Author’s Note: Hey there, last chapters was one of the shorter ones, but it hope you don’t mind it much? :P Anyways, onwards with the story. Point out any mistakes you see, and enjoy!

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Brom’s POV:

I managed to quickly convince Romulus to come with me and investigate dragon’s aftermath. In fact it didn’t take much convincing, when he heard about my idea he immediately ran to his house to get equipment and we met near the gates, which were just being closed. We barely made it, but we managed to leave, with guards wishing us luck. Sometime later, after passing another hill, the dwarf started to grow grumpy.

“I have no idea why I agreed to do it. I am too old for adventures.”

“Oh cheer up, you almost jumped at the idea of going out. You wouldn’t be able to rest in one place not knowing what happened to Plenty and dragon, and now you have chance to find out. Perhaps save some damsel in distress? Are you married Romulus?”

“Oh stuff it, giant. And yes I am married, happily, with 3 kids. My wife luckily was working at the time I got home, otherwise she would probably killed me after hearing what I was doing. And believe me, I prefer facing dragon then her when she is angry.”

I started laughing. We, giants, chose our partners only after attaining some kind of achievements and 100 level. It was custom, nothing more, but it promised a stable family, with no worry about income and future. I myself was eligible to be paired to someone, but I preferred wandering around the world to sitting in one place. Being ambassador to my people was perfect excuse to explore and run around.

The passes leading from Rasgar Hold to Plenty we riddled with crossroads and empty chasms on the side. If one took a wrong step, one could end up falling to his death, or get lost in this labyrinth. Luckily, I had certain grumbling dwarf on my side, so going astray wasn’t an issue. If only he would shut up for a bit and enjoy out journey!

I was excited. Scared as well, but mostly excited. The idea of seeing dragon…mmmm! I trembled with the anticipation.

“Look Rom, the dragon was silent for some time, so for all we know, it may have already left. So there is nothing to worry about!”

The dwarf was grossed out, looking at my being smile.

“Who is Rom? Only my wife calls me Rom, and I hate it. It sounds even worse when I am with you. Rom and Brom, the merry twins! Tfu!”

He spat on the ground while I laughed. He was fun to tease.

At sundown, we reached the final stretch of the mountains, a road leading straight to Plenty. From there we could clearly see what was left after dragon’s attack. Or rather what wasn’t. There was nothing in place where once stood bustling village full of people. Smoldering ashes, black, charred earth and lots of smoke. We had grown quiet a while ago, and now this silence turned grim.

I have never been to Plenty myself, but I heard about it. Population of approximately thousand, with many visitors every day. Usually about 1300 people were in village at one time. It was more of a small town than a village. No more.

Though the smoked masked some of the view, it was easy to spot dragon. It was lying on still on the ground, not making any kind of movements. Has it spotted us? We had no way to hide, except few trees here and there. But after waiting behind them for what seemed to be an eternity, nothing happened. No roar, no flames scorching us. Maybe it was sleeping after expending strength on obliterating Plenty? I came up with a crazy idea, and shared it with Rom.

“Hey, the dragon is sleeping, so it should be safe to go there, right?”

“ARE YOU…are you mad?”

Romulus shouted at me but quickly regained his wits and started whispering.

“You are either mad or blind. You definitely have something wrong with your head. Do you see the size of that thing? A small castle!!!! But this one is flying, breathes fire and has VERY sharp claws!!!! No way in seven hells am I going near that creature. We did what we were supposed to do. No one could have survived such a calamity. We should go back, the Lower Passage will be difficult to cross safely.”

The dwarf turned and started walking back, but my next words stopped him.

“Let’s make camp at the last curve, where we will be hidden from dragon’s view. I want to wait and see what happens.”

“WH..why!!!! You know what will happen? We will wake up in dragon’s belly, that’s what! Or we won’t wake up, he will just roast us in our sleep. Either option is not really appealing to me!”

“Didn’t you notice that the dragon doesn’t move AT ALL? No breathing, no gestures like tail swiping around. It’s like its dead. And I feel in my gut it is so. Remember the last bellow it made? It died out after a while, but it sounded like it was its death throe.”

“Death throe my ass. It’s a DRAGON! A fu..blasted dragon!!!! Nothing is able to kill those!!! And anything that is, I don’t really want to meet. So let’s just go? Please?”

“I am staying. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am. I will wait till tomorrow, and if it still hasn’t changed its position, I am going to check it.”

“Good! Very well! You want to throw your life away, do so by yourself. I don’t care. I will probably not survive Lower Passage, but I at least will have a chance of getting through this shit situation in one piece.”

I watched as he walked away some distance, while grumbling into his beard. I just stood there waiting. Though I didn’t know Romulus for a long time, I recognized his character, and after couple of breaths he didn’t disappoint me. He turned back, and approached me angrily while saying.

“I must be getting dementia, or perhaps your head sickness is infectious. Very well, Brom the Mad. We will camp till the morning comes. But I will be watching the beast during whole night. If even tiny wind picks up from its direction, anything, which could prove that it is still well, and breathing, WHICH IT IS! and we leave immediately. Do you understand?”

“Yes, yes, don’t worry, I will be watching it as well. Though I said about going near it in its sleep, I think if it really moved I will run away as fast as I can. I am not that crazy.”

“Aren’t you now.”

And so, we waited.

The next day, at sunrise, I couldn’t stand anymore tension, and headed for the dragon. My eyes were bloodshot, I didn’t even get a wink of sleep, but I was convinced by now, that the beast was dead. Romulus was in similar state to mine, he was so tired that he didn’t even protest and simply followed behind me to, as he said, get it over with.

We cautiously approached the humongous body. By now only sparse smoke polluted the air, so we were able to see whole glory of the being in front of us. White scales reflected sunlight like ice, almost blinding us. The dragon had no other protrusions except its legs, front and back, tail and wings. No horns, nothing. Sleek body, like an enlarged lizard with wings. As we neared its head, we were startled to see its eyes were open. But then we noticed, that they were blank, with death veil clouding slit iris, so we heaved sigh of relief. And then we noticed it. Romulus, upon seeing it expressed his bewildered opinion.

“What in the gods name is that?!”

I couldn’t agree more. Before us laid, what was, and there is hardly any better way to describe it, a naked, scaled, hairless dwarf. Was this some kind of mutation? Or did this dragon had a child with dwarf somehow??? My imagination showed me scenes of dwarf raping dragon, and I couldn’t abstain from laughing. The sudden noise woke up the enigma before us. We took a step back and prepared our weapons, in case it was hostile. However it didn’t seem that way. He, the dracodwarf, let’s call him that for now, sat up and looked around with his purple eyes with slit irises, seeming confused. When he noticed me he spoke in normal language.

“Who are you? And who am I?”

Seems like we discovered more questions than answers.