Hello, Everyone!
Last time our heroes continued moving through Ekoba's territory, trying to get to Pamagos before the military forces caught up with them. It was made somehow difficult because they managed to gather some followers - a whole group of young men who were fleeing from the conscroption forces of the army. Our heroes promised their families to keep them safe and the boys got so excited that they offered to become the trio's personal Guard.
The whole group travelled to the plateau where Mary had to plant Gillean's tree but they were met with a peculiar--and somehow worrying--realization - the giant lizard who was living on the plateau was killed by a single other adventurer - a tabaxi woman named Agatha.
Mary was sitting by the campfire, scowling at the meat roasting above it. At this point her stomach was revolting even at the thought of food and she hadn’t touched the lizard, even though it smelled delicious.
She was eyeing Agatha with suspicion. The tabaxi was acting too casually, as if three strangers, armed to the teeth, suddenly appearing at her campsite wasn’t a big deal. Maybe Aurum was right, and the reason she was so calm was because she was the most dangerous thing in the vicinity.
The tabaxi was taller than Mary (which wasn’t too difficult – after all Mary was pretty short for a human) and she wore a peculiar set of clothes which showed off her black-white-and-orange fur. Mary'd seen such garments only in picture books depicting the peoples of faraway lands.
"Where are you from, Agatha?" Aurum said.
“The islands,” she answered. “Where are you three off to?”
“North towards Pamagos,” Bruno said. “After that – who knows.”
“Huh, that’s interesting!" the tabaxi said. "I wanted to get to Pamagos as well.”
“You can travel with us,” Bruno suggested. “There’s safety in numbers.”
Mary frowned and almost said something about them not needing another stranger traveling with them. However, she bit her lips. It was true that they didn't know that person, but that didn't mean they had to be hostile towards her. The last people Mary'd been so judgy about… one of them turned out to be a trusted ally and the other got murdered before she could make amends.
She sighed and tried to join in the conversation, but her eyes were darting in the direction of the nearby ruins. After all, she had a mission to take care up there.
"I can see that you have something on your mind," Agatha said and Mary realized that she was talking to her. "If you have to be somewhere else, don't let me detain you."
"Oh, no, I…" Mary staggered. "Well, yes, actually I do have something that I have to do. Sorry. If I can just go, I’ll be back soon and join you again."
"I'll come with," Bruno said.
They took off to find the place from Gillean’s drawing. The ruins were a strange construction – several arches of cut stone, each of which consisting of two blocks standing upright and a third, put on top of them horizontally. They rose above the ground and formed a circle. In the center of it, the dragon’s body lay. It had been moved from the place Aurum’s Clairvoyance had last seen it.
Only a gnawed-out skeleton remained of the creature; but even in its crippled state, it was still impressive. It seemed that Diohastos had been a very young dragon. Although his limbs, wings and head were missing, he was lying on his belly like he was ready to pounce. Underneath him, small white flowers had grown and were covering the ground like a carpet, and where his head would have been if it hadn't been cut off, a burbling spring had come into being.
The sight was sorrowful… but magnificent at the same time.
Mary bowed her head, paying respect to the noble creature, and whispered an ‘I’m sorry’ to the wind. Then, kneeling down next to the dragon's ribcage, where Diohastos’ heart would have been, she dug a small hole and planted Gillean’s seed.
A surge of energy filled her body and she had to close her eyes to take it all in.
She felt powerful, and she felt fulfilled. But that all came crashing down when Bruno grabbed her arm and whispered “I can hear the beating of wings!”
Mary didn't know how she’d found herself in a nearby bush. Bruno ducked beside her and she sent a panicked "Nurvureem! It's Nurvureem!" into Aurum's head to warn him, too.
The beating of webbed wings grew louder and louder, and from her hiding place, Mary was able to see the dragon approach.
It was Nurvureem all right. Mary was intimately familiar with her looks, but even if she hadn’t been, there was the sword. It stuck out from the dragon's side, in all its fifteen feet of metal and forebodingness. A silhouette, human-sized and cloaked in shadow, was riding on her back. It was too high up to discern any identifying features but Mary couldn't help but think of Kalien in his half-draconic form.
She remembered Aurum joking around--before they’d met Nurvureem in her cave--saying how cool he would look, riding a dragon. Mary had scoffed back then, suspecting that a creature like that would never let a mere human climb on its back and use it like a horse.
What kind of a person would be powerful enough to have come to such an agreement with Nurvureem?!
The dragon and her rider flew above and away, and only after they'd become a small dot on the horizon did Mary allow herself to let out a breath of relief.
She scrambled on her hands and feet and rushed towards Aurum.
"It was Nurvureem!" she exclaimed. "Did you see her sword? Did you see the rider?"
"Where's Agatha?" Bruno interrupted.
Mary looked around. Aurum was there, emerging from behind the lizard's remains, but there was no sign of the tabaxi. Then, Agatha's sleeping bag shuffled and moved aside, revealing a hole in the ground where its owner had been hiding.
"Wow! That's neat!" Aurum whistled.
Agatha shrugged.
"You want something for the scare?" she asked, holding up a flask towards Mary. "You look like you need it."
Mary realised that her hands were shaking.
"Nnno, thank you," she said. "I think I’ll make myself some tea."
“Sooo, what was that all about?” Agatha said while Mary was brewing the water. “You seemed to know about this dragon.”
The trio exchanged looks. Where do you begin with a story like that?
“Have you read ‘Mary Windfiddle’s Grand Adventure’?” Bruno said.
“Mary as in this Mary?” Agatha said, pointing at Mary. “I'm afraid I'm not much of a reader, I prefer to experience things.”
Oh, good, Mary thought to herself. She’ll get along with Bruno.
“I only asked about the book because it’d be way easier to explain if you had read it,” Bruno said. “But Nurvureem was a dragon that we met during one of our adventures.”
They told Agatha about the Dark Lady. Mary made sure to skip the part of how scared she had been and emphasise Aurum’s heroics. After all, he was the one who had saved her from the dragon and then rushed to get Bruno out of the giant sword’s way.
Agatha raised her eyebrows a lot during their narration and asked many questions about Nurvureem and dragons at large. She was particularly interested in their riders. For that part, Mary had little information, but whatever else she’d read, she shared, happy to finally have an eager audience for all her book knowledge.
Oh, no! Nurvureem, again?! When will she ever leave our heroes alone?!
See you next time!
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossary and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: These are my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum, Bruno and Agatha) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.