The Dragon's Wrath: Shadows in the Flame by Brent Roth Page A

their settlement plans. All those plans… and yet none of them would likely happen. Not in the way they were imagining it to happen, at the very least.
    The cold water was starting to get to me as I regained my composure and took a few shallow breaths. I needed to manage my breathing so as not to become overexcited in this situation with my heart already wanting to pound from the anticipation.
    Hiding under a shadow beneath the ripples of the river water, unnoticed and alone in a hostile territory filled with dozens of natural enemies, everything had been routine up until now. But now it was time to enact the second stage of the operation.
    It was time to give the signal.
    Diving back down to the bottom of the river, I made my way against the current and towards the eastern wall, in the direction of my boat hidden two miles out behind the curtain of brown, green, and white. Easily beating the weak current I stopped at the pile of logs with only one thing on my mind. The torches that had been left unlit every twenty feet or so and attached to the top of the walls were what I would use.
    One torch on the southern side of the river would be lit.
    The smoke would do the rest.
    Looking at the torch I was quickly dismayed and disturbed by the presence of a man, clearly an NPC that had wandered over to the water’s edge. A fisherman… hoping to use the log wall as a resting spot to fish from.
    On the inside of the village’s walls and directly in the way as I needed a clear path to light the torch, he was an obstacle. Standing where he was, my path was blocked and even if I could manage to sneak around him the act of lighting the torch would draw unneeded attention if not surely give me away.
    Without a weapon due to the glint of metal possibly giving up my position beneath the surface, the only weapons were my bare hands and the body of water that I resided in. The use of lightning was strictly prohibited as the ensuing thunder would damn it all.
    Lurking beneath the shadow of the logs I waited with breath held. In the shallow depths of the river, my face staring up at the man that was oblivious to what was to come, I waited for him to turn. His hands and eyes preoccupied with the wooden rod and the fixing of his lure, he continued to fiddle as he began to look for his bait stored in a crude tackle bag perched on top of the wood.
    As he turned his face slightly away and with shoulder now pointed to the side, I moved. Hands gripping the lowest log, I pulled myself up in a near instant as I simultaneously yanked on the man’s waist. Grabbing him with an arm while quickly throwing my free hand out to reach around his face, I clasped tightly around his mouth as I twisted and turned on the log and slid back into the water in relative silence.
    The entire movement was over in a second as the only sign of struggle above the surface was a small wave from the displaced water. Beneath the water’s surface though the man was fighting for his life as I wrapped him up from behind and began to wrestle with his mouth. There was no need for technique as the man had been caught off guard and without an understanding for his situation, his frantic clawing and kicking to reach the surface was of little use.
    The kicking of my powerful legs dragged us both to the bottom as the man’s futile attempts to break away grew weaker by the second. Arm wrapped around his neck and tucked deeply beneath his chin while my other hand covered his face, he tried desperately to pull my hands off but could not muster the strength.
    Then a few more seconds passed us by as the man’s movements had all but ceased and a small burst of bubbles escaped his mouth. Still in the shadow of the log, the man was no more. The last obstacle had been removed.
    Clutching his body with my right arm, I slowly rose to the surface and pulled the tackle bag and fishing rod into the water, eliminating any evidence as to his whereabouts. Holding onto the drowned man while checking