Saturday, November 23, 2019

Master of Strings Ch108: Dragon's Coin

Zilo and Sparky began to make their way back to the Stumbly Giant Inn and once there they waited for their other companions. Soon enough Alaroc and Jin joined them again. Jin opened up the meeting by asking Sparky, "So how did it go? Did you talk to the kenkus?"

"They kick us out!" Sparky said with anger as Zilo began to look through his bag. As sparky began to explain that all he did was eat the ashes of their daughter, Zilo produced the Kenku Slaying Arrow they found in the harbor.

"Hush Sparky. We did find something. While we couldn't examine the body, we got lucky and found the arrow that did the deed, and it is enchanted with some powerful magic. This is nothing that the folks around here could easily afford."

Zilo put the arrow on the table and Alaroc looked the thing over. Jin rubs his chin and says, "How dya know dis killed her?" Zilo pointed to it and said, "It is only made to kill kenkus, it's how the magic on it works. No way it came from a town like this where people beg for scraps. This thing is worth a few thousand gold pieces."

A few of the eyes around the tavern began to make glances over to the table. Jin side glanced their side glances and punched his open hand in a fake rage. "Imma break dah face of those crooks that gotta use magic like dis arrow." The eyes then returned to their meager drinks.

Jin then follows up with, "I wouldnae be so sure dat this town aint makin it cause I hear ders a right hidden gold hoard here in town." Alaroc takes a huge gulp of his ale and motions for Jin to continue. Jin also takes a swig and speaks,

"My boy was a bust, aint got a nexta kin tah see, so I sat in the east plaza dat he died at tryin to get some clues. Didnae see much but heard folks talkin. Parently deres a dragon in dis town."

Sparky's eyes go wide and he says," A dragon!? Me never seen a dragon!" Zilo and Alaroc both grimace and look each other in the eyes before Alaroc says, "They are not as fun as you'd think young Spark."

Zilo leans over the table and says, "So you think a dragon might be funding these kills?" Jin shrugs and says, "All I know is dat folk in de plaza were whisperin bout 'meetin wit de dragon' and soundin real worry-like over it."

"What they talk talk bout dragon for?" Jin looks to Sparky and says, "Well they seemed to be sayin that they owed it money." Alaroc takes a breath from his ale guzzling and hits his chest a few times before catching his breath and speaking.

"Did *cough* they talk about any loans *cough* that they had?" Jin looks to the cavalier perplexed before saying, "Yeah, but dey wouldnae talk bout where dey would meet'em, or ida followed dem." Alaroc fishes around in his bag and pulls out a letter.

Zilo grabs the letter and reads.

"Dear Fredrick, today is the last day for you to finally fess up the rest of your debt. Meet our collectors tomorrow night near the forest past the cliff with the remainder of your debt. If you do not show then we will need to take the debt from those close to you. Tell anyone about this meeting and you will regret it."

Zilo looks up to Alaroc and says, "Dragons don't have the sort of fine dexterity to leave notes like these so I don't see how-" Jin bops the bard in the back of the head and says, "This sounds like the sort of thing that the people I heard would be scared over."

Alaroc taps on the paper and says, "So we have a lead then, I say we stake out this cliff then and see if we can get them while they shake down some folks then we have our next lead."

The rest of the heroes all nod and since the mid-day had already passed they decided to go to the spot the note indicated and hide out in the treeline. A few hours passed and the group sat behind the trees. The cliff overlooking the town was possibly a good 20 meters from the edge of the trees.

The sun began to set and the orange evening sun began to overtake the sky. As they sat there Jin was the one who stood as his ears perked up, and he looked into the forest. Zilo, hiding only 2 meters away, asked the monk, "What's up?"

Jin looked down at Zilo and said, "I thought I-" and in a flash, a giant creature crashed through a tree and tackled Jin and Zilo to the ground. They looked up and there was a huge Green Dragon. The dragon spoke Draconic in a deep booming voice that Zilo and  Jin could not make out.

As the dragon spoke Alaroc charged the attacker and slashed at its hind leg with his Dragonslayer, the dragon reared back up and flew back toward the woods. Sparky sat shaken from the Frightful Presence of the dragon. Zilo began playing his battle music and backed away toward the edge of the cliff as Jin hopped back onto both his legs and ran toward Alaroc and shouting,

"Alaroc I need a boost!"

Alaroc saw the Vanara and immediately crouched down facing toward the dragon. As he felt the stomp of the monk's feet on his back he rose with force and the monk lept off using the rise to increase the height of his already impressive High Jump.

Jin rocketed into the air like he was shot by a catapult and slammed his fist into the dragon's jaw before he flipped over him and snapped his arm onto the dragon's horn to hang on. Zilo fired a volley of arrows at the dragon in hopes to make its life even harder as it tried to knock Jin off it's back.

Sparky snapped out of his fear and began doing the same as Zilo, firing Scorching Rays at the flying beast. Alaroc took out his other blade and shouted up to Jin, "Bring him down, Jin!"

"Got ya!" The dragon tried to unleash a breath weapon of poison to those shooting him from the ground, but Jin twerked his neck off-target and saved Zilo from the attack. Jin followed up by jumping off the dragon's head and wrapping around the joint of the dragon's wing.

He then brings back both his fists before slamming them both into the wing's joint with a echoing crack. The dragon began to fall to the cliff's airspace as Jin backflipped off it and landed with a wobble.

Jin and Alaroc stood shoulder to shoulder as Zilo aimed his bow from the edge of the cliff. Sparky was ready to rush in and unleash a torrent of fire, but he was suddenly snatched from behind. Out of the forest a creature then slammed its tail into the goblin, who rolled with a tumble and slammed into the ground next to Alaroc.

Stood there, next to the forest edge was another adult green dragon that made its way next to the other dragon. Jin's arms both drooped and he said with a fair amount of sarcasm, "Two dragons... great, dis is fine, dis is grand!"

Alaroc shrugged and charged the two dragons, ready to make use of his blade's name.

<Previous                     First Part                          Next>

No comments:

Post a Comment