Fred Protests his Innocence
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 108080
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"WAAAIT!!" Fred thunders as loud as he can as the red dragon rushes into the cavern.
Down the side tunnel, two of the fleeing goblins are knocked down face-first as the pressure wave passes by. They scramble back to their feet and continue running without daring to look back. Outside, flocks of birds takes off from their perches in the trees of the forest at the base of the mountain, darkening the sky for a moment. In a distant castle, King Emery looks up from the tax documents he is reviewing. "Sebastian, had Sauder been calling for a storm today? "No sire. The royal astrologer was quite confident that the day would be free from rain," the steward replies, moving to the tower window. "Indeed, nary a cloud in the sky right now. Why do you ask?" "We just thought we heard something. Probably a scullery maid tripping over the pots then. In any case, going back to the collection issue with Parenna, ..." "I've just scared off the goblins who were about to cook and eat your child," Fred quickly explains, even though this abandonment - or at least, delay - of his primary quest goes against everything a knight of Allaria is supposed to stand for. He doesn't expect his plea to placate the dragon, so he still braces himself for the other dragon's attack. Much to Fred's surprise, however, the large red dragon actually slows down, watching Fred carefully and with suspicion smouldering in her eyes. She takes the young dragon in her claws and begins carefully slicing through the bonds. "Vrrxthrr krnth ssrbo," she replies. Fred feels a distinct sinking feeling, and the only thing keeping him from breaking out into a cold sweat is the lack of sweat glands on his new body. Apparently another item on the long list of skills, attributes and abilities that don't come standard with being turned into a dragon is knowledge of whatever language it is that they speak to each other. "Um... I don't understand. Do you speak Allarian?" The rival dragon glares at Fred, and he involuntarily shrinks back a little under the heat of her gaze. She holds the glare for an uncomfortably long moment before responding, "Passably, I am told. My cave - why do you enter it like a thief?" Though her Allarian is strangely accented, it's certainly vastly better than Fred's grasp of Draconian. "Why also are you an idiot who can not understand simple Taksrrith?" Fred can feel that he's in serious trouble now. Telling the truth would no doubt go over about as well as a balloon made of lead, and telling a lie would probably dig his hole even deeper - not that he can think of any lies that would be even remotely convincing at this moment. Astra, meanwhile, is still deaf from Fred's shouting and is mouthing a silent prayer that Fred doesn't get them both killed. Fred responds with a partial truth, leaving out all the 'kill the dragon' bits for now. "I was... I am a human, transformed into a dragon by a necromancer living in these caves. I... uh... really liked blue dragons when I was younger. And then I found those goblins, they fled, and then you found us." The red dragon continues to glare at Fred, but the tension is unexpectedly broken by the freed baby dragon. "Grreek?" it chirps at its mother. The larger dragon looks down and nuzzles her child, her expression becoming almost tender before she turns her ire back towards the blue intruder. She makes a gesture with her foreclaw, and Fred can feel a tingling along his scales as magical energies build up in the cave.
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Sam
1/16/2015 11:59:38 AM
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