To salvage the situation, I went to Yustradil the next day, first thing in the morning. It did not go well.

“You have lied to us!” she shrieked at me. “Calcryx wasn't where you promised she would be!”

“Oh, your scouts told you that? I approve such precautions myself, we went to scout the area once more last night, as you surely heard...”

“Yes, I heard it! Even though you said you are too tired to accompany us, you still went there! And Calcryx was gone! What have you done to our dragon?”

So the goblins instead of setting the trap, removed the dragon, and I have made a complete fool out of myself, I thought bitterly. And now I have to swallow that a talking beast is telling me off, and what's worse, it is wholly justified. I wondered if I will feel better after I killed the annoying nubbin. I probably won't, but it never hurts trying, right?

“Surely we had no reason to spirit away your dragon?! Since you promised us rewards, we had all the incentives to bring Calcryx back to you! It must have been the goblins who anticipated our move, so they put the dragon into a more secure cell.”

“And where would the goblins have known that we are planning such a move?!”

“They are not completely stupid. Anyone would have anticipated such a move in their place.”

“Maybe”, she said in a little more dignified tone. “Maybe it is so. You have helped us against the goblins, and brought us food that we needed. I want to trust you. So give me a reason to do that. Go back, find Calcryx, and bring her here. Then you will prove that you were right, and I doubted you without reason.”

“We shall try our best”, I bowed.

“Oh, and Arnold?” it said, as I was walking away. “That gnome you brought here yesterday? Erky or what was his name? He cannot enter our territory again. He has to find his own place to sleep if he wants to stay with you.”

Well, how very thoughtful of you to send away my only companion who happens to understand your wretched language.

But aloud, I only said: “I will make sure to tell him.”

 

“So”, I concluded my report to the others, “I am afraid, if we kill the dragon, we will have to kill the kobolds as well, as soon as they find out.”

“Regrettable” said Beldrak stroking his beard. “I took a liking to the wee nubbins. But the dragon has to go.”

“You two are the most bloodthirsty cutthroats I have seen in my life” announced Jim.

“And I don't want to hear that from someone who cuts down ears for one silver apiece!” I shot back.

“The goblins hadn't given us shelter, hadn't treated us as friends, and most importantly they hadn't contracted us!” Jim's voice was rising.

“Minor details”, I answered, feeling that righteousness was not on my side in this debate. “Whether they are nice to us makes little difference in the end. Beldrak knows the most among us about dragons, and he says that Calcryx will become an uncontrollable murder-machine in a few years. If we can save Oakhurst by killing a bunch of kobolds, well, it's not a very hard decision to make.”

“I don't suggest we should let the dragon roam free either”, said Jim. “I will take care of her, I said so, and I will do it.”

“Or die trying?” asked Beldrak innocently.

“Or that”, Jim nodded.

An uncomfortable silence followed that was broken by Erky Timbers.

“Now, that this was cleared up”, started the little man shyly, “I would like to go back to Oakhurst. I have to ask Adaron for guidance.”

“Surely you don't mean to desert us so soon? After we saved your life?” I asked as if horrified by such display of ungratefulness.

“Would you leave your fellow prisoners to their fates so easily?” added Jim. He was probably even genuine.

“And don't forget about the healing apples!” Beldrak landed another punch on Erky's conscience. “As a priest of Adaron, it is your sacred duty to investigate the origins of such miracles. Or am I mistaken?”

“Alright, alright!” the little man was almost crying. “I will stay and help you!”

“Splendid!” I said.

“Excellent!” added Jim.

“You make us proud, son”, finished Beldrak.

Another uncomfortable silence followed.

“So what should we do then today?” asked Erky in the end.

“I want to go to Oakhurst”, said Beldrak.

“I have some business in Oakhurst too”, added Jim.

“Yeah, I thought you should make a trip back”, I finished.

For a man whose wish just came true, Erky Timbers did not seem pleased.

While the others were back in the village, selling our booty and buying supplies, or asking guidance from Adaron, I busied myself with cleaning our room. We have already removed most of the dust from the floor, but the walls were still black with dirt and soot, so I boiled water on the kobolds' fire and got to work. It was already four hours after midday when our little company reunited, and I have made quite a progress in that time. I also kept an eye and an ear out, just in case the kobolds were planning to pull some trick on us. Thankfully the little bastards were content with chittering away the day as usual.

Beldrak bought a shiny new armour for himself and a longer and heavier sword for me. Jim had a new shaft for his halberd, while Erky seemingly received the guidance he wanted.

“What is our plan?” he asked now.

“Negotiation seemed not to work last time”, I admitted.

