Stories and Dancing

I walked over to my cloak that was still left on the ground and put it back on. "I should be leaving soon. I told my partner to come find me if I didn't return in an hour."

  Inowyn stayed near. "How long has it been?"

"Long enough." I turned to the group of humans. "You all should leave soon too." I turned to Tarwyn who seemed like he was pretending to keep his attention away from me. "Goodbye, Tar-"

"Somebody's here."

I placed my left hand on my messer's handle and looked around. Just when I looked by the group of humans, I saw a small, short-lived glint behind them in some bushes just outside the deadwood. Seconds later, swifter than wind, the blonde-haired Dannas dashed out of the bush, daggers in hand. Just as he reached the humans, he abruptly stopped, sliding a small bit before the true halt.

"I'm here, Ladon! I made it! Are you okay?!" He held his daggers out defensively, passing quick glances to all the elves. "What is this?"

I took my hand off of my messer while everyone else got more defensive. "Dannas, I'm alright. You can put your blades away."

He slowly returned his kleine messers to their small scabbards, then looked around at everyone, then back to me. "What's going on?"

Suddenly Tulas emerged, not far from where Dannas did. "I-is it safe to come out then?"

Tarwyn pulled his rapier out and pointed it toward them. "Who are you and what is your business."

Before Dannas could pull his blades back out, I answered, "They're Dannas and Tulas. Dannas is my partner; Tulas is an acquaintance and under my protection. We're transporting supplies to a town together. If you trust me, you can trust them as much."

Tarwyn cautiously returned his rapier to his hip. "Very well."

Dannas's showed nothing but his perplexed blue eyes. "But what happened?"

I walked toward him. "A forest spirit guided me. I found Meg's group. It was a trap. They were all sentenced to death, by the elves here, for eating the fruit on these trees. The only way to save them was through trial by combat. I fought Tarwyn." I guestered to him. "I won. And now they welcome me. You have nothing to worry about."

"Wait. Elves?! Like, real elves?! I guess that explains the ears. I didn't want to say anything incase it was… rude..." He looked around the area. "Is this the deadwood Captain told us about?"

"Yes."

Tulas walked closer to the group. "How're you friends with them if you just fought them?"

"I'm not sure myself."

Tarwyn stepped forward. "You all should leave soon."

  I turned to him. "Alright. Goodbye, Tarwyn."

"Goodbye, Ladon. And to you two, Dannas, and Tulas was it? Don't speak a word about this to anyone who does not already know of our existence. We will hunt you down if you do."

Tulas stayed silent while Dannas answered. "A-alright. I won't tell anyone. It was nice meeting you . . . I think?"

I turned around to Inowyn. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Ladon. Give your captain my regards."

"I will." I turned around and began walking past Meg and her group. "We have a campfire by the wagon if you want to join us."

  As Dannas, Tulas, and I passed them, I heard Meg and Terin stand up and follow, and the rest of the group following suit. Eventually, we made it back to the road and walked northwards on it.

Tulas moved right next to me. "Are you sure about this, Ladon? They did try to rob us just a few hours ago."

"I'm sure they're too exhausted to consider repeating the past right now. They can stay with us—for the time being."

"Very well."

Eventually, we made it back to the wagon and our campfire.

"Dannas, it's about time for your watch." I put my stuff on the ground next to my bed roll, entered it, and rolled onto my side so I wouldn't face the group or the dying fire.

Before I fell asleep, I heard Dannas's voice. "Here. These blankets aren't much, and you can't keep 'em, but you can use 'em for the night or as long as you'll be with us."

A wave of exhaustion hit that hadn't been in my body prior. Today took a lot out of me. Before I could dwell on the day, my eyes closed themselves to give way to sleep's claim over my body.

Instantly, without seeing or feeling anything, I heard the original Ladon's voice again. "Good . . . your path is redeemable yet. Do not stray from it." As soon as he finished, I woke up to the morning sun. Meg's group and Dannas were still asleep. Tulas was sitting on the wagon smoking a pipe.

"Are you always an early riser, Ladon?"

"Depends on if I dream or not."

"Fair enough."

