You and Ilya begin picking up dried sticks and leaves for the fire. Thankfully, the area doesn’t seem to have had rain in some time, and dry wood is plentiful. Before long, you have a nice pile of wood, and thankfully you do know how to make a fire. As the evening air starts to cool, the two of you huddle by the warm fire.
“So, where do we go from here?” You ask Ilya. “I don’t really know any place far from my village, so I honestly have no idea. Are those bandits going to keep coming after us?”
“Yes, we probably already have a bounty on both of our heads.” Ilya said, nodding gravely. “I’m an escaped slave, and you stole a slave and a tickle dragon. If they catch us, well… you’ll be as worse off as me, I think.” You shudder, realizing you’ll have a similar slave mark if those bandits catch up with you. “We’re in danger anywhere in the northern kingdoms, those bandits roam all over them. Besides, if there were another tickle dragon in the northern lands, those bandits would’ve heard about it.”
“So, south it is!” You say, realizing at least that much. “Do you… know what anything is like south of here?”
A cool breeze wafts by, and Ilya cozies up next you by the fire. The semi-cuddle by the beautiful girl makes you blush a bit, which hopefully isn’t visible in the firelight. Ilya nods at your question. “You learn a lot listening to drunken bandits boasting by the fire. Southeast of here is the Kingdom of Coninze. It’s very civilized, and roving bandits don’t dare go there. The royal family is quite popular, and supposedly very benevolent. It might be a good place to go, but I’m not sure how they’d react to a tickle dragon in their midst.”
You nod, having at least heard of Coninze. “They say the Queen is beautiful and kind, but… that’s all I’ve heard, and who knows if tales are accurate this far away. What else is south of here?”
Ilya thinks for a moment. “Well, I’m not exactly sure where we are, but I’d know if I saw a roadsign. I think due south of here is the Duchy of Uzien. It’s a major port on the Great Southern Ocean, so we might hear rumors from all over. I’ve also heard there’s a new young duchess there, who has been acting ambitiously. If we could get an audience with any of that Royalty, that might be the best way to hear about Murtagh’s brother.”
You think about that for a moment. “How are the two of us going to get to speak to queens and princesses and duchesses? I’m just a peasant, or ex-peasant at least, and you’re an ex-slave. We’re not exactly influential.”
Ilya grins in the firelight. “No, but he is. I bet even royalty might be interesting in meeting a tickle dragon. Those bandits were trying to get Murtagh sold to some kind of noble in the first place.”
“Hmm, I guess that makes sense. We can at least try. Anyplace else we might go?”
Ilya thinks again, and cuddles a little closer to you in the process. “Oh, to the southwest is an elven forest. Wood elves live there, and elves are supposed to know a lot about magical creatures like dragons. But… humans and elves are kind of like oil and water. I doubt they’d want us in their lands.”
“Hmmm… but they would accept me!” You hear in a low voice, and the two of you turn and jump to see Murtagh standing behind you. Apparently he can be as quiet as a can when he wants to be. At his feet is some kind of small boar he seems to have caught. Or at least you think it is, you hope he didn’t steal a pig from some farmer. But beggars can’t be choosers, and you have plenty of food for tonight. “Elves have always been friendly to my kind, and you saved me. I would vouch for you, if we entered the forest.”
“Murtagh, how long have you been listening to us?” Ilya asks, a little suspiciously.
The dragon only grins, “I have excellent hearing. All the better to hear your laughter. I cannot sense Fenrir from here, and know little about human ways. I will go in whatever direction you wish, as long as you think it might lead us to him.” Murtagh lifts the boar with his teeth, and manages to gingerly put it on the spit for you, roasting the beast over the fire. You can already start to smell the meat cooking. But the question remains, where to set off to tomorrow?
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