Dragon Reincarnated

Que Cliche Bandit Encounter

My departure from my forest home was actually rather dull.

It consisted of me getting up in the morning, stretching out the aches from the day before, flying for two to three hours- depending on how taxing the wind was on that particular day- and then stopping for the day.

I would hunt when I could, either on the wing or after I stopped for the day, and drink when ever I passed a stream or pond I could safely land near.

As I left my carved out little territory near the nest Verona had laid my egg, I came across more and more monsters, but usually flew over, and past them. I didn't even take the time to examine them as I once would have done, curious about the creatures of this world.

The truth was that all the flying took so much out of me that by the time I landed I was wiped out.

Every muscle ached and I could hardly keep my eyes open long enough to drag my scaly hide to a semi-safe location to sleep.

The longer I spent in the forest, the more likely a monster would pick me off in my weakened state.

But, today was going to be the day. The open meadows and rolling hills were easily in sight now, and not just a bright green line on the horizon. And the trees had been spreading out wider as I passed over them.

I was just picturing all the sleep I was going to get the second I escaped these trees. I would find a nice cave, or maybe a cliff... something defensible! Then I could just rest a recuperate for a few days, before figuring out what it was that I needed to do next.

But my keen eyes caught sight of an intriguing sight beneath me as I flew rather low over the trees (I was still nervous with flying up high where the winds were less forgiving): It was a road. An honest, to goodness, road! Mind you, it was a dirt road, but a road all the same.

Where there were roads, there were people. And where there were people there were towns!

It had been so long since I had seen humans- heck, any people, no matter the race.

.. After all, Lottie's book sure had a lot of intelligent beings I could become in this world.

I wasn't even sure if I could remember how to hold a conversation any longer.

Even before I died and became a dragon I was never very social, preferring my room, a good cup of coffee, and my books.

Lost in thought about potential human interactions, I was roused from my musings by a cacophony of noise to my right. I was sure that I could here people shouting, maybe a scream, and was that the sound of swords clashing?

I tilted my wings away from the road and passed over many trees, towards the noise.

It wouldn't be hard to locate the dirt path again, and I couldn't ignore the racket.

What if it was the bandits who took my siblings?

I assumed that they would never dare stick anywhere near where they had stollen them.

After all, they had not stuck around to confirm Verona was dead.

For all they knew, they had a massive silver dragon looking for them.

But if they were dumb and brazen enough to snatch eggs from a being as dangerous as my mother, then they just might have some kind of camp on the edge of the forest, looking to fence the eggs from there.

To my surprise the trees opened up again after only a scant minute long flight, revealing yet another dirt road.

This one looked even more traveled, with ruts in the dirt- probably from wagons and carriages- and short wooden guard rail along the verge, preventing horses and their cargo accidentally veering into a ditch.

But, more than the road, what caught my eye was the ruckus upon it. Was this, literally, the single most stereotypical bandit encounter situation?

There was a carriage in the middle of the road, its lacquered wood gleaming in the sunlight, and two very large horses keening and bucking at its head.

Around them were various men with swords, an axe, and I was pretty sure one was wielding a massive hammer too.

More than half the men wore what I would call the 'bandit get-up' of miss matched rags with scatted bits of leather armor over the top.

The bandits looked pretty wild compared to the men they were in combat with.

The other side of this fight seemed to ben a flurry of men in uniform: icy blue coats with golden touches, white pants and shirts, and gleaming swords in their hands.

Given the fancy nature of the carriage and the military like uniforms, I could only assume that they were some kind of royal guard, and within the carriage would likely be some royal or noblemen.

Unsure how to proceed, I veered off to the side and landed precariously in a large tree.

I was long past the time where a tree would be happy to hold me, and the branches creaked and moaned in protest. The fighters took no notice, however, and I managed to stay hidden for the time being.

I doubt that would last long though, as pink scales were hardly forest camouflage.

What should I do?

I could try and help these strangers... They looked like they needed it, as they seemed to be out numbered three to one. Even the best trained swordsmen would have trouble with those numbers. They may very well all die if I just sat here watching.

But, I was a dragon. It could be that they would all turn on my as well, the second I revealed myself.

Then It would be me, against nearly thirty people.

