The Dragon Slayer's Dilemma Ch. 03

"Ohh? Good. What did you find?" he asked, too curious to think about the look she had just given him.

"You'll hear when I tell her unless you are busy with something else," she curtly replied to the human. Brushing past him Onyx headed down the hall to the main audience chamber.

The peculiar pair arrived in the audience chamber moments later, just as Lady Mira was finishing an audience with one of the villagers. The elf woman smiled widely when she saw Onyx come toward her, "Good morning, Lady Onyx. I see you have returned from your outing. We missed you at the breakfast table this morning but I doubt our cuisine would suit you."

"Yes that is unfortunately true, Lady Mira. My diet consists of game animals which I hunt," Onyx returned the smile though not fully as her gaze traveled over to Elustria. "But that is not the purpose of my visit. Last night I decided to travel south since I can move faster on the wing then any scouting party you send could on foot,"

Onyx continued, turning her attention back to Mira, "I flew south to the location we believe the goblins to be encamped. As it was believed they are there with a massive force of the creatures which I have not seen before."

A beam of sunlight sliced thru the chamber, throwing Mira's worried expression in great relief as she absorbed the information Onyx was delivering. "How many goblins do you estimate are in this army?" she asked, "I was able to discern some similar information from the goblin you captured."

The rays of sunlight bathed Onyx in their gentle warmth as she closed her eyes for a moment, fanning her wings around her, "I estimate that there are no less then twenty-five thousand goblins in the army."

Mira frowned, "This is troubling news. While goblins are not very skilled in battle the sheer numbers they have could spell our destruction."

The worried expression on the elf woman's face told even more then her words could. A force the size of the goblin army would utterly destroy the small elven community unless they receive serious support from allies. Like any good leader, Mira sought to do what was in the best interests of her people. Standing, she presented a smile that only went as deep as her skin, "Please excuse me, I must meet with the Elder's Council so that we can come to a solution to this problem."

Onyx nodded, "Of course, Lady Mira. I wish you the best for the good of your people." Turning she headed back toward the corridor that lead up to the wing of the house which her room was pointedly ignoring Khelvan as she walked past him.

The tension was thick in the air from Onyx's report but even with that it was seen by Amberlee that the dragon was upset and angry by Khelvan.

Approaching him as he watched Onyx leave she gave him a sad but kind smile when he sighed, shaking his head.

"I don't understand what her problem is, Amberlee. She has barely spoken to me this morning," he said, turning to face the elf maiden. Forcing a smile back, he asked, "You mentioned giving me a tour of the village today. When you are not busy I would be delighted to see what you wish to show me."

Amberlee gave him another smile, "She will tell you in time I am sure. It is not my place to do so even though I believe I know the reason." Dressed in her court attire, Amberlee appeared even more beautiful than she did when she was wearing her traveling clothes. Covering her body was a soft, light blue diaphanous gown crafted of pure Cambrian silk, the bodice being very meticulously decorated with numerous small gems, each one catching any surrounding light to give off a polychromatic display of rays.

Thru the village, Khelvan saw with wonder the variety of endeavors that the elves applied themselves to in their daily lives. With a lifespan that could be counted in centuries, the dedication they took in pursuing the perfection of their chosen activity was far more disciplined then anything most humans were capable of. As he walked along holding Amberlee's arm in his own, he listened with great interest when she described to him how their long life gave them the focus to seek such perfection in their crafts.

Stopping at a blacksmith for a moment, understanding dawned on Khelvan why elven crafted weapons held such high value even if they were not enchanted. His own blades which he wore almost constantly were considered priceless. The skill and attention to detail to forge such a perfect and deadly weapon was something that only someone who could live for centuries would be able to master.

After the visit to the blacksmith, Amberlee showed Khelvan the village center. A handful of carts where travelling merchants were attempting to sell their wares clustered together along the eastern side of the plaza. The merchants came from a variety of races, the majority of which were elves. Browsing over the variety of jewelry at one owned by a rather rotund dwarf, Khelvan nodded politely to the dwarf as he approached. Speaking in a gruff but welcoming voice the dwarf merchant gave him a large, toothy smile, "G'day, Sir, I ain't seen a human in these parts for near a long time."

