Private Tales Here There Be Dragons

[Lothar]

Malakath - Wilds

"Fuck." Lothar said as he kicked the corpse of the odd mammalian beast laying before him. Head shaking as a hand dragged over his face. "Fuck fuck fuck."

The Dreadlord repeated, letting his hand drop away before he glanced around the clearing that had been made in the last fifteen minutes.

Out of all of them, he was the only one left alive. Eleven Guardsmen, two other Dreadlords, and three Civilians. They had been sent from Torrith nearly a month ago, ranging north and to the east as had been ordered. The idea was to eventually, and hopefully, meet up with some of the locals but in truth they'd encountered nothing but disaster.

After nearly forty days of travel they had not met anyone, and after deciding to turn back just two night ago they had encountered...well, Lothar wasn't sure exactly what it was. The beast had been incredibly fast, and oddly enough; immune to all forms of magic. Killing it had been nearly impossible, and in the end he'd only managed it through one of the eyes he'd most wanted to keep. A scowl pulled at his lips as he glanced down at his palm, looking at where the manifestation of the magic had once rested.

In a few days time the now closed eye would turn into a scar, and then it would disappear until another replaced it.

Lothar was used to it now, loathe as he was to admit it.

What he wasn't used to was being alone out here, in this place. Malakath was three times as dangerous as any warzone he'd ever been to, and Torrith was well over a months walk away. Even if he took the eyes of his fallen comrades, his abilities were not enough...not to make it back safely. He frowned slightly, and then suddenly noticed something.

The eye on the back of his bared shoulder shifted, looking to the distance trees. Lothar turned, his true eyes narrowing as he noticed smoke rising through the air. Slowly flowing towards the sky.

A fire? He asked himself, frowning and glancing around. For a moment he considered burying his comrades, but then he thought better of it. Their corpses would draw predators for the day, and here that could save his life. With a frown, and a quick word to the ancients, Lothar began to head towards the smoke.

 

[Kaia Thesius]

"....and that's where it went wrong in the Second Thagretis war," Makani Belavyor adjusted his glasses as he continued sketching an odd set of plants in the place that they'd set up camp. A handful of army members who'd also been assigned this scouting mission, remained on watch or were catching sleep as they could. One stoked the fire in the middle. Smoke curling lazily into the air.

Kaia perched on a sunlit boulder near a deep river that cut through their camp. Her back to the others as her bright green eyes studied the dark water. A notepad was propped and balanced on one knee. Graphite clutched between her fingers as she paused in her letter to her brother, Raimond Thesius. A light huff at her companion a she glanced over her shoulder.

"Yes, yes you've said this before." And she quoted it in her best mimicry of his tone. "A dominant power in an international system is invariably likely to wage war against a rising one for fear of changes to the existing order." Kaia's attention turned back toward the opposite river bank even as she heard Makani's laughter behind her.

"You realize you sound more like Errune Thesius than me, right?"

"Then we might be in trouble," Kaia said quietly, a small smile briefly twisting her lips.

 

[Lothar]

Moving through the jungles of Malakath was about as dangerous as...well, anything back home.

It was a fact they had discovered in the first month of their journey. He and two other Dreadlords had nearly been eaten by a tree in their first scouting mission, and ever since then Lothar was more than a little weary of moving through the underbrush.

Anything and everything was dangerous within these lands, and so his progress was slow. Nevertheless, he did eventually make it closer to the rising smoke.

As he did, voices began to ring out within the distance. Cloaked almost by the sounds of the Jungle, Lothar heard them only because of one of his eyes. A slow frown touching on his face as he recognized none of the words spoken.

Instantly a thousand thoughts spun through his mind. Had he actually managed to find other civilized life? Would they attack him instantly? Was there a chance they would try to take him hostage?

The Dreadlord frowned, fidgeting slightly as he crouched within the underbrush. He still could not see whomever it was, the forest was too dense, but he could hear them now. Clearly, there were more than a just a few. Lips pressed to a thin line as he considered. Did he risk it?

With no help he was dead anyway. He was too far out, too alone.

