by Janice Jackson

The sun had barely crested the far mountains, the long shadows of night were pushed away by the warming rays of the bright yellow sun. Already the warming air was filled with the sounds of birds hunting for insects and the scent of growing things wafted along on the rising breeze. Talos Valley was awaking and preparing for another day.

These were the sights and sounds that greeted Karl Strange as he emerged from the double front doors of his travelers' inn. It is the most infamous of gathering places, known throughout the lands as Black Dragon Inn.

Karl had built the Inn one hundred years before, right after the dark time of the Troll Wars. Today it housed more than a hundred employees, people he called his family.

Karl's deep blue eyes carefully surveyed the surrounding land that encompassed the Black Dragon Inn's property.

The years had taught the former soldier of fortune and priest of an ancient wizard's clan to be cautious in all things. Today was no different than any other day and Karl never took any day for granted.

Karl had survived the Troll War and the defeat of Trenton, the Troll King. Trenton, an dark and evil magician, had cursed Karl with long life, in a dying act of desperation, insuring that Karl would be alive when Trenton returned from the dead to extract his revenge.

Karl stretched his arms and neck, and chuckled as he watched a certain tall long legged blond haired lad leading out the next string of horses from the barn. These horses would soon be changed for the exhausted team that transported passengers and freight into and out of the valley.

Karl watched as Pytre checked the shoes on each horse, the lad knew his horses very well and Karl was very proud of him. Pytre had been with Karl for most of his young life, coming to Karl when he was but three years old. Karl had raised him as a son after Pytre's parents had been slain just east of the inn.

A gentle breeze ruffled Pytre's blond lad's hair as he finished examining the last of the horses to be used by the stagecoaches and delivery wagons that traveled the Talos Valley on a daily basis.

The boy lifted his head from his chores as he listened to the faint sounds of the daily passenger coach as it raced toward the Black Dragon Inn trying to reach the inn before all of Dora's fine breakfast foods were eaten.

"Pytre, my boy, are we ready to greet these new arrivals?" Karl Strange asked of the boy.

"Aye, sir! We are indeed ready to greet the new customers. I just put the finishing touches on the reins and traces for the horses and every beast in our barn has new shoes and clean feet." Pytre beamed up at the tall dark haired man standing at his side. Pytre's brown eyes sparkled with pride, Karl Strange did not give compliments lightly. One of the lead horses, a red roan began prancing nervously so Pytre did not get to respond to Karl. Then his time was fully occupied with the arrival of the stage and the seeing to the passengers and horses.

"Whoa, you great hulking beasts!" The driver called out, as he pulled hard on the reins in an attempt to stop the running horses. He was having a very difficult time in bringing them under control for something had spooked them and they were rearing in their traces and threatening to upset the carriage with its now screaming passengers. Panic was beginning to make a bad situation even more dangerous, not even Pytre could get close enough to grab the lead traces to control the horses.

Karl Strange stepped forward and grabbed the lead horses' reins and pulled downward, this had the effect of settling two of them down and the other four horses followed suit and soon stood quietly, though their sides still trembled and shivered with an unknown fear.

"Sorry about the beasts, Master Karl. Something in the wind seems to have got them all stirred up back there." Harry, the driver explained to Karl. Karl nodded his assent to Harry's words. Karl too had felt something odd about the wind.

The driver quickly got the passengers off the carriage while Pytre led the still trembling horses inside the great barn attached to the far side of the Black Dragon Inn. The driver soon joined Pytre and together they managed to get the tack off the horses and dried them off and put the gear up on the drying racks. Each horse was led to his own stall and given a large bucket of fresh water and a pail of oats. Sweet grass was placed in each stall for the horses to enjoy at their leisure. The Inn was a favorite stop for the creatures if they had but voices to tell the tale.

"Harry, lets get you into Dora and have her fill a plate for you and a tankard of the Inn's finest ale." Pytre laughed as he pulled at the old driver. Pytre put a strong arm around the older man, noting the new wrinkles in his face and the pale gray pallor in the old man's face. Pytre would make certain to inform Dora of his observations.

"Aye, I believe that would be just the ticket, indeed!" Harry chucked as he put a heavy arm around the boy's shoulders and rushed them both into the Inn. Dora knew just how to treat a man and her cooking was known to fill a man's belly with good food and memories of sweet ale and pleasant company.

