That went about as expected, Oskar thought as he dragged Manuel from the town hall. He glanced over at his friend. Just need to calm him down. In a couple days, he won’t remember a thing and we can get back to living our lives. Maybe I’ll talk Olena into coming to the beach with us, that’ll cheer him up.

Oskar dropped Manuel off back at his house and turned back toward the barracks. He yawned as he walked, looking forward to getting some rest after a long night. Couple days off will be nice, the night watch is always exhausting. The guards of the town rotated shifts one week a month, as pairs were moved to work the night shifts. No one liked it, but the two days off afterwards for recovery were always nice. He noticed Gunnar heading back to the guard house as well and fell in beside him.

“Morning Captain,” Oskar said as he approached. “Sorry about the dragon business, hopefully it just fades away in a couple days.”

Gunnar nodded in response. “No kidding. We aren’t remotely prepared to deal with a dragon,” he replied. “This whole place would be up in smoke in seconds. Got some more unfortunate news this morning, too. Samuel’s kid has been sick and he’s caught it now too. Any chance I can talk you into covering this afternoon for me? I’ll pick up his night rotation tonight.”

“Swear, every time it’s his week for the night watch, something seems to come up,” Oskar responded.

“He’s a good lad though. Trains hard, and can’t fault him for putting his family first. Even if it gets him into trouble,” Gunnar said. “I’ll throw in an extra day of leave for you. Take Manuel to Baybreach for a few days, and get his mind off things.”

“Yeah, I guess I can fill in this afternoon,” replied Oskar, already thinking about the shenanigans he and Manuel could get into on a three day trip to Baybreach. He stretched and yawned. “I’ll grab some coffee from the barracks and head back to the post.”

Gunnar nodded and turned toward Tobias’ shop. Oskar watched the man go, before returning to the barracks. While he boiled water for the coffee, he looked over his bow. It had seen better days, but he’d had the thing since he was a teenager and couldn’t bear to part with it. I’ll see if I can find some wood oil in Baybreach tomorrow and get you back to your old luster.

The morning slowly turned into afternoon, and Oskar was bored. A couple traders came by shortly after he’d taken up the front gate posting but they paid the small trader’s tax without much fuss. Nothing to do all day, but watch the wind play in the trees and daydream about the women he and Manuel would surely meet in Baybreach.

Motion off near the forest edge caught his attention and broke his daydream. Someone, a young man by the looks of it, broke through the underbrush and jogged through the short grass in the direction of the village. As he neared, Oskar saw that the man looked ragged. His clothes were worn and dirty, and the man looked as though he’d been in the woods for weeks. Oskar called out to him as he approached.

“Hello friend, what brings you to Starstone?” he said. Better to be friendly first, never know who you might stumble onto, Oskar thought as he climbed down from the wall. The man was confused. Clearly, he’d heard me.

After a moment, the man reached out. Oskar tensed and stepped back. The mountain man raised his hands non-threateningly and seemed like he tried to speak, but all that came out was a low, rumbling growl.

“Why are you here, Demon?” Oskar shouted. Images of beasts cloaked in human form descending from the mountains flowed through his head. Childhood stories come to life before his eyes. “Speak a human tongue!”

The mountain man remained confused. Slowly, he reached down to his shoes. Oskar remained on guard, his spear at the ready. The man pulled something from his shoe. It shone in the sunlight, a bright garnet color. A dragon scale.

The realization crashed over Oskar like a mighty wave against the cliffs. Cautiously, he reached out and took the scale. The shape and the way the light reflected off it… This had to be a dragon scale. Tobias would know for sure. He looked back to the man, who seemed to be in some pain.

“Where did you find this?” Oskar said. “Where are you from? Your clothes are worn and dirty, you don’t seem to speak any language. You start growling at me, then pull a dragon scale from your shoe. Answer me, demon!”

The man hacked and coughed for a moment. When he was finally done, he spoke in clear language, no sign of the growl from before. Oskar was still suspicious of the growling, but his coughing was explanation enough.

“And you only found this one scale?” Oskar asked. “Where was this cave?”

The man gestured off to the west and explained he’d taken refuge from the storm the other day in a cave. Oskar listened to the man’s story and contemplated. This is surely enough proof to get a hunting party out here. Manuel wasn’t lying, there’s a dragon somewhere out there. On the bright side though, it may have been just passing through. No one sleeps in a dragon’s cave and lives to tell about it. I’ll have him show it to Tobias, and then speak with the smith later. If it’s genuine, we’ll go to the council immediately.

Oskar directed the man to take the scale to Tobias if he wanted to sell it. He gathered the man’s name, Enzo, and was about to let him pass when he thought better of it.

“Do me a favor, and keep that scale to yourself,” said Oskar. “People around here get nervous living so close to the mountains, I don’t need to deal with rumors of a dragon running around out there.”

Enzo seemed to understand the importance of keeping things quiet, so Oskar let him pass. I get the feeling I’ll be seeing more of that man. He’s strange… the growling was odd, but maybe he actually was sick from the storm. He wouldn’t be the only one, and if his story about the cave is true, it wouldn’t surprise me. I’ll ask Tobias about him. The old smith is a good judge of character.

Oskar watched Enzo enter Tobias’ shop and start to help the old man. Can’t be all bad I guess he thought as he turned and returned to watching the road for travelers. Back to daydreaming… I hope there’s a ship in port, I know how Manuel loves the rum those sailors drink.