Third Earth 2: Quest For The Red Dragon Pearl

Kariv came running downstairs, almost stumbling in her silk apple green frock. Mercy sat by the fireplace, holing her mother's potrait in disdain.
"Oh God," Kariv began, "Have mercy on Mercy."
Mercy shot back with bloody eyes, simpering within herself.
"Seriously, stop sulking and check if we have any mail from Granny."
"Incidentally, we do."
Maisa walked in, holding a bowl of dragon food. Kariv eagerly moved towards him, waiting for him to say something.
"A dragon at the doorstep. She seems to be your gran's."
"Wow! What'd the dragon say? Temme!"
Kariv shrieked out in excitement, and jumped in front of her father, who immediately pulled out her ears, saying:
"But before that, I'd like to know what punishment would be helpful for you and your rudeness. Is that how you talk after there's a death in the house?"
"Not a death, actually. Two."
A servant entered the room, holding a piece of paper.
"The dragon translator had it interpreted. Lady Arthurus has been killed."
Maisa's lower jaw dropped down in surprise, while Mercy broke into tears.
"And Raekas, if I'm not wrong."
The servant said, just before leaving.
Kariv listened contentedly to the issue.
"Grandma needs me."
She said silently, and ran upstairs.
"Young lady, what are you upto now?"
Maisa shouted angrily, as Mercy's twin sister started off with a plan he didn't even want to think about. Mercy screamed out in distress:
"Oh no, someone stop her!"
Maisa turned to the window and saw a eagle holding a bag take flight.
"Oh great. GUARDS!"
Maisa shouted, not sure where she was off to now.

 

Rodger walked his horse along the dirt track. He hadn't seen any sign of civilization for two days, but the trail was still visible. At least some people still used it, so a town must be somewhere ahead of him. He hoped it would show up soon. His rations were practically gone, and while he had been able to take down a hare with the crossbow, he was getting hungry.
At least the horse had fodder still.
Sighing, Rodger continued on his way.

***

Ashton rested in a room he had rented from a farmer. The village was too small for a proper inn, but for some money beds were always available. Rodger hadn't passed through yet, but this was the only village for miles, he'd show up soon. If the Noble thief had taken the road he should be arriving in a day or two.
Ashton began sharpening his sword.

 

The sky suddenly became dark. And a wind began to pick up eventually beginning to howl. And from above came a flock of grey dragons blowing smoke from their nostrils followed by bouts of flames. The lead dragon led the others low down to the gound all swooping down for a kill breathing fire at the ground below. eventually risinng up and swooping above for signs of human life to kill

 

Kariv was simply flighting to where her father had told her her grandmother was last seen. She had been having dreams about the Red Dragon Pearl, that her grandmother was looking for it, but she died just when she had it. Or something like that. So, she wasn't giving up. She knew her grandmother's mission had value. Possibly.

Heat and dust blocked Kariv's path. She slowed her flight and gasped in an eagle's way of doing it. Grey dragons were heading down to the land, and rising up in waves, looking for human life. Thank God she were not as such a human, and was flying. But a good Grey dragon could smell an animal easily. Uh-oh.

Kariv tried to change her path, but there wasn't just one dragon or two to dodge. There were at least a dozen, which didn't bother fly in a fixed direction. Eventually, a more vigilant dragon caught sight of her - and the chase began. The dragon roared, spinning with force towards Kariv.
"Oh great. Hasn't your mom taught you to pick on someone your own size? Or not to pick at all?!"
Kariv shrieked, quickly hiding in the clouds.
"Parents these days. And they blame us kids. Don't you agree?"
She poked her head through the clouds, gaining attention.
"Well, talk to you later, okay?"
She said in a jolly manner, finally shape-shifting back to her own self, thus falling back to ground. Making sure the land form rose enough to grab her, she pulled out her poison dagger for immediate showdowns. The dragons were going to get her. Big time.

 

Rodger wanted to cry.
Why was this happening to him?
First insane women, then goblins, then orcs, then pain and suffering along with losing all his possessions. He still wasn't healed, he was traveling in the back end of nowhere, and now DRAGONS were chasing him!!
It wasn't fair.
He had tied his horses mouth shut with a spare shirt to keep it from making too much noise, as the dragons flew overhead. Rodger and the horse slowly and quietly stayed under the thickest parts of the trees and tried to go in the opposite direction of the dragons. He didn't think he could outrun them, even if there was another convenient 40 foot drop with rapids at the bottom.
He ducked his head as the wind blew more forest debris into his face. He had to walk into the wind, or risk being burned alive by the fire behind him. At least the wind was blowing the flames away from him.
If he survived this, he was going to kill his father.

 

Kariv ran quickly. A dragon almost grabbed her with its claws. Why, why did she have to come in a middle of their terrorist party? They didn't even respect her femininity. BO-RING. Kariv reached for the abusive dragon throat and poked the dagger in. It wasn't enough, but definitely slowed him down. Kariv decided she should turn back into an eagle. At least she could hide.

