At the back of the large, empty chamber there was a torch on the wall which Dror’Khanik had instructed her to pull downwards using her full body weight, and as she did the ground shook slightly. Erica had to plug her ears with her fingers as the large, stone wall moved seemingly on its own, revealing the woods of northern Arvendon on the other side. There among the trees stood something else she had not expected. The three giants covered in blood and flesh, carrying horses and carriages under their arms. Many of said horses were already dead, dangling from the straps and wooden beams which attached them to the carriages. One of them had half its body missing, while some of them lacked most if not all of their head. Some looked relatively undamaged, yet didn’t move at all as their legs dangled slightly above the ground. Those who showed clear signs of life looked frightened and defeated, barely moving as if they had given up on fighting back long ago when doing so proved to be fruitless.

“What in the nine hells…?” Erica asked herself as the giants dragged the carriages inside, dumping them on the stone floors of the chamber. “Where did they get all this?” She voiced her thoughts, demanding an answer from the dragon.

“As I told you earlier, an opportunity revealed itself and I instructed them to make use of it.”

“And what does that mean? Did they rob a caravan?” She stated the obvious.

“Precisely.”

“Why? What’s wrong with you?”

“Those are quite the harsh words, Erica. I had them take an insignificantly small fraction of this merchant's wealth, his life will not change in the slightest from losing these goods.” Dror’Khanik lectured in a dismissive fashion.

“And the blood? They look like they rubbed that weird flesh blob in the fucked up room against their bodies!” She furiously exclaimed.

“That’s quite the way to speak of people who are suffering, and here I thought you cared enough to want to help them. Perhaps I was mistaken.”

“Don’t twist my words, did they just kill a bunch of people?”

“There were a few… casualties… Some of his guards did not know when to run and as such met an… unfortunate fate. Though I can assure you that the merchant was not harmed.”

“What do we even need all this for? They did not have to die for this.” Erica spat at the Dragon’s dismissive words.

“We are in dire need of disposable resources…”

“Such as?” She interrupted in a frustrated fashion.

“We need the wealth to purchase the supplies needed to clean up this hideout, food for you as well as those who will follow you, clothes to get you out of those rags which you have been wearing for almost a week straight… I am sure you would also appreciate soap and clean water… Not to mention books which will help you learn how to read and how to cast magic, so you can make sense of the rituals I must teach you. We must also acquire weapons for you as well as those who will choose to follow you, and that is but the beginning of the things we will need.” Dror’Khanik lectured her as if he was a frustrated parent, speaking slowly and methodically to make sure what he had said sunk in.

“I-” Erica tried to interject but stopped herself. Dror’Khanik was right, yet stealing from others did not feel right. Not to mention how people had died protecting the carriages and wagons which were now standing on the stone floors before her.

“You made the choice to fight, Erica… and we cannot afford to fight fair.” The dragon added before she could follow her trail of thoughts further.

“They did not have to die…”

“Do you remember what I told you back after your confrontation with the doctors who murdered your beloved child? When you asked me for my name?”

“You told me the story of your father…” Erica recounted his words with insecurity showing in her voice.

“I told you a tale of a war older than the gods themselves. How many lives do you believe have been lost in this fruitless conflict?”

“I-I don’t know…” She carefully stated as an orange light began shining through the cracks in her right arm. Terror momentarily filled her as a darkness crawled upwards from the bottom of her eyes, aiming to cover them. Like black slugs crawling out of her own eye sockets to devour them.

“More than you can ever imagine. Before the foolish sun boy trapped me in this prison, the last thing I saw was endless fields of corpses.” Dror’Khanik’s voice echoed as the darkness consumed her, yet the moment everything became dark she was greeted by the beautiful sight of a setting sun over a distant horizon. It was still somewhat blurry, with countless shades of orange, red and yellow overwhelming her. Yet as her eyes adjusted to the bright colours, what she found was not as glorious as she had originally thought.