Khelvan chuckled softly, nodding, "So it seems that I am the first human to visit here in over a century." On a corner of the table, a necklace crafted of finely cut onyx and diamonds which caught Khelvan's eye. "How much is that one?" he inquired while pointing to the item in question.

"Ooh, good choice, lad," the dwarf replied, "That one be sold for 200 gold crowns." The merchant's eyes gleamed in anticipation of a large sale.

The value of the necklace was far less then what the merchant was asking though. Khelvan had learned some years back how to appraise gems and jewelry to better know their value. Smiling, he countered to the merchant, "200 you say? Even though that is a finely crafted item, several of the gems possess flaws that take away from its full value. I'll go for 100 crowns."

The dwarf merchant grinned widely, seeing he had one who was truly capable of haggling. "Aye that is true and it takes a knowing eye to see 'em. But a lot work went into crafting that pretty li'l trinket in yer hand." Stroking his long beard, he appraised Khelvan for a moment, "Ye seem to know yerself around a fight too. I tell ye what, if'n ye are willing to ride along in me caravan as a guard I can drop the price down to 180 gold crowns."

While Khelvan haggled with the dwarf, overhead Onyx glided back toward Lady Mira's home, alighting down onto the balcony of her room. The maids must have been thru her room, Onyx observed as she noticed that her few possessions had been neatly stacked on the small table. The bed was untouched but there was no need since she had not used it last night. Like most dragons, Onyx could go weeks or even months without sleep but the usual result was that they would hibernate for some time when they finally did settle down. As it was though, she had been sleeping a few hours nightly over the past weeks, so her need for sleep was not a distraction.

The western panorama of the village lay out before Onyx as she stepped back out onto her balcony slowly fanning herself with her wings. A blaze of colors cascaded across the sky as the twin suns made their slow, inexorable descent below the horizon.

Below in the courtyard, she witnessed the elf wizard, Elustria flirting with a pair of off duty guards. A soft growl rumbled in her throat as she remembered hearing the elf with Khelvan last night. What should she care anyway? She snorted softly, her eyes traveling to the gate where she saw Khelvan returning with Amberlee from the village. Snorting, she turned on her heel and marched back into her room. The inviting warmth of the crackling fireplace called to Onyx, her desire to curl up in front of it suddenly very overwhelming. Doing so, Onyx closed her eyes, her thoughts wondering as the fire warmed her scales delightfully.

Something felt off to her dragoness, she couldn't place it but she knew it was there. Her thoughts kept returning to Khelvan and hearing him bedding the elf. Night finally fell over the village outside, the sounds of night creatures easily coming to her ears as she rolled to her feet and stalked back out onto the balcony. A chill wind swept over her, though it had little effect, but she still tucked her wings around her body to ward it off. The only recurring thought in her mind was hearing him and the elf, each time it surfaced it drew out another light growl.

Standing there thru the night, Onyx recounted everything since the day she met the Dragonslayer. As the moon crossed the night sky over the blanket of stars Onyx felt something she never had before. She had just been thinking about Khelvan with that elf again when she felt a wetness around her eyes. Blinking rapidly she rubbed her talon along the scales of her face under her eye, the tip coming back with a small drop of clear liquid. She did not recognize it, it seemed like water but the texture felt different to her. Touching her tongue to the droplet, she tasted a salty tang to it. It seemed like sweat from a human but dragons did not sweat, their body dissipated heat differently. Confusion crossed her face then at this new discovery as she turned to enter her room again.

Far out from Lady Mira's residence but easily in the line of sight of the balcony Onyx stood on two figures cloaked in deep, dark robes stood in the shadows. They had been watching the dragon for hours, quietly observing her from afar using magic to see her closer despite the distance. The smaller of the two turned to her companion, a knowing smile crossing her face, "It seems that the prophecy is finally coming to fruition, old friend."

Her taller companion nodded his agreement, speaking back to her in a soft timber, "So it seems, my dear. But we still need to observe them for a while longer." Looking one last time toward the balcony, he pulled his robes tighter around his large frame, the male continued, "Let us rest from the remainder of the night, we still have plenty of time to see if it is so."

The pair turned together, their passage remaining unnoticed as they wanted it to be until they reached the outskirts of the elf village. It was there that they stopped and turned to look at each other as they faded out of sight.