The Innkeeper

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 36698

Both Lord Fred and Checkers fell asleep quickly. Lord Fred's sleep was deep, and after five hours had passed, he had a vivid dream.

In this dream, he had just awakened. Standing at the foot of his bed was a man. He was about a head shorter than Fred, and a bit heavier. His complexion was olive-coloured, and his hair was black, straight, and cut closely. At the corners of his mouth and eyes, a few wrinkles appeared. Those eyes were looking past him, and his expression was impassive, with arms crossed. He wore a uniform, with a short scarlet coat. It was unusually clean, like everything else in the transformed caverns. Fred did not react with the suspicion that he might have in his waking moments. Somehow it seemed perfectly natural that such a man might appear.

As Lord Fred sat up in his bed, the man said, "Good morning, Lord Fred, I hope that you slept well."

Lord Fred answered, "Yes, I did, thank you. I am happy that this bed was here. Yesterday was an ordeal that I would not want to repeat."

The man said nothing, but just nodded, as if he had understood.

"I was on a mission for king and country. We have been having trouble with a nasty-tempered dragon for years, who ravaged the south country and killed a lot of our people. I was one of three who managed to kill him yesterday."

The man did not act surprised. He walked over to the bed Checkers was sleeping on and asked Fred, "Is this Glideri one of your companions?"

"Oh, yes. The dragon appeared to summon her yesterday, but she has been very helpful. She helped me defeat a large spider known as the wallhugger. I think that she may have some magical powers, but if she does, she is not able to control them. She seems to have cleaned up the caves quite a bit after reading from an old book, written in some foreign language."

The man stooped down over Checkers. She was curled into a tight ball, with her wings covering her body. "This Glideri seems to be frightened, and on its guard. They do not normally sleep like this." He then started to stroke underneath the third rib of one of the wings. The wings started to loosen, and Checkers, while still sleeping, started to uncurl. Paul took a sheet from an adjoining bed, and gently dropped it on the sleeping Glider.

"She will feel more relaxed in the morning. I have observed Glideri before, and when they are in a playful mood, that is one of their favourite spots to be stroked. They have to trust you, though. It looks like she may have gotten bruised somehow, just below the top of the wing, on her right side, but that will heal." The man changed the subject. "So what are you going to do now that you have slain the dragon?"

"We have a problem. The third person in our party, Princess Astra, of Aqualaria, is stuck in a pocket in the cavern. She turned into a dragon when she killed the other one. She cannot get through the passageway."

The man nodded. "I think that you may be interested in what I have to tell you. It might explain some of the riddles of the cavern. While I am talking, would you be able to help me with a task?"

"What is the task?"

"I need to clean out some debris in the air duct. It is tedious work, but it needs to be done."

"I will help you," declared Lord Fred, eager to get more information from the man.

  1. The dream continues.
  2. Lord Fred is awakened unexpectedly.

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12/14/2003 3:41:18 AM

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