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“Targeted Flame Breath!”

Another volley of short, fiery breaths launched, engulfing several Eagle Guards in flames and sending them plummeting to the ground as burning comets.

The few remaining Eagle Guards, as Alger had hoped, barely escaped the scene with wyverns in pursuit, retreating from this devastating battlefield, and carrying the red dragon’s terror across the Anzeta Wastelands.

Letting them escape was partly due to the time it would take to interrogate Alger, but also a deliberate choice.

The Lackman family’s “Northern Wind Eagle Guard” numbers just over three hundred. In this single skirmish, they lost nearly a tenth of their force—a unit considered elite across the Northern United Kingdoms.

Days later, rumors of a “terrifying red dragon” on Storm High Cliffs spread across many regions, and Northwind Fortress’s bounty board displayed a drawing of a fierce red dragon breathing fire.

Location: Storm High Cliffs, Charred Ember Nest

Target: Suspected young red dragon, codename “Flying Flame”

Bounty: 5,000 gold coins

Tavern talk among adventurers began to simmer, and they boasted about slaying dragons. Drunk patrons would often slump over tables, slurring, “If I met that red dragon, I’d have chopped off its head and collected that bounty by now!”

But that’s a story for later…

………

Alger felt his head throbbing, his memories scattered.

First, he dreamed of a carefree childhood—his mother smiling, gently stroking his hair while softly reading stories. He remembered running through alleys, playing with newfound friends, laughter ringing out everywhere.

But suddenly, the scene shifted: in his dream, he found himself sobbing in the streets, frantically searching for his parents. Only two disemboweled bodies with eerie symbols carved into their skin lay hidden in a shadowy corner.

A middle-aged man in fine clothes, his face obscured, patted his shoulder in the dark alley, saying gravely, “It was devils, devils’ offspring who took them from you.”

What followed were images of blazing fires, screaming crowds fleeing, rivers of blood flowing, and women cradling crying children, begging for mercy, while his silver sword echoed an eagle’s scream...

“No!”

“Hah…hah…”

Alger awoke with a start, gasping. He instinctively reached to his side, sighing in relief only when his hand found the familiar feathers.

It was his giant eagle.

He checked himself over, finding no new wounds, though his standard armor and the Eagle’s Cry silver sword at his waist were missing.

Heavy iron shackles bound his wrists and ankles.

“Where am I?”

Alger scanned his surroundings.

Dim and damp, only a weak light from torches on the rock walls illuminated the area.

Rocky walls and thick wooden bars surrounded him, while a fat bugbear leaned against the door, snoring with its club on the ground. Goblins holding spears patrolled the corridor.

“This must be a monster’s dungeon.”

Alger quickly deduced his location.

The red dragon must have cast a sleep spell on him, then thrown him in here. His only goal now was to find a way out, gather intelligence, and report back to the Duke.

But with no weapons and an iron lock tightly securing his cell, escape seemed unlikely.

“Hey, bugbear, wake up.”

Alger waved, trying to draw the dozing bugbear’s attention, hoping to gather information or find an opening to escape.

The bugbear jolted awake and, upon seeing Alger, immediately yelled out.

“Go tell Lord Dolo, the human’s awake!”

Alger lowered his voice, addressing the bugbear guard.

“Do you want gold?”

“Give me the keys, and I have...”

“Ptui!”

The bugbear spat at him.

It grabbed the club from the ground, turned away with a dismissive snort, muttering, “You humans think you’re so clever—think we’re stupid, huh?”

“We’ve already stripped you clean, nothing left on ya. Just a penniless beggar.”

“Hey, someone!”

“This human’s awake!”

As the bugbear’s booming shout echoed, goblins scrambled to pass the message along, quickly relaying it beyond the dungeon.

“Damn it!”

“Let me out!”

Alger gripped the bars, shaking them violently. The chains clanked with a loud “clank, clank,” but this door, which even an ogre couldn’t break, wouldn’t yield to a weakened human. It was a futile waste of strength.

After a while, the sturdy wooden bars remained unmoved, and Alger finally abandoned the idea of breaking through.

Regaining his composure, he sat down and began to think through a strategy.

“That red dragon spared my life for a reason.”

“It’s going to interrogate me.”

“This cunning beast likely intends to harm the Duke and carry out its wicked plans—maybe plunder treasures, take over cities, or topple governments.”

“But no matter what it asks, or demands of me, I mustn’t comply.”

“It’s a pity that all my possessions were taken. Otherwise, I’d have had wyvern venom on hand, ready to take my own life if necessary.”

Alger gritted his teeth, mentally preparing for the torture to come.

Sure enough, three burly bugbears soon lumbered down the corridor.

They struggled to unlock the iron lock with a crude key, removed the thick chains wrapped around the cell door, and slowly pulled it open.

The doorway was entirely blocked by the bugbears’ hulking bodies, leaving no room for escape.

“Come with me, human. The master wants to see you.”

One of the bugbears crouched down as it entered the cell and approached Alger.

“Don’t touch me.”

Alger growled menacingly.

But the bugbear ignored him, grabbing his shackles and winding the chain around its hand before dragging him out of the cell.

Other bugbears closed in, lifting him entirely to ensure he couldn’t escape.

“This human even tried to bribe me!”

“But I wasn’t buying it, haha!”

“So arrogant before, but look at him now.”

“Yeah, those wyverns are useless—couldn’t handle a single human. They don’t deserve all that meat.”

“Exactly, they should just give it all to us.”

The bugbears chattered among themselves, mocking him as they hauled him along.

Weakened and shackled, the giant eagle knight couldn’t resist.

Had he been soaring through the sky on his eagle, Alger was confident he could take these monsters down single-handedly, even toy with them.

But in this dungeon, weakened and bound, the proud eagle knight had no choice but to endure the rough handling from these brute bugbears, utterly powerless to resist.