Chp.17: The spy and the dragon

Inbruck was a beastmen city located roughly in the center of what used to be the Baudonia City Alliance. Before the war it was inhabited mainly by boarmen, beastmen with bodies that looked like a fusion between human and bipedal boar. With the conquest of the Baudonia City Alliance by the Jurao Kingdom, it had become more multi-ethnic: many human merchants and adventurers had approached that territory, and beastmen from other cities had also come there. The reason for this influx was that Inbruck was right next to two rivers, thus favoring river trade; before the conquest there were few merchants who approached given the dangers represented by the journey (since there was the risk of being attacked by other beastmen peoples to prevent that city from reinforcing itself, or by bandits or pirates), but now that the he army was garrisoning the Baudonia City Alliance, travel had become safer.

Of course, merchants and adventurers weren't allowed into the city for 'safety reasons', so they had no way of seeing how oppressed the boarmen actually were (though obviously not to the level of the lizardmen, tigermen and lionmen). And for those who did find out anyway... they didn't have long lives. Therefore, the market was located near the river, about half a kilometer away from the city proper. Ships landed there and merchants built a stall and sold their wares. Adventurers looking for work were often mercenaries or hunters who were tasked by soldiers with finding groups of bandits or some wild animal. Someone had begun to wonder why after more than a year the cities were still closed to visitors (generally this situation in a conquered nation did not last beyond that time), but obviously no one had asked questions. After all, the first rule when dealing with an army, even if it was from their own nation, was to not irritate anyone. If the soldiers said don't ask questions, then the merchants kept quiet.

Recently, some rather unique ships had arrived and their passengers had surprised many people: it was in fact the party of adventurers known as 'One day', which had now become famous throughout the nation. According to the adventurers, they were escorting a small merchant fleet, but were still willing to accept new assignments while the merchants they escorted went about their business. The soldiers were pleased with this: the party 'One day' was known for its abilities, so they could take the opportunity to entrust it with some assignments. The only thing that displeased them was that the most famous member of the team was absent, namely the mythic warrior Rhaegal Neytirison, who according to many was also the leader (although no one had ever confirmed this). Apparently he had been wounded on the last mission by a basilisk, and as a result had to stay in bed to recover from the poison; and indeed when the soldiers had gone up to the boat to inspect it they had found this person in his cabin snoring. Although a little sorry for not having been able to meet such a famous man, they had nevertheless agreed that it was appropriate to leave him alone, and that they could rely on the rest of the party 'One day' for the missions they wanted to entrust them.

What the soldiers didn't know in spite of themselves was that the one in the bed was actually just an avatar. The real Rhaegal, in his large dragon body, was hidden in the hold protected by an invisibility rune. Despite his large size, it was easy for him to avoid being discovered in inspections: in fact, the soldiers never checked the goods too carefully, but limited themselves to making sure that nobody was in the room (since some prisoners of war could have attempted to escape on ships). Rhaegal therefore just had to move according to where the soldiers were, and after just two minutes they left without noticing anything. Thanks to that method, Rhaegal had been able to go unnoticed in many other cities… and calmly sow the seeds for revolt. Unbeknownst to the soldiers, in fact, the party 'One day' wasn't there to find new missions, but to look for the place where the lizardmen, lionmen or tigermen are currently working. It wasn't difficult: when the soldiers gave them a mission, they always advised them not to go in a certain direction, inventing some excuse, and that was almost always the place where their prisoners were held. Once the location was obtained, the party returned to the ship and reported their findings to Rhaegal, who then, as soon as night fell, exited the ship and brought a part of his soldiers there, who he hid and gave them the right directives as soon as he had thought of a plan. When he was unable to create one, he connected to an avatar he had left behind in the main army and contacted Haku, who quickly provided advice. Once his men figured out what to do, Rheagal would turn back and hide back inside the ship, and the next day the party would set off again for the next destination. Using this technique, they had already completed a good part of the mission given to them by Haku.

This time was no different. That evening, the rest of the party had already obtained the location of the labor camp and reported it back to Rhaegal. "… and so, it's here. They're building a road" Efren was explaining as he pointed to a spot on a map. "From what we've been able to see, they only move about ten meters each day. As a result, when we start the attack, they'll be more or less here" he pointed to another spot.

Rhaegal rubbed his chin. "Mh. Very good. What can you tell me about the territory?"

"There are many good points" Efren explained. "Here is a cave where troops can hide until the moment is right. After that, there are elevated points here from which it would be easy to hit soldiers from above. However, there are also some weaknesses. Here, for example..."

While the two were busy planning, the rest of the party 'One day' was off the ship, intent on strolling the market for amusement. After all, they had to look like ordinary adventurers to avoid attracting suspicion. They would visit a few stalls and perhaps buy something, and then return to the ship where Rhaegal would share with them the plan he had devised… or ask their advice if he hadn't yet. Sarah was looking at some potions at a stall, which she knew however were of little value compared to those enhanced by dragon's blood, when suddenly someone approached her and grabbed her arm dragging her towards him. Sarah acted on instinct and immediately grabbed her weapon, but stopped when she heard the words her 'attacker' was whispering in her ears: "Wait, I mean no harm. My name is Gerard Utohr. Pardon my manners, but I can't risk anyone else hearing us. I need that..."

