Dragon Half

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OF COURSE.

Because what was a fantasy world without a dragon, am I right?

I clambered up on top of the middle carriage and then asked Garm, "Tell me about these dragons. Are dragons… thinking beings? Are they powerful? Are they capable of magic?"

"Dragons are powerful beings, yes. They are thinking beings. Dragons inhabit the Sanctuary Grounds in the middle of this country, that's their territory. No one's allowed to go there, and dragons don't terrorize people as long as no one intrudes on their land." Garm grimaced. "At least, that's how it's supposed to work…"

"Did someone trespass into the sanctuary?!" Olga yelped. If someone invaded their land, this could be justifiable anger. Then she shook her head. "No… if that were so, we would be seeing more than one dragon. We would not be able to stand against them!"

"So what is this?" I asked.

Garm answered "Every few years, young dragons appear and wreak havoc among our settlements. But even when we strike them down, no one comes to avenge them. Dragons only care about their territory – if young dragons are the invaders, they won't care."

"So, what, they steal cattle, ruin the fields, or something?"

Garm shook his head and replied roughly "No. The harsh truth is that once a dragon has acquired a taste for meat, it won't stop. It used to be that farmers would lay tribute, but young dragons get greedy. To them, we are all as good as cattle when it comes to food."

"Ugh…" I looked up. "And we're out in the open. We're prey."

"That we are! I recommend we move to the side of the road under the shadow of the trees and make best speed to Eld!"

"Understood. Get everyone into formation. We'll have to use [Reinforcement] magic to make it happen. If we're caught out here, it's too risky to fight."

"We cannot allow any harm to fall upon the ambassador!" Lyon spoke up. "That's our only mission."

Then he turned to Garm and asked "Can you defeat a dragon?"

The wolf beastkin shook his head. "If we had a hundred of our best elite royal soldiers, it might be possible. But even a young dragon is resistant to magic, and any injury that isn't critical will only make them angrier. They're a proud race, and more like living natural disasters."

Fighting would put Arma in danger, and that was unacceptable. "Let's get to the village and under cover. Yumina!"

Yumina peered out of the carriage window. "Yes, Sir Zah?"

"Shadow cloak, sound dampening, Covert Assault Protocols."

"Yes, sir!"

As she began to cast [Shadow Cloak] and [Mute] over the carriages, I prepared my own magic. "Everyone hang on!" I shouted. "Oh, Light, grant us insight. Oh, Lightning, grant us sprightliness. Oh, Fire, grant us might. Body reinforcement combat magic – [FORTIFY PHYSICAL!]"

A brief yellow glow suffused us for a moment, and then we were covered by Yumina's dark fog.

The whole group galloped away, the sounds of hooves only slightly muffled. A dark shadow passed over us again, and we held out breaths as we watched the red dot move by on Monika's projected tactical map. The dragon roared, and it was all we could do stop the horses from panicking and crashing.

But the dragon swooped away again and soon enough we were in sight of the walled forest village of Eld.

The dragon was nowhere in sight, but it was now completely dark at night. The only nights to be seen were the stars and the lamplights of the village. Unlike Belfast's forest villages, Eld wasn't a walled village. We slid to a stop inside the village center, the horses neighing noisily as they tried to suddenly break. The carriages dragged on a bit, pulling the horses with them, before crashing to a stop against the side of the village headman's house.

A wizened old beastkin man with a long white beard and a gnarled cane hobbled out. All other people saw the carriages rushing in and people rushing out with drawn weapons, and immediately shuttered themselves inside their homes.

"P-peace," the old man huffed. "I am Solum, the village chief. W-what do you want, good sirs? We do not have much gold... take what you want, but please leave us unharmed."

"What are you people doing?" Garm asked. "Don't you know there's a dragon around?"

"A d-dragon?! This is a disaster!"

"Get your people to safety! Douse all lights!" Then Garm turned around and said "We can't fight a dragon! But our mission is still to bring Miss Olga safely to meet His Majesty! Don't worry about us, we can try to draw its attention while you escape."

I hissed "If it attacks this village…"

"We will try to lead it away from the village, of course!"

"I commend your bravery, captain!" Lyon Blitz called out. "You will have my sword, let us help you in this!"

"I refuse! This is not a fight for you Belfastians! Go protect Miss Olga until the end, that's your duty! Don't get in the way and let us do ours!"

"Out in the open, you're all just going to die," I said flatly. Swords were very poor weapons for fighting great beasts. They were light guard cavalry, so they carried cavalry sabers instead of lances.

There was an echoing roar, and I heard screaming from behind me. The villagers had noticed the dragon, it was circling around above the village, silhouetted against the moonlit night sky.

"Monika, details. How big is it? What percentage of its size are its wings? How high is it flying?"

/"Player, do not put your hopes in the square cube law. Forget the promise of science and reason, for in this other world, there is only magic and wonder and the laughter of uncaring gods,"/ Monika intoned, and then in a more normal voice added /"There is very much *not* enough wing area to keep that creature of that size aloft, it has to be flying through natural magic. It is approximately… 60 meters above us."/

"Using scientific measurements instead of imperial, I love it." I looked up and considered the roof of the village chieftain's house and its bell tower. "Get the villagers moving, I'll see if we can still resolve this diplomatically."

I rushed up to the top of the bell tower while preparing spells to amplify my voice and hearing. "DRAGON! HEY DRAGON!" I shouted up at it as I clung to the roof. "CAN YOU HEAR ME? CAN YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

I could hear a bestial roar that somehow added up to "{PATHETIC INSECTS!}"

"I WILL TAKE THAT AS A YES." Awesome, magic translation cheat still works. Living in this other world would have been ginormously more frustrating if I had to learn a new language every time I moved to a new place or spoke to a different species. "OH MIGHTY DRAGON, WE RECOGNIZE YOUR POWER. PLEASE SPARE US YOUR WRATH. IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO APPEASE YOU?"

"{I WILL RIP YOU TO SHREDS AND CHEW THE GRISTLE OFF YOUR CHARRED BONES!}"

Humans have barely any meat compared to cows. Shite, it probably thinks humans as crunchy snack food the same way we like the crunch of potato chips.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?" I shouted up. Come on, dragon, be as stupidly prideful and self-absorbed as we expect from your species. "WE HAVE DONE YOU NO HARM, OH MIGHTY DRAGON. PLEASE ALLOW US TO OFFER TRIBUTE! LET US GIVE YOU A FEAST WORTHY OF THE AGES!"

"{YOU WILL NOT INTERRUPT MY AMUSEMENT, INSECTS. DIE SCREAMING.}"

No not like that. "NEGOTIATIONS HAVE FAILED!" I shouted down. "EVERYBODY FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES!"

The dragon swooped down at me, and spat a fireball at the bell tower. I could from the light of its fire breath that it was a mighty creature, with long, robust and well-muscled limb, oily black scales, a long barbed tail and a pair of large bat-like wings coming off its back. It had in total six limbs – clawed arms, legs, and wing – a true dragon, not a mere drake or wyvern!

I jumped, and as the bell tower exploded behind me in a shower of stones and burning thatch, I screamed out "DUCKFAMMET THIS IS LIKE HELGEN ALL OVER AGAINNN!!!"

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