“Hang on!” Vomarian Fae shouted.
“What does it look like I’m doing!” My-re bellowed back. Her words were almost completely shredded in the wind.
My-re and Vomarian Fae were tracking down the lost spymistress, Araminth Goldeneye, riding two mere dragons, Koma and Kuki, not to be confused with a cookie. After getting the scent from an article of clothing procured by My-re in Araminth’s former lover Westwind lamp shop, the Dragon’s horde, their renown tracking mounts quickly acquired the scent.
Vomarian rode high, right behind his mere dragon, Kata’s, front leg joints. My-re mimicked his riding stance and held onto Kuki by two tuffs of long, course hair with dear life. She hated how they occasionally leapt to cover distance, with no warning she might add. Their mounts continued to travel south, away from the city of Shadowspire, and into the Rirorni plains. In the far distance they could see the mountain range, sometimes called ‘The Horse’s Shield’ protecting the entire northern side of the Rirorni capital of Rithakar.
The further they traveled away from Shadowspire the ground itself seemed to transform. The plains started to turn to little more than dirt, rocks, and tired looking grass. The mere dragons quickly approached a hill and leapt around it, landing hard, and continued on.
Rising up and dropping, My-re’s stomach lurched into her chest as she smacked into Kuki’s rough hide. She cursed as her endowments absorbed the blow.
Their mounts suddenly stopped.
The two Lord Protectors looked to each other.
“Did they lose the scent?” My-re asked adjusting herself, as their steeds smelled the air. “I still have the garment with me.”
“Give them a moment,” Vomarian Fae replied patting Kata.
The mere dragons began to ascend the hill, claws digging into the ground for stability, sniffing as they moved. Arriving at the top, there was a mount of stacked, fist sized rocks in a large, rectangular shape. Kata and Kuki circles the pile once, sat down and a grunt reverberated in their throats.
Vomarian dismounted, My-re followed, and then asked, “Do you think it’s a grave?”
The Shagornan elf went to one end of the mound and nodded downward.
Joining him, My-re saw a large, roughly round rock with the carving, ‘AG’.
“Araminth Goldeneye?” My-re questioned, but it was more rhetorical in nature?
Vomarian shrugged, “Possibly. The clothing from Westwind’s store brought the mere dragons here. So, it’s safe to say the owner is likely under these rocks.”
“That would mean Westwind lied about Araminth’s burial mound being in the middle of the river,” My-re commented.
“It seems so. Maybe he had a reason.” Vomarian said bending down closer and touched one of the rocks. “Do the Rirorni have superstitions about disturbing resting places?”
“The Rirorni have superstitions about everything,” My-re said and continued, “Especially, when it comes to the dead and their graves.”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t mess with them.”
Snorting in amusement, Vomarian moved one of the rocks and said, “Well, that might be counterproductive, considering the nature of our task.”
“You do what you want, but I’ve not come all this way just to be cursed for the rest of my life,” My-re said turning away and looking outward from the hill top.
The Shagornan elf moved an additional rock and then another. The two mere dragons approached and used their claws to move large piles. Their efforts became more frenzied and after a couple of hard bumps, Vomarian backed away from their actions.
Glancing back, they were making good progress then My-re saw an object through the pile. Approaching, she set the article of clothing down, as the mere dragons shifted their efforts towards another section.
“Did you find something?” Vomarian asked.
Ignoring him she moved a couple rocks and there was a bone. Reaching out, it felt like a dried husk and brittle. At first, she thought it was a leg bone, but it was much longer than she would expect. Shifting more rocks, more bones, and a shape began to emerge. She also saw cloth.
“I thought you carried your superstitious Rirorni upbringing with you?” Vomarian probed.
“Dammit,” My-re cursed quietly in frustration pushing a rock aside. “I’ll assume this isn’t a Rirorni grave, so I should be fine.”
After about an hour the grave was exhumed. A couple large blankets had covered the bones. There were other items present, including trinkets and fine clothing, but they weren’t being worn. The deceased wasn’t human sized, but much larger. It also didn’t have the same bone structure of a human, specifically the skull. It was enormous compared to a humans and had an almost reptilian shape. If My-re had to guess it almost looked like-”
“A dragon?” Vomarian Fae questioned finishing her thought.
“It’s not human, that’s for sure,” My-re replied. “It’s smaller than what I would expect for the size of a dragon.”
“Definitely, it’s not an adult. Younger, but I don’t have any experience with dragons, so I don’t know,” Vomarian said.
The two mere dragons began sniffing the remains. Raising their heads, they let out an unearthly, ear piercing shriek cutting the air like a scimitar.
Gritting their teeth, My-re and Vomarian covered their ears. They continued on for several heartbeats.
Kata snatched the article of clothing My-re had set on the ground in its teeth. Then along with Kuki, they leapt over the grave and scampered westward down the hill.
“Stop!” My-re called out. In a few moments, they were well away and continued to make best possible speed towards the setting sun. “Well, it looks like we’re walking back to the Unsinkable III.” Placing her hands on her hip, she continued, “At least I didn’t lose these two.”
The Shagornan elf side-eyed her.
Changing the subject, My-re asked, “Did something spook them?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Where in the nine hells are they going?” My-re questioned. “All that’s out there is the Rirorni plains. What’s even beyond them? The cliffs of the Edge of the World?”
“No, that’s to the far south of where they were heading,” Vomarian replied.
“Where then? There has to be something out there?”
“No, nothing. Beyond the Rirorni plains is the Shagornan desert. There’s nothing out there. It doesn’t make sense,” Vomarian said.
“Do you think they’re heading towards Lirith Kai?”
“Unlikely, they’d never make it through…” Vomarian paused.
“Through what?”
“The Twisted Lands.”
“That makes even less sense. What’s even in that mad realm?” My-re asked.
“Dragons.”