It was broken. The leader of the Band of Steel, Jacky, was standing in front of the counter, looking at his broken great sword, while the whole tavern was in panic. Voices started to rise, and that sobered him up a little.
Other adventurers were running outside to check the situation. They were adventurers after all, panicking in the middle of a crisis would result in certain death. Some went outside to chase off the rampaging Silver Dragon, while others simply ran for their lives in fear of the ancient creature.
"Hey, boss," Korion, the tanker of their party, was talking to him. "What are we going to do?"
Jacky turned to his friends. They were standing behind him, unsure of what to do. Only Mama Millio and her employees were still inside. Jackie's eyes turned to the egg that was in the middle of the tavern. A huge explosion from the outside shook the whole place and sobered him up even more. He knew what the right thing was to do.
"We leave this town. Now!" But he didn't dare to do it.
"Boss, are you sure? Shouldn't we take this egg back to its mother?"
Antrius, the archer. Always had a good heart, but he was too naive. They couldn't just show up in front of a Silver Dragon with an apology. They would be dead in no time. Jacky had already made up his mind, and he didn't want to die.
"No. If you want to live, we need to go. Now!"
"Hey, take this thing out of my tavern! I don't want anything to do with it." Mama Millio was looking outside from the window next to the counter. "What if that dragon came after her egg? What will I do if that happens?" Her fear for her tavern was clear on her face.
"That is your problem now." He went to the door. "Come on, boys, we are leaving."
None of his friends liked what they were about to do, but if they wanted to live, they knew there was no other way. They followed their boss in shame and tried not to hear Mama Millio's complaints.
Outside, the battle with the Silver Dragon was not going well, just as he had guessed. The whole town was already on fire. The Band quickly headed toward their inn to pack up and leave as soon as possible.
***
When Elise came outside, the dragon had already reached the town. She looked for the man who had just gone outside but saw no clue of him. The town had wooden walls and gates just enough to defend itself from the threats in the Malargo Forest, so it was nothing for a dragon of that size.
The wooden walls were partly burning, and the Silver Dragon was flying in circles over the town, breathing white flames that were denser and fiercer than regular fire, looking like rays of moonlight in the night sky. Deadly rays of moonlight.
She stood in front of the tavern for a moment, looking at the disaster the creature was causing. Her mind had gone blank from the fear. Years of sword training and studying were gone in an instant.
People were screaming and running around to escape the wrath of the Dragon. Those screams helped her get herself together.
"This is no time to stand and do nothing. I need to help the townsfolk escape." She ran towards the closest screams.
She saw some adventurers were trying to group up to fight back the creature. But their arrows broke, and the magic of the few magicians in the town was not enough to cause any damage to the dragon's thick and shiny silver scales.
It was a massacre; the giant creature was showing no mercy.
Only minutes had passed, but it felt like hours for Elise. Screams and cries were echoing in the whole town. Most of the people who were trying to escape had been burned to a crisp or crushed under the rubble of their own houses and shops. The resisting adventurers had suffered too many casualties, enough to break their will to fight and force them to escape. Only the ones that were badly injured and unable to escape were remaining. And Elise, who tried to save them.
She did all she could to help the townsfolk escape, but there were too many and she was alone. Her mind became numb after witnessing so many terrifying deaths. Burning and crushed people aside, they were running over each other and sacrificing others to save themselves. The disgusting smell of burning flesh and blood was everywhere. Elise had done all she could, but it was not enough. She was not strong enough.
She was only 19 and had left her home about six months ago. She thought she was ready; she thought her father was wrong. Elise Vandenberg ran away from her home to travel and adventure. Leaving behind her responsibilities to her household, her family, and her father.
She didn't realize how much time had passed, but the screams stopped after some time. Only cries were left. She was walking around in the dust and ash caused by burned and demolished buildings. The mist before morning had started forming on the ground, tinted pink by the mix of blood and ashes.
Was it really the right thing to do? Escaping all alone and diving into life head-on. She recalled her family's mansion, the magnificent mansion of the House Vandenberg.
A house crumbled next to her. She barely evaded the rubble.
She had never wanted to stay in that house, even though it was big; she never felt free in there.
Her eyes shifted towards a pile of rubble. A bloody hand covered in ash was sticking out, trying to reach outside. Motionless.
She always wanted to go outside and explore the grounds.
She wandered around for some time without tracking the time. A couple of adventurers were lying on the ground. Half burned, half buried. They were probably from the ones who resisted the dragon.
Since she had gotten to the age that she could wield a sword, she had started training with the captain of their family guards. She had the talent for it, and the captain was a great teacher and one of the best swordsmen in the kingdom. She loved training with him.
Burned books were scattered here and there. She looked at them with grief; she always liked reading books.
When she had to stay inside their family mansion, she liked to read everything she found interesting in her father's library.
Memories of her abandoned life kept on coming as she walked through the ashes of the future she hoped for...
Her mind went blank, and she lost her sense of time. While she was roaming, she noticed that she had come back to the tavern where everything had started. But something strange caught her eye; the tavern was still standing and had taken no damage whatsoever. Realizing that made her come to her senses and saved her life at the last moment.
