A cloaked man rushes past Lionell and his two companions, entering the room with the captain and closing the door behind him. As the door shuts, the captain looks up from the letter he had been writing for the first time since he had started. Even when Lionell had come in, the captain had not bothered to look at him, too focused on the letter and its contents. Recognizing the footsteps of the cloaked man, however, his eyes lift upwards.
"What news do you bring?" the captain asks, a tired look in his eyes.
The captain's hair was noticeably graying, and the wrinkles on his face were growing more pronounced by the day. Though his uniform was neat and tidy, it was clear he was not too far from the edge.
"Only the bad sort I'm afraid," the cloaked man answers.
The captain only sighs.
"They said no then?"
The cloaked man only nodded.
"Those shield-hugging cowards!" the captain suddenly shouted, slamming his fists onto the desk.
The pile of envelopes that had been sitting on the corner of the desk scattered onto the ground below, littering the floor. The captain couldn't help but shake where he sat, his rage too much to contain.
"They have refused to offer any help with the coming Goblin invasion. Not only that, on my way over, I learned that the Guild has also become aware of the situation."
"Will they leak the information?"
"No, I doubt it. They recognize just how much the city needs this festival."
"That's good. A panic this close to the invasion would only get in the way. Have the plans to clear the citizens away from the southern side of the city been put into effect?"
"Yes. With reduced prices for stall locations in the north, west, east, and center of the city, stalls have been moving at a steady pace. I doubt they will all move, but it should be less of a problem."
"What about troops? Have we gotten permission to relocate more from the other gates to help protect this one?"
"Permission has been granted, but not as many as we had hoped. It will be a small increase in manpower."
"Better than nothing I suppose."
The two of them sat in silence, contemplating their options until the captain sighed once more.
"Forget the Goblins for now. What about the situation with the missing baby dragons?"
"I won't have any news for you until they get back. We just have to wait."
"You're right," the captain sighed once more, at his wits end. "What will become of this kingdom?"
* * * * *
The air is cold and thin all around at heights like these. Well into the mountains, a convoy of men march forward, whipping horses that pull cages on wheels that are much larger than the horses can bare to do alone. Six horses for each cage, five cages in total.
Three of the cages are tarped over, allowing no one to see what lies within, though a soft breathing can be heard along with the occasional snarl.
"Quiet!" a man yells, smacking one of the cages with the flat of his sword.
The snarling from within quiets, seemingly too afraid to disobey.
Further ahead, at the front of the convey, a more finely dressed man than the rest walks, clearly of a higher status that the rest of his many companions. Another man, his underling, walks alongside him.
"How much further until we find the next one? We've been tracking it for days now, the men are losing morale and supplies are beginning to run thin," the man plead, desperate to bring an end to the ceaseless search that they were on.
"Not now, not when we're this close," the leader said, his eyes sharp and focused as he followed some invisible trail that no one else could see.
"But sir-"
"SILENCE!"
His voice echoed across the mountainside as the rest of the men looked up. The breathing from the cages went silent, and the underling froze where he stood.
A roar, one that was close to the group, echoed across the mountain in response.
"You hear that?" the leader said, looking. "We must be close. Hurry men!"
The pace quickened for the third time that day, the horses losing more of the little stamina they had left. As close as they were to exhaustion, it was a miracle that they made it this far.
Or maybe it wasn't.
Each of the horses had a man walking alongside it. Noticing the condition of each horse reaching its end, all of them pulled a syringe from their pouches, a bright green fluid inside. Quickly, they inject the horses with the fluid, a stamina potion, and in an instant, the horses were ready, although reluctant, to carry on.
"This isn't good," a voice quietly whispered.
Lower down the mountain, watching in secrecy, three people spied on the moving convoy, all too aware of what it was that lay hidden within the cages.
The first one, the one who had whispered, was a woman. She had oddly green hair, something that looked rather unnatural to see. Her eyes were also emerald green as well, complimenting her strange hair. On her waist was two small daggers, one on each side. The woman was dressed in light leather armor with some warmer clothing just beneath it.
The second person was crouched down behind her on the right. He was an average looking mam, sporting somewhat ruffled brown hair and a clean-shaven face. His dull sky-blue eyes watched silently as the convoy moved forward. On his back was a large two-sided axes, a heavy weapon to be sure. On his left waist was a small knife, just in case. Just like the woman, he was dressed in leather armor with warmer clothing beneath it.
"No one will be happy to hear about this," the third man said, crouched down on the left side of the woman.
This man also had oddly green hair, the same shade as the woman, and his eyes were the same emerald green. They were both twins, the sister being older by only mere moments. On his waist sat a simple short sword, and just behind it was a small knife, a setup he had learned long ago. His armor and clothing was the same as the first two.
The three of them watched as the convoy moved ever farther up the mountain, hunting for their prey.
"What could they want with them?" the younger twin asked, his voice hushed to a whisper just as his sister had done.
"Who knows. It does explain why the dragons have been so irritable though. To think they are capturing the babies..."
As she says it, one of the cages thrashes, the tarp lifting for just a moment to reveal what lay hidden within.
A baby dragon, black in color, a terrified expression on its face. Wounds covered its body, with blood slowly dripping down all over. The wounds were not fresh, yet they couldn't properly close all the way, constantly being picked at by the men in the convoy.
The dragon shrieked from within the cage, desperate for an escape, and the guards following beside it only laughed.
"Your mommy isn't here to save you!" they laughed, chucking stones at the dragons wounds.
It cried in pain before calming down once more, too weak to put up a fight, instead forced to endure.
"Its sickening," the woman quietly whispered.
"Boss! Over there!" one of the guards suddenly shouted, pointing at the top of the mountain.
Standing at the tip, watching the approaching convoy was a baby dragon, blue in color. It stood defiantly, its wings spread, almost as if it was ready to fly away.
"Don't be dumb, dragon! You haven't learned to fly yet, you'd only hurt yourself!" the leader called out, hoping to subdue the dragon.
He was too late however. The dragon had already made its decision. Leaping before the convoy could even get close, the dragon started falling.
"You fool!"
The dragon flapped it's wings vigorously, hoping beyond all hope that somehow it would figure out how to fly before it smashed into the fast-approaching ground.
"He's not going to make it," the younger twin whispered, watching in disbelief.
Just as the dragon was moments away from smashing into the ground, however, it suddenly started to glide.
"Damnit!" the leader shouted.
The dragon didn't listen, only letting the wind carry it as it continued forward and into the unknown.
"What should we do boss?" the underling asked.
"What can we do? We aren't catching him now. Thankfully, I think he only figured out how to glide in one direction, so I doubt he will fly to his nest and alert his parents. Still, what a waste of effort."
The leader sighed, watching as the dragon disappeared into the horizon.
"Alright, let's return to the base of the mountain and get back to camp. Should only take two day to get down."
"We should do the same," the woman said, turning to her companions. "We've gotten all the information we came for. We need to alert the captain and get our reward."
"You're right," the brother answered. "Still can't believe we were sent to handle this rather than the kingdom. This seems like it should be their job."
"It doesn't matter to me as long as we get paid."
The third companion only nodded in agreement.
"Let's go then."