4 Meet River

The skies above Pandreia outside of the academy were beautiful, but it was the landscape that really took Adrion's breath away. He had read a lot about the landscapes, but nothing could have prepared him for seeing them. Swaths of forests and fields stretched as far as the eye could see, all different shades of green.

"So, where to first?" Rhogar asked, snapping Adrion out of his trance.

"Oh, right, uh, let me check." Said Adrion, pulling out the scroll. As he opened it, it revealed itself to be a map of Pandreia. A gold line was found on it starting at the Academy and winding to the west, stopping at a town on the edge of the land. Adrion read the town's name.

"It says to go west to a place called Port Town. You have any idea where that is?" he asked.

"I've heard stories about that place from the nymphs. I might know where to go. West it is then." Rhogar answered, turning to the left.

"The town is by an ocean, so I suggest we follow that river to the sea." Adrion said, pointing to the river.

"Good idea, kid. And good eye! We'll have a good source of water with that river too."

As they day continued, Rhogar and Adrion flew over the river, stopping occasionally by the river to take a drink and eat some of their provisions, though they did not pass up the opportunity to take some of the berries they found by the riverbank. Soon it began to get dark. Rhogar suggested that they settle down in the woods to rest for the night, which Adrion heartily agreed to. As they landed in an open glen and set up camp Rhogar curled up while Adrion looked up at the stars overhead.

"Sure is something worth looking at, ain't it Rhogar?" he asked.

"Yeah, they sure are something." Rhogar replied.

"First day of the quest, and no trouble at all. Pretty good so far."

"I told you, we'd be just fine."

"Maybe. But I remember reading about quests like this in history books. There is always some form of trouble that shows up some time or other."

Rhogar looked up at Adrion: "True, but it hasn't happened yet, so let's enjoy the peace of our travels right now."

"But remain prepared for when the trouble comes." Adrion finished.

Rhogar nodded: "Yes. Let's." And with that, the two dozed off to sleep.

The next morning, Adrion woke once again to Rhogar nudging his face with his snout.

"Get up, kid. Time to get going." He said.

Adrion slowly got up: "New adventure, but still the old habits, huh?" he asked.

"Sooner we leave, the sooner we can get the pieces." Rhogar said, "Now come on."

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." Adrion said, getting up. Suddenly, he stopped and began to listen.

"Rhogar, do you hear that?" he asked. Rhogar listened around.

"Not really," he replied, "What do you hear?"

Adrion continued listening: "I hear…singing. Yeah, it sounds like someone singing."

"Where is it coming from?"

"It sounds like it's coming from the river. Let's go check it out."

Rhogar moved in front of Adrion: "Woah, woah there, buddy. This could be a trap by who-knows-what that probably wants to kill you and spit out your bones."

"I was honestly thinking the same thing," Adrion said, but what if it's another person? They might help us get to Port Town easier; I say it's worth the risk"

Rhogar though for a bit and then sighed: "Fine, but let's be quiet, just in case." Adrion led the way towards the river, Rhogar looking cautiously around.

"Okay, the singing is coming from over here." Adrion said hiding behind a bush.

"I definitely hear it now," Rhogar replied, "It doesn't sound like something a predator would make, but I don't want to take any chances."

"Agreed. I'll check it out." Peeking from behind the bush, Adrion looked to see the source of the singing coming from a young girl kneeling by the river. She was about his age, with a fair complexion and light blonde hair tied in a braid that shimmered like gold in the morning sun. Her ears were slightly pointed at the top's like an elf's, but she was no elf. As Adrion looked closer, he realized she was actually a half-dragon. A deep blue dragon's tail could be seen coming from under her light blue dress. As Adrion watched, the girl seemed to be magically controlling the water, forming it into different shapes as she hummed her song.

"Woah." Was all Adrion managed to get out.

"What? What is it?" Rhogar asked, looking over the bush. Once he saw the girl, he realized what Adrion's amazement was about.

"Ohhhh. A water half-dragon." He said.

"She's beautiful." Adrion said.

Rhogar saw what Adrion was getting at and snapped him back to reality: "And she might be willing to help us. Water dragons have great knowledge of any town near rivers and seas."

"Oh, yeah. You're right. So, let's go talk to her." Adrion said stepping out of the bushes, but as he did, Rhogar noticed something else and quickly yanked Adrion back with his tail.

"Ow! What is it now?" Adrion angrily whispered.

"There's something else," Rhogar said grimly, "Look."

As Adrion followed the dragon's gaze, he noticed a line of spikes jutting from the river, slowly approaching where the girl knelt.

"What is that?" Adrion asked.

"There's only one thing it could be," Rhogar replied, "A wyrm."

"A WYRM?!" Adrion asked. His heart froze. Wyrms were nasty creatures that prided themselves in deception and sneak attack, and this one was heading right for the girl.

"We gotta help her!" Adrion said.

"I agree, but wyrms are crafty, we gotta try to outsmart it. Got any ideas?"

