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Noise. That was all there was in the tavern. Everywhere, there were all sorts of people - most of them adventurers - sitting around tables and conversing with one another, most of them waving around mugs of varying types of liquids. Almost every table was occupied, each group seeming to have a different conversation.
The entrance door opened just a small fraction. Then it closed once more. It seemed as if the wind had managed to push the door ajar just a bit. Nobody noticed.
However, a figure slipped through. A robe of black and dark magenta was draped around their small frame, with a hood to complete the look, hiding both their body and their face from the view of those who had spotted them walk in.
Interest of them quickly drained away as they slowly made their way towards the counter of the bar. They situated themself as far away from the other occupants as they could get and plopped themself on a seat.
The bartender was quick in making his way in front of the newcomer. “I don't recognise you. Adventurer?” He asked them with a small lift of an eyebrow. He looked back down at his hands, which were wiping down an empty glass with a plain white cloth.
Keith raised both hands to the side of his hood, quickly flicking it back to reveal his face. Black hair was set his head sticking out slightly due to having been confined under the hood. It grew longer at the back, curling around the back of his neck. If one looked close enough, there would be small dark bumps on the top of his head which looked an awful lot like horns. Pointed ears stuck out on both sides of his head. His eyes were a striking violet, darting around the room while soaking in all the new information he could gain. A strange scale-like growth was underneath both his eyes. Keith nodded. "What is there I can order?"
The bartender nodded and raised a hand to point above him. Keith's eyes followed where it was pointing. With a squint, he could see that there was a battered sign with words carved into them. Upon realising that Keith did not recognise any of the beverages, he decided to ask for something normal. "Uhh... Could I just have a glass of water?"
The bartender nodded and put down the glass they had been wiping. "Okay sure." He brought out a large jug of water from underneath and poured some into the glass. Pretty sure that the glass had not been washed properly beforehand, Keith decided not to question the hygiene of the situation. The glass was pushed towards him and he muttered a small "thanks." The bartender then squinted at Keith. "You suddenly seem familiar... What's your name?"
Keith shrugged. He didn't need attention brought to himself. "Keith." He brought the glass to his lips.
The bartender did not seem very impressed by the simple answer. "No, no, no. Not your normal name, the adventure name, the which the public knows you by."
Keith was silent for a bit. It wasn't as if he was an unknown adventurer. He had his fair share of people trying to get friendly with him. His hesitance was for a different reason altogether. His 'adventure name' wasn't exactly one he knew other people would expect of him. Besides, it wasn't exactly his fault - he was like ten when he made it up. With a small whisper, he begrudgingly replied. "...Thunderstorm Darkness."
Unfortunately for Keith, the bartender did seem to recognise the name, nearly jumping out and calling attention to himself for everyone to see. "Oh! You're that-" With a quick glare from Keith, he was quickly silenced. He dropped his voice to a low whisper. "You're that famous dragonborn, aren't you?"
It wasn't as if it was too obvious. Keith wasn't even a full-blood dragonborn. He hadn't ever known his mother and considering that his father had been (or at least seemed to be) fully human, he could only assume that from what he had been told and his appearance, that he had some human, elf and dragonborn blood in him. It was a strange combination, but it was him. "Well yes, but-"
"Ah, ah, ah!" The bartender waved his sentence away. "That's not important. As a matter of fact, we're in need of a dragonborn." He nodded towards a noticeboard. On it was various pieces of paper pinned up on it. It had to be the local job board. "There's a job on there that's been there for a while now. No one wants to take it. Everyone's too scared of the dragon mentioned on it." It was the mention of the dragon that piqued Keith's interest. The bartender noticed this and pointed to a particular piece of paper. "It's the one on the right."
Keith stood up and made his way to the noticeboard. He plucked the paper off the board. Reading it as he walked back to his seat, Keith sat back down. The bartender watched him as he did so. Keith's eyes scanned over the letters, slowly absorbing the information in. He got the gist of it. The client had had a precious family heirloom stolen and had tracked it down to be in the dragon's cave. The drawing provided of it showed that it seemed like a purple gem - perhaps an amethyst? Keith's eyes wandered down to the bottom of the page where the reward was written. His eyes nearly popped out from just looking at the number. There were other bits of information, such as the importance of the gem, presumably written there to guilt trip adventurers. There was an address hastily scrawled at the bottom - the client's, Keith assumed.
"So, do you want to take it?" Keith had almost forgotten about the bartender. He looked up at him, then back down at the piece of paper. It seemed interesting enough and considering that no one had been willing to take it, it seemed that if he didn't go and retrieve the gem, no one else would. Besides, the knowledge of a dragon seemed interesting and Keith was curious in it.
"Yeah, I'll do it." He confirmed his involvement with a small off-handed shrug.
