Gaaren awoke calmly and lazily to the dull sound of carriage wheels beneath him. The dragon opened his eyes- it was early in the day going by the level of light shining through the uncovered rear window in the carriage. The front and side windows were all hidden by thick velvet curtains, leaving the interior of the carriage mostly dark and gloomy. The vehicle was travelling at a slower speed than it had been when Gaaren was last awake- the two large creatures pulling it had been moving throughout the night so surely they had become tired. They would get rest soon enough- by the rider's calculations they would arrive at their destination before the sun was up.

Gaaren yawned and looked to his right- Scale was still asleep next to him on the large bed that took up half the space inside the carriage, breathing quietly as he held onto Gaaren's arm, resting his head on the larger dragon's bicep. Lyle, Gaaren assumed, was still up top, riding with the driver on top of the carriage. Gaaren carefully pulled his arm free of Scale's light grip, and sat up, stretching his arms and letting out a deep breath before reaching for the silver flask down by his side of the bed. The dragon unscrewed the large cap of the one liter flask and took a drink of the mixed berry ale within.

"Gaar? That you...?" Scale mumbled.

"Mhm." was the gold dragons response.

"Morning...if it is morning" Scale said, sitting up and yawning.

"It's starting to get lighter outside. We'll be at the city soon." Gaaren said, handing the flask to the smaller dragon. "You should take a drink, you look like you could use it."

"Thanks, Gaar. Nothing like drakespire ale at five in the morning."

"Nervous?" Gaaren asked, watching him drink.

"Yeah, a little. It's not every day we go on a rescue mission. Or city destroying mission... whatever this is Lyle has gotten us into." Scale replied, with a hint of a smile.

Gaaren lay back on the bed, and folded his arms behind his head. "He's an adventurous wolf. That's something I like about him. Even if it's gotten us into our share of trouble."

"He does love his adventures, Gaar," the gray dragon remarked, laying down next to the golden warrior who laid an arm around him. "Good thing, too. His adventuring... it brought us all together, didn't it?"

"Mhm. He got lucky with you, though. What are the chances someone would discover another one of your kind in the jungle?" Gaaren asked.

Scale looked up to Gaaren's blue eyes and smiled. "Not likely... Of course, if I hadn't disobeyed the elders and wandered too far from the village that morning, Lyle would have never found me. It's funny how things work out... When you break the rules."

"We should visit your home again before the year is out, little dragon. We could make the trip on the way home from this mission, you know. The jungle is just a few hundred miles north of the Temple City." Gaaren said.

"Oh, yeah. Once we get back Lyle can hook us up with a ride... it would take us almost to the jungle, anyway." Scale pondered.

"If I'd brought Loriana along, we could have flown on her." Gaaren replied.

"Hah... good one, Gaar." Scale said, mumbling a laugh.

"I mean it. Unshrink her again, and she'd be big enough to carry all of us on her back," the gold dragon responded, sincerely.

Scale gulped. His mind instantly pictured the memory of Loriana standing over him, her huge, red quadrupedal body and spread wings casting a gigantic shadow as her purple eyes held him still with fear. "Gaar... she almost ate me last time we tried that," the dragon nervously whispered.

"Almost... She's much more obedient now. Anyway, we should get dressed. We'll be stopping soon." Gaaren said, sitting up and reaching for the small backpack at the base of the bed.

Scale slipped on his tribal cloth. At the same time, Gaaren fished a hand into his backpack and removed a pair of his drakespire military shorts. After putting the form-fitting shorts on, he picked up his axe- it was a heavy weapon, forged from almost-unbreakable drakespire steel with a crimson gem set in the middle of the axe head- one spelled to passively sap away energy from its targets and transfer it to the wielder. Gaaren looked upon it for a moment before putting it back on the weapon rack he had kept it on. With the plan they had put together, the weapon wouldn't be necessary.

"So," Gaaren said, sitting on the end on the bed, "this contact we have within the city walls. Who is she, and how will we find her once we're inside?"

