Chapter 167 Chasing Dragons (2/2)
Still, the ood — doubtless he was already excited at the prospect of earning the fortune Arran had promised him if they were successful
As Arran approached, he could see that Crassus held what looked to be a bundle of blankets in his arms
”Take this,” the man said, then handed Arran one of the blankets
The blanket was gray and musty, and Arran looked at it with so just why the portly ht he needed a worn blanket
”It's a blanket,” Crassus said
Arran had gathered that ave the man a puzzled look ”But what's it for?”
”It's for hiding,” the ons are vicious beasts, but they're dumb as bricks If you see one, hide under the blanket, and it'll think you're a rock Keep it handy, and you have a decent chance of surviving if we run into a dragon”
”That works?” Arran asked doubtfully
The man nodded emphatically ”Saved h Arran had ue with the man Between the two of theon, and Arran would defer to his judgons as Crassus was to earn his gold, and it barely took them a day to travel from the foothills into the uide seemed to be intih hidden paths and passes as they ventured deeper into the h Arran had been doubtful about the man's capabilities, it was clear that Crassus had traveled the area ularly caes It seemed that at some point in the distant past, the h only ruins now reons caard's so big — when the ht outside the ons would eventually leave”
They steadily moved deeper into the mountains, and the farther they went, the less confident Crassus became Before the first as over, their speed had already dropped by half, with Crassus insisting they scouted all paths carefully before advancing, to avoid running into any dragons
The slow pace caused Arran souide said it was necessary, all he could do was accept it — the ion than he did, after all
Near the end of the first week, they scaled yet another steep path up an even steeper cliff At the end of it, Arran discovered, lay a small valley that held what looked to be a sizable abandoned village
Before Arran could venture forth, Crassus hissed at hion We need to see if the coast is clear before going any further”
At theat the ruined village fron of h of relief
”You wait here,” he said to Arran ”I'll just have a quick look around”
By now, this was very faes, Crassus would insist on taking some time to search for any valuables that remained in the ruins
This, Arran had discovered, was the reason Crassus was so faion: he often ventured into the es for valuables
Arran sat down on a rock, watching as Crassus headed for the village Yet after a e rust-brown creature twice the size of a horse, with a powerful build and sharp-looking scales A dragon
But while Arran saw the dragon, Crassus was completely unaware of what lay ahead Several ruined houses stood between hiht him closer to the creature
For a moment, the shock left Arran speechless, but then, he called out, ”Dragon!” Shocked though he was, he couldn't just let his guide walk toward certain death without warning
His fathi that only very vaguely resee rock
Yet at the same time, the massive creature turned its head toward Arran It opened its er-like teeth, and let out a bone-chilling screech
Then, it rushed toward Arran