The Dragon's Prize Read online

  “Since when does the queen give a shit what happens in Velmar?”

  “Hold your tongue!” Sandra tried to act like a snotty noble guard would act. She wasn’t sure if she was managing it. “The queen will not be disparaged like that. And I will not divulge the purpose of my mission to anyone but the mayor himself.”

  “Well, aren’t you special. Go away!”

  The eyes attempted once more to slam the slit shut. Sandra was faster, and jammed a dagger into the slit so that the blade slithered just beside the person’s head and blocked the shutter from closing completely.

  “Listen.” Her voice dropped a few octaves, from friendly to dangerous. She heard the person on the other side swallow audibly, and she could almost imagine an adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “We are in need of feed for our horses and supplies for ourselves. There is no one around in town and the gate guard said to come here. You will let us in.”

  “I…”

  Sandra wedged her fingers beside the dagger and dragged the shutter open. The person on the other side tried to resist, but he was not nearly as strong as she was. She brought her eyes level with his, with only the door separating them.

  “You will let us in.”

  “Right! Right.”

  This time, the bolt on the door clicked and slammed open. Then a bar on the other side was removed. Then a chain. Another dead bolt. A pad lock. Sandra stared at the door in surprise. It was very locked.

  Finally the lock in the knob clicked and the door opened.

  The interior of the estate was entirely the opposite of the exterior. While outside it was the picture of neglect and poverty, inside it was opulent and almost gaudy. The man inside was an aging butler with wispy grey hair and a growing hump. He was the one that had, moments ago, been so rude. He was the one who now looked at her with a mixture of fear and respect.

  The interior of the hallway was filled with elaborate furniture. Made of expensive woods, carved with reliefs done by master craftsman and inlaid in gold, Sandra didn’t think she would make enough in a lifetime to afford even a single piece. Lush tapestries hung all along the walls, and hanging from the ceiling were ornate golden sconces containing glowing witch lights. Sandra’s mouth was gaping open and she didn’t care. Not even the castle had so much wealth on display in such a small space.

  “Well?” The man gestured impatiently for them to enter. Sandra stared at the plush carpet with trepidation. Her boots were muddy from travel and she was afraid of staining something so incredible.

  “Our horses?”

  “Yes, yes. Leave them with the boy.”

  “The… oh.” Sandra turned to see a small boy round the corner of the estate. He was not young, just small… Sandra could see his ribs in stark relief on the inside of his shirt, and he looked like malnutrition had stunted his growth. His clothes were little better than rags and his hair hung in dirty strands from his face.

  Still, when he saw Lightning his face lit up and he ran up to the horse in obvious excitement. Lightning whinnied with pleasure as the boy grabbed him with a big hug, and the horse stamped his approval.

  That was good enough for Sandra. She handed the reins to the boy and gestured for Mira to do the same.

  Annie was also fond of the boy, and he took her reins just as eagerly. Without saying anything, he lead the two horses out around the side of the estate to what Sandra hoped was their stables. She looked back to the butler and couldn’t hide the disdain on her face. Despite his age, his frame hung with extra weight from rich and plentiful food and his clothes, while aging, seemed like they were made of fine silk. How could he afford to live like this when the stable boy was merely scraping by?

  “If you’re going to judge me, I can close the door again.”

  He walked toward the door, one hand out as if to close it. Before he reached it, Sandra vaulted the stairs and stood proud on the doormat inside, her own hand on the door.

  “We’re seeing the mayor.”

  “Yes. Fine. You said that already.” Glaring at her, he proceeded into the house. “Follow me. Leave your boots in the mudroom.”

  Sandra looked around. Indeed there was a small portion of the entry hallway that seemed devoted to shoes and coats of all kinds. The floor was not covered in expensive carpets and was instead bare wood, with traces of dirt and mud on it.

  Feeling better about not messing up the fancy carpets, Sandra stepped inside and took off her boots. Mira stepped in after and did the same, closing the door behind her.

