We woke to a beautiful, sunny summer day. While we broke our fast, the innkeeper sat to our table and entertained us with rumours. As it turned out, one of the local nobles has lost some relatives recently. The hot-blooded youngsters went to the sunken fortress with a promise of accomplishing heroic deeds and bringing fame to the family name, but they never returned. Apparently the head of the family, a well-respected and virtuous matron, was willing to hire capable men to bring the lost sheep back.

“Well, I have some experience around noblemen”, I announced. Beldrak snorted. “So, I shall speak with the lady”, I went on, disregarding my companions' doubtful gazes.

“Whatever”, muttered Jim. “Just don't get yourself arrested. We have no money for bail.”

“While you will be harassing the local gentry, I take a stroll”, said Beldrak. “There were some peculiar constructions in the village. The statue before the town hall shall undoubtedly merit some scholarly attention.”

“And I've got to speak with the smith. A good night's sleep always gives me the greatest ideas. I will give this beauty some minor tweaking”, Jim was gently stroking the weapon called halberd. I didn't tell him the weapon was already strange enough, in my opinion. I just got up and left.

As it turned out, the village's nobility was composed of three minor families whose residences huddled on a relatively small plot. Whoever came up with the idea successfully combined the disadvantages of a cramped city-estate with those of a secluded country manor.

The plot was enclosed, but the fence would hardly pose an obstacle to stray dogs. All in all, the place looked as indefensible as uncomfortable.

The lady I was looking for, Kerowyn Hucrele, turned out to be a pleasant surprise, though. She was businesslike, polite, and down-to-earth. I was still not sure about the worth of coins in this land, so I didn't even try to haggle, just accepted her price. She offered a hundred and fifty gold coins if we retrieved her niece and nephew alive, and half of that if we were able to bring back evidence of their demise.

After I accepted the deal, she described her relatives' appearance in detail and their family heirlooms, especially their signet-rings. She also told me about how the young nobles got mixed up in bad company.

“Sir Braford was an adventurer of the most despicable kind. Foolhardy, arrogant, irresponsible. I was disappointed that my nephew and niece fell for all the vainglorious nonsense he blabbered about. In the end, they left Oakhurst as a group of four. Their last companion was a man called Karakas.”

“Do you think this Sir Braford had ill-intentions towards your relatives?”

“I doubt it. I think the troublemaker did believe all the nonsense he was piling up about glory and heroic deeds. He was a very self-centred and foolish man, but not an evil one. Still, he visited only doom and pain upon my family, and if there is justice, he is already dead. Since there isn't, at least not in this world, he is probably alive, while my poor niece and nephew...”

“There is no need to lose hope, madam”, I put in. “Not yet.”

She smiled sadly. “I have lost hope two tens ago. Still, it is kind of you to say so.”

 

My conversation with the Lady Hucrele took less than an hour, and it was barely three hours after sunrise when we started on our journey. Jim had ordered whatever he wanted from the smith and now was in a fine mood, just like Beldrak, who seemed to have enjoyed his stroll.

Following the little man, we arrived at a crossroads. Here the old road, which was so conspicuously missing from the newer maps, took north, while the new one continued towards east. After another hour of marching, we found a wide path of small footprints leaving the road and going into the thick of the woods. As Jim assured me, these were the notorious “goblins” who caused so much trouble for the village, and were in possession of the healing or poisonous apples. The fact that they did not even bother to try hiding their trail screamed “Trap!” to both of us, but Beldrak was not sure about that.

“I think being cautious is always a good idea”, he started. “But I don't think this is a trap. Why would they bother? The soldiers of Oakhurst do not seem to harass them. They sometimes take a prisoner so they can exchange them for their own, but otherwise, they probably leave the Goblins in peace.”

There was something in that, so we set forth. Soon we found a deserted camp.

“They come back here from time to time”, said Jim after it examined the trails. “But they haven't been here for some days. We can safely approach.”

In that, it was wrong. While Jim was the better woodsman, I have been setting and avoiding ambushes for four years, so I was the first to notice the danger.

