Or at least that was the plan when I decided to go to sleep, but when I wake up more time has passed. I only know this because I can see the light of dawn outside, and it wasn't even night when I fell asleep. However, it wasn't the light that woke me, it was the sound of voices from outside the cave.

Not being sure if it is just the next day or if I slept for longer, I get up and walk outside to see what's going on. The second I am out of the cave nets drop on me from above and more are thrown at me from the sides. Yelling battle cries several humans with swords or spears charge up and attack me.

Still feeling a little confused from having just woken up I simply stand there as they attack me. The swords and spears hit my scales and don't even scratch them, in fact some of the weapons break. This results in the faces of all the humans dropping and suddenly starting to show fear.

Taking a look at all the mismatched equipment and how carefully they staged the ambush I am guessing they are adventurers. Simply stretching out my wings is enough to shred all the nets and free me. Not that I was ever worried, after all they are just humans.

As the pieces of netting rain down around me all the humans stop and start looking at each other. It is obvious that they don't have a backup plan and are unsure what to do next. I could have already slaughtered all of them, but I am curious about how they found me.

"Such brave humans, to dare disturb my slumber!"

Adventurer1 says "Please, forgive us! We got greedy when we heard about the bounty!"

"What bounty?"

Adventurer2 says "The emperor put a bounty on your head for killing Duke Sevaris a week ago, one million gold!"

'A week ago? I slept for an entire week?!'

Quickly, I shift my attention into the shadow pocket to check on Ekard. Luckily, he is still safe and sound, he is currently sleeping surrounded by dirty dishes. He must have somehow found a way to get into my pouch while I was sleeping.

That is a relief, if something had happened to him while I was sleeping I don't know what I would do. While I have no idea why I slept for a week, the fact that he was able to take care of himself is impressive. When he wakes up I will ask him about it, but for now I should deal with the humans.

"You all are lucky that I don't like the taste of humans! Get out of my sight before I decide to make an exception!"

The adventurers don't give me a chance to change my mind, they all run off the second I finish speaking. However, they will most likely return with stronger forces, if they can find any. I could stay here and play with the humans for a while, but since I've been gone a week already I should head back.

If there are adventurer teams out hunting me, then it would seem that they believe I am from here. That should mean that my mission was successful, but I won't know for sure until I check with Mercy. Now I just need to get back without being spotted by anyone in the empire.

While I could wait until nightfall, Mercy is probably already worried about me. So once I am sure the adventurers have left the area I launch into the sky heading northeast. Only after I have flown over a couple of villages do I start gaining altitude.

Once I am high enough that even my eyes can't see anything on the ground I turn west. I am so high that the air is thin even for the drake's body but I tough it out. It isn't bad enough that I get dizzy, just enough that I feel like I can't get a full breath.

It takes me a few hours of flying before I am sure I have crossed the border. Then I dive down until I can see landmarks to try to figure out where I am. Based on the directions I have flown, I should be somewhere north of Mercy's camp.

So I turn south and fly low until I spot something I can recognize then adjust my course. After that I spot Mercy's camp within thirty minutes or so and head down. The soldiers start cheering when they spot me and it quickly spreads throughout the camp.

As I come in to land outside Mercy's tent the cheering soldiers surround me. At first I can't figure out why they are cheering for me, but then I guess it's because of Sevaris. With Sevaris dead and the majority of his soldiers having fled the chances of a war happening are close to zero.

Mercy says "So, the conquering hero finally returns!"

"Why does that sound like I am in trouble?"

Mercy says "Maybe because you abandoned the plan? You suddenly attacked the army and killed Sevaris, then you vanished for over a week!"

"I'm sorry that I worried you. Some new information came up and the plan had to change."

Mercy says "What information?"

"When I raided Sevaris' country estate I found a dungeon filled with female children."

Mercy says "What...Oh!"

"Yeah, he got what he deserved!"

Mercy says "Yeah, I guess that's understandable. But why did you vanish for a week?"

"Well, I was laying down a false trail so I wouldn't be linked to the kingdom and I kind of took a nap."

Mercy says "You took a nap?! For a week?!"

"Yeah, I'm still not sure why, I might still be sleeping if a group of adventurers hadn't woken me up."

Mercy says "Adventurers? Why would they wake up a drake?"

"Well, it seems the emperor put a bounty of a million gold on my head."

Mercy says "A million gold?!?"

"Yeah, that's what they said."

Mercy says "In that case, why are you still a drake?!"

"Um, I kind of just got used to it."

Mercy says "Well, change back! Idiot!"

At Mercy's request I reluctantly drop my shapeshift and resume my normal form. As soon as I do I feel strange, almost like my body doesn't fit me anymore. The feeling that everything around me is my domain fades away and I suddenly feel vulnerable.

Mercy says "That's better! Wait, what's wrong? You don't look so good!"

"I'm not sure, I suddenly feel weak!"

Mercy says "Come on, let's get you back to your tent. Lizzy will be happy to see you."

When they see how unstable I am on my two legs Mercy has two of her strongest soldiers help me. It doesn't work very well but soon Leonarr and Verica show up and take over. With their help I manage to make it back to my tent, where Lizzy is waiting.

Lizzy says "Ash, what did you do to yourself now?"

"I'm not sure yet."