The quest for dragon liver

Half an hour later, the gallop of Thiara's horse echoed through the streets of Arneravine, small clouds of dust following in Thiara's wake as she raced through the east gate and further north through the forest towards the small valley. The morning was fresh and the sun shone through the trees, dappling the path with golden flecks. She had a long journey ahead of her and slowed her horse's pace to a gentle trot, which would be sustainable for hours. After an hour, she reached the fork in the road that would lead her from the Green Valley up into the small valley, the road wide enough for horse-drawn carriages starting to rise here and along the rocky wall ranges to the west. The forest cleared and the view of the valley, dotted with fields, cows, and small farmhouses, became visible. To the east, Cattlemarket was already in sight, with a church and a handful of houses grouped around the large village square with a fountain. To the south stood the large mill on the hills, leading to the neighboring valley of the mighty Ringowyn.

As the road began to rise, she let her horse revert to a walk. She hoped she would reach the small valley before it got dark. Slowly, the Green Valley passed by her too slowly. Eventually, her daughter would dye, but what was she doing, a leisurely ride in the sun? But it wouldn't do if she exhausted her horse's strength now. She spurred it on, but when it soon fell back into a walk, she let it. The sun moved closer to its zenith, and Thiara closer to the pass. With the village of Cattlemarket already behind her, the road turned to the mountain, whose steep cliffs are divided here by a kind of gorge. At first, the path was steep and had to be partially carved out of the rock to be passable by wagons at all. Thiara dismounted and led her horse behind her and started to breathe heavily soon after. The walls of the gorge lost height as Thiara climbed higher, but they became wider to squeeze like a wedge through the mountain. The sun had long since passed its zenith when Thiara reached the pass, which was nothing more than a gravel field that lay like a saddle on this ridge. On the other side, the path began to drop again, first in a zigzag, then in tight serpentines that extend along the basin-like valley walls downwards. She let her horse only manage the serpentines at a walk, as one misstep could easily cost both of their lives. The valley floor was already in the shadow when they finally reached it, the sun would soon set. She gave her horse the heels of her boots to feel, and it galloped down the valley. This was a barren area, with rocks and sand, patches of grass, and a few gnarled pines.

This was a barren area of debris and sand with patches of grass, individual large stones and a few stunted pine trees here and there. The sound of a creek babbling and gurgling could be heard, which with the backwaters that passed by let it become a rush. The eastern slopes of the valley rising from the gravel were still bathed in yellow light that was getting thinner, disappearing into a deep red from the highest peaks into the starry sky, leaving the valley in blue moonlight. Further down the valley, the shadow of a cone created by a rock fall became visible, and very weak lights could be seen from the windows of the small hamlet Saphira. Although Thiara was tired, she spurred her horse on, as in Saphira she would find refreshment.

Thiara rode with the sound of hooves on gravel through the cool night air towards the lights. The shadow of the rock fall swallowed her. The road was barely distinguishable, and she felt transported back to her youth when she rode her horse across the vast plains of Chatelanovia, but now her heart was heavy as she fought for her daughter's life. When Thiara reached the first houses of Saphira, light only shone from a few windows. She had to find the blacksmith, he could sell her a fresh horse. Despite the darkness, she found the house easily, the sign with an anvil was clearly visible. She dismounted and went to the door, pulling out her knife to bang on it with the handle. After a while, the door was thrown open and Thiara looked into the face of an older man who looked tough. "Good blacksmith," said the queen, "it's an emergency. I need a fresh horse, as I'm on a mission for the kingdom and on the way to the Dragon Guild." "Good woman, what could be so important that you would take the pass down in the small valley from the molarthooth Mountains in the middle of the night and then wake the blacksmith?" "It's an emergency, I need your best horse!" "Yes, yes, now that you've already awakened me and half the neighborhood will see to it. So, my best horse, in the middle of the night, that‘s at least two hundred fifty crowns." Some curious neighbors had by now actually opened their shutters a little to see who was making such a racket. However, when Thiara looked around, she could see anyone, only black shadows opened up. "Yes, yes, now hurry up, I want to keep going." Thiara let the coins clink in her purse. "A Well, alright, I'm coming." She took her purse from her belt and started counting 2 gold pieces and 7 silver coins.

