A Small Red Dragon

Standing near the edge of the city, my companions and I looked out over the once proud capitol. The moonlight illuminated overturned carts, smashed windows, and bags of possessions strewn across the dirty streets. Fires torched houses and shops throughout the city and sounds of fighting and looting saturated the air. Miraculously, some portions of the city looked untouched. I doubted they would stay that way for long. "Let's get down before someone realizes we aren't on the guest list." I heard someone mutter. I don't know who it was but I have a feeling it may have been Garn. Smart dragon.

By the time my feet touched the cobblestones, a debate was raging about how we should proceed. The only thing anyone could agree on was that the seven of us should not split up. Garn pointed out that though we promised to help open the front gates, the forces there were too strong to ambush without some sort of reinforcement. Kyri, obviously worried about her family, insisted that we head for the castle. Rhegar believed the castle would be lost and that we should start fighting anything that came across our path. Thankfully he didn't insist on trying to take the gates anyway. Kalena suggested that a temple might be best, having noticed that a small temple of Sehanine had been left untouched. I admitted that while the devils attacking Aurincia might not be able to set foot on the hallowed ground of city temples, such places would more likely be filled with sick than fighters. The temple of Kord will of course be empty as its clerics and paladins are on the front lines or dead by now, I thought but kept the notion to myself. In the end, heading to the castle won out, if only because we didn't know enough about the situation to make going anywhere else sound like a good idea. At best, those in the castle could at least replenish our gear and maybe even offer up some help. At worst, well hey at least we would know what the enemy looked like.

Travis stripped the tabards of Tiamat from the corpses. He handed them out to the party with a "Might need these later." Rhegar sneered at the cloth but stuffed it into his bag. Kyri scouted ahead, her lithe frame and woodland gear hiding her in the shadows. Rhegar, still a bit steamed from not being able to jump into battle, caught a group of four underlings unaware. After slapping the mouthiest one around for a bit, the wretched thing couldn't talk fast enough, giving us the location of the local guard patrols and his lieutenant. I wrung my hands on my quarterstaff. The paladin reminds me too many of the toughs I knew back in Farport. His antics are going to get us in trouble.

I didn't feel the need to push our luck further after Rhegar's little display. Remembering a peculiar custom of Aurincia I'd read about, I led my companions over to the wall, we slipped into a series of forgotten alleyways that had been boarded over in some past construction project. As we emerged, Garn took us down another path. Unfortunately, the exit to this one was swarming with diabolical types, and we ended up backtracking part of the route. About this time, Kalena spotted a Raven Queen temple less than ten blocks from the castle moat. A paladin could be seen guarding the gates and we decided to head inside for a short rest to regroup.

Inside the temple was much as I thought it would be. Scared and injured civilians crowded the main room. Near the alter a group of children cried out for parents who were not present. In the back, a crying mother clung to her youngest child, its wan skin and shallow breathing announcing that he would die before the sun rose. An elderly cleric circled the room offering words that held no comfort, an almost smug look on his face. Death permeated the city and the Raven Queen would find herself surrounded by new arrivals this night. For the first time it struck me how much destruction I had been involved in tonight. I glared at the old priest as he passed me. Kord might like to drop me in the middle of a battlefield, but at least he doesn't make me a carrion eater.

Thankfully, the younger priests realized that most of the room wanted safety and not lectures on the blessings of the Raven Queen and kept their mouths shut. I turned and began to wander the room offering small healing prayers where they would help and words of comfort where they would do no good, wishing there was more I could do. Kalena struck up a conversation with the young paladin on guard. "I wish I knew more," I heard him say, "but I just don't get out much." He hung his head in regret and I saw Garn clap him reassuringly on the shoulder.

With nothing further to do in the temple, we continued toward the castle. Markas, the paladin, joined our procession, commenting that a warrior should not hide away while evil prowls the streets. We were within sight of the drawbridge when Kyri came stumbling back toward us, her face whiter than the pages of my ritual book. In quick, shuddering speech punctuated by elven I couldn't understand, she told us how when scouting ahead she had fallen in direct view of a small red dragon. Terrified, she scrambled back into the shadows and came back to warn us.

