Chapter 9: The Missing Daughter

Why do people become adventurers? If you had the means and skill to become one, what would be your driving force?

Some people take up the task because they want to make the world a better and safer place. They want to do good deeds and don’t care about rewards and fame as long as they can help people. These types of adventurers are extremely rare.

Most of the other adventurers think they are idiots.

For most people, there are two driving forces behind becoming an adventurer: the rewards and fame. Even the most noble of adventurers will rarely pass up an opportunity that leads to great reward. Whether it is magical artifacts, land and titles, or the most basic and coveted of all rewards, money.

Thane and his friends were enjoying the days of peace, they had returned from Twinford after a small adventure involving a “kidnapping” (according to Sarah) and were slowly getting used to life in the garrison fortress. Then everything changed.

A job came in, one that seemed to be low risk and high reward. They jumped at the chance, they had already enjoyed one large reward and this one could be even larger. However this small easy job would start a chain of events that would send Thane and his friends traveling further than they ever expected to go.

And not all of them would return.

*************************************

Thane

Thane let out a yawn and not even the movement of the horse he was riding could seem to shake him fully awake. After being separated from Mersine he was forced to follow Sarah and Kisha around for the rest of the day so they could keep an eye on him.

Even at night he couldn’t relax and barely got any sleep. Since Bartholemew went back with Stone early, and Mahs didn’t show up until morning he had the room to himself. He was just too tense, mostly because of Mersine…

“Hey Thane, Sarah tells me you got kidnapped yesterday.” Lily loudly proclaimed as they rode back home.

“It wasn’t a kidnapping, we just got separated.”

“Yeah, you “just got separated” to be alone with a beautiful Elf woman. What did you two do together?”

“She just helped me with buying something, then gave me a gift to help with mercenary work.”

“So it really wasn’t a kidnapping, it was a date. Did you at least give her a good kiss at the end?”

Thane sped up his horse trying to avoid the question.

“Sounds like my date was a bit more productive then.”

He was trying to ignore the gazes he got from the others when he realized what she said. She was with Mahs when they separated and he never came back last night. He looked over his shoulder at his old friend, only to see him smiling with a bit more smug satisfaction than usual.

When they arrived at the fortress, Bartholomew, Stone and Harland were waiting for them at the gate. “Hey cousin,” said Bart, “We have a job back home. Stone said he would give us a hand, we kind of need his muscles for this one.” He turned to Thane, “You don’t mind if I borrow him for a bit right?”

He looked to the giant and nodded, “Yeah, if he wants to go bring him along. It sounds like it might be important.”

“Thank you, seriously, thank you.”

--------------------------------

It was two days before Marcus had another job for them. Most of the time Thane spent memorizing and perfecting the circles that Mersine had given him. He confirmed with Gryssel what he had assumed earlier. The second circle provided by her was something that non-Elves were rarely allowed to see. He told Thane that it would only be given if she had a great trust or affection for him.

After Marcus called for them, Thane went around to gather his companions. Mahs had emerged from his room for the first time earlier that day and was uncharacteristically eager to get back to mercenary work.

When they gathered Marcus wasted no time in getting down to business. “All right, this is going to be an unusual request, and I have to make it quick because it needs to be done fast. It’s not official, there are no documents, and I can’t predict how much pay you will get. Consider this something of an emergency request.”

“A bit to the East, there was a merchant caravan that was attacked. As far as we can tell, there was nothing taken, and there are no survivors. It is like their goal was to kill rather than steal. Gailwyn gathered what information she could from scrying the location, the caravan is located off any trade roads, so it was driven into an ambush on purpose. It’s perfectly possible this is meant as some sort of bait for someone, so be cautious. I will say the chances of an ambush are low since the caravan is stopped in a wide open field.”

“So, what do you want us to do?” asked Thane.

“Salvage what you can. If everyone in that caravan is really dead, then according to salvage law, the goods belong to the first person who acquires them.”

“That’s rather morbid.”

“It is, but the money we get from the goods can keep the company running, and you all will get a cut for recovering whatever is there. Plus there could be survivors.”

“We’ll do it,” said Mahs, and Thane nodded in agreement. He was a bit uncomfortable about going on a trip just to loot a battlefield, but if there were any survivors they might need help.

“Good, if you’re all in, gather what supplies you need and meet Gailwyn at the gate. She has a cart and horses ready for you. Move quickly, you need to get there as soon as possible.”

