Valdemaar
CH1.
Kal looked around. Ahead lay a dense forest ringing with birdsong. A tunnel opened behind them, the cavern wall was impossibly high, soaring out of sight. Overhead, the sun winked through tattered clouds.
"By the gods, what is this?", Kal muttered, his golden two handed sword clenched firmly in his hands.
Farak answered, clutching his holy symbol of Dumathoin in one hand, his great warhammer in the other. "That is Undermountain for you. The sun shines underground here. And somewhere in this forest is the Dragon."
Shaking his head, Kal drew some odds and ends from his belt pouch. He looked at the dwarf Farak. "Well, we might as well know where the Dragon is. This spell should lead us right to him."
"Marvelous", spit the dwarf, and muttered something.
Kal caught the name 'Dumathoin'. Pray away my friend, he thought. We can use all the help we can get.
Kal finished his spell and gasped.
"What?", asked Farak.
"The Dragon", whispered Kal, "is just beyond those trees."
Kal cast another spell, joining his mind to Farak's. No more talking, he thought.
Are you ready, Farak thought back.
Just a moment, I want to cast a few more spells.
Farak nodded and began to whisper, beseeching Dumathoin to smile on them.
Kal abruptly grew to double his normal size. He picked up his 12' spear, the Lance of Kul. Now I'll be able to use you properly, he thought.
Warn me if that spear answers you, thought Farak. You must beware such things.
Kal, glimmering with magical power, raised an eyebrow at the dwarf, looking meaningfully at the hammer Farak carried.
Tis a holy weapon of Dumathoin, not some bound devil or worse thing captured by a mage and stuffed into a weapon!
Let's just go get the Dragon before I lose my nerve, thought Kal.
Good idea, replied Farak.
Wait, one more thing. Again Kal reached into his pouch, took something out, and gestured at Farak.
What are you...., started Farak. He stopped as he felt his body become lighter. He felt like he was floating and knew Kal had cast a spell on him enabling him to fly.
Do you remember how to fly Farak, thought Kal.
Farak responded by lifting ponderously into the air.
Just like a dwarf, Kal laughed silently. You fly like a mountain on the wing.
If Moradin wanted us to fly, he would have made us birds, not dwarves. But, I'm sure he won't mind since it's for a good cause like Dragon-hunting.
Let's go, thought Kal. The dragon is just beyond those trees. The two flew silently in the direction of Kal's pointing finger.
CH2.
Kal and Farak flew 20' above the ground, still well below the forest canopy. Some of the trees soared another 100' or more above them.
Just the place for a Green Dragon, thought Kal. It had better be a Green Dragon.
I said I saw it, and it was as green as spring grass, thought Farak.
Both nearly leapt out of their skins as they flew over some wolves hidden in the brush, and a great howling broke out.
Cursing, they flew on.
The Dragon is close, Farak, and it knows we are here.
Maybe it's aslee....
"Kal!", shouted Farak.
Kal looked over at Farak just in time to see a massive, green scaled reptilian head open its mouth. Noxious green fumes spewed forth with a great whoose, and suddenly he couldn't see through the cloud.
Farak screamed. Kal saw the green mist settle on his armor and skin and felt it tingle in his lungs. Though not painful, it was unpleasant.
"Farak!", he cried. Farak's screams abruptly died, and Kal streaked through the air, his spear raised to strike. He couldn't see through the mist, but he heard the dragon moving, bashing trees aside.
In an instant he was through the cloud, and the dragon's gargantuan side was before him, the head and neck invisible in the mist.
Kal plunged the spear into the dragon, the barbed head of slicing through the thick scales.
"Kul!", Kal cried, shouting the command to activate the full power of the mighty spear. "Kul!" Lightning surged through the spear, blasting into the dragon, and danced around Kal, dissipated harmlessly by his magical armor.
The Dragon roared and thrashed, and the spear was jerked out of Kal's hands.
Reaching quickly behind him, Kal drew Dawnrazor, his golden two handed sword. At his current size of 12', the huge blade was but a small sword to him, and seemed a ridiculous thing to threaten a dragon with.
Sensing danger, Kal willed himself sharply to the left, too late, and foot-long fangs clashed together on his torso. For a moment Kal felt an awful compression and feared his protective magic might fail, but then the jaws slipped off him and he was free.
A wicked claw flashed towards him, the wrist thicker then his waist. Dawnrazor carved into the wrist, severing it. Black blood gushed forth and the dragon howled in agony.
The dragon vanished in the mist.
Whirling, Kal searched for it, but he saw and heard nothing.
Then another claw shot out of the mist and fell on him from above, pinning him to the ground, Dawnrazor falling from his grasp. Kal heard the dragon crash back to the earth a second later. He realized it had leapt away and hit him from a distance using its incredible senses and long reach.
The dragon's head snaked slowly into view, leering at him through a mask of pain.
"You puny human!", it hissed. "You dare to attack me. Tell me your name." The dragon wormed a talon through a joint in Kal's armor, poking it into Kal's shoulder. Kal gasped.
"Tell me or I will make your death a thing of nightmares. Who are you?"
"Just a man", Kal replied as calmly as he could with a dragon crushing his chest and a talon driven into his shoulder like a huge spike.
Kal howled as the dragon shoved the talon completely through his shoulder, chuckling evil.
"Tell me", it asked again in a hissing whisper.
Kal opened his eyes, which had snapped shut from the pain. The dragon's great head hung above him, it's snaky neck and bulk only now appearing as the mist dissipated. A dark blob moved slowly above its shoulder.
As clarity returned to his tearing eyes, Kal saw the blob held a hammer, and realized he was looking at Farak. His cloak was gone and most of his equipment was pock-marked and scarred by the dragon's breath.