What she thought was a sunset was a pile of burning corpses the size of a small mountain, and all around it laid the remains of humans, elves and dwarves alike. As she turned to look away from the gut wrenching sight before her all she could see was more corpses. Everywhere she looked there was nothing but death, and as she took in the devastating sight before her something massive crashed into the ground right in front of her with unbelievable force. Once the dust settled she saw it was the corpse of a massive dragon, with dull blue scales stained by blood. A large portion of its neck had been torn from its body by teeth the size of her head.

“Fire and death rained from the skies as dragonkind destroyed one another… and as those who worshipped the greater dragons joined the fight there was no end to the bloodshed. I lost countless kin that fateful night… and my legacy was swiftly extinguished by one single man who carried the blessing of the Lady of Destruction.” As Dror’Khanik’s voice echoed around her as she looked up at the skies only to see more dragon’s in it than clouds. Orbs of fire rained from the heavens as if they had taken the place of raindrops on a stormy night, with lightning striking the ground as the monsters above her roared with great vigour.

“What you see around you little one, is the fate which awaits this world. An unending conflict seeking to resurface, as the temporary ceasefire which has blessed this world hunts for reasons to bring itself to an end. I wish to stop it. As long as the dragon mother lives the curse which plagues dragonkind cannot be broken and the war will continue.”

Erica looked over at the distant mountains as a gigantic dragon fell out of the sky, taking several smaller dragons down with it as they were crushed under its enormous body. Every hair on her body rose as if to salute the apocalyptic scenario before her as a shiver ran down her spine.

“The men who lost their lives today, they mean nothing when you know what is to come. Lives will be lost, such a thing is inevitable… but the lives of few mean nothing in comparison to the lives of countless. I can stop this war, Erica… I can prevent this tragic battle from repeating itself once again, an end to the cycle of death.” As he spoke the world around her shattered, like pieces of glass falling from a broken window, disappearing somewhere far below her in a great abyss of nothingness. Leaving her in the same anxiety inducing darkness which greeted her when the slugs consumed her eyes. Yet shortly after her vision returned, placing her before the gruesome scene of the blood and gore-stained giants before her. She stumbled backwards into the wall behind her as the world briefly spun around her, overwhelmed by everything she had just witnessed. A scene which made the decapitated horses and guts before her seem like child’s play.

“This war is my story, a fate placed upon me against my will which tore everything I had apart. I was raised on bloodshed and death, full of rage and anger, and such is my curse. Without something to fight for, we are nothing, and so I made this war my own. It is not yours to fight, and if I am freed you will never have too… But you chose to fight for the sake of your daughter’s life. You chose to have her returned to you at the cost of setting me free, which makes you part of something larger than yourself. You must come to terms with the deaths of others, so that you can save what matters to you. If that is your daughter or this world, I could not care less. As long as what you choose to fight for brings you the resolve to move forward.”

For several moments Erica had no idea what to say. She felt like a troubled child who had to be lectured by a parent, yet somehow said parent was a monster larger than buildings capable of destroying civilizations. The pressure and fear she faced made her want to cry, yet more than anything she wanted to wrap her arms around her daughter in a tight hug. A creeping sense of loneliness crawled up her body like an army of spiders, yet at the core of it all she knew there was only one thing she could do. Any of the other choices she had would leave her with an unimaginable guilt which outweighed what she felt in regards to the men who had died fighting her giants. “I want to fight.” She repeated her own words from a few days ago, and was greeted by the comfortable warmth of the dragon’s magic.

“Then I shall fight with you.” Dror’Khanik responded as the giants walked further into the chamber around her.

With a deep breath she pulled the torch once again, closing the massive stone doorway they entered from. “So what happens next?”

“There is a bath with running water down the hall, it has to be filtered to be considered clean but it is good enough for now. I suggest we bring the giants some water to wash off the blood, after that they can clean out the ritual chamber for you.”

“And then?”

