Private Tales Lady and The Dragon

[Lilette Blackbriar]

​

Lilette stood before the old fortress ruins with the feintest rays of morning sunrise casting a red hue over the distant dunes between Maraan and Ragash. The cover of black steel and long shadows would protect her from the sunlight awhile longer, though a feeling of urgency overtook her as the realization dawned; She wouldn't be able to heal if her armor was pierced, not come sunrise.

She would have to handle this carefully, and alone.

The warband that had taken residence in these ruins was small enough to have gone unnoticed by authorities until now, with the contract on their heads having been put out only after her decision to remove them herself, but it was still a large enough of a force to have slain the Abtati tribe that once lived here. Her usual 'shock and awe' tactics would be wasted.

No matter, she would survive somehow, even if it meant eating her fill and then fleeing to fight another day. Loathsome as the idea was.

And so, she pulled her blade from the sand where had previously cleaved the patrol leader in two, beginning her cautious march towards the ruin, using what little shadow was left to cover her advance. Though it would likely fail by the time she reached the walls.

Gelb

 

[Gelb]

Gelb sighed softly to himself as he trudged through the sand, letting off a low growl of annoyance as the sand inside of his boots began to chafe against his paws and lower legs with each step as the heat from the early morning sun slowly began to rise. Glancing upwards at the cloudless sky and silently cursing his own lack of planning for heat the Draconian swiftly moved forwards in hopes of making it to the ruins before sunrise.

Gelb’s most recent contract had brought him out here to the middle of nowhere looking for a group of bandits that had been harassing several merchants for gold and other goods as of late. Nearby cities were upping patrols on local roads, but anything outside of their patrol routes was still free game for any aspiring brigand.

That’s where Gelb came in.

After spending the last few days looking for any sign of the elusive group, he had finally managed to track them down after a hapless thug let it slip that their headquarters was inside of a nearby ruin. Gelb had deduced that the only ruin within a 50 mile radius was probably the spot, and thus made his way out here.

So now all that was left for the heavily armored and armed draconian to do was walk in, kill everyone, and go get his coin.

No biggie

Lilette Blackbriar

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

Step by step, Lilette neared the wall with her blade hefted over her shoulder, pace quickening and posture leaning forward as the shadows began to fade at her heel. The threat of an early discovery by a sudden arrow was ever present, but she couldn't break into a full sprint- not yet- or else someone might hear the slight clack of armored tassets against her greaves.

By the time she reached the walls, the shadow could barely even reach it's base, yet still there was no sign of the living.
So, knowing just how quickly this could change, she took the quickest route she knew: Up.

She began to climb.

Though her armor would make sound aplenty, Lilette's bounding leap reached great heights, as did her confidence. With her bolstered strength and dexterous hands, she was able to secure herself to various ledges and long emptied windows as she scaled the walls unnoticed, not until she neared the top at last.

"What the fuck-" A bandit stammered, having leaned over to investigate the strange clattering.

Lilette took one sudden look, and like a large cat, pounced into the frey.

Her sword scaled the wall first, A heavy thing as wide as her waist and a little longer than she was tall. She used the guard almost like a hook to pull herself up, dragging the blade behind her like an orc dragging an animal in tow.

By the time the alarm had been raised, the freshly woken sentry had been separated from his other half as Lilette brought the hulking blade up with some effort, but startling speed. Even so, a nearby bandit had begun banging a gong, and already it seemed that a few more Archers had arrived on scene.

Gelb

 

[Gelb]

As Gelb finally made his approach to the main gate, he let out a low hiss as the sound of an alarm gong began ringing through the air, a clear indication that the little fortress the bandits had set up was now on high alert. Although for what reason, Gelb was still unsure as he hadn't seen any scouts that could have possibly alerted the main force to his location.

"Just what I need." He growled, his last word sounding a bit more like a carnal noise than actual speech. "Guess I get to see the corpses of whoever else this schmuck hired to deal with his bandit issue. Hopefully, they're loaded."

Still moving at his usually brisk pace, Gelb slowed to a halt just outside of the main wall of the place, looking around for any cracks or crevices he could use to his advantage. Being an older fortress in comparison to the times, there was a very decent-sized section of wall that was already well on its way to crumbling to dust.