Without being able to use fire breath I may not make it out of such a fight, even with my minor abilities with magic.

I was exhausted, my belly empty, and not confident in my current fighting spirit.

It would be a damn shame to die at the start of my journey because I wanted to help a bunch of strangers. ..

Indecision racked me, and I saw one of the bandits fall to the ground, dead. But it didn't seem to affect his comrades much at all, as another easily stepped over his body to take his place.

I was debating maybe doing a fly-by and giving them all a good scare, providing an opening for the guards to either turn the tide of the fight, or pick up and flee, when something had me growing still on my leafy branch: the terrified scream of a child.

Inside the meagre protection of that carriage was a defenseless little girl.

My brain jumped into action and I cast a spell that I probably should have used from the start: Detection>

In an instant I could see quite a bit. This wasn't the first time I had employed this spell during my escape from the forest, but it was the first time using it in a combat situation. At least my practice had me aware of the spell's limitations.

For instance, each person suddenly had a name applied to them, but that name was just a broad association.

The bandits were just labeled 'bandit'. As for the others, I saw that they held the names of 'Orelious Royal Guardsmen' on them.

I suppose they must come from a town or country called Orelious?

That didn't matter much, right then.

It was hard to pick out one person from the other, as there so many people jumbled togethers, their labels overlapping. But, after a second, I could just make out Another generic label that was different from the rest: 'Princess of Orelious'.

Well dang. A full fledged princess, huh?

Title, or no title, I would not leave a child to be killed.

Despite the decision to help having been made, it did not change the facts that had made me hesitate in the first place. How could I help without being ganged up on by bandits and guardsmen alike?

Deciding that I would take advantage of the distracted situation the men found themselves in, I went for a sneak attack approach.

Or, as sneaky as a horse sized dragon could be, at any rate.

I launched myself from the forested hiding spot, dropping almost to the ground before spreading out my wings and gliding.

I gave myself some props for that one. Not only was it a bit of acrobatics that I had yet to even come close to preforming before now, I didn't even clip my wings on the trees. So, yay me!

Relying on the fight to keep the bandits distracted, and the momentum of my glided fall, I took a relatively straight line toward the enemy.

Luckily the tree I had hidden in was quite close to the road and I only had to doge one tree.

Any more and I would have lost momentum before reaching my target.

I aimed my pointy snout at the back of a battling bandit, opening my jaws for the killing blow.

"D-DRAGON!!!" I heard someone shout.

It was too late for my prey, however. There was no way that man could doge a ton and a half of dragon hurtling at him at about twenty-five miles an hour.

Before he was even fully aware of what was happening, I had firmly struck him dead on, his neck snapping on impact even before my teeth could sink into his tender flesh.

I briefly touched dirt, skidding to a halt before a stunned and bloodied guard, before leaping back to the air, bandit firmly held in my jaws.

I was not good with flying while carrying any significant weight (I was still too small to maintain flight that way) but I wasn't planning on keeping my prize in any case.

I tossed the body to the side of the road with a flick of my corded neck, where it crashed into the wooden rail there.

For a brief instance there was silence on the road as all eyes were firmly glued to the pink death lizard that had just entered their fight. I let out my best roar, doing pretty good if I did say so myself, and preened in the horrified looks of the small men beneath me.

I had noticed, since becoming a dragon, that I was far more vain and even numb to violence and blood shed. Killing that bandit had caused me no less heartache than my first successful fish in that lake.

The blue coated guards seemed to regain their composure first, likely trained to respond to unforeseen circumstances in a way the bandits had not. They struck at the bandits with greater vigor, over taking them with skill and clearer heads.

However, I could see that the fight around the carriage was still disputed. There were three men fighting bandits on the far side, but only one on the side nearest me. And that man was facing off rather valiantly against four bandits, his uniform stained red with blood.

The little girl was in there, afraid. But not alone, I now saw.

My spell telling me that there was someone called 'Orelious Citizen' with the princess.

I assume this person was some kind of servant- likely an attendant or maid- and bore not title for me to see.

It made sense that a princess would not be traveling alone with a bunch of men, and would need a lady servant of some kind.

"Out of the way!" I heard a bandit snarl at the heroic guard, shoving ahead of his comrades.