"Dora, my dear beauty!" Harry called out as he hurried Pytre into the kitchen.

"What kind of lies are you telling now, you great buffoon?" Dora blushed at the compliment, but she would not let anyone know that the words pleased her. Harry wasn't a bad looking man, though like most males he did drink too much and had a slight pouch around his waist. Harry had known her late husband and had in fact been a friend of the family long ago. She treasured the tales of the past that the two of them now shared. They were both lonely and missed their dead families.

"Nay, Dora you have cut me to the quick. I pay a beautiful lady a nice word or two and she hurls insults back my way. I shall never recover." Harry bent his head over so that Dora could not see the wide grin on his face. It was a game that they played every time he brought people or goods to the Inn.

"Now, sit down Harry, before I forget to serve you some of the fresh buttermilk griddle cakes and ham just coming from the oven." Dora turned and grabbed a large green ceramic platter from a shelf above her head and took it into the other part of the kitchen. She could be heard humming an old nursery rhyme as she filled the platter to near over flowing. She had placed ten of the light fluffy cakes on the platter along with a rasher of crisp bacon, a large pile of hashed brown potatoes and molasses and maple syrup and jam for Harry to put on his cakes. Before returning to the table where Harry sat waiting she grabbed up a tankard of sweet ale.

Harry rubbed his hands together eagerly as he watched her carry the great weight to the table. Past experience had taught him not to try and take the food from Dora's hand, she hated anyone hinting that she needed any help. Not even Karl Strange would try to interfere with his head cook when she was carrying out kitchen duties. Dora had a very large marble rolling pin and was not afraid to use it on a fool, for Dora hated being reminded of her age. She was forty-five years of age, though truth be told she could out work those girls half her age. Dora was nearly as round as she was tall, her ebony hair now laced with silver, her dark brown eyes missed little in the operations of the inn and staff. Dora had earned her reputation as a fine cook by hard work. She was devoted to Karl and the Black Dragon Inn, for Karl had saved her after her own family had been slain by monsters. Right now her arms ached under the weight of the platter she carried, her heart warmed as she saw the smile of Harry's face. Dora had laced the sweet ale with herbs to ease Harry's heart pains, though she would never tell him so.

"Aye, there's a lady for you!" Harry called out, his mouth already watering with anticipation of eating the hot cakes and ale. He laughed again as the small kitchen table, where the kitchen staff took their breaks, groaned under the weight of the platter of food.

Dora smiled with pride as she watched her old friend dig in to the steaming platter of food, then she rushed on to finish preparing food for the new guests at the Black Dragon Inn.

Inside the lobby of the Black Dragon Inn, Karl was greeting his guests and preparing to register them in the log. He stood behind a long, heavy black wood counter, a leather ledger in front of him with a pot of ink and a quill at the ready for the guests to sign their names.

One of the lady passengers turned to her traveling companion and whispered, "How handsome our host is, I don't believe that I would fear anything if he were at my side this evening." She could not take her eyes from Karl's strong frame as it bulged beneath his deep blue silk suit, the color matched his eyes. She nearly fainted when Karl smiled at her, his white teeth showing when his full lips pulled back in a friendly grin. The woman felt faint once again when Karl offered her his arm and led her to a nearby chair. Her color had faded with her rising passion for her host. Karl was used to such reactions from his female customers.

Two of the male customers had their heads bent together whispering. "Aye, I remember reading about the Troll Wars. There was a Karl Strange listed as one of the soldiers who were involved in the slaying of old Trenton, the Troll King. This here must be his grandson." The two men nodded in agreement then turned to listen to their host.

Karl had overheard the men's words and smiled to himself. There were few people in this world that knew of his real age and that was the way he wanted it to stay.