Adrion thought for a bit, then, lifting his staff, said: "I actually might." Aiming the staff at the girl, he conjured a magic shield as quickly as he could, making sure to add an additional spell to make it invisible so as to not alarm the girl. It was just in time too, as a few seconds after he did, a massive, serpentine head shot out of the water right towards the girl, jaws open.

The girl turned and screamed, only to see the wyrm's head bounce off an invisible force as if it had hit a wall. Dazed, the wyrm woozily looked around at what had stopped its charge. Confused at what the creature had hit, the girl stumbled back, from the wyrm, then turned around as she saw Adrion charge out from the bushes, staff in hand and yelling at the top of his lungs, Rhogar following close behind.

The wyrm finally shook itself out of its daze and, seeing the two new attackers, became enraged that someone had interrupted his morning snack; it hissed and lunged forward. Adrion conjured and launched a fire ball at the creature's head, which dodged out of the way, only to have the projectile hit the creature's body. The wyrm screamed in pain, then turned its attention on Adrion, now infuriated even more. It lunged again as Adrion raised his staff for another attack. As the wyrm lunged, a dark shadow appeared over it as with a mighty roar, Rhogar leaped onto its head and began biting at its neck, breathing fire to add to the damage.

In massive pain now, the wyrm was able to throw Rhogar off, but when it saw the dragon as he leveled out and landed on his feet, it began to become afraid. Being creatures of darkness, wyrms hated anything that symbolized the light, dragons most of all. The two began to face off, both snarling at each other in threatening manners.

With the wyrm distracted by Rhogar, Adrion ran to the girl, still laying back in shock near the riverbank. Shaking her a bit to snap her back to reality, he said: "Hey, snap out of it! Are you ok?"

The girl shook her head as she regained her senses: "Yeah, I…I think so. How did it…?"

"I conjured up a shield to protect you so Rhogar and I could get here in time." Adrion replied, "Just stay back for right now, okay?"

Surprisingly, the girl shook her head: "I appreciate the help, but I can fight too." Just then, her dress became almost liquid (though not transparent much to Adrion's relief) as it changed from a dress into a deep blue tunic and adventurer's pants and boots. Then she stood up, and, facing the wyrm, which was still busy trying to stare down Rhogar, flicked out a pair of throwing knives.

Adrion was surprised: "Well that's…not what I was expecting."

"All half-dragons are trained to protect themselves somehow." The girl replied, "Since you were able to protect me from the creature's sneak attack, I am now able to strike back."

Adrion nodded: "Alright then." The girl then rushed forward and threw both knives at an open wound in the wyrm's neck, left there by Rhogar's claws. As the knives buried themselves in the creature, it cried out in pain and whipped to face the water half-dragon. Rhogar moved next to Adrion and asked: "Did she just…?"

"Yes, she just did. Who knew?" Adrion replied.

"Well, regardless, now might be a good time to use that sword of yours. There's an open wound on the other side of his neck that that fireball of your made earlier."

As Adrion looked, sure enough, there was a huge burn wound that had melted off the scaly armor and left a soft patch of skin. The problem was getting to it.

"I'm gonna need a lift if I'm gonna reach that." Adrion said.

"Consider it done." Rhogar replied, lowering his wing. Adrion quickly climbed on. As he did, he could see the wyrm's full attention was on the half-dragon girl, who was doing fairly well holding her own against the creature with another set of daggers. The wound was in full view.

Adrion unsheathed his sword and, placing his staff in the holster on his back, said: "GO!"

Rhogar took off and hovered above the wyrm. With a clear opening, Adrion dropped down and landed on the wyrm's back with a painful grunt. Before the wyrm could process what just happened, Adrion held the sword tight, and plunged it into the wound. The wyrm shrieked, throwing Adrion off its back and then fell to the ground, dead. Adrion fell back, but before he could land in the river, a portion of the water rose up and caught him, forming a sort of water slide which he went down, landing safely on the riverbank. He looked up to the see the girl standing in front of him.

"Thanks." He said.

"Don't mention it," the girl replied, walking over and pulling her knives out of the dead monster's throat. Adrion walked over and did the same with his sword.

"What's your name?" Adrion asked.

"River. What's yours?"

"Adrion. This is Rhogar." Adrion replied, gesturing to the dragon, who nodded to River.

River nodded back: "So tell me. What's a wizard doing all the way out here?"

"Well, you see, we got chosen for a quest by the White King and we need to get to Port Town."

River's eyes widened: "Wait, THE White King?! Picked you?!"

Adrion nodded: "Can you help?"

River nodded: "Anyone who's on a mission from the White King usually needs help anyway from what I've read. You said you needed to get to Port Town?"

"You know where that is?"

"Yeah. I know most towns that are near bodies of water, I can lead you there. However, I do have one condition."

Adrion got nervous: "And that is…?"

River straightened up: "I'm coming with you on your quest."

Adrion and Rhogar looked at each other/

"I was honestly expecting worse." Rhogar said.

"Agreed. Besides, what's the worst that could happen here?"

Adrion walked forward and then held out his hand for River to shake. As the half-dragon shook his hand, Adrion said: "Welcome to the group, River."