home Chapter: 1 .. 2 .. 3 .. 4 .. 5 .. 6 .. 7 .. 8 .. 9 . 10 . 11 . 12 . 13 . 14 . 15 . 16 . 17 . 18 . 19 . 20 . 21 . 22 . 23 . 24 . 25 . 26 . 27 . 28 . 29 . 30
The next few days are heavy with research. My plan is simple: to offer up the ladies, and shoot Almidahl when she comes to collect. I choose this plan because it is direct, and has the element of surprise: she is not likely to be aware of the enormous range of these newest and deadliest of mankind's weapons. If I post them at long range and disguise them, she is not likely to see them as threatening, if she notices them at all.
The dragon and I are likely to be evenly matched in eldritch skill, which is why we haven't faced off before now. But that doesn't mean we won't have a contest this time. This time I will contest her on the Eldritch Plane in order to get her to stand still in a place where the crossbow can shoot her. That place will be in front of the ladies, as they stand bound to sacrificial stakes. So, one of the things I research is exactly where to put the stakes outside her lair. Where can we put them so that a camouflaged crossbow has a clear field of fire on an approaching dragon?
The second thing I research is a poison. This special crossbow's quarrels can stop a horse dead in its tracks, but a dragon is much more than a horse. It is bigger, just as heavily armored as a fully barded horse, and its metabolism is slower. This means that even a mortal wound will take much longer to kill a dragon than a horse -- a shot which totally destroys a dragon's heart would leave the shooter facing a very angry and capable dragon for five minutes or more, and it would take five perfect quarrel hits to shred a dragon's heart. If we are to survive this upcoming battle, the dragon must succumb much more quickly than simple physical damage will do, so physical damage must be supplemented with charms and poisons.
By day five I'm distressed. I discover that most of the human-based literature on dragon killing is devoted to chivalrous combat with immature male dragons. It is totally irrelevant to my needs, and gives me no clue as to what charms or poisons will be effective against Queen Almidahl. I am wary of consulting with Effreet Nazul because he has acted as intermediary. He may choose to continue his intermediary role, and tell the Queen of my plans. I am reduced to preparing a mix of generic deadly poisons, and I am only guessing that the mix will have great effect on the Queen. This is not good. I will paint the quarrel shaft with the toxin, which limits it's potency, too -- the shooter cannot drop dead just by loading the ammo, and the shaft cannot be weakened by the poison coating. Ignorance... tradeoffs... ignorance... tradeoffs.... I am frustrated; I want a sure thing, here.
home Chapter: 1 .. 2 .. 3 .. 4 .. 5 .. 6 .. 7 .. 8 .. 9 . 10 . 11 . 12 . 13 . 14 . 15 . 16 . 17 . 18 . 19 . 20 . 21 . 22 . 23 . 24 . 25 . 26 . 27 . 28 . 29 . 30