Port-Town

Many fortresses existed throughout Pandreia's history. Some created by great rulers, while others by ruthless tyrants. What their fortresses all have in common: they always end up abandoned one way or another. When they were abandoned, they became popular hangouts for hosts of terrifying creatures. It was at one of these fortresses that a small group of orcs, giant spiders, and other hideous creatures now resided, arguing and being their violent selves.

Suddenly, they moved out of the way as a wyrm slithered into the fortress, a Snake warrior on its back. After dismounting, the warrior ran through the orcs, shoving them aside as he did, until he reached the high perch where the commander, Aktrius, was waiting. Aktrius was another Snake man, but, like all Snake men leaders, he had a long tail instead of legs. He also had the head of a cobra, the hood fully extended. The Snake Warrior approached him slowly and then knelt.

"Lord Aktrius," he said, "I bring troubling news; one of our wyrm scouts was killed in the Great Wood."

The spiders watching began to stir restlessly and whispered among themselves: this had never happened before. Aktrius turned to face the warrior: "Killed?" he hissed, "Are you sure?"

The warrior nodded: "I found and looked over the body myself. There were burn wounds and blade slashes everywhere. I don't know who it was, but I know that…a dragon was involved."

At that, the creatures in the back retreated and hissed in fright. Dragons were one of their biggest fears; the mere mention of them drove fear into their black hearts.

"That certainly is a problem," Aktrius said, "For where a dragon is, there is usually ssssomeone else involved: a wizard or a knight."

"What would one of THEIR kind be doing so far from their Academies?" one of the Spiders hissed.

"There's only one thing he would be doing," Aktrius said, "He'ssss going on a quest."

"Then let's hunt him down!" said an orc, "We can run him down fast enough; make him regret ever leaving!"

"Patience, my minion," Aktrius said, "Firsssst we must know where he is going." Then, turning to the Snake warrior, "Send out whatever ssspies we have. If they so much as ssee a dragon with either a wizard or a knight, I mussst know." A few minutes later, a small group of Spiders, goblins, and Snake Men are seen moving swiftly away from the fortress into the woods beyond.

…

Meanwhile, the new trio steadily made their way upriver towards Port Town, which they now knew how to get to thanks to River. She quickly proved to a useful addition to the group, keeping Rhogar on the right path. As Adrion looked back at her sitting behind him on Rhogar's back, he noticed she looked a bit nervous, cautiously glancing over at the ground below.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she warily answered, "it's just that…I've never flown before."

Adrion laughed, "Really?"

"I'm serious. I've only ever been in water or on land."

"So, let me guess, you're scared of heights?"

River nodded.

"Ya, know, I used to be scared of heights myself," Adrion said.

"You?" River asked.

"Oh yeah. When I was first partnered up with Rhogar here, I was totally freaked out about flying."

"He's right," Rhogar said, "Kid almost tore out one of my spines on the first attempt; he held on so tight."

River giggled a bit: "How did you get over it?"

"Well, I just kept flying with Rhogar over and over again. Once I realized that he wasn't going to drop me, I slowly got used to doing it." Adrion said.

"Okay, well, how do I start now?"

"You can hold on to me for right now. I'll be sure to keep us steady. Plus, Rhogar's kinda got a rule against holding onto his spines after my first few flights."

Slowly, River wrapped her arms around Adrion's waist and held on tightly, still a bit nervous about falling. Feeling this, Adrion felt his face heat up and blushed, trying to keep his eyes ahead of him. Rhogar noticed this and rolled his eyes, chuckling to himself.

That night, Rhogar had set down in another clearing and River had gone to see if she could snatch a few fish from the stream to cook. Sure enough, a few minutes later, she returned with an armful of fish that were soon cooking over an open fire made by Rhogar's fiery breath.

"We're not far out now. We should reach Port Town by tomorrow." River said.

"Sounds good," Adrion replied, "Once we're done eating, you should get some rest. I'll take first watch."

"Can't argue with that." River replied.

"So, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How is it that you were all freaked out when the wyrm fist attacked, but then once I came to make sure you were alright, you got right back up, flicked out some knives, and just started fighting back like you weren't even scared to begin with?"

"Well, the wyrm honestly did take me by surprise. But I've trained myself to recover from fright quickly, so I can have a better fighting chance. Once I realized you and your dragon were here to help, it was easy for me clear my head."

Adrion nodded in admiration; he had to learn how to do that sometime: "Really?"

"Yes. Now there is more but it is a bit hard for me to talk about it with people I just met, so I'm not telling you any more. Yet."

A few minutes later, after everyone had eaten, Adrion was on watch. Rhogar slept near the fire, staying close to the heat, while River slept a couple feet away, curled up and resting her head on a log. As Adrion watched, he found himself taking occasional glances at her, the way her hair lay over her shoulder, the way she had a soft smile on her lips as she slept…

"Never seen a look like that on your face before." A deep voice said. Adrion was scared out of his concentration and whipped around to face Rhogar, who had woken up on his own.

"What! What are you talking about?" Adrion said hurriedly.