"Cool! You better get going now, I'll inform the client that you've taken it, so there's no need to head by them!"
"Thanks." Keith stood up from the chair and pushed his now-empty glass back towards the bartender. "I just ask of you not to tell them who specifically is taking it. I have enough publicity already."
With a laugh, the bartender nodded. "Of course, of course! I get you, don't worry, I won't tell them! Just head over back to their address when you're done, there's no need to come back here again. Although, of course, unless if you want to."
Keith let out a small grunt in response to the bartender's chipper tone and proceeded to make his way out of the bar.
The travel to the dragon's cave was much easier than expected. Keith had set his mind to the destination and had not let any distractions drag him away from it. Anything he may have been drawn towards was immediately pushed away. The prospect of seeing and meeting a dragon was too large of a final goal for him to be distracted. Perhaps if he were nice enough, the dragon would be able to tell him more information about the dragonborn blood running through his veins. However, considering Keith was there to essentially rob from its hoard, Keith wasn't too sure about the prospects of that happening.
There was nothing special about the cave. Standing at the supposed entrance, Keith initially doubted the fact that a dragon lived in there. However, with a step closer, the smell of metal and smoke filled his nose and with that, he confirmed the dragon's presence. The air around was calm and still with no disturbance. That either meant the dragon was asleep or out of the cave. Regardless, it was good news for Keith in terms of completing the request.
Keith traversed along the tunnels, one hand constantly pressed against the war as if some unknown being would snatch him if he didn't touch the wall. Constantly stopping and starting, he kept his nose alert and ears pricked for any signs of movement. There was the constant smell of smoke, never leaving, yet never quite there. Keith followed it where it was strongest. The smoke would be the strongest wherever the dragon would be.
It was only when Keith walked out into a large area of the cave when stopped walking. It wasn't because he was tired, it was because of what was in this section of the cave. Apart from the small patch of ground he was currently standing on, the floor was practically covered in all sorts of treasure. Coins, goblets, chains, gems, anything that sparkled seemed to be in there. It was simply indescribably shiny. There was a small patch of light from the tunnel that made its way in, but it was enough to be bouncing all over the cave.
Right in the middle of the cave was what drew Keith's attention. Sitting on top of the giant hoard of gems and treasure was a fairly small dragon. Although it would possibly be considered big compared to Keith himself, judging from prior knowledge, Keith could tell that it was small for its species. If on all fours, the dragon would only reach the height of his waist. The light around it was tinged a soft lilac from its glimmering scales and white streaks ran all throughout its body. It was curled up, eyes closed and sound asleep. Soft snores echoed from it and if Keith squinted closely enough, he could see tiny purple flames around its nose each time it breathed out.
As soon as he turned his attention to the dragon itself, Keith's eyes were drawn to what the dragon was holding. It may have been asleep, but Keith was pretty sure that it held a death grip on the item it held in its claws. Keith nearly missed it as it was a similar shade of purple to the dragon's scales. It was the gem he was looking for. It seemed that the dragon cared a lot more about the gem than he initially thought. The only option now would be to gently pry it out of its claws. Considering the dragon seemed to guard it while it slept, it wouldn't be an easy task.
Keith picked his steps carefully, being cautious as to not step on an area where loose coins would fall. The last thing he needed would be to wake the dragon up. After a bit of careful steps, Keith slowly but surely made his way towards the dragon. The air grew warmer, probably from the dragon itself. The nervousness within Keith's stomach slowly bubbled up and clawed at his insides. Taking a deep breath, he bent down and nudged one of the dragon's claws. Holding his breath, he looked up. No reaction. He nudged another one out of the way. Still no reaction. Content that the dragon seemed to be in a very deep sleep, Keith took his time to gently pry the gem out of the dragon's claws. Every movement was risky and came with the chance of waking the dragon up - an outcome that was not desired.
Finally, Keith eventually managed to take the gem. As soon as he did, he quickly backtracked his steps back onto the solid ground at the entrance of the cave. It was then he took the chance to inspect the gem. He turned it over, holding it up and peering at it. There seemed to be nothing particularly special about it to him. But then again, it was a family heirloom and it would probably be priceless for said family. Keith's only job was to get it to the client.
Then a strange rumbling noise came from behind Keith. Keith froze. That could only mean one thing. The dragon was awake.
And it obviously wasn't happy.
Keith turned around and gulped. It was definitely awake and considering that it had just woken up to find out the gem was gone, Keith didn't want to find out the extent of its anger. He couldn't do anything but stand there in slight surprise as he watched the dragon stretch out its limbs. Its eyes darted about the cave, searching for the gem that it had been holding in its sleep. Its eyes caught sight of it in Keith's hands and visibly, he could see the dragon narrow its eyes. From the distance Keith was at, he could see that the dragon's sclera was a pale yellow, with its purple-blue iries staring right at him. There was nothing Keith could do.