I lightly kicked Dannas in the leg. "Get rid of the campfire. I'll wake everyone else up."

"Huh?"

"It's time to get up. Get rid of the campfire. I'll wake everyone else up. Hopefully we'll make it to Moltenbell today."

He groaned a long groan as he slowly sat up. "Okay…"

I nudged everyone else awake. After about fifteen minutes, everybody was up and ready to go. I went back to the wagon's handle. Dannas jumped on the wagon and laid down, probably to sleep some more. I started pushing it back onto the road.

Meg walked up to me with Terin just behind her. "Wow. You really are strong, huh?

I pushed in silence.

"Yeah… you're going to Moltenbell, right?"

"Yes. How long are you and your friends going to stay with us, Meg. I don't think I can provide food for all of you if this takes any longer than a day."

Terin chimed in. "You have food in the wagon."

"Food that isn't for you or me."

He shrunk back, away from my attention.

"Oh, well, we're going to Moltenbell too."

"Do you live there?"

"We all do."

"Why did you try to rob us?"

"Because it would've been a waste."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sure you know, but Therrin's End has given us supplies and goods many times recently. Usually a couple men on a donkey-pulled wagon arrive. The guards of our town let them in, tell them they'll take care of the supplies, and the deliverers trust that. What the guards actually do is take everything to the storage house our mayor controls with the promise that they'll distribute it amongst the people. It's a promise they've never kept once. Not since our current mayor has been running the place. The reality is the mayor hoards everything for himself, his guards, and his… close friends."

  "So you were trying to get to the wagon before them."

"Exactly. But not for ourselves. We wanted to take everything and give it all to the people who actually need them: the mothers with child, the young who freeze at night, the sick who can't break their fevers, and the elderly who rely on their family for their last years."

"Then why not lead with that, rather than robbing?"

"I . . . we didn't think of that. We were desperate."

I sighed. "I understand. We'll make sure the people get the supplies. I promise."

"They won't allow that."

"They don't need to allow me."

"They'll beat you, lock you up, and kill you if you resist."

"If that's the worst they can do, then I can ensure they won't take away these supplies."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I've seen worse."

Terin came back. "I don't think you understand what tree you're going to shake. What falls will be worse than a large apple hitting the seam of your skull."

Tulas caught up to the front. "Ladon can catch whatever would fall in your analogy. If he can beat an elf, he can beat anything."

Meg lowered her head. "Okay…"

Dannas crawled to the front of the wagon. "Don't worry. We're rangers, afterall. Well, I am. He will be. The point is, we can do this. It's what we do."

"A-alright." She rejoined her group behind the wagon."

Dannas hopped on the front seat. "By the way, Ladon. How far do you think we are from Mouldybell?"

"Moltenbell."

"Yeah, that."

"I'm not sure. I've only taveled this road once before. We'll probably make it today. Hopefully before the sun sets.

We kept moving for hours. Everybody would swap out who got to sit on the wagon. There weren't many clouds in the sky today, so almost everybody was heating up. Every now and then, someone would argue with someone else. It was annoying, but unavoidable. Eventually, the sun was three quarters through its journey. Not long after, we rounded the wall of trees to show us a town off in the distance.

Dannas rushed ahead of the wagon. "We made it!"

"Not yet, Dannas."

"What? Why?"

"Considering the time, it would be well into the night, and we'd be starving if we went there and distributed everything now. That's not even considering the town's guards who'll probably be a problem."

"Ugh. Fine."

"We'll set up camp here. I'll go hunt so we can eat. Tomorrow morning, we'll finish the last three or so miles to Moltenbell."

"Alright."

I pulled the wagon off the road by the edge of the forest. Meg's group helped us unload everything we needed to unload, and build a campfire. 

I attached my scabbard and quiver to my belt. "I'll be gone for a while to hunt. Don't try anything while I'm gone."

Dannas sprung up from the campfire. "I'll come with you!"

"Why?"

"I'm bored, and I want to."

"Fine."

Meg stood up. "We live in this area. We'll look for some wild herbs and berries and stuff to go with your game."