The guard deflected the intended sword blow, but the force had him stumbling backwards, slamming into the side of the carriage. Once the guard had moved I could see that the door had been partially torn off its hinges, and the bandits surged forward.

'Oh no you don't!' I thought, snarling at the criminals below, and dove downward once again. This time I did not aim for a bandit, but for the carriage itself.

I pulled up short, wings beating and stirring up the dirt of the road, blinding the men for a second.

Not that that mattered, given the bandits had wasted no time backing away from the dragon that had just dove down upon them.

They all stumbled back, swords either swinging wildly, or dropping from their grip all together, arms up to block their eyes from the stirred up dust.

I landed on the carriage with more grace than I would have thought possible for my usually clumsy self, but cringed inwardly when the wooden structure bounced beneath me and creaked ominously.

I guess I did not take the structural integrity of the thing into account.

I heard another child like scream as well as an older, feminine, one, confirming my suspicion that there was likely a female attendant in the coach with the little princess.

I wished that I could help the guards more, but the truth was that this fight was too tightly packed, and I could hardly strike out without also hurting the good guys.

But I could protect the wagon. I looked at the bandits who had been accosting the guard and glared, before opening my jaw and roaring another challenge their way.

I looked down at the fallen over guard and saw that he was a middle aged man with thick dark hair, streaked slightly with grey, and dark stubble on his square shaped jaw. After a second of us staring at one another he seemed to understand my intent and nodded, a determined look on his face.

The man struggled to his feet, raised his blade, and took a defensive stance before me and the carriage, showing me his back and announcing to everyone that we were on the same side.

Apparently that was all it took for the bandits to loose heart, and I watched as the guardsmen turned the tide of the fight, cutting down the bandit numbers by half in a matter of seconds.

"Retreat!" A few of them shouted, terror in their eyes.

But these men had zero coordination, causing half of what was left to flee, while the others continued their advance. Idiots.

I refused to leave my station on top of the carriage, because I know I would not want to try to walk under an angry dragon to get at a princess.

So long as I was there, she was safe. That is, if the poor carriage could hold up under my weight.

Kudos to the Orelious royal carriage builders, I suppose.

But, even if I wasn't getting down, that did not mean that I didn't have a nice long neck and tail to work with. If a man managed to get past the brave guard before me, then they would swiftly meet my fangs.

I could hear fighting behind me, on the other side of the carriage, but I could not look away from this side. I was sure the moment my attention was divided, the bandits that were left would take advantage to push forward. Luckily there were several guards to defend the other side of my perch.

In a surprisingly short amount of time the battle was done and over with. The last, foolish, bandits remaining were being cut down by guardsmen, and the man closest to me was using a rag to clean the blood off his own rapier, watching the other men closely.

Deciding the danger had passed, and not wanting to be seen as a threat, I leapt from the roof of the carriage as carefully as I could. Though, the poor thing still shook horribly as I landed and the two girls within made yet more noise. My bad.

I landed next to the black haired man, and he took a few cautious steps back. In the awkward silence that occurred in those two seconds, I was about to say something. What, I didn't know, but I didn't do well with social awkwardness.

But I was spared the immediate need for conversation when a young man yanked open the other carriage door, causing the girl within to shout.

"Serenity! Are you alright?" Asked the young man. All I could see of him was a shock of blonde hair.

"Brother!" Wailed the girl. I watched as a small child in a pale blue gown struggled from the arms of a very disheveled maid, only to leap into the arms of the man who had called for her.

"Your majesties, are you unharmed?" Asked the man next to me, his voice deep and firm.

"Yes." Sighed the blonde man, patting his sister on the head. He looked up from the little girl who was crying into his shirt, and I saw what could only be described as a beautiful man.

Beautiful was usually a word I used on women, but there was really no other way to describe him. He looked rather ageless, with an effeminate face of pale, clear skin, and wide, deep blue eyes that looked like crystals. All of this under golden blonde hair that looked naturally and artfully messy.

Yeah, I could believe this guy was a prince. Almost like the perfect description of a fairytale prince, as a matter of fact.

This might be my first real encounter with people in this world, but were they all going to fall into cliched tropes? Was I in a fairytale world?!