“You didn’t have any magicians where you came from?” Regal’s bushy eyebrows scrunched together as he frowned.

“It isn’t that there wasn’t any,” Christoph replied with a shake of his head. “It’s just that the land didn’t have much mana in it, so magic was hard to use. I doubt I’d be in this mess otherwise.”

Over the past few days, he’d worked hard to formulate his false past. It was a simple enough matter to act as though he was just a private person, and what little information he gave them was near enough to the truth that he wouldn’t easily be caught in a contradiction.

“I’d been wondering why you were so curious,” Regal said. After a moment, his face brightened into a smile. “Well, it isn’t often that there’s someone who wants to learn about magic from me.”

Christoph nodded at the boy’s words and returned his smile. As far as he could tell, Regal was the only friendly member of the Sacrilegious Shield group, and also the youngest. Ruth was an amiable middle-aged man, but ignored idle chatter in a wholly pragmatic fashion. Of the three that were Christoph’s age, Quester ignored just about everyone. Lily was a bitch to put it bluntly, and Christoph quickly resolved not to bother her. Coin was friendly on the surface, but he seemed to always be smiling as if there was a secret he was hiding from everyone…

“A dragon?” Christoph had exclaimed back then.

Coin laughed at him for a while before Ruth stepped in to correct him. “A plains dragon,” he said with a clank of metal.

Regal nodded in agreement. “Really more like a giant lizard,” the boy added.

Christoph frowned at that. “Aren’t all dragons?”

Coin doubled over laughing again.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Ruth said flatly. “If an actual dragon came down to the plains nearly the entire guild would be mobilized to defeat it.

“Well,” Regal had said, “this one’s gotten big enough to go after horses, otherwise the guards would have taken it out themselves. Don’t let your guard down too much.”

…

A tug at his shirt snapped Christoph back into the present. Looking down, he saw Regal staring up at him from a shockingly close position. “So,” Regal said, “what do you want to know?”

Pulling free of Regal’s grasp, Christoph quickly turned away and took a moment to gather himself. Regal might be a young man, but he had strikingly feminine features and no respect for personal boundaries. Christoph felt no attraction for him, but as the days passed he had begun to eye the assortment of charms Regal wore, the jewels embedded into his staff giving off a faint blue glow during the darker hours. Christoph clutched at the crystals in his sack, but resisted the urge to reach in and pull one out.

“Uh, anything is fine,” he said to Regal. “What kind of magic do you use?”

“I’m an elemental mage,” Regal said proudly, his short curled hair bouncing as he straightened his posture. “I specialize in ice magic, although I’m practiced in earth and air magic as well.”

“Not fire?” Christoph asked.

Regal shot a glance over at Quester and Lily before speaking. It seemed the two were siblings, and they spent most of their time together during the day. At night, though, it was Coin and Lily who shared a tent. “No, not fire,” Regal said. “Fire isn’t really as effective against magical beasts, and you can’t use it in caves or indoors because of the smoke.”

Christoph nodded in understanding. Fire was a weapon used against people. He glanced over at Quester as well, taking in his complete lack of weapons and armor. So he was a fire mage, then? It didn’t surprise him, Quester had the personality of a psychotic bastard. The two siblings must have had a troubled past.

“How about lightning?” Christoph asked.

Regal shook his head. “No, lightning magic sits on the border between elemental and pure magic.”

“Pure magic?” This was more complicated than Christoph had been expecting.

“If you can cast magic without channeling the mana through a substance of some sort, that’s pure magic,” Regal said. “It’s more effective but much less efficient, so few mages bother with it.” He shrugged. “As well as elemental magic and pure magic, there’s also healing magic, which channels the mana through a person’s body.”

Regal paused and glanced over at Quester and Lily again. “Sorcery is also a type of magic, although it involves making pacts with spirits rather than cast the magic yourself. It’s dangerous and most intelligent people stay well clear of it.”

Lily shot a glare back at the two of them before picking up her pace and moving slightly ahead. Christoph smiled at the exchange, shaking his head at Regal’s passive aggressive jab. Did that mean Lily was a sorcerer and an archer then? Or maybe Quester was the sorcerer, and she was getting angry for his sake.

Christoph and Regal continued their conversations as they traveled, Christoph eager to learn more about magic in particular. If mages were going to be a problem for him in the future it would be prudent to prepare some counter-measures. It was even possible that he could tap into his mana reserves and cast magic himself, although he didn’t dare bring it up with the party and ruin his cover.

They had traveled for several days, always in the same formation. Coin was at the front with Ruth, Lily and Quester behind them to the right, and Christoph and Regal behind them to the left. They didn’t move in the darkness since the first night, and despite Christoph’s concerns for speed the rate at which they moved remained roughly the same each day. It’s likely that Christoph would have collapsed from exhaustion on the second day had he been rushing off alone. Six days had passed when the group halted their advance and stepped off the road, striking out onto the plains in search of their objective.

