Prologue
Very high and a tad scratchy, Nisseos’ voice was not what you’d expect from a fearsome dragoness. But then again, Nisseos wasn’t what you’d call a regular drake. While most of her brethren refused to interact, or was straight up hostile to humans, she’d always held them in high regard. There were, of course, some, that didn’t know this – mostly unreasonable monarchs and narcissistic knights, who treated her like another foe to defeat in an epic battle, after she’d kidnapped a-
No. That wasn’t Nisseos. She was a kind soul who befriended all of the area’s villages and vowed to protect the defenceless. Anyone who knew her would doubt, that she’s even capable of thinking about kidnapping anyone.
Which is why, when her hoard was stolen, it hit really hard.
“Where is my money?!” she shrieked at first, loud enough to be heard within many miles. But the initial frustration wore off quickly, giving way to disbelief and great grief. She sat in the middle of her cavern, sobbing quietly. “Why must it have happened to me of all drakes?”
No one really knows why dragons are after gold, gems, pieces of art and other kinds of luxurious baubles. The most common theory, is that a dragon’s standing in the social ladder depends on their wealth, quite similarly to humans. This is obviously a load of bull. Dragons don’t need money to get things done within whatever society they might form when the hairless apes aren’t looking.
Some of the villagers, who heard her pained exclamation, gathered just outside her home.
“Nisseos? Are you alright?” one of them asked.
“Go away!” she barked back, her voice trembling, rendering the villagers speechless. She had never spoken to any of them like this. She had never spoken to anyone like this. The group discussed the situation briefly, and assumed what they considered to be the most correct course of action.
The dragoness had friends. Many of them, and with varying degrees of closeness. But there was one man, for whom she would throw them all away, for they had travelled together many years before, seeking adventure and saving each other’s bums many times. The villagers ran out to find Travis.
Meanwhile, Nisseos sulked miserably. She was now penniless.