Maybe getting speared by a bunch of Malakath savages would be better. "Fuck it."

Lothar said, taking a deep breath and standing up from where he had been crouching. Slowly stalking forward and already raising his hands in a sign of surrender. Taking the last few steps through the jungle, and stepping into the clearing where Kaia Thesius and her scouting party had perched themselves.

 

[Kaia Thesius]

There was a commotion behind her. Shouts from two of the army members on watch. Their uniforms had the symbol of Thanasis wrapped around one arm of their uniforms and on one side of their chest. Kaia turned, instantly on guard until her eyes saw what prompted those shouts. A man entered their clearing with dark hair and hands raised.

If it had been a jarlax, they already would've been dead.

Her eyes flickered around the foliage around him. Expecting to see more. Not out of fear. Just curiosity.

One of the guards pointed. "Who are you? Where did you come from?" Another guard began to approach him, motioning for him to disarm himself.

Sensing his bondmate's curiosity, the medium sized water dragon peaked his serpentine head out of the deep river waters behind Kaia, water glistening off his mossy green and ocean blue scales.

 

[Lothar]

Lothar moved carefully. Every step planned, every twitch controlled. These strangers outnumbered him, and though he had his magics, he was tired. The fivht before has worn him out. Using too many eyes in one day out too much strain on him, and although he could still fight...he very much doubted that he would win.

So he began to follow the Guards waved instructions.

It was obvious that these men and women were soldiers. Trained, in some way. They moved deliberately, each one was armed, and they carried the same confidence that could be seen in any Guardsmen or Dreadlord. No doubt he hadn't stumbled into a group of random villagers.

Two long daggers fell from his hands, drawn from scabbards on the small of his back. They fell to the ground besides him, and a knife joined them shortly thereafter.

It wasn't like he needed them. "I mean you no harm."

Lothar responded to the words in Common, for their tongue was one he did not know. But he returned to lifting his hands, then slowly made a series of gestures, first pointing back to the woods, then pointing to himself. Motioning as though others were surrounding him, then made a bestial face indicating danger. Finally finishing as he mimed now being alone.

His hands returning to their place in the air a second later. Eyes only then noticing the snake like dragons head creeping up from the river, their size immediately growing to that of saucers.

 

[Kaia Thesius]

"That's a shit ton of blades," Maki observed as Kaia stood, water dripping down onto her head from her hovering dragon above. Tempest's reptilian eyes gave a lazy, slow blink down at Lothar.

"He speaks a different language," Kaia voiced the obvious as she walked slowly forward as the guards went to scoop up the stranger's weapons.

"Don't recognize any symbols from around here," Maki added, picking up one of the discarded daggers. Kaia watched the shocked expression on Lothar's face at her dragon. Definitely not from anywhere near here. Kaia half turned, motioning to Tempest with her hand. The water dragon curled forward letting Kaia rest her hand atop his glistening scales then squirted a blast of water from his mouth straight at Lothar's form.

"Tempest!" Kaia scolded and walked slowly toward the stranger, a hand motioning to her own chest.

"Kaia."

 

[Lothar]

Lothar flickered to the side, more out of habit than anything else as the Dragon spat a stream of water towards him. One of his eyes strained ever so slightly, the stream passing him by without so much as a wave of his hair. Stance shifting defensively for a brief moment before one of the women of the group stepped forward.

"Kaia."

She said, as she pointed towards her chest, and Lothar's eyes lingered upon her form. For a brief moment he inspected her, gaze flickering towards the Dragon in the water. Slowly he drew a long breath into his lungs, pointing to himself. "Lo-thar."

The Dreadlord Pronounced slowly.

Motioning his hands once again, pointing to the distant west.

 

[Kaia Thesius]

Green eyes widened at the way he moved. The guards nearest him stiffened. Kaia paused just short of arm's reach away. A glance the way he pointed. He was from that direction? Kaia hadn't explored the entire continent herself. Was it possible another human city lay opposite Thansis? Surely the royal library and records would've mentioned something like that. Even the University.

And she doubted the language would be this vastly different.