“Remember,” Ruth said. “It might look like a large lizard, but don’t underestimate it. If you get too close you’ll be swallowed before you can think, and don’t expect it to hesitate just because you’re pointing a weapon at it. Don’t get too close to the head, and never try to flank it – it can turn its body even faster than it can lunge. As always, magical beasts will go for the mana first, so we’ll go with the usual plan. Regal, I’ll leave Christoph with you.”

The group nodded before moving out in the usual formation. Before long, the figure of the lizard came into sight across the grass. It lay basking in the sun as they approached, eyes closed and belly moving slowly as it breathed. It wasn’t until they moved closer that Christoph was able to appreciate the true size of the beast. Ruth had said that it was capable of hunting horses, but Christoph hadn’t realized what that meant until now. Unlike other animals, lizards usually swallowed their prey whole.

“A giant gecko?” Christoph said under his breath, trying to figure out just how big the creature really was.

“Watch for the tongue!” Ruth said, reaching over his shoulder to grab the shield off of his back. He raised his axe in the other hand, and Coin followed his lead. There was a burst of mana from where Lily stood, and a small sprite appeared from nowhere, dancing through the air towards the lizard. The sprite shined as it flew, shimmering as though it lacked substance. Christoph felt his stomach rumble as he watched the small bundle of mana fly away.

Evidently, the lizard shared his attraction to the sprite. Lifting its head, it burst across the grass and closed its jaws over the space where the sprite had been a moment earlier. A loud snap rang out, and the group tightened the grip on their weapons. Next to Christoph, Regal had closed his eyes and was holding his staff with both hands, blue light gathering in the crystals embedded in the head. Christoph’s mouth began to water, and he licked his lips as he stared over at the glowing gemstones.

The plains dragon continued to lunge at the sprite that Lily had summoned, sitting still until the glowing spirit danced into reach and then lashing out with its tongue and jaws to catch the tiny figure. The body of the lizard stood about three or four meters high, although as it was in the shape of a gecko its height was the smallest to its measurements. On the other hand, the spirit was no larger than a foot tall, and it was a wonder that the dragon was even interested in such tiny prey.

As Regal continued to channel mana into his staff, the lizard became more and more distracted, eventually turning away from the spirit entirely. Lily swore as Ruth and Coin stepped forward to block it, the small sprite also whirring down in front of the lizard and dancing around at close range. The next snap of the lizard’s jaws closed down over the spirit, a pulse sounding as the mana dissipated suddenly, frost appearing on the outside of the dragons jaws. Nearby, Lily dropped to her knees, breathing heavily and leaning on Quester for support.

The lizard seemed to grow slightly sluggish with the cold, sitting motionless for a handful of seconds as Regal continued to channel mana. Suddenly it dashed across the distance, tongue whipping out to catch Ruth on the shield. The sturdy item shook on impact and was torn from Ruth’s grasp, disappearing into the dragon’s mouth to be chewed up somewhat unceremoniously for what Christoph assumed to be the namesake of the group.

Ruth staggered back, Coin following his movements closely. Lily reached for her bow, but Quester shook his head at her instead, dragging her backwards away from the fight. The next time the dragon lunged, Ruth was barely able to dodge the blow. The time after, the tongue flashed out between the two men, and Coin was able to strike at the soft organ with his spear, although the dragon didn’t even seem to notice.

“Regal!” Ruth shouted.

Opening his eyes, Regal raised the staff to the sky and thrust the mana skywards. It exploded forth from the gemstones, disappearing into the air above him. A moment later, the temperature dropped noticeably. Frost formed on the lizard once more, this time covering its entire head and body. The dragon seemed to pause for an age before turning towards the source of the spell.Just as it made its move, though, a large icicle formed in the air above it, hovering for a split second before stabbing down into its body like a giant frozen lance.

The dragon writhed as it was struck, coiling around in soundless pain. Coin circled around the beast before leaping up onto it’s back, walking forwards until he stood above the head. Clutching his spear in both hands, he aimed it down into the beast’s brain and, seeming to glow for a moment, slammed it through the dragon’s skull in one massive strike. The tremendous monster thumped ditches into the grassy plain before slumping down in the finality of death.

After confirming that the beast was dead, Regal unfurled a scroll, mana bursting through the paper to cover the dragon’s corpse as it lay already cool to the touch. The earth trembled as it rose up over the beast in smooth sheets, a layer of rock forming over the dragon and sealing it inside. Inspecting the earthen tomb, Regal used his staff to carve a large symbol into the side of the tomb, a shield that held a crossed spear and staff, a snake coiled around each one.

“Well that’ll keep it preserved for a few days at least,” Ruth said, massaging his shield arm. “Remind me to buy another scroll next time we visit a guild building. A shield, too.”