Final Night

Dorothy sat up to watch her father enter terrified of what her overprotective father would do. "Dad! It isn't… we… nothing happened!" She squeaked out as D sat up rubbing his face.

"Ahh, There you both are. Should have guessed." Dorothy was shocked her father wasn't flying into a rage. "Dorothy be a good girl and make us something to eat please." He yawned.

D stumbled to his feet and headed outside to do his morning drills out of exhausted habit. Dorothy just watched both the boy and her father leave, neither seeming to make a big deal out of her sleeping beside a boy.

For his part, Jeremiah already had D pegged for not being interested in his daughter in that way. Something he hoped to change. On top of that he knew how exhausted the boy had been, he never once even suspected anything had happened. When Dorothy came out to start cooking she couldn't help but talk to her father while stoking the flames in the kitchen stove.

"Dad… There was a boy in my bed. I… I thought you would be angry?" She added some bundles of reeds they used for cooking fuel.

Yawning Jeremiah leaned forward to lay his head on the table. "Normally I'd have his head!" He spoke forcefully and then yawned again. "But the boy was exhausted. I doubt he knew you were there. Besides, we owe him everything, our lives, our home, everything." He sat back up to eye his daughter. "Not that I am saying I approve of anything happening." He caught her eye to make sure she heard him. "Not before your wedding at least." He lay his head down again. "Wake me when the food is ready."

It was but an instant when Jeremiah jerked awake at someone tapping his shoulder. He sat up once again feeling stiff from sleeping at the table to see D already gulping down food as if it might get away from him. "You feel better boy?" Taking the bowl of stew from his daughter he tasted the slightly oversalted soup.

D grunted and held out his empty bowl to Dorothy who took it as if already expecting it. Jeremiah nodded to himself with approval, 'Already like a married couple.' He thought as he resisted the urge to grin. "One more night. Or normally there would be. Not sure there is anything left to come at us now." Was what he said out loud.

D just grunted again as he took the bowl. "What do you mean dad?" Dorothy asked standing nearby as if waiting for D to finish his current bowl.

"Boy wiped em all out. Trolls and all last night." Jeremiah beamed with pride at his future son in law. Dorothy's eyes got slightly bigger at the mention of trolls.

"There was a troll?" Her mouth was slightly open in shock and a hint of fear.

"A troll? No. A dozen!" Jeremiah exclaimed before taking a huge gulp from his bowl following D's example of abandoning his spoon to eat faster.

"That can't be… I mean… wow." Dorothy breathed out a sigh of disbelief before giving D an appreciative look. He glanced up not seeming to notice the two talking about him and just held out his bowl. One more bowl of stew was gulped down then a huge pitcher of water and D headed out to start laying more wards. Jeremiah stumbled into his own bed after eating once he made sure his daughter would wake him.

For the rest of that day, D wrote out more wards. Had the others paid more attention they might have noticed he was doing so faster than before. While one hand worked with the golden feather quill writing out fine glowing runes. The other moved to work on cruder runes at first, then later simply started the foundation of the next ward to be launched.

After his last meal, he had noticed something different. His mind wasn't the same. It had changed, almost as if it could split. No, not a second personality but almost a second consciousness. It was as if he could divide his mind or partition it to do multiple tasks at once. He was tempted to try and grow extra arms to see how many different tasks he could do at once. It worked as long as he didn't focus too hard on it. When he started concentrating on what each of his consciousnesses was doing at a time it started to blend together back into one. Still, in some way he was aware of what each bit was doing.

At the very least being able to move both hands independently allowed him to write out two wards at once. If only he had a second spell quill.

Thanks to this new ability he was done laying all the wards he thought they would need and then some by lunch. He ate again under the proud gaze of the two citizens of Lender's Mire, completely unaware of their plans for him. Then took a nap to rest up for the potential long night's battle.

When darkness fell for the third and final night of the bunyips' normal invasion time. It came silently without any signs of attack. Still, Jeremiah and D stood up on the platform watching the darkness beyond while Dorothy remained in the house. Minutes dragged on and turned into hours.

"Well boy. Looks like we made it." It was past midnight now and not a monster in sight.

D for his part narrowed his eyes at the darkness and shook his head. Jeremiah turned to look out at the darkness. "You see something?" When D shook his head no he asked. "Hear something?" Again D shook his head. Now Jeremiah was frowning. "Well, then what is the matter?"

For a moment D just watched the darkness. Jeremiah started to think he wasn't going to say anything then suddenly he spoke up. "I'm hungry."

**********

Eirlog watched as another wave of Bunyips shriveled up and crumbled to dust under the weight of the power they channeled. More stepped up without hesitation to heed their god's command. The words gifted to them flowed free and they began siphoning the power from the unseen barrier that kept their master bound. There were only a few of the monsters left but Eirlog didn't care. Curled up in a writhing ball they flicked out their forked tongue tasting the air. Their tail's rattle danced loudly filling the chamber with the frightening sound. As the last of their minions turned to dust they uncoiled themselves. They tasted the air and measured the remaining strength of the already faltering barrier. Eirlog had sacrificed a great deal of his power granting his words to so many. But it was worth it. With a hiss they coiled up again and then sprang forward slamming into the barrier before the entrance way. Their narrow head crowned with a ridge of spines smashed into an unseen wall with enough force to cause the countless piles of dust to billow away. For a moment they stayed there, their head pressing forward as their body strained. Then they were free. Sliding forward past the shattered ward.

They splashed into the water their long serpentine body rushing forward through the narrow underwater entrance. From the surface of the fetid lake, they erupted spraying water everywhere. Wings wrapped tightly against their body spread, all eight of them as they beat fiercely. Eirlog hovered in the air over the still rippling lake. More than a hundred feet long they were covered in glistening black scales. Four sets of wings beat rapidly holding their serpentlike body in the air while they twisted their neck too and fro to appraise the area around their lair.

It had been too long since they were free to fly. Too long since they were free to hunt. Too long since they were free to feast. Their tongue slithered out to taste the air as they turned to look towards Lender's Mire far in the distance beyond the darkness. They had an old score to settle and a welp to teach their place. They still did not know what monster it was that dwelled there. But as a true dragon Eirlog feared nothing. It had survived the Divine Wars. Faced off against weapons created to slay gods and destroy worlds. Whatever this thing was that dared enter its domain would soon learn a painful lesson. Throwing back their head they spat out a thirty foot gout of emerald flames before flying silently towards their prey.

**********

Jeremiah was just about to ask what that mattered, the boy was always hungry it seemed. When he felt all the hairs on his body stand on end. He whipped back to look into the darkness. For a moment he stood stone still, every muscle in his body tense. Then the night lit up with emerald light. He squinted as that light rushed towards him then he felt himself falling. Just before he hit the ground and the air was blown from his lungs he saw a huge stream of emerald flames fly past. He realized he had been pushed off the platform just before flames engulfed it. "Boy!" He wheezed. He didn't see D with him, had he still been on the platform? Had the boy died saving him?