Dragon in Disguise

By the time the sun rose Viren could barely keep his eyes open. ‘Alright, now to find a good place to land.’ He looked around briefly. ‘On second thought, right here is good enough.’ He dove down, barely turning human in time to keep himself from crashing.

Even in his half-asleep state, Viren still somehow managed to land on his feet. Stumbling forward a few steps, he collapsed face first at the base of a large tree and rolled over with a groan. Who knew flying all night would be so exhausting? Eyes drooping, Viren dragged himself further into the shade of the tree and curled into a ball.

‘Just a few minutes of sleep, then I’ll get up and be productive. Just a few minutes…’

…

When he awoke again it was nearly mid-day. “Well, that was definitely more than just a few minutes.” At least he wasn’t exhausted anymore.

Standing, Viren turned in a full circle, trying to get a good look at his surroundings. He didn’t recognize where he was, which was both good and bad. Good because if he didn’t even know where he was there was no way Kastra was finding him, bad because… well, he had no idea where he was. He crossed his arms, trying to figure out what to do. Or he was going to try before his stomach started rumbling violently.

“Well, I might as well eat something, its not like the food will eat itself.”

Before long he was munching on jerky and a bit of cheese. Finishing, he licked his fingers and repacked his bag. ‘Guess I’ll just pick a direction and start walking.’ Shouldering his pack, he set off. Of course, there wasn’t much to do while walking, so he had plenty of time to think of what to do when he finally reached civilization.

He kept on walking until nightfall. Then he switched to flying. He flew all night, and when morning arrived, he collapsed and immediately fell asleep yet again. “You really think I would learn after the first time, wouldn’t you.” Of course, Viren had a justification for this pattern. If Kastra’s forces caught up to him, he would be in deep trouble. Oh, sure, he might survive, but he would hardly be in any shape to continue fighting. He was just one guy, and Kastra had an army. Once he managed to get to a city, he could rest a little, but until then he had to travel as fast as he could.

He continued traveling this way for a few days, flying by night and walking by day. By doing this, he crossed a huge distance much faster than would normally be possible.

It was the fifth night of traveling when Viren finally reached the end of the forest. About a mile away from the edge was a city. ‘Oh nice, a city,’ he thought as he flew past it. ‘Wait, a city!’ He circled back around and landed in the forest, changing into his human form. He was only walking for a few minutes when he heard voices and saw lights to his left. He frowned, wondering who was traveling this late. Or early. ‘What if they’re Kastra’s minions?’ No, that was ridiculous, there’s no way they could have caught up with him this quickly. Curious, he veered towards them. After a short tromp through the trees, he neared the light, and the voices were clearer. Peeking out from behind a tree he saw… two romping kids, play fighting with sticks.

‘…Well, at least I won’t have to fight them.’

In addition to the kids, there were two wagons rolling along, with adults walking beside them. A lady driving one of the wagons called to them. “Perry! Pat! Come inside the wagon now, I don’t want you two playing in the dark.” With sighs of disappointment and several complaints they clambered back into the wagon. Then Viren noticed the wagons were rolling on a path. A path that would be easier to walk on. A path that would lead directly to the city.

Decision made, he stepped out onto the path. Some of the men walking alongside the wagon noticed him, and one approached him and raised his arm. “Hello there. What were you doing in the forest?” Viren smiled tiredly.

“I was trying to find a place to make my camp,” he lied, “I couldn’t find a good spot though.”

“It’s a good thing you didn’t, Edgedale is less than an hour away!” Viren feigned surprise.

“What, really?” The man nodded.

“Yes, that’s why we’re traveling in the dark.” He seemed to be thinking about something. “How about you make the last leg of the journey with us?” This time Viren was actually surprised.

“Really? I mean, no offense, but you guys don’t really seem like the most trusting folk.” The man chuckled.

“Well, as long as you’re not a bandit ready to kill us all in our sleep, I think we’ll be fine.” He stuck out his hand to shake. “My name is Paul, nice to meet you.” Viren shook the hand.

“Viren.” They started walking back to the wagons. “So, who are you guys anyway?”

“Merchants. We couldn’t afford guards, so we had to learn to fight for ourselves. That’s why we’re so weary of bandits.” They arrived at the wagons, and an older man nodded to Viren. “Who’s this?”

Viren stuck out his hand to shake. “Hello. Name’s Viren.” The older man eyed him up and down, completely ignoring his hand. Behind him, Paul sighed softly. Viren awkwardly lowered his hand. Suddenly the man spoke.

“No last name?”

“Nope.”

“Where’d you come from?”

“Forest.”

“Why are you traveling to the city?”

“Need work.”

“Suspicious.” At this Paul jumped in.

“Alright,” he said, chuckling awkwardly, “Lets keep moving, shall we?” The old man grunted and stared at Viren, not breaking eye contact as he shuffled away. He only stopped staring when another person helped him into a wagon. Paul turned back to Viren. “Sorry ‘bout that. I’m not really sure what else to s-” He was interrupted by one of the children leaning out of the front wagon and shouting, “Daddy!” A relieved Paul jogged up to him, and Viren followed.

“Hey kiddo!” The second child also poked his head out.

“Who’s that?”

“That is our guest, so be polite.” Paul then spoke to Viren. “These are my children, Pat and Perry. My wife, Penelope, is driving.” One of the kids spoke up.

