Dungeons and Dragons: Forged In Flame (COMPLETED)

Chapter 25: Snow Underfoot

The five adventurers left Pinechester first thing the next morning. They didn't quite know how far 32 Miles was, so they figured they'd just keep on following the path until they reached a town of some kind.
The landscape quickly changed to be quite craggy and mountainous, with tall pine trees reaching up out of the gravelly floor. Dried, orange pine needles coated the floor like a carpet, hiding the grass and trail.
Eventually, they came across a village called Pine Ridge, and they all wanted to ask for directions, as they'd been travelling for several hours, until midday. One small building was labelled as an "Information Centre", and Leaper thought that it was a good idea to ask in there. So, after tying Mouse up outside, they headed inside.
The inside of the building was quite cosy. It was a one-roomed building, with dark brown brick walls and a fireplace. A fireplace was next to two red armchairs, and next to that was a wooden desk. An elderly gnome rustled through some papers that she was holding, which meant that it took her a few seconds to realise that she was in the presence of five others.
"Oh, hello, dears. How may I help you this fine day?" she smiled cheerfully.
"Hi. Um, have you heard of a town called Bayenn?" Leaper asked her.
"Yes! I've been there before. Great tourist destination. Loads of food, plus it's so picturesque! Is that where you're headed?"
"Yes, exactly that."
"Could you perhaps tell us how far away it is? We've been travelling for hours," Roro asked.
"Of course! It's about 18 miles from here," the gnome nodded.
Khoto let out a loud moan. They weren't even halfway!
"Sorry about them. Thanks for your help," Leaper smiled sheepishly.
He then began to usher the others outside. They all appeared to be quite disheartened.
"Ok, so this is bad, but all we have to do is keep walking," Leaper said optimistically.
"But for how much longer, Leaper? How much longer?" Khoto groaned.
"If our friend is right, 18 miles. We can stop for lunch, if you like."
"I hate you," Khoto huffed.
"And I hate myself, so that makes two."
"Come on, Leaper, don't say that," Roro said sadly.
They all paused. The tension was so thick that if you were to cut it with a knife, then you wouldn't even get halfway.
"Come on. I think that there's a restaurant over there. I'm hungry," MJ smiled nervously.
So, they did. A small place, where they all had sandwiches. They all ate in silence, too scared to say anything as to not upset anyone. As soon as they were finished, they retrieved Mouse and started off again.
Leaper couldn't help but notice how cold it was. It seemed that the further north they travelled, the colder it got. And so, when small white flakes began to flutter from the  dark grey clouds, he wasn't surprised.
"Snow," Thia commented, as if it weren't obvious.
"I love snow! We should have a snowball fight!" Roro grinned.
"We could build snowmen and then stab them," Thia suggested.
Leaper smiled; he hadn't seen snow for years. Since Delmirev was further south, it didn't snow there often.
"I like to just walk in the snow. Snowmen are nice, and do are snowball fights, but really they're just wastes of time. I guess they're a way to entertain yourself, but really Winter is a good time for variety of food. Pheasant is my favourite," MJ smiled.
"You really are morbid," Khoto chuckled.
"One time there were raccoons near my town. They were delicious," Thia reminisced. "Those raccoon kits were like bite-sized snacks."
"No! How you eat something so cute?" Roro cried. "Well, really, I can't talk. I had to eat a rabbit once. But I was desperate!"
"So was I. We don't all lead privileged lives."
Leaper looked down at the floor shamefully. He knew who that was aimed at.
"To being broke!" Khoto shouted.
"To being broke!" The others all cheered, then laughed.
As they cheered, Leaper found himself slowly drifting ahead of the group. He wanted to be alone at that moment more than ever. He wished that he would just disappear, never to return, never to be an inconvenience to anyone ever again. His whole life was pointless. It had no meaning. There was no reason for him to exist. The only mark he would leave on the world was some neglected space in graveyard. And why? So everyone who hated him could see the location of his corpse?
"Leaper, are you alright?" a voice called from behind Leaper. It was MJ, all by herself. The others still laughed off in the distance, playing with Mouse, not caring.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me," Leaper replied.
"Really? Because last time I checked, people who say that they hate themself aren't fine."
Leaper sighed, and MJ walked forward slightly so that she was next to him.
"MJ, you don't have to pretend to like me. If you really don't want to do this job, then feel free to go on ahead, and look for Kitty Mao Mao. He's more important than I am. You care for him. And me? I can't do anything to help. I don't even know how to begin."
"Of course I like you! And Thia does, and I'm pretty sure Roro can see light in everyone!"
"But Khoto-"
"Screw Khoto! This isn't about them! Look, you're mental if you think that we'd just ditch you. It sickens me that you think we don't care about you. You know that we love you, right? We think you're cool, and smart, and strong. Honestly, we'd be dead right now if it weren't for you."
"You wouldn't have gotten into half of the situations you've been in if it weren't for me."
"And? If our adventure just happened perfectly and flawlessly all the way through, that'd be boring. You've made our adventure interesting."
Leaper looked up from the floor, at MJ. The snow was coming down faster now, and icy flakes perched on MJ's deep blue feathers.
"Thanks, MJ," he smiled.
"Anytime. If you need me to be your therapist, just shout me, ok?" MJ nodded.
"I will," Leaper said.
By then, the others had caught up, so they all continued into the white, snowy void.

