Chapter Thirty Two: The Town Of Smolder

Penny arrives in a small town on the outskirts of the Witch Kingdom. She immediately notices that most of the townspeople seem rather fearful of something but she can't quite be sure of what. Everything for the most part looked normal, there didn't seem to be any disasters or anything harming the townsfolk so she finally manged to approach a woman who was just about to enter her home.

" Pardon me, but everyone here seems quite fearful of something..can you maybe explain to me what is going on? " Penny inquired. She had noticed that most of the townsfolk had either barricaded their windows or locked their doors. The Streets, which should be bountiful with people enjoying the daylight, have all been hidden away.

" Yeah, it tis the dragon" The lady explained.

" Dragon? What Dragon? There is no Dragon here? " Penny looked around by saw no giant flying lizard of any sort in the streets nor the skies.

" No, not a flying dragon. I mean..he is a..well..I'm not sure what he is. But he calls himself the Dragon" The woman explains further.

" He has been terrorizing our village for months now. We have sent word to the Witches but Noone will bother to help us here. He burns down our homes and our crops" The woman seemed upset even explaining the atrocities he had committed.

" And the worst part about him his...does even cook the meat he eats. He just eats it raw. I once watched him take chicken breast from the market and just shove it into his gullet" the woman shivered in disgust.

" That sounds..extremely unhealthy.." Penny knew of the dangers when consuming raw uncooked meat. This more than likely meant that The Dragon had to be magical in some shape or form. At the very least, he was definitely unnatural.

" You had best stay away from him, Girl. He will devour you too" The woman rushes inside and slams the door closed. " Wait..he eats people too? " Penny questioned as she looked around the surrounding area but again, saw Noone that looks out of place, or at least the few people that dared to remain out in the open.

" The worst part about this is that I have no idea if he's actually a paradox or not. I don't think I had ever heard anyone mentioned a dragon before. But I kinda want to see him" Penny was naturally curious and wanted to see this strange creature that could cause such harm to a town that had seemingly done nothing wrong.

And so, Penny searched the town, looking for this mysterious Dragon that was said to stalk the town. But after hours of looking, she found nothing even remotely resembling what she had been informed of.

" If this damn person exists, they are definitely really good at hiding" Penny sighed as she took a seat on a small bench in the center of Town.

" Ohohoho" Called a voice from behind Penny who turned around to see quite the sight before her eyes. A man, dressed in what looked to be, colorful silk robes. He was rather tall and slender, and was adorned with several golden necklaces tucked under his large, black bushy beard.

" I am the Knight of Folly! " The man announced.

" You have got to be kidding me.." Penny stared on in disbelief.

" I am the Knight, here to rid you good people, of the fearsome dragon that haunts your peaceful estates! " The man cheered, though Noone bothered to leave their homes despite the commotion.

" You are a knight? " Penny questioned, tilting her head to the side as the Knight noticed her and approached by leaping a great distance to land directly in front of her.

" And you must be the dragon! " The Knight smiled.

" I am going to take offense to that actually " Penny placed her hands on her hips, as she tried to figure out how to take this Knight with a Motocrum of seriousness.

" If you are not the dragon, then you must be the fair maiden with whom I am bethroed" The Knight laughed and took Penny's hand into his own.

" Not on your life buddy" Penny snatched her hand away from the Knight who simply laughed at the crude response.

" Knight of The Folly, it is you and I, that meet at least" a voice called from behind Penny who turned to see a rather large, out of shape man, with a small shirt, that barely covered his petruding belly, stood.

" I am the dragon of Smolder. And you shall not banish me from this dwelling" The dragon announced.

" This has to be a joke.." Penny could not believe her eyes or ears.

" I am the King of Malbadah" Another voice announced as Penny turned reluctantly to see who else had entered into the fray.

This man was short but thin, and was dressed in g9lden robes of the finest fabrics and a similar crown rested upon the top of his head.

" Oh.." Penny sighed as she slowly backed away from the entire confrontation.

" Wait..Malbadah? Isn't this place called Smolder? What Kingdom do you Ryle? " Questioned the Dragon who was answered by the Knight. " He is the King of all the lands"

" That doesn't make sense. I've never even heard of this King" The Dragon protested. Penny found herself agreeing with the Dragon.

" I am the king of all the lands. It worries me not that a fool such as yourself would not know of my existence. I am the glorious king, Whose honor all nights must defend! " The King commanded.

" Well You both Shall die here today" The Dragon threatened which recieved a laugh from the Knight.

" You can try to slay me. But I fought thousands of your kind. And yet, here I stand. Do you really believe that you can best me? " The Knight challenged.

" Okay wait.." Penny finally stepped in.

" First of all, I am not a maiden, so let's just make that clear. And, I have no idea who any of you people are. But you.." Penny points to the King. " You are not royalty, and you " Penny points to the Knight " I am pretty sure you are not an actual Knight. You don't even have Armor. And you " Penny points to the dragon " Outside of dietary choices, seem to be the only one making any form of sense" Penny looked at all three and stood between them.

" I am here, to correct anything that I see as unnatural, and you all three, seem Highly unnatural. Now, I'm not sure if this is some game your playing or not..but if you are serious, then I shall have to deal with all of you " Penny knew she had spent too much time in this town already and wanted to leave as quickly as possible. But she could not ignore the strangeness of these three.

