the dragon's prince

Kellsmith

We were finally here, we had reached the large weathered gates of kellsmith.

"Halt!" a guard demanded, causing us to come to an abrupt stop.

"State your business" he said, walking towards us, full foil.

"We're only simple merchants, wishin ta pass through" Olaf explained

"We are only permitting dragon slayers to enter" he said in a powerful and stern voice, I rolled my eyes almost instantly.

Dragon slayers? I scoffed More like morons in metal It was still hilarious to me, until Olaf spoke.

"My boy here's a dragon slayer!" He said this in the proudest tone he could muster.

I quickly whipped my head towards him, what do you mean dragon slayer!?

"He doesn't look as such..." He pushed, but for good reason, I wasn't exactly "knight material".

I mean, for one, I wasn't an idiot and I was entirely too skinny.

"Oh! But 'is strength lies in 'is ability ta slink 'round unnoticed." Olaf quickly retorted

The guard squinted at us, trying to find potholes in our stories before he sighed.

"You seem to check out"

He looked behind his shoulder, gesturing to the other guards. That's when the gates rose, slowly but surely.

Olaf whipped the reins and the horses moved forward, through the gates and into the town. My heart was beating hard now. "Olaf!" I whispered harshly "I'm not a knight, I can't fight a dragon!"

"Oh hush!" he whispered back, his tone light "We're just going to pass through."

A look of realization spread across my face, how had I not noticed? Along with being an expert salesmen he was also an expert liar. I start to relax again, looking around the place. No one payed much attention to us as we passed through, although our large Clydesdale's hooves beat at the cobblestone.

We reached the edge of the town in less than two hours, familiar knights guarding our exit.

"Ah! The small knight!" A guard yelled to us from the gates. "What are you doing all the way here?"

My eyes widened slightly, how fast did news travel here? I looked o

ver to Olaf for help but he had already opened his mouth.

"Yes, well we seem to 'ave wandered too far inta 'ta town" He said confidently.

I looked back at the guards "y-yes, we've gone to explore the town!" I stuttered nervously

"Well, you'd better get some sleep, you're being sent out tomorrow"

That's when I blanked, I was being sent tomorrow? That was ludicrous, I just arrived! I saw Olaf glance at me in my peripheral

"Well then, we best be going!" Olaf said quickly before turning the horse around.

We sit in silence for a moment, I eventually speak up "What are we going to do now?"

He looked over at me, a hint of sadness in his eyes "What are you goin' ta do now?"

I chuckle, unamused "try to kill a dragon, I suppose"

We sit in a long, depressing silence; it was getting dark out and I could feel the wind kick up. I closed my eyes and listened to its low haunting hum, it was the sound of comfort.