One Skill Short

Oh Look...More Demons

(Drusilla)

The mayor was full of shit. I had to sit that talk out and Maven appeared about as nonplussed as I was. But we went to clear out the bandits and access the dam controls, anyways.

'Weren't there some kids loving it up in the tavern? This should be funny.'

Aside from...right. Talk time.

"So...we're about to startle some kids in the middle of making out or something in there...but that's also where the controls are."

"I take it there's more..." Odessa pressed.

"It will wake a dragon." Maven finished and I saw Bull's face light up.

"I am not dealing with dragons just yet." Odessa frowned, but it didn't kill Bull's mood.

"Yet means we'll be able to fight one eventually. Totally worth the wait." He explained at my look before we all entered the tavern. One of the reasons I really liked Bull; ever the optimist.

Of course, she let the lovers leave, promising not to tell on them. How cute they were as they scuttled away. No clue how close to death they had been.

"Who fixed these up? They look like they've barely been touched."She looked to our matching pursed lips.

"Probably the mayor." Bull muttered then.

"From the look on your faces and how avoidant you both were of the guy."

"Many died in the flooding. He said the dam controls were destroyed by darkspawn to keep the scent off of him. Not all of them were infected, but he panicked and chose to flood the place so that all those who were infected, would die...so it would end there."

"That's something we're going to need proof for in order to arrest him." Odessa sighed.

"Shouldn't be a problem." I assured as we left.

The screech we heard sent chills throughout my being and made my ears hurt. For that moment, I couldn't even feel the dampness of my clothes.

Thunder bellowed above us and lightning fizzled and snapped in the creature's wake. Even from this distance, it was easy to spot the purple gland sparking about her throat.

Bull, of course, was the first to verbally react.

"She's gorgeous!!!" He exclaimed. It never failed to warm my heart when he got all happy over pretty much anything dragon related.

And cocoa...and horn balm. Idly, I wondered if Varric had gotten any smuggled in yet.

'Maybe Hawke brought horn balm with her or something.'

Like that, I had forgotten about the dragon.

"You okay?" Maven's concerned gaze fell on me.

"Yeah. Just..." I trailed.

"Surreal and a little terrifying?"

"Yes."

"Don't tell me you guys don't have dragons..."

"Sorry. No dragons. Not even the baby ones. We also don't have wyverns or deepstalkers...or nugs..." I shared a smile with her.

"But dragons are shown in art. Paintings and sculptures. All kinds. So they may have existed once but probably long before we were ever there."

"What types of animals do you have, then?" That was Odessa now. It was then that I remembered a Tumblr post Is had read long ago.

"Well we do have bears but they are nothing compared to these one creatures we have. Their weight ranges at around three tons or 6,000 pounds and run up to thirty kilometers per hour. Their teeth are mostly flat but the front ones get sharp as they grind together. Their incisors and canines grow to be about a foot and a half. On top of that, hey have a bite force of eighty-one hundred pounds. They are also quite good at traversing water as it's their natural habitat. By that I mean they swim twice as fast as they run."