With a bag and dagger in her claws, Kariv kept a low flight and roamed over land, avoiding fire. There was a rumble thunder and it started to rain. There was no chance of outwitting dragons, unless she used a master plan which she didn't want to, thus she simply focused on running and avoiding their attack. Soon enough, she ran into a house with a huge man on it, runnign for their lives in a way which was quite serene, in her opinion.

Kariv was still eyeing the man when a fire bolt came right towards them. Kariv dodged it but thought of the man. Now, that wasn't fair, was it? Quickly, she transformed back. The fire was an inch away when she covered the man which a cliff of mud.

"Take that, mean head!"
Kariv shouted in glory, immediately shooting him an arrow.

 

Green dragons of Icosus arrived and began to attack the grey Dragons. A battle for the skies negan. within a few minutes flames fell from the sky covering the ground in more flames setting anything they fell upon alight. The grey dragons however disapeared above the clouds chased away by the green dragons. Well all but one. that through the burning ground decided to swoop down for a few more kills

 

Kariv kept the ground on herself, including the man if she wasn't wrong. She then heard cracking of mud above her. Everything was on fire. Kariv could still hear a noisy dragon lurk above them, thus she knew they were not safe. She eyed the man wihich treacherous eyes.
"He's so huge and all. He might help."
Not knowing her grandmother had done similar tricks, Kariv jumped up on his horse, in an attempt to bite him. And she did.

 

Rodger started to jump aside as the fire raced towards him, when a wall of earth blocked it.
What!
He looked up to see a small girl shouting at the dragons.
His jaw dropped as his mind comprehended what she had shouted. 'take that mean head,' who talked like that?
Trying not to have his shoulder dislocated by the bucking horse, he stopped it long enough to get in the saddle. Now that he had been spotted it was time to run.
The girl, she had helped him, but could he risk taking her? She was useful, but the last time he had trusted someone it had ended badly.
The girl solved his moral dilemma by jumping on behind him. He grabbed her arm to help her up and get her properly seated.
Kicking his horse into a gallop he leaned forward trying to avoid any branches. He felt the girls hands tighten around his waist. At least she seemed to know how to ride.
They raced away from the flames and dragons, trying to keep under the thickest trees. He'd rather risk getting lightly burned, then have a dragon see them directly.
Later he would have a chance to wonder why he was rescuing damsels in distress.

 

Kariv remarked at his intelligence. As a token of appreciatiation, she made her best effort to put out fire in the way by summoning brief cliffs and toppilign them over the fire. At a few places, she did not succeed - but it didn't matter. A few burns on the legs wasn't a big deal.

Finally Kariv noticed a a tree on fire which they were passing by. She had an idea and put an arrow of hers on fire. Taking a strong aim, she fired it at the eye of the dragon. At least one thing was finished.The horse kept galloping till it reached a dead end. It wasn't too bad any more - since there was a scent of a pre-rain atmosphere. Kariv sighed in relief as water came down, clearing the forest.

Immediately, Kariv jumped off the saddle, eyeing her nails.
"Thanks chap. You're too kind."
Briefly looking at him, she said again:
And some of your hair is burnt out, by the way."
Kariv calmly leaned against a rock and pulled out a freshly plucked tomato to eat.

 

Rodger ran his hand through his hair. "If that's the worst that happens to me today, I'll consider myself very lucky," he said wearily.
He got off his horse and took its saddle bags off. It was breathing heavily from the run, and needed a rest.
"I'm Rodger, who are you? And how did you get out here in the middle of nowhere? Got separated from your parents during the attack or something?"

 

Kariv raised her eyebrows as if she were legally an adult. Adult or not, she had every right to wander off. In some cases, of course.
"Well, I'm Kariv from Dusrere, daughter of Warrior Revianne and Warrior Maisa. I'm training - or was training - to be a warrior too."
She then pulled out her special poison dagger as a proof.
"My mother and grandma died recently, and my father's busy with my twin sister Mercy. So I decided to do what my grandma couldn't. Find the Red Dragon Pearl."
She turned around, sighing.
"Laugh as you like. I won't mind."
Then kicking a rock she murmured:
"I'm still going to do what I have to do."

 

Great, Rodger thought. A kid on a vengeance trip. His head hurt.
He began stripping the saddle off his horse, it needed to rest or it was going to cripple itself.
"So you're grandmother got killed and you for family honour decided to take up her quest. Let me tell you something, honour is for fools. It only gets you hurt and killed in the end," Rodger said.
The girl might have said something, he couldn't tell his ears were ringing.
"But if you want to go on this quest, I'm looking for the Pearl as well. I've got a decent lead to. You have a few handy tricks, if you want you can come with me."
A part of his brain called him a fool, as he said this but it was distant and sounded funny.
"You pull your weight, I help you, we might survive. How does that sound?" he asked, his voice echoing in his head.
His pants were wet. He looked down, they were red with blood. "Oh bugger, I must have reopened the cuts."
He fell backwards.

 

Kariv thought to herself as he kept talking. It's not death I fear it's how I die I fear. Death comes anyways, but you can work for a prouder way to die.