"Lo Thar." Kaia repeated and pointed at him. Tempest splashed back down into the water, soaking both banks as he did so. Little show-off diva.

"If he's from that direction. He's either really lucky or a lot more dangerous than he looks to have made it all the way here by himself," Maki observed. Kaia glanced at Lo Thar and his bandages. And for the first time, his bi-colored eyes, keeping her observations to herself.

Taking the half written letter still clutched in her hand, she opened it up and held it out to Lothar curious if any of the symbols or letters would look familiar to him.

"Can you write?" She'd make the motions of writing with her hand and point from the letter to him.

 

[Lothar]

Lothar cocked his head as 'Kayaa' opened a piece of parchment and showed it to him. Her finger sliding over the written ink. His lips pressed to a thin line as he looked at the writing, wishing briefly that he'd taken some fourth level translators magic.

It would have come in handy right now.

After a few seconds of inspecting the writing he shook his head, entirely unable to decipher it. Instead he crouched down, motioning towards the beautiful blonde to come closer as he began to draw within the earth. Quickly he sketched a rudimentary representation of what had happened.

Himself, his crew. The fighter that had happened. Three quick depictions, but each sketched with a surprising amount of detail. Even with the thick lines of his fingers. "We were ambushed."

He explained, then pointed to himself.

"Alone." Lothar offered. "I...need..."

The Dreadlord sketched a helpless frowning man in the earth. "Help."

Lothar admitted, looking up at Kaia and catching her eyes.

 

[Kaia Thesius]

The Thanasis guard tensed as the noblewoman freely stepped forward to the stranger. She knelt in the earth next to LoThar, tucking the letter she'd shown him back into a pocket. A frown as understanding settled into her. And relief that the monsters he'd drawn weren't jarlax.

Not that it made anything more safe.

There was something in her heart that tugged toward this man. This stranger. She couldn't imagine being out here alone. Even without Maki and the others. Without her dragon. It was a wonder he survived at all.

Her green eyes drifted back to that drawing with the others and she pointed them out. Then drew more next to them with a question mark. "Where are the others?" A line between the frowning man and the other people she'd drawn. She added a few houses for good measure.

A glance up at Maki and the Thanasis scouts.

"I think he just wants to return to...wherever he's from."

 

[Lothar]

Lothar looked up at the woman for a moment, letting out a long sigh as he glanced over his shoulder. After a moment he leaned down again and drew what was very clearly a skull, running his thumb gently over his throat and then once again making a bestial face.

"Dead." He said with a shrug.

In truth, he probably should have mourned them better, but there was no time. He was still out here lost and alone. These people could decide to help him, or take him...wherever they please. Lothar needed to get somewhere safe, out of the wilds.

Once he was somewhere he could lay his head down, he could figure out how to get back to Torrith and the others. This group might help him with that. "I."

He began slowly, motioning with his hands.

"Need help?" Lothar gestured again, first to himself, and then to Kaia. "Can you help me?"

The Dreadlord asked slowly, leaning down and drawing another stick person, then a few others before sketching what looked like a rudemantary city or castle. He linked the stick stick person and the group of stick people together, looked up at Kaia, and then drew a line to the drawing of a town.

Hoping she'd get the message that he just needed to get to a settlement.

 

[Kaia Thesius]

Frustration bubbled across Maki's features as he knelt near them. "Yes we know they're dead. She's asking if there are others and where they are?"

Kaia glanced up at her friend. A brief, admonishing look. "Maki, that's' not helping," she murmured gaze going back to what Lothar was drawing. She pointed to the structure with houses he'd just drawn and shook her head slowly.

"Too far." The closest settlement her group new of was Thanasis and its border towns. That was too far off.

Her finger drew a line in the earth and traced around several loops to emphasis the 'too far' part. Then she reached over and circled the town he'd just drawn and put in cardinal directions.

Was that universal language?

North. South. East. West.

And another question mark in the earth.

"Where are you from?" A question to Lothar, though she wasn't expecting an answer she'd be able to understand. A glance upward at the nearest Thanasis guard.

"I think we should travel together. It wouldn't hurt to have another fighter in our group."

 

[Lothar]

Fuck.

