Simon Vendredi crouched low against the rocks, looking down upon his quarry. A fire drake. The bright-yellow and red lizard was sunning itself just outside it's cave. At eight feet long and six feet high, it was bigger than a man, and far more dangerous than any human could ever hope to be... unless the human happened to be Simon Vendredi. Silently, Simon checked his weapons and waved for his assistant. A few seconds later, Throk waddled up and crouched next to him.

"What you want?" said Throk. He meant no disrespect to his master, he just hadn't mastered the delicacies of the human language yet. Throk was half-orc, smaller and smarter than his full-blooded brethren, but not by much. Simon didn't know what the other half was. He couldn't think of any animal that would willingly breed with an orc... even another orc. Throk's skin had greenish tint and a puffy, swollen look to it that made him look like a sea-sick pig in clothes.

"Is our surprise ready?" said Simon.

"Ready. We catch lizard now?"

"No." Simon glared down at the lizard, and then brought his spy-glass to his eye for a closer look. The glass was enchanted so that it's lens would not reflect the sunlight and give away his position. Simon studied the motionless creature. "No, not yet. Doesn't feel right. Go double-check everything and wait for my signal."

"Throk check already."

"Check it again then."

"Throk check again already."

"Then just leave me alone before you give away my position, dammit!"

Throk nodded and crawled away, keeping his head low just like his master had taught him. He descended the large outcropping of rock and was soon out of sight.

Simon still lay perfectly still, waiting for the right moment. Simon was not a superstitious man, but he did believe in instinct. All animals had instinct, but in humans, nature's gift has long since been supplanted with such ridiculous notions as logic and superstition. Not Simon. His gut had saved his life more times that he could count, and he was certainly not about to stop listening to it now. When his instinct told him to wait, he waited. When it told him to strike, he struck. Right now, it was telling him to wait. Simon relaxed out of his crouching stance and lay flat upon the rocks.

Might as well be comfortable. This might take a while...

---

A few hours before sunset, Vendredi strode boldly into camp and began shouting orders. Nine men of various builds and lineage grabbed their weapons and gathered around the center of camp, next to two large cages. The first cage was covered with a thick cloth so that no one could see what was inside. The second was constructed of solid metal walls with tiny airholes cut into it. Each cage was set atop a large wagon that could be drawn by horses. There were no horses to be found in the camp, however.

With barely a few words from Simon, the men split themselves amongst the cages and with a chorus of grunts and groans, pushed the wagons out of the camp. It took about an hour to reach the entrance to the drake's valley, which left them with between one and two hours of daylight. Vendredi didn't care. He knew that drakes hunted during the day and slept at night. Perhaps their quarry would be a bit more sluggish this close to sunset. Then again, maybe not.

Simon brought the caravan to a halt and waved for Throk.

"We camp here?" grunted Throk

"No. Break out the wax for the men. Then get the reigns on our friend while I scout ahead."

Throk nodded and walked off towards the cloth-covered cage. Vendredi grabbed a poison-tipped spear from one of his men. He tested the point with his thumb, and found it to be needle sharp. He wasn't worried about the poison... it was only dangerous to reptiles.

With spear in hand, Vendredi entered the drake's valley. He was alone. He moved with stealth; his footfalls didn't make a sound despite the extremely rocky terrain. His breathing was so quiet that even he could not hear it. He made his way forward until the noise of the caravan died away, then he crouched down and scanned the area around him. The fire drake was gone.

At first Simon thought that the giant lizard had gone off into its cave. The sun's rays were less direct now, it was almost night. But that didn't *feel* right. Simon crept forward and listened. Nothing. He moved still closer to the drake's lair. Nothing.

Something was definitely wrong. Very wrong.

Simon grabbed a rock and threw it. Between the time the stone left his hand and when it landed several yards to his right, Simon had flattened himself against the ground. His muscles were tensed, ready to fight or flee even though he knew that no attack was imminent.

The rock clattered loudly against the other rocks as it hit the ground.

Two seconds... three... four....

Simon repeated his decoy, only this time he threw the stone directly into the mouth of the cave. The stone landed just inside. No response. The drake was not in the cave. Probably not even in the valley. It had gone somewhere else...

Simon leapt to his feet and ran.

He heard the fighting before he reached the caravan and dreaded what he would find when he arrived. Most of the men were still alive, although two of them were on fire. The giant lizard stood in the center of the caravan and swept its head from one side to the other, belching fire as it went. Several broken and burning spears littered the ground near the creature. They had failed to penetrate the lizard's scaly hide and deliver their poison. The heat was intense, not just from the fire, but from the mere presence of the fire drake. The rocks beneath the drake's feet glowed red-hot. The lizard's scales put off waves of heat that could melt steel in minutes, and incinerate human flesh in seconds. As Simon watched, the drake belched another ball of fire. A third man was set aflame just as the first two dropped and ceased to struggle.

