The first thought — "a dragon!" A large anthropomorphic ice dragon with shining ultramarine blue scale, which was shimmering on the dim light of torches, was standing before startled soldiers. Judging by his appearance, he was well-built and muscular. His belly was covered with tough dim-white skin plates. He was standing on muscular rear paws, which seemed peculiar to both warriors: his stand was very different from the traditional description of a dragon, which was imagined as a large fire-breathing lizard, which spread deadly fire upon the heads of innocent victims. But here they firstly looked at the creature in a different way, more "human-like" one.
Speaking of the massive frontal paws, they had the same structure, like human arms, but more muscular and longer, ending with sharp black claws, which made them an excellent close-combat weapon and a hunting tool as well. His back was covered with a scale-tight tough shell, which could save him from any imaginable threat.
The most magnificent parts of his body were the wings. The tops of wide, ultramarine-colored dragon wings gorgeously highed over his scaly head, exciting Esrael and Gilroy out of their wits.
Clear, like ocean's depths, blue reptile dragon's eyes were pouring calmness and warmth upon the souls of two excited companions, who couldn't believe the true appearance of their guide. But our heroes were driven into complete cognitive dissonance by the long massive dragon's tail, which was slightly hammering his owner on sides. Observing the excited reaction of his new friends, dragon nodded, smiled and, finally, uttered: —Well, your wish is granted, my friends. This's my true appearance. Without any disguise.
—Are you a dragon?!—Gilroy, meticulously examining the true face of his guide, exclaimed.—Oh my... You know, I've seen goblins, turning into demons, orcs, turning into hogs, elves, turning into bears, but I've never seen a dragon, disguising as a human. That's... just... incredible!
—Why haven't you told us before?—Esrael, desperately trying to find something heavy to hit the terrifying creature, wondered.
—I was afraid of being spotted,—the dragon, having taken a coin from the floor, explained. Having turned it between claws, he continued:—It is not a very pleasant experience to know, that your neighbor has been a large coldbreathing reptile, isn't it?
—True, that makes sense,—Esrael, having been brought into senses, agreed.—I hope, you don't have any skeletons in the wardrobe, do you?
—I hope so,—the dragon replied.—But there's one last thing I have to tell you. You're pretty smart guys, and you,—he pointed at Gilroy,—are on familiar terms with the lord, so we will have a chance to address to the king somehow.
—What are you driving at?—Gilroy asked curiously.
—The Uniearth is under a terrible threat,—the dragon, puzzling his comrades, replied.—A large army is approaching the domains of all kings from the east, ready to bring chaos and destroy everything, which each person values most.
I hope it won't be too late to warn states' officials before the war starts.
—War?!—Esrael tried to make dragon's words clear.
—Exactly,—the dragon confirmed.—It's hard to believe, but it's the way things stand now.
—But how are we going to be in the town on time?—Gilroy wondered.—It will take us the whole day to walk there if we're lucky: you can't deep-six whirlwinds, snow blizzards and other "precious" circumstances, Tempestwind's nature has.
—Who says we are going to "walk"?—the dragon smiled. His question puzzled Gilroy, who didn't get the purpose of saying that. But Esrael, on the contrary, followed the dragon's mind and instantly started packing up. Having seen his friend's actions, Gilroy finally realized, what the cake was, and hurried to gather torches and gold.
When friends were ready, the dragon took a torch out the wall, handed it to Gilroy and said:
—Hurry up, lads! The sooner we get to the town, the more chances we have to warn everyone before it's too late...
He hurried through a narrow tunnel, vanishing in the darkness. Esrael set off to follow scaly companion, but Gilroy's familiar voice stopped him: —Do you really think that father is going to listen to us? If we haven't believed him at first, do you think a wealthy lord will?
—If he is your father, he will,—Esrael, having turned to his friend, assured.— And if not, we still have dozens of lords and the King.
—You're right about the King,—Gilroy smiled.—This's madness, but you're absolutely right.
Having grinned, Esrael called his friend after him and vanished in the dark path. Following the same way, our heroes finally saw a light at the end of a path, where their scaly friend was waiting.
—Hurry up!—the dragon's voice sounded loudly.—Every minute is at stake!
Two comrades sped up and hurried faster towards the entrance. Finally, having run out of the cave, they felt fresh freezing air filling their lungs. Through the blizzard, they saw the dragon and ran towards him.
—Jump on my back and hold on,—the dragon, having crouched a little, ordered.—The one in front holds my neck, the one in the back holds the front one. It's gonna be a rapid start, so hold tight. Stay calm: the weather is fine, so there won't be any sudden lightning strike. Just remember — do not look down.