The man suddenly stopped speaking as a shiver ran up his spine; his survival instinct kicked in and he felt an extremely powerful killer intent behind him. Before he could act, a hand that felt like claws grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it with such force that it almost broke. But suddenly Sarah whispered: "Serengal, no! He... is the man we've been waiting for"

The killer intent Gerard was feeling subsided, if only a little. The man turned slightly and saw that behind him a woman had appeared who was holding him by the shoulders and who had a rather murderous look. She looked like a predator watching its prey. "This is Gerard?" she asked Sarah.

The man nodded. "That's right. Gerard Utohr, spy employed by King Marcus, at your service" he introduced himself.

Serengal scrutinized him carefully, then she looked at Sarah, who nodded. Both agreed that the appearance matched the description provided by Sisna. "Prove it" Serengal whispered again.

"Sisna sent me here, and she is a big shot in 'The spider', and she also works for Haku. She sent me here with the specific purpose of meeting Rhaegal Neytirison, so that she can prove to me that the high royal general Carrion is preparing a plan to make the people revolt. " Gerard whispered back.

The two women looked at each other and nodded. At that point Serengal let go of Gerard and a smile was painted on her face: "Damn, Sarah, you should have told me before you knew this bold gentleman!" she exclaimed coquettishly. "You should have introduced him to me! As your friend, I'm offended!"

Gerard understood that Serengal's point was to keep up appearances, so he played along. "I'm sure Sarah would have introduced me soon..."

"That's right! It's your fault you're so impatient, Serengal!" Sarah said pretending to be offended, then she pushed them both away. "Come, let's continue the conversation on the ship. Knowing you, you'd be able to reveal details not suitable for an audience..."

The people around them, who were initially a little surprised by Serengal's sudden aggressive behavior, calmed down and chuckled at times. Clearly everyone was thinking that it was simply a misunderstanding: in their imagination, Gerard just wanted to play a joke on Sarah after meeting her after a long time and Serengal had intervened thinking that her friend was in danger. In short, a simple equivocation, nothing to worry about.

Serengal and Sarah led Gerard to their ship and boarded; Carlos was also there, but when he saw the two women's gazes, he understood immediately and nodded. Gerard was led into the hold, which was apparently empty. Serengal stepped forward and said aloud: "Rhaegal, you don't need to hide. It's him"

Gerard didn't understand why the woman thought there was someone there, but suddenly the space in front of him began to flicker strangely, as if the light had started to spring; within moments, the face of a dragon appeared in his field of vision. Gerard dropped his mouth and instinctively took a step back. "Haku?" he asked hesitantly.

The dragon shook his head. "I'm not my brother" he replied.

"Brother?" It took Gerard a moment to understand what the dragon had just said, when he did his eyes widened. "Damn... so all this time there were two dragons...". He wasn't so surprised by this: even though dragons were mostly solitary, there were some cases where two particularly close siblings managed to stay together. In some very rare cases in history, groups of three dragons had also been seen. However, this bond wasn't destined to last: the more the dragons grew, the more their need for food became high, and in the end the survival instinct prevailed over family affection. Generally, two dragon siblings were unable to stay together for more than three or four years. And considering that Haku and his brother were already at least two years old, it was unlikely they would be together for long.

Rhaegal sighed deeply. If Haku had known that he dared to reveal himself to someone, he would surely have yelled at him. However, he had thought about it for a long time and decided that he wanted to take the risk. After all, Efren, Carlos, Sarah, Lisah and Martha hadn't hidden their identities, and as a result most probably couldn't have returned to the Jurao Kingdom very soon without risking being accused of treason; in practice, they had put everything they possessed to achieve what they wanted. If he really wanted to be their friend, then Rhaegal couldn't keep hiding behind an avatar. So she had decided to meet Gerard in person… even if this choice wasn't widely shared by her sisters. He wasn't worried about endangering them: after all, no sane newcomer would ever think there could be more than two dragons, as that was strange enough. And in fact Gerard didn't even imagine that in addition to Haku and Rhaegal there were also fifteen other dragons, and some of them were in the room with him inside an avatar. Therefore, the only one who would have exposed himself would have been him; it was something he wanted to do, if it would allow him at least in part to deepen his relationship with his newcomer friends.

Gerard was somewhat fascinated by that discovery. While it wasn't that unusual, he'd never factored in the existence of a second dragon. "To think that Haku had a brother… who would have thought it" he muttered. "So the mythical adventurer Rhaegal Neytirison was actually a dragon, mh? How did you pass yourself off as a human?"

"I won't tell you, so don't ask" Rhaegal replied. "Rather, let's get to the point. Sisna has already told you everything, hasn't she?"

Gerard nodded. "Yes. He told me everything about Carrion's conspiracy. She also told me that you would give me proof of it"

"And so you'll have proof" Rhaegal said. "Be ready. When darkness falls, you and I will go to a place. You will see with your own eyes what the real situation of this land is"