An Excerpt From Lord Markand’s Histories Of Magick and Strange Events.

Philip and Ian left the Headman’s with extra biscuits and sausages for the Lumbermen. Ian now wore the longsword over his back as well as a long dagger and a small hatchet. Philip had a pack with stewpot, food and some salt. Mahrielin had packed a pouch of brandy-soaked bandages, a needle and strong thread and some midwife herbs. Philip carried his bow with arrows packed to move silently. They felt confident and well equipped as they approached the Smithy where they would meet the Wood Brothers and Han. They could already hear the occasional ring of Jacob’s Smith hammer.

They moved along the path and waved at the crowd in Jacob’s work shed. Jacob looked to be finishing the spears for the men. His black curly hair already appeared sweaty. Philip knew the man preferred an early start in the cooler part of the day. The men were happy to greet Ian and Philip and even happier to receive some breakfast. Each man would be given a large fancy spear that had a clever spring barb and was more of a pike three meters in length. They also received a shorter spear, which could be thrown and had a strap to hang it on the back while they walked.

Barbette Smith noticed Philip as she watched from the window and waved and shouted. Philip supposed she was likely held inside by her Mother Dolly. Dolly Smith was the sweetest woman Philip had ever met and as far as he knew she was like that with everyone. Barbette was enjoying the show while the lumbermen threw the short spears and sharpened the blades. They were able to stick one in three into the large log, which had been stood up in the yard.

Barbette would flirt boldly with Philip every chance she had but he was nine years older than her. Dolly would usually keep the girl from acting out. In this case, Dolly had taken the extra step of keeping the girl inside far away from all of the hot hard steel of the yard.

The spears were very sturdy and the men took advice from Ian and talked about strategy with the weapons. Throwing would be the last resort. Noting this fact had the dreary effect of ceasing the competition that had seen five coppers change hands already. The lumbermen had their well-sharpened axes in slings and they were very much more proficient at throwing those anyway.

Philip went over the route and expected landscape. They would move up the larger river heading northeast on the western shore. This would let them follow the rocky ridge. They could probably make it close to Highmouth before tonight but Philip did not expect them to need to go that far.

Ian asked about Highmouth and Philip described an overgrown forest next to stone ruins and a clear lake at the transition from forest to scrub. This town had at one time a burgeoning trade supplying a few caravans that would head through the passage lands and the highpass to the other side of the mountains. Though that was a long time ago before the war. Ian took notes and made a basic map in a book he carried.

Jacob Smith finished the last spear and joined them in the discussion, learning where they intended to go. He gave valuable advice for them to include a nice long rope. Judging that they might be successful and need a way to rig and carry the beast. All of the eager hunters felt a bit sheepish at hearing this but since Jacob had said it everyone was grateful. Ian was even a little entertained by the lack.

It was almost mid-day when the whole family bid them farewell and the men began along the rocky path. Ian paid the lumbermen and used this interaction to inspect each one of them. Everyone situated the long pike on their shoulder with the blade forward and ready for action. The pikes were so long that they had to travel horizontally. Philip was first in the line of men with his bow strung and over his shoulder and his long pike out ahead. Ian was behind Philip, then Brin, Jan and Han at the back.

In an hour the country was thick enough with brush and the sounds of wild pigs. This caused the men to be constantly more quiet as they crept in the mode of hunter, along the rocky bank of the river. This allowed them to watch various dramas of the wildlife, pigs rutting and fighting, deer and wolf sign and spore.

It was a couple of hours before sunset when they noticed a track that could have been a dragon but it seemed to have toes like a duck. Close examination showed more tracks up to and into the water. There was no sign of the beast but it let them see the cloudy water in a different light. A brief quiet consultation moved their course a little further inland.

Philip led the way over the high bank and deeper into the taller trees of the western bank. He stopped everyone twice with a hiss and tried for a rabbit. The first time the animal spooked. The second time the men were much better at stopping quietly and Ian held his pike. The arrow flew true and they started to look for a good campsite. Sunset had started and they walked up a steeper incline, the river bank was steeper and the water flowed across rocks. This white noise of the river helped conceal their noise but it also kept them from clearly hearing a noise that no one could explain. Philip asked if everyone heard it and to note the direction. They looked for camp in the opposite direction.

It was nearly dark when they found a ridge-top with large boulders that would reflect the heat of the fire and provide some measure of cover. Brin and Jan cut two fairly large trees and made a couple of lean-tos between the rocks. Ian and Han gathered wood and dug a latrine downwind. Philip built a hearth and skinned and cut up the rabbit. He started a large fire and unpacked the stewpot. He let the fire burn for a while and asked for an escort to the river for water. When it came to it they all went to the river with the short spears. Only Philip carried the pot, his bow and an arrow. The men washed briefly in the cold water and helped carry the pot of water.

It was very dark but they followed the glow of the fire along the short ridge about a hundred meters from the river. The sounds of the fire and the smell of the cooking made the darkness almost welcoming. Philip made a nice soup and the moon rose as they discussed the day.

Ian produced a skin of wine which washed down the rabbit soup. The consensus of the men around the mystery noise they heard on the trail was that on the other shore a pig had been killed quickly. The conversation helped the men decide to take watches. Ian agreed to take the first and Philip would take last. In the middle of the night Jan, Brin then Han.

Ian rigged the rope in the way of likely approaches and set a good example for the men. For their part, they wrapped up in wool blankets back to back with ready weapons and began snoring. The watches did not proceed smoothly. Jan apologetically recounted falling asleep and being awakened by the sound of moving branches. The shock of it got his heart beating so much that he almost woke the whole camp but settled instead for waking Brin instead and making torches to place on the path. Philip woke to the two men carefully watching with torches and listening to the dark, rope strung out along the path. Once the daylight arrived the men awakened and ate boiled eggs and tea, then trooped down to the river carefully and washed off the sleep and smells.

