Tim Waggoner - Forge of the Mindslayers

"Two weeks earlier we had put in to Skairn for supplies, and Erdis, who was something of a card sharp, had entered a high-stakes game of three-pronged crown between a number of prominent, not to mention notorious, sea captains. It was even rumored that several barons were in attendance. However, since Erdis was the only one of the Seastar present, I cannot confirm this. The game lasted for three days straight, and when it was over, Erdis had managed to double his money, but one of the players who owed Erdis had run out of funds, and he paid off his debt with a treasure map.

"I know what you're thinking: every lowlife gambler in the Principalities tries to pay off his or her debts with false treasure maps, but this debtor was a merchant lord of some repute and was also a longstanding acquaintance of Erdis's, so he accepted the map without even looking it over, though in truth Erdis was doubtful it would prove to be of any real value. Once back aboard the Seastar, and after getting some much-needed sleep, Erdis finally examined the map. He couldn't believe what he was looking at: the map depicted the northeastern tip of Trebaz Sinara, and what's more, it showed a route through the reefs. Erdis could no more resist the map's lure than a starving wolf can resist a plump, slow-footed sheep, so we set sail immediately. Two weeks later we dropped anchor off the coast of Trebaz Sinara.

"Erdis selected a landing crew of a half dozen men and women, myself among them. As ship's artificer, I often accompanied Erdis on dangerous trips, and I'm proud to say that my skills with magic saved his life on more than one occasion, but this time I was ambivalent to be going along. After all, this was Trebaz Sinara, and I feared there was no chance of our coming back alive. Still, it was my duty to go, and truth be told, I would rather have died than display cowardice before Erdis. He ordered a long boat lowered into the water. We climbed aboard and began rowing to the reef. Since Erdis preferred that I save my strength for working magic, I was able to sit and watch while others rowed. Erdis stood at the prow of the boat, map unfurled in his hands, and barked out orders to the rowers: 'Five full strokes, three port, seven starboard!' The rowers obeyed his commands instantly, and we began the long, twisting journey through the barrier maze of reef. How long it took us, I cannot say, but at last we won free of the reef and rowed the rest of the way to shore. The entire time we were in open water, I kept expecting some manner of monster to burst out of the sea and devour us, but none did, and I began to wonder if the stories of the terrible creatures that infested Trebaz Sinara were nothing but sea tales, perhaps originated by the ancient pirates who hid their treasure upon the island to discourage those who would attempt to search for it. Whichever the case, we made landfall without incident. We gathered our weapons and supplies, and set off for the island's interior, with Erdis leading the way, of course.

"From the start, it was clear that there was something strange about the island, or at least the northeastern portion of it. The landscape was a patchwork of different kinds of vegetation and soil. There were the usual trees that you expect to see in the Principalites: oak, elm, ash, fir, evergreen… but there were also trees that rightfully belonged to warmer climes: cypress, orange blossom, palm trees… Tropical fruit trees were abundant as well, and though it was summer, such fruit did not belong there, did not exist anywhere else in the Principalities, so far as any of us knew. The soil was just as varied. Sometimes it was a rich moist black, other times dry red clay, and sometimes it was cracked, barren, and lifeless as any desert. The air was still and stale, and as we trekked across the island following the path laid out in Erdis's map, we began to feel weighed down, as if some invisible force had settled on us and was slowly, inexorable pushing us toward the ground. Adding to the overall oppressive atmosphere was an eerie silence. Monsters or no, an island of that size, with all that vegetation, should've been teeming with birds, animals, and insects, yet we saw or heard no signs of such life as we walked.

"The crewmembers began to grow increasingly nervous, myself included, but when we told Erdis of our fears, he just laughed and asked if we wanted to live forever. We weren't surprised by his reaction, since his cavalier attitude toward danger was familiar to us all. Erdis was drawn to peril like a moth to flame, and in the end, I suppose, with much the same result."

The artificer paused, as if momentarily lost in thought, then he shook his head sadly and resumed his tale.

"We continued for some hours until we finally came to a rocky hillside and Erdis called a halt. He grinned, pointed to a cave opening in the hillside, and declared that we had reached our destination. By this time many in the landing party had begun to doubt the worth of Erdis's map, but upon seeing the cave, all their doubts were erased, and enthusiasm-which had been in short supply among us for some time-began to run high once again. Someone, I forget who, asked Erdis what lay inside the cave. Still grinning, Erdis said, 'That's what we've come to find out.' Erdis drew his sword, the rest of us took our own weapons in hand, and we followed our captain up the sloping hillside.

"The smell hit us before we were halfway to the cave entrance-the musky scent of lizard, combined with an acrid chemical stink that burned our throats and noses and made our eyes water. I'd never smelled anything like it before, but evidently Erdis had, for he whispered, 'Green dragon.'

"His words struck me like an arrow through the heart. I'd encountered more than my fair share of monsters since signing onto the Seastar, but I'd never faced a dragon before, and the thought of doing so terrified me. I was near to confessing my terror to Erdis and begging him to let me remain outside the cave when, as if sensing my fear, he turned to me and spoke first. 'This breed of dragon breathes poisonous fumes that result in agonizing death for any who are unfortunate enough to inhale them.' He put his hand on my shoulder then. 'But we have no reason to fear, do we, Tresslar? Not with our ship's artificer protecting us.'

"I wasn't at all confident that I could force myself to take a single step inside the cave, let alone protect Erdis and the others from the dragon's poison breath, but Erdis looked at me with a trust-filled gaze and squeezed my shoulder, and though my fear didn't vanish altogether, it did diminish to the point where it became manageable. All because of a single look and touch from the man. 'I'll do my best,' I told him, and he smiled. 'That will be more than sufficient. It always has been before.' Then he continued climbing toward the cave entrance and, after a moment's pause, I began following again, the others coming along behind me, their fears allayed as well.

"I still had concerns, though. I was a self-taught artificer with little formal schooling, and what I knew about dragons came almost entirely from drunken tales I'd heard from the Seastar's crew. I knew most of their stories were lies, but the problem was I didn't know which few weren't, so as we finished our ascent to the beast's lair, I mentally went over all the dragon lore I knew-true or false-and prepared as best I could to justify Erdis's faith in me.

"There was a good-sized ledge jutting out from the cave entrance, and Erdis examined it closely before letting any of us climb onto it. 'This would be a perfect place for the beast to sun itself,' he whispered, more to himself than to any of us, 'but there are no claw marks in the stone, not even so much as a single scratch.' Erdis seemed troubled by this, and at the time I had no idea why. Now I know that he had been considering two possibilities: either the dragon had an alternate means of entering and exiting its lair, or the beast rarely left-if ever. Despite his misgivings, Erdis started toward the cave entrance, motioning for the rest of us to follow. Other captains might've let the low men on the pecking order go first, but not Erdis. He was always the first to face danger, and in those rare instances when he deemed retreat necessary, the last to flee it. I, as ship's artificer, was usually close behind, and that day in the dragon's lair was no exception.