“We will create chokepoints”, said Beldrak. “The hobgoblins live in the chamber where Arnold saw that eldritch well. They were not very proactive till now, so hopefully we will find them in that room again. There are two exits from that room. We will scatter the caltrops before one door. Then Jim opens a door from afar, we shoot spells, and Arnold throws javelins inside. Then Jim closes the door before they could shoot back at us. If they don't come out, we will batter them down; if they come out on the door we guard, we will deal with them one by one. And if they stream out on both doors at the same time to outflank us, the caltrops will slow down their flanking manoeuvre.”

“And what if they will be prepared for us this time? Surely they must realise how precarious their situation is.”

“Yes they might prepare for us, and might set a trap for us this time. But that was always a possibility. I trust that we will be able to cut our way out.”

On that hopeful note, we entered goblin territory from Yustradil's hall, this time carefully avoiding the pit Jim and I fell into yesterday. Then we went forward slowly and methodically. Most of the rooms were deserted, which filled me with a sense of unease after the fierce (if unorganised) resistance we met in the last days.

I needn't have worried. From sheer stupidity or overconfidence, the hobgoblins did not rally the smaller goblins, and still failed to set us a trap. The large hall, where we saw dozens of goblins last time, held only a few of the wretched creatures, and they also ran away as soon as we peppered them with a few spells and javelins. Beldrak scattered the caltrops on the appropriate place, and we took positions.

After the fight, I was amazed by how smoothly the wizard's plan went. On the command of Jim, the door flew open, and we poured in spells and javelins. The hobgoblins were faster to react than we expected, and one of them had a bow to shoot back at us, but the door still became a useful chokepoint, as our enemies started to stream out. Jim cut down the withered old goblin, who according to Beldrak, was probably some kind of priest, and I cut down one of the hobgoblins. Then two of the big critters came to deal with us at once and forced us back, but Beldrak put them to sleep.

Last was to come out a moving bush, and the leader of the beasts who had a scale-mail instead of a chainmail, but Beldrak torched the bush, and I cut down the leader with Jim. We were fast, brutal and efficient as soldiers should be. Even though this was a skirmish only, I felt the pride I have last felt after the battle of the Lake Vadimo where thousands of Etruscans, Senones and Boii lay dead after the consul Dolabella led us to victory.

Beldrak was in a similar mood.

“That was an honest day's work, my boys”, he said, then he boxed into Erky Timbers shoulder with one of his meaty fists.

“Let me heal you”, said the little man to Jim, after he regained his balance, and shot a disapproving look at the wizard.

Indeed, both Jim and I were bleeding from multiple wounds, but it was only a nuisance with the healers of this land. Back home, an injury like this would have meant months, or at least nonae (tens, here they counted the days in tens) of recovery, provided it did not outright kill you. Here, I knew my wound would be gone at the latest by tomorrow morning, when Erky woke up with refreshed mind.

“Let us go back to Oakhurst”, suggested Beldrak. “I am completely drained, so we shouldn't go down the well yet.”

“I have no objection”, said I. “I cleaned our room, but I would still prefer sleeping in a real bed tonight, after a long and hot bath.”

“After a victory like this, we certainly deserve it”, grinned Jim.

“Won't the kobolds descend and look for their dragon, like yesterday?”

“They are welcome to do that”, laughed Beldrak. “I bet that there are dozens of these waiting down there”, he kicked at the remains of the moving bush. “If they clean away those for us, they deserve to get their bloody dragon back.”

I knelt beside the torched bush to examine the remains. Maybe because I was forewarned of the existence of these things, or perhaps because I was getting used to the horrid peculiarities of this land, but I only felt curiosity about these creatures. Examining the remains did not help at all; I still did not understand how the thing was able to move without muscles and bones. Beldrak did not understand it either; the only answer he was able to provide was: “It is magic; this is how things work here”.

Meanwhile Jim and Erky stripped the corpses of their valuables. The chainmails were decent work, but the scale-mail was better than all of them. It also had the Hucrele family crest on it.

“I am afraid that is all we will ever find of Talgen Hucrele”, said Jim, showing us a ring that also belonged to a Hucrele once.

“It is customary to take away every item of value of your prisoners”, I argued. “The Hucreles might still be alive.”

“But they aren't”, said Beldrak. “I feel it in my bones. Well, we still get a handsome reward for proving their demise. Also, you said Lady Hucrele was giving us full salvage rights for this mission?”

“She did say that.”

“Then, how do you like your new armour?” he gestured towards the scale-mail. We killed the hobgoblin who wore it by a blow to the head, so the armour was almost intact, but it was still covered by blood and filth.

“I will need a barrel of sand to clean it”, I sighed. It was a heavy armour, even heavier than my chainmail. It was more suited to a cavalryman than to an infantryman. But it was also beautiful under all the gore and dirt. I let a grin spread out on my face. “But I think it will suit me splendidly.”

***

Author's note