Vox Machina Book One: Nobodies to Heroes

Chapter 4: Wondrous Goods

The army was gathered just outside the city as they were making camp, General Kreig stood with them as young soldiers were scared of the unknown enemy they were about to face down. "Look sharp, son." Kreig tells the young lad as he places his hand on his shoulder "We're in for one hell of a battle." Kreig said as he just smiles down at him.

"General Kreig, is it true the Shale Steps fell?" the young lad asks him, Kreig looks away "Aye." he answers then walks away, "And the monster is still unknown. But you are the Arms of Emon, entrusted by Sovereign Uriel with the safety of the realm. We don't need to know the enemy, we only need to know ourselves," he tells them.

The soldiers gathered close, looking at him, "Our training, our devotion to this land. No matter the danger, victory is ours if we fight with honor and raise our swords on high." he calls out, drawing his sword. "You heard the General. For Emon." one soldier calls out. "As one," she shouts and drew her sword.

"As one!" the others call out and drew theirs. But the young lad just scoffs, "What a load of shite." he mutters to himself, not convinced. Kreig just withdrew his sword. "Best finish making camp. A storm's blowing through tonight," he tells them and steps into his tent.

Hours pass as the fire was now cindering, but strong winds blow through, waking everyone up. They step out and see something flying right toward them.

"Eyes up. We've got incoming."

Thunder crackles in the sky as the dragon snarls, diving right for them, "Stand your ground!" the captain orders and everyone got into formation. "Archers, make ready. Let loose!" she orders.

"Fire!"

The archers fired at the dragon as the arrows did next to nothing, but they kept firing, the dragon just snarls and fired thunder down onto them, wiping half the army out.

"Ready the catapult!" the captain orders again, they aimed and waited, "Release!" she orders and they fired, hitting the dragon in the seared wound, it roars as smoke consumes it.

The soldiers cheered, but the smile on the captain's face as she looks up, seeing the firing only angered the dragon as it looks down at her and then fired, killing her on the spot.

The soldiers just step back in fear and scatter, trying to run away and save themselves, but the dragon picks them off, one by one. Two tried to hide and sneak away, but the dragon catches them and took them high, and drops them to their death, then the dragon roared as it flew off into the distance.

~8~8~8~

"And you saw it?" Uriel asks as Kreig was the only survivor from last night's attack. "What did this?" Uriel asks him, "The beast, is a blue dragon, sire. Only a few of us managed to escape." Kreig informs him.

"My Gods." the king mutters to himself, "Allura, you've dealt with such creatures in the past, how do we fight it?" he asks her. She just looks at him, "Oh, that was a red dragon years ago. But to my experience, dragons are fiercely intelligent, calculating creatures. Their machination runs deep." she informs him.

Then the front door opens as Sir Fince steps into the room, "Ah, Sir Fince finally joins us. I hope this crisis hasn't kept you from your skulking." Krieg mocks, but Sir Fince just frowns at him, "I've been gathering intelligence we sorely lack. Seems your band of fools has gone missing. Safe to say you've sent Vox Machina to their doom?" Sir Fince questions him.

"Doom? We don't know the meaning of the word." Scanlan calls out as they ran into the room, right behind Sir Fince. "Well, I certainly don't." Grog points out, "Sovereign, hold on to your goddamn crown. We've discovered that the monster is none other than a blue dragon!" he said, dramatically "We know." the council said in unison.