“The fireplace!” I cried as I saw something move. Beldrak was investigating a pile of discarded equipment, and Jim examining a large whetstone when a gigantic rat shot out from the soot. I hurled a javelin at it, and the monster let out a high-pitched scream as it died, but then two more of its kind exploded from the heaps of rubbish littering the camp.

When all was done, I had no strength left in my legs and had to lean against a tree to avoid collapsing on the ground. I was retching. I was used to carnage, but these monsters scared me much more than any Samnite or Lucanian ever had. Rats were not supposed to be this big. They were not supposed to attack people.

“What... what were these things?” I asked with a wavering voice.

“Giant rats, obviously”, answered Beldrak, while wiping the blood- and brain splatters from his hammer. He was not shaken by the fight at all. He remained cool and collected as before.

“How did they got so big?”

“What do you mean?” asked Jim. “Giant rats grow to this size normally.”

“Why are they bigger than regular rats?”

Beldrak spread out his palms. “Why are wolves bigger than foxes? It's just how it is.”

I felt shame. I was a veteran of four campaigns, two battles, a few dozen skirmishes, and still, here I was shivering with fear from an oversized rodent. I imagined Sertorius looking at me, with a sardonic smile on his face. Behind him, my father shook his head disappointedly. Then I remembered the advice of Quirinus. “The place where you are going might be more alien to you than you can now imagine. But you must not show your surprise and your ignorance.”

I have slipped too many times in the last two days, and too many already suspected or knew that I was a stranger in this land. But I will be damned before I make such a mistake again. My face from now on will be like that of a statue, carved from stone.

“Can we move on?” asked Jim, “I don't think we will find anything important here.”

“Of course!” I said, and stood already straight as a spear, as a free Roman man should. “We can go.”

We did not find out the purpose of setting up a camp in the woods. In fact, I doubted it had any. The goblins' trail turned back towards the old road, and we arrived at a ravine.

Four tall columns stood on the edge of the rift, one on our side, one on the other.

“A bridge stood here”, I said with appreciation. The ravine was huge. I have helped to build my fair share of bridges in the last four years, but never one so large. It would have taken at least a month for a whole consular army to build such a momentous feat of engineering. If we had to build a road in this direction, we probably would have just gone around the rift. Not the builders of this road, though.

“And now it is gone”, said Beldrak. “But I think we don't have to cross. This seems a very appropriate place for a sunken fortress to be.”

“It was built on the edge of the ravine”, I theorised. “To guard the road and the bridge. But the ground was cavernous, as you said. The verge collapsed, and the fort fell into the rift.”

“And I tell you, this is not how it happened”, answered Beldrak. “The columns of the bridge still stand. This was not some blind catastrophe; this was a deliberate and calculated act. Not the whole edge collapsed, only a part of it.”

“You done?” Jim was standing at the edge already, keeping a rope in his hand. “You can debate it all day long, but we are only going to find out what really happened if we climb down and look for ourselves.”

And so we did. We reached a flat stone platform, where we found stairs leading downwards. This time I was walking in front, so when the monsters slithered out of their hiding places, I was the first one to come to blows with them.

These were giant rats like those before, and they still filled me with fear and disgust, but now that I expected them, it was easier. I killed one of the monsters with my sword, while Jim behind me was using its shield to keep my other attacker at bay. And then, Beldrak, who didn't have his hammer in his hand this time, hurled a flame at the beast. It flashed like a torch, then tried to run away squealing, and Jim put it out of its misery.

“What was that?” I asked Beldrak.

“What was what?”

“Where did you get the flame from?”

“What do you think?” he laughed. “Have you forgotten that I am a wizard?”

He said that like it explained everything. It probably did for someone growing up in these lands.

“Right”, I answered flatly. “I drank one too many beers last night. I am a little slow today.”

“Well, don't beat yourself up about that”, he said cheerfully. “As long as your sword remains fast enough, I can do all the necessary thinking for three people.”

Si tacuisses... - I reproved myself in thought. It was less than an hour ago that I elected not to slip up anymore, and here I was, asking questions, which betrayed my ignorance at every opportunity.