They geared up as quickly as they could and met Gailwyn at the gate. “I had Gryssel head out to look for Lance and his knights. They will follow you as soon as they can. So if things get a bit dangerous, wait for them.”

Mahs got on the cart and spurred the horses on as fast as they could safely go. The others kept pace on their horses and headed to the location that Gailwyn directed them to. They saw the smoke long before they could see the remains of the caravan, acting like a beacon for them and any other scavengers who might take notice.

When they arrived, the scene was not quite what they expected.

The first thing that stood out was the level of destruction that was in front of them. Every horse, human, and wagon, as well as the field for 20 meters around the caravan was charred black.

The second thing that stood out was that the caravan was already found by someone, or rather something. Two dozen tiny bipedal lizards were sifting through the remains. Comparing them to the Lizardman Krasus, these ones were half the size, much ganglier and had elongated snouts. They ripped apart wagons trying to get inside and were picking through the blackened corpses of the people who were part of the caravan. A handful of them noticed Thane’s group and broke off from the remains to scream and shake spears and swords at the intruders, trying to scare them off.

“Do salvage rights apply to these goblin lizards?” asked Sarah.

“Leios,” corrected Mahs, “But calling a mainland Leios a goblin is not too far off of the truth. They are equal parts sadistic and cowardly. Look, they also have a lindworm for transport” He pointed over to a long serpentine creature with four legs that had a wheeless cart attached to it.

“Do we really want to fight them just because they got here first?” asked Kisha. “They’re kind of cute.”

Suddenly one of them gave a triumphant yipping noise as he pulled a wooden panel off one of the wagons. Two Leios grabbed something and pulled it out. It was a human woman, who seemed relatively untouched by the fire.

“We should see if she is alive.” said Thane, “You think these lizards will want to fight or let us take her?”

“They will want to fight.” said Kisha, her expression suddenly becoming serious. “‘Rain down fire upon them and I will send my minions to clean up’, does that sound familiar Sarah?”

“It does.”

Thane wasn’t certain what the two of them were talking about, but he watched the Leios that pulled the woman out of the wreckage. They kicked her a few times to see if she was alive, then one took a spear and stabbed her in the shoulder. He watched the woman react, giving a painful wince and twisted her body trying to escape. “Damn it, I’m going in now. She’s still alive.”

He spurred his horse forward and drew his bow. He had shot arrows from horseback once before, so he should be able to do it again right? He drew and aimed at one of the closer Leios that was trying to scare his group away. The arrow managed to hit the creature directly in the head, killing it instantly.

“I was aiming for the chest but that works.” He fired two more arrows, one missing his target but hitting another behind him, and the third hitting nothing but the charred earth. He was drawing close to the woman and the Leios surrounding her, but didn’t dare fire any arrows at them. I would be just as likely to hit her if I shoot now, he thought.

He only had a few seconds to prepare his magic. He heightened his speed and reflexes as he closed in on the group, six of the creatures were surrounding the woman. A handful of goblins...lizards..whatever with small spears and bone swords should be easy enough to take care of.

He used his sword to slash at one from his horse before leaping off into the mob with a blade in each hand. He used the body of one to break his fall, and quickly dispatched two more with his swords. Next was the one who was holding his spear down on the woman's shoulder, pinning her to the ground. The last two charged him, but were too panicked to raise their weapons properly and soon met the same fate as their companions.

Thane looked around for any movement near him. He saw his friends dispatching or chasing off the rest of the little creatures and once he was certain that there was no more danger, he walked over to the woman on the ground. She was young, close in age to Thane with bright red hair and pale skin. She was giving out soft moans of pain and occasionally coughing. She must have inhaled a lot of smoke and couldn’t fully wake up. He got down on a knee and looked at the shoulder wound where the spear was sticking out.

“Kisha, I need you over here.” he shouted before turning back to the woman on the ground. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’m about to pull the spear out of your shoulder.” He tore off the arm of her bloody dress and braced her on the ground before gripping the spear and pulling it out. She gave a quick cry of pain and her eyes fluttered open for a second before closing again. Thane used the cloth in his hands to press down on the shoulder wound until Kisha arrived.

“I’ve got her, you go and check on Mahs so I don’t have to heal him too.”

Thane looked over and saw Mahs examining the Lindworm, “Hey, watch out around that thing.”

