A Benevolent Evil Dragon

The cloak helped more than she expected. She didn't feel the cold as bad as most people, but the wind at dusk this time around was particularly sharp, so she thanked her lucky stars that the dragon foresaw this. She got too used to the trees stopping the harsh winds, but that wasn't a possibility here, on the road.

Still, she walked, following the wind. Her companion couldn't hear the wagon he had seen before, so it had likely rushed and passed already, but if it was going somewhere through this place, it meant there was a town nearby. A town they could go to in order to hopefully sell these pelts and earn some coin. The clothes he had made were nice, but a bit too warm for comfort during the day, and rough to her skin. She wanted to go and take a proper bath, eat some salted food, and enjoy a bit of freedom for once in forever… Then she followed the bend in the road, right up until she noticed a shocking sight.

A horse, dead in a puddle, right in the middle of the road. The wind shifted and the scent of blood hit her, but something else drew her attention even more. Two men stood with torches in their hands as another two were ransacking a broken wagon. Her breath trembled as a fifth was simply staring her way, blade in hand. She took a step back, but an arrow struck the ground in front of her. She froze when a rough laughter came out from her left.

A man steps out of the woods, shortbow in hand, arrow nocked. His hand was stained by blood, but did not seem overly uncomfortable. He says something, but it's not in a language she understands, making her frown. A second man, this one with a few knives in his hands comes out and speaks in the same tongue. It's clear to Edith that she is in danger, but she doesn't think she can prepare her sling faster than that man can shoot her so she raises her hands.

"I don't understand you… Please don't hurt me…" She spoke loudly and clearly, hoping at least someone understood her, and if not, she hoped this would be enough for…

"Ah, an imperial lass! It's strange to see one in such a state this side of the border." One did speak it, the man armed with a sword of some make came closer. He had the air of a leader, at least he had it when compared to all the others. His armor of cloth, leather and metal plates also put him as a pretty experienced brigand. All she could do to reply to him was nod. She wasn't technically from the empire, or maybe now she was, but that was the only tongue she knew so that was what she spoke.

"Weird inflection, furs for clothes… You are a weird one, and your luck is rotten. See, my men are quite angry that the woman from that wagon was crazy enough to stab one of my boys, then kill her girl and herself. Corpses don't quite do the trick, so I hope you won't mind tending to them in exchange for walking away from here alive. She seemed more refined, but you are younger and pretty enough to do the trick."

The man wore such a sickening smile as he spoke, one that she couldn't help but want to sear shut herself. Her magic was burning with wrath, threatening to reveal her for what she is, but she managed to calm down with thoughts of what was to come.

"As long as I get to leave alive." Was all she could say.

She got used to her anger burning cold, but it was threatening to boil over soon enough if nothing happened. Had he fallen asleep? Did this not seem threatening enough? Ah, of course, how could he know about what the man is saying since such words didn't pop up in any conversation. She dreaded imagining that the dragon would think this the same as wild animals mating.

"Hah, this is what I like, a lass that knows her place. If you have any weapons you should throw them away now. We won't be kind if we discover them later." She almost teared up imagining herself being defenseless again, but she complied. She threw down a jagged stone knife and her sling. She still had a few pebbles in a pouch, right next to her water, but that was hardly enough to deal with all of these men.

The swordsman laughs, looking towards the ones ransacking the wagon as darkness truly falls over the road. When he turns around he approaches and points his sword at her throat, forcing her to look up at him. "Now, strip. Give a good show to Boguchna and… Oi, Boguchna! Why'd you go back in the woods?" He devolved into speaking the local tongue as he lowered his sword, which made her shoot a look to the side, noticing a distinct lack of an archer and a knife wielder, but she saw the knives on the ground. Whatever the man was saying drew the attention of the ones ransacking, so with no time to waste, she grabbed the pebble pouch, felt her mana rush through her arm, turning it into its true, cursed form, and threw the pouch at the swordsman who just noticed the light of her magic.

The pouch exploded into shrapnel just as a roar echoed through the clearing. She grabbed her sling and a few rocks off the ground, then ran to get some distance. With her sling readied and spun three times around, she turned and threw a burning rock at the leader who had turned to her after the explosion. He just barely evades the stone, but a scream from behind lets him know that she managed to nail one of his men, the rock turning into burning oil which only served to cause a panic.

"Fuck! I'll gut you and fu-"

Whatever morbid threat the leader attempted to shout was drowned out by the scream of that same man as he was dragged into the woods, then silenced with a sickening crunch. For that moment even Edith forgot that she was supposed to either flee or fight. The frail silence was broken by a low rumble mixed with a high pitched animalic yell. These men that could so gruesomely cut others down to pillage found themselves terrified, shouting as one of them threw an axe into the darkness, causing a spark of color towards which another aimed his spear.

She had forgotten it. It had been a month and a bit with her only seeing the result of his hunts rather than his methods. Now she remembered just how wicked her partner was.

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Whistling rocks pummeled the spearman, bashing his face in and causing him to collapse, the swordsman turned to her, convinced that she was the reason for this attack, but in the moment he did a large shadow dashed through one of the men with the torches, the last one running away for his life.

"You damn witch, I'll kill you if you don't call off your beast!" He shouted desperately as he ran at her, but with a stumble in his step.