When they arrived back at camp they packed and put out the fire. They also had the opportunity to examine the tracks around camp carefully in the light. Ian was resolute that the signs were the tracks of a wolf. The Lumbermen expressed concern that a wolf would move the rope so much. Ian and Philip wished for more rope and bells with string to create a better perimeter. This discussion prologued a very cautious and quiet hike toward the remains of Highmouth.

Philip moved away from the river and coached everyone when they made too much noise. The trees were very old and thick moss-covered mixed oak and there was only a light breeze. The wind was enough to move a type of laurel shrub with leaves dark on the top and pale below. When these blew in the wind it made an impression of movement. Reading the weather it felt like rain would come in the afternoon. Philip was examining his reasons for thinking of rain when he viewed something he could not explain in the canopy fifteen meters away to his left. He hissed for a stop and Ian went to grab his pike. Philip did not look away from his target but held the pike strongly against Ian’s helpful grasp. Ian tensed then as well, realization dawning that this was no rabbit.

Philip felt the men behind move weapons to the ready and sat down on his knees to wait and watch. They watched for a long while looking carefully in the trees for other creatures and noticing how quiet the woods had become. Philip for his part carefully noted a dingy white fur and scale loin partially visible along a thick sturdy oak branch. In time he grew brave enough to point this out to Ian. Philip received a nod and then offered his pike while Ian watched carefully. Once free of his pike he quietly rigged an arrow and leaned over to whisper in his most stealthy and slightest breath into Ian’s ear, “Surround.”

Ian took his eyes back from the creature briefly to look at Philip’s eye then returned to his vigil and made a sign for walking around to the right. Philip simply pressed his shoulder to acknowledge this and kept marking the animal with his eyes. Ian motioned at the Lumbermen pointing at his own eyes and in the direction of their target then motioned for two to follow him raising his long pike. The men silently readied themselves and Ian placed Philip’s pike slowly and quietly on the ground. The three men moved with such slowness and stealth that Philip’s muscles ached from actively staying motionless. It took them enough time to move into a half-circle arc downwind that Philip was able to move his perception to relax his muscles and calm his breathing.

Han was able to silently move to the left of Philip. Philip noted the white knuckles even from the corner of his eye. Philip silently extracted a second arrow and held this ready hoping he would not fumble a second shot. He took a deep breath and pulled the bow, feeling a real relief at moving so much. He held the shot and took a deep breath and sighted the target. Philip visualized and virtually felt the release before it happened. He noted the arrow’s apparent success before setting the next arrow and marking the target again for a second shot. Dropping the bow and picking up the pike he joined the men moving toward the creature.

Philip noted the feel of the pike and wished for more strength to hold the stave. Then he was pleased to experience a kind of elation at seeing the whole creature alive and close it thrashed in place lashing out where the arrows pierced and held it against the branch. It did this twice then felt a scouring blow of Ian’s pike. Brin missed a strike while Jan struck hard holding the beast in another location. The dragon whipped around lifting Ian and the pike. The pike was released from Ian’s grasp and struck against Philip’s pike. The thrashing dragon violently thrashed against Brin’s pike that was backing for another hit. It hit this pike so hard that it parted an artery and sprayed blood everywhere. Philip was lucky to hold his weapon and recovered to land a brutal thrust against the creature’s side just toward the head near where the thick arrows had held the beast. As soon as this struck the Dragon thrashed free pulling the arrows through its body. Philip for his part held firmly and yanked the pike back, the clever barbed nearly sliced the animal in two.

The dragon was small but still longer and stronger than two men. The back half of the animal fell from the large branch while the front of the animal scrabbled with four of six claws against the tree and Jan’s pike. Philip was impressed with Jan’s determination despite the animal thrashing against the stave he held resolutely. His press was so strong it fractionally moved the heavy branch upward. Each thrash of the animal made the branch creak. The beast was weakened by blood loss and three more bloody strikes before Han and Ian pinned the neck of the weakened beast against the ground. Brin severed most of the way through the hissing beast’s neck and the battle was over.

The shock and violence of the event rested heavily on the men and each one of them checked the other’s faces and then shocked the violent stealth out of their system with a yell of victory, Brin yelling first. Each of them held a pike and shook with adrenaline while the beast’s heart stopped and the death throes weakened.

The coppery smell was thick as they each looked around them carefully and retrieved their gear. They gathered around the animal and examined its snake-like form. The jaws were terrifying and the eyes had no whites visible. The dark green eyes matched the spring leaves. These eyes were still clear when the men opened them. Jan inadvertently brushed against a thick fleshy whisker and complained of an intense numbness afterward. They cautiously examined the strength of the arms, claws and teeth. Each of them noted the strength of the scales and the smell. Ian pointed out sharp interlocking bony scales along the spine. If the animal was a bit larger or arrows had not pinned it to the tree each of them doubted they would have escaped without injury.

The Men took pains to prepare the body. Organs were extracted and examined. These included a hard gizzard and stomach with very acidic juices. Each of these was sketched by Ian in his notebook along with their relation to the whole. The realization was made that the animal was female and gravid. The egg was taken and maintained carefully, wrapped in a blanket and packed in the stewpot.

They eventually rigged a pallet between two pikes to carry the body and some organs then followed a quick noisy path to the river. They rinsed in a fast shallow stream relieved to be free of the bulk of the burden of the blood and dirt.

Philip and Ian decided to stay close to the rocky western bank of the river and hurry back to Smithtown. They would feel safe enough to stay out of trees and not so close to the wide slow water to make good time.