“It’s domesticated, harnessed to a cart, I think it will be fine.” He walked around the beast, its long body was longer than a horses, but overall it was about half the height. Once he walked into the field of vision of the serpentine creature, it turned and snapped at him causing him to jump back in fright. The creature gave out a few more snaps and threatening hisses at Mahs before Thane walked up to it and slapped its hind legs with his sword sheath causing it to run off into the distance, dragging the skid behind it.

“It was domesticated by creatures much smaller than you with faces similar to its own. Come on, we need to look for more survivors.”

They split up and searched the remains of the caravan. It seemed like it was a waste of time, everything had collapsed and had either burned or was still burning. Whatever goods were stacked in the carts and wagons were now ruined and the people running the caravan didn’t survive.

The only bit of salvage was a large chest that was sealed and strong enough to avoid burning up, and the only survivor was the one girl. Thane looked inside the wagon that the Leios pulled her out of. There was obviously some sort of protective magic at work here, as the inside of her wagon was fairly untouched. However it seemed like the heat and smoke nearly killed her even if the flames couldn’t touch her. He noticed a small personal chest in the protected area of the wagon and curiosity got the better of him.

It wasn’t locked so he opened it and looked inside. What he found was a set of fine clothes, embellished with gold trim, a small bag of coins, and a heavy necklace that held a large eight pointed star. There was another, smaller jewelry box inside, and when Thane opened it he found a collection of red gemstones of various shapes and sizes both cut and uncut. He was no gem expert, but it looked like they were all rubies.

He closed the box and chest and pulled it out of the wagon. They obviously belonged to the unconscious girl, which meant she was someone very wealthy. “Is she awake?” he asked Kisha.

“No, her wounds are healed but she is feverish. She was basically baked in that wagon with no air to breathe. I’m doing what I can to heal her lungs and cool her down.”

There was silence for a moment before she spoke again, “Thane, I think we heard the people planning this attack. Sarah and I did.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“We didn’t know much, only that they were attacking something somewhere, trying to acquire a target. One of them was a mage. He was given instructions to hit this caravan with all his power and leave to let the other clean up. Whatever or whoever he was after, he didn’t want the mage coming close to it and he didn’t mind killing all these people to get it.”

Thane walked over to the large chest that had survived the fire, it was locked. “Sarah, come over here, I need you to pick this lock.”

“Pick a lock? What makes you think I can do it?”

“I saw you pick the lock to the roof of the keep remember?”

“Right..” she came over and fiddled with the lock for a moment until it popped open. When Thane flipped open the top, he was greeted with the scent of many different herbs and spices. The inside of the chest was layered with small shelves. On each shelf and hanging from the lid were several dried leaves, ground seeds, and desiccants to keep the inside dry. “Those look like they might be valuable, so this trip isn’t a total loss.”

Sarah walked over to her brother while Thane started moving around the shelves until he found something that stood out. It was a cube about the same size as a human head that appeared to be made of silver, however when he picked it up, it was almost weightless. The sides were polished to an incredibly bright sheen that didn’t get marred by the dirt and sweat on his hands, and one of the corners had a small sigil carved into it. The strangest part was, despite the fact that the cube appeared to be flawless silver, it didn’t reflect anything. He quickly tucked the cube away and closed the lid to the chest.

Thane saw horses approaching in the distance, and was tensing up getting ready for their arrival until he noticed they were being led by Lance. The young noble rode up to Thane. “Sorry I’m late, I regret not being able to help you with these creatures. Did you manage to find any survivors?”

“Just one, and several burned corpses. Kisha is tending to her now.”

Lance dismounted from his horse, handing off the reins to one of the men following him and looked around the area. “This is worse than I thought.” He started to walk towards Kisha with Thane following, “And the Leios, they seem to be appearing more and more.” He stopped in his tracks when he saw the woman that survived the attack. Once he regained his composure he rushed forward. “Lady Astley, are you alright? Ruby, can you hear me?”

“She’ll be fine,” said Kisha, “She’s healed so we just need to wait for her to wake up. She was protected from flames, but was trapped in a burning wagon.”

“And the blood?”

“One of the lizard guys stabbed her in the shoulder after pulling her out. That wound has been healed as well.”

