Shalma's Destruction (Part XXI) (Patreon)

Link to previous chapter: https://www.patreon.com/mavrip/posts/shalmas-part-xx-167303626

"Tell me about Ilyse."

Orpheus' yellow eyes dance in the firelight, wicked and unblinking. "Ah, poor Ilyse," he tsks, his tone dripping with contempt. Whatever happened to the poor girl obviously met with the weatherbeaten apothecary's approval. "Her story was told to me long ago by a great healer named Kowalski. It's what got me interested in the Dark Arts."

The apothecary pinches a vial partially filled with orange powder between his witchy fingers and holds it to the light. "It informed me of the terrific power of potions and tinctures," he continues. "For both the ill..."

His crooked grin cocks to you.

"And the ill-intended."

"What happened?" you ask.

Orpheus puts the vial back and clears his throat. "Like most stories, it begins innocently. Two girls, Ilyse and Beth, were childhood friends who grew up on adjacent farms. Improbably, both were selected to be trained as dragonriders. You've heard of Cliffside's legendary dragonriders, yes?"

"No."

The mole-like man shakes his head and gives his lopsided shoulders a 'why bother' shrug. Nevertheless, he continues--

"The day after they were selected, they sat beneath a tree by a river and pondered what was to come. They had sat there a hundred times, discussing the future. Dreaming about it. But suddenly the future was now." Orpheus smiles impishly. "And for one of them, it would become a nightmare."

You sit on a barrel at the back of the cave and, closing your eyes, picture the scene as Orpheus recounts the tragic tale of Ilyse the Dragonrider.