Castellan

Fred still did not trust the shadow of Castellan. He would listen, and take into account that Castellan might lie, or twist the truth.

A deep purple light appeared. Then the image of Castellan came into being. The image was that of a dark-hair and olive skinned man, with a close cropped goatee. The iris of its eyes was a deep brown - almost black. Fred thought of a painting of a Hespaniard sea captains in battle that he had once seen.

Fred said, "Spirit of Castellan, if that is what you indeed who you were, I humbly ask for information."

The image nodded at him.

"I am Fred of Suffex, a duchy of the Great Kingdom. I am on an errand from King Ermy. I need to slay a dragon that has been pillaging villages in our kingdom. How would you have dealt with a dragon?"

Fred would always remember the voice of that image. The image spoke with a deep pitch and a deliberate pace. The image also spoke with a slight accent - whether the difference was cause by Castellan's origins or whether the language had simply changed over time, Fred would not be able to know. There were two main differences - Castellan would often pronounce the terminal letters that were silent. Mage would be pronounced as MAY-zhuh. And there were gutteral sounds that had dropped out of the language. Knight became guh-NIKT. Castellan's spirit spoke slowly enough that Fred could understand what he was saying. The exact phrasing will not be reproduced in this account, but it did add to the air of menace that Fred felt.

Castellan's answer was naturally unorthodox.

"If it were just a dragon, I would leave it be. There is much to admire about dragons. They transcend the limits of their bodies using thought - pure thought almost, although they do use certain material aids. A superior man should be able to negotiate with one, so that interests of the dragon and the interest of the man do not cross."

"And suppose the dragon is perverse, and will not keep his end of any bargain."

"The superior man builds a reputation that the dragon respects. A dragon will not cross such a man."

"And of course a superior man is a man such as you, who knows the ways of magic."

"That is a helpful condition. But I certainly can say that this is not a sufficient condition. And perhaps it is not a necessary condition."

"This is not helping me. Let me ask another question. I have found an bottle of a blue fluid that I think may be useful. The fluid glows under a strong light. What is it likely to be?"

"Interesting. What sort of scent does it have?"

Fred took the bottle, and started to remove the stopper. He hesitated.

"You came to kill the dragon, and you are worried about removing a stopper from a bottle?" The spirit shook its head and smirked.

"There could be poison fumes."

"Maybe. But not likely. Those containers are usually marked with a red stripe. My guess is that it is nothing more than a nutritious liquor that either man or dragon can enjoy. But it could also be one of the aids that dragons use to prolong their life or increase their power."

Fred pointed the stoppered end of the bottle away from him and tried pulling it out. It was stuck fast. But he found that as he twisted the stopper, it slowly came loose. Once the stopper was removed, he slowly brought it close to his nose. There was a scent. It smelled like

1. some type of wine.
2. a concentrated essence of roses.
3. lamp oil.

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