"Perfect." He grinned, drawing both his sword and shield before using his strong tail to slam through the deteriorated wall. As rubble fell down, crushing a few of the hapless guards in its path, Gelb's massive form stepped through the hole with ease, crouching low enough to get his entire frame through without slamming his head into the ceiling.

"Let's find this guy."

Lilette Blackbriar

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

Arrows flew past Lilette, others snapping against her blade as she brought it between herself and the archers, it's sheer width of the flat being enough to use like a small shield to cover the most important gaps in her defense.

Though confident in her ability to absorb the blow of inferior homemade weaponry, it was simply bad practice to test one such a thing against so many. And so, she burst forth into a full sprint, still holding her massive blade by both ends to cover her advance as more arrows broke or whistled in her wake.

Suddenly, the wall began to shift ever so slightly, causing dust to waft into the air and pebbles to shake for but a moment.

By the time any of them realized that the wall would give way, Lilette was already in arm's reach of the nearest archer and others had already lost their footing in the split second shift before the fall. A thousand bricks worn and rounded by time gave way as the mixture that once held them together was reduced to dry powder that spilt from below like water through a broken dam.

Several bandits came tumbling down, quickly killed by the fall or half berried by fallen stone, their shocked expressions evident even in death.

Lilette for her part was fairing mildly better, finding herself fallen onto her back in a room within the wall itself, able to at least stand and drag her blade away from the edge before the floor once again gave way.

She came riding down the forming rubble like a child slipping down a hill in winter on their own two feet, her heft sword dragging behind in a way that undoubtedly ruined some of it's edge. She was alive however, and that's what mattered.

Though it appeared Lilette was not the only survivor.

She looked on in confusion as a massive figured stepped into the courtyard not far from her.Great wings casting even greater shadow, and clawed hands gripped a shield so heavy, it was as if to pair with her great blade.

She said nothing, only staring at the figure from behind her black mask, taking his measure in the hopes she might gauge the threat before it discovered her first...

Gelb

 

[Gelb]

Gelb shook off some dust as he fully entered the courtyard, rubble from the collapsed wall hardly hampering him as his long strides cleared any difficult terrain he would come across. Using his boot to simply crush the skull of a dying bandit that was nearby, the Draconian took a few moments to scan the surrounding areas for any potential threats but only finding a few archers still poised upon standing sections of the wall.

"The hell are there always so many archers?" He grumbled, hefting his large shield in front of him and pushing his left leg back to steady himself against the onslaught of projectiles. As he stood there, he took another glance around the courtyard to make sure he wasn't being flanked before noticing the knight in black armor sitting amongst the rubble not too far away.

"Well?" He called out, nodding towards the figure and letting a small puff of smoke out of his nostrils. "You gonna keep getting beauty rest, or are you intending to put that giant hunk of metal to work sometime?"

Lilette Blackbriar

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

At first, she reasoned that the Draconic beast might belong to the ranks of this warband, given his otherwise relaxed posture and lack of an army behind him. But, as the great dragon-kin raised his shield towards the panicked marauders, Lilette understood that they came here as more than mere strangers, but as allies.

"You gonna keep getting beauty rest, or are you intending to put that giant hunk of metal to work sometime?"

"Hmph," She would heft the aforementioned 'hunk of metal' over her shoulder and nod to the dragon, dragging her attention away from his mighty stature to instead focus on the approaching marauders.

"Very well, scalebound. We share a commonality of cause, for now"

The dragon had taken the brunt of their volley, allowing Lilette to sprint full force towards their swordsman in relative safety.

Most were poorly equipped to handle a knight in full armor, let alone fend against such inhuman blows. Their thin sabers, designed for fighting Sand Elves from horseback, proved useless in parrying the shear weight of such a weapon.

Spears were broken in two and shields splintered, but one man had something they didn't: Magic.

A lone mage, though frightened he was, stood against the Black Knight with little more than a staff in hand. She thought nothing of it at the time, not even bothering to glance his way as her sword came about in a sweeping motion towards another marauder, cleaving through two others that were mere collateral damage.

