Chapter 5 - Red Dragon

The city was almost out of sight behind Kal and Dugong. Once Kal was certain no one was around and that he was out of sight, he dismounted Dugong and took off his saddle. He didn't plan on taking the entire two weeks to travel on Dugong's back, he was going to summon a flying mount.

"This is where we part ways." Kal said, patting Dugong's neck.

"You're free from this moment onwards. Go, go on, I won't stop you."

Dugong walked a few steps, going to the side of the road, then started to graze. There was plenty of grass, it was the middle of summer so it was green and lush. There were a few trees dotting the landscape, but the land was mostly flat. The forest was in the opposite direction, North of the city.

Kal thought for a moment, thinking of the best mount to summon. Over the centuries, when he wasn't deep in his research on other planes, he learned many summoning spells. Kal was always a big fan of having a summon for any situation, it was always good to be prepared. Having made up his mind, he held out his hand and his mind did the rest.

A stone covered arm shot out of the ground, a large clawed hand gripping the soil. Soon, another arm followed, they worked together to haul a large, grotesque body out of the ground. It stood ten feet tall, wings, completely made of stone spreading out, eclipsing Kal. After shaking its body to rid itself of the dirt, the gargoyle stood by silently, awaiting orders.

Kal chose a gargoyle to ferry him to the capital because, just like him, its stamina was infinite. It might not be the speediest flyer, but would never need to rest. Kal walked around the gargoyle, inspecting his handiwork. The magic inside of him was continuously growing in power, and it seemed to transfer over to his summons as well. The gargoyle had dim red light shining through the small cracks and crevices dotting his body. Its eyes were also shining red, though he couldn't remember if they were always that color.

"Well, off we go!" Kal shouted out, giving the gargoyle the command to go.

Picking Kal up in a bridal carry, the gargoyle flapped its massive wings, accelerating both of them into the sky. A gust of wind carrying dust and debris washed over Dugong who was grazing nearby. The horse watched as his temporary master became a small dot in the sky, heading south. Once he could no longer see him, lowered his head and continued to graze.

.....

After nearly two solid days of flying, Kal could see an impressive city far off in the distance. According to the few books that were of use in the mayor's study, the country that sprouted around his lair was called Amine. The capital city was given the name of Lenova, apparently after the first king. He didn't recall any king with that name, so he figured it was much later after he started his research.

While flying, Kal would periodically cast the spell detect life, trying to gauge the makeup of the country he was in. Amongst the humans were a spattering of elves and dwarves, although not many. He cast it once more, closer to the capital, not surprisingly the ratio of elves and dwarves was much higher here. Before the war, elves and dwarves had their own countries and territories, and didn't blend in with humans. It seems that there was some integration between the races after the undead were defeated.

A mental order was all it took for the gargoyle to begin searching for a place to land. They were still several miles from the capital, but even Kal knew not to fly right into the city, especially on a gargoyle. Finding a nice clearing, the gargoyle touched down, placing Kal roughly on the ground. Gargoyles weren't known for their gracefulness.

The area around the capital was beautiful, small streams and waterfalls dotted the landscape. The flowers were in full bloom, insects buzzing from flower to flower, pollinating them in return for nectar. A small deer stood in fear, seeing the foreign creature that dropped down from the sky. It took off running once Kal waved his hand, making the gargoyle disappear back into the ground.

Taking a stroll through the forest and down the road, he soon found himself approaching the gate of Lenova. Unlike Sorkin, Lenova's gate was congested, a long line of people, wagons, carriages, and the horses that pulled them, all waited to enter the city. A dozen guards were inspecting each wagon or carriage, looking for anything that would pose a danger to the city.

He placed himself at the back of the line, impatiently tapping his foot. The guards were in no hurry, inspecting each visitor. He figured it would take him more than an hour to eventually enter the city. Although he had all of eternity, he didn't want to waste a single moment. He thought about skipping the line, cloaking himself and infiltrating the city. The only problem was the token the guards would hand to each visitor, giving them permission to be in the city.

If he skipped the check, he would need to steal a token. Each was easily doable, but would take up more time than just waiting would. After a few seconds of deep thought, a sly smile spread across his face, he knew just what to do.

