The Quest calendar (continues)… part 22

There was a little trouble getting back to West Haven, then Faris had to address a dragon situation.

When I reached the ship, Captain Vaughn was upset about the danger I was putting the ship in – as if anything other than this island was my fault – and demanded additional payment to take me back to West Haven. I talked him down to half of it.

The giant squid that attacked us en route to West Haven, for example, was not my fault. I rushed to a cannon, like many others, and managed to hit the creature with all four shots. Finally, after all that, I crawled into an empty hammock and slept until we docked in West Haven. My first stop was at a shop for some potions, knowing that Edvarius would be a tough opponent. Of course the guards spotted me immediately… lousy luck there. I only killed one of them before a whole swarm of them arrived and overpowered me.

They took me directly to Edvarius at the church cemetery, where he immediately seized the Dragon Staff, cackling about it securing his victory. I discretely sipped a potion of Aged Wine before asking Edvarius for more details, trying to stall his spellwork. He threatened to have me killed before completing the ritual. The dragon eggs back to crack and ooze, covering the skeleton, reforming muscles and tissue on it. I quaffed a Mental Elixir as the dragon let out a terrifying roar, trying one last time to interrupt this obscene ritual.

The guards released me at Edvarius’s signal, as soon as the dragon took flight. I whipped out my bow and shot it multiple times, carefully evading its attacks in the process. The dragon, Frothaerinvid, jumped down from the church room and began attacking random people. I shop him with another arrow, catching his attention as people fled.

I was firing furiously now, evading the dragon for the most part while peppering him with arrows. He reared back, opened his mouth, and blasted fire, engulfing the entire street. I ducked behind a stone pillar, evading the actual flames, though I still felt the heat.

The dragon started to fly away, struggling to do so with his oozing wings. I climbed a building, dashed across it, and leapt onto Frothaerinvid’s back. I clung to his rib cage as best I could, slicing my hands on his sharp bones. With Richard’s help, I stunned the dragon briefly, preventing it from biting me.

I knew I had to get the dragon away from the city, so I downed a Physical Elixir and used its horns to guide it towards the coastline. With the impending sunrise reflecting off the water, it occurred to me that the water might destroy the black ooze powering the dragon’s bones. I threw myself off his back as he crashed, though my landing in the water was no more graceful than his.

The ooze washed off his skeleton and dissolved into the water. The dragon stopped moving as its bones broke apart and floated to the surface. I swam back to the docks, climbed out, and collapsed for a few moments before the cries from the city drew me back to confront Edvarius.