But to her surprise, a blade not unlike her own became reality, slamming into her own in a shower of sparks that were as deep a blue as the newly phantasmal weapon wielded by the mage.

Gelb

 

[Gelb]

As more arrows bounced harmlessly of his shield's steel frame Gelb let out a low growl of annoyance, his muscular tail flicking idly in the sand behind him as he watched the knightess sprint forward at an unusually fast pace. "Huh." He huffed, watching as she quite quickly cut down a good many bandits with one or two strokes of her sword.

An arrow bouncing off one of his horns brought Gelb's attention to the foes currently harassing him with an unpleasant pain on his head, eliciting a hiss from the Draconian as he glanced over the top of his shield at the man who had just hit him, his piercing gaze hitting the Bandit almost as hard as a spear would.

"Enough playing, then." He growled, lowering his shield and letting loose a thundering roar before charging towards the group of archers. One simply dropped his weapons and took off at a dead sprint away from Gelb while the remaining three frantically fired shots towards Gelb, the few that did land merely bouncing off his scales.

In a few seconds he was atop them, stabbing one through the belly with his sword before using his tail to grab the other around the throat and crush his spine with ease, yet another arrow lodging itself into his leather shoulder pauldron before the last archer drew his arming sword and advanced. When he brought the sword down in an overhand swing, Gelb used his shield to deflect the blow to the side, using the moment of weakness to rip his sword through the first archers side and lodge it snugly in the base of the final archer's neck, nearly decapitating him in the process.

Blood spattered on Gelb's face as the three men quickly faded into death's embrace, the Draconian using his paw to pull his sword from the man's neck before looking around to see how his newfound ally was faring, only to find her knocked over by a mage's summoned blade.

"Of course they had to hire a mage." He grunted, quickly moving over to the Knight and positioning himself over her in a defensive stance, absorbing another swing from the mage's sword with his shield. He let off a growl as he was almost knocked off his paws, but held firm before opening his maw wide and letting out a huge plume of flame directly at the mage to force him back and hopefully take the pressure off the knight.

Lilette Blackbriar

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

Lilette rolled onto her back, gripping at her breastplate where new marks had been melted into the armor.

Magic! It was always bloody magic!

Then a shadow came over her, and she looked up to see the dragon standing between the Mage and herself in a defensive stance. Her eyes widened at the display of azure sparks left by the impact of a magical blade against his shield, a blow that surely would have collided with herself if not for his timely interception. Was he protecting her?

She used the time she had been given to rise, leveraging her weight against the steel blade as forced herself to stand just in time to witness the beastly warrior's breath catch fire, driving the mage away.

"Many thanks, scale-friend"

She would nod in surprise, wincing as her burnt flesh began to heal unseen beneath the smoldering armor.

"Mmph...! his blade bites through armor, be careful-" Lilette paused but briefly, about to suggest a course of action when a better plan came to mind.

"Can thine flames keep his focus for long? Enough to cover mine advance?!" She questioned over the roar of flame and battle, hoisting her blade once again.

Gelb

 

[Gelb]

As Gelb’s firey breath raged in front of him, he cast a quick glance down to make sure the knight wasn’t already dead, letting a small smile cross his lips as she slowly got up, relived that his effort wasn’t for nothing.

"Mmph...! his blade bites through armor, be careful-" Lilette paused but briefly, about to suggest a course of action when a better plan came to mind.

"Can thine flames keep his focus for long? Enough to cover mine advance?!"

Once the lady had gotten to her feet and thrown a plan down, Gelb felt his lungs starting to burn a bit, forcing him to cut off his fire breath with some heavy panting. “That it can, but I need a moment to catch my breath.” he replied, steeling himself as the mage turned about with sword raised. “Remain behind me until I can scare him again, can’t risk you getting killed before the plan can start.”

Then the mage swung again, Gelb stepping into the blow to better balance himself as it collided with his shield, the magic burning his forearm slightly even with the steel and chain absorbing most of the hit. Wincing with a soft hiss, Gelb used his tail to throw a big cloud of dust in the mages face, resting his head back quickly.