Kal inconspicuously pulled an ancient scroll out of his storage ring. Although he knew hundreds of spells, and mastered most of them, he would still forget a few over the years. After refreshing his memory by reading the scroll's contents, he put it away and started to silently chant. With intricate illusion spells, it was always a must to perform the chant, even with his recent boost in power. The chant would not only allow the illusion to manifest quickly, it would also give it much more detail. Each word was akin to a line of code in a program, without all the lines working together, the program wouldn't run correctly, even crashing. Without the words for the chant, the illusion would fail to manifest, or fall apart midway through.

Off in the distance, over the lush forest surrounding the capital, a small dot in the sky was rapidly approaching. No one noticed its presence, not until a roar sounded off in the direction of the dot. The line of people started to look around, trying to find the source of the far off sound. The roar sounded off once more, this time much closer, much louder. One man turned around and looked up into the sky, squinting his eyes, trying to make out the ever growing dot in the sky.

"DRAGON! ITS A DRAGON!" He screamed, pointing into the sky with a shaky finger.

Everyone turned, not believing what he said. There hadn't been a dragon sighting in hundreds of years, why would today be any different. Soon, they all saw what the man saw, a massive red dragon. It was close enough to see clearly now, it was over one-hundred feet in length. It had scales the size of dinner plates, horns that curled out the side of its head that was filled with teeth the size of bananas.

It roared again, the air itself was vibrating because of its might. This put the crowd into a panic, pushing and shouting as they all rushed into the safety of the city walls. The guards were trying to keep the stampeding crowd orderly, but were overwhelmed due to the number of pedestrians. Kal blended into the surging wave of people, easily slipping into the city, even pocketing a token on his way.

The gates closed once everyone was safely inside. Archers lined the walls, nocking their arrows. A few mages activated a defensive array, surrounding the city in a golden dome of light. Shouting and screaming could be heard from the soldiers and the citizens alike as they ran around either getting into position or into the shelter of the buildings.

Having achieved his goal, Kal stopped supplying the faux dragon the mana needed to sustain it. Dissolving into particles of light, the massive red dragon that was directly over the city disappeared. Silence reigned over the city as people couldn't comprehend what was happening. A mythical red dragon appeared to be attacking the city, only for it to vanish like a ghost, it didn't make sense.

Soon, more orders were shouted out, mainly from the mages that lined the walls. They knew that it must have been a complex illusion, now they needed to quickly figure out who had cast it and why. The size and detail of the spell told them that an extremely powerful mage was responsible, they couldn't rule out that an opposing country was responsible, making this an urgent matter.

Kal turned down a darkened alleyway, gaining distance from the hectic area around the gate. Although the dragon had disappeared, people were still taking cover inside the buildings, making the roads practically empty. The sound of his boots striking the cobblestone echoed off the tall stone buildings, it was eerily quiet.

Several city blocks later, the city slowly came back to life. Men, women, and children all poked their heads out of open doors and windows, looking up into the sky. They hadn't known that the dragon attack was just an illusion, they had all taken cover before it miraculously disappeared. Not seeing any danger, they timidly exited back onto the streets, keeping one eye on the sky.

Kal had been looking for anything related to dungeons or adventurers, but had failed to find anything. Now having to watch where he walked due to the influx of people, he zigged and zagged, weaving through the now crowded streets. After turning down a wide, well maintained road, something caught his eye.

At the end of the wide road, that was paved with rare, white marble, were massive gates. The gates were made from metal, reflecting silver light. They were standing wide open, allowing pedestrians and carriages alike free passage. Behind the gates, and the walls that were ten feet high, was a sprawling campus, covering many city blocks.

A grand fountain propelled crystal clear water into the sky, before falling back down, creating beautiful rainbows. There were several people sitting around the fountain, either silently reading or talking amongst each other. They were all wearing matching uniforms, dark red vest over black long sleeves with black pants. An insignia was embroidered on the left side, the same insignia that was on the front of the open gates. A five pointed star with smaller stars arranged in a circle around the larger one.

Kal made his way past the open gates, the guards just looking at him, but leaving him unmolested. Walking up to the fountain, he read the placard that adorned the dragon that was in the middle, with its mouth open, shooting the flame of water towards the sky. 'Askook the water wyrm. Built in commemoration of The Academy of Magic and the Mysteries: circa 1504.'

A wave of nostalgia washed over him, cascading thoughts through his mind. Although his mind was a jumbled mess, he could still recall an academy from his past. Fragmented memories of a large office with an oak desk, a classroom full of students, wearing uniforms very different from what was in front of him.

"Was I a professor before? Or maybe just a student? It's been ages since I was human. No matter, this is the perfect place to gather information.." He said, walking towards the large buildings behind the fountain.