“And then I suggest you go over what is in the carriages. You will have to empty one of them and fill it with whichever valuables you find. Some supplies are easier to purchase than to steal.”

*

A few hours later Erica found herself wrapped up in one of the robes she had found inside one of the carriages. A luxurious, blue robe with golden threads weaved into it to add a bit of glow to the fabric, though it was very clearly meant for someone larger in size than herself. Something about the robe made her feel like she was wearing a tent and not a piece of clothing.

The giants had been sent into the ritual chamber with several buckets of water, yet her gut feeling told her the room would never be truly clean without countless soaps and a few mops. The carriages had also been emptied and Erica had taken the time to sort out and count the supplies she had. Or at least she had done her best, as eventually she reached numbers larger than she had worked with before. There was plenty of food, horse feed, a few weapons which seemed to be in good condition as well as an abundance of silk fabrics and high quality threads. Dror’Khanik had urged her to sell the fabrics and threads yet Erica insisted on keeping some of them. Sewing had always been a hobby of hers, yet for the last few years she had never been able to afford the materials for it. Her mother had taught her to both sew and knit many years ago, and she had always found there to be something calming about working with her hands. Seeing the threads weave together into something beautiful had brought her genuine joy in the past and something within her wanted to do it again. She had also never seen fabrics and threads as exquisite as these, and simply running her fingers across the cloth filled her with small bursts of excitement.

Though that was not all that she found in the carriage. There were also fine wines of brands from distant lands, with labels in languages she had never seen before. As well as more money than Erica had ever seen before, taking the form of several pouches of gold and several small chests full of precious gemstones. She had never seen a real diamond before, yet now she held one between her fingertips which was larger than the dice the regulars back at the Drunken Duckling would use to gamble with. There was something frustrating about how she had struggled her entire life to even be allowed to exist, yet here was someone who carried enough money with them to purchase everything Erica owned several times over. Dror’Khanik had also told her that the massive wealth before her was insignificantly small in comparison to everything else the merchant owned, and trying to imagine how much more they could have possibly owned made her grit her teeth.

“Have you packed the things you are willing to part with?” The dragon’s voice appeared in her mind.

“I think so, I hope it's okay that I am leaving some of the fabrics here after all…”

“If it will bring you some joy in these troubled times then I have no qualms with you keeping them.”

“Thank you.” She let out a soft smile while putting the diamond back in the small, ornate chest before her.

“I believe the best place to buy the things you need would be Laverne, there too you will be able to find said supplies you need in high quality.”

“Won’t it take forever to head there?”

“It will take a few days, though the horses drastically increase the speed of your travels.”

“Are they in a condition to run already? They looked pretty roughed up when… well… when the giants arrived with them…” She glanced over at the horses which the giants had helped attached to the carriage. The other surviving horses had been locked up in what seemed to be the dusty remains of an old stable adjacent to the large chamber which connected to the outside, while the ones which had passed were going to be harvested for whichever parts of them were edible.

“Yes, if not then I will make sure to change that.” He said as Erica’s right arm flared up for the second time that day. An orange glow shining through the cracks as a stinging pain spread throughout her arm.

“What did you do this time?” Erica asked curiously once the pain faded.

“Consider it… protection. As the giants will remain here. I will explain the spells while you are on the road.”

“Right… the giants had to stay here for now since it's a big deal if they are spotted.” She repeated back what Dror’Khanik told her earlier back to him.

“Precisely.”

“Then… I guess I am ready to go…” There was a touch of anxiety in her voice as she jumped onto the carriage. The roads were not safe and travelling alone was like asking to get robbed or kidnapped, and now she was doing exactly that. One of the giants effortlessly pulled the torch downwards, opening the large doorway for her and letting a pleasant gust of fresh air into the large chamber.

“Do not worry, I will make sure the roads are safe.”

“Alright, then I will trust you.” She responded as she carefully whipped the horse's reins, beginning her travels into the forests of Arvendon.