The smith came out with a large key to the door and opened a large gate which he now pushed aside with a rumbling. "It must be an emergency that you don't want to bargain." "I'll give you 270 crowns and this horse that you'll take care of today and look after until my return." Thiara followed the smith into the darkness, a barred window cast a little light on a workbench, a biting smell was in the air, on her left cheek she still felt warmth radiating from the forge that had been lit during the day. Through a second archway, they entered a stable with 3 horses. "This is my stallion Balduin, currently my best horse in the stable, he will serve you well as long as you don't break any legs in this darkness." "There is no other way." They led the horse out, Thiara handed the smith the coins and began to resaddle the horses. The smith wondered about the gold coins, weighed them in one hand before biting into one and then putting them away. "Good luck," he wished as Thiara mounted and galloped away. After riding out to the right from Saphira, the road got worse and she let her new horse go back to a trot. The road began to rise, made a bend and climbed up the passes in serpentines. Thiara got tired and closed her eyes from time to time as it was straight ahead. Then she was overcome by fatigue and could just hold herself in the saddle as her horse shied sideways from the cliff when they reached the next serpentine. She pulled the reins around and drove Balduin forward along the path following the mountain up with a blow of her heels. The few minutes of sleep and the shock drove the fatigue from her bones. As the dawn of a new day becomes apparent in the sky, the path finally begins to lead into the pass thru two of the mountain tops.

Grass still grows on both sides of the path here. The path now slowly becoming more visible as it continues to the right and leads over passes towards the east. But she will have to follow the path that leads behind the first ridge to the left and ride down a bit to reach the fortress of the dragon hunters. It was now bright enough to gallop again, but the dew that had settled overnight penetrated her cloak and she started to get cold. It wasn't until she had rounded the first peak of the ridge and had ridden a good way down into the side valley, with the fortress already in sight, that the first rays of the sun dared to emerge from behind the peaks, whose names the maps of Arneland no longer knew. With numb fingers, Thiara clutched the reins of her horse as she finally arrived at the squat gates of the fortress of the dragon hunters. Stiff with cold, she dismounted and walked to the door. As she had done in Saphira, she drew her knife to hammer against the door with its handle several times at intervals. But nothing happened, only the wind could be heard as it chilled around the ramparts of the fortress on this morning. Thiara wrapped her cloak around herself and led Balduin out of the shadow of the fortress into the sun to warm up at least a bit. After twenty minutes, she began to feel the warmth not only in her face but also slowly on her body, but she still felt cold. However, the singing of the wind was interrupted by the cawing of the heavy gate bolts being thrown back, and the gate swung open a bit.

Out of the black gap stepped a small skinny old man, Thiara immediately approached him, he stretched and blinked in the morning sun. When she addressed him: "Good sir," he spun around in alarm with his hand reaching for the dagger, staring past her and shouted: "Who's there?" "My name is Thiara of Arneravine and I have business to conduct with the Dragon Guild." "Whaat! A lady with ilness got stuck with a wagon build?" Thiara thought not only blind but also deaf: "THIARA OF Arneravine!" "Ah noble lady wishing to conduct business with us, well I am Florin van Dragofried, Master of Dragon Hunters. Let us go to the kitchen, it's still too cold for me outside." "What about my horse?" Thiara asked as Dragofried made his way back into the fortress. "Yeah, yeah, to the warm hearth," Dragofried grumbled back. Thiara looked back over her shoulder and saw Balduin grazing at the side of the road, she was in the mood for a warm hearth more than a horse and she followed Dragofried for now, Balduin could be retrieved later. The fortress looked bigger inside than out. In the inner courtyard, there was a forge to be seen and a horse stuck its head out of the stable. Armor and spears were lying around partially, and larger and smaller bones were piled up in front of a building, a red-gray object was stretched on a frame, perhaps the dragons were being gutted there. Dragofried ran down a narrow staircase and opened a small door. The air was warm and moist, and there was a faint smell of bread and bacon. The staircase led a few steps further down into a spacious kitchen. The kitchen was felt to be stocked with all sorts of provisions, sausages and ham hung from the ceiling and bags and barrels piled up on the ground, sparsely lit by a few oil lamps and an open fire.

