The so-called 'dragon' was no more than a wyrmling the size of a horse. It wasn't even a dragon wyrmling but a wyvern wyrmling, which was an entirely different species.

  Adamu could tell by the limbs. Whereas true dragons had four legs and a pair of wings sprouting from their back, wyverns only had two hind legs with their wings attached to their forelimbs like a bat or a bird. This particular wyvern was of the cave variety. Nasty critters, especially when backed into a corner like this one was.

  The wyvern stood on its hind limbs and spread all 10 feet of its wingspan in a show of intimidation. Its treasure: a three-day-old rotting cow carcass.

  Adamu raised his shield and readied for the onslaught. He and the creature studied one another, each waiting for the other to strike first.

  At this stage of development, the wyrmling was incapable of flight since its thin, leathery wings were too weak to carry its full weight. Nevertheless, it still posed a serious threat to the nearby village. According to the reports, it had ransacked farms for meat and attacked travelers on the road. It even killed one farmer who tried fighting back, the poor sod.

  Adamu was no mere commoner, however. He and his party had slain adult wyverns before and even a young dragon once. He felt no more threatened now than if he were in a cockfighting pit battling a rooster.

  "Ugh, get it on with it already," Zhu Mei said. She was sitting on one of the big rocks in the corner, balancing her war bow on one knee.

  "Look, even Fareed’s bored," she said, pointing to the party’s mage, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor with his tome splayed out in front of him. His staff leaned against the wall. The glowing orb at the staff’s tip bathed the otherwise pitch-black cavern in silver moonlight.

  "I'm on it,” Adamu said. “I'm just looking for the right opening."

  "You know I could end this right now, right?" An arrow was knocked in Mei's bow in a beat.

  "No thanks, I got it. It'll make for good practice."

  "I'm not bored," said Sveta, who was standing a few paces to Adamu’s left. The orc slung her ax across her broad shoulders. The runes on the ax blade glowed in the dark. "This is like that time he jumped into a cockfighting pit in Grimport, remember that?"

  "I do,” said Fareed. “You lost ten gold pieces betting on the chicken."

  "And we would have gotten a thousand gp if the chicken won. It was a calculated risk."

  "Guys, I'm trying to concentrate here," Adamu said.

  The wyvern hissed at him. Acid dripped from its dagger-like fangs and sizzled on the stone floor.

  "Whatever, suit yourselves," Mei muttered, sticking the arrow back into her quiver. "There isn't even one lick of treasure in this shithole, just bones and rocks and dried up wyrmling piss."

  She strapped the bow onto her back and made for the exit. "When you babies are done playing Wyverns and Warlocks, I'll be waiting at the village."

  Her footsteps faded in the distance.

  The wyvern hissed again, spraying even more acid from its jaws. Adamu's adamantine plate had protected him from far worse, but when it came to cave wyverns, the real threat was its scorpion tail. Even as a wyrmling, its poison was potent enough to down an elephant in seconds. That's why Adamu was biding his time.

  Finally, the wyrmling broke its stance and launched itself at its assailant. It clawed and jabbed at the air as Adamu dodged each attack, a hair’s breadth from demise. It snapped its jaws, but he blocked the acid with his shield.

  Then the moment he was waiting for came. The beast thrust its scaled tail right at where his heart was supposed to be. But unfortunately for it, he had anticipated the attack and sidestepped at a 90-degree angle, swinging his longsword down on its tail in the same motion.

  Green blood spurted from its severed tail like a fountain. The creature writhed. Its shrieks echoed through the cave. If this were an adult, the next step would be to separate it from its wings. Cut off its means of escape. This one was just a kid, though. Adamu almost felt sorry for it. Almost.

  ~~

  "And there I was, riding on the great beast's back,” Sveta said, “its sides spurting acidic blood from where its wings used to be."

  Oohs and ahs rippled through the gaggle of children that had gathered around her table.

  "And then what happened?" Said one of the starry-eyed kids.

  "I raised my greataxe high above my head, and then…" Sveta paused to take a long, slow sip from her mug.

  The children were on the edge of their seats, literally. The adults in the tavern weren’t better off. Even the minstrels had stopped performing to listen to the tale.

  Sveta downed the rest of her ale and slammed the mug. "BLAM! A fire bolt exploded against the monster's head. Its brains splattered everywhere. All because somebody couldn't wait for their turn." She glared at Fareed.

  The crowd turned to stare at the wizard.

  Fareed shrugged. "What can I say? I was getting bored.”