“And those are our horses, Paxton and Paxter!”

“Uh…”

Paul laughed. “Yeah, it’s a family tradition. The others in our group were also pretty confused when we joined up with them.”

“Well, it’s not the worst tradition, I guess.”

…

Although it was a short walk to the city, to Viren it seemed much longer. By the time they arrived he was nearly sleepwalking. Once they entered the city gates Paul turned to him. “Well, this is where we part. Nice meeting you Viren.”

“You as well.” With a nod the two wagons started rolling again, and the merchants disappeared into the city. Viren slumped against the wall, and almost fell asleep right then and there. Trying to force himself to stay awake, he looked around the city. All he saw was people, more people, horses, more horses, and the occasional donkey. “Huh,” he murmured sleepily, “There are a lot more pack animals then I would’ve thought.”

“That’s only because you’re right near the entrance of the city. Move in a little further and you won’t find any.” Viren jumped and spun around, suddenly alert. The man who had spoken leaned back a little, surprised by Viren’s reaction. “Whoa! Hold your horses there buddy, I meant no harm.”

“Sorry.” By the looks of it, the guy was a local, and might be able to get him some directions. That didn’t make Viren any more relaxed though. As tired as he was, he couldn’t let his guard down. Finding the merchants was nice, but now he was in the city, and in his current state he was an appealing mark to anyone who wanted to kill him, rob him, or both. Of course, anyone who wanted to try would have a very bad day, but it would be very inconvenient for Viren. The man cleared his throat, shaking him out of his thoughts.

“Sorry again sir, but you wouldn’t happen to know the way to a place I could get some rest and a warm meal, would you?”

“Of course, to the left and just down the next road, then take a right into the ‘silly goose’. Follow me, I’ll show you.” With that the man started down the street without waiting for Viren to follow. He hesitated briefly before shrugging. ‘Eh, he seems nice enough, and I can keep my guard up just as well in a warm bed.’

The man, who never bothered to give Viren his name, led him up and down through the streets. Viren hated to say this, but at this point he was probably lost. Finally, the guy led him to a building. A quick look at the sign confirmed that it was indeed called the Silly Goose.

Walking up to the door, Viren opened it before the man got a chance. Despite the fact that it was almost midnight, the place was still lit with the light of a lantern. The bar was full of people, and in the corner, there was a crowd surrounding two people arm wrestling. Turning his attention to the bar, the man walked up to the lady managing it. He pointed to Viren, and the lady tossed him a coin. Probably paying him for bringing her new customers.

Viren dragged his feet over to the counter, where the innkeeper was waiting. She crossed her arms.

“What can I get for you? We’ve got beer, or ale.”

“Get me a bed. Preferably soft. As soon as possible.” She raised an eyebrow, then tossed him a key. There was a 5 printed on it. As he headed upstairs to find his room he took one last look at the scene below, scanning for possible threats. The two arm wrestlers were now rolling around on the floor fighting, and the rest of the people in the bar joined in with a yell. ‘Yeah, I think I’ll be fine.’

Once in his room, he crashed without a second thought.

…

While he scarfed down food Viren was deep in thought. ‘I need money, but I shouldn’t stay in one place for too long. Maybe I could become a merchant?’ That was probably not what he would end up doing, but that didn’t stop him from needing work. He sure wasn’t gonna spend the rest of his days on a farm out in the middle of nowhere. Now that he was free from Kastra’s grip he could do whatever he wanted. Within reason, of course. He couldn’t go off making a big scene. Not only did Kastra undoubtedly have people on the lookout for him, but anyone who recognized him as the ‘Dark Lord’s heir’ would likely turn him in to the authorities, and he definitely didn’t feel like spending the rest of his days in a jail cell or worse.

‘Ok, so I need a job that never keeps me in one place to long and pays a decent amount of money. Something that’s lets me keep a low profile and preferable involves fighting, since I’m good at that. Talk about a tall order.’ He went to take another bite of porridge, only to find that he had eaten it all without noticing. Disappointed, he briefly contemplated buying another bowl, and immediately dismissed the idea. He needed to save every bit of money he could, no matter how good the food.

After turning in his key, Viren left the Silly Goose and set out to explore the city. Maybe he would figure out what to do in a flash of inspiration! Or maybe not, who knew.

He walked around, taking in the sights and sounds of Edgedale. Now that he was well rested Viren was much more alert to his surroundings, so he probably wouldn’t get lost again. He found himself drifting to where the most people where, so it wasn’t long before he found himself in the center of the city. All around there where hastily constructed stalls selling everything from weapons to books to food. At the center of all these stalls there was a large open space. People stood in groups talking, and there was the occasional person standing on a box yelling about whatever. A few guards stood in segments around the edge of the circle, encouraging people to stay out of trouble. In a few places there were large wooden boards covered in pieces of paper. Curious, he walked over and read some of the papers. For the most part they were news updates and wanted posters. There were a few 'help wanted' posters, things that a mercenary would likely handle.

‘Wait a minute!’ an idea struck him. ‘Why didn’t I think about it before! It’s perfect, and no one will bat an eye about a mercenary who wants to avoid the law!’ Plus, a lot of mercenaries were considered criminals anyway. Sure didn’t stop nobles from hiring them. Rich nobles, who would pay a sweet, sweet amount of coin.

“Yes, that is the perfect job for me.”