She jumped forward to dodge the creature that was about to land on her. A loud noise came from behind her, and a big cloud of dust filled the air. She immediately got up with a roll, drew her sword, and saw the shadow of the giant beast in the dust cloud. One of its feet was standing where Elise was standing a moment ago.
With a strong beat of its wings, the dust scattered around, and Elise fell from the force caused by it. But she quickly got back up and firmly held her sword. Her sword was a thin longsword made for dueling mostly. It was a gift from her father, one of the best on the market. But she knew it was no match for a Silver Dragon.
The dragon was way bigger up close; almost half of the town was buried under the shadow of its wings. Elise knew there was no way she could beat that monster. But she got ready to fight and took an aggressive stance. The creature didn't even care about her. Instead, it was focused on the tavern where her egg still was.
But from the top of the tavern, "Back off!" A man said. It was the strange man she saw at the tavern. He had the Silver Dragon's egg with him on the roof. He stood up slowly and lifted the giant egg with his one hand.
Elise was surprised, only seconds ago she was looking there and didn't see the man at all. Was she that senseless back then? And with that heavy-looking egg, it was impossible.
The man looked at the Silver Dragon in the eye like he was challenging it. "Take your egg and leave, now!" He extended the egg toward the creature. The dragon looked confused at first. Elise thought she could see what it was thinking. Who was this disrespectful little creature, not knowing his place?
It got ready to attack and smash the man with its talons... But an uneasy feeling started to surround the area. The creature stopped and looked at the man with cautious eyes.
Elise was not sure what it was, but something ominous was oozing from the strange man. It was an intent to kill so intense it seemed to solidify around him. Elise couldn't see it, but she could feel it. She had never seen or felt something like that before. Even though she was afraid, she was about to attack a Silver Dragon just a moment ago, but now she had frozen in fear.
"Take the egg and leave, that is your final chance." The man's voice got serious and cold. He was ready to kill, and sure he could do it easily. Before, his appearance was unnoticeable, almost weak. But now, he was an example of strength. He had gotten taller and a lot more muscular than before. His posture was filled with confidence. How did nobody notice someone with this much strength?
The Dragon felt that too and started to bow down in understanding. It was a clever creature; it knew when to back down. It took the egg slowly, trying not to do anything threatening. It placed the egg inside its talons and stretched its giant silver wings, making them glow at dawn, and dropped a dark shadow on the town's west side. The man kept looking at the Dragon until it disappeared above the clouds.
The man turned toward Elise. He had a slight smile on his face. Only then did Elise come to her senses and could move again. He took a step off the roof and descended slowly to the ground. The strips of cloth that were loosely hanging around him swung in the wind. The sun had started to show itself after a long night, and under the light of the rising sun, his reddish bunches of hair glowed. He landed smoothly on the ground, looking just like before, weak and strange.
"Sorry if I frightened you," The man said as he slowly approached her. He knew she was tense after what happened. "I didn't want to kill the Dragon; she was only trying to avenge her stolen child." He looked at the town, and almost none of the buildings were standing. "She looked satisfied at least."
"Do you think it will be back?" Elise was still shaking from the encounter.
"No. Don't worry, she took what she wanted."
She turned her eyes towards the tavern. Mama Millio and her staff were in there, and they didn't seem to have any injuries. "Did you protect them?" She asked the man.
"Of course! How could I let that pumpkin pie recipe die with that woman? It was one of the few wonders of this world."
Elise was shocked by this statement. "You only saved them because of the pie they made? What kind of logic is that?" Her pent-up emotions started to rise as anger. While she was doing everything in her power to save the people of this town, the knowledge that this man had the strength to finish all of this at the beginning hit her harder than she thought.
"You could have ended this from the start, and you didn't do anything. Hundreds, maybe thousands, died out there, and you just sat there and watched?" Her voice got higher as she spoke.
"Listen, girl." His voice had gotten colder suddenly. "That group of idiots should have given back the egg; that was the right thing to do. If they did, the dragon would have killed them, and I could persuade her to leave. But they choose to escape instead.
"Actions have consequences; never forget that, girl. I am not gonna pay someone else's consequences. Direct your anger to the guilty ones, not me."
She thought the man had a point, but the lack of empathy in his voice bothered her a lot. "You are right. But that is not an excuse for not helping. You could save all those people! You could be a hero!"
"Don't force what is right to you on other people, girl. I am no hero. But you have a strong heart, I liked that." He looked serious while saying that, and that made Elise a little calmer.
"Sorry, my nerves are still tense. I didn't mean to snap at you. The things I witnessed there were just so..."
"I know. And I also know who is responsible and where they are now." A naughty smile appeared on his face. "So, tell me, girl. Do you want to have some fun?"
"Stop calling me girl, my name is Elise." She could definitely blow off some steam. "And yes, I'd like to."
"Nice to meet you, Elise. You can just call me Traveler. I think we'll get along well."