Before Kariv could say anything, the man fell down in a funny way. She looked at his legs and smiled.
"Cool. You've already had lots of adventure."
Then turning away rather unmoved, she said:
"Considering my thoughts I should be helping you. Anyways, I have no problem having a fatherly support. I needed guidance anyways."
Kariv then poked his cuts a little.
"They hurt, don't they? Hold on a minute."

Turning into an eagle, Kariv flighted away quickly, returning in a little while with some water in a bucket. As she landed, she transformed back.
"My grandmother wrote my father about some healing springs in this forest a while back."
She said as she held out the water to him.

 

Rodger lay on the ground half concious and quite comfortable despite the loss of blood. He didn't know what had happened to the girl, the part of his mind that was still capable of thought, hoped she was getting help.
Eventually he fell asleep.

He woke up as he heard a flapping sound. His eyes flew open, to see what it was, but his body refused to move. An eagle had landed with a bucket of water. it transformed into the girl as he watched.
She might prove useful after all, he thought silently.

"I hope you didn't see any orcs or goblins," Rodger said as he slowly sat up. "They're thick in those woods."
He took off his pants, making sure to keep his underwear one, and using an old rag began to wash his wounds with the water.
"Kariv, you've done me a good turn. I thank you. I'm not sure if you agreed to my offer, but I'd be honoured if you traveled with me. I don't promise it will be easy, but again, two people can survive far better then one."

 

Kariv shook her head at the orcs and goblins and quickly turned away as he cleaned his wounds.

Kariv nodded, and said sarcastically:
"You're pretty alert."
Then, she said:
"I already said I'd prefer moving with you since no matter what, I'm a child and need guidance once in a while. But it seems you're feeling worse than it looks. Have you been into bad people recently?"

 

"Orcs and goblins. Lot's of orcs and goblins. Plus a cliff and a raging river. And some sorcery." Rodger said with a smile. "As for my alertness, we'll see how alert you are when you've lost half your blood."
He looked around the clearing. "I think we should camp here for the night. My horse is ready to drop if we tried to ride him, and unless you saw some dragons we should be safe enough. I've got some rabbit and dried jerky for supper. How about you?"

 

"Sorcery!"
Kariv laughed, atfer listening to all of his discussion.
"You'd know sorcery if a magician made you insane by creating illusions in your mind."
(How ironic).

She quickly added:
"I've got vegetables, ostrich meat, sweet items and salmon. And don't worry about the dragons. My paternal uncle rears dragons. I've learnt a few good things from him."
She held her bag in the air, and despite it's convenient size she had just managed to stuff int hings without ruining them.

 

"Amazingly that's exactly what happened," Rodger said quickly.

"You are well prepared," he said smiling. "I'll get a fire started and we can make a rabbit soup. It's at least another two days before the nearest town, and I'm not sure how many supplies we can buy from them. So we should try to stretch our supplies out as long as possible."

 

Kariv nodded, and waited for him to complete. She watched as Rodger began a fire, and meanwhile thought about what he had said.
"Tell me, who was this sorceror?"

 

Rodger collected dead branches that lay around the edge of the clearing. "Some noble woman I was working with," he said. "She never did tell me her name, but she paid well, and it seemed like we could use each others help. She had some knowledge, and I had the weapons. Then for some reason she enchanted me, and I ended up attacking a goblin camp. The worst part is I saved her life when we first met." He started setting up the fire, "We parted company just before we were attacked by orcs."

 

Kariv listened quietly, and asked:
"Did she have anything to do with Intharisp?"
She then shut her mouth for moment, then saying:
"Sorry if I'm being nosy. You see, I just want to know if by chance I know this woman."

 

Rodger looked at the girl startled. "I think she said her sister owned the big library there. The owner was some kind of relative at least. And please ask away, the problem I had with my last companion was she was unwilling to talk."

 

"Oh."
Kariv's face became pale, and she thoguht about her grandma. Her grandma had seen a lot in life, and was a little...stuffed in. Happens. Kariv shrugged off the feeling and asked:
"So...if she died, how would you feel?"

 

Rodger saw her go pale. So the Lady was her grandmother. Damn she had aged well.
He let himself think quietly for minute while he set up the fire.
Finally he spoke. "I barely knew her. She helped me some, but she also did some things which I don't completely understand the reasons for. If my companion was your Grandmother, well I'm sorry she died. I never wanted any harm to come to her, and I did try to keep her safe while she traveled with me. To be perfectly honest with you, if it wasn't for her I wouldn't be this far in my quest. So I wish she could have found a pleasant place to settle down, and maybe I could have eventually figured out what she was doing. Guess that isn't an option anymore."
He lit the fire, keeping his face turned away from the girl. He didn't add that if it hadn't been for the Woman he wouldn't have to risk bleeding to death every time he had to run. Or that he had really wanted to steal her gold and let her know exactly what it was like to be poor and on the run. That wouldn't be wise, and he wanted to get some answers from the girl. But it would definitely take time.
"So care to tell me who might have killed your grandmother? I think I owe him an unpleasant surprise," he said.