Lothar frowned almost instantly as he read the signals Kaia was attempting to write for him. Lips pressed to a thin line as he considered his options. His gaze flickered across the soldiers, counting their number...and remembering to add the sea serpent he had spotted within the waters.

He knew not their quality. If they were good in a fight or had any sort of magic. Taking them back to Corrith would be a risk, but there was very little chance he would make it without them.

Dreadlord's still manned the walls of the Colony, and even though their number had decreased they certainly outnumbered these few. After a moment of consideration, Lothar looked around, and then nodded his head. Reaching down as he circled the "West" option of the compass she had drawn. "West."

He said in common, perhaps bridging their tongues for the first time. Agreeing that they should travel together, and they should go to the Colony.

Then he paused, and pointed to himself.

"Lothar, magic." He said slowly crouching down and beginning to gently draw within the dirt. Beckoning her down to him. "Help."

The Dreadlord said with another gesture as he continued to compose his rune. Hoping that Kaia would do as he asked, and that he might be able to bridge their languages ever so slightly.

 

[Kaia Thesius]

Her shoulder brushed against Lothar's as she leaned in closer to what he was drawing in the earth. The guard around them shifted uncomfrotably. As Maki shifted to get closer as well, a guard's grip held him back.
Kaia ignored those movements, her attention on the earth. There were some ancient texts she'd read from the Aquatic Museum. Tomes that had been recovered from the bottom of the waters surrounding Malakath by the sea serpents of House Belavyor. Kaia knew what runes were and recognized what Lothar was drawing.

In inward tug toward Tempest.

A silent request of permission.

The playful sea serpent clicked back a response that only Kaia would hear in her head. An ancient magic spread down her arm and through her palm as her fingertips reached forward to brush at the symbol Lothar had drawn. A dragon's breath to bridge magic and language. The symbol glowed in the dirt a bright blue before the outline filled with water. Kaia looked to Lothar's different colored eyes.

"Can you understand me now?"

 

[Lothar]

The connection was made the instant Kaia's finger dashed through the last of the rune. It was an intricate thing, difficult to draw and something that Lothar only knew because he'd spent more than half his time at the Academy hiding in the library.

He'd never thought that he would ever need it.

His brows rose as spark of magic rushed down Kaia's arm, something he noted. But did not comment on, as her voice flowed finally passed her lips; and Lothar understood. "Yes."

The Dreadlord said, quiet pleased with himself. The rune was one of translation, and required bridging two different people's knowledge. Though he now understood her, the language she spoke was still unknown to him, but because they'd drawn the rune together the 'magic' branched between them.

Relief escaped him somewhat.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kaia." Lothar said with a smile. "I come from lands far beyond these, and you are the first people I've met who look like me."

He mused, thinking of the Ikti, the strange insectoid species the Colony had encountered just a year ago. Allies, if...tentative ones. It turned out that their homes general xenophobia was of no help here, and ever quick to pragmatism, the Anirian's had left such notions behind.

At least for now.

 

[Kaia Thesius]

"You've made the great crossing?" Kaia voiced her surprise as Lothar mentioned lands beyond. "You must be a hardy people. To have made that and to have survived once your friends were lost."

Green eyes assessed him a little more closely. A little longer this time. Had he gone through the dark wood? No one survived that.

"Most of the human settlements are far beyond here. You are more than a surprise to our group." The guards shifted warily and had their attention fully on Lothar. Ready to use their weapons if he made one move that gave them an excuse to. Kaia had to wonder if those weapons would do anything at all against this man.

"But. We will help you get back to your settlement." Kaia glanced up at the others, locking eyes with Maki. Maki gave a long-winded sigh.

"Unless it becomes more trouble than its worth," he said lowly.

Kaia cast him a light glare.

 

[Lothar]

Lothar tilted his head in a nod. "We came from across the sea, a place called Vel Anir."

There was little doubt in his mind that the name would mean nothing to them. So far it had been obvious that this land was as ignorant of them as they were of it. The fact had surprised none of course, given the year it had taken to even reach the continent where he now stood.