  Sveta's story was mostly on point, except for the fact that she’d replaced the words 'Adamu' and 'sword' with the words 'I' and 'ax. ‘ He didn't hold it against her since he knew she could have done all that stuff herself anyway. And, hey, the party splits the earnings evenly no matter who gets the last hit.

  The kids left Adamu's table and crowded the strange wizard. Fareed's tone quickly shifted from nonchalant to matter-of-fact as he explained the differences between wyverns, dragons, wyrms, and drakes. Adamu caught a few "Well, actually"s from across the room.

  The tavern returned to normal. The lutist went back to playing his merry tune, the barkeeps continued serving drinks and food, and the villagers resumed their idle chatter. It was warm and peaceful and smelled like heaven. This was probably Adamu's favorite part of any quest. The quiet after the storm when the heroes returned to the village so they could get some well-deserved rest and rightfully-earned... cabbages?

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  A smiling couple carrying a basket full of vegetables approached their table.

  "I know it's not much; we're just simple folk after all," the man said, "But please accept this our little thank you."

  "We couldn't have continued for long if that dragon kept nabbing our cows," said his wife. "You're real lifesavers."

  "Oh no, we couldn't possibly take this from you," Adamu said. "We were just doing our job. You need it more than—"

  Sveta kicked him under the table. "No, no, thank you, random villagers, for this wonderful gift. It shall fill our bellies and give us the strength to fight many a battle to come."

  She shook their hands, and the couple went off on their way looking pleased as peacocks.

  "You didn't have to accept that,” whispered Adamu as soon as the farmers were out of sight. “What do we do with a bushel of vegetables?"

  "Didn't you hear me? We're gonna eat them," Sveta said.

  "No, really."

  "It's better than what you were planning to say: 'You nEeD it MoRe tHAn uS.' Pfft, as if they need you to tell them that. You insult them by saying it out loud."

  Before Adamu could defend himself, another person butted in.

  "He's right, you know." Mei, holding a mug in each hand, plopped down next to Adamu and handed him one of the drinks. He wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her closer to him.

  Mei continued, "Our rooms are already filling with these 'gifts' so you better put your cabbage where your mouth is and eat up."

  Sveta offered her a carrot. "I will if you help me."

  "Never mind that,” Adamu said. “I saw you talking to the reeve over there. What did he say?"

  "Ah, you know, the usual,” Mei said. “Thanked us for our troubles. Told us we could stay for as long as we liked. Said he'd pay us a big chest of gold tomorrow. Yada yada."

  "Zhu Mei, did you haggle with the reeve?" Adamu said.

  "What? Me? No. I merely reminded him of the amount of economic damage that could have befallen his citizens had we not so generously stopped by this little village by accident."

  She avoided eye contact and took another gulp of ale.

  "We talked about this." Adamu's arm left her waist and gently took the mug from her hands.

  "I didn’t threaten him, promise. I just asked for a little raise. Politely."

  "Maybe we can politely return some of the gold to the villagers so they can rebuild what they lost?"

  "Come on, you know we could use the extra coin. We haven't had a job in weeks. And we haven't had an actual decent job in months; you know, a quest worthy of our skill level."

  Through all this, Sveta glanced back and forth between the two of them like she was a child watching her parents in a fight. “You know what’ll cheer you up?” She picked up a stick of celery and bumped it against Mei’s cheek. “Have some vegetable.”

  Mei eased into a smile and grabbed the celery.

  Sveta was the closest thing they had to a party face, and for that, Adamu was grateful.

  "Fine, I'll give back the extra," Mei said as she chomped on a stick. “But we’re keeping the initial offer, got that?”

  "Agreed," said Adamu.

  "Guys, I think you should meet someone," said Fareed, walking up to their table. Tagging along behind him was a boy who couldn't have been older than 10.

  The vibe of the table shifted again as the adventurers' attentions turned to the child.

  "And who might this little trooper be?" Asked Mei. She was addressing Fareed but looking at the boy.

  "My name is Arthur, Ma’am." The kid said it as though he wasn't even sure of his answer. His blonde hair was a mess, and his mopey eyes were fixed on the ground. He didn't look up at Mei. Adamu recognized him as one of the kids listening to Sveta's monologue earlier. He didn't seem excited at the time, but he had clung to every word she said.

  "Arthur here has something he'd like to say." Fareed patted the boy’s shoulder.

  It was uncharacteristic of him to be this friendly with kids. Was there something going on?