  “You’re comfortable with this?” Mira asked with one boot in her hand.

  “Hmm?”

  “Well, I mean, if we have to run out of here fast it’s maybe not great to have to stop and put our boots on.”

  “Oh.” Sandra couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of that. Of course, she hadn’t really been expecting trouble in the mayor’s house either. “Good point. Still, I don’t want to ruin that nice carpet. Do you?”

  “I guess not. We have gold, though.”

  “Somehow.” Sandra laughed. “I don’t think twenty gold will cover the cost of that thing.”

  “Point taken.” Mira finished taking off her boots, and then they both hurried to catch up with the butler. He had not waited for them while they were talking and was almost at the end of the hallway.

  They caught up to him at two ornate doors carved with a detailed relief of demons and cherubs dancing across the entire surface. Sandra stopped to look at it for a moment. She’d never seen anything like it. It was made of a rich, dark wood she didn’t recognize. The carvings danced across the entire surface, locked in an eternal struggle that only the heavens could really fathom.

  Who had doors like this?

  “The mayor.”

  The butler looked at her, perhaps put out by her ogling everything, and then shoved the doors open. He looked strong despite his age, and had to struggle to open them. Heavy and ornate…

  Inside was a long feasting hall, nearly devoid of feasters. The main feature of the hall was a long table set with a dizzying array of food. Roasts and salads and soups and freshly baked breads lined the top of the table and steamed, waiting to be eaten. At the head of the table, on the other side of the room, sat a fat man in rich golden clothes. With him were several of what Sandra thought were more mercenaries, who were tearing into a roast goose with ferocity.

  Not really knowing how to evaluate all of this, but knowing something was deeply wrong, Sandra headed forward. Mira sensed the wrongness, too, and clung close to Sandra’s back.

  “Hello! Welcome! We don’t get many visitors in Velmar!” The man at the end of the table greeted them warmly, waving them over with greasy fingers covered in rings. “What brings you to our fine town?”

  Sandra warily approached the mayor and his guards. Four of them were eating with the mayor and another two were standing at the corners of the room, watching her with hands on their swords. If the ones outside were anything to judge by, she was better than they were, but against six? She didn’t like those odds.

  “Lord Mayor, I am a royal guard on a mission from the queen.”

  “Oh! How lovely! Please, sit! Join me!”

  It was the middle of the afternoon. The food smelled good, but Mira’s cooking was only getting better. Trapped rabbit might not be roast goose, but Sandra felt that she would be better served by remaining standing.

  “Sir. I’m sorry, but we can’t stay long. We require feed for our horses and supplies for ourselves, and we will be out of your hair.”

  “I… oh. Your mission does not involve Velmar?” His face looked sad, but Sandra couldn’t shake the feeling that his eyes lit up at the information.

  “No, sir, it does not.” Sandra considered her previous statement. “We will pay for the supplies.”

  “Well then! The general store should have everything you need. Why have you stopped here?”

  “I…” Why indeed? “The city seems deserted, lord Mayor.”

  “Oh. Well, posh.
People are just homebodies… of late. I’m sure if you knock on doors you’ll find what you need.”

  “Yes, sir. Excellent.” Sandra turned to go.

  “What’s happening here?” Mira blurt the question out.

  “I’m sorry?” The mayor’s face fell significantly at the question.

  “Look, there’s something wrong! Everyone is scared to come out, and there are all those… umm… bodies?”

  “Pssst! What are you doing?” Sandra leaned over and hissed in Mira’s ear. All of the guards at the table were looking at the two of them now. They put down their food and scooted their chairs out from the table. Ready. For what?

  “I have to know!”

  “Ladies, please, I’m sorry. I did not mean for you to see our city in such a condition.” The mayor stood. On that cue, all of the guards at the table also stood. “Ours is… a sad tale. But I’m sure I wouldn’t want to bore such important visitors with it.”