Tulas smiled. "Sounds like we're gonna feast tonight! I'll cook it when you're all back."

"Alright." I turned around and began walking toward the forest. 

Dannas followed just behind. Once we were deep enough in, he walked next to me. "Hey, are you alright?"

"What?"

"I don't know. You just seem down, or angry, or annoyed or something. More than usual. Definitely more than when you're with Abraxas."

"I . . . I'm fine. Let's just focus on finding food."

"Mhm. I don't buy it."

I stopped. "Don't buy what, Dannas?"

"I'm just saying, if you want to talk about anything, you can with me."

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind. Let's go."

Dannas sighed as I kept moving forward.

We kept walking until a notable smell reached my nose from the east. It smelled like musky, wet fur or leather. Before I got to think about it, I immediately remembered the shadow wolves, how they smelled, and how they gathered. Fortunately we were downwind from their scent.

"Let's head south before the breeze changes."

"Why?"

There's probably a pack of shadow wolves, or regular wolves, off to the east."

"Yeah, let's not go there."

We turned south and continued walking cautiously and softly. Eventually, we came across some hoof-shaped tracks.

Dannas crouched down to it. "Looks like deer."

I sniffed the air. "Smells like deer."

"Do you know where?"

I focused on my hearing. Almost immediately, I heard some sniffing and grunting. "This way." I pulled out my bow and walked southwest.

Eventually we came across a rare sight. Two deer and three rabbits all gathered by a pond, drinking water and eating plants.

I whispered. "I can only hit one at a time. If I'm lucky, and fast, I might be able to hit two before they all get away."

"I could get one with my dagger."

"I'll get the deer on the left, you get the one on the right. Hopefully I'll get a rabbit aswell."

"Alright." He slowly pulled his dagger out.

I nocked and drew an arrow, while whispering, "Three . . . two . . . one . . . now."

He threw his dagger as I let loose. Immediately as the arrow left my bow, I reached for a new one and drew it. Just when I was ready to let loose again, my first arrow pierced through the deer's heart a second before Dannas's dagger pierced the other's. The rabbits immediately started running. I let loose, aiming ahead of one. I watched the arrow soar through the air as a second rabbit moved into its course. The arrow flew through the rabbit's neck, taking it away as it pierced the second rabbit's heart, pinning them both to the ground. The third rabbit got away.

"Nice shot!"

I was too shocked to respond. I didn't expect that outcome at all.

"Come on!" He grabbed my arm.

My mind re-entered reality, reminding me to put my bow back in its quiver as Dannas rushed me toward our kills. He pulled his dagger out of the deer as I pulled my first arrow out of a bush. I then went to the rabbits, pulled the second arrow out of the ground, and let the rabbits calmly slide off, then cleaned the arrows in the pond, dried them with my cloak, and returned them to my quiver.

"I'll carry the deer, you carry the rabbits."

"Sounds good to me."

I saw Dannas pull a string out of a small pouch he had hanging from his belt. He tied up both of the rabbits by their hind legs, then hung them over his shoulders. I carried both deer on my shoulders, one for each.

We walked west until we finally broke out of the dense forest to see the light of the campfire, a little ways off to our right. The sun was now getting close to setting. We began walking back to camp.

"I think Tulas was right, Ladon. This is gonna be a feast."

"Yeah."

When we made it back, I saw Tulas sitting by the stone-topped fire, stoking it with a stick. Meg and her group weren't anywhere in sight.

"Ah, Ladon, Dannas. That was quick, was it not?"

"Yeah, we got lucky. You should've seen it! Ladon hit these two rabbits with one arrow!"

I began stringing up and hanging the deer with the same rope as last time, cutting their necks with my dagger.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah; he even got a deer before that too. I got one deer of course."

"Well done, boys! Our new friends haven't returned yet, but they'll be back shortly, I think. I'll get a pot and collect some water."

I began carefully unstringing my bow. As I detached the string from one limb, the bow snapped to bend in the opposite direction. I removed the string from the other limb, put both back in my quiver, then laid my quiver by my bed roll that was now out. I then returned to the deer who were still bleeding out, and saw Dannas begin to skin the rabbits. I began skinning the deer as I heard the clankings of metal behind me. By the time they were both skinned, Dannas finished with the rabbits, Meg and her group returned with armfulls of herbs, berries, and wild spices, and Tulas came back with a large pot full of water.

