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Things felt calm, too calm, too still. Something was brewing, this knight knew all too well when something bad was coming. His gut feeling told him so, yet he would not shirk the duty handed to him. He was once an adventurer, like so many humans, but alas, he preferred to talk rather than fight, not that his skill with a blade should be called into question. Some joined guilds, others preferred the sense of adventure, the thrill of battle and finding hoards of treasure and loot, but he felt something different in him, one that called to him every time he passed by a cave. He felt that such dreams would never be for him, and serving some spoiled brat handed a throne to be rather... cumbersome.

Instead, he preferred to be away from Human civilization, the corruption within causing him to be filled with disgust. Vampires were human too, though they profusely say otherwise. They shared the same emotions, and regrettably, the same corruption of power. He didn't want that, to be some sort of guard for a corrupt politician or some other 'noble' title. He saw more beggars with noble intentions, whether they be truth or lies, than he ever saw from any Human or Vampire Guard, or 'royalty'. But, he could clearly recall tales of his childhood regarding Dragons. They were always strong, but very intelligent, noble, and wise.

Dragons were the only things he ever hoped to meet, elegant and beautiful, dangerous and terrifying, he cared not. He spent many of his adventuring years scaling mountains, just in the hopes of meeting one. In his teen years, he even took studies of Dracology, just to understand their living habits, how they fought, what each specific sub-species had that were unique. That's when he found an image that he truly admired for it's beauty and lethality, the Red Dragon of the Chromatic Subspecies. From the shade of red, to the sharpness of the claws, to the amount of fire one could spew at a time and for how long, he longed to at least see one and have a talk with it. That dream was filled, and more.

He heard the sound of scales on gravel behind him, but he knew who it was, and knew they were now awake. He turned and knelt in reverence to the dragon, his armor making little sound as he knelt, his sword remaining sheathed as he stayed kneeled before the red dragon. The wonderful thing stretched and let out a yawn, the knight feeling the soft gust of those wings as their owner woke up more to greet the day. With a soft chirp, he stood up and gazed up the wonderful creature, like he had multiple times, but it still filled the Human with awe. Those eyes settled on his and soft spoke in the Common Tongue.

"Good Morning, my knight. I trust nothing ventured in during the night?" came the uncharacteristic feminine tones of the dragon.

"Nothing came nor left, as promised."

"And the warrens?"

"They slept like newborns."

With a strangely warm smile, the dragoness nodded her head for him to leave his post, just as the first of the kobolds and goblins came in and kneeled. It wasn't uncommon for such creatures to act as such around a dragon, but after first meeting her, he learned that she preferred to being more motherly to creatures that many Humans deemed to be lowly or just unfit to live. Sure, he himself faced off against raiding parties of both, even stumbled upon Shaman camps, but when met with combat, he only disarmed them and favored a talk, which helped him to speak Goblin, allowing him to have deep conversations with the other denizens that served the Dragoness. He didn't like that there were those that held disdain for him, just because of his race, but he never hated them just because of the die they were cast in the lot of life. Nor did he ever hate the kobolds, goblins, hobgoblins, and even bugbears that made assaults at him.

He made his way to his quarters to rest, knowing that things would repeat. It had been almost a full year since he finally found a dragon, and pledged his service to her, wanting nothing in return. His tasks may have appeared mundane, but he couldn't ask for a better situation. Away from the corruption of civilization, among a varied number of races, or rather, sub-races, and tending to a dragoness as she saw fit. He never bothered to ask for her name, nor intended to, and those of the Warrens that visited him tried to speak his name, but just accepted the nickname they started to call him over his Human one given at birth. He softly smiled at the turn of events in his life, going from literal poverty, taking what schooling he could, to serving as a knight to a Dragon.

He heard a knock at his door, and he opened it to see a little goblin girl looking up at him. He stepped aside for her to enter, and softly closed the door, sitting on the other side of the table, and delved into conversation with her. He enjoyed the talks with this one, seeing she was once the daughter of a Chieftain and a Shaman, but was unceremoniously offered to the Dragoness for protection, possibly out of fear of what she could do to the goblin camp. He understood that she was adept in magic, primarily conjuring small things, like candle holders and cups, but he always patiently told her that any good caster was patient, and worked slowly to get to the level of efficiently they sought, something one of the teachers kept spouting in the Anatomy portion of his Dracology classes. And the little goblin was improving at a steady rate, taking rests when she felt tired or just being a child when she had some free time.

