The Dragonslayer (title is a w.i.p.)

Chapter 3

About a week of training after the dungeon adventure, Armin was walking through town, he'd just finished his shift at the tavern, when a pale old man ran up to him and fell at his knees. The man was skinny to the point of being like a skeleton. His skin was pale to the point of being grey. His eyes were as red as a bruise. He was weak, tired. He looked up at Armin,

"Please help... help... me," he struggled for breath, "help my vill... llage." He stopped to catch his breath, "Breatteford," he weezed, "The Shadowma-" the man collapsed on the floor. He was dead. Armin didn't know who or what The Shadowman was or where Breatteford was but he was determined to get to the bottom of the man's death. The first step was to bury the body; a simple job for the local mortician.

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"So where is this Breatteford place then?" Armin asked Resogy, the local cartographer

"Oooh...Hmmm...now let me check my maps.." he turned around and burrowed through his papers like a rabbit. His hands flew like bolts of electricity, checking each and every of his 100s of scrolls, a considerable feat for an 80-something-year-old. Eventually, he turned around,

"Oooh... Hmmm...now if you just take this," he handed over a dirty, worn map, "Mhmm.. this should do it."

Armin stared at the parchment

Armin thanked the cartographer and headed back to his house where he gathered supplies and Brashik, who still didn't really seem to care about anything. After an hour of prep time, Armin headed east.

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After a few hours of sitting on a bird essentially made of stone, next to the burning sun, Armin was relieved to see farmland, extremely barren he noticed. Brashik dived down near a sycamore tree. Armin walked into to town, Brashik waddling behind him. As he got to the town centre, it was the oddest thing he'd seen in a while, there was nobody anywhere. He was very thirsty - it was a particularly hot day - but the eeriness of the streets made him feel awkward to drink from the well. He looked up at Brashik who still seemed completely and utterly nonchalant. While turning back to look at the well, he noticed someone standing at the fourth window from the right in the mansion to his left. When he looked again they were gone. He walked up to the door and knocked the knocker. Nobody replied. He tried again. And again. KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! He kept knocking. KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

 Brashik took a sip from the well . 'This place is boring' he thought, 'What's that stupid noise'. He looked over at Armin. He saw him knocking the door. Brashik looked for a more open area of town and waddled over there. He started flapping his wings repeatedly. Air swirled beneath him. He held his beak up high as he pierced through the top window.

Armin looked up as he heard a tremendous crash. "Great job Brashik, except one thing," Armin shouted, "How am I supposed to get up there?" Brashik let out an ear piercing shriek as he crashed out another window, this time next to Armin. He ducked to avoid the sharp shards of glass flying everywhere. Armin didn't know whether to congratulate his friend or not. He decided not to. 

Cautiously he walked through it. The inside was dark. There was a red carpet along the floor and that was almost all he could make out. He walked along the corridor tentatively, Brashik following behind thanks to the high ceiling. As they cautiously moved through the corridor they heard a scratching noise. Armin grabbed his sword, it felt right. Anticlimactically, a cleaner came with a sweep. Armin found this curious, 

"You sir, what can you tell me about The Shadowman?" He called out

The reply shocked him. Despite the man looking at least 70 he had the voice of a 20 year-old, only a little hoarser.