Kal smiled through the pain. "I am Lord Kalamar Rowanmantle, friend of mighty Farak of Dumathoin, and today, wyrm, you die!"
Farak flew through the air as the dragon turned its head, but it sensed him too late. Swinging his hammer in a great arc, Farak slammed it into the dragon's head with a sound like a clap of thunder.
The dragon staggered and the weight was suddenly gone from Kal's chest. With only one forelimb, it had lost its balance, freeing Kal.
Farak struck again, and the dragon reared up on its rear limbs, plucked him from the air and hurled him into a tree trunk.
Farak shattered the truck and fell to the ground, stunned.
Kal spit out the words to a spell, and lightning coruscated from his hands into the dragon. He howled again as the energy coursed through him, jarring his mangled shoulder.
With a colossal shiek, the dragon fell, splintering trees and cracking the earth.
A few seconds later, Farak stumbled to stand beside Kal, who stood staring at the huge form. Its sides still rose and fell, shallowly but rhythmically.
Farak handed Kal his golden sword with a fierce grin.
Kal walked to the dragon's head and raised Dawnrazor to deliver the coup d'gras. One great eye snapped open, and Kal hesitated, surprised.
"I yield" it gasped. "Take what you will, but spare me."
Kal hesitated, then lowered his sword.
"What are you doing!", shouted Farak. "Kill it! Kill it quickly!"
"Wait Farak, I have an idea."
"I have an idea too!", hollered Farak, and shouldered Kal aside, raising his hammer.
Kal grabbed Farak's arm. The magical girdle the dwarf wore made him many times stronger than Kal, but Kal had leverage being 12' tall, and hoisted the dwarf off the ground and away from the dragon.
"Farak, let's accept its surrender. It could be a useful ally."
The dragon shifted slightly, trying to raise its head, but fell back to the earth with a thud. "I am a he, not an it", the creature muttered. My name is Valdemar."
Farak squirmed in Kal's grasp, trying to twist free. "I don't care what you call yourself, Wyrm! Kal, let me go!"
"Farak. Farak!", Kal shouted. "I will give you my share of the treasure if you don't kill it." "Him", he amended with a nod to the dragon.
"Yes, listen to your friend", muttered the dragon, his voice small and distant.
"Treasure?" mumbled the dwarf, his eyes glazing as he thought about it.
"Do you agree to give up your treasure to the dwarf?", asked Kal.
"Yes" muttered the dragon.
"Do you surrender yourself to me?"
"Yes", the dragon muttered softly.
"In exchange for your life, Valdemar, you must serve me for the remainder of mine, and swear not to plot against me. Do you agree?"
"I... swear it", Valdemaar whispered, his eyes fluttering shut.
Immediately Kal reached out and touched the dragon.
"Lathander" he whispered. "Lathander, I believe this evil beast's might can serve our ends. If you are willing, allow me to heal him."
A moment later, the dragon's breathing became deeper and more regular, and blood stopped flowing from its severed forelimb. Kal's spear, the Lance of Kul, suddenly fell from where it jutted from the dragon's side.
"Farak, can you reattach Valdemar's claw?"
"This is madness! I spared that thing's life in exchange for it's treasure, but I'll be cursed if I will heal it too!"
Kal smiled. "You are cursed. Cursed with friendship. I am asking you to do this for me. What good is a three-legged dragon?"
"Good enough to cause no end of trouble, I'll wager" grumbled the dwarf.
Farak stamped his foot. "Bah! The curse of friendship!"
"Help me drag the foot over here", he muttered.
Kal laughed and clapped Farak on the back as he grabbed the severed foot by a giant claw.
CH3.
Later that afternoom, Kal and Farak stood facing Valdemar.
"What!" roared the dragon. "I agreed to serve you for the rest of your life!"
Farak grinned smugly. "As I am a dwarf you swore to that and more!" He laughed heartily. Then he fingered his hammer thoughtfully. "You could renege, dragon, and we could continue where we left off...."
"What do you say, Valdemar. I am not a dwarf or elf. My kind usually pass within the blink of a dragon's eye. Will you abide by your word?"
"Curse you, Lord Rowanmantle, and you, Farak of Dumathoin. As I am a Great Green Dragon, I swear to serve you faithfully for the remainder of your life and swear not to plot against you. My word is my bond and I will not fail to honor it."
Kal extended his hand, now normal sized.
Valdemaar stared at him for a moment, then extended a talon.
Kal grasped it and shook it gravely.
"At least I was not defeated by a gaggle of half-wits. You are not typical of your kind, Lord Rowanmantle. Nor are you, Farak of Dumathoin."
"No, Valdemar, we are not", Kal laughed. "We are not...."
Farak cursed. "What of my armor, foul wyrm. Your stinking breath has etched the metal, blurred the engraving, and shamed the memory of my ancestors. What of that?"
Kal's blood chilled at the crafty look in the dragon's narrowed eyes.
"Have you ever considered a suit of armor made from dragonhide", asked Valdemar.
"Aye, that I have", said Farak, fingering his hammer and eyeballing the dragon meaningfully. "That I have."
The dragon's smile was hideous. "Then perhaps you would accept a substitute for mine. I know of a dragon, not far from here. A beast of great evil, far worse than I."
"What dragon?", asked Farak.
"A shadow dragon", replied Valdemaar smoothly. "One of the most powerful and ancient that ever lived. His wicked hide would make a nearly invulnerable suit of armor."
Kal could see Farak's mind working. So did Valdemar.
"Moreover, his trove is immense beyond your wildest imaginings", said the dragon.
Kal saw Farak's eyes glaze as Valdemaar told the dwarf what he had seen of the shadow dragon's hoard. Soon the dragon and dwarf were arguing about shares of the trove.
Kal sighed.
Back to the History or the Hall.