In modern Dragonborn society, each civilization was run by an elder. Older Dragonborn who had seen the world go round for a large expanse of years. They had experience that none of the younger Dragonborn could ever imagine having, making them rightful leaders.
Delmirev's elder was called Tharr, although because of his lazy nature, most Delmirev residents called him McGuffin. McGuffin had a life of luxury. A huge house, a fat stack of money, and a large group of supporters.
You may think that, from my description, McGuffin was not a nice person. But, despite him not doing anything physical, he was still popular, as he could make good decisions when the time arrived.
Right now, he was laid in bed, snoring loudly, but still alert. A leader as good as he was could easily be assassinated at any time. Luckily, he had good bodyguards, including the new Admiral, Nadarr. When a spot opened up for a new bodyguard, Nadarr was eager to take the position, which suited McGuffin just fine, as Nadarr was agile and powerful. That was what McGuffin needed from his bodyguards.
McGuffin opened his eye for a moment, to check for movement, but there was none: the window was closed, the door was closed, and none of his belongings had been disturbed. Of course, if there was an assassin, then they probably would be smarter than to leave a window or door open, but at least McGuffin could eliminate the obvious signs.
So, he shut his eye again, trying to catch some sleep. Maybe he'd get eight hours in before the next morning? He sure hoped so; he really needed that rest.
One last peek, just to be sure.
In the darkness of McGuffin's room was a shadowy figure, obviously Dragonborn. Fear grasped him, but not as quick as he grasped his lamp. He flicked it on with a lighter on his bedside table, and it illuminated Nadarr in a fiery orange.
"Oh, Nadarr, it's only you. I was worried there for a second. How are you?" McGuffin giggled.
Nadarr grimaced, but his grimace soon turned into a grin.
"Our queen," Nadarr said in Draconic.
"Queen? He was male, last time I checked."
"No, you imbecile. Our true queen."
"And who would that be?"
"Tiamat. Queen of the Dragons!"
McGuffin gave Nadarr a look of deep concern.
"Have you had one too many drinks?" McGuffin asked Nadarr timidly.
"No!" Nadarr hissed.
"Don't tell me you buy into that Draconian stuff?"
Nadarr bared his teeth at McGuffin, who was frozen to his bed in fear. Then, to McGuffin's fright, Nadarr drew a knife. It was sharp and silver, with a black, plastic handle. Nadarr's grin became sour and wicked, and McGuffin shook his head, trying to wake himself from this nightmare.
"Now, McGuffin, you are going to do what I say, or die. If you scream, I rip your vocal chords out of your throat. Is that clear?" Nadarr instructed.
McGuffin nodded. Maybe, if he complied, there would be a way out of this? It wasn't like he had much choice.
"Good, now, walk out of the door and tell your guards that there is nothing to worry about."
McGuffin, slowly got out of bed and waddled over to the door. He opened the door to find that his guards were already there! They both had swords, and looked at McGuffin with menace.
"My true queen!" they both shouted.
"I'm dreaming, I must be. Wake up. Wake up!" McGuffin muttered.
His heart began to beat faster when he felt the sharp blade being prodded into his back. It hadn't gone in yet, but one wrong move, and-
"Oh? What's that? It appears all of your followers have stopped following you. They follow me instead," Nadarr chuckled.
McGuffin whipped around, his eyes wide.
"I'll do anything. Please! Let me live! Oh, our lord Tiamat! She is very nice, yes!" McGuffin whimpered.
Nadarr smiled cruelly.
"You lie," he sneered.
"No, I don't lie! Honestly!"
"Let Tiamat have mercy on you."
"No, please-"
Then, in one swift motion, Nadarr sliced McGuffin's throat open. He fell to the floor. He couldn't breathe; his vision was going in and out; the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. And so, it may have been a trick of the light, but McGuffin could have sworn, in the moment before he died, Nadarr's green scales changed colour.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Word Count: 1802 Words