A RANGER IS BORN

Scanning the area with care, Crentar spotted a wide fissure in the escarpment that was nearly invisible from any angle but straight ahead. It lead steeply up into the side of the mountain. Beyond a few feet, it became too dark to see. Carefully, he approached the fissure.

"They'll be no rest for me tonight, that's for sure. Orcs behind, dragon ahead, no safe place for anyone," he breathed.

His heart in his throat, Crentar quietly entered the darkened fissure. It angled steeply up and to the right. The band of dusk-filled sky soon narrowed as the fissure, somewhere far above, nearly closed off. There was a strange musky smell wafting down from above on the mountain wind. Somewhere above the light closed off completely. He couldn't see, but he dared not make any fire for light. His pace slowed to less than a crawl. Step softly... make no sound, dragons are well known for their sharp senses, Crentar thought to himself.

After hours of inching his way through darkness, Crentar arrived at a point where the fissure made a sharp bend to the right and abruptly opened into a large bowl shaped area somewhere high up on the mountain. The area was blasted and the stone slagged. Broken boulders lay strewn about haphazardly. On the right side of the area, a deep crevasse opened into the side of the mountain, and quickly became a forbidding tunnel. To the left, the bowl was missing part of its wall and it dropped steeply down what must be the same escarpment he had seen from below. The dry musky smell was very strong and a thin blanket of smoke covered everything. Crentar carefully planned his rout across the open space to the mouth of the crevasse. He didn't want to be in the open where he could be seen from inside at any time.

One step at a time, Crentar concentrated only upon stealth. Each foot must be placed just so. My weapons must not scrape against any of the rocks lest the sound find its way to the ears of the dragon, he thought as he worked his way toward the crevasse. With sweat running in a river down his back, Crentar arrived at the entrance. There, he mustered his courage for a glimpse around the edge. Just one quick peek and I'm out'a here, he thought. Tym, help me. Let the beast be asleep.

---Oralifane was content; as much as any true dragon ever can be. He had just finished a large meal of roasted herd beasts with human peasant as desert. The food was heavy in his belly and urged sleep. He was snug in his new lair and surrounded by his treasures. He began the ages-old pastime of dragon-kind.

6,068 pieces of gold, 2,021 pieces of silver, and counting the 3 copper from that peasant, 10,689 pieces of copper. 5 rubies worth 50 gold each... 2 blue potions of healing... 1 magic long sword... a crystal ball from that foolish mage... his eye picked out each item or pile in turn, judging the size and shape of each to be sure it was all still there. 1 diamond necklace... the dragon was asleep now but part of his mind and one eye continued the inventory. While the dragons eye was on a jade statue, there was a quick, unnoticed, movement in the shadows near the entrance to the lair.---

Silently thanking Tym for his fortune, Crentar crept back from the entrance with enormous care. This most certainly was the dragons lair. Now I must report the location of the lair to the Lord of these lands so that someone more qualified can deal with the problem, he thought. That meant going to the city and dealing with people. He looked at the clear sky full of stars then slipped quietly into the darkness and vanished.

---To be continued in Chapter 4---