"She's one of Lyle's old friends. Rinnia- she's a sorceress. For a few months now she's been spying inside the city pretending to be a temple alchemist. Lyle said she'll be waiting for us, after we find the hidden gate at the base of the wall. Lyle has the map, so it shouldn't take long to find. From there, it's just navigating through the tunnels..." Scale answered. Just then, the carriage began to slow. The rumbling of the vehicle became softer and from outside, Scale and Gaaren heard the footsteps of the creatures pulling the carriage become relaxed before stopping entirely.

"Guess we're here..." Gaaren grumbled, standing. Scale grabbed his staff, and followed the larger dragon to the ladder leading out of the cabin.

----

Gaaren pushed open the hatch atop the ladder and emerged from the cabin- the morning sky was a dull blue, with a distant light just beginning to show on the horizon. The roof of the carriage had two central benches for passengers, along with seats along the sides of the roof surrounded by a four foot barrier made of the same wood as the rest of the carriage. At the front, a small deck held one seat of its own for the rider. The vehicle had come to a stop at the end of a wide gorge, between two large cliff faces of red-brown rock separated by only a mile or so of flat earth.

"Morning, dragons," Lyle said cheerfully, from his place on one of the seats.

"We made good time", the rider, Korrow said. Korrow, like Lyle, was a nightwolf- he was several inches taller than Lyle, and more muscular too, though the thick, heavy cloak he wore hid his figure. "It's still early. Vel-Jerro is just beyond this gorge. I'd take you closer, but the sentries atop the walls would see the big guys", he said with a smile, gesturing to the giant wargs harnessed to the carriage. Both of the huge beasts- wolves, greater in size and strength than elephants, were brown in color and very impressive to look at.

"This is close enough," Gaaren replied, "Good job getting us here early. We'll walk to the base of the city walls while it's still dark, I doubt anyone will spot us."

"Good luck," Korrow chuckled. "Not that you three need luck."

Lyle was the first one to climb the rope ladder down the side of the large, six-wheeled carriage, planting his paws firmly on the ground. The rocky terrain was cold beneath his feet, not that it bothered the nightwolf. Gaaren and then Scale followed. The three walked past the giant wargs- Lyle taking a moment to thank each one for the ride and pet them on the nose, before walking to the end of the gorge.

Passing the large rock face, the three looked out onto the open, grassy plain that expanded for dozens of miles beyond the gorge- disturbed only by a large, imposing structure near the center of the grassland. A massive, two hundred foot wall, encircling the city of Vel-Jerro. In the center, rising higher than the great wall, was a single tower, easily three times the height of the mighty stone barrier surrounding it.

"This place reminds me an awful lot of Drakespire..." Gaaren grumbled.

It was no wonder. Though smaller, Vel-Jerro had been built decades ago by an ally of the Drakespire King as a tribute to his royal majesty, intended as a smaller, fortress city outpost for allied military forces and civilians alike. Today, the population numbered at around a half-million, only a few thousand of which were drakespire dragons. The rest of the residents were composed of various allied dragon, reptilian, lupine and vulpine races with a few extras who didn't fit into those categories. Among the more common races were the eastern forest lizard folk- reptiles who, despite lacking dragon blood, were gifted with flaming breath. Though not on par with Drakespire regarding military power or the strictness of the law, it was somewhere best avoided for one who enjoys peace and civility. More recently forces from the city had been taking part in small incursions into other kingdoms, which had started as a nuisance but quickly grown into serious problems. In addition, Vel-Jerro agents had been implicated in several recent high profile kidnappings of political, military and religious figures, which, as it happened, had everything to do with Lyle's current mission.

"If it reminds you of Drakespire, Gaar... then, you won't mind turning it into rubble," Lyle said, with a sly grin. "Anyway, let's get going. The map I have has the secret door marked. It's on the western side of the city, so if we start walking now, we should make it before sunrise."

Without another word, Lyle and the warrior dragon got moving, with Scale following nervously behind.

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