"We landed in the far west." He explained, briefly glancing towards the men arrayed behind Kaia. "That is where we've built our town, my men and I were meant to scout out for...well, anything."

Lothar continued, frowning ever so slightly as Maki added his low words. Though not deigning them with a response. "I thank you for your help, and I promise you I will be no burden."

He paused for a moment, thinking, then added.

"My people will be very interested in meeting you." They did not have much, but contact with any outside humans? That was an opportunity for diplomacy and trade. Both things they were desperate for in this new world away from home.

 

[Kaia Thesius]

The people of Thanasis never entertained outsiders. Kaia now wondered if that was due to the odds being stacked against anyone actually making it to their kingdom alive. With the amount of enemies and predators around. And everyone knew if it wasn't for those original twelve who had sacrificed themselves and bonded with the first dragons.

Thanasis wouldn't even exist.

"Maybe you could tell me more about yourself? And your people?" Maki snorted and stalked over, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked down at Lothar. He parked himself next to Kaia as if to say something that went right over Kaia's head.

"I'll show you around camp first. If you wanna stay alive then I'd suggest you not stab any of us in the back." A glint of warning in the young nobleman's eyes.

Kaia rolled her eyes and stood. "This is Makani. But maybe later I could sit with you and get some notes?"

It suddenly be very clear to Lothar how much Kaia liked to learn. And study. Total scroll worm.

 

[Lothar]

Lothar looked up at Makani, keeping his face blank. "What good would that do me?"

His words meant to carry no insult, though from the man's demeanor it was easy to see he would take any statement as such.

What the Dreadlord said had been true however. There was absolutely no benefit for him to betray them. Without their help, he was doomed. The scouting party was dead, and a man alone would not survive longs in the wilds of Malakath. Even someone with as many tricks up his sleeve as Lothar had.

For a moment he kept Makani's eyes on his own. Staring the man down until he snorted and shook his head. Stepping to the side, though not leaving Kaia and Lothar's presence. The Dreadlord smiled, and then returned his attentions to Kaia.

"I would be happy to tell you anything you want to know." He told her. There was no danger in telling secrets. Vel Anir was more than half a world away, and it wasn't as though he knew anything important anyway. "I'll take my...tour..."

He glanced at Makani. "Grab me whenever you like."

 

[Kaia Thesius]

"Alright, let's go," Maki tilted his head for Lothar to follow. The Thanasis' guards went back to their posts. Though a few kept their eyes on the pair as they walked around the small clearing. Maki would point out the tents. A spare bedroll, where the food and other supplies were. He gave Lothar a general layout and how they'd move the next day. Lothar would also see a few smaller dragons about the size of an average house-cat strut around camp, sometimes a ball of fire releasing from their mouths.

As they were doing that, Kaia went back to her own tent and retrieved her bound parchment journal with a piece of thin charcoal. Tempest rose back from the water and parked himself on the shore, his blue-green scales reflecting and basking in the bit of light that broke through the thick canopy above. Kaia went down to the water and sat with her back against tempest as she watched Lothar and Maki wander around camp.

 

[Lothar]

Lothar listened carefully to every word spoken to him.

He did not think that these people would harm him, least not with Kaia in charge, but the animosity Maki and the others held was more than obvious. The anger was a familiar sort, one held against outsiders. It was obvious that it would not have mattered where he was from, these people would distrust him regardless of that fact.

Just like home, in a way.

Vel Anir had never been known for it's tolerance. "Thank you, for the tour."

Lothar said to Maki eventually, wanting to maintain an air of decorum. Their language was now bridged, but he could still tell the man did not like him. He doubted that would change in the coming days, but perhaps the others would not be so hard to break.

"If you would." He said with a short bow. "I would like to attend your Lady now. She seemed curious of my origins."

A small smile touched his lips, though there was no taunt to it. "And I would like to thank her for the generosity of allowing me to stay among you."

He tried to echo the lessons he had been taught at the Academy. Though Dreadlords were weapons, killers, the courtly graces were just as important. It was clear Kaia was his way through this, and in truth...he had enjoyed her curiosity. Finding it matched his own.