Lance picked her up and walked to his horse, “Thank you, I will take Lady Astley back to the fortress and wait for you there.” He handed her off to the knight holding his horse and jumped up on it’s back. The man handed her up to him and he placed her in front on the saddle. “Get a few men from Twinford to clean this up and bury the bodies.” The man nodded and Lance rode off back to the fortress with his men following closely behind.

The one man who received instructions gave Thane a quick bow before leaving as well. Once again Thane and his friends were the only ones left at the caravan.

“That was quick,” Mahs said. “Whoever this Lady Astley is, she must be important. Or at least important to him.” He kicked the last wagon and watched it fall apart. “Let's pack up those chests and get going ourselves.” They loaded up the cart and prepared to leave when Mahs asked Thane a question, “Hey could you take the cart this time, I need to make a quick stop on the way back.”

“You sure you don't want to travel together?”

“Nah, I kind of need to do this on my own.”

Thane nodded, “See you back at the keep.”

---------------------------------

Thane was missing some important information and it annoyed him. He was back at the keep, lying on the bed in his quarters while turning the strange cube around in his hands. He still couldn’t figure out what it was and he wasn’t entirely certain why he had hid it. He felt that it was dangerous, and the less people that knew about it the better. Its light weight made him think it was some sort of box, but he had no idea how to open it.

He stood up and set the box in a drawer before walking out of his room. He wanted to check on the others, as well as the girl that they found. She shared the same last name as the deceased Baron, so it was easy to piece together her identity.

When he reached the room where she was recovering, she was sitting up and drinking water with Marcus and Lance sitting next to her recovery bed. Galwyn was there as well, her book was already open and she was examining the girl.

She gave Thane a polite bow when she saw him. “Thank you for helping me, I was barely conscious but I do remember what you did. Where is the girl who healed me? I would like to thank her as well.”

“She is somewhere in the keep,” Marcus replied, “You can meet with her later, for now I want you to tell us what happened.”

“I’m not entirely sure, one of the men guiding the caravan cast some sort of protective spell on me and locked me in the wagon. Then all I could hear was explosions. I tried to get out but the dome that kept the fire out also kept me in.”

“Did you see what attacked the caravan?”

“No.”

“Did you notice anything or anyone strange when the caravan was being driven into the open field?”

“Open field? No, I stayed inside and didn’t show myself to the others. I thought we were on the main highway heading to the Deep Road.”

“Why were you in the caravan in the first place?”

“I thought I was in danger. I didn’t want the person who attacked the manor to find me, so I hid and was trying to get to some friends near the mountains.”

“All right, no more questions about the incident my lady, I apologise if you thought this was some sort of interrogation. A lot has been happening lately and we were hoping you could provide us with some information. I do have one more personal question. We found the focus of the eight pointed star in your belongings, are you a practicing priestess?”

“Ah, yes, but I am not ordained. I doubt father would allow it.”

“You chose an odd god to follow. There are no temples to the Golden Ascendant here.”

“It was left to me by my parents, before the Baron adopted me. They were both priests.”

“I understand, one last question. Are you gold born?”

She shook her head no, “I sometimes wish I was, I wonder what it would be like. Unfortunately I am just as you see.”

Marcus nodded and left with Gailwyn, leaving her alone with Thane and Lance. He probably left to speak with her in private to confirm if the girl was lying or not. Thane did have a question for the girl. “I’m sorry for asking, but what is gold born? I’m not familiar with that term.”

She chuckled, “It has to do with the god I follow, it is not a human god. He was asking politely if I was a dragon in human form.”

“So if it is not a human god, what made you dedicate yourself to it?”

“It was my parents, before I was adopted. They served the guardians of the Dragonspine Mountains to the north and worshipped their god.”

“What exactly does gold born mean?”

“I don’t mind telling the story if you have the time to listen.”

Thane found an open place to sit down, “I have time. Please tell me.”

-------------------------------------------------

Long ago when mankind was still in its infancy, the dragons roamed the world freely. For the most part, dragons are affected by the environment they grow in. A dragon raised in the forest will have its body adapt to the forest. Its scales will grow green in color and often begin to appear to be partially made of rocks or grass.

There were exceptions of course, breeds of so called “true” dragons that would not change their appearance. The two largest groups of these are the same two that survive to this day after all the others have died off. One of them had scales that shone bright red and had eyes that burned like fire. The other had scales that shimmered like glinting steel and eyes that were cold as ice.