  “Try us.”

  “It’s… alright, it’s actually not that complicated. There’s a troll.”

  “A troll?”

  “A troll!” The mayor’s jowls shook when he shouted.

  “You have, like, fifty… guards here.” It was a guess. She hoped it was less. She also almost said ‘mercs’ instead of ‘guards’, but managed to hold her tongue on that. She didn’t want him to know she knew.

  “More like sixty.” The mayor looked at the guards in the room. They nodded.

  “How have you not killed it by now?”

  “We’ve tried! You must have seen the results of that outside town.”

  “Those were all guards?”

  “Maybe half of them. The others are civilians that it has been terrorizing and killing.” The mayor hung his head. “I’ve tried and tried to stop the foul beast, but alas, I cannot. Do not think I let my people live in fear lightly. I’ve tripled the guard since it started attacking our fair city, and still it comes!”

  “We’ll stop it!” Mira’s face was bright and excited. Sandra looked at her in shock.

  “Umm, sir, give me a moment with my squire…” Sandra grabbed Mira by the shoulder and dragged her away from the knot of the mayor’s men. “What?”

  “What?”

  “We’re not fighting a troll. We’re supposed to be finding the prince, remember?”

  “I know. It’s just… I mean… is it right to save the prince’s life and condemn thousands of people to lives of terror and fear? If even one of them dies because of the troll, have we actually done any good?”

  “…” Sandra considered Mira's words. They were logical. And likely to result in her going out and getting herself killed.

  “Come on! One troll? You must be good enough to take on a lone troll.”

  “I… think so.” Sandra considered what they’d learned in the guard. Trolls weren’t common in the kingdom, so the guards received only rudimentary training in how to deal with them.

  “Well! It’s settled.”

  “I… look, let’s see how long this is going to take first, okay?”

  “Okay!” Mira clapped her hands in delight.

  Sandra walked back over to the mayor, who had such a look of relief on his face that it was hard to describe. Maybe he really was just in a bad way.

  “Sir, where does the troll lair?”

  “Walking distance, about an hour out of town.”

  “That close?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hmm.” Sandra considered that. She could be out there and back before night fell. “Alright. My squire will stay in town and resupply us, and I will head out to stop the troll. Deal?”

  “Aren’t you going to inquire about the reward?”

  “I… oh. Yes, I guess so. What’s the reward?”

  “Five hundred gold.”

  “Five… five hundred!?” It was bad bargaining style to look shocked at the suggested amount, but Sandra couldn’t help it. Five hundred was a lot.

  “Not enough? I can…”

  “No. Five hundred for one troll is fine.” Sandra imagined her eyes must look like saucers. “Five hundred is great.”

  “I’m not coming with you?” Mira tugged on Sandra’s armor, and looked up at her with the saddest eyes…

  “No. Not against a troll. You get feed and supplies so we can be ready to leave in the morning.”

  “I…”

  “I’m serious, it’s dangerous.”

  “Fine.” Mira was about to pout about the circumstance, but then Sandra could see the wheels of thought turning behind her eyes.

  “Miss? Your squire is welcome to come back and visit with my daughters while you’re away.” The mayor had a hopeful smile on his face when he said it. Apparently he thought this was part of the deal.

  “Excellent. Do you have an alchemist in town?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “I’ll need acid. And greek fire.”

  “What?” The mayor looked confused. That explained why he was having so much trouble with just one troll.

  “Trolls regenerate. If you hit them with anything other than fire or acid, they just get better again. Even if you cut their head off, it just slows them down.” Sandra paused for effect. “And makes them angry.”

  “Well…”

  “They’re afraid of it, too. The best strategy is to hit them with some greek fire, then strike while they’re trying to put it out. Take their head off to slow them down, cauterize the wound with fire or acid. Then they don’t get back up again.” Sandra tried to sound authoritative, as if she’d done it before. Her knowledge of fighting trolls extended basically to the lecture that she was giving just now, but it seemed like neither the mayor nor his guards had heard this information before. It really explained why they were getting so destroyed by the creature.

