“Hurry! We have to catch up to My-re before she leaves Rithakhar!” Bal’taz yelled. Looking back, the five Rirorni guards were have a difficult time shuffling the chained Varick.
“Unshackle him!”
“You want the pit-fighter free!?” asked one of the guards in a concerned tone.
“No, just remove his leg restraints. Keep his hands cuffed.”
As his men proceeded, Bal’taz looked down the long corridor hoping to catch a glimpse of the Alastarian woman.
“Why are we even trying to catch up to this My-re?” asked another removing the chains.
“Because ‘this My-re’ will pay a fortune for him. She's been looking for him. Considering she was just paid a king’s treasure, why go through the effort of training this beast with a hard profit years away when you can make an easy profit today,” Bal’taz explained.
“Ah.” His group all nodded in understanding removing the restraints.
“Come on!” The group made their way into the palace’s courtyard when Bal’taz stopped. Another group of Rirorni were unloading something he never expected to see in his life; an adult mere dragon. It was the size of a horse, four-legged and reptilian in appearance. It didn’t have any wings or scales and its hide was course. Its face had a maroon color with green stripes along its body and light grey underneath. It had heavy claws and a long whip-like tail, which would make formidable weapons when fighting. It had two long, top incisor fangs. The remaining teeth weren’t overly large, but sharp. The dragon yawned, blinked rapidly in the sunlight, and sniffed the air around it. A rope used to tether the creature went taut in the hands of a nearby Rirorni. Snorting, the mere dragon flipped his head and the rope was yanked from the Rirorni’s hands. The entire group froze where they stood. The creature then smelled a couple nearby Rirorni without incident.
There was a collective sigh.
“The woman with the Shagornan elf said its named Koma.”
Bal’taz approached the group and asked, “What’s this woman’s name?”
“I don’t recall, what business of it is yours?”
“Because of reasons. Was it My-re?”
“Yeah, something like that. No, that was it. So, this My-re said it was tame and didn’t need to be broken in,” the Rirorni said.
“It better be for the gold the Great Khan paid for it,” a larger Rirorni with the rank of horse captain said approaching, folding his arms. “He wants to ride it this afternoon for a hunt. However, I’m not sure how much sport it’ll provide as tales say once a scent is acquired it’s never lost. It could find a grey cat within the labyrinth of a dwarven iron mine. Now, who wants the honor of test riding it first?”
No one looked enthused.
“Sons of the Horse, eh? Right, I’ll offer one gold. Two?”
Varick took a step forward. Chains rattled. Bal’taz guards restrained him.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Bal’taz grilled.
“Oi!” the Rirorni captain called out. “You with the prisoner?”
Bal’taz followed the leaders gaze from the mere dragon to Varick. “I’m not letting him ride that thing.”
The Rirorni approached. “The Great Khan needs this thing tested and none of my men are stallion enough to do it. I’ll give you three gold to borrow him for one ride.”
Bal’taz looked to Varick and then to the palace guards in the area. High walls surrounded the square. Nothing short of a real dragon was going to leap that. He scanned the area for possible avenues of escape and saw the open doors to the outer courtyard. “Alright, three gold, but I want the entrance sealed and the courtyard completely closed off. I don’t want any chance of him fleeing.”
“Done.” After the coin changed hands, the palace guards began to cap any point of entry into or out of the grounds.
Varick outstretched his hands towards Bal’taz and motioned to the shackles.
Scoffing, Bal’taz said, “I’m not removing those.” He then placed a pointed his finger into Varick’s massive chest. “And no funny business.”
Snorting, the massive Alastarian slowly approached the mere dragon. After a short distance, Koma noticed him and issued a deep rumble in its throat. Varick stopped. It moved forward smelling his long brown hair several times, the mere dragon’s nose then shifted to each of his armpits. Its snout pushed hard into his chest and he shifted slightly to maintain his balance. Sniffing his bare feet, its nose moved up his legs and stopped at his groin and sniffed around to his derrière and then back to the front. He then lowered to the ground.
Varick glanced at the surrounding Rirorni and after a moment mounted the mere dragon hugging his legs behind its front limb joints and used a gripping of hair and the rope that once tethered the creature for balance and control. The mount rose effortless and after a tap with his heel began to move. They made a slow trip around the courtyard. They went a little faster on the second lap. Like a horse, he practiced steering, stopping, and starting.
The Rirorni in the area began nodding in approval and amazement.
Bal’taz watched Varick pat the beast and get low to its ear. It was like he was talking to it. However, something didn’t sit right. Approaching, Varick was definitely saying something. Getting close he started making out the words.
“Koma, find My-re. Find My-re. Find her!”
“Get him off!” Bal’taz screeched. The other Rirorni were alerted.
Koma leapt away with Varick and they began running the length of the square.
“Those brutes aren’t going anywhere,” the Rirorni horse captain said and motioned. The palace guards inverted their long spears to the blunt end in and began to close in around Varick and the mere dragon.
Noticing the encroaching Rirorni, Koma picked up speed and charged a group.
“He’s going to ram through the walls!” Bal’taz shouted. “He’s going to escape!”
“A hundred gold says he’s not. Those walls are fifteen feet thick, it’s not going through that,” the Rirorni captain said.
Their conversation was cut off as Koma unleashed an unearthly and piercing shriek cutting through the air. The Rirorni cringed and retreated away, covering their ears.
Koma charged the wall, head first.
“That stupid creature is going to nut itself,” Bal’taz said as he tried to clear the ringing in his ears with his fingers.
Koma leaped into the air.
“The walls are too high,” scoffed the Rirorni captain. “It’ll never make it.”
Koma’s thick claws dug into them. It remained vertical. Varick clung to its back.
“What in the nine hells?”
The mere dragon sank its heavy claws into the wall’s material. Koma climbed claw over claw. It scampered over the barrier’s top with Varick and out of view.
“Undgari’s ravens. I’ll be executed for this,” the Rirorni horse captain stammered.
Bal’taz snorted, “Before that happens, I’d like that one hundred gold you mentioned.”