—Understood,—Esrael replied and jumped on the dragon's back, having grabbed his neck. Gilroy put himself together and followed his companion. —Are you ready?—the dragon asked excited friends, nervously sitting on his back. Esrael and Gilroy silently nodded.
—Then hold the fort!—the dragon smiled, took off the ground, waving large wings, and soared into the sky.
At first, friends were scared out of their wits, when they saw a large mountain, which was getting tinier and tinier every second, behind. Esrael clung like grim death into dragon's neck; Gilroy in his turn tightly embraced his friend, afraid to look down. However, the fear faded soon, and Esrael finally dared to look down. Snowy tops of pine forest and clear-white frozen plains seemed toyish from the height they were flying and reminded him of precious patterns of a baker's cake. Everything that seemed enormous back on the ground, now was so tiny, that he could hardly determine anything. Esrael glanced at the dragon. He was concentrated and was confidently looking straight, squeezing through the rows of fluffy clouds.
—Listen, how much does it take to fly to Tempestwind?—Esrael wondered. —Well, about ten minutes, not less,—the dragon replied.—As you can see, the weather is not roses. The wind is pretty strong. There is a risk of you pattered by the wind if I hurry.
—Ahem. Listen... I've always wanted to ask you — what is your birthplace?— Esrael interested.—I suppose, you weren't born in a human city, right?
At that moment the dead silence fell for a couple of seconds. The dragon heavily sighed and replied with a heavy heart:
—You see, I can barely remember my childhood. But some abstracts have become personal hell for the rest of my days. There were some good moments, but most of them were terrible...
Having heard the beginning of the interesting conversation, Gilroy, who had been gazing at precious fluffy cloud rivers, moved closer to Esrael to be better involved in the dragon's tale.
—I lived in the kingdom of ice dragons — Stumertrade,—the dragon, maneuvering through clouds, continued.—I was about one hundred ninety years odd. Just a young naive boy...
—Naive boy?!—Gilroy excitedly repeated.—Elves pass away in this age! —Gilroy, he is not an elf — he is a dragon,—Esrael explained. Shortly after he addressed to his scaly interlocutor again:—Sorry for interrupting. Go on.
—Alright... Where was I? Ah! Yes. Many years ago Stumertrade was a wealthy state, rich and powerful. It was a heart of all the Uniearth's trade. Our best partners were dwarfs. Our ex-colleagues, as it is said... But, unfortunately, everything I loved and cared for vanished in one single day...
—How did that happen?—Esrael asked, desperate to know more.
—On that day I was relaxing at home after work. I was an apprentice to the forger. I was very tired after making fifteen pieces of armor, so I decided to take a short nap. I couldn't force myself to sleep, but soon I got under Gipnose's charms. I woke up with a terrible rumble, coming with thousands of screams, calling for help. When I went out to know what the matter was, I saw a pure exhibition of cruelty and malice: hundreds of dark dragons, whose terrifying eyes were red with anger, turned our prospered city-state into burning ruins: they rumbled houses, killed children, mother-dragons, elderdragons — they didn't show any mercy. Suddenly the head of a guard patrol landed in front of me. His appearance was heroic: tall, handsome, his wings were wide, his scars were bleeding. But one thing startled me most — his shining golden armor. He ordered to evacuate, and we immediately set off to the entrance. The last thing I remember is that when I barely escaped the city, turned around, thinking that there was someone behind me left alive. But no one was... One of the most powerful empires of Uniearth collapsed that day, like a house of cards. I haven't returned there ever since. I don't feel ready for that...
—Oh, my...—Esrael sighed vexingly.—So, you had bad luck in your life. Well, I don't have a family, so my words won't make any sense. I came from the south and settled down in Tempestwind some years ago. I don't know, how are my relatives doing.
—Guys! I'm sick of your lemon faces. There's such an eventful life ahead!— Gilroy, trying to clear the air of desperation, interfered.
—Look at this sneaky con!—Esrael replied indignantly.—The only son of a lord, one of the wealthiest people in the whole town is cheering us up! Who else could it be?
—What's your problem?—Gilroy wondered excitedly.—Did I say something wrong? Can't I just clear the air? Or I should always be a sidekick during conversations?
—Gilroy, that wasn't the perfect moment to clear the situation,—Esrael sighed with irritation.—Couldn't you just wait for a moment?
The dispute was going to fire up when the dragon unexpectedly interfered in a startled voice:
—Hey, you, market babblers, just look down already!
