I Guess I'm a Dragon Now (Part 1)

Banished

"Another!" Sera called out, making the gremlins beside her stare with amazement as she drowned her tenth bottle of ale.

"Miss... don't you think that you've had enough? You've been at it all night." The kobold behind the tavern's counter asked nervously as she gazed at him with a look that seemed to pass right through him.

"I still have a few more coins, so bring on the booze!" Sera suddenly smiled broadly at him, holding her empty mug out to the creature so that he could refill it before the tavern doors banged open in the background as someone entered. On their way to the counter, they had to step over the unconscious forms of several orcs that had attempted to keep up with the former knight's drinking, though the figure eventually sat down beside Sera and sighed to themselves as they pulled back the hood over their head to reveal a familiar figure.

"Oh, Nigel!" Sera laughed when she recognized her former subordinate. "Let's get another drink over here!"

"I'm fine, thank you." Nigel waved the kobold away before looking at the drunken former commander and sighing. "I take it that your 'few coins' is the last of the funds that you were given to start a new life?"

"Don't worry about it, my life is over anyway." Sera said with horribly slurred words before she threw her arm over his shoulder and laughed. "Just drink like there's no tomorrow!"

"But there is a tomorrow, and you're going to wake up hurting and as poor as a beggar if you keep this up." Nigel scolded her before wrestling the woman's drink away from her.

"Hey!" Sera complained, chasing after her mug until she completely fell out of her stool and onto the tavern's floor.

"Look at you... You're a knight for crying out loud, not some drunk!" Nigel said in disgust as Sera attempted and failed to rise from the floor several times.

"I'm not a knight, Nigel. Not anymore... I'm just a failure of a human being, wasting away my time until I either die or the world ends around me." Sera gave up on attempting to stand and just laid on the floor as she spoke. "I've betrayed my oaths, my king and my kingdom..."

"You've also saved the lives of hundreds, including all of us that survived on our last mission." Nigel spoke down to her. "Any other commander in Ligan would have sacrificed both themselves and their men in an attempt to fulfill the king's orders, yet you chose to spare all of our lives so that we could return to our families, even despite knowing what was in store for you if you failed."

"None of you deserved to die just because of how the mission would effect my life." Sera laughed to herself before suddenly jerking her head up as a heavy jingling bag hit her in the stomach.

"What's this?" Sera asked.

"A collection from every soldier that managed to survive in the battle with the frost trolls thanks to your actions." Nigel replied.

"Nigel... I can't accept this. Both they and their families will need this, and I'll just drink it away..." Sera stated, grabbing the bag and holding it back up for him to take.

"Then don't drink it away. Use it to buy some food and armor so that you can get your life back on track." Nigel stated, and instead of taking back the bag of coins, he instead unstrapped the long sword hanging from his hip and held it out to her. "You've trained as a knight for your entire life, so the only thing that you know how to do is fight. Use that knowledge and ability to become a mercenary or something, but know that the only thing that any of us want in return is for you to live the best life that you can. And the first thing that you can do to achieve that is to get out of this hole and take a contract."

"A contract?" Sera whispered almost to herself, not liking the idea of becoming a mercenary at all. She'd trained for her entire life in order to serve her king and protect the innocent commoners of Ligan, to make people trust and respect her as she used her sword for justice and not evil or profit. However, after remembering what King Emric had been like at the end of her service... Sera wondered if she were contradicting herself.

"Yeah, and I think that I've found the perfect one so that you can stay away from the forces of Ligan for a while." Nigel explained before digging into one of his pockets and producing a scroll. "Osman helped me choose it. He seemed to think that it would be the best option for you to get away for a while."

"Even Osman is in on this..." Sera sighed, figuring that she could at least look at the contract before she refused both the sword and the money.

"Despite being a 'failure' of a knight, you've gained quite a few friends in your years of service." Nigel joked, though as soon as she read what was on the paper, Sera's eyes widened in surprise as she realized what they wanted her to do.

"You're joking, right? This is a request from the Demon King!" Sera asked.

"A request that will not only earn you the money you need to live a good life, but also one that will take you far to the north and away from having to encounter any more humans." Nigel explained. "While I'd like to believe that everyone in Ligan is as understanding as I am, most human soldiers will undoubtedly view you as a traitor and attempt to kill you on the spot."

"But-"

"Blueveil is gone." Nigel suddenly stated with a sad expression, and Sera's next words froze in her throat when heard him.

"W-what happened?" Sera asked, suddenly remembering everyone that she'd grown up with in her village. Blueveil had been a small and peaceful place on Ligan's southern shores governed by one of the lesser lords of Ligan. It was nothing but a fishing village, and it should have been well away from any enemies, so why?

"Apparently, the lord there had been accused of withholding taxes and was thus declared a traitor." Nigel said with his head casted down towards the tavern's counter. "And since the lord was a traitor, everyone that was underneath him was considered the same, and so a division of soldiers was dispatched to execute all of the villagers."

"Even the church?" Sera asked with tears beginning to fall from her eyes. She'd spent her childhood inside of the orphanage that the local church had operated, and she considered many of the nuns and priests there to be her mothers and fathers.

"Not even the faithful are safe when Emric thinks that he's been betrayed." Nigel said in almost a whisper. "But that's why you need to get away from Ligan, Sera. This kingdom... it's rotten to it's very core, and you should seize your chance to become free while you have the option. Now that Blueveil is gone, there's nothing holding you here on the border anymore."

"Everyone is-" Sera started, thinking about how everyone that she grew up with was most likely dead.

"Everyone that knows you is trying to help you." Nigel stood up from the counter and leaned over Sera to grab her hand. "Please take this chance. We won't be able to give you another one."

"Searching for ancient weapons and armor in the Lands of the Lost isn't exactly what I'd call a chance..." Sera replied in a defeated tone before looking over the scroll once more. "Though I most likely won't be the only one searching for them."

"It's better than drinking yourself to death here, isn't it?" Nigel asked, though Sera wasn't too sure about that. However, despite her hesitation, she reached up and finally took hold of Nigel's sword before managing to stand despite her earlier dizziness.

"Thank you, Nigel. And please thank everyone else for me as well." Sera said with a forced smile as sorrow still heavily clouded her thoughts.

"You'll always be in our thoughts, Commander!" Nigel crisply saluted behind her, and Sera remained silent before she walked out of the tavern and towards the life of a common mercenary.