The next morning, Oskar awoke feeling more refreshed than he had in weeks. Funny how working a double and then heading straight to bed and sleeping for a full night really resets the body. He sat up in his bed and looked around his room, appreciating the emptiness.

Originally, the barracks housed two men per room to facilitate the full squad, but over time, men settled down and started families of their own. As one of the most senior squad members, Oskar now had his own room to himself. Just a small bunk bed, side table and desk populated the room, but the luxury of not sharing with someone else was all he needed. Not paying rent was nice too, and as he prepared for the day, he checked the small chest hidden underneath his bed.

Plenty saved up for a fun trip to Baybreach with Manuel! he thought as he counted out some coins and separated them into a small pouch. One day, I might have enough to ask Olena to marry me… but until then, party! He finished getting dressed for the day, and headed out.

On his way to Manuel’s, Oskar stopped by the forge to ask Tobias about the new guy, Enzo, and his dubious scale. I bet that thing was a fake anyway, just some garnet he found in a cave. Tobias probably put him to work yesterday just for wasting his time. He entered the shop side of the building and found Tobias examining the scale. The old smith looked up and smiled at Oskar as he entered the room.

“Hey there, my boy, what can I do for you today?” Tobias asked brightly as he tucked the scale under the counter.

“Not much, I’m just about to grab Manuel and head to Baybreach for a few days,” Oskar responded cheerily. “Do have to follow up a little bit though, on an… unusual encounter I had yesterday.”

“Yeah?” Tobias responded, waiting to hear how exactly he was involved in this.

“I sent a young man your way yesterday. Came from the woods looking a bit rough. Showed me this garnet he found in a cave, claimed it was some kind of dragon scale. Did he show it to you?” Oskar asked, knowing full well the old smith had the scale under the counter.

“He did,” Tobias responded cautiously. “He’s a good boy, did some real work yesterday. Helped me move through quite a bit of iron ore. Might actually be taking him on as an apprentice soon.”

“Interesting,” Oskar said. My hunch was right, I will be seeing more of him. Old man seems to trust him though, I’ll have to cut him some slack. “What did you make of the scale? Surely it was nothing special, right?”

“Well, I was suspicious too, but it checks out alright. Just being a bit cautious about it, there’s a rumor of a dragon going around, and I don’t want to cause a panic,” Tobias replied, pulling the scale from under the counter. “Best way to test a red dragon scale is with heat. Wouldn’t make much sense for a fire dragon to have scales that couldn’t take some fire, right?”

“Right,” Oskar said, waiting for the smith to continue.

“Well, we popped it right in the furnace as it came to temp and left it there a while,” Tobias continued. “Sure enough, it withstood the heat no problem. Once we pulled it from the fire, you could hold it in your bare hand. The scale absorbed the heat like it was nothing. Boy didn’t seem to have any clue what it was worth, so I bought it off him for some silver and offered to take him on as an apprentice.”

“Did he say anything else about where it came from?” Oskar asked.

“Nothing much, just that he found it in some cave he was hiding in and figured it was worth money,” said Tobias. “He was looking pretty worse for wear, so I thanked him for the work with some dinner and a night at Olena’s. Said he was going to gather up some supplies and head out today, but would be back in a few days. Hope he takes me up on the apprenticeship, he works hard and seemed like he had a good feel for the furnace. Might finally have someone I can train up and leave the place to when I retire.”

Story matches up with what he told me. Guess it really is a scale. Well, this makes things interesting. I’ll have to borrow it from him and show Phillipp. Might have more business in Baybreach than just cheering Manuel up.

“Well, I’m glad he showed some promise for you. Mind if I borrow that scale?” Oskar asked as he leaned in closer to Tobias. “We just spoke with the council about that rumor going around, and they thought having a group check it out was a good idea. Need some kind of proof to convince the governor in Baybreach to send someone out here though, and that scale would do the trick.”

Tobias paused for a moment. “You know what this is worth, son?” he asked.

“Not really, if I’m honest,” Oskar replied.

“Couple gold pieces on its own, probably a dozen to the right person. Tell you what, I’ll come with you to Baybreach. Save the time verifying the scale again there, and you boys won’t have to deal with the governor. Needed to pick up some goods anyway,” Tobias said.

“Well, alright then. Didn’t really want to waste leave on it anyway,” Oskar responded. “Let’s head over to the town hall and talk to Phillipp.”

Tobias nodded and collected a few tools into a small pack. He deposited the scale in his coin purse and followed Oskar from the shop. The walk to the town hall was uneventful, though Oskar did catch Lea bustling around her shop. Must be those traders dropping off some goods. She’s always busy when they come around.

Phillipp sat at his desk in his office within the town hall as the two men approached. Rising, and offering his hand to the men, he shook their hands and led into the conversation.

“Gentlemen, how are you today?” said Phillipp, a broad smile on his face.

“Well Phillipp, we have concerning news,” started Tobias. “Oskar tells me you discussed gathering a group together to hunt for a possible dragon in the wilderness.”

“We did briefly speak about it,” Phillipp responded, turning toward Oskar. “But we decided to not take action before any proof was found.”

“That’s just it, sir,” Oskar replied. “A young man came to the town from the western cliffs yesterday. He claimed to have hidden out in a cave during the storm the other day and found a garnet dragon scale. The man, Enzo, didn’t seem to know what it was or what it’s value was, so I directed him to Tobias.”

Tobias nodded in agreement. “I tested the stone and found it to be a true dragon scale.” He produced the scale from his pouch. “Sat in the furnace while we burned through some iron ore, and when we pulled it out, the imperfections had been buffed away and no heat radiated from the scale. I bought it off the boy, and after seeing him work the furnace with me, I offered him an apprenticeship.”

“Where is the man now?” asked Phillipp.

“He gathered up some supplies and headed back into the forest this morning,” responded Tobias. “Said he’d think on my offer and be back in a couple days.”

“Interesting. Oskar, Gunnar said you were headed to Baybreach for a few days, yes?” said Phillipp. “Take the scale to the governor and see if he’ll send a search party out. I’d rather be safe than sorry, especially with how the hunt has been this year. We can’t afford to be dealing with a dragon this winter.”

“I’m going to head that way with him,” added Tobias. “It’ll save some time verifying the scale, and I needed to grab a few things from the port anyway. No sense in messing with the boys’ trip.” He glanced at Oskar as he said it, with a mischievous glint in his eye.

“It’s settled then,” said Phillipp. “Be sure to report back with whatever news you find.”

The men nodded and headed back into town. Tobias agreed to meet at the front gate in an hour to head out of town together, while Oskar roused Manuel. The pair gathered their things, and headed to the gate, where the three men set off for Baybreach.