A rooster crowed them awake that morning. Off in the distance, a herd of cows muddled around the flat. They made their lowing sounds and snorts. Even without the influences of external systems, things outside the walls of any settlement Adville changed often. These large herds they’d ridden across the last few days meant relative safety. This land belonged to the King’s cattle. Not all close connections with Adville needed walls or cities with sentient collections. Both pleasantly and unpleasantly, one could easily tell when the Western off-worlder happened to be in their general area.

  Their saddles got more westernized. The saddle pommels poking up more prominently like well, you can guess. Lassos got added, more padding in the blankets, which, admittedly, made them more comfortable to travel in and the colors got richer. It also gave them unremovable spurs. Laural fought with her pair most mornings, not believing in their harm to her horses. She insisted everyone wrap cloth around them, which both made them rattle less, and made everyone’s riding posture more awkward. All of them went off the path specifically to avoid coming across the Western player character.

  Like any strangers with a large party and potentially interesting loot, their best chance lay in avoidance. The best gauge of all for closeness though rested on their hips. None of them had guns or holsters but if a holster appeared they went the opposite way. Only one person got a fully loaded revolver on time, Kriti. They’d all fled away at speed until she didn’t even have a hip holster. Bold NPC’s, not pretty corpsmen, might surround a medium level player at distance trying to acquire rare items and then resell them. But the risk of either being caught up in the story or the item disappearing meant few but the desperate or foolish did so.

  This tactic had forced them off into the open pastureland. Everyone knew Here There Be Dragons if you stepped on their land. Only the roads could be considered secure, but a present threat of rifle fire overwhelmed their concern about dragons. It should not have.

  Their first warning came with a new cattle herd. Texas Big horns, and a huge herd of them went up the draws, ambling to eat the sweet grass. Even far away, Kriti could see the legendary fire brand. Bright red stamps in the shape of a flame symbol let everyone know this cattle herd is cursed. You take one of these special branded ones and it was over. They say the brands ran so deep in the hide that it causes spontaneous combustion if you skin the cow. She’d always wondered if there might be a way to use that to get rid of bodies more effectively.

  She didn’t get to think about it long before she noticed a tiny fast moving dot in the sky arrowing towards them. High noon, never a good time. It gave her a headache squinting into the sun as they pointed their horses to go west young man, but then the way of the pistol player character was to the east.

  As the larger and larger shape appeared in the sky, she saw the white cowboy hat made of two cowhides secured to its five-foot head, and alligator green scales. It had great wide wings and plenty of speed. It swooped down in front of them. Their horses froze in fear. The carts stopped too. All of them uncomfortable with the dragon blocking them.

  It was impossible to scale the wings or body to human sizes because the whole creature moved even while blocking their way. A snakey sway of, neck, body, and tail. All at different rhythms and a rustle of wings in and out slightly. It gave the impression of a moving algae wall rather than a creature. It didn’t say anything, only wide eyes locked on them.

  Day finally stood up from her position on the cart which made her seem taller and side carefully, “Sorry good dragon, we thought this was cattle land.”

  “Is.” The green dragon assured them.

  “King’s cattle land?” Day further prompted.

  “Yeesum.”

  “Then why are dragons on it?” Bodi asked in exasperation. Slow conversation wasn’t his way.

  “King costs cattle. Our land. They give price for cow. Want cow? Long horns? Jesse? Belgian Blue, Hereford? Holstien, Aberdeen, Belted Galloway? Aubrac, Dexter? Dairy? Meat? Prefer ancient bull taste, posse like original mavericks. Very tough, cost much. Ole teeth love. Big cow, good taste.”

  “Could we maybe talk to someone else?” Nettle asked reasonably.

  “Trail Boss Earp. Runs all the trail.”

  “Yes, umn him. What’s your name? Could you get him?”

  “Wish? Which? Wisha?”

  This dragon’s common tongue clearly had been mishmashed together.

  “Your name?” Bodi snapped.

  The dragon squinted into the sky putting his head around for a long time and then flickered his tail a bit faster. “Sundance, Kid.”

  “If we give you gold, may we pass?” asked Nettle, trust the rich to try paying his way out.

  “Hoard full of gold?” Sundance snickered. “Hoard full of cow. Much meat for belly. Better than shiny gold coins. Cannot eat gems. Gem dragon give to me. Gold dragon give to me. All dragon hungry if they not hoard well. Some dragon silly. Try to hoard, hard, without knowledge to keep alive.”

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  Trail Boss Earp was quieter and even bigger. This dragon swept in over their heads, with a smaller cowboy hat of beaten black leather and six-foot head. Wyatt Earp landed beside Sundance with a neat quick movement tucking both wings into red scales. If a large loud dragon worried anyone, a silent larger dragon should worry them a great deal more.

  “What’s going on here?” asked Earp glancing between the dragon and them.

  Sundance roared. All of horses and humanoids shrunk back. In the distance, the Fire Brand cows stampeded.

  Earp put a tired claw to the forehead and turned to them.

  “Ignore him. He’s a cow boy. Only knows cows.”

  “He’s a cattle dragon?” Nettle asked cautiously, feeling a bit more nervous than a few minutes ago.

  “We’re all cattle dragon in one way or another. We keep an eye on the herds of Fire Brand. This miniature lizard’s working on his cattle voice level still.”

  “Not lizards. We not gaters. Eat once. Sleep long. Ole dragons like that. We youn’ guns.”

