As
soon as they stepped out of the portal, they both fell right into a swamp
puddle. Lichram with a look of disgust on his face looked over to
Stant. Stant had fallen on a patch of thick grass and dry ground,
so he hadn't gotten wet yet.
"Hey Lich, whatcha doin' down there?" asked Stant.
"Oh shut up!" Lichram replied while splashing mud and water up at Stant.
"Wow, nice moon. Never seen it so close before."
"Hmmmmm. I wonder where we are?"
"Oh yeah, this is great. Out in the open, no one for miles, fun time."
"How do you know there's no one for miles."
"Human intuition, Lich. It's one of those things you elves just don't understand."
"Yeah, what ever. Lets just get moving."
"Ok. Let's go."
The began to trek through the swamps toward the rock hills. They both figured that they could get a much better look around from an elevated vantage point. There passage was slow and tiresome. Their feet sank deep into the mud. Small creatures swam an hopped about them.
"I wonder what we're going to find here?" asked Lichram
"Dunno, but we better find something soon. I'm getting bored with this place already."
They reached the rocky hills and they began to scale them. They were much higher than anticipated because Stant and Lichram had to stop and rest about half way up. They both dozed off from exhaustion. It was the next morning before either of them woke. They were covered in a thick layer of night's dew.
"Eh, yuck. Now I'm all sticky." bellowed Stant.
"Well, you could always go back down into the swamp." replied Lichram.
"Not yet, we gotta get to the top."
"Lead the way, sticky."
When they reached the top, all that they could see was swamp for miles around.
"Good. GOOD!" yelled Lichram.
"What's your problem?" asked Stant.
"You just had to pick the one that let out in the middle of nowhere, didn't you?!?!"
"He he he. Well, time to climb back down, pick a direction, and start walking."
"Which direction?"
"I don't know. East looks good."
"Ok, then I'll go West."
"Huh?"
"It's simple Stant. Which ever direction you pick, the other way is probably the better one."
"Yeah ok, what ever."
They climbed all the way down to the bottom. It took very little effort at all from either of them.
"Ok, so which way is West?" asked lichram.
"I don't know." replied Stant.
"Which way is East?"
"Don't know that either."
"Then what the heck was that 'East looks good.' comment up there?"
"I just picked a direction and said that way looks good."
"Which way did you point?"
"That way."
"Good. I'm going this way."
"He he he he."
They headed off in the direction that they were going to call west, figuring that eventually, they'll find someone, or someone will find them. Either way, they'd be able to find out where they were. They walked for almost a week before they reached the edge of the swamp.
"Oh it's good to be back on dry, solid land." stated Lichram.
"Heh, it wasn't that bad." replied Stant.
"Yeah right. I liked sleeping with bugs small fish for the last 7 days."
"Well, at least there was always something to eat."
"Lets go find a stream or village or something to go get cleaned up in."
They didn't have to walk too far before they found their first village. They came upon a dwarven village called Dunesun.
"Let's go find some locals shall we?" asked Stant.
"I just hope that they aren't appalled by your smell." Lichram added.
"My smell? Hey, I ain't the only one that reeks, sprite."
"Shut up and look for someone."
"Found one."
"Found one?!?! Already?"
"Yeah, that little guy over there."
"Hey you! Can you tell us where we are?"
"Your right there." replied the little dwarf.
"We just don't have any luck with dwarfs do we, Lich?"
"No, I guess not."
"What my friend was trying to say was, what town is this, and who's your king?"
"Who's your king?"
Stant shrugged.
"Oh, he he he he he. This is the village of Dunesun, and I am Tired." replied the dwarf.
"You should rest then." Interrupted Lichram.
"No no no no no. Tired is my name." replied the dwarf.
"He he he. Stupid sprite." Stant said.
"Heeeeeeeey, you guys work hard. I can smell it." said Tired.
"Which reminds me. Do you have a place that we could wash up in?" asked Lichram.
"Yes, yes, of course." answered Tired.
Tired walked them to his house in the village and showed them where they could clean up at. After they where done, they went back outside to find Tired and give him some money for his trouble. But Tired and most of the others weren't around to be found.
"Excuse me ma'am. Where has everyone gone to?" asked Stant.
"To the meeting place." replied the lady.
"Where can we find it?" continued Stant.
"It's the large house over there." said the lady.
"Thanks." Stated Lichram.
They headed over to the house that the lady had pointed out. Upon entering it, they saw a couple dozen dwarfs all dressed up in battle armor, and a lot more sitting patiently. Tired was presiding over the crowed.
"Ah, friends, come in, come in." beckoned Tired.
"What's going on?" asked Lichram.
"Oh, were sending out some troops to take care of a troublesome dragon. Quite large, very strong, and very mean."
"Can we be of any help?" asked Stant.
"No no no. You are our guests. Stay here. These men can handle it."
Tired said a few more words to the soldiers and sent them on their way. Tired showed Stant and Lichram around the village a little more, and told them more about the dragon. He also assured them that they had everything under control.
"Oh, he's been trouble some for years. All we do is send some troops, hurt him a little and he goes away."
"Hey, what ever works." replied Lichram. "But, from where we come from, dragons don't generally just go away."
"Well, he does burn down and destroy a few places before he goes."
"That sounds more like a dragon." stated Stant.
A few hours went buy and the soldiers came back. Their armor was burnt and bent. Some of the warriors were being helped and carried back. The dragon had apparently taken his toll on the warriors.
"We couldn't stop him." said the lead warrior.
"What do you mean?" Tired asked worriedly.
"He got past us. He's really mad about something. He entered the mountain town of Tylucor before we could get to him."
"Oh this is not good."
"Ahem!" interrupted Stant. "Two things. First, does this dragon have a name, and where is this town of Tylucor, so we can pay him a little visit?"
"Oh, well, if you really want to," replied Tired, "the dragon's name is Xamilrit, and the town is just down that road in those mountains."
"Anything else we should know before we go?" asked Lichram.
"No no no." replied Tired. "Just watch out for his wings. He knows how to use them to cut you up."
"Ok, we're off." said Stant.
"Wait. Come with me before you go." said Tired.
Stant and Lichram followed Tired back into a locked room.