Traitorous Thoughts

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 1365

Alicia looked at Fred and shook her head. His actions were, more and more, the actions of a madman. She understood his anger at having been changed, she understood his anger at having been stripped of any privileges of royalty, she understood his anger at losing his home and family and friends; but she did not understand his saving a dragon.

She thought upon her own lands, her father and mother. She remembered Trelaine and Gazi; the Town Crier was the first to find their bodies, burned to a crisp. Alicia's father, the King, was enraged that a gentleman and a gentlewoman of his kingdom would become fodder for dragon- sport. A decree was made, and soon many noble knights were scouring the countryside looking for the killer dragon (or any dragon for that matter, ALL were killers after all). Sirs Hewlett and Seigel were the first to die; Sir Ronald survived only due to the sudden appearance of a mage by the name of Belboz (who, it was said afterward, took three mules, a maidservant and the knight's favored bow in payment). These memories filled her with sadness and anger, and the anger was directed towards the dragon before her and the man who sought to save it's life.

"You are wrong, monster," she said with an unconcealed hatred towards the Dragon. "WE do NOT need your help, not now, not ever! Carradene is a coward and a mean-spirited son of a brown-haired bitch, and the Den is not afraid of him nor the other wolves. YOU are the threat, YOU are the danger; YOU are the monster!"

Alicia spit upon the creature and leaped across the deck, over the planks, and into the water before Malachi could even blink. Fred was speechless.

"You must stop her," whispered Malachi. "If she tells the others of my presence—" Her voice trailed off and she slumped onto the deck, near death after her many travails.

~~Crud!~~ thought Fred. ~~This is madness! I know what I 'saw' when the Dragon touched my mind, she IS noble, yet how shall I convince the others?!!?~~

*********

two days later

The Agreement had been duly witnessed and agreed to: all territorial boundaries would be summarily lifted until the Dragon could be found and eliminated.

"Bloody hell!" screamed out Taylor. "WHERE in God's Name could the damnable Duke of Suffex be?!!?"

"He can't be far," said Mason. "Alicia told us that the Dragon was sickly."

"But that traitor Fred," added another. "Bit the monster and gave her the only blessing of our tainted blood. The bitch may well heal up within seven days."

While the various groups of wolf, fox, bear, weasel and assorted animals were covering the countryside, a smaller group was holding Council within Towne.

"Well Carradene," sighed Moran. "Do you concur with the advice of Bonaventura?"

"It makes some amount of sense," replied Carradene. "Yet, how could the Traitor and the Monster sail an entire ship by themselves?"

"Look," began Dierdre. "The Monster may be half fox, but she still has magic in her veins. A simple incantation may have been enough. We know the ship to be gone, our Golem-Scouts informed us of this yesterday. We also know that the Traitor is nowhere in the local vicinity. He must have taken the creature to the far side of the island so she could recuperate."

The conversation had been going on for some hours now and the leaders had grown frustrated. They were anxious about the Golem, anxious about the volcano, anxious about the traitorous cur who bore the name Fred, and anxious about having a Dragon-turned-fox on the island. Finally Alicia interrupted the discussion.

"There is another possibility," she said. "He may have taken her to the lands of the Forsaken."

The group gasped at that suggestion. It had occurred to some, of course, but they had thrown out the idea without even bringing it up because of the implications. Yet there it was, on the table, out in the open.

  1. The Council dismisses the idea as too improbable and continues the search, only skirting Forsaken territories and aimed towards the far side of the island.
  2. The Council begins preparations to search within the dreaded Forsaken territories.

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Colonel

4/15/1999 11:27:56 PM

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