Meg's group began preparing them all as Tulas put the pot on the rock. Since the new deer skins needed to dry, I grabbed the old one from before, and layed it on the ground. I continued cutting the meat we'd be using off the deer, and placed them on the skin. They put their prepared ingredients into the pot along with Dannas's rabbit meat and bones. I put a couple thick deer bones in, then continued cutting. Once the rabbit was ready, everyone started eating. I finished with the deers, and brought the carcasses back into the forest. By the time I returned, they finished with the rabbits and were already cooking a bunch of the deer meat. I was cutting thin strips off some of the meat, for jerky later, as everyone was passing food around. Occasionally, I'd get a some bites as everyone was talking about random things all at once. Eventually, I was done and able to focus more on eating.

Terin stood up and started slowly clapping. He leaned forward, turning toward everyone to join in as his clapping slowly accelerated. I kept eating while everyone else clapped. Eventually, he shared knowing looks between his friends. The clapping everyone shared reached a steady pace just before he dramatically opened his mouth. Everyone but Dannas, Tulas, and I followed suit.

Suddenly, they all began singing. "The dragon flew down to Moltenbell, his flaming breath, oh what they fell. The dragon flew down to Moltenbell, to send it down to Hel. The dragon swooped down to crash the bell. The dragon swooped down to crash the bell. The dragon swooped down to crash the bell, all the way to Hel. The dragon breathed fire apon the bell, his flaming breath did melt the bell. The dragon breathed fire apon the bell, to melt it down to Hel. The molten bell, the molten bell, crashed and melted down to Hel. The molten bell, the molten bell, taking us all to Hel."

They sped up their clapping to begin the song again. This time Dannas and Tulas joined in. Percy put down his glasses, and stood up with the other guy to dance and spin around the fire to the song.

"Yeah, Holind!" shouted Meg, just before she continued singing with the rest.

Before long, they started the song a third time. Even faster yet, they sung and danced, having fun as they kept speeding up through the song, until they got dizzy and crashed into each other. They laughed and screamed with joy as they finished the song. "Taking us all to Hel!"

I just kept eating my food. Though they did work a smile onto my face with all their silliness. A smile that I couldn't make disappear even though some of them noticed.

Dannas sat up from the ground and turned to me. "So you can have fun too. Fascinating."

I finally was able to remove my smile. "That was fun to watch. I guess."

"Good! You gotta have fun every once in a while. You only have one life. Can't let it all be miserable."

Tulas walked over to Percy to help him up. "I could drink to that. If I had a drink."

Meg stood up and walked over to me. "You know you could've joined in. If you wanted to, I mean."

"I'm not much of a singer, or dancer."

"Maybe next time then?"

"Maybe."

I stood up and started cleaning out the pot that held only broth, bone, and overcooked plants by tossing it all onto the dirt away from us.

Tulas then grabbed the pot from me. "Here. I'll go clean it in the stream. You worry about everything else."

The wood in the fire was mostly charred, and made more smoke than flame, so I removed the stone, and started smoking a bunch of jerky. Everybody was calmed down now, so they all sat by the still warm, burning wood.

Dannas placed his hands close to the campfire to warm them up. "So Meg, Terin, Percy, and Holind. What's your story?"

Meg turned her eyes to his. "Not much of one. We were all born and raised in Moltenbell. We've all been friends since we were kids. We've all taken care of eachother for a long time now. And now, we want to take care of the town."

"That's nice."

Tulas returned, put the pot away, and sat with us.

"What about you, Dannas. What's your story?" Holind asked, his voice soft.

