Dakka's Hunt (1/2)
Haalfrin continues his arcane training, and his master takes special care to make sure he doesn't go out into the world…, at least until he sees his student on good behavior long enough to trust the young lad.
And… just like that… 5 whole decades pass by. These long years were so uneventful that it all seems to be a blur to both master and apprentice.
At last, now that Haalfrin is 130 years old, he has grown back up into a young teenager's body.
The first time he was a teenager, Haalfrin had serious anger issues… but with his many years of experience and knowledge, his teenage drama years this time aren't nearly as bad.
In fact, Kalastros truly understands the trouble of raging hormones, so he actually starts allowing Haalfrin to run around town and let loose his energy.
Of course, despite not having supervision, Haalfrin knows to keep out of trouble. Really, part of the whole reason Haalfrin initially grew up to be so straight-laced and obsessed with doing the job well is that he knows what kind of chaos people can be up to if they have no direct purpose in their life.
His teenage self a century and a half ago had no active parents in his life, had some bad friends, and had a desperate desire to mean something in the world. After getting older and getting a job, "meaning something," meant "being dependable."
When he was a guard in his late teens, he wanted to be the best escort guard. When he became a Kareen Raider, he wanted to be the best Raider.
Now, after these long decades, Haalfrin has learned to take pride in being the Archmage's apprentice as well.
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Five decades… five decades of peace pass away silently… until frantic word spreads around the kingdom like wildfire. "The great dragon has woken up again!"
Of course, during the beast's sleep, the king had long learned where its resting place was… but he ordered everyone to stay far away from that place, and for a strict watch to be set there during all hours of the day, every day.
However, during another unremarkable winter, the dragon stirs from his sleep and slithers out of his hole – this time with a noticeable third stump on his forehead.
"This means that the dragon is in his first stage of growing a new horn," the archmage had mentioned to Haalfrin during one of their lessons a few years ago. "It'll take multiple hibernations, but he's still certainly much stronger than he was before."
Now that the dragon has awoken, Haalfrin is called to his master's office and told, "I know you mentioned that Dakka came to this world specifically to hunt you. Now that he's growing his 3rd horn, it'll be much more troublesome to fight him off next time."
Kalastros firmly puts his teacup on the stand beside him. "Under NO circumstances will you be allowed to leave this tower until the dragon goes back to sleep; I won't be able to protect you outside these walls."
Haalfrin bows his head obediently. "Yes, master..." He then looks up at the tower, "But... will the tower even be able to beat him after his ascension? You barely won through trickery last time."
Kalastros shrugs, "What? I had to use my fortune for something? Do you think I haven't been upgrading the enchantments on the tower? I hear dragon scales make great mana insulators, so that helped a lot."
Personally, Haalfrin doesn't mind waiting for Dakka to go to sleep again. By the time the dragon fully grows out his third horn, his master will certainly be dead of old age, and the apprentice will have no one else to protect him, and no one's feelings to consider...
'By then,' Haalfrin thinks, 'I'll be free to fight the dragon without having to worry about looking after my master. Better yet, Dakka will be so strong by then that I'll really not stand a chance, right?'
Frowning, Haalfrin pulls out the Yiir measuring hourglass he always keeps in his pocket. It hasn't changed much since his last excursion, so it's still mostly full. 'By the time I meet Dakka, I can probably work on wearing down some of Das's "blessing". I'll have maybe a hundred years after my master passes away before Dakka wakes up permanently. That's plenty of time!'
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Meanwhile, mass panic spreads around the country as Dakka flies throughout the land uncontested – terrorizing the countryside and raiding all the cattle farms he can find. No amount of meat ever seems to be enough!
One time, Dakka is seen descending from a distance upon a frontier town just large enough to warrant a garrison of guards…
After all these years of knowing a dragon was resting in their country, most of the nobles and their garrisons have been taught to NOT mistake the beast for a bird, no matter how small they look when the beasts soar thousands of feet in the air.
The guards all look up to see the dot in the sky they were trained to pick out, and they unanimously and gravely ready their bows and spears.
Before the dragon gets too close, their local baron rides in on a horse, skids to a stop in front of the guards frantically, and fortunately stops them from arming themselves in time before their calamity comes.
After Dakka's first attack on Brandsdale, Kalastros (with the king's consultation) had traveled throughout the country educating all the local lords about a dragon's unusual behavior, instincts, and customs… all to avoid further unnecessary fights.
…Dragons are unpredictable, so following a dragon encounter by the book may not save you, but it's better than going into it blind.
And so with all the locals looking at their lord with questions in their eyes, the lean young man orders firmly, "Present all your cows and sheep! Bow your heads and don't talk back to the beast. It can understand when you talk!"
One of the older farmers protests loudly, "But Lord! We've worked hard to raise our flocks! That's my family's wealth! I'm too old to care, so I'll die protecting what I've worked for!"
The baron snaps back, "Dragons have very strict hierarchies! To them, it's improper to harm a weaker sentient being without being challenged first. If we all bow our heads and don't resist, we all stand the best chance of surviving this!"
Hearing there's some hope of survival, everyone quickly hides their weapons. Then, once the baron mentions offhandedly, "Plus, the king said he'd be reimbursing all the stolen wealth the dragon takes…"
After that, everyone's hearts are finally at ease, and they bring out their cows, sheep, and goats – gathering them all up into a single, large pasture.
After learning the dragon has been roaming about eating everything in sight, the baron had prepared early and recorded every single piece of cattle, as well as the cattle's age, and which family they belong to - all necessary for being legally allowed to demand reimbursement from the kingdom.
While Dakka is flying closer to the town, he can't hear the conversation, but his sharp eyes DO see the townsfolk meekly and obediently lining up all their cattle in one place.
Seeing their actions, he chuckles aloud, "AHA! Well, I'mmmm not one who rejectssss a gift!"
Indeed. The biggest difference between humans and dragons is that humans are so obsessed with being individuals that they think themselves and animals are different things. Dragons, on the other hand, see themselves as a smarter and stronger kind of animal…
Animals of the same species all have identical instincts – the desire for sex, yummy food, pleasure, venting anger, territorial protectiveness… Whatever it is, instinct is a shared experience between members of the same species. (Only humans seem so intent on uplifting 'personality' over their natural instinct.)
…And to a dragon, it's against their instinct to reject a challenge… yet the opposite holds true as well; every instinct in a dragon's body encourages them to show generosity towards those who submit to them, as a king rewards faithful servants.
And thus, once the domineering Dakka arrives at the small, backwater town, he takes half the cows and sheep instead of all of them. He even holds his head up high and hisses out, "Welll donnne, littllle hhhumannnsssss. What wouuuld hyouuu lllike assss a rrrewarrrrd?"