"Linda, give this lady some warm food. She's our guest this morning. After she warms up, we'll see if she's also a good customer, hahaha ha!" Linda, a big, sturdy young woman, had been humming by the stove and turned to Thiara when Dragofried spoke. "Guests," she trilled, "come, sit and eat. You must have been half-frozen to travel through the night here. " She gestured to one of the two long tables in front of her. Thiara sat on the bench closest to the fire and leaned back against the bags stacked behind her when her senses started to fade.

"So, my lady, after you've rested a bit, you need to eat something now," Thiara was startled when Linda placed a steaming bowl of porridge on the table in front of her and for a moment didn't know where she was. When she looked into Linda's friendly blue eyes, she immediately remembered her sick daughter. She jumped up and screamed, "I need dragon liver, my daughter is sick, she will die! I have to go back to Arneravine immediately." "Oh, oh," said Linda, putting her heavy hand on Thiara's shoulder, "such a long journey and in your condition. Eat now, and then you will get your dragon liver." "My horse is still outside grazing." "My lady, eat now. Maldowyn brought your horse in. Maldowyn MALDOWYYYN!!! " A little latter a young man came down the stairs that led to the floor above the kitchen. "Maldowyn, there you are. Go and tell Alderan Feuergang that a customer wants to be served." The boy bowed without saying anything and rushed out the door. Thiara was grateful for the porridge. It was a treat to eat the honey-sweetened and warm dish. When she had completely emptied the bowl of what now seemed almost valuable porridge, she became impatient, just as a well-dressed gentleman, with an ugly and disfigured face came in the door. "A lady wishes to speak to me?"

"I am Thiara of Arneravine." "A queen? My lady, I'm sorry. Linda, why are we hosting the queen of Arnenland in the kitchen?" "I didn't know that, the old Dragofried brought her." "Don't worry about it, I am in a hurry, I desperately need dragon liver for my daughter who is seriously ill and may die if she is not treated soon." "So dragon liver," muttered Alderan, "then there is certainly urgency, but the fulfillment of your request will not be cheap I fear. Let's go upstairs to our medicinal library." Thiara stood up and followed the man from the kitchen across the courtyard to the keep located in the back of the fortress, which was partially carved into the rock, like her own home. "I haven't introduced myself yet, Your Majesty, I am Alderan Feuergang, the treasurer of the Dragon Guild," said Alderan as he pulled out a key and unlocked the heavily iron-plated door to the inner keep. "Very pleased, I hope we can complete our business quickly?" "Certainly, Your Majesty." They had to climb three more flights of stairs and pass through three more locked doors, Thiara noticed that Feuergang's hand was also scarred by burns and it was not easy for him to unlock and lock each door. Finally, they entered a high room filled with bookcases and cabinets with perhaps thousands of carefully labelled drawers. Between the books and parchment rolls were rows of large glasses, such as those made only by the glass blowers of Chatelanovia, containing various misshapen objects, some olive green, others dark red, still others almost black. "Your Majesty, do you intend to make an essence of the dragon?"