"Me? Well, I spent a long time in an orphanage. It was called "Madame Pernsberry's Home for Unwanted Children. Eventually, I really wanted out. I wanted to explore the world; have fun; be my own person, you know? I guess I really just didn't want to be there anymore. That place was boring, and old, and always smelled weird. Also Madame Pernsberry sucked. When I turned thirteen, a ranger came to town for whatever business he had. I tried running away plenty of times before that, but I tried again. I ran away to the ranger, told him I wanted to go with him, and he took me back like a responsible person. Fortunately for me, that was the last straw for Madame Pernsberry. When he took me back, she deemed me an unruly, wild child who didn't want a home, so not having a home shall be my life, or whatever. I was kicked out, and the ranger decided to take me with him after all, and I've been with the rangers ever since. I got my first mission a year ago, and since then, I've been a ranger myself. And now I'm here with Ladon on his first mission."

I had just finished smoking my jerky. All of a sudden, they all turned to me. It was as if even Dannas forgot about that whole story for mine.

Meg leaned forward. "What's your story, Ladon?"

"I'm quite interested as well," added Tulas.

"It's not a great story."

Meg's tone changed from excitement to almost begging. "Come on, Ladon. I'm sure there's something interesting. You're a demidragon afterall."

"Being a demidragon is exactly why this story isn't a good one to tell. It's not very happy."

"You're just making me want to hear it more."

Terin joined in. "Me too."

Even Percy, who I thought hated the demidragon part of me, responded, "Me too."

I sighed. "Fine. Don't blame me if you feel bad by the end."

Meg smiled. "That's alright by me."

  I noticed Dannas was being silent, and looked somewhat worried. Probably because he knows.

"I used to live in an orphanage like Dannas. I don't know its name. Originally, the orphanage didn't have any demidragons. Over a few years, it got a bunch from parents who couldn't bring themselves to kill their baby unlike the others. Suddenly, that orphanage's reputation became known as the one housing monsters. All the people who worked there, other than the old lady who owned the place, left. We all got used to helping out since the lady was old and frail, but she taught us a lot. Life there was difficult, but somewhat happy. The humans in the orphanage had to go to town to get supplies since it's not safe for my kind to do those errands. It was barely safe for them either since we all came from the same building anyways. One night, when I was six, the townspeople had enough of that orphanage's existence. So an angry mob came. The old lady was probably one of the first lines of defense that didn't last long. When they came inside the building, they started setting it on fire and killing everyone. My bunk was in the far corner of the boys room. I hid under it. Before they could even get close to me, they had to leave, though I watched all my friends die before that. After they left, the building crashed down. I woke up in the morning after, in the rubble, with this." I showed my scarred arm. "I crawled out and ran away, then spent the next ten years surviving any way I could. I learned the hard way what happens to a person's kindness when they find out you're a demidragon. And I learned the hard way how to avoid danger, and how to survive in the wild. After that decade, a nice, wise person took me in. He's sort of been a father to me, not that I really know what a father is like. A few weeks ago, he sent me to learn from the rangers, and to become one if I wanted. That's what I'm doing now. This world doesn't like my kind very much, no matter what the truth is."

They were all speechless. At least, everyone but Percy. He stood up and held his hand out to me. "I'm sorry, Ladon. I made an insensitive comment yesterday. I understand now that I was ignorant to what you are. Now that I understand more, I just want to ask for your forgiveness."

"I-it's fine. It barely bothered me. Also it was barely even an insult."

Meg spoke up. "For the record, it never bothered me."

Terin spoke up aswell. "Me too."

"Alright. Thank you."

Holind stood up. "Anyone who saved our lives is friends with us if you ask me"

I looked to the sky to see it was becoming midnight. We were all tired and ready for sleep. It was pretty obvious we all needed it aswell.

"I'm gonna go to bed. Let's not do any watches. I'll probably wake up to whatever comes our way anyway."

Dannas stretched his arms a little. "That's fine by me."

I entered my bed roll as everyone else was still finding their spot for the night.

Before I could fall asleep, Meg walked up to me. "Thank you for sharing, Ladon. That was a terrible memory to remember."

"It's fine. I remember everyday anyway."

"A-alright. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

She walked away.

I thought about the day that just transpired. The dinner, dancing, music, the group, and Dannas's past. I thought about tomorrow, hoping to plan ahead before I could fall asleep. Before I actually could, I drifted off.