Koindras: A DragonRaid Tale

Chapter 1

Apart from his shallow breaths, the soft, eerie sound of water dripping was all he could hear in the darkness.  He sat there, waiting.  He had waited for nearly…who knows how long, but it was longer than he usually cared to wait.  Actually, he usually demanded that he not wait.  And he usually got what he wanted, that is, under usual circumstances, with typical people.  However, he was not dealing with the usual or typical at present so he remained quiet and still, just as he was commanded. 

When he finally heard shuffling outside the door to the room he had been placed in his heart began to thud heavily in his chest.   That was a reaction that he had long ago done away with, and feeling the rise of anxiety alarmed him nearly as much as his anticipation of meeting the Warlock.  What was he afraid of anyway?  Wasn't he Grimgut and hadn't he done and seen more than most anybody he had ever known?  He had scaled the steep cliffs of the Barrier Peaks thousands of feet higher than anybody of his race.  He had single-handedly slain a group of LightRaiders when they had stumbled in the lair he was guarding the entrance to back when he was a fresh recruit in the ranks.  That was so long ago, and he had seen many battles.  Many confrontations with his enemy, those LightRaiders, and he had survived them all.  His confidence rose as he pondered his accolades, but plummeted again when he heard the final lock click and the door of the room scrape the floor as it was pulled open and the dim light shone in and nearly blinded him.  There was no audible command to rise and come, but he felt a beckoning that he could not resist.  He rose and walked toward the silhouetted figure that moved back from the door as he approached.    

"Ah!  Grimgut.  I am ready to tell you my plan that you are going to perform for me."  The silhouetted figure said.  As Grimgut came out of the room he saw that the figure was none other than the Warlock.  His voice sounded different than when he spoke to him earlier.  It was calm and commanding, yet with a tinge of gentleness.  It calmed Grimgut and he felt ready to do anything that the Warlock asked him to do.

There were torches on the wall, but they only gave off a dim light in the dungeon.

"Please, follow me."  The Warlock said as he gestured toward the stairs on the other side of the room.  Grimgut followed the Warlock up the stairs and into a room with a large table in the center.  There were two chairs at either end of it and on the table in front of one was a plate heaped with food and a goblet with a decanter of wine next to it.  The Warlock smiled slightly when he saw the eager look on the goblin's face. 

"Are you hungry?"  The Warlock asked.

"Ummm."  The goblin swallowed hard trying not to noticeably drool.  "I could stand for a bite of something...light."  He giggled nervously, intending it as a pun.  The Warlock smiled wryly and nodded.  Grimgut scrambled along the table's edge, barely able to keep his footing and before he had completely sat in the chair he had taken a huge bite of the juicy meat and started chugging the wine directly from the decanter.  The Warlock slowly sat down watching the grotesque display of table manners that the goblin was showing.  He nodded approvingly.

After the goblin had nearly finished the food and wine, the Warlock rose and began to walk towards a large door in the wall behind Grimgut.  As the Warlock passed by, Grimgut suddenly rose up against his will and to his feet in the midst of a bite.  The food and goblet were pulled from his hands as if by an invisible force and set on the table, all the while he kept walking backwards away from the succulent meal.  He stared in astonishment and fear at his inability to control his own actions.

"Don't worry little one," the Warlock said soothingly, "there will be more where that came from, but for now, there are some urgent matters to discuss."  With that said, he lead the goblin into a room that was decorated with the riches typically found in temples dedicated to the Dragons.  The dim light from the candles on the altar and the peculiar smell of incense that hung heavy in the room reminded Grimgut of his hometown of Seabring and its many temples to the Dragons.  But as Grimgut focused on the adornments of the room he realized that although it was indeed a temple, it was not a temple to just any Dragon.  As the Warlock magically lit the large candles around the room the features of a large statue behind the altar came into view.  It was the image of the Great Red Dragon.  Abaddon.  Despite his years of dealing with Dragons, Grimgut felt himself begin to tremble uncontrollably.  He stared into the shiny ruby eyes of the stone figure looming above the altar in front of him.  He could hear himself begin to whimper and he fell to his knees in terror before the image.