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

Chapter 8

Armin woke up bright and early. He saw all the market stalls being put up and eventually found one with hammers. He had no idea why he needed one, but Whek seemed to know what she was talking about.

"Can I have a hammer, please?" He asked the man.

"40 pellots." "He looked very grumpy and old," said the man.

"What's a pellot?" asked Armin, clueless.

"Currency, you know, money," said the old man.

"Well, I don't have any," said Armin.

"Then no hammer for you."

"I'll give it back."

"I'm not lending a weapon to a stranger."

"Any jobs you need me to do?"

"Yes," the old man pointed at another stall, "get one of their prize apples for me, and I'll lend you the hammer."

Armin walked over to the stall and asked for an apple.

"25 pellots!" The cheerful lady said

"Any jobs you need doing that I can do for you"

"Certainly, my husband's broken his poor back; lift all the fruits out of the bulk storage, and I'll give you an apple." She pointed to a building that looked somewhat like a barn, only built like it was El Dorado. Armin walked over and opened the door. Inside there were three brown and white cows (one of which was a calf); various haystacks; and a pile that went up to the ceiling full of sacks and sacks of fruit and vegetables, all labelled with their respective foods. He picked up one that said potatoes. It was ridiculously heavy. He carried it the short distance to the stall. Then he realised something: as long as he was on a lead, Brashik could carry them easily. He told the lady his plan, went back to the hotel, got Brashik on a lead, and returned. Then, Brashik lay down on his stomach, and Armin loaded four bags at a time onto his back. After 17 trips, they were done, and the lady gave him one of her biggest apples. Armin stared at his glorious prize for a while; it was as big as his head and as red as a rose. He then quickly remembered that he had to give it to the grumpy old man and get his real prize, the hammer. He held the hammer in his hand. Its handle was quite short and only really fit in one hand at a time, but the pure chromium peen alone was as heavy as his sword, but he lifted it quite easily.

Eventually it was time to go up and fight an icy dragon. Armin hopped on Brashik's back, forgetting the strict rules, and took off there and then. Surprisingly, though, he seemed to have gotten away with it, as the few people who cared didn't know who to complain to. About halfway up the mountain, Brashik was getting tired. As the atmosphere was quite dense this high up, they decided to continue until they got to the cirrus clouds, where they needed a break. Armin found a rocky outcrop where he gave Brashik a small amount of the dragon's blood he had accumulated. As Armin was getting on Brashik, he stubbed his toe on one of the feathers and then heard Whek's voice in his head telling him not to waste the dragon blood. He ignored this warning: "As long as there's some left, there's enough left.

After a while of Brashik aggressively flapping his wings, they made it to the top. Where Brashik landed in the snow. After a few steps, Armin realised that the snow was very deep. 'I'm not flying you to the dragon; I am way too tired for that.'

"How am I supposed to get to him then?"

'I don't know."

"And I can't exactly leave you here; I'll forget where you are."

'Well, I'm not carrying a bloody massive hammer that weighs more than all those stupid potatoes combined, so I can just walk right next to you!'

"What if I attach big bits of wood to my feet to spread out the weight?"