November 10

Word Count: 1000

Infinitely glad he'd drawn his sword, Iber stared at the creature. Indeed, it matched the pictures he'd seen as a child. Brown, green and about the size of a ten year old child, it would definitely a problem. It lunged at him again, gaining great height with it's jump. Iber stabbed at hit, but his sword just slid off his scales.

"Run!" Iber shouted to Saratin, but it was too late. A second dragon had jumped onto the back of the wagon. It prowled closer to the unarmed brother. Saratin scrambled off the top of the wagon and onto the ground.

"When dealing with a lesser dragon, it's best not to antagonize them in any way," Saratin quoted as he scrambled out of the wagon.

"Well then tell them not to antagonize us!" Iber said as he thrust his sword uselessly at the dragon again. The dragon burped a short fire burst and heated Iber's sword. His hand began to burn and with a shout, he dropped his sword and spurred his horse nearer to the wagon.

"The lesser dragons are fairly nasty and persistent creatures. Unlike similar varieties of dragon, they cannot swim, and thus are afraid of water."

Iber ducked as the dragon on the wagon spit fire in his direction. Iber felt his leg burning as he shielded the rest of his body with his horse. The flames had caught his clothing on fire. He dropped to the ground and rolled to suffocate the flames. Saratin peered out from under the wagon.

"Don't know where we're going to get water though." Saratin said as Iber scooted under the wagon.

"I've got some on my…" He looked up to see his horse galloping away. At this point, he didn't blame him.

"What are they doing?" Saratin asked him. Iber looked around. They wouldn't be safe under the wagon for long. The dragons could easily get to them.

"They're distracted… by something in the wagon."

"Do you smell that? It smells like sausage."

"I pray that it's not my leg."

"No, it's coming up from the wagon." Iber took a sniff. He smelled charred clothing and burnt hair with the slightest hint of breakfast.

"You think there's sausage in the wagon?"

"Well, they're not trying to eat us. Odds are, they've found something else to eat," Saratin reasoned.

"So if we run, will they follow us?"

"Lesser dragons have a small attention span. They've probably forgotten about us… at least until they've emptied the wagon. Then they'll probably get hungry again. But if we run, they'll definitely see us."

"So we're stuck," Iber stated. "Can things get any worse?" One of the dragons burped. The crackle of fire grew louder.

"I think the wagon might be on fire," Saratin said.

"That's wonderful. Now that gives me just enough nerve to run for my sword and try and ram it down their throat. Maybe it will choke before it roasts me to death."

As Iber got into a position to scramble towards his discarded sword. One of the dragons let out a squeal. It hissed again and burbled before scrambling out of the wagon and rustling its ways through the fallen leaves. The second followed in quick pursuit.

"They're leaving?" In response to Saratin's question, Iber peered up from under the wagon. Noticing the current lack of dragons, he stood and retrieved his sword. He peered into the wagon and began to laugh. He knew it was just his nerves that made the entire situation seem so hilarious, but he couldn't stop.

"You're laughing," Saratin said from under the wagon. "Is that a good sign?"

"I just remembered something you said back at the inn."

"What was that?" Saratin crawled out from under the wagon.

"The brother's wine. You said the brother's wine was watered down." Iber pointed to the charred remains of a barrel. The remainder of the brother's wine was leaking out of the lower slats. The dragon's fire had burnt and split the barrel, so that the watered wine spilled out at the dragons, and drenched the sausage they had been consuming. Iber looked at the wagon. It was a complete mess. Bits of embers still gleamed in the support beams. If the dragons had stayed a few moments more, they would have burnt right through the bottom of the wagon and seen their new prey below.

"I think we might be able to save a few things," Saratin commented as he slid into the back of the wagon and started tossing things about.

"What was that you mentioned about the dragons having short attention spans?" Iber mentioned as he began to unhook the horse.

"Right. Very right. Let's hurry then."

"Save only what we can carry. Otherwise, I'm afraid we'll have to leave it."

"I think the brothers will be more interested in the fact that we ran into dragons, than the fact the dragons destroyed a supply wagon." Saratin tossed Iber a wad of material down to Iber. "You might want one of these later."

"It's a cassock."

"Yes, well, that's what supplies we have. Since your horse has run off and your clothes are quite burnt, I don't think the brothers will mind you borrowing their clothing."

"Right." Iber mounted the horse with difficulty. It was going to be a long trip through the forest, with two people on such a worthless horse, not to mention that they'd have to keep a close eye out for more of the dragons. Iber looked down at his leg. It wasn't too badly burned, but his trousers were quite ruined. He sighed as he pulled the cassock over his head. Saratin smiled at him and handed up a sack of items he'd rummaged from the back of the wagon. Iber held his hand out for Saratin. He swung Saratin up onto the horse behind him, and the two took off at the highest speed Iber encouraged the haggard old horse to go with two on his back.