Though the seasons passed, and they visited many villages, Dover and Cynder continued to travel together. Cynder’s polite innocence nicely balanced Dover’s brash experience and many taverns found themselves to be thankful for it. They tended to camp out more often than not as neither of them felt particularly comfortable staying in town. Dover never hesitated to speak his mind, and his attitude frequently caused conflicts wherever he went. As for Cynder, the time she spent in civilization further proved that Dover’s personality was indeed an exception to that of most mortals. In fact he was as much a stranger to society as she was. Still, he knew how to interact with people, even if it frequently resulted in violence. If she ever saw her family again, she’d be sure to tell them of the fifth law she learned by traveling with him; “For mortals, violence and fear are more powerful than gold.”
The duo were currently camping at one of Dover’s many caches in the wilderness. It seemed like he had his own little base near every town they’d come to, probably an act of necessity considering the number of places which refused them board unless Cynder paid a significant premium. This time, even money wasn’t enough to get them a room. Recently travel has been much more dangerous, with entire caravans vanishing. This meant that merchants and travelers were staying in town until they could assemble a strong group of adventurers as escorts. Not only that, but minor villages had been reporting monster attacks, so people were fleeing to the larger towns.
The bright side was that work for two adventurers was plentiful. Anytime they wanted to travel from one place to another they easily found someone willing to pay for protection. Ever since the news of the attacks began, they had been working virtually nonstop. They were currently planning on traveling with the next major caravan leaving at week’s end, but before that they decided to take some time to relax and resupply.
Traveling together it was readily apparent to Cynder why Dover was such a fierce fighter. Every spare moment he had was preparing for his next fight, constantly gathering supplies or crafting equipment. Even now, while Cynder rested at camp, he was out foraging. This dedication was largely because his magical aptitude was startlingly low, he had to compensate with knowledge and various tricks when facing most monsters. On the flip side, from what she could tell, her magic had little effect on him and he was clever enough to see through most other magic they encountered. Add to that his inherent fearlessness and he was truly a force to be reckoned with.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Cynder still hadn’t shown him all she was capable of, though she had long abandoned concealing her talent with fire. In fact they had devised a way to better fight together. While Dover could utilize his spelled dagger for much, it was always risky fighting at dagger’s length. He also could only carry so much weight without hindering his mobility. Cynder, on the other hand, could throw fireballs at will and could stay more or less still as long as nothing attacked her directly. To further toughen her up, Dover had crafted her a new set of armor. She now wore a traditional fitted leather armor jerkin. It was heavier than her old jacket, and didn’t really protect her arms, but with the aid of her magic it could stop most ranged attacks. She also had a fairly light cloak to protect her from the elements and branches as she traveled through the woods.
Finally, Cynder now wore a sword on her back in an intricately etched sheath. It was about five hands long and looked absurdly large compared to her size. The etching was a spell of her own design, painted with a mixture of their blood and the flash powder Dover seemed to favor. When either of them drew the sword with the intent to fight, the blade would instantly ignite with the deep blue flame of magefire. Being magefire it drew its power from their innate energy and even if pressed against their bare skin wouldn’t harm them. If anyone else tried to touch it though, they would instantly regret it. This very clearly marked them as a team and drastically increased Dover's flexibility the few times he was caught off guard or fighting an unexpectedly strong creature. It also served as a ready made light source and excellent tool for shutting people up.
Towards evening, having accomplished what he’d planned for the day, Dover finally returned to camp. Despite staying fairly close, since they were both well aware of the increased danger lately, he still managed a sizable haul of game and supplies. Given that he would be busy well into the night processing the deer he hunted, Cynder felt it would be a good opportunity to raise a topic which has been weighing on her mind.
“My Guide, we have been traveling together for some time, would it be acceptable for me to ask about your armor? From what I have seen thus far during our journey Dragonscale is truly a rarity...”
Her voice trailed off as the wind suddenly picked up, carrying a familiar scent and drowning out her words. As if uttering the word "Dragon" had summoned it, the sound of powerful wings soon reached her ears as well. Looking towards the sky, the sun was blocked by a large shadow rapidly approaching.
Should I expand on the "Time Passes" scenes in the future?