But the piece of knowledge I gained was important nonetheless. This land seemed more dangerous with every step I took. And that meant, I had to be cautious and sly.

My father taught me that there is no sense in shying away from a battle. Time usually improves the enemy's position, while resolve and firm determination almost always carry the day. Negotiation has to come after you have crushed your enemy.

But my father didn't always follow his own advice. When he was faced with Etruscans, Samnites, or Pyrrhus himself, he was a Roman noble, and that meant he always had the might of the Roman People behind him. He could allow himself to be gruff, concise, and implacable. But whenever I saw him giving a speech from the rostra, or speaking with others of his standing, his obduracy disappeared. These times he was eloquent and accommodating.

I had to follow that example now. In fact, I have been trying to follow that example unconsciously from the moment I appeared on that deserted hillside. I was alone and adrift in a world where I could cross paths with six feet tall monsters who had razor-sharp teeth, and little men set dog-sized rats on fire from afar. So I had to treat everyone as my equal. I could not negotiate from a position of power, but I had to negotiate anyway. I had to win allies not with my might, but with my charm and eloquence. I had to be not a soldier, but a diplomat foremost.

There my thoughts came to a conclusion just in time because we arrived at the base of the staircase.

We were on an oblong platform again. On two sides, there was a gaping abyss, on the third the staircase whence we came from, and on the fourth an entrance into the cliff.

The going on the platform was perilous, there were crevices and small rifts everywhere, ready to trip the careless and sprain ankles. And that was not all. I went forward slowly and cautiously, but suddenly the ground beneath me gave way, and I fell into a small room. Thankfully I was not injured, but we paid even more attention after that.

The entrance into the cliff was a door to a round room. Inside were corpses.

“Damn”, muttered Jim.

“What kills goblins could be our friend”, said Beldrak.

So these are the famed goblins, I thought. They were bestial little creatures with sharp teeth and long, slender limbs.

“Let's hope it's not a more formidable enemy”, answered Jim, then he crouched and started to cut off the ears of the corpses.

“What the hell, man?!” Beldrak let out a disgusted cry.

“I spoke to the guard, you see. They said they pay two silvers for every dead goblin. They suggested I bring back the ears as proof.”

Well, two silvers are two silvers.

Two other doors were to be found here, one leading to northwest, the other to southwest, while the entrance was from east. The southern door lead to a room with only one other exit, and this was barred by an imposing, massive door that was decorated by a sculpted dragonhead. Since we were already trespassing, we decided against breaking the door and rousing the owners' rightful anger. We stepped back into the circular room instead and opened the door leading to the northwest.

This time we came to a bigger room. There was a large and weathered cage at one wall, and in front of that, a small and hideous creature was dreaming a restless, feverish dream. The red-brownish critter had talons both on the hands and on the feet, while its mouth was like that of a big lizard, the tips of fangs showing even when the mouth was closed. It was not at all like the other goblins whose corpses I have seen outside.

“What is a kobold doing here?” mused Beldrak.

So it is not a goblin at all. Just how many kinds of freaks exist in this world?

Instead of hacking the disgusting creature into small bits while it slept, I gently woke it and flashed a smile I considered to be calming. Truly, I was a master of self-restraint and the diplomatic approach.

“Who you be?” the ugly little creature asked, once it came to. Its breath smelled like an overflowing latrine.

“I am Arnold, and these are my companions. We mean you no harm.” Not yet, at least. “And who are you?”

“Meepo. Be Keeper of Dragon.”

“Dragon!” Beldrak cried out. “Is there a dragon here?!”

The repugnant little cuss calling itself Meepo started blubbering.

“No! No! No!” it wept. “Evil goblins took him! They took Calcryx! Such a good dragon! Such a beautiful and wise dragon! And they took it!”

“What a pity!” sighed Beldrak with audible relief.

“We will help to get your dragon back”, I offered.

“We will?” asked Trueanvil, taken aback.

“But you have to help us in return”, I added.

“Meepo help”, he answered then became excited. “Come, come, strangers. Speak Yustradil!”

***

Author's note