Chapter 142: The Burning Morning

A dragon, a real dragon?

“How can ……”

“I’ve actually seen a dragon, Jace, that’s what it looks like from a distance, those wings, that tail! Trust me it’s absolutely right!” Grid finished, cursing excitedly, “Damn, why would any dragon come here! Anyway, let’s find a place to hide first… Damn, that guy can’t have seen us, can he? If he turns around and spits on us, we’ll both be done for along with this little village!!!”

The two men scampered all the way to the shore, to a grove of trees, and found a sloping spot where they ducked into the shadows and crouched.

Moving over, Jace noticed that Grid’s hand holding the axe had begun to shake unceasingly.

“Motherfucking ……,” the dwarf cursed under his breath.

Jace looked in the direction the dragon had just left, hidden by the pine forest, and couldn’t see how it was a good idea to just hide here.

“We should go back to town, Grid.”

“Are you crazy? Wasn’t that dragon we just saw heading that way?”

“But there are guards there, and mages. Think about it, if there are other dragons, or soldiers from the tribe following him, maybe even about to come this way, wouldn’t the two of us be waiting to die? Don’t those dragons come in packs during the war?” Yes, that’s right, in hordes ……Grid gasped a few times and said, “Yes, you’re right, we should go quickly, if that dragon is the vanguard of the orc cavalry that would be bad.”

The two men immediately got up and headed east, sticking to the woods the whole way.

It didn’t matter if it was the vanguard of the orc cavalry, or one of a group of dragons, even if a single dragon alone noticed the two and turned a corner to come back this way, they wouldn’t be able to hide for very long looking for the two of them.

It was simply impossible to be an opponent once they fought, so they should find help first no matter what.

Could it be that the threat the Dalaran mage spoke of earlier was a dragon sighting?

When Talon Blood Demon led the Death Knights and Orcish Dragon Knights to raid the Ortlandic Valley before, he rode a black dragon instead of a red dragon.

And the mage had mentioned that there were signs of Shadow attacks in Ambermere, could it be that these black dragons were still prowling around here and hadn’t left after the Battle of Outlander?

Jace didn’t quite believe that the Dragon-throated Clan hiding deep in the Wetlands and within Grimbalto would have the guts to ride red dragons circling over the Hillsbrad Hills again after the overall defeat of the Horde.

What if it’s a red dragon that’s been mind-controlled by a Dragon-throated warlock?

“Did you get a good look at it? What color dragon is that?” Jace asked as he ran, “Red dragon, black dragon?”

“Red dragon, right …… I’ve never seen any other scale color.” Grid said, “With so many red dragons involved in the Battle of Hillsbrad Hills, there’s always one or two left over, and it’s not unlikely that this is one of them, the Alliance’s common enemy …… the Red Dragon! The evil Red Dragon!”

Jace was a little confused, after all, he had only been looking at a shadow as well.

The two men scurried all the way back to Southsea Town at the speed of a long-distance running test, and a long way off they heard the bells of the town hall ringing continuously.

“Is that dragon going to attack the town directly?” Grid asked in disbelief.

“Why?”

Jace didn’t dare guess, but the two ran closer and closer until they saw the docks and noticed that the whole town was in complete disarray.

All the ships were fleeing far out to sea, and the ones still on the docks were raising their anchors, and there were even those that hadn’t left the harbor that had just put up their sails, and the cables were fluttering all over the place in the confusion, and there were even people who had fallen into the sea that were swimming in the direction of the ship.

The entire town was filled with black smoke, and definitely not the cooking smoke that could be seen when you left in the morning, yet the dragon did not appear over the town.

Jace and Grid ran out into the street of the harborfront and saw that several houses had been blown up, including a tenement next to the inn where they were staying that was on fire, and a mage was chanting unintelligible incantations at the top of his lungs, calling on ice magic to barely stop the fire from spreading, but it was obviously not working very well.

The streets were filled with helpless burn victims, cries and howls were heard, Jace looked at the appalling scene, he hadn’t realized that the dragon had caused such destruction by just skimming through the town.

“Come on …… our luggage is still inside, Jace!” The dwarf tugged on his shoulder and said, “Follow me in!”

The two rushed into the second floor of the hotel and found their luggage, which was already thick with smoke that smelled far worse than the usual burnt odor.

“What’s burning, it stinks so bad!”

Grid pointed his nose and Jace scurried to the first floor carrying bags and clothes only to hear the sound of a child crying on the second floor, as soon as they heard the sound both men froze and looked at each other.

“You take the stuff out first!” Jace said, “I have the fireproof cloak, I’ll get him.”

“I’ll be right over to help you!” The dwarf roared.

Jace dropped Greed and turned to leap up the stairs, the mage was probably out of mana, the smoke was much thicker now than it had been earlier, Jace could even see some open flames now.

“Where are you? Why don’t you give a shout? Where’s the man!”

He lowered his head and covered his mouth and nose with his cloak as he traveled through the choking smoke, feeling that the boy was 80% smoked out.

The temperature around them was getting warmer and warmer, and suddenly out of nowhere a beam collapsed, the floor crooked beneath his feet, and Jace nearly slipped when the boy’s voice came back.

“I’m coming! Someone’s coming for you!” Jace kicked open a door panel that was stuck because the frame was twisted, and was looking at a little girl hiding under a bed, sobbing, a layer of black ash on her face, tears streaming down her face to form a trail.

Jace picked her up in one arm and hid her under his cloak, turning and rushing into the hallway against the smoke that was spewing in.

The fire was spreading too fast, and the situation was already many times more dire than when he first went in.

But Jace knew that every second he hesitated he was closer to death, and since he had the cloak to protect him he should run with it.

Holding his breath without hesitation, he ran wildly out against the mud and smoke until he was stopped by a burning and collapsing wall.

Already able to see the street outside through the crack, he kicked hard toward it, but couldn’t get it open.

That’s when Grid scurried out of nowhere, splitting a piece of wood directly over the crack with an axe, followed by a kick, and the barrier in front of him clattered down.

He grabbed Jace by the collar and yelled, “Jump! Breaking a leg is better than smoking to death here!”

With his heart in his mouth, Jace leapt straight out of the second floor, missing the cushion as he landed and sitting on his butt to protect the child in his arms.

It hurt like hell, but at least it was possible to stand up again. If it wasn’t for the fact that this area near the docks didn’t have great infrastructure, with dirt roads and weeds everywhere, it would probably have been half ruined by now.

Turning back again, the second floor of the inn was already burning.

Outside, there were patches of crying, wailing, and the smoke in the sky colored a clear morning as if it were the end of the world.

The little girl’s parents looked back and forth in confusion as they wondered where they had gone. Jace looked down the entire street at the limping wounded and the soldiers, laborers and hired farmers carrying water everywhere, and thought back to had Southsea ever suffered such a catastrophe?

By this point, he wasn’t very good at saying he remembered any history.

An ear-splitting hiss in the distance interrupted his thoughts, and those in the room who had relaxed widened their eyes in fear once more.

“It’s back! It’s back!”