“NOW!” He roared, opening his maw and hurling a massive cone of raging fire at the mage through the obscuring dust, catching him off guard and forcing him to rapidly backpedal away.

Lilette Blackbriar

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

“Remain behind me until I can scare him again, can’t risk you getting killed before the plan can start.”

"As thou wish" Lilette nods, ignoring the urge to make prideful remarks at the risk.

Though the dragon's panting was cause for concern, she had every confidence that the mage would fall soon and that they could tend any wounds later. In the meantime, she held her blade in the Tail Guard and prepared to charge.

When the signal came at last, Lilette circled from behind the dragon, taking off in a sprint around the blazing flames so that she could attack from the enemy's side, masked by dust and the fiery glow of dragon's breath. By the time their emboldened mage caught sight of her, Lilette was already upon him, bellowing with a mighty roar more so at the strain of the blow than at her enemy.

The blade came up from below, and from close enough that he hadn't a chance to flee or ready another blow. It struck his magical weapon with such ferocity that the conjuration shattered and evaporated before their very eyes, leaving smoldering pock marks along the edge of her own, though it did little to deter her.

In that one fell swoop, the mage's defense broke, and blood stained the sand from there to a few feet away as he too was thrown about, dying shortly after his collapse in the sand.

Lilette stood proudly, lowering her weapon onto her shoulder with a relieved sigh and similar panting to her ally, her vampiric endurance waning as all her supernatural efforts were refocused into her own wounds.

She smiled behind her mask all the same, turning to greet her mysterious ally.

"Beautifully done," She nods "To whom do I owe the pleasure of sharing this victory?"

Gelb

 

[Gelb]

As Gelb’s fire raged on, he watched as the woman sprinted around the side, flanking the mage in a quick swoop attack before completely removing the man’s offense. As Gelb watched her dispatch the final foe, his fire quickly cut off, leaving him panting and the lightest bit dizzy from the exertion.

“Phew…holy mother of…goddamn…” He huffed, chuckling softly. “Record for fire breath right there…sure of it…”

As the Draconian steadily regained his composure and breath, he winced a bit from the magic burns on his forearm, inciting him to begin removing his shield and armored glove to inspect it.

"To whom do I owe the pleasure of sharing this victory?"

“Gelb.” He replied, wincing and hissing as he gingerly started pulling off his glove. “Can’t a mage just use normal fire for once? That would be great.”

Once his glove was off and his chain sleeve was pulled up, Gelb frowned and inspected the slightly charred scales on his forearm. “oh god damn it…you wouldn’t happen to have any strong healing potions on you, would ya?”

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

“Can’t a mage just use normal fire for once? That would be great.”

"Ehah...!" She laughed softly at the shared sentiment "Well, 'tis my pleasure to fell such magical bastards with thee, Gelb"

Though her tone changed quickly as Geld began peeling away his damaged armor, revealing scales that had survived the brunt but certainly seen better days. She approached even before requested, the doctor in Lilette coming out in force.

"Oh...? thou'rt in luck then, as I brewed some prior to this venture" She thrust her sword into the sand as she approached, letting it stand there to free her hands so that she may search her satchel- or one of them at least- for the correct mixtures.

Her silver eyes would squint at the labels as she held a vial between slender fingers, strained just a little by the now risen sun.

"Ah! If thou wouldst be still" She would carefully pour only a few drops onto the wound from the first vial, before moving on to a second, larger bottle.

"Rub that into the wound. 'tis a simple vanilla oil to sooth thine burns. This next one however- well, 'tis best I don't tell thee- but it will speed the rate at which thine body heals itself. Though, it might increase thine appetite for a time once thouest drink"

Gelb

 

[Gelb]

Gelb watched Lilette curiously as she gently dabbed a potion onto his wounds, prompting the Draconian to wince a bit before the vanilla began to cool and sooth his wounds. Letting out a soft sigh of relief, he nodded and gently rubbed it into his arm with his free hand.

"Well, now that you're tending my wounds, might I have the pleasure of knowing your name as well?" He asked, glancing up at her and holding out his ungloved hand for the next potion. "And it increases appetite after consumption? Thats...certainly a new one, but I assume its worth the cost to fix this wound."

