems had been fixed more adeptly, using magic and mortar.

The tower had changed claws many times and its current inhabitant, Melios the Blue, was one who attracted scholars and great minds, offering them the knowledge in his hoard in exchange for a few years of their service. Crafty people like those that could figure out rudimentary architecture. Around the tower, a great number of wooden buildings had been erected, using the lumber of the area directly surrounding them. The result was a village located in a large clearing, containing a large fenced-off area where several dozen goats were kept.

Stepping out of the forest quickly drew the attention of the lookout to the four of them. Standing atop the tower, they blew into a horn, three quick sounds.

“They sounding an alarm for us?” Reysha asked.

Aclysia observed the behaviour of the village for several seconds before giving an answer, “Unlikely, the people are not moving into battle ready positions. I would deem it more likely that they are alerting the guards as to the arrival of strangers.”

Her theory was quickly proven correct, as a group of ten individuals formed up at the edge of the village and then moved towards the quartet. They were all armed and relatively well armoured, pieces of metal protecting the most vital areas.

Apexus stopped, letting the people come to them. It struck him as a bad sign to go deeper into a pack’s den than required, especially without invitation. That was one of his personal observations that went entirely unnoticed by the opposition. The few metres made no difference to them.

The head of the formation, a burly man almost as tall as Apexus, stepped forth. Three of his compatriots had bows, one a crossbow, and all of them kept them at the ready. The arrows were in position, but the strings were not drawn back. The remaining five had a hand on the handle of their weapons.

“You approach the hoard of Melios the Blue,” the large man announced. His voice was higher than his appearance would have led to believe. Not enough to be actually unusual, but enough to make an easily amused tiger girl cackle. The guard ignored it. “Who are you? What’s your business?”

“I’m Apexus,” the slime introduced himself. “We are adventurers.” The mention made the guards grip their weapons a little bit tighter. “We wish to speak to Melios.”

“Why?” the guard barked. Although Melios was agreeable to the garrison of Weststir, there was the occasional adventuring group that decided to disregard everything and just headed for the nearest target. There were plenty of people in the line of business for profit or power first and foremost, local consequences for their actions mattered little to them. Consequently, the guards had encountered more than one group before who wanted to ‘speak’ to Melios. ‘Speak’ translating to ‘get close to him and assault him without sneaking through all the guards’.

Proven by the fact that Melios was still alive, a bad strategy. At best, they fought a fully prepared dragon in the middle of their base, slew it, and then were stuck in the middle of a vindictive village. At worst, the dragon turned the ruse around and incinerated them on sight. They were callous creatures.

Apexus, not intending any of that, just told the truth. “We were told by the soldiers south of here to talk to Melios for recommendations on how to slay Kaladar the Scarred.”

“You wish to kill Kaladar?” the guard asked, a smile almost appearing on his face.

Apexus slightly tilted his head. “That is what I said, yes?” he was confused, wondering if he should repeat himself.

“Send word to Melios,” the leader of the guards told one of his companions. Nodding, they swiftly turned around and ran towards the tower. “The master will decide if he wishes to have an audience with you. In the meantime, may I offer you some water?”

“An opportunity to replenish our reserves would be most appreciated,” Aclysia nodded and they were brought to an area nearby where a deep depression had been dug. Ground water pooled at the bottom, high and muddy from recent rainfall. ‘I do not deem that water quality appropriate,’ the metal fairy thought, wondering how to formulate that decently.

Before she could, however, the guard grabbed a bucket and filled it with the muddy water. Rather than offer it to the group, he poured it into a nearby keg. It stood on top of a table, a second bucket underneath it. A second bucket that, gradually, filled up with clear water that dribbled out of a hole on the bottom of the keg.

“Oh, that’s neat!” Reysha declared.

“How does that work?” Korith wanted to know, sharing the sentiment.

The guard was happy to explain, “There’s layers of sediment inside, rough pebbles on top and sand on the bottom, with some charcoal in between. The impurities in the water get filtered out.”

“You shitting me on the coal, right?” Reysha asked.

Half laughing, half shrugging, the guard just said, “I won’t take it apart to prove it to you. Don’t ask me why it’s in there either. The one who came up with the filter told me it works and I’m not going to question the genius that keeps our water clean. Especially since he died thirty years ago.”

Aclysia pulled the bucket out from underneath the construction and started filling the group’s waterskins. “If I may inquire: how long has Melios been inhabiting this area?”

“About eighty years,” the guard responded, just as the companion he had sent earlier returned.

“Melios agrees to speak to them.”

“Good,” the guard nodded. They took the moment to finish filling up the waterskins, then the guards surrounded the quartet and guided them towards the tower.

They entered through a gate at the front. It was absurdly luxurious, especially for the environment. Two halves of oak, the surface carefully carved to depict the head of a dragon viewed from the front, parting almost perfectly along the middle as the door swung inwards and revealed the hall at the bottom of the tower.

Tiny stones of grey, red, black and brown, were assorted in coloured lines that swirled towards the centre of the room. A basin of brass was lowered into the floor there, five metres wide and about half of one deep, filled with water. Inside it lay the dragon, Melios, two servants with brooms scrubbing his pristine blue scales steadily, a pile of coins, copper and iron for the most part, and other shiny items behind them.