Our heroes ended up their chatter and gave a curious look on the ground. The view left them speechless. Tempestwind was in flames, surrounded by thick puffs of smoke. The fire was scavenging wooden remains of houses and market stands, giving an impression of Tempestwind's turning into an endless abyss of the blaze. It reminded Esrael and Gilroy the horrifying view of Hade's domain, described in mythological books. Gravy chimes of destroyed main town hall poured tremendous fear in the hearts of our heroes, waving through the smoky air, filled with death, desperation and doom. The town was completely ravaged and turned into ashes.
—We have to land and find survivors,—the dragon said cold-bloodily.— Maybe they will explain to us, what has occurred here.
—Gilroy,—Esrael addressed to his friend with trembling voice,—can you see that? Just... Just tell me that's unreal. Holy Zeus, just tell me it is a dream I'm seeing right now.
—That's not a dream, you're seeing, Esrael,—his friend, observing the blazing sea of fire below, grievously answered.—It seems, our scaly comrade's fears weren't naive after all. War has come to our lands... Peace didn't last for long...
When our heroes landed on the closest street to the wall, which was lying in blazing ruins, they sorrowly observed a long road of dead corpses, lying on the streets, disfigured with horrible scars of sharp steel blades. They couldn't believe their eyes. Tempestwind seemed a battlefield after a bloody and fierce fight: houses, which had been proudly standing on the broad streets of precious northern city the day before, now represented ugly remains, lit with tiny sparkling coals; bloody corpses, uglied with long black arrows and cold-steel swords of the unknown enemy, were seeded everywhere; impregnable massive walls were rumbled, and the watch-house, the massive iron gates of which were torn apart by a battering ram, seemed a huge brethren grave, rather than a fortification object; the crenels, showered in dark stiff blood, were full of dead soldiers, fallen in the severe battle against hordes of a terrible enemy. Everything that once seemed to Esrael and Gilroy the everlasting eternity now was slowly vanishing in the cruel circle of history. —Who might have done this?—Esrael asked with a trembling voice, having jumped from the dragon's back.
—I have no idea,—the dragon, observing burnt surroundings of once prospering northern city, whispered.—We have to find the survivors. Preferably among warriors. They have a more clear representation of those who stand behind these atrocities.
—There might be some alive ones on the wall,—Gilroy supposed.—They could have drawn the picture more decently.
—Good idea,—Esrael agreed and headed towards the remains of the watchhouse.—May be someone was lucky.
When our heroes approached the destroyed watch-house, a hand, showered in bright blood, appeared from one of the embrasures, followed by a weak moan, which echoed through the ravaged streets. Dragon, Esrael and Gilroy realized that that unknown person could be their star-witness, their last chance to know who the attackers were, and immediately ran upstairs by the only one remained stone ladder.
Having busted the massive oak door down, the dragon dashed into ruined surroundings of the watch-house. Amid stone and wooden particles he spotted a blooded warrior, who was desperately trying to escape from the debris.
—Help me...—he groaned, raising his only remained hand towards our heroes. Everyone rushed towards him immediately to rescue. In a blink of an eye bloody torso of the defender was pulled out of the debris and put near the tower's wall. The soldier was breathing heavily and was desperately trying to utter a single word, but blood, filling his throat, didn't let him do it.
—Who attacked the city?—Esrael gave a direct question, realizing, that they were running out of time.
—They appeared on the horizon two hours ago...—soldier weakly murmured. —An enormous army... Dozens of soldiers... We got ourselves ready for the siege: mobilized the defensive garrison, shut the gates, but that wasn't enough. They rained us with catapults and then drew battering rams and siege ladders. There were too much of them... We couldn't... hold... the lines...
—Where did they head?—the dragon, realizing, that their information broker would die soon, asked him directly:—Just say it! Where?!
—I have no idea...—dying soldier replied.—One of them with a beard and a staff, dressed in red hood, said: "The border's in sorrow, the capital'll follow".
These were the last words before he passed away to the Hade's domain. —Holy Zeus...—Esrael, having goggled his eyes with terror, whispered.— They are on the way to Eldoras! We must warn the king!
—Then what are we waiting for?—the dragon exclaimed.—We're flying to Eldoras. Every minute is at stake.
He immediately dashed from the watch-house to the wall. Esrael and Gilroy honored the soldier, gave him a farewell look and followed the dragon. Shortly after mounting on the dragon's back, they set out to Eldoras — the capital of the kingdom of men.
—Will we manage to warn the king on time?—Gilroy, giving a good-bye look to his homeland city, destroyed by war, asked.
—I hope we will,—the dragon, lifting higher and higher above the ground, replied. After a couple of minutes Tempestwind, the first victim of the new bloody and cruel war, disappeared in clouds, having left in our heroes' memories fierce scars, which would be tearing them apart for many years ahead, making them wake up in a chilling frosty sweat.