They entered
a dimly lit room full of weapons, armor, shields, and trinkets of all kinds.
Four dwarfs were already down there hammering away on new sets of armor.
The armor seemed to glow each time the hammer struck it. Tired motioned
to Stant and Lichram to have a seat in some chairs in the middle of the
room. They did as they asked.
"Do you know why I brought you down here?" Tired asked.
"No, but you're gonna tell us right?" replied Stant.
"Yes, yes, yes. Of course. First we need to size you."
"Um ok?!?" replied Lichram.
"We need to suit you two up in stronger more durable armor then what you got on, right? You wish to fight a dragon, you need to be able to last more then a few rounds. We found some good armor but its too large for us to wear, and as you could see when you first entered, we don't have any tools strong enough to re-size it." explained Tired.
"Well that sure explained a lot." remarked Stant.
"Heh. Well then. Lets get to fitting me up." Lichram said.
"Good, good, good. Sit down and we'll get to work." bellowed Tired.
The 5 dwarves went to work right away. The fitted Stant with the smaller, thicker suit, figuring that he'd be the one to go after the dragon head on. Lichram got the slightly larger, thinner suit. This suit allowed for more movement, and had a much lighter weight. Perfect for an elf who studies more magic's then weapons.
"So, how do they fit ya?" grumbled one of the dwarfs.
"A little tight." replied Stant.
"Oh, I'm fine over here." added Lichram.
The dwarves took off the armor around Stant, and as hard as they could, hammered it from the inside to somewhat undo the pounding that they had done earlier. They then put it back on Stant.
"How's that now?" asked another dwarf.
"Better. Now I have a little breathing room." answered Stant.
"How many dragons have you fought before?" asked the dwarf.
"Heh. This is our first." Lichram replied.
"Oh, oh, oh. You must speak with our troops then. Valuable information they have for you." added Tired.
"Point us in the right direction." stated Lichram.
"Oh, two floors up. Above the main hall." replied Tired.
Stant and Lichram went up the stairs to the second floor, followed by Tired and the other four dwarves, to meet with some of the fighters that have battled the dragon before.
"Durag! Durag, where are you?" yelled Tired.
"Over here! Behind the racks." responded Durag.
"Please let these two know how to best take on our dragon friend."
"Hmmmm. Ah! I see Tired finally found someone who could fit into the armor. Good stuff it is yeah. We will keep your old stuff in here until you return."
Tired and the other dwarves left the room to allow Durag to speak without interruption.
"This dragon has been a problem for many years. Very annoying. Too strong for us to handle now."
"Stant, didn't we come at just the right time?" asked Lichram.
"He he. Guess so." answered Stant.
"Now then. My best advice is, stay away from his head and tail. Those are his most dangerous parts. Second, stay away from his wings. They can knock you down, and knock you down hard."
"Well that just leaves above and below." joked Stant.
"Exactly. You need to get to his back or chest. That's the only way to get him. Oh, I guess I should tell you now that he's a golden dragon. Not one of those elemental types that have obvious weaknesses. The only thing that we have found to be especially harmful is large amounts of electrical magic, which none of us have."
"I do. I know lots of electric magic" interrupted Lichram.
"Good. You must hit him with it and hit him hard. That should distract him enough for you friend here to get in under him and pierce him with this sword. A powerful mage came through here once before and gave it to us as compensation for guarding him as he passed through our lands."
"Oh joy. I get to go under a dragon." mumbled Stant.
"Don't worry, I wont let him sit on you... Much." added Lichram.
"Ok. Cover yourselves with these blue robes. It will fool the dragon and make him think that you guys aren't protected from fire. You two know what to do next. Now go."
They put on the robes over the armor and left the upper room only to find that the lower main room was now full of dwarves. All of them stood there with smiles on their faces as Stant and Lichram waded through the crowd to get to the door. When they finally made it to the door, Tired yelled to them.
"May Thero walk with you." Tired yelled.
"Well that answered that." muttered Lichram.
"What answered what?" asked Stant.
"He said Thero. That means that we're still on Taera."
"Oh. Yeah. I knew that."
"Sure you did."
"Hey Lich?"
"Yeah."
"You get the feeling that they were expecting us to fight the dragon. I mean, they had armor made for us."
"Yeah, I was kind of wondering why it was so easy for them to pound out some room in your armor, yet they had supposedly been working on it for a long time and nothing they had could work."
"Exactly. You remember where we're supposed to go?"
"Yup. Mountain town at the end of this road. About an hour's walk or so."
"Heh. Let's get there quick. I wanna try out this sword."
They walked to the roads end. When they got there, they saw an awful sight. A giant dragon laying waste to a defenseless town.