The remaining men were frantic. They had abandoned the cages and ran about in a panic, undecided as to whether they should stay and fight or run for their lives. As he watched, several men opted for the second choice and took off running.

"THROK!!" bellowed Simon. There was no response. Throk was either foolish enough to get himself killed or too cowardly to stay. Simon raised his own spear and waited for an opening. He shouted at the creature, attempting to draw it's attention. If he got it, he would have a split second to release the spear into the lizard's mouth before red-hot fire shot forth and turned him into a pile of smoking ash.

The fire drake was not going to cooperate. Instead of swinging around to belch fire upon the mighty hunter, it turned it's armored back to him and slashed at him with it's thick whip-like tail. Simon flung himself backwards just in time. The lizard's tail snapped his spear like a toothpick and continued on across his chest. Only his chainmail kept Simon from being cut in half, but the armor was now ruined, with a wide gash across the front. Even worse, the instantaneous contact with the lizard's flesh had made the mail red-hot. Simon screamed in pain as the armor burned into his flesh. With a few simple motions, the quick-release armor was off of him, along with a small portion of his skin and all of his chest hair.

Bare-chested and unarmed, Simon Vendredi stood before the drake's back, wondering what to do next. He had to get to the cages; it was his only chance. The problem was that the lizard was between the him and his objective. The other men had fled, and the drake was now feeding on the cooked carcasses. Simon was the only one left. He needed to go around... but should he risk drawing the drake's attention? He had no intention of dying this day, but he was also sure that the lizard had a similar ideal in mind.

"Simon-master!" he heard a someone call above the loud *crunch* of the feeding drake. It was Throk.

Throk, You Idiot!

The drake heard the call and swung it's head around to the left. Off in the distance Simon could see Throk jumping up and down waving his spear. Simon smiled; it was just the distraction he needed. The hunter took off at a run just as the lizard took a few steps towards the half-orc. Simon leapt over the beast's tail, and almost screamed as the heat washed over him. He hit the ground on the other side of the creature and made a dash for the cloth-covered cage.

He saw Throk narrowly avoid being incinerated by a fireball.

Good. though Simon, He can continue to distract the beast while I prepare the killing-stroke.

Simon pulled the cloth away from the rear of the cage, revealing a large gray creature, almost seven feet in height. The thing stood on two legs like a man, but that was about the only thing it had in common with the humans who were it's captors. Its legs were tiny, almost too small to support the bulk of its upper body. The arms were equally small... short and shriveled like the vestigial organs they were. By comparison, the thing's round and slightly oblong head was massive. The huge jaws and bulbous throat took up fully two thirds of the creature's body. A series of ropes and leather straps formed a harness around the creature's mouth and throat, preventing them from opening. Leads from the harness were fed through the bars of the cage and lay on the ground at Simon's feet.

Good man, Throk! You got the harness on!

Simon's eyes followed the leads into the cage, where he saw the straps were tangled into a knotted heap near the creature's clawed foot.

Quickly, Simon opened the cage, stepped inside and closed it behind him. The creature turned and prodded him with its short snout... only the harness prevented it from taking off Simon's arm. The hunter knelt to untie the tangled mess. Fortunately he did not have to undo the harness straighten the leads, but he constantly had to dodge the creature's feet as it kicked at him. As he stood, the thing clawed him across his left arm. The strike drew blood, but Simon ignored the pain and exited the cage, slamming the door behind him.

He heard a scream, and then some yelling. Simon peered around the edge of the to cage see that Throk had be joined by another of the men. Together they dodged fireballs and threw rocks at the drake, keeping its attention away from Simon.

Almost ready...

Simon looked around on the ground nearby and found a small bucket. Inside it was a liquid sludge that was supposed to be earplugs made from enchanted wax. The heat had melted them, and most likely ruined the enchantment.

"Damn." whispered Simon. Thinking quickly, the ripped off a strip of cloth from his pants leg. He tore off two smaller pieces which he stuffed into his ears, and then tied the long strip around his head to help hold those in place. He took another look at his men.

I hope they've got their earplugs on. thought Simon as he snatched the cloth completely off of the banshee's cage.

As soon as the cloth was away, the failing daylight assaulted the banshee's nocturnal eyes. A sound arose... like the croaking of a huge frog combined with a high-pitched wine. The creature's throat pulsated and rippled slightly. Simon snatched up the leads and gave one of them a hard yank, tightening the harness. The noise quickly tapered off.