  “Excellent! You should talk to the town alchemist. Tell him that I sent you, and I’ll reimburse him later.”

  “Sure.”

  “Great!” Mira clapped and tugged Sandra toward the exit. “If you hurry, you can be back before dinner!”

  “Great!” Sandra threw a glance at the groaning table of the mayor’s. “Sounds delicious, but don’t get your hopes up, hon. I’m not going to rush into it, so I’m likely to be later than you expect.”

  “That’s okay! I’m sure spending time with the mayor’s daughters will be grand as well.”

  Sandra nodded. It was nice to see Mira so excited about something, even something that involved so much danger on Sandra's part.

  *

  Without directions, the troll’s camp would have been easy to find. With directions, Sandra was there in less than an hour. The brush around the camp thinned out from the stamping of heavy troll feet, and the trees started to look snapped and broken from the passage of a massive creature. Troll tracks became far more common: huge clawed foot prints that Sandra could fit both of her feet into. The site of them was making her start to doubt the intelligence of this plan, but each time she thought of returning she remembered the look of hope on Mira’s face.

  Besides, Mira was right. If they could leave a city to its fate to save just one prince, did that make them terrible people? Also, if she couldn’t handle one troll, what chance did she have against a dragon? Granted, dragons didn’t regenerate, but it would be a much greater challenge.

  So here she was. Alone in the forest with a couple of bottles of Greek fire, a couple of vials of acid and a potion that the alchemist insisted she take with her.

  “This is a special brew that the mayor wanted me to save for the champion of our town.” The alchemist had said, gesturing wildly with hands stained red and blue from the chemicals he worked with every day.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a magical distillate which will give you the power of an ox!”

  “A bull’s strength potion, you mean.” Sandra had turned the potion this way and that, admiring its red color.

  “Yes. Fine. A bull’s strength potion. It should give you an extra edge when you fight the
troll.”

  “Great. I’ll take it.”

  She’d left the bows and crossbows with Mira. A single arrow wouldn’t do much against a troll, even if she was lucky and tagged an organ. Swords, daggers, knives and a war axe she’d packed back in the castle were the weapons she brought with her.

  Against a ten foot troll, they still seemed woefully inadequate.

  Sandra could see the smoke from the troll’s campfire when the first trap nearly got her. She swung her sword down to clear a thick tangle of brush and she heard the distinctive ‘thwack’ of a mechanical trigger. Without thinking, Sandra dove backward and away from the clump of bushes. The trigger was followed by the more powerful ‘ka-chunk’ of many heavy, wooden things springing free of hiding places. The bushes were torn apart by large wooden stakes which slashed upward at cruel angles, and two trees flanking the brush shuddered with the force of the trap’s release.

  Sandra took a deep breath, stayed crouched and watched for any further activity, then let the breath out in relief. Where she had been standing there were now seven wooden stakes, all about the size of a person, piercing the air. A little slower and they would have been piercing her. She tentatively stepped forward and put her hand on one of the stakes. While the craftsmanship was rudimentary, the stake itself was heavy and thick. If it didn’t go through her armor, the force of the blow certainly would have broken bones.

  Devious.

  It was further explanation as to why no one else had succeeded at this venture before. Just reaching the troll was going to be difficult.

  She proceeded onward more carefully. She picked every footstep carefully, and in the fading light of day she scanned every tree and bush before passing through it. By the time the troll’s fire was within view she’d avoid three more trip wires, two deadfalls, and at least one more of the stake traps. This place was deadly.

  As she got closer to the fire, she heard the distinct sounds of conversation.

  Conversation?

  There was only supposed to be one troll.

  “Next human we catch, I’m going to split in two!” A voice tainted with ugly cruelty spoke loudly, not hiding from anyone.

  “I’ll break all its bones!”