Nick the Not-So-Quick
The Black Void - Episode 177
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"I desire the company of..." You let your words hang in the air for
dramatic effect.
"Me." The low-pitched voice behind you has an almost regal tone. Whoever is behind you must seem very confident in his abilities. You turn around. It's a large purple dragon. "Beware, it is the evil dragon Sproll!" yells Dick before running away. "Flee as if your life depends on it!" Rick shreiks like a little girl. He runs away too. "Run away! Run away!" Nick chimes in. Then he runs in circles. Shrugging off the lunacy of those three bad spellers, you face the supposedly evil dragon. "All right, Mister Sproll." "Call me Sproll." "Sproll, is it? Well, before I can accept you as my traveling companion, I'm going to have to make sure that you meet certain criteria. Firstly, can you spell?" "Well, yes, I should be able to. I finished first in the class of '86 at the Dragon Academy." "Then spell princess." "P-R-I-N-C-E-Double S." "All right, I believe you. Second: are you skilled with melee weapons?" "Well, no, but I can burn many things to a crisp." "Close enough. Number three: can you defend against dark magic?" "I'm afraid not. But I know of no one in this realm that can. Had there been someone that could, Queen Estelle would never have been taken in the first place." "A thoughtful answer. Next, do you know the terrain well?" "I thought that was your job." "No, I'm only good on the other side of the Black Void. This side, I couldn't tell you which way was north." "That way," Sproll points. "Good enough for me. And last, but not least, will you provide me with much unintentional comedy along the way?" The dragon nods in Nick's direction. The so-called knight is still running around in circles, only now he's flapping his arms like a bird, and the circles are expanding, and - oops, he just crashed into a tree. Both you and Sproll are laughing uncontrollably. "You don't need me for that," Sproll advises between guffaws. "That knight - oh, he's more than enough!" Eventually the laughter dies out. You decide to take the currently unconscious Nick with you, if only for the unintentional comedy factor. You spend the next several minutes debating strategy with Sproll. Where would the portals be? How would you get there? How would you keep people in your own time from noticing a real-life dragon? What is the price of corn in Malaysia? All right, maybe not that last one, but you were about to get there. Luckily, Nick starts to stir before your conversation takes a turn for the more inane. "Stand back, foul dragon! I shall smite thee with my sword like so - hiya! And then thusly - hiya!" He actually makes the sword motions too. Sproll shakes his head and picks up the knight by the waist, holding him at arm's length. Nick tries to swing his sword, but hits only air. He starts crying, "No fair! No fair!" "Now listen here, Nick," you explain. "Sproll here is a friend." "A friend?" Nick questions, through his tears. "But I thought dragons couldn't be friends with humans." "Well, there's a lot of stuff you think that's wrong. Sproll's going to help us with our quest to save Queen Estelle." "Our quest? Did I just hear you say our quest? Oh, yay, yay, yippee yay, what a glorious day!" He's gone from completely unconsolable to ecstatic in a span of about two seconds. "Sproll, put him down. We need to get going. Which way's north again?" Sproll puts Nick down and points. "That way."
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unknown adventurer
3/21/2005 11:23:53 PM
Extending Enabled
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