Clustered behind one looted house and the charred remains of another, we watched the dragon. "Isn't there another way in?" I asked. "Well there is a dock on the moat." said Kyri. "Yes, but to reach it we would need to fight our way back to the docks, find a boat, and run the blockade to enter the channel," replied Garn. Meanwhile, Kalena had been focused on the dragon, her fingers moving nimbly and an eldrich chant slipping from her lips. "I can't see any magical traps, and the dragon looks like it might be compelled." The info shut us up momentarily, then everyone began whispering at once. "Who's compelling it?" "It's a dragon! Does it matter?" "Yes it matters! It might be the only thing keeping the devils away." "Or it could be trapping people inside." "Just because the banners are still up doesn't mean anyone friendly is inside." The sound of Garn's boot stamping the ground silenced everyone. "It's irrelevant," he said, "Point is that we can't count on the castle to do one thing or the other, so we can't fight that thing within arrow range. And we still need to find out what's going on inside those walls."

After a minute or so of silence, Markas piped up. "We could draw it between the buildings." "That would let us flank it," I added thoughtfully. "Best idea I've heard all night," said Rhegar. Without waiting for approval, he stepped between the houses shouting, "Oy! Dragon! Your mother must have been a black dragon for you to be sitting there so tame." My stomach dropped. Oh Kord, he's goning to get us killed! I could hear the dragon grumbling as it stood. "Stupid....Make me sit here....Guard this rubbish.....Can't talk about my mother like that." Kord give us strength I prayed as I stole around the skeleton of the building. Please don't smear me across the paving stones before I know what you want from me. Arrows and shurikens pierced the lumbering dragon's skin and a magic missile exploded against its snout. Yet for some reason the sleepy daze stayed in the dragon's eyes. I managed to catch a lance of searing light across its flank as I rounded the corner.

By now the red had reached its quarry and, throughly pissed, it let loose a breath of flame over Rhegar and Garn. I attempted a healing pray as I struck but in my nervousness I stumbled over both the words and my feet. Luckily Garn's leadership gave him revitalizing powers of his own, giving Rhegar enough strength to withstand a claw attack from the furious beast. Another magic missile fizzled over my head and I could hear Rhegar exclaim in shock about how missiles never miss. My eyes shut of their own accord and my hands tried to wring water out of my maple staff. This isn't where I want to be I think as I hear the dragon readying another attack.

You are exactly where you need to be! Cora's voice rings out in my head. Like so many times on the practice field, it batters against my will like her mace against my shield. Think a priest or Avandra or Ioun or Melora could do as you do? Was it they that spent hour upon hour reciting spells even as others beat against your body and mind? No soft bookworm can remember the chants and spells and invocations in the heat of battle. But you were trained in combat, will be forged in combat. Now, human, do your job or call yourself cleric no longer! My eyes snapped open, blazing with an internal fire. I could hear myself repeating the mantra we crafted druing those long practice sessions. "Kord takes only the strong!" Doubt was erased for the time being and my hands gripped my staff surely. This time my words rang out clearly and a healing breeze washed over Rhegar and Garn. Breathing heavily, I let reality return just in time to see the dragon reading itself for another breath, this time aimed at Markas and myself.

Shuddering I sat up. My whole body felt bruised and red-hot. The odor of singed hair permeated the air around me. Inhaling painfully, I managed to get to my knees as I groped for my staff. I forced myself to take several more deep breaths as I stood, the air giving me strength where I had little. The dragon was still attacking Markas but I could do little for him in my condition. A voice shouted for me to take cover and I did, hoping the shell of the charred home would provide some protection. I glanced out the door in time to see the dragonborn using their own breath against the dragon and the beast gave one last roar before falling. Someone grabbed my waist to help me walk, but overwhelmed by the healing and burns I didn't notice who it was. Kyri sprang forward shouting up to the ramparts to lower the gate. It took threats of summoning the elven nobels, but the drawbridge was finally let down. As I was lead to the infirmary I heard a guard welcoming our party to the stronghold of Prince Farin and the Order of the Rampant Dragon.