Wayward Tail: The Mortal Realms Trilogy, Book 1

The Trade Road Campout

It was evening. The duo lit a camp fire just off of the Trade Road. It had been four days since the morning Laraelra was abducted. Throk and Artifax were due to arrive in Easting the next afternoon. The two had traveled all day without speaking much. It was Artifax who broke the silence.

"You don't say much, do you? It was the same with my former party... Two of those characters were from this part of the country." At that moment a wolf howled. "One of them, that big wonderful dumb shit, was raised by wolves."

The goliath peered over the fire, clearly studying Artifax, spoke at last. "In my tribe we used to trap and train the largest of the mountain wolves."

Artifax smiled and began again. "See, now we are bonding... So, in all my travels, I've not seen someone quite so..." The brute looked harder at Artifax until he continued. "Tall."

"My tribe is from the Dragonspire Mountains, but I have not seen them in five years."

"Did something happen?" Artifax asked.

"Something did happen." The large man looked up between the flames. His eyes looked somehow blacker at that moment. "My sister was taken from me."

"I'm so sorry." For once Artifax was at a loss for words. But, per his usual, he spoke anyway, "Can you get her back?"

Throk looked uncomfortable at the question. "From where she went, there is no coming back." He stook up and began pacing. For the first time Artifax noticed a strange apparatus on the end of his severed arm. On the end of it there was a hole.

Before Artifax could ask about it, Throk asked, "What kind of dragon do you turn into?"

"Wait, what?"

"When you transform, what kind of dragon do you become? Are you large?"

"Uh... Throk, my friend. I think you have the wrong idea about me. I was ONCE a dragon, but that honor was taken from me."

At this the large man sat back down and hung his head. "Then this quest was all for nothing."

"Throk, what is at the the crossroads of the Dragonmere that you need "dragon breath" for?"

The giant looked back across the fire and into Artifax's eyes as he answered, "When the mountain swallowed my sister, there was a man in the darkness." Throk pointed to the scales on Artifax's face. "He looked like you... The ground was shaking and the liquid fire was everywhere. Artifax saw the burn marks on the goliath as he gestured in the fire light.

Throk continued, "The man whispered in the dark. He said that only dragon breath survives at the heart of the mountain."

Artifax suddenly understood. "You think I can find your sister?"

Throk's final words before rolling over to sleep were these, "...It is a living mountain. It breaths and it consumes. And as we get closer, you will feel it come alive. The man will know we are there."

These statements didn't make much sense to Artifax, but he knew in time they would become all too clear. He didn't sleep well. Thoughts of the dark man scattered with thoughts of Laraelra did not allow for rest that night. Tomorrow would bring Easting, and then after that was the mountain.