4 Troll's Cave

A wagon approached Troll's cave, but was stopped near the road. Akai was asleep in the wagon, while two armored knights approached the driver. The driver and knights talked for a minute, and in the end, the driver got off the wagon and shook Akai awake.

"Wake up. This is as far as I can take you. " the driver said while shaking Akai awake.

Akai yawned and opened one eye. "Just give me a minute" he said as he fell right back to sleep. Akai was being shaken again but harder.

One of the armored knights told him "Get up."

Akai sat up on the wagon looking at the knight with somewhat open eyes. There were two knights. Both heavily armored. They weren't just any knights. Dragonslayers. They held some dragon bones with them. One of them had a necklace with a dragon toot attached, while the other had a hilt forged using melted down dragon bones.

The dragonslayer that woke him asked "What are you doing here, traveller?"

Akai yawned and replied with a forced smile "I've come to hunt a dragon."

He smiled with his teeth wide open. Moderately clean teeth for the time. Akai continued "I heard there was a dragon at Troll's cave. I hoped that maybe there would be some reward for killing it"

The dragonslayers looked at each other. The dragonslayer grabbed Akai by his arm off the wagon. As soon as Akai was off, the wagon started turning around and left. Akai asked "How far is Troll's Cave from here?"

The dragonslayer replied "I'll take you to our boss. You can discuss any job that he may have from him"

The dragonslayer grabbed Akai's arms and pushed him towards Troll's cave. The second dragonslayer that didn't wake up Akai stayed where he was and continued to block the road. As they ventured closer, Akai could sense another dragon nearby.

Dragons had the ability to sense others of their own kind, but their senses weren't precise enough to find where exactly a dragon was. As Shieldrake was filled with dragon-kind, Akai can constantly sense the presence of others like him. When he is closer to a dragon, his sense perk up and can easily tell that he is near a dragon. These senses are common with all dragons.

Akai could see a campsite right outside of the cave. Further off was a small town near a river. A very peaceful sight besides the fact that there is a camp filled with military equipment. The town was called Butterton Town, as he recalled from the maps.

Akai entered the campsite while being escorted by the dragonslayer. He saw a whole camp full of dragonslayers. If any of them knew that he was a dragon, then he would be in a lot of trouble. These group of knights knew how to kill dragons. Some of their blades were even forged with dragon scales, which are stronger than most metals. Akai had to be cautious. He still had his illusive ring on which made sure that his scales wouldn't show. He was being led to a more furnished tent.

The tent was being guarded by two other dragonslayers clad in armor. The one pushing me waved his hand to them and they let him through.

Akai entered the tent with the dragonslayer holding his arm. There was some other dragonslayer looking at a map layout of the cave. He must be their leader. This leader was young, tall, and with blonde hair. He had a scar on his right eye from a cut, but both of his eyes were still intact.

The dragonslayer let go of my arm and bowed to their leader. "Lord Vesuvius." the dragonslayer said.

A lord, Akai thought. A noble was in charge of this group of dragonslayers?

Lord Vesuvius looked up and smiled. "Ahh, Pip. And who did you bring with you?"

The dragonslayer known as Pip got up and said casually "Some adventurer looking to take out a dragon."

These two must have been friends. Akai jumped in. "I'm here for the dragon inside that cave. I was thinking there must be some reward for hunting a dragon."

Lord Vesuvius looked at Akai still smiling. "Well, I can't let you just go in there and start attacking a giant dragon, but I may have a task that you can do. I have amassed some of my dragonslayers to go into the cave to attack the dragon. We already know where he is hiding. If you want a reward, I can pay you a portion if you would be willing to work with a team."

Akai smiled and said "Sure. I always wanted the chance to hunt a dragon."

That was too easy, Akai thought, there must be some reason that he's letting me go in there. Akai was thinking that there may be some plan that he was unaware of, but he couldn't think about it right now.

"Pip, take this man to the first squad" Vesuvius commanded of the dragonslayer.

"Yes, my lord" Pip said. Then, he grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the tent.

"It was nice meeting you, too, lord" I said jokingly as I was being pushed out.

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As he exited the tent, he noticed some big crossbows being set up outside of the cave. Akai has never seen these weapons, before. They must have been just invented. He also noticed barrels being lined up outside of the cave entrance. Akai was unsure of what these barrels contained. The barrels themselves look to be cast out of metal rather than made of wood. Pip led Akai to a small team of other dragonslayers. There were six other dragonslayers there.

"Alright. You have one more member. That makes six of you. Captain Jake holds the map and he will be taking you towards where the dragon is. You all will head in there and start attacking the dragon. As the dragon is being distracted, we'll come in and flank it. Any questions."

"I have one, yes." One dragonslayer raised his hand. "We are getting paid for this, right?"

"You'll get paid when the job is completed." Pip replied. "Now, if there are no more questio-"

"Is it too late to piss behind the bushes?" Akai said in a joking manner.

Pip scowled and ordered, "Get in there and give that dragon hell."

The cave's entrance could only fit one person at a time. Captain Jake went in first holding the map and a torch. The five dragonslayers went in no specific order. Akai went into the dark cave last.