  "Thank you for defeating that dragon, Miss," he said to Sveta.

  It took Sveta a second to realize he was talking to her. "Oh, uh, it's all in a day's work. No big deal."

  "D... did you really have fun slaying it, miss?" He asked.

  "Hell yeah. I live for this stuff. Which part did you want to hear again? The way I sliced its tail in, the way I somersaulted onto its back, or when I..."

  All the while, Sveta failed to notice Fareed shooting daggers at her.

  "So where are your parents, Arthur?" Mei said, interrupting the encore.

  Fareed slammed a palm onto his forehead. With his other hand, he turned the kid away from the table. "I think your Uncle Thomas is calling you, Arthur. We'll talk to you again soon, I promise."

  Arthur ran off. Adamu could have sworn tears were welling up in the boys’ eyes.

  "What’s wrong?" he asked Fareed after the child was out of earshot.

  Fareed stood there with his hand still on his head. "Yesterday, at the reeve’s, do you remember what he said during the debrief?"

  "Sure," Mei said. "He told us that some dragon was terrorizing the village, capturing livestock, attacking merchants…"

  "... and that it had killed a farmer," said Adamu.

  All life drained out of the table. Around them, the party raged on. The minstrels were playing a folk tune, and the villagers were dancing in a circle in the center of the room. Elsewhere, someone had spilled a drink, and his buddies were all laughing about it.

  Sveta was the first to break the silence. "I—I told him I had fun killing it. Like it was— nothing. The monster that took his..."

  "Father. It took his father's life," Fareed said. "I spent five minutes lecturing him about the dragon family and its various genera before someone told me. How do you think I feel?"

  This. This was the worst part of any quest; Adamu didn't care what anyone else said. He could stare a gorgon in the eye without flinching, but not an orphan.

  ~~

  The group sat in silence for a while, though not for long. This wasn't their first quest. They knew they couldn't sit around feeling bad forever – that would just keep them from going back out there and preventing other kids from meeting this fate. But that didn't mean they were going to go back to partying with the tavern either. They had other ways to cope.

  Fareed's was to lock himself up in his room and distract himself with books. Sveta was probably somewhere whacking a tree. Adamu's coping mechanism was Mei. They sat on the front porch, Mei wrapped in his coat and leaning on his shoulder. Together, they watched little Arthur sitting alone on a fence in the distance.

  They’d found out that the tavern master himself had taken in the lad. He wasn't actually the boy's blood uncle, but settlements of this size were close-knit, and Arthur had no other family. A few other households had also volunteered to take him in, for all it mattered.

  "I know what you're thinking," Mei said.

  "And what would that be?"

  "Your parents. He reminds you of yourself when you were his age, doesn't he?"

  "That wasn't what I was thinking at all, but thanks for mentioning it. Now I can feel sad about my own childhood on top of his."

  "Sorry. Didn't mean to dredge up old wounds." She stood and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders.

  "No, you're right. He is like me. That's what I'm worried about.” He cupped her hands in his. “What if he grows up to be a bitter, edgy adventurer out to take revenge on every monster on the east coast?"

  "Then he's gonna be the best bitter, edgy adventurer on the east coast that ever lived. Or at least second best next to you." She leaned in and kissed the top of his head.

  "I'm serious. This type of thing can mess up a kid for years. I just want to make sure he's taken good care of."

  "And he will be thanks to you. Isn't that why you became an adventurer? Not to kill things but save lives."

  "But what kind of life will he be living now?" Adamu asked.

  Mei didn’t answer.

  The celebrations back inside slowed to a halt. The music went quiet, the lights dimmed, and one by one, the villagers staggered home. Soon, only Adamu and Mei were left, along with young Arthur, staring off into the dark hills, legs swinging.

  "I think we should give it to him,” Mei said. “All of it.”

  "The what now?"

  "The reward. You were right earlier, he needs it more than we do."

  He turned to face her. "You sure? That's a good amount of coin."

  "If it's a good amount for us, then it's a small fortune for him. It's the least he deserves."

  Small fortune is an understatement. It would be enough to feed, clothe, and bathe him for the next few years of his life. You can't put a price on that stuff. He could even save it up for an education, who knew?

  Adamu contemplated for a while. "We'll have to talk to the others about it."

  "You already know they’d agree."

  He did. They would.

  Adamu leaned back and rested his head against her chest.

  A cool breeze rustled a nearby bush. Somewhere, a pair of cats squealed. A cloud parted, and the moon shone on a sleepy village where all was well once more.