Slowly, the dragon moved. Without moving its eyes from Keith, it steadily moved from its position and down towards him. Slinking off the pile, the dragon moved like a cobra about to strike its prey. It reared back, about to strike.
Clutching the gem tightly, Keith raised a hand and yelled out the only word that came to mind: "Stop!" The dragon stopped. A leg hovered in the air, midway through taking a step. Its mouth was open and wings spread out as much as it could, in an attempt to look as threatening as possible.
'And who do you think you are?'
The dragon didn't open its mouth, but Keith could hear the thoughts that it wanted him to hear. Keith mentally regained his confidence and stood his ground. "My name is Keith Kogane. And you?" Although Keith wasn't sure why he asked the question, something about it felt right. Perhaps it would earn at least some bit of respect from the dragon. Respect from a dragon was always a good thing.
The dragon didn't seem amused. Yet it replied. 'Lotor.' It let out a hiss. Keith could see its eyes dart from his eyes and to other parts of his body. Suddenly, his horns, ears and scaled parts of his skin felt strangely warm. 'What is your business with the Gem?'
"Returning it back to its correct owner." The dragon narrowed its eyes once more at that and its tongue flickered out then in of its mouth.
'Very well.' It seemed the dragon was a whole lot more nicer with this entire situation than Keith thought. However the dragon's next few words were what surprised Keith. 'May I follow?"
It was certainly... strange. What ulterior motive did the dragon have? Whatever it was, it didn't seem that Keith would be able to stop Lotor from following if he wanted to. Lotor was a dragon and if Keith were to trust the ancient tales that were told about dragons, there would be no stopping Lotor from following on his own regardless - that was assuming Lotor had asked just to sound nice. With a shrug, Keith responded. "Sure."
Lotor was much more docile when out the cave. He was helpful in directing Keith out, who had gone in and simply followed his nose. When walking around normally outside, Lotor was definitely much less fearsome than in the cave. Albeit the reasons for following were still unclear to Keith, he did gain a bit of amusement watching the dragon plod along awkwardly with four legs and oversized wings and tail.
The two continued that way, dragonborn-hybrid and dragon travelling. Conversation was scarce, although in the small instances that they did, Keith noticed that Lotor never spoke to Keith using his name. It was always 'Dragonborn,' never 'Keith.' When Keith asked about it, Lotor sidestepped the question and simply replied with a 'I can smell the Dragonborn blood in you.' Keith decided not to tell Lotor the specifics of his heritage and dropped the topic.
After following the map to the client's home and with an awful lot of walking, the two of them finally arrived at their final destination. Standing outside the client's home, there was something about it which just didn't sit quite right with Keith. He looked down at Lotor who was sitting down next to him. It felt a little weird to be showing up at the client's house with the dragon who had supposedly taken the item he was returning. Lotor looked up at him expectantly, waiting for Keith to make a move. The gem in his side pockets suddenly felt a lot warmer.
Raising a hand, Keith knocked three times. He then waited. After what seemed like forever, the door creaked open a little bit. Behind the door, Keith could see the faint shadow of the person. "Who are you?" The voice was low and it reminded Keith of a witch's.
"I'm here to return the uhh... family heirloom that you advertised as stolen?" Keith's voice traveled off as he started to doubt everything about the situation. Lotor had been far too docile than what had been implied from the poster. If the Gem was that important to the client, surely they would be at least a bit more happier?
"Oh! Wonderful, I'll just open up the door for you now." True to their word, the door opened up. Before Keith could even see what the client looked like Lotor had yelled out and pounced towards the client.
"Witch!"
The noise that came from Lotor was completely different from what Keith had heard from him. Beforehand, Lotor had been communicating with the Keith by something that Keith couldn't explain - a mixture of growls, snarls, body language and some possible magic that Keith managed to put together in order to understand him. This time, the cry had definitely not come out that way. If Keith could put it one way, it was as if Lotor had yelled in out in Common.
There was no time for Keith to focus on that. As far as he was aware, he was finishing a job and Lotor had attacked the client without any provocation at all. The door was wide open, partly due to Lotor essentially jumping right through it and the client was not in sight at all. Keith stepped in hesitantly. "Lotor? What did you do?" The end of his question dropped down in an accidental growl. "The client-"
"I know what I'm doing." Lotor turned around to face Keith. A small scrap of purple cloth had dropped by his claws. His hackles were raised and there was a strange glint in his eyes. Keith couldn't quite recognise it. Was it anger, distaste or pure hatred? Compared to how Lotor had been beforehand, it was unsettling. It looked as if Lotor was about to speak more when a voice cut him off.
