In my youth, the old men spoke of the time before the contract. Great tapestries hung in the hall of kensai. Warriors and dragons coiled in a deadly dance. I never imagined that I would find myself facing down one of the dragonkind, that time was in the past.
In my chest swelled a kernel of pride, buoyed up by my student’s actions this day. Kai, steadfast and resolute. His training evident in his technique, but with a core of mettle that is only forged in the heart. Kailu, like a willow branch - thin and wiry. She too, more than a match for the moment. Arrows as true as any Kyudoka in the Three Kingdoms.
A cold wind blew across my slick brow. Night was upon us and the storm made our world smaller. We gathered wood for a fire, collected the living and the dead. The fire painted with tangerine and sunflower. Our shadows played like drunken revelers on the walls of the stone Keep. Sorakara, the guardian of Ki’Ger, would pass into memory. His final act in defense of the city he had made home for a hundred years. The hunter, they called him Floki, his great beast of a wolf gave a final nuzzle to his master and turned, melting into the night. The young man had fought bravely, defying death time and again until at last fate dealt him a losing hand. The Gunslinger, his staccato finally silenced in the mouth of the beast. Snatched from the battlements by the dragon, her patience for his murderous assault had finally run out. Men who paid with their lives a duty owed by all citizen of Ki’Ger, but paid by foreigners. Men who’s memories will be sung in the ale halls and penned by playwrights for all time.
In our time of triumph, on the verge of taking a trophy home to validate out victory claim. The beast transformed from the magnificent scaily horror to that of a frail old Kokorese woman. The crown that had adorned the horned mantle of the dragon now lay on the ground, a simple ring. The forbidden magic contained within that simple object humbled us all. We would deal with that item at a future date. For now we would lick our wounds, mourn our fallen, and embrace the cold reality of the future. Now we must heal and brace for the future. The unknown stretches out before us now. A Guardian dead, the usurper alongside him.