About the same time for each, a child was born that did not share the colors of its parents. To the red scaled dragons was born a girl who’s scales were pitch black. To the steel scaled dragons a boy was born who’s scales shone like gold. They grew fast and became more powerful than any other dragons and soon became the leaders of the two tribes. They had a strange gift, they could freely assume the form of mortals and walk among them. As they observed mortals together, they began to disagree on how to treat the mortal races that were quickly growing and expanding in the world.

The black dragon was lithe and cunning, but contained a dreadful power. She became known as the Dark Lady Tiamat. Her plan was to rule over and subjugate the mortals, culling their population and keeping them confined to their own areas to serve their superior dragon masters.

The gold dragon was wise and massive. He was the largest dragon to ever live and they called him The Behemoth, a name that eventually became The Guardian Bahamut. He said that the mortal races had a right to this world, and the dragons should teach and guide them to prosperity.

This dispute led to war among the dragons, and every dragon was forced to take a side in the conflict. The proud Tiamat and her people would never see these small beings as anything close to being their equals. The noble Bahamut did not want to needlessly exterminate life or destroy the freedom of other intelligent beings.

The war took a terrible toll on the land as well as dragonkind. They were brought to near extinction before the conflict could ever come to a conclusion. In the end, there was never a winner in the war. The mortal races grew alone, without the guidance or tyranny of the dragons.

As for the Gold and Black dragons, they grew more powerful as the war raged on, eventually, they both became so powerful that they were worshipped as gods. Eventually this idolatry became the truth, as both dragons ascended to godhood. Before they ascended they had many children and grandchildren. Every descendant of the Black and Gold dragons was born with the same ability of their ancestor. They could freely take the form of the mortal races and walk among them undetected.

**************************************

Mahs

Once he had separated from the group and rode off a bit, he stopped. When he was certain he wouldn’t be seen, he turned his horse around and rode back to the burned caravan.

After a few days he had finished creating his spell focus. The clear crystal he used as the centerpiece was now a deep black color that seemed to swirl like ink. He still wasn’t completely certain what cyphied was, but a single drop spread over the gem and changed it to its current color.

He was beginning to have second thoughts. There were many different four circle spells he could attempt to cast, why did it have to be this particular one? Sure it worked well with his catalyst and it was compatible with his mana now that he was tapping into the shadow realm to strengthen his illusions. Still, this might be too much. After all, the spell he was about to attempt was one of the most famous spells among mages, even though most of them frowned upon its use.

He got off his horse and walked around in the charred field trying to encourage himself. “All right, a four circle spell. No big deal, maybe one in a hundred aspiring mages make it to the third circle, and out of those for each fourth circle success there are twenty failures.” He slapped his cheeks, “You’re not a failure Mahs.”

He gathered his mana and held the catalyst to his chest. He began to form the constructs he needed and the external mana began to flow into him.

Conjure: He summoned a spirit that would serve as the base of the spell

Imbue: The spirit would enter and empower his target.

Bind: The target would stay together despite stress, and continue to function through artificial connections.

Animate: The target would be brought to “life”.

He laid his hand on the corpse in front of him to complete the spell and stepped back. He felt fine, the mana didn’t overstress his channels, and the mental constructs were all formed successfully so…

The corpse moved. Its arms moved first, pushing itself off the ground, soon it was standing as the charred skin began to crack and flake off. It didn’t look at him, it didn’t seem to perceive anything, but he knew that was just because he hadn’t told it to take any actions.

“Turn to me,” Mahs said. The corpse dragged one foot behind it and pivoted until it was facing him. He tried the next command mentally, Raise your right arm, the corpse followed his instructions even without verbal commands.

Now what to do? Mahs suddenly realized he couldn’t bring a burned zombie with him, and if he left it here it would be discovered when the knight came back. He decided to try something. “Die” he said, but the zombie just stared straight ahead. He sighed and pulled out his sword plunging it into the chest of the walking corpse.

Nothing.

He tried again, piecing the head followed by the neck in an attempt to sever the spine only to have the zombie give no reaction. Finally he slashed it, removing it’s head and watching it collapse to the ground.

“That's not suspicious at all, having a headless burned corpse lying around." He wiped off his sword, “Maybe they will think it was done by one of the Leios.”

He supposed it wasn’t important anymore. His goal was achieved. He managed to cast a fourth circle spell for the first time, and once again before anyone else in his team.