"I'm referring to the way you look at River. You looked at her the same way when we first saw her too. What's going on with you?"

Adrion was really blushing now, but he knew when a dragon asks you a question, you have to answer. Plus, he was so flustered, he couldn't figure out any fibs that would be convincing enough anyways.

"I just can't help myself, I guess," he replied, "She is incredibly beautiful."

"Oooohhhhh, I see what it is," Rhogar said, "Someone's got a bit of a crush, eh?"

Adrion averted his gaze from the dragon's, but timidly responded: "Yeah."

Rhogar chuckled: "Don't worry, it happens to everyone eventually. My only advice is for you to not get distracted by it."

"Distracted?"

"She has joined the group, yes, but you must keep this quest in mind as well."

"So you're saying that I should ignore my feelings for her?"

"Absolutely not, don't you DARE do that; feelings like that are too powerful to ignore anyways. All I'm saying is that you should keep the goal of the quest at the front of your mind. Can you do that?"

Adrion nodded: "I'll certainly try."

Rhogar nodded back: "Then get some shut eye. I'll take next watch."

"Alright, good night, Rhogar."

"Good night, kid."

The next morning, Adrion and River woke up to find that Rhogar had gone hunting while they had slept and was now roasting a large deer over the campfire.

"Rhogar, you never told me you could cook." Adrion said in admiration.

"I learned from the nymphs back at the Academy," Rhogar replied, "Figure it would be a useful skill to have some time."

"Well, it's useful enough now," River said, "That smell is making me hungry."

A few minutes later, the trio had eaten what they could. Adrion packed what was left into a spare bag he had brought, then the two flew off again towards Port-Town.

"How much farther?" Adrion asked River, who had once again wrapped her arms around him, slowly crushing his chest in the process.

"Not much, we should be there within the hour," River replied.

"You know you don't have to crush my chest so hard; I said I would keep us steady."

River lightened her grip: "Sorry. I guess I'm not quite used to flying yet."

"Don't worry," Adrion said, reaching back and patting her shoulder, "You will."

Almost a half-hour later, Rhogar called out: "There! I see something."

Adrion and River followed his gaze to what appeared to be a large town in the distance, the blue expanse of the ocean behind it.

"That's it," River said, "Port-Town, dead ahead."

"Well, it's about time." Rhogar said. He landed just outside of the town, where Adrion and River dismounted and walked through the streets. Adrion looked around in amazement. The town was bustling with trade, merchants at their stand selling their valuable goods; some were offering fish of other seafood, others sold trinkets and jewelry made from different sea shells, but there were also a few stands where merchants were selling robes and other types of clothing, but the colors of the fabrics were the most vibrant he had ever seen.

"I never expected a town on the oceanside to be so extravagant." Adrion said.

"Most aren't," River explained, "However, Port-Town is the wealthiest of them. Those colorful clothes their selling are mostly why that is. The dye they use comes from a certain mollusk that they catch here. The process of making the dye is complicated, making any clothes that are colored with them very expensive. It's their major way of making big money. I even saw an elven king here once"

"You sound like you come here a lot."

"I do, but I don't really partake in the culture a lot."

"Then why do you come here?"

Just then, Rhogar nudged Adrion on the shoulder: "I think we got a problem. They're looking at us weird."

As Adrion looked around, he could see that the dragon was right; many of the people had stopped what they were doing and watched as the trio walked by and were whispering among themselves, pointing at Adrion.

"Ooookay, this is a little unsettling," Adrion said.

"More like a lot unsettling," River said, "I've never seen the people act like this before."

"Excuse me," said a small voice. Adrion felt a tug at his coat and turned around to face a small child.

"Are you here to save us?" she meekly asked.

Adrion knit his eyebrows in confusion: "Save you?" he said, "From what?"

"The mean sea snake that's been hurting our ships." The child replied.

Rhogar growled in anger: "Sea serpents. One of the dragons' sworn enemies."

Adrion looked at River: "Do you anything about this?"

River shook her head: "All the times I've been here, this place has never been plagued by anything, much less a sea serpent."

Just then, Rhogar noticed something: "Hey, Adrion, I think the scroll is glowing."

Confused, Adrion pulled it out and unrolled it; sure enough, it was glowing. Somehow, it had changed from a map of Pandreia to a map of Port-Town itself. A path was marked in gold light that stopped to one of the buildings. On the building, a word shone in gold: Kai'sair.

"What's Kai'sair?" River asked, looking over Adrion's shoulder.

"I don't know," he replied, "But this map is showing us the way to something. Maybe it's the name of the building marked here."

"Well whatever it is," Rhogar said, "It's clear that's where we need to go next. Perhaps we'll find answers on this sea serpent problem."

"Agreed," Adrion replied, then turning to the child who was still next to him, he warmly smiled as he knelt down to her level: "Don't worry, we'll figure something out."

Unknown to Adrion, River smiled as she watched him say this; it was obvious to her that Adrion was incredibly kind as well as powerful with his magic, and she began to admire it. Standing back up, Adrion turned to his two companions and said: "Alright guys, let's go find this Kai'sair."