Beware the Dragon (Part One)

“What!?” That man was sure was making a ruckus. Why did he have to be so loud? “What do you mean the job is already done? The lord hired us personally. We’re the best in the business. Who the hell finished the job? Was it that stupid firefly gang?”

The young woman behind the counter shook her head, then pointed a shaking finger at me. The loud man followed her finger, sneered at the sight of me, then turned back at her.

“Yeah, very funny sweetheart. Like one guy took out a whole bandit camp. Come on.”

“Really,” she replied, barely loud enough for me to hear from my table in the corner. “I saw him hand over the bandit leader’s head. He was covered in blood an hour ago.”

I couldn’t help but smirk at the disbelieving look the loud man gave me. He scoffed, then strode up to me, his mismatched armour clanging with each step. Man, even his walking was loud.

He slammed his hand on the table --Of course he did. He leaned in close, trying to lock his eyes onto mine. With a sigh and a roll of my eyes I indulged him. This wasn’t going to be over until I did. 

“You? You really took out a whole bandit crew?”

“Yep.”

“Come on. Really, where’s the rest of your gang?” 

“Don’t have one.”

A smile crept on the man’s face. I supposed he considered himself handsome, the way he preened himself. His teeth were unnaturally flawless and his hair was neatly slicked back. 

“What’s your name kid?”

Kid? Come on, I’m twenty-six years old. Whatever. I took a swig of my drink. “Xin, Xin Romo.”

He took a step back, finally getting out of my space. “Xin? Like, Xin the Executioner?”

“That’s what I’ve been told.”

He looked me over, then at my swords leaning up against the table. That smile slowly crept back to his face, followed by a booming laugh. He turned back to his posse by the door and bellowed, “Hear that? It’s fuckin’ Xin the Executioner!”

I prepared myself for the worst. I did just take their payout.

Unexpectedly, the group broke out into what I assumed was a happy cheer and excited chatter. The loud man pulled out the chair beside me and plopped himself down. The rest quickly followed suit, making me quite nervous. I didn’t like being surrounded like that. Plus… that was a lot of people to talk to. At least six, and they were all quite loud.

The man leaned back, craning his head over to the bar. “Hey sweetheart! Round of drinks over here! An especially big one for my new friend here.”

“Tch… Friend, huh?”

“Of course!” Again, so freaking loud. “We are in a similar line of work, aren’t we? Why shouldn’t we be friends?”

I looked around suspiciously. People didn’t often take losing a mark so pleasantly. “What do you want?”

“Ha! Right to business huh? So suspicious. Can’t a guy just buy a drink for someone as famous as Xin the Executioner?”

I just cocked an eye. 

The man sighed and waved his hand, finally bringing his voice down to a bearable level. “Alright, alright, I do have ulterior motives, but I assure you, it benefits you as well, friend.”

I sighed, then finished off my drink. “I’m listening.”

The man leaned in, an eager smile on his face. “Well, ya see, there’s an island right on the cusp of the Forsaken Ring that’s been… offering their criminals to a creature they’ve been calling Nidhogg.”

I scoffed. “Nidhogg? Seriously?”

“I know, I know, but you know how rumours are. I guess the villagers figured that’s who it was since it appeared in the cave they were stashing the bodies of their criminals.” The man laughed. “Because of course only an ancient dragon can like to chew on dead things.”

“Obviously.” I let a smirk slide onto my face. Maybe this guy wasn’t so bad. He seemed to be smart enough anyway. 

“Anyway, not saying it is Nidhogg, or a dragon even, but whatever is there is dangerous. Eaten a few people just walking by, I hear.”

The barmaid had come over to bring our drinks over while the man spoke. I gave her a quick nod of thanks, but the loud mouthed man had to make a big deal of it, giving her a booming thank you and slapping her ass as she left. She just gave a nervous smile and hurried off.

I shook my head, but decided to focus on his story instead. “What does this all have to do with me?”

“Well, me and my men are pretty deadly against bandits and other humans, but our skills haven’t really transcended into strange creatures. You, on the other hand, have quite the reputation of killing oddities.”

“Tch. Nothing major. Few trolls, a couple goblins and a demon cult. And everytime they just ended up being some cursed humans from Loki.”

“Still, more than we’ve seen.”

“Must be a pretty big reward.”

He grinned. “Biggest I’ve ever seen. The island is split into two kingdoms, and the King on the opposite side of this shit is getting worried. I guess they’ve been killing petty criminals just to satiate the thing. The king’s worried his crazy neighbours might start looking at his people next. Offering all his wealth to get this taken care of promptly.”

I chuckled. “Well, in the Forsaken Ring, a King’s fortune could be only ten gold.”

“Ha! Fair point, friend. We’ll make sure to get the price set before we head out to kill the dragon. So what do you say?”

I thought for a moment. The offer seemed legit, but it had been a long time since I worked with anyone. Was I ready for that again?

I looked around at the grinning faces all around me. They all seemed legitimately excited for me to join them. A smile crept on my face. Maybe I was ready.

“What’s in it for me?”

“Even shares of course.”

“Even?” I looked around again. “By the sounds of it, you can only do this job with me. That doesn’t sound even.”

“Ha! Alright, 20%”

“Fourty.”

“What? Oh come on. I got mouths to feed, friend. Twenty-five.”

I smirked. “Thirty-five if I kill it. Twenty-five if someone else does.”

The man stuck his hand out, a huge grin on his face. “It’s a deal. Put ‘er there, friend.”

