dream.
#
Gruum met Yserth the Red Dragon. The Dragon was greater in size and even more terrifying of aspect than Anduin was, when she took her natural form. Gruum stood upon a flat, muddy strip of land that bubbled with heat. He suspected the heat came from a source not unlike that which warmed Corium’s baths.
Looking up from the landscape, Gruum stared fixedly at the Dragon. Every red scale it wore was blackened by soot and many scales were large enough to serve a soldier as a kite shield. There were bony ridges around each of its huge orbits. The eyes within were yellow, with vertical slits for pupils. Gruum’s eyes met those of the Dragon, but he did not speak. The monster opened its mouth.
“You dare return?” Yserth asked. “Where is my promised gift, tiny mote of meat and dust?”
“I—I have none, lord Dragon,” Gruum managed to stammer out.
Yserth’s great claws moved forward, causing a sound like the falling of boulders upon sand. One step, then a second. The Red Dragon now loomed over Gruum, blocking out the ruddy sun that baked this world.
“How is it you slip in and out my realm so freely, when you are no sorcerer?” Yserth asked him.
Gruum could not answer the huge creature, such was his fright.
“It is not yet time for you to be here, traveler,” Yserth said. “In fact, I have grown weary of your visits. I will come to find you next time.”
The Dragon dipped its great head with the jaws yawning wide. Hot breath swept over Gruum. There was no escape, no way out of the expanse of the mouth, nor of the hot, muddy flatlands.
Gruum was swallowed alive.
#
Gruum awoke underwater. His eyes snapped open and bubbles streamed from his screaming mouth. Heat was everywhere; it had overcome him. He felt suffocated and sapped of strength. In his mind, he believed he really had been swallowed by the Red Dragon. To him, he endured his last seconds of life, waiting to drown in the hot acids of the monster’s vast belly.
A hand plunged down suddenly, grabbing him by his dark locks. Gruum reached up and clutched at the hand that gripped his hair. He was hauled upward. He broke the surface and gasped.
Choking and blinking, Gruum stared into the eyes of an old Hyborean. He realized as his mind cleared that the face was a familiar one. It was Sir Tovus, the old knight he’d not seen for a year.
Tovus released Gruum’s hair, wiped his hands on his blue livery and huffed. “You have to watch yourself in these bubbling pools, barbarian,” he said. “They have a seductive way about them for the exhausted man.”
“I was dreaming,” Gruum said.
“Indeed? What of?”
Gruum shook his head. “An evil place.”
Tovus nodded. “The pools are not a good spot for dreaming. You know these vents go down very deep into the earth, don’t you? Who knows what kind of foul creatures bathe in these same waters miles down from here?”
Gruum climbed out of the pool weakly, rolling himself onto the flat stones that surrounded it. He gasped there, like a fish on a dry deck.
Sir Tovus stood over him for a moment, then walked away without another word. Gruum did not take offense. Gruum knew the old knight had determined he would survive, and did not wish to embarrass him further by witnessing this moment of weakness. Tovus was only being polite, in the Hyborean way.
Naked and cooling slowly, Gruum hugged the flagstones. In his mind’s eye, he still saw the Red Dragon’s mouth descending over him.
-3-
When Gruum had recovered and dressed, he went upstairs into the palace proper. There, he ate and drank to regain his strength. Was it his imagination, or did the servants eye him with new suspicions? Certainly, they took pains to serve his table without lingering. None spoke to him, not even a greeting.
Disregarding these half-imagined slights, Gruum decided he must speak to Therian. He must tell him about his dreams of Yserth, as this was not the first time he’d met the Red Dragon while sleeping. He
#
Gruum met Yserth the Red Dragon. The Dragon was greater in size and even more terrifying of aspect than Anduin was, when she took her natural form. Gruum stood upon a flat, muddy strip of land that bubbled with heat. He suspected the heat came from a source not unlike that which warmed Corium’s baths.
Looking up from the landscape, Gruum stared fixedly at the Dragon. Every red scale it wore was blackened by soot and many scales were large enough to serve a soldier as a kite shield. There were bony ridges around each of its huge orbits. The eyes within were yellow, with vertical slits for pupils. Gruum’s eyes met those of the Dragon, but he did not speak. The monster opened its mouth.
“You dare return?” Yserth asked. “Where is my promised gift, tiny mote of meat and dust?”
“I—I have none, lord Dragon,” Gruum managed to stammer out.
Yserth’s great claws moved forward, causing a sound like the falling of boulders upon sand. One step, then a second. The Red Dragon now loomed over Gruum, blocking out the ruddy sun that baked this world.
“How is it you slip in and out my realm so freely, when you are no sorcerer?” Yserth asked him.
Gruum could not answer the huge creature, such was his fright.
“It is not yet time for you to be here, traveler,” Yserth said. “In fact, I have grown weary of your visits. I will come to find you next time.”
The Dragon dipped its great head with the jaws yawning wide. Hot breath swept over Gruum. There was no escape, no way out of the expanse of the mouth, nor of the hot, muddy flatlands.
Gruum was swallowed alive.
#
Gruum awoke underwater. His eyes snapped open and bubbles streamed from his screaming mouth. Heat was everywhere; it had overcome him. He felt suffocated and sapped of strength. In his mind, he believed he really had been swallowed by the Red Dragon. To him, he endured his last seconds of life, waiting to drown in the hot acids of the monster’s vast belly.
A hand plunged down suddenly, grabbing him by his dark locks. Gruum reached up and clutched at the hand that gripped his hair. He was hauled upward. He broke the surface and gasped.
Choking and blinking, Gruum stared into the eyes of an old Hyborean. He realized as his mind cleared that the face was a familiar one. It was Sir Tovus, the old knight he’d not seen for a year.
Tovus released Gruum’s hair, wiped his hands on his blue livery and huffed. “You have to watch yourself in these bubbling pools, barbarian,” he said. “They have a seductive way about them for the exhausted man.”
“I was dreaming,” Gruum said.
“Indeed? What of?”
Gruum shook his head. “An evil place.”
Tovus nodded. “The pools are not a good spot for dreaming. You know these vents go down very deep into the earth, don’t you? Who knows what kind of foul creatures bathe in these same waters miles down from here?”
Gruum climbed out of the pool weakly, rolling himself onto the flat stones that surrounded it. He gasped there, like a fish on a dry deck.
Sir Tovus stood over him for a moment, then walked away without another word. Gruum did not take offense. Gruum knew the old knight had determined he would survive, and did not wish to embarrass him further by witnessing this moment of weakness. Tovus was only being polite, in the Hyborean way.
Naked and cooling slowly, Gruum hugged the flagstones. In his mind’s eye, he still saw the Red Dragon’s mouth descending over him.
-3-
When Gruum had recovered and dressed, he went upstairs into the palace proper. There, he ate and drank to regain his strength. Was it his imagination, or did the servants eye him with new suspicions? Certainly, they took pains to serve his table without lingering. None spoke to him, not even a greeting.
Disregarding these half-imagined slights, Gruum decided he must speak to Therian. He must tell him about his dreams of Yserth, as this was not the first time he’d met the Red Dragon while sleeping. He
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