Then, if she would pass the potion over, Gelb would lift it up to his maw, using one of his long teeth to pop the cork off like a wine opener before spitting it out to the side. "Bottoms up!" He would then say, giving her a mock toast before putting it to his maw and starting to drink it down.


Lilette Blackbriar

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

"Oh- pardon my forgetfulness," Lilette awkwardly chuckled "Wounds such as these oft take my focus with an iron grasp. Old habits, I suppose"
"My name is Lilette" She explained with a slight hesitation, knowing the potential danger of revealing her true name to a stranger so close to Ragash, though she felt that she owed him as much for the assistance. Besides, they were unlikely to meet at the priory.

it increases appetite after consumption? Thats...certainly a new one, but I assume its worth the cost to fix this wound."

"Tis a boon to one's metabolism- thine bodily functions- hurrying the natural process of things, including the healing of flesh. I am unsure how thine kind fare compared to mine own, but it shouldn't have many immediate side effects. Not unless thou'rt so different as to rush the body naturally"

The thought of Gelb suddenly losing and re-growing a tooth or immediately shedding like a serpent was admittedly embarrassing to the young alchemist, given that it would be her own oversight, but she supposed it was better than doing nothing.

"Thine bowls may also need... evacuation, sooner than afore..."

Gelb

 

[Gelb]

"Thine bowls may also need... evacuation, sooner than afore..."

Gelb nodded at the last part of her sentence, an awkward look on his face as he watched his arm closely. "Well then, Lady Lilette, I do hope none of those things come to fruition." He said in a half-joking tone. "A battlefield is never the ideal place to relieve oneself."

Watching as the burns steadily began to heal themselves, Gelb gave a soft smile of satisfaction as the pain fully dissipated from his arm before starting to place all of his armor back over his forearm and hand. "Well, it seemed to work as advertised since I'm starting to really feel my lack of breakfast this morning." He chuckled, tail swishing in the sand behind him as he spoke. "You certainly seem to know your way around medicine, wouldn't happen to be an apothecary in your spare time, would you?"

Placing his shield on his back and sheathing his sword, the Draconian would then extend his hand towards the smaller knight, giving her a warm smile. "Either way, well met Lady Lilette, I am glad to have met you upon this field of battle." He said, looking into her eyes. "I assume you're also intending to delve deeper into this place? Gotta have an army's worth of equipment in there."

Lilette Blackbriar

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

"Quite" She would nod at the awkward humor, fortunate enough that she hadn't experienced it herself, given her inhuman nature.

Lilette's focus would draw towards the dragon's wounds then, smiling invisibly behind the mask at her handiwork which seemed to be working fast. A new record, even!

"You certainly seem to know your way around medicine, wouldn't happen to be an apothecary in your spare time, would you?"

"Something like that, yes. I've tended a myriad in wounds since coming to the Amol-kalit, perfecting my arts through trial and error upon the self. If 'tis good enough for myself, than 'tis good enough for my patients!" She chuckled, standing proudly as she spoke of what may very well become her life's work.

"But alas I mustn't get ahead of myself. I must delve deeper, yes, for a safer road means better access to my ingredients and those who require them. These wicked men have become a pox, surely spreading deeper than these few we've slain. And so, they must be amputated afore spreading further"

Gelb

 

[Gelb]

Once his armor was back on, Gelb flexed his fingers and rotated his arm to test how healed it was. Once he was sure his arm was back in shape he glanced back down at Lilette, listening to her explanation on her affinity for medical treatments.

"I see." He said with a nod of approval, rolling out his neck as he looked over the lady at the entrance to the crumbling central fortress, gesturing towards it haphazardly. "And, if you're as eager to finish these bastards off as I am, let's move on in and make ourselves at home. I can lead if you wish, seeing as my choice of armament is more suited to surviving blows than yours is."

Then he drew his sword and shield, sauntering off towards the doorway as his tail swished behind him, erasing his pawprints as he moved. "But I wont stop ya if you wanna take charge, seeing as you handle yourself far better than most mercenaries I've seen."

Lilette Blackbriar