His own ability with magic was nonexistent, and didn't care to learn about it, but it seems that, same with training with a weapon, training with magic took the same road of patience. After an hour of the conversation with the little goblin girl, she said her goodbyes and left, closing the door politely behind her, no doubt going to work on her spells or just be a little goblin child. That was when he got a mental alert for him to appear before the Great One, what the goblinoids called the Dragon. Sighing softly, he stood up and headed towards her chamber, kneeling before her in reverence.

"My Knight, I have need of your skill of tongue and blade. One of the scouts came back and reported seeing a troupe of adventurers heading up the mountain path. Find their intentions, and if need be, stop them."

"It will be done. Should I turn them back unharmed?"

"Lethal force as a last option. Humility is the best teacher for fools."

"Only to those who recognize it." was the last thing he said before he rose and headed down the mountain path, worn in from the scouts coming to and fro with their reports and duties. It always amazed him that, despite the grandiose tales of dragons having the mountain full of treasure, the dragoness he served had a paltry amount. It mattered little to him, but for the brave and foolish, they only imagined wealth beyond their bags. It took him under an hour before he caught sight of the group of Humans, and they were armed to the teeth with weaponry and armor, almost as if they were paid Hunters, some of them looked Elven even.

"Good day. May I ask what you are doing, looking like you're about to face a demon of the nethers?" he asked politely, thankful that his voice was smooth instead of gravely like many adventurers or brigands tend to be.

One of the Elves in the back spoke up. "You are not far off in your assumption. The nearby kingdom put out a bounty for a nearby dragon and it's warren, claiming it to be a rather irksome situation for him and his attempts to expand his hold."

Sighing heavily, he looked as the most heavily armed one of the group. "His greed for more power will be his downfall. No matter how much he has, he will no doubt be dead before his firstborn is even of age. It's a fruitless endeavor anyway, the dragon of this mountain, and well as the warrens within, are of peace, and desire nothing more than to live in such. None of them even want to fight, thus, you'd be committing a massacre."

A burly man steps in front and glares angrily at the Knight, letting out a growl that would normally be intimidating. "So yer a Kobold-lovin flop! I have ha'f a mind to just kill ya where ya stand Boy!"

Before he could make a retort, the leader puts a hand on his companion's shoulder to calm him down, then looks at the Knight. "We understand what you say, but we do need the coin."

Sighing softly, the Knight just shakes his head. "Then I have no choice but to defend what I call home." He took a few steps back and drew his blade, it shimmering in the dawn as the scales of the dragon's shed skin gleamed softly. He took note that the Elves just stood back, not wanting to be part of this, whereas the burly adventurer grabbed his greataxe and charged forth, only to end up parried, kicked back, and missing a few teeth.

The leader looked at his comrade and shook his head. "Too eager for a fight against an unknown opponent." With that, he unsheathed a spear, the few others brandishing their weapons, intent to win through numbers. One by one, they were parried, disarmed, and sent back with only bruises, their weapons behind the Knight. At this point, the burly warrior had gotten back up and attempted another charge. The Knight made one slash, the tip nicking some of the fool's bangs before the head of the axe fell to the ground, leaving him with but a short staff of a stick.

Undeterred, he remounted his charge, but was met with parries and blocks from the dragon's knight, even a few rather hard kicks, leaving him breathless, where the knight was barely breaking a sweat. Deciding to finish this pathetic attempt of a fight, the Knight gave the fool a rather hard knee to his chin, knocking him out cold before turning his gave to the rest of the troupe. The Elves were still unwilling to participate in what they already knew was a fruitless fight, the rest looking stunned and dazed, yet the leader just chuckled.

"You've proven your point. A tragedy we had to pick up this drunken sod... we'll leave, saying we were bested by a wandering swordsman. What was your name?"

Sheathing his sword, the Knight looked to the leader with a knowing nod before answering, "Just call me Erman... I hope we don't have to meet again..." With that, he kicked their weapons off the side, some of the troupe gazing as the weapons fell out of sight, most likely to be lost and shattered. The leader just chuckled and picked up the unconscious oaf, leading the group back down the mountain. With that, Erman walked back to the cave, and delivered the report, earning a gracious thanks from the dragon before returning to his chambers, intent on getting some well earned sleep. That was his duty now, keep guard and deflect those foolish enough to try and massacre those who never shed a drop of blood. He smiled at the fact that he was defending creatures most would call uncouth and savage, yet deemed themselves honorable and noble. These creatures were more honorable than they were, at least in his eyes, and he found sleep to greet him swiftly.