He was tough, resisting an attack from her already, a flash of magic clear in his eye, but he wasn't invulnerable. Edith stretched her hand, screamed for the flames in her heart to bubble forward and they answered. Once more tainted by chaos, untamed by a proper spell, the flames took the form of tongues of monochrome fire that smacked into the man's legs, making him fall and lose his sword, which slid to her feet. She grabbed it by the handle, pointed it at his throat and for a moment they were at a standstill. She had pushed too much already, and didn't know if she could push out another spell, while the man seemed ready to test his armor, at least until a head fell between the two.

The gurgle of the last man stopped any plans either had. Instead they both stared in horror as the man that had tried to run had apparently stopped after a few steps, barely dragging his unresponsive legs before he began vomiting blood until he simply died.

"Anton…" Was all the leader could say as the man's body collapsed in the puddle of his own blood.

"Alright… you have me. No need for any more violence, Lady Witch. I did not expect someone so strong to be traveling these paths, but I see I've made a grave mistake… You must be a great mercenary, to own such a beast…"

His heart was beating in his chest, but it was clear that diplomacy was his only chance at survival. He even sent probing questions if only to understand what he was dealing with…

Edith, on the other hand, was just as afraid because she didn't even know what to do. Her burning anger demanded she just silenced him, but even so it felt wrong to kill someone now that she could just tie him up. The biggest problem however came from the dragon. The man kept acting like she was a powerhouse ruling a vicious beast, but she didn't know what the dragon even wanted.

"You err, but only by your own wit." There it was, the thing she feared. "You know she is not the one controlling the beast, after all if she was then you'd already be dead to her flames. Your mediocre water affinity would not have been enough to stop a witch bearing that kind of strength." The voice that came out was a bit more raspy than usual, more similar to an old man's than the rumbling dragon's normal voice, something that impressed Edith at least a bit.

"Ah. I apologize for the insult, Lord Master. I did not mean for it, but I couldn't be sure…" His mild affinity being noticed despite the fact that he did not even use magic made him worried about the strength of the mage. He knew a strong master could ruin the minds of people that lacked magic, and compared to him he might as well have been a mundane peasant. "Sir, I beg leniency. I did not expect this girl to be important, but I will gladly take the loss of my men if only you look the other way just this once. I will give you anything you wish from the little we have accumulated. We have a hide-"

"I already know about your little camp in the woods."

The man gulped, afraid of being unable to give anything to buy his life, when the supposed old master spoke what sounded like music to his ears.

"I am not well traveled, and as you can tell by my… assistant, we've gone through the woods. It seems we overshot our target, so answer a few middling questions and I will let you leave. The six lives I took were a fair price for the insult and the revolting sight."

"Yes my lord. If you wish to know, these are the lands of Count Bajor, lord of the Kingdom of Kaminsk. It's close to the border with Vernia." The bandit could only clench his fist. He had no choice but to adhere to this monster's sense of morality, after all.

"I see. That would mean we veered off quite a bit. Say, have any news about dragons reached these parts?" Edith couldn't help but stare into the forest wide eyed, unsure if it was really alright to let the dragon decide everything.

"Ah, the way the empire made The Mistress of Tranquil Waters flee! Yes, we've heard of your great exploits, my lord. I've also heard from Agard that people saw her floating mountain rushing towards the sea. She left the continent for good in the face of your greatness!"

"So she left. I see… I take it we are north of the empire? Borders are the works of kings, not masters, after all."

"Ah, yes. Straight north of the Empire, Agard is to the west and Berkel's to the east, right above the barbarian fields. If you wish to return to the empire you may take the road back over the river and-"

"Do not presume. Wish to know more about these lands. I presume there's a town a few days walk from here, yes?" The inflection was slipping, clearly a strain on the hidden dragon.

"Yes, yes! Forgive my impudence. There's a town three days walk from here. It's nothing big but they have their own river, different from this one, and they get good fish from it. They also have a mill and lots of grain, so they've got decent accommodations. Nothing too grand since the ruler's just some baron Jan Glozko. There might be a scribe there if that is of any help to your lordship, but if you want to go to a real town instead take a left at the crossroads ahead. Takes to the big town where the Count lives. It's also where most trade with the good Empire happens. And a bit with Agard, might I add."

"Final question and you can leave. Do people around these parts know Vernian?"

"Yes! There's lots of trade, caravans, diplomacy, things above my knowing, but overall most folk at least know a bit of it. Merchants and people with higher professions than the average peasant tend to know it best. Inns and the like should be welcoming, as imperial mercenaries love to visit these parts. Ah! The scribes of Lord Bajor might have a book or some other lordly thing to translate Vernian into Kamish and back!" The man looked happy to finally be free, then he heard a sound coming from the treeline.

"Good. You're free… Ah, no, excuse me but there is one last thing." The voice devolved into a monstrous mockery of itself. The thunderous rumble now being mixed with the old voice. "Do tell, when they begged, pleaded, screamed and cried for mercy, to be spared…" His face turned pale as he saw the five eyed monster stepping out, pearly white teeth being contrasted by the dark yet colorful scales. "What did you say? What will I say?"

He screamed. Then he gurgled. Then he died.

Edith looked over at the rolling head, face frozen in permanent terror and felt sick to her stomach. At least her companion was enjoying his meal.