Knights of the Platinum Dragon: A D&D Story

Chapter 12: Milisevre

The summer sky was warm and bright overhead, the clouds themselves seeming to blaze white-hot against their turquoise backdrop. As the party moved through the cleft in the hills that formed the passageway into their destination, the rising peaks on each side of pass turning black as they rose to eclipse the sun one after the other.

But soon, the last rise of earth smoothed down, and the narrow path opened up into a landscape as perfect as a painting. The rolling fields were a patchwork of green and gold that swayed like the sea in the gentle breeze that ruffled each party member's hair, along with Stalk's feathers and Ren's leafy clothing. Wheat, barley, sunflowers and pastures dotted with black-spotted cows stretched from horizon to horizon, which was flanked on the far sides by towering mountains with tops like iced buns, their white caps reaching into the heavens. Though there were no people about, rich, dark orchards whose trees were bursting with fruit were clustered near to quaint thatch-roofed farmsteads, the oranges, pears and apples shining like ambers, emeralds and rubies in the crown of some ancient forest king.

Just as colourful as these delights were the wildflowers that sprung up either side of the sandy track, the petals in full bloom and opening as if in greeting, welcoming the party to the kingdom of Milisevre.

Arabella made all these observations and more as the party walked, her thoughts spinning with descriptions at the sights and sounds that surrounded them. The open sky made the heavens seem all that much closer, and the swifts flitting through the air as they chirped and chased each other seeming to lift her very mood higher and higher with them...

But she tried not to let herself get carried away, and it certainly helped bring her back down to earth when she felt Finnan tug on the sleeve of her dress and she looked down to see him grinning and holding up a red rose he had plucked from the wayside. Not only that, but he'd used his druidcraft to cause all the thorns to fall away, leaving the stem smooth as a temple column.

In that moment, her heart swelled, and she dipped down slightly to gently lift the bloom from his grasp. "Thank you so much, Finnan!" she gushed as she slipped her fingers around the stem.

"No worries!" the halfling replied. "I remembered you like these!"

"I do!" Arabella told him, reaching down to pat him on the head as she beamed. Thankfully, he'd actually washed his hair this morning when she asked him to, and so for once, his tangled mass of wild yellow locks weren't as greasy as you please.

Arabella knew that wouldn't last, though. Finnan always found a way to get himself dirty again.

Still, she appreciated his kind gesture, and lifted the rose to place it in her hair, just behind her tapering ear. The flower made her feel fresher, and as her nose picked up the gentle scent of the petals, she swore she could feel it surrounding her-

A sound then cut through her thoughts. She didn't know what it was at first, but she swore it sounded like a raspy, metallic... scoff?

Twisting about, Arabella looked to the rest of the party members up ahead; Logan and Stalk were leading the charge, to speak, with the paladin striding up one of the many gentle hills spread across what they had seen of this new kingdom so far and the kenku following just behind him, and standing at the foot of the slope, a few feet back from them, was Technus.

Both of his eyes were fixed on her, and while she could glean no emotion from his robotic one... his remaining human eye was full of contempt.

His look only lasted for a second before he twisted around and began to climb the slope himself, his body moving stiffly and slowly, lacked any of the fluidity of a living being. But the way his eyes fell upon Arabella had rattled her spine.