"That's what Edwina said," "Ah Edwina, a talented girl. I knew her mother, blessed is the town with such a learned healer. However, I fear we no longer have enough conventional dragon liver for an essence of the dragon. But we have freshly available fire fox devil dragon liver, extremely potent for an essence, also because it is only a few days old but also very rare, therefore expensive. Double the price to be precise." Thiara looked horrified after all these hardships and now this: "I'll pay any price. I have 2 pounds of pure gold, three rubies, an emerald as big as peas, and 1720 crowns in gold and silver." "Since you are a queen, I can offer a special discount of say 40,000 crowns, if you can prove it. You need at least a pound of dragon liver, that makes 360,000 crowns minus discount." Thiara placed the gold and the contents of her money bag and secret compartments incorporated into her robe on the table. Alderan took the covers off his precise scales and began carefully weighing the gold and gems, the gold worth 50,000 crowns per pound, and each ruby 30,000 crowns, plus the emerald 15,000. "This makes a total of 205,000 crowns, how do you intend to settle the remaining 155,000 crowns?" Thiara then also brought out her royal seal ring and a amulet, which distinguished her as a princess and ally of Chatelanovia. "I can issue you a royal promissory note for the remaining amount." "Excuse me, but your majesty, I cannot grant you such a large loan, we only do that in exceptional cases." Thiara looked devastated, she could now only do one thing. "Can I pawn my wedding ring?" she said as she offered Treasurer Firegang her ring. He took it and looked at it under a magnifying glass. "Impressive, this ring is worth about 70,000 crowns, good, your majesty, I grant you the loan!" Thiara therefore wrote a promissory note and authenticated it with her signature and seal, and had to leave her wedding ring as collateral. When the payment details were taken care of, Alderan began weighing off a pound of fire fox devil dragon liver.

"Majesty, it's a little more than a pound, and should result in a perfectly effective essence of dragon." Alderan placed the liver in an alcohol-filled leather pouch and fastened it with a metal clasp. "Thank you," Thiara said. Now she had to return as quickly as possible to save her daughter. "Majesty, it was nice doing business with you. Maldowyn will accompany you to Saphira." Thiara wished he would close the doors faster, and as she finally emerged from the keep, Maldowyn was already in the courtyard with a bow and arrows over his shoulder. "You'll accompany me? I'll leave immediately, where is my horse?" "It's in the stable, my lady, please follow me." Balduin, who had been fed and cared for, waited patiently. Thiara mounted him in the stable and ducked to ride out into the courtyard. There, Feuergang and the old Dragonfire had already opened the gate, and she ducked again to pass through it, after nodding politely to her hosts. She now spurred Balduin to leave the high valley where the dragon hunters' guild was located as quickly as possible. Behind her she heard the echoing hoof beats of Maldowyn's horse, who was trying to catch up after leading his horse out of the stable on foot. Only when they reached the pass that led east, or west to Saphira, was he able to catch up. To prevent their horses from falling, they could only slowly traverse the zigzag path that led down into the valley, and as they descended, the shadows cast by the mountains grew higher, and they dipped into them as the sun disappeared and curve by curve, they approached the lights of Saphira that were gradually being lit, and the sound of the stream was once again clearly audible.

"I will spend the night in Saphira," Maldowyn said. "I have no time to rest. I will go to the blacksmith and get my horse, and then move on to the next pass. Thank you for accompanying me." The switchbacks ended and the road became better. Thiara gave Balduin the spurs and rode at a wild gallop to the blacksmith. As she dismounted, the blacksmith already came out of the door. "Ah, good woman, you have returned safely, I have taken good care of your horse and saddled it this afternoon just in case I thought you would want to continue right away." "You are a good man, blacksmith," Thiara said as the blacksmith returned with her horse. "Thank you and goodbye." Although she was tired, Thiara mounted her horse again and trotted through the small town southwards, following the creek up the valley to the Greenvalley Pass. It had become very dark, Thiara looked into the forest on the other side of the creek where only deep black was visible between the trees as her gaze crossed over, while riding past. For a long time she could see the serpentine road at the end of the valley and wished she were already up there where thick clouds over the pass devoured the stars piece by piece. The hours passed, the forest became sparse until only a few bushes covered the valley floor of this basin-shaped valley. Finally, it went uphill, but it became more and more difficult to see. The thunderstorm over the pass further darkened the night. Finally, the road led into the clouds and Thiara had to dismount to lead her horse, it became colder and a fine rain that almost silently and slowly soaked her clothes became her companion. Step by step she went along the small ditch that led along the road and the mountain side, sometimes feeling with her foot if it was still there, this seemed endless, yet she was suddenly at an end. She now had to change sides to tackle the next switchback. Luckily, she always had one hand on the reins of her horse to give her support when she threatened to stumble in the oppressive darkness.