Dragon Hunter

Chapter 41: Promises Kept

Cooper smiled thinly as he dropped his hand.

"Not much, Theron. Just the arrival of the Noriquien, their demanding to know who, what, and why, and me shooting down a flight of imperial dragons," he said.

"Oh." Theron looked over at the soldiers, a couple of which had fallen to their knees.

The Sidhe elf, however, didn't get the chance to comment any further.

"You ... you're the dragon slayer," the elf that had challenged them, said, awe audible in his voice. "Indurain told us to expect you. But that was nearly five moon cycles ago. The government reported you lost in the web!"

Cooper exchanged a quick look with Theron. Five months? It was less than a day that he spent in the Eternal Forest! A frickin' day!

"I was lost," he said in Norianic, his expression thoughtful as he returned to the speaker, obviously an officer of some sort. "But a chain of lucky events has brought me back to the Garden and to Neladrin so I can fulfill my promise to your people."

He folded his arms.

"But I have obviously lost time and opportunity, which I now need to compensate for. What is the current state of the war against the Empire?"

The officer shook his head as curt gestures got his soldiers, a mix of male and female dark elves, back to their feet.

"We are sore pressed, my lord," he quietly admitted. "The Empire has destroyed many of our most holy and cherished monuments and historical preserves on the planet. And High Command estimates we will lose control over our original home world in a matter of days!"

He gestured towards the opening that led down to the ancient city Cooper and his companions had first appeared in.

"Only underground sites, like Metzoverran there, remain mostly intact, with most above ground sites destroyed."

"And your forces?" Cooper pressed as Theron, after making an unconscious Saddahk as comfortable as possible on the bare ground, joined them.

"Thin and too spread out to be effective," the officer indicated after glancing at the Sidhe elf. "We've been gutted by their attacks, losing thousands every day!"

Cooper slowly nodded as he digested that. Things had certainly gotten worse since his banishment. He then glanced at the broken draconic bodies several dozen meters away that marked his recent efforts.

"That changes today, commander," he tautly promised. "If you can arrange transport for my injured comrade to safety, I will join you in taking the fight to the dragons."

It then was the noriquien officer's turn to nod even as he waved a pair of his male soldiers forward, a look of both relief and gratitude appearing on his handsome face.

"These troopers can shadow jump," he indicated as the soldiers carefully lifted a limp Saddahk between them. "They will convey your comrade to our forward operating base where our healers will care for him."

The two soldiers and their ward then disappeared in a folding of shadows right on cue, leaving the rest of the squad with Cooper and Theron.

"Thank you," Cooper fervently said while silently hoping the noriquien healers didn't discover Saddahk's true identity.

"Now, do any of your squad have the ability of using magic to teach language? Theron here doesn't understand Norianic!"

Thankfully one of the female soldiers knew just enough magic to cast the spell Vannea had used to teach Cooper the dark elf language. With Theron now understanding every word being said, and clothed in spare uniform parts donated by a number of the male soldiers, the squad's remaining shadow jumpers prepared to transport them to their first objective: the first shrine to the Goddess of Shadows built at a place called Theladrin.