Hello, Everyone!
I’m so happy to see you after our little break. Did you enjoy the Glossary we made for you? I hope you did. Because now, it’s time for another part of Mary Windfiddle’s adventures!
When we last saw her, she was sweating, chained up in the dragon’s clutches. She’s no longer invisible due to her Messaging for help. She tried to talk her way out of the situation by quoting a book where the protagonist was faced with a dragon, but she was unsuccessful. She… well, she isn’t so good at convincing people.
But do you know who is?
Content warning: The text below contains descriptions that might be upsetting to some readers (blood, torture, disfugurement). Proceed at your own caution.
“Mighty Dark Lady! Please, can I ask for a moment of your time?”
Mary’s eyes shot open. It was Aurum! Aurum had come to her rescue! The bard was kneeling with his eyes to the ground, arms spread wide as a gesture of reverence.
“OH! ANOTHER GUEST?” the dragon said, tightening the chain around Mary. “A LUCKY DAY INDEED!”
“Terrible Dark Lady,” Aurum said, “please forgive my friend Mary’s lack of tact, she’s young and foolish! She snuck in to bask in your glory and wished not to disturb your day, when she must have greeted you with all the respect a queen like you deserves!”
The dragon tilted her head, her eyes glinting with delight.
“ARE YOU… A BARD?” she asked, absentmindedly stroking Mary with a long sharp claw.
“Oh, yes, your Ladyship! Name's Aurum, at your service. What may I call you? I would like to write a poem about your greatness! Immortalize you with my words!”
“IMMORTALIZE! I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT,” the dragon said, almost purring. She’d turned her attention entirely on the bard now. “NURVUREEM,” she said, puffing out to look even more impressive. “I AM NURVUREEM.”
“Oh! Nurvureem! Horrible Nurvureem! Terrifying Nurvureem! The most dreadful and powerful of all dragons! It’s an honour to meet you!”
“I LIKE YOU, BARD,” Nurvureem said. “I CAN SEE MYSELF SPARING YOU.” She raised a talon at him, “IF YOU SWEAR TO SPREAD THE WORD OF MY POWER AND MALICE IN THE WORLD.”
“Oh, yes, Your Majesty!” Aurum said. He gestured to Mary. “But my friend is also very skilled in the Art of words. She’s writing the most amazing stories I’ve seen!”
“IS THAT TRUE, LITTLE MOUSE?” Nurvureem said, raising Mary’s chin with one of her claws. “YOU’RE A WRITER?”
“I… Yes!” Mary yelped, suddenly seeing a chance to maybe save herself. “I am a writer! I can write a book about you!”
“ISN’T THAT A WONDER,” Nurvureem said. She thought for a moment, before finally nodding. “YES, I CAN USE THAT. BUT YOU’LL HAVE TO SWEAR. IS THERE SOME DEITY THAT YOU WORSHIP, LITTLE MOUSE?”
“I… yes,” Mary said. “The g-goddess Ioun.”
“THEN SWEAR ON HER.”
Mary didn’t want to glorify Nurvureem’s horrors. She didn’t want to give the dragon this satisfaction. She wanted the world to never know about her, or maybe see her as pathetic and weak instead of gruesome and diabolical. That was the tiniest act of revenge Mary could imagine for the terrors Nurvureem had enacted upon her victims; but it was the only revenge she was capable of.
“I swear on the goddess Ioun,” Mary said, choosing her words very carefully, “that you, Nurvureem, are going to be in my book.”
The dragon nodded, satisfied. She hadn’t picked up Mary’s hidden intentions.
“WHAT ABOUT YOU, BARD? DO YOU HAVE ANY DEITY YOU HOLD DEAR.”
“Naah, I don’t really worship anyone,” Aurum said.
“YES, I DIDN’T THINK SO,” the dragon chuckled. “SWEAR ON YOUR LIFE THEN, AND KNOW THAT IF YOU BREAK YOUR PROMISE, I’LL FIND YOU.”
He did swear, and Nurvureem freed Mary. When the chain fell off of her body, she felt like she could breathe for the first time in an eternity.
“GO ON AND LEAVE NOW,” Nurvureem said. “I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOUR FACES AGAIN.”
She took Fennec's chain and tied it to one of the metal rods near the pool of acid, then she lowered him in. The moment the dwarf touched the surface, he screamed in pain and the liquid slowly started tinting red. The dragon laughed with delight.
Mary looked at him with horror. Couldn’t they try and help him as well?
“Dark Lady,” she started, “can we…”
“DON’T PRESS YOUR LUCK, LITTLE MOUSE,” the dragon said with a voice that made Mary’s skin crawl. “UNLESS YOU WANT TO JOIN THE DWARF FOR HIS EVENING BATH.”
Mary took a sharp breath, turned to Aurum and they ran. Fennec’s screams haunted them in the distance.
“You saved me!!!” Mary cried out when both her and the bard had joined in with the others. She hugged him with all her strength. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”
“No problem, Mary,” he grinned. “Don’t mention it.”
“I can’t believe you two are alive!” Paulina said. “How did you manage to escape the freakin’ dragon?!”
One over another, Mary and Aurum told them what had happened by the dragon’s horde.
Bruno coughed. “So, did you plant your seed?” he asked.
“It’s not my seed,” Mary said. “But yes, I did. I planted it.”
“All right, great. Let’s go back now.”
“W-we can’t!” Mary said. “We can’t leave Fennec to the dragon! We need to save him!”
Her friends fell silent. Bruno shook his head. Paulina avoided looking her in the eyes. Even Aurum was uncharacteristically quiet.
“We… we can’t…” Mary said again, her voice faltering.
“Look, Mary,” Bruno said gravely. “It’s a dragon. We can’t do much against it. You two barely escaped its grip just a minute ago. Do you want to risk it again?”
“But Fennec…”
They stared at the ground with the same expression in their eyes. Guilt. Despair. Hopelessness.
Bruno broke the silence.
“There is only one thing we can do for him,” he said. “Put him out of this misery.”
Mary took a sharp breath. This couldn’t be happening. They couldn’t be thinking about that!
But the more she considered it, the more sense it made. She’d seen Fennec’s disfigured face from mere inches away. She remembered his eyes. And moreover, she knew what it was to be in the dragon’s claws and she could imagine--she didn’t want to but she could--what it would mean for the dwarf to stay there. If she was in his place--she quivered just thinking about it--and if there was absolutely, definitely no chance of escape…
She, too, might want to be put out of her misery.
Oh, my goodness! Sh*t got dark!
I’m sorry, friends! This might have to happen :(
I hope you’re not too upset. I sure was, when we played through that. And I think it was two whole weeks before we were able to play again. It was torture! (pun not intended)
But I’m not going to let you wait so long. The next chapter will be up on time and we’ll find out what our heroes are going to do.
Until then,
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)