" Who are you to speak to me that way? " The King shouted at Penny who raised her hand and fling a fireball near the Kings head without even looking to his direction.

" Oh..Good Answer, Carry on " The King replied as he cowered in fear.

" Now, are you all townsfolk and are playing a game simply because you are bored? " Penny questioned and none of the three answered. " Because if you aren't, I am going to have to remove you" Penny announced.

The Dragon was the first to step forward. " I am the Dragon. The Feircest monster who has ever walked the world, fear me or - " Before he could finish, Penny kicked him firmly in the gut, which sent the Dragon Flying backwards and crashing into a small cart of vegetables.

" Now the dragon has been defeated. Would anyone else like to challenge me? " Penny looked to the Knight first, half expecting him to have something to say.

" Nope, I'm good" The Knight began to cower.

" Okay Good. I am sorry for the violence but I take my job very seriously and if you could just - " Before Penny could finish, she found herself struck and flying through the air before crashing through a houses wall.

The Dragon had rose back to his feet and had punched her with an extreme force. Penny took a moment to collect herself and get back to her feet, climbing out of the rubble of the home she had just destroyed.

" Alright, that's fair. Now if you could just - " The Dragon lunged at Penny again, striking her with an even harder blow, sending her through another wall of the home which made the entire home collapse.

" Damn.." Penny rose back to her feet and now planned to go on the attack. Penny launched herself in the air and began flinging fireballs at the Dragon, though the fireballs simply bounced off of his skin and landed on the surrounding homes.

" What in the world.." Penny was surprised to see this as she landed on her feet in front of the beast.

" I am The Dragon of Smolder" The Dragon announced as he charged at Penny who had little time to react and was tackled to the ground by the Dragon who began punching down but narrowly missing Penny's head. Penny had little choice but to plant her Knee in his groin, which made the Dragon flip over her and allowed Penny to regain her footing.

The Dragon soon rose to his feet as well, however this time, Penny went on the offensive and began punching at the Dragon which seemed to have little effect upon him. The Dragon Smiled, and with one swing of his massive arm, flung Penny into another house, several feet away.

" And now, you see the power that I possess" The Dragon approached the home that Penny had crashed through, expecting his opponent to be defeated. " I am the strongest in all of the lands. I am the Dragon, and you shall not doubt my strength ever again " The Dragon boasted, as he had become accustomed to doing. He was the strongest, at least within the village and that had carried his ego for quite some time.

Just as he finally reached to where Penny was left laying, he noticed that a fire of bright blue had engulfed Penny's body and once her eyes opened, she launched herself at the Dragon, she carried him into the air, before shooting him down to the ground, forcing him deep into the dirt with such a force, that it leveled all the sounding houses, though luckily, most families had evacuated the area after the first few houses had been demolished.

The Dragon layed upon the ground, unmoving. He had been defeated by Penny who stood back to her feet and looked for both the King and the Knight who remained in their original places, unnerved by the shock wave.

" So the dragon was much more than appeared. And I would assume that you both of the same way? " Penny questioned as the Knight and the King looked at one another.

" Well we certainly are not brutes of the same caliber as him " The Knight nervously chuckled.

" Are you going to give me any issues? Or are you going to leave peacefully? " Penny questioned as the King stepped forward.

" We will not back down. This is our home, And we will not surrender it to the likes of you. Do you understand me, Heathen? " The King had found a confidence he sorely lacked when Penny launched her initial fireball at him. But Penny felt that this would be a challenge, especially if they fought her at the same time.

" I really do not wish to fight you. I only ask that you peacefully.." Penny tried her best to reason but the King would hear nothing of the sort.

" Knight.." The King raised his hand. " Attack This transgresser" And with that, the silk clothes that once adorned the Knights body, began to wrap themselves around Penny. They were far greater in strength that Penny who could not break free no matter how hard she tried. The now Nude Knight, laughed in the defeat of his powerful foe.

" The Silks of Tisatee have fallen the great sorceress" He boasted.

Penny smirked and then engulfed hee body in the blue flames yet again, and burned the silks almost instantly. " Oh.." The Knight sighed, seeing that his primary weapon had been bested by Penny. " I forgot you could do that"

" Uh huh" Penny smirked as she dashed foward and planted her fist, deep into the gut of the Knight who coughed out blood almost immediatly. " I can do many things, all of which, can crush you and your King if you don't surrender" Penny threatened.

" The Knight, still hunched over in pain, began to cough. As he did so, Silk ribbons began emitting from his mouth. Thousands and Thousands of Feet of.multicolored ribbon layed his his feet by the time he had finished.

" Well that was disgusting.." Penny almost vomited.

" But I am not so easily beaten " And with that, the Ribbon launched itself at Penny who was still engulfed in her flames. The Ribbons began tying around Penny's arms and legs, though they did not burn away like the clothes from before.

" You shall have to try much harder this time" The Knight laughed, still completely naked.

" Put on some clothes, Knight" the King ordered to which the Knight Nodded. " I shall wear the blood of my enemy "

" That's not what I mean. Blood or not..it is still rude to be indecent in front of a lady, enemy or otherwise " The King scoffed.

" I understand your highness" The Knight kneeled and then snapped his fingers, making a new suit of clothes reappear upon his body.

" What shall you do now, Sorceress? " The Knight challenged Penny who struggled to release the bindings.