As soon as I locked hands, the group cheered out, then downed their drinks and called for another round. I shrugged and joined in. Another round hit the table as introductions went around. The loud man’s name was Bones. Just Bones, according to him. I didn’t press the subject. The rest told me their names, but there was a good chance I was going to forget them all. I sucked with names, and after all the drinks that appeared in front of me, I would have been surprised if I remembered my own name. I hadn’t drank this much in ages. Not since I was a kid trying to drown away the loss of my family, but the guys insisted, buying me drink after drink. It seemed rude to turn them down. It didn’t take me long to feel the effects of it, and the night became a blur.

***

She screamed that bloodcurdling scream. I was running, but I didn’t know where. My legs were taking me through the darkness. A light appeared in front of me. There she was, but she wasn’t alone. That violet eyed bastard was overtop of her, his naked, pale form holding her down, laughing as she struggled against him. Her golden eyes saw me, and she stretched her hand out towards me. I tried to run to her, I tried to save her, but my legs were stuck. I couldn’t run anymore. 

“Lore!” I screamed out to her, but it didn’t matter. All I could do was watch the tears and blood stream down her face as that man did unspeakable things to her.

I let her down.

I couldn’t protect her.

***

My eyes snapped open, and immediately regretted it. I moaned and closed my eyes as the hammering inside my head intensified. 

Why did I dream that? Ever since She left me my dreams had been about her leaving, about her throwing me away. Why was my brain making me think of that violet eyed bastard now?

Someone took a deep breath beside me, and my eyes snapped open again. As the dream world faded and the real world came to light, I realized there was someone on my chest. Wide eyed, I looked down to see the barmaid snuggled up on my naked chest, just coming out of sleep herself. Surprise overtook me and I leapt out of bed, jolting the poor woman completely awake. She groaned and sat up rubbing her eyes. She was wearing my shirt. I looked down. My underwear was still there, but none of my other clothes. What did I do last night?

She looked over at me, took a not so secret glance up and down at my mostly naked form and smiled. “Good morning.”

My face was bright red, I was sure of it. “You… Me… I…. What?”

A sweet giggle escaped her lips as she slid out of bed. “You know, you are far better with words when you’re drunk.”

“Uhh…”

“You really don’t remember anything?”

I shook my head, then gripped it in pain. Damn hangovers.

She came over, smiled up at me, then gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Then I will thank you again. You saved me from a very terrible night.”

“I did?” I relaxed a little. “Did we…”

She shook her head. “No, we just kissed. You were quite adamant about not wanting to take advantage of me.”

“Oh… that’s good,” I sighed, and that apparently entertained her. I looked at my shirt that she was wearing. “Then why…”

“You were quite insistent that a corset wasn’t good clothing to sleep in.” She motioned to her barmaid’s dress hanging on the chair. That really would be uncomfortable to sleep in. “I’ll get changed and let you join your friends. I imagine they're waiting at the docks for you.”

I gave a small smile. “Thanks.”

A light drizzle fell on my head as I trekked towards the docks. Couple more days and it would be Stormday. Hopefully these guys knew how to handle that. As the docks came into sight, I heard my name being yelled out. There was one of the men from the night before waving at him from a small ship. Of course I already forgot his name.

Bones was standing up at the helm barking orders. As I stepped on board, he glared down at me. “Bout time you got here.”

I was taken aback. That was a different man than I had met the night before. “Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. I apparently did not handle my drinks well last night.”

“Well, better late than never, I guess.” He looked past me then shouted, “Mikey!”

A scrawny guy, barely reaching my shoulders appeared beside me. “Yes boss?”

“Show the new guy around and teach him the rules.”

Mikey nodded. “Yes boss.” He quickly hurried me away, and introduced me to the rest of the crew. There were the six from the night before, and another ten that had stayed out on the ship. Sixteen men. Not a bad crew size. They worked together well to get the ship underway. 

“Well, that’s about it for the tour,” said Mikey, leaning up against the rail. He glanced over nervously to Bones then spoke a little softer. “Hey, look bud, there is one more rule that’s not really written, but the whole gang knows it.”

“Oh?”

“Never, and I mean never, cock block the boss.”

“Huh?”

“You got off easy last night, since the boss needs you for this next job, but he probably won’t be so lenient next time.”

“I literally have no idea what you’re talking about.” That was a lie. I had a slight idea since I never woke up with strange women in my bed. Still, I couldn’t remember any details.

“Man, you really don’t handle your drink well. The busty barmaid from last night. Boss had her in his sights, but you came in and swept her off her feet. Gotta say though, you were quite smooth. You gotta teach me how to talk to girls like that.”

I had to withhold a laugh. Apparently drunk Xin was better at flirting than sober Xin. He didn’t need to know that though. “Not sure what to tell you. I mostly just think of them as humans and go from there.”

Mikey studied me for a minute, then broke into a snorting laugh. “Ha, good one buddy. Like they’re just one of us, huh? Right.” He slapped me on the back then took off to tell his buddies about my ‘ridiculous advice’. I just sighed and brought out a toothpick, looking out at the endless ocean. She would have thrown the guy overboard for a comment like that. Gods I missed sailing with Her. 

I glanced back up at Bones at the helm, and he gave me a forced smile. I didn’t remember what happened, but something didn’t sit right in my gut with this guy. This might be the only job I did with this crew. Still, it was nice having someone else plan things again. 

The crew seemed to be avoiding me, and I didn’t mind. I didn’t really like small talk anyway, so I took the opportunity to sit and meditate. ‘A strong mind breeds a strong body.’ It was what my dad always taught me. I would need it if we were actually about to face down a dragon.