The trio travelled onwards, discussing plans for what route they would take, and how long it would take to get to where they were going. Ellestria proved to be a very friendly soul, and also the most talkative. She seemed younger than the two, despite the fact that due to her dragon blood, she had already lived over five hundred years. She explained that it was young as dragon ages go, and that she would most likely live to the age of three thousand. Drevon found this number to be ridiculous, but Jason explained that full-blood dragons can acually live to be well over seven thousand years. “I’m born of a long line of dragoness sisters. We have some males who are still around, but most of them have been killed off by knights and mercenaries. The ones that are left are very old indeed, and most of them keep to themselves anyway,” She said sadly. “Ellestria, may I ask something?” Drevon asked. “Of course, what is it?” She replied, her mood brightening. “Why are you only a half dragon and not a full blood?” He said bluntly. She chuckled to herself. “We are simply a different species. My race is pretty rare now, and we mainly hide in the mountains,” She explained. She suddenly stopped and took a long breath of the air. “Do you smell that?” She asked, a big grin coming onto her face. “Smell what?” Jason asked, sniffing at the air himself. “I do not smell anything.” “Niether do I,” Drevon said, a confused look on his face. “Someone is cooking something nearby, probably down by that river there.” She pointed a clawed hand to where she was speaking of, and Drevon and Jason saw the silver-grey streak of a river in the sunlight. “What is it with you and food anyway?” Jason asked quizzically. Ellesria looked confused. “I simply love it, you have to love something in this life,” she said with a smile. The three walked down the hill to the river, where they soon discovered the source of the scent. Someone was indeed cooking near the river bank. He was a human, a pig-faced man, with sunken eyes and hollow cheeks. He was dressed in old, blue and brown clothes, and a pipe was in his mouth.. Judging by the nearby ferry, the group reasoned that he was a ferryman. “Hello there,” Ellestria said, coming up to him. The man, who had never seen such a creature as Ellestria, leapt back in suprise. “What? I’ll do anything you want just don’t hurt me!” He yelled, putting his hands in the air. “You silly, we won’t hurt you,” Ellestria said. “Who are you?” The man asked, eyeing the three suspicously. “My name is Drevon, and these are my companions Jason and Ellestria,” Drevon said, gesturing to his companions. “Well, what is it you want?” The man asked. Drevon gestured to the ferry. “We want a ride across the river here acually,” Drevon said. The man nodded. “I’ll take you across, but first, you have to play my game,” He said. “Your game, what game?” Jason asked, almost insulted. The man grinned a toothy grin, and the pipe bounced around in his mouth. “Allow me,” He said. The man walked over to his tent, and pulled a game board from it, along with two leather pouches. He opened one pouch, and five stone figurines fell out. “Alright then here’s the game. Each of you chooses a piece, and you have to get from one side of the board to the other. You have to keep your figurines at least one square away from mine.” He opened the other pouch, and an assortment of stone figures fell out. “One of you will move, than I, than the next of you, then I agian, See? If you all get to the other side, then I’ll ferry you across. If I win, then I will not, understand?” The three looked at each other, and after some quiet deciding of that there wasn’t much choice in the matter, they chose thier tokes and sat down. The game began and the three moved thier pices across the board, with the ferryman in turn moving his. The ferryman was good at the game, but the players soon understood it, and, slowly but surely, reached the other side of the board. When they had finished, they ferryman put his hands up and grinned. “You got me, I’ll take you across,” He said. They boarded his ferry, a rickety and leaky thing indeed. The three almost didn’t trust it, but it got them to the other side. They moved on from there, waving goodbye to the ferryman, and into the forest. And so yet another obstacle had been overcome.
Fairy Tales
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