Not quite yet, beast. Not quite yet.

Simon yelled to Throk, and the half-orc turned and ran. The other man was a mite too slow and caught a fireball in the back. He screamed and rolled around on the ground, and then managed to crawl a short distance away before he collapsed.

Dead, most likely. If that fireball didn't kill him, this certainly will...

Simon grabbed the reigns and pointed the banshee in the direction of the drake. Then he took up another set of straps and pulled on them. The leather harness loosened, and a small leather patch was drawn tight against the creature's back. The patch was studded with metal spikes which dug into the banshee's skin, causing the creature a great deal of pain. The gray beast opened its maw and let out a short bark...

"Brak!!!"

The fire drake heard the noise and turned to investigate. Simon yanked the leads again...

"BRAKK!!"

"No! Scream you dumb beast! Scream!"

The drake now faced the cage and its contents. It opened its mouth wide...

Yank...

"BRRAAAKK!!"

"Dammit!!!"

Yank...

"Bra... Bra...BraeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"

Sound erupted from the banshee's enormous throat and slammed into the drake. Scales were blasted away from its head and front legs, and the lizard became paralyzed with pain...

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE..."

Simon kept up his grip on the straps, even though his own head felt as if it were going to explode. He felt his stomach begin to flutter and cramp... and soon his other internal organs began to do the same. Simon screamed, but his cry of pain was drowned out by that of the banshee...

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE..."

Feeling the focused force of the banshee's scream, the fire drake died a quick, yet agonizing death. Scales were missing from large patches of its skin. It's skeleton cracked and shattered, sending pointed shards of bone into its delicate muscle tissue. It's internal organs ruptured and liquefied as they attempted to vibrate in resonance with the banshee. The drake's eyes popped from their sockets just seconds before the lizard's skull collapsed under the assault...

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE..."

Simon wasn't faring much better than the drake. Even though he was behind the banshee, the sound was still wreaking havoc with his body. He had no senses. His eyes were tightly shut for fear they would come out of his skull. His body was vibrating so badly that his skin had gone numb. He couldn't concentrate. His ears... Simon wished he had been born without them.

He opened his eyes for an instant and saw the fire drake fall. Then he switched leads and pulled. The banshee strained against the harness that sought to constrict it's throat and force it's mouth closed. Simon pulled harder, using all of his remaining strength. Silencing a banshee with this type of harness was a three-man job, but he was the only one there. He would close the banshee's mouth or he would die...

"EEEEEEEeeeeeeeee......"

Slowly the creature gave in to the harness. It's powerful jaws closed and the swelling in its bulbous throat subsided. Simon had to use his eyes to tell that the banshee was silent... his ears were still ringing from the scream. He removed the earplugs. They were bloody. He was bleeding profusely from the nose as well as the ears and eyes. It took several minutes for the flow to stop, and even then his head still felt as if it were about to explode. Simon secured the harness and placed the cloth cover back over the cage.

"Simon-master?"

It was Throk. Simon barely heard his assistant return and call his name. Throk stood before him looking somewhat singed but otherwise perfectly fine. The half-orc was busily digging the remnants of the wax earplugs out of his ears.

"Simon-master not look so good" he said after he had cleaned out his ears... probably for the first time since birth.

"I'm... fine."

"Throk head hurt."

"Simon's head hurt too... It means we're still alive. Who was that with you out there?"

"That Justin. Justin not move fast... Justin not move at all anymore."

"No great loss."

"Simon-master kill lizard."

Simon nodded his head.

"We come get lizard for show. No capture lizard for show?"

"Gods, no! That thing wasn't going in my menagerie. We're here to get something

for my buyer in Montfort. Something special."

"Simon-Master take lizard to Montfort?"

"Are you out of your mind! You let that thing loose in Montfort and the city'll burn to the ground in a day. Again. We didn't come here for that damned drake."

"No drake? Throk no understand."

"I've been following this particular beast for weeks... since before I sent for you and the men. I've seen it hunt and feed. It was taking much more than it needed for just itself and it was bringing food back to the cave. We've still got some hunting to do."

"More lizards?"

"Hatchlings, or near-adults too young to hunt for themselves. Without mama here to protect them they'll be easy taking. Probably can't breathe fire yet. And the scales are softer, so a poison spear will slow 'em down enough to make the capture ...assuming you can gather what's left of the men before they get too far."

"Now?"

"Yes, now"

"Simon-master no rest?"

"No, Throk. There's money to be made... and Sinterbourne's waiting for us in Montfort."


[To Be Continued]