Melios’ body was about the size of a cow, although his torso was much sleeker and the long tail and serpentine neck added much to his overall size. Similarly, his limbs were narrower, his front legs ending in five claws, positioned like the hand of a human. One of his wings was currently outstretched, allowing the servant to properly clean every centimetre of him. Light blue membranes stretched between the azure ‘fingers’ of the limb. No matter how much the servant scrubbed his form, the pool he laid in remained crystal clear.

The dragon reared his head towards the quartet, inspecting them as interestedly as they did him. He had two screwed horns, starting above his white-blue eyes. One was much larger than the other, the tip of the smaller clearly worked on to resemble the natural shape of its partner after it had been snapped off.

“You’re so small!” Reysha shouted what Aclysia and Korith had been thinking. Dragons were legendary creatures, known for their power and their massive hoards. The being before them was larger than any of them, the pile of valuables behind him considerate, yet neither measured up to their expectations.

One of the servants scrubbing the dragon shouted involuntarily, when the long tail of Melios broke through the surface and smashed back down. Water splashed and the scrubber lost her balance, falling into the water. Hastily she got back up and resumed her work. “Throw the impudent Ragressian out,” Melios hissed, his voice sly and penetrating.

“As you wish,” the guard responded immediately. Three of the guards stepped forwards, ready to drag Reysha back out the door.

“Touch me and you’ll have a fucking-“ the tiger girl started, only to be interrupted by Aclysia.

“Please, do not cause trouble, Reysha,” Aclysia pleaded. “We are guests here and you were rude.”

“Wait outside,” Apexus requested.

Clenching her jaw, Reysha rolled her eyes and went along with the recommendation. “I’ll, uhm, go with her,” Korith announced, gaining an approving nod from Apexus. It was best none of them were alone. For her part, the kobold was afraid she would annoy Melios by staring at his pile of shinies too intently.

As she waddled after the tiger girl, Melios repositioned in his pool. He faced the duo with the front of his body, head raised high and both wings unfurled, making him appear as large as he could. “Your impudent comrade should be thankful I do not have her killed for such insolence,” Melios hissed.

“That would be a severe overreaction,” Apexus posited.

“A standard that I decide in these halls.” The dragon’s voice grew more measured, almost sweet, as he continued. “Let us not linger on this point. You two appear reasonable. You, especially, angel, know manners.”

Aclysia bowed her head, ever so slightly, “We do not wish to offend you, mighty dragon.” Immediately, Melios lowered his head and folded his wings. The two servants had to take a step back, not to get hit. They did so quickly and professionally and returned to their work without a change in their expressions. “We come to ask for advice.”

“On slaying that wretched dungeon spawn Kaladar, yes, I have heard,” Melios made a waving gesture. “You cannot believe how frustrating it is for a trueborn such as I to have to deal with these whimsically created upstarts. Especially one so…” he scratched his shortened horn, “…unnecessarily brutish.” He moved on swiftly. “Are you experienced in hunting my kin, perchance?”

“You are the first proper dragon we have met,” Apexus answered. “We came in part because we wanted to see one of your kind.”

“You will find that Kaladar is… slightly larger than me,” Melios hissed. “Brute that he is. Relying on physical power rather than the arcane arts.”

‘Considerably larger,’ Aclysia corrected in her head the statement of this jealous creature. ‘And more physically powerful, without a proper grasp on magic.’

“I’ve waited for a few years for someone like you to show up,” the blue dragon continued. “Kaladar and his band of barbarians have been bothering my research and for that he must die. I will gladly provide you with a poison that should make your job easier.” He turned to his hoard and grabbed a crystal flask from among the shiny things, locating it instantly. A dragon always knew where they had left their possessions. “This, mixed into a meal, will put Kaladar to sleep and weaken him.”

“Your suggestion is we sneak into his home and poison his food?” Aclysia asked for clarification, “or is there a better way to access his sustenance?”

“Kaladar’s barbarians expand based on a trial by combat,” Melios told them. “Prove yourself entertaining to him and he will let you stay and serve, simpleton that he is.” Apexus stepped forwards and received the flask. “You will return that to me after you have killed him. Along with proof of his demise – a horn, for example.”

The slime nodded, finding that to be mostly reasonable. “If you wish him dead that dearly, why not send some of your own servants to infiltrate?”

“And risk losing what is mine?” Melios asked, amusedly blowing fire out of his nostrils. “Whether you live or die, adventurers, is only the loss of a poison to me. War with a fellow dragon costs too much. Our goals align, so risk yourselves.”

“I see,” Apexus said and looked at Melios with slightly different eyes. ‘How would I kill this creature?’ he wondered. The scales looked thick, it was too large to be properly grappled, it was likely more dangerous in the air than he was and at a distance a dragon could spew fire. Melios specifically could even use magic. Fists, weight, even the combat techniques he had been taught, none of them would be able to properly hurt such a being. Traps would require to be very intricate for a sapient being to fall for them. ‘I wouldn’t,’ the slime realized. ‘Not on my own.’

“You should leave now,” Melios growled, knowing the kind of gaze the slime was giving him. “Covet red scales, adventurer. It will be better for your health, even if their colour is rust compared to sapphires.”

Apexus took the advice, bowed his head, and stepped backwards. They were escorted out of the tower. Once the gates closed behind them, the guards relaxed somewhat. “The master no longer wishes for your presence, so you are barred from the tower,” the large man explained. “You are welcome to stay in the village to prepare though. Everyone here wants Kaladar and his raiders gone.”

“This is much appreciated,” Aclysia responded, bowing deeper to the man than she had to the dragon.