"Lotor." It was the client. They had emerged from wherever they had disappeared off to. Keith turned towards them. It still didn't quite make sense. "It's been a while."
"Haggar." Lotor snarled right back. "I had hoped we would not meet again."
"Is that the way you should treat your own mother?"
"You are no mother of mine." Lotor moved so that he stood in between Keith and Haggar. "Guard the Gem with your life."
"Hey, what's going on here?" Keith took a small step forwards, suddenly even more aware of the gem. It felt warm, just like it was trying to burn a hole in his pockets. "Little explanation here?"
"The Gem is no family heirloom of this witch's." Lotor snarled once more. "Dragonborn, the Gem is one that connects all those with dragon blood together. It gives power to us and if in the wrong hands, it can be used to wreck havoc on the lands by controlling us and our power. We draw our greatest powers from it." Keith's eyes widened. An object such as that
The witch - Haggar - let out a chuckle. "Just hand over the Gem."
Almost instinctively, Keith's hands moved to take the Gem, but then he stopped. "No." He grabbed his dagger and lifted it to defend himself.
Haggar merely smiled. "You chose the difficult path." Then there was a sudden small burst of light that came from her hands. Magic. It nearly threw Keith off his feet. He tightened his grip on his dagger. Lotor charged forwards. "Protect the Gem!"
At first, Keith could not do anything but watch. Haggar and Lotor danced all about the room. Whenever one would get in close to deliver a blow, the other would duck right out of the way. There would have been no way Keith would have been able to get a hit on Haggar without injuring either Lotor or himself. Besides, Keith himself wasn't the most proficient in long-ranged magic. Having elf blood meant that he could somewhat use it, but Keith always preferred thrill of physical fights and the feel of his dagger in his hands. However, this wasn't a time to pick and choose how he would fight. Lotor needed his help.
Keith turned his attention back to Lotor and Haggar. Both seemed to still be fighting. He wondered why Haggar had seemingly not yet made a move to gain ahold of the gem yet. As soon as that thought entered his mind, a burst of flames caused Keith to jump to the side. It was Lotor's flames. Keith was close to calling out an angry cry about his aim, until he saw a small purple shadow-like silhouette dart away from Keith. Had that been Haggar's doing?
That meant Keith had to up his game.
Then he remembered the gem. What had Lotor said about it? It didn't matter. Keith just knew it was probably beneficial for his situation. Quickly placing his dagger back into its sheath, he stuck his hand into his pocket for the Gem and took it out. "Please help." Despite knowing that there was no way it was even able to follow his request, he whispered down to it.
He continued to watch Haggar and Lotor dance about each other. He could tell that Haggar was watching him, having seen the glint of the Gem emerge from his pocket. Keith raised a hand out in front of him, palm down and fingers spread out towards Haggar. He let out a breath, then closed his eyes.
Keith could feel the magic tingling all throughout his body. He could feel the warmth of the Gem as he held it in his hands. Controlling his breathing, Keith then forced the tingling sensation to heard towards his fingertips. At first, it was painful holding it there, but Keith quickly got used to it. He opened his eyes back up. The two of them were still in the same place. "Lotor!" He yelled out, capturing the attention of the dragon. Lotor nodded, then quickly jumped out of the way.
With a yell, Keith released the tingling feeling in his fingertips. To his surprise, small bursts of red magic shot from his fingers, much more magic than he would have normally been capable of using. Then at that very moment, Lotor had opened his mouth and let out a breath of red and purple flames. Both types of attacks swirled in the air towards Haggar, who could do nothing but throw her hands up to protect it.
As the magic reached her, there was a yell, then a burst of light as both dragon and dragonborn's magic and flames reacted together as they sped towards Haggar.
There was nothing she could do, for the attack had been simply too fast. When the light died down, Keith could see that she was no longer there, a pile of robes lay where she had once been.
"The witch will not be bothering anyone anymore," Lotor confirmed.
Keith let out a sigh. It had been quick, with two creatures of dragon blood fighting against one with learned magic, yet it had felt like such a long time. He turned to Lotor, who was watching the space where Haggar had been. "You can take the Gem back." Keith held out the Gem for him, who took it in his mouth.
"Thank you, Dragonborn." He dipped his head, "I had hoped you were capable of working out the correct decision. Luckily, I was correct." With that, Lotor turned and excited the house. Keith watched him, only moving out himself when Lotor was fully out. From there he saw Lotor take a couple huge flaps of his wings and then there was life off. As the dragon gained altitude, Keith watched with marvel the way the setting sun bounced rays off his scales.
Then, just like that, he flew off.
With a ghost of a smile on his face, Keith watched him. He turned away from the house of the witch and made his way to wherever his feet would bring him to.