Quest for the Cosmic Forge

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Dawn came sooner than Veronica wanted. The dracon's eyes opened slowly and she emitted a soft moan as she tried to get herself out from under the covers. The previous night’s storm had reduced to a light drizzle which tapped on the windows and ceiling of her small room, almost coaxing her back to sleep even in her sitting position. She forced herself to think of something, anything to tune out the sound of the rain. She finally rose out of the bed, the scales of her sleek nudity highlighted in spots by candles still burning from the previous evening. A look back at her empty bed and she sighed with noticeable disappointment. The first time she could muster up the courage to hire a companion for the evening and he didn't show.

"Pity. He wasn't such a bad looking elf either," she thought of her intended companion. "But it could have been worse, I suppose. I could have payed in advance." Of course, she would have rather had a member of her own race, but dracon companions were hard to find, males nearly impossible.

"Not that I would need to hire a male to provide me company," She thought as she looked down at her bare body. "I mean, what male wouldn't be interested in this? Certainly I'd have no such trouble. There's just... no suitable males around, that's all."

Dismissing any further thoughts on the subject, she moved lazily to the small, round wooden bathing tub on the other side of the room. She had already filled it with water the previous day. The water looked clear enough that she didn’t feel any need to replace it. She climbed in, careful not to slip, and eased herself into the cool water. A few moments passed as she adjusted to the change in temperature, then she took a nearby sponge, dipped it into the water, and went to the process of cleaning herself. She sighed as she pressed the sponge against her body. The cool water felt good to her as it ran down her scaled flesh.

She went about her cleaning as her thoughts shifted to what the day would bring. A chance at adventure outside the labyrinth could prove to be a new and exciting experience for her. Though she wasn't sure of her traveling companions, she couldn't imagine too much trouble coming from a rickety old castle, regardless of the treasures it was fabled to hold.

“As long as I keep that cat in check,” she thought as a scowl crossed her face. “And that rawulf, if he hired her, then he can’t be all that trustworthy himself. No, he seems far too manipulative for my tastes. And then there’s that lecherous male felpurr. If he can control his sword long enough to put his axe to proper work, we could just make it back alive.”

She shook her head free of her current train of thought before she could convince herself not to go on the expedition, instead opting to think more towards the positive.



"The Cosmic Forge," she pondered. "Wonder what it looks like. It must look amazing, given the power it holds. But what if it just looks like a regular old pen? Will we even know it if we saw it?"

When she felt comfortable that she had done enough bathing, she stood and stepped out of the tub. Water ran freely down her body and dripped from her fingers and tail to the dirty carpet beneath her. She took a dry towel that was almost as dirty as the rug and used it to sop up most of the water that lingered. She put the towel aside and reached for her clothes just as a knock came at her door.

While dracons didn’t possess any kind of keen smelling ability, she could definitely smell the heavy odor the male at the door was putting off without even having to open it. This surprised her at first. She wasn’t aware of any male dracons in the area, which led her to believe this one was a newcomer, or someone who had returned to the village after quite some time.

“What do you want?” she growled in an annoyed tone. As willingly as she would have accepted the male earlier, she didn’t have the time to mess with him now.

“A note for you," the male called through the closed door, keeping calm most convincingly, though she could still tell that he was well aware of what was standing nude and very vulnerable on the other side of the door.

“Slide it under the door,” she snapped, not letting her tone get any softer.

After a bit of a few moments' hesitation on the male's part, a folded and sealed piece of paper was slid under the door to her side. She picked it up, broke open the wax holding it shut, and read:

Veronica –

I have recieved news that a rather large storm is on its way to our area. In light of this, we'll be leaving sooner than the appointed time. Please gather your supplies and come to the edge of town immediately so we may begin our journey and keep ahead of the storm.

-P.

Veronica cursed softly as she hurriedly dressed and packed her equipment and provisions. Satisfied that she had everything she needed, she hefted her satchel over one shoulder, holstered her spear over the other, and was out the door... where she immediately slammed into the male dracon, who had still been standing on the other side.

A long silence ensued. The male didn’t say anything, but he wasn’t budging from his position either. Once she was able to get a better look at him, she found herself surprised by what she saw. He was young, or at least a little younger than she was, perhaps only by a year or so. He was dressed in casual clothing, not in armor as she would have expected from a fellow adventurer. However, he had some minor scarring that gave away that he had, in fact, taken some blows in his career. However, none of this was relevant, as all she was really interested in was getting him out of her way.

“You’ve got balls,” she snarled. "And if you want to keep it that way, I suggest you get away from me."

The male growled back, "Get over yourself, lady. I'm not into older girls, so you've got nothing to worry about."

With that, he turned and left the balcony. By the time the shock of his comments passed and her need to see his blood spill came forth, he was already long gone.

She sighed as she climbed down the steps that led up to the balcony. When she reached the bottom, she once again made sure she had everything, then went to the area at the edge of the town where they had agreed to meet.

When she got there, she found only Pongo waiting, though he was too busy studying maps to acknoweledge her arrival. She cleared her throat as a way to announce her presence, to which the rawulf merely glanced up at her, waved a hand dismissively, then returned his attention to the maps he was holding.

"Better than nothing, I suppose," she thought as she leaned back against a nearby post.

Several minutes would pass before their other companions would arrive. Kunor staggered in first, his eyes half open and his breath reeking of intoxication, leaving Veronica surprised that he was able to find his way there at all. He gave a wide wave to the both of them. So wide, in fact, that it caused him to nearly topple over sideways if there hadn't been a stack of crates for him to catch himself on.

Onassa wandered up shortly after, looking rather calm but occasionally peering back the way she came. She waited until she was within yard of the group before she spoke.

"Sorry about the delay," she said, wearing the same cocky grin Veronica had grown to hate. "I remembered at the last minute that there were some supplies I needed to pick up. But I've got everything and we can go now."

Veronica glared at the felpurr. "By 'pick up' you don't mean--"

"Thief!" a sudden scream from the village's market announced, soon to be followed by the bellowing of other merchants in the same area.

Veronica turned to confront her feline companion, but found that she had already taken off down the road and gaining considerable distance from the party. She looked to her other companions, but found them already gone as well. Kunor had gone to chase after Onassa and Pongo was lagging behind shouting to both that they were running the wrong way. Veronica sighed and shook her head. Her decision already made up, she took off after them. For better or for worse, their adventure had begun.

A short while later, a cloaked figure stepped past the town's boundaries, walking calmly in the direction the party had run off in.

Author's Note –
Wow, where to start? I suppose first off I should appologize for taking so long with the second chapter. There were a number of factors involved in my tardiness ranging from a total re-write of the story from what I originally had written to my recent obsession with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion to good old fashioned laziness. At any rate, I'm on the ball again and don't plan on getting off anytime soon. Nothing short of a dramatic, life-changing event will keep me from getting chapter 3 written and posted in the very near future.

I should also probably explain the fact that this chapter is nearly half the size of the first one. I've set up a kind of checkpoint system where a chapter only goes so far into the story before I end it. I did everything I could think of to make this chapter stretch so it would be a little closer to the same size as the first one, but this is as far as I could get. With the checkpoints I've set up, chapter size will probably seem kind of wonky, but please try to bear with me.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed chapter 2 and here's hoping chapter 3 comes along much sooner. See you next chapter!

This chapter is dedicated to Tenchi

October 2, 2001 - February 12, 2006

Dog, Companion, and the Best Friend a Guy Could Ask For.

Rest Well, Friend. You'll Be Missed.