  “Shush. Trail Boss talking now.” Earp repeated the tone in a lower roaring hiss in the dragon language. “Why are you here? Not to steal cattle. You’re,” Earp cast a critical eye over the two carts, “umn, unprepared for that.”

  “We wanted to avoid a fight with any main characters from a Western. We left the path to continue in this direction.”

  “Fight? Fight?” snarled the small dragon, Sundance. “Only chicken dragon fight. Chicken dragon less land, chicken dragon less workers. Chicken dragon very smart. Make so much chicken even humans like chicken dragon. Chicken dragon no cowboy. Bad dragon. If you meet chicken dragon, be careful. No fight!”

  Earp rolled both eyes and snapped commands. Only a lot of waving and exclamations towards the big horned cattle go the other dragon to reluctantly lift his wings and then take three jumping starts before lifting off into the air to gather the herd he’d scattered back together.

  “Sundance is still learning. We can’t have you roaming through and spooking the herds and cow boys. The boys often don’t know any common tongue. You’re pretty deep inside our land by now.”

  “Maybe you could fly us out?” Laural asked before all of them could give her an aghast expression. “What? You all ride horses all the time?”

  Nettle rubbed his face aggressively. “That’s like asking a centaur for a quick spin. That’s not alright for most sentient species.”

  Nettle and Day turned to undo the damage of being so rude, but it was too late.

  Earp dropped his huge head to the ground. His spikes flared out. The dragon now had placed one eye directed at the frozen in terror horse with Laural on his back.

  The dragon considered her with a beady eye. “One does not simply ride a dragon. How would you like it if I asked you to ride around on your back?”

  She shrugged, not at all ruffled by the intent gaze. “If you were a bit smaller, I’d be quite open to the possibility.”

  The dragon huffed. “Well then, I’ll offer you the same deal I’ve always offered little ‘uns who have given me the ‘honor’ of being considered a beast of burden. You can ride me just as long as I can be carried by you. Who would like to start?”

  Bodi jumped off his horse. “I can do it!”

  Everyone, including the scarlet dragon, turned their heads towards him in mute shock.

  “You’ll be crushed.” Nettle managed to speak first. “A dragon is too heavy for you to carry. You’ll literally die.”

  “No,” he produced a green colored vial and wiggled it around in the air. “It’s a rare potion of carry all weight. I try to keep one on me in case the worst happens and I need to carry everyone to safety. Or if we find really nice supplies.”

  “How high does that potion go to?” asked Nettle with his eyebrows raised. “I imagine it must be incredibly expensive if you truly can carry most weight.”

  Bodi handed it to him and the Fae inspected it closely checking the items value. “I have no idea how you bought something like this, but I can tell by color and consistency. You got scammed. This is not an infinity carry potion. It has a limit.”

  “What’s the limit?” asked Bodi.

  Nettle handed the potion in its tiny vial back to him. “I’ve no idea. But if you put a dragon on you, you’re likely to find out the worst way possible.”

  “Excuse me,” Bodi shouted to the dragon. “How much do you weight?”

  The dragon snorted. “Nobody has ever asked before and who would keep track of their own size in such a ridiculous manner?”

  All three women shared knowing glances with each other. This was an interspecies beauty problem.

  Laurel shook her head. “Bodi, you shouldn’t try to carry the dragon.”

  “I can do it. With the potion and my own skills, of which none of you know anything about. We’re excellently suited.”

  “No,” said Nettle lightly. “You’ll be crushed.”

  Spoon and all the others echoed the statement. “It’s not worth this kind of risk. We didn’t start with a dragon that would carry us and now it’s only fair that we leave without this dragon’s good services.”

  Bodi scoffed at them all, then laughed. “I don’t need any permission. I can do what I want.” He turned to the dragon, “What say you to being carried by an orc?”

  The dragon dipped its head. “I’m a creature of my word and honor. What else could I be? I must confess, I’ve crushed a great deal of things your size, no matter what they might have drunk before. And it will not be enough to just lift me. You will need to rise from the ground and move slightly. Otherwise, I can only offer to lift you into the air and no movement. You understand that nobody has tried this before because they would die attempting to do it. Are you sure you wish to ignore all of your allies to attempt this task? Your choice cannot be undone.”

  “It’s suicidal,” Kriti said.

  Nettle looked down at the item in his hand. “This potion isn’t strong enough for this.”

  “You are not ready,” Day tried.

  “Yes, of course,” Bodi yelled over all the others, refusing to acknowledge his sudden interest in becoming an orc pancake.

  The dragon considered the others. “You will not seek vengeance for this fit of folly if I should kill him? I can try to put my weight on slowly and I will do my best to remove it from him as needed. But it is quite complicated to add minute forces. You can place him on the ground prone so it is more safe. I can try to use the broad parts of him. Really, I never imagined anyone would be so stubborn to try such a thing, but young creatures do foolish things even unto their own death frequently.” He cast a despairing glance towards the direction Sundance flew.

  “We don’t want him to do it.” Nettle stated. “He will die in front of us.”

  Day focused on the dragon. “Can you not break from this bargain and foolishness?”

  “I cannot. I am a dragon of my word. Actions and honor matter. I share your opinions but cannot change what decisions and deals have been made. Not like this.”

  Bodi threw himself on the ground crawling around to find the hardest and flattest spot in the dirt. He swigged the potion, after a second’s thought, he got a second different potion from his shirt and drank that one as well.

  “I am ready!” He declared to the dragon.