Another of the females was staring at her host with more than just admiration. She felt a hot shiver slice through her middle as she observed the muscles of his body ripple smoothly under his clothing. Her brown eyes reflected her growing lust as her mind envisioned his coming to her room that night and declaring his passion for her. She nearly jumped out of her skin when he spoke.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to the Black Dragon Inn. My name is Karl Strange and I am your host." Karl bowed his head toward his guests. He gently pushed a stray lock of ebony hair off his sun darkened brow, like a young boy would do, his dark blue eyes twinkling with pleasure as he read the surprised looks on the guests' faces. Karl was a tall man, over six feet eight inches tall and he weighed ten stone or two hundred and forty pounds, and he had not an ounce of loose flesh on his body. He wore his black hair long and kept it secured by a black silk ribbon at the nape of his neck. His face and hands were deeply tanned and tiny laugh lines hugged the corners of his eyes. Straight white teeth peeked out of his full lips when he smiled and his demeanor put his guests at ease. No one first looking at him could ever imagine that pleasant appearance would ever strike fear into anyone's heart. But looks can be deceiving. Karl had seen the woman's eyes sweeping over his body before he spoke to the group. He was still pleased by the attention. Karl made sure to be very attentive to his female admirer. Karl managed to keep a straight face as he settled her into her room and extended an invitation to dine at his table that evening, of course he did not explain that all the guests would be joining them at the same table.

Unseen by the others, Dora chuckled as she watched Karl lead the guests upstairs to their rooms. "Hussies! Those women never learn that freely given charms are never longed for by men." Dora shook her head as she turned back to the preparation of the morning meal for the new guests.

When all his new guests had been settled in their rooms, Karl retired to the large room used as his office. He finished off his paper work, counted the daily receipts from the day before, put the money in a large safe that was made to look like a black dragon. When everything was done, Karl sat down in his over sized black wing backed chair to do some thinking about certain situations that had begun occurring near the Black Dragon Inn.

Karl had built the inn more that a hundred years before. The place had once been an inn of ill repute where women and children, both boys and girls, had been sold as whores and slaves. Karl tore down the original walls and salted the ground before he began building from the ground up. The walls of the inn were of lava rock, moss growing out of the fissures now gave the building a greenish cast, the roof of the inn had been constructed out of dragon scales that Karl had brought down from the Dragon Fyrestorm Mountains himself. Karl absently reached up to his neck and stroked the strange black crystal stone he wore on a silver chain around his neck. The stone hummed and heated up when dragons were close by him. The stone had been in his hand when he awoke after a fierce storm he called the Terrible Howling Wind. The only thing he could remember of that night was the faint memory of a man dressed in total black that had been more than seventy-five years before when he had been gathering the last of the dragon scales he would on his roof.

The Talos Valley, though now inhabited mainly by humans, was still the domain of the dragon gods. Karl did not want an accidental fire destroying his home if one of the young dragons ever came down to the valley on a fly by and expelled flames. Even if most humans no longer believed that the dragons still existed, coming to the valley to hunt for treasure in the fabled Crystal Mountains, those humans that were that foolish quickly found out that those fabled beasts did indeed still exist, though they never had a chance to tell others of this information. Karl knew better. He had gathered most of the scales for his roof from the places where the dragons had shed their old scales, but he had fought and killed one of the dragons that had tried to eat him. He took all the scales for his own. Karl kept a watchtower manned by guards who continuously
searched the skies for any dragon flights.

Karl reached out and touched a small piece of art made from the tiny eye ridge scales of that very dragon, the scales were still a deep green as they had been when the dragon yet lived. The scales of all the dragons had been covered with black pitch to keep them waterproof and to prevent the others from knowing of his building materials. Dragons had very long memories and took vengeance whenever they thought any one had abused their rights. Karl had abused their rights in killing one of their own. They did not see anything wrong in eating humans; in the dragons' whirling eyes Karl had committed murder in killing a dragon just because it had tried to eat him.

A small red ribbon, tied around the neck of a small ugly pewter statue of Pan, a last gift from his daughter Rachael, flashed before Karl's eyes, causing those deep blue orbs to tear up in memory. The ribbon had belonged to his daughter, Rachael; Karl had tied it on the statue after she had been killed. She had been only eight years old when she had been slain along with Karl's wife, Margaret. The ribbon had been used to tie up his daughter's ebony hair that fell nearly to her tiny waist. Karl touched the flapping end of the ribbon and pushed back the memories that threatened to over whelm him. He had too much to do to allow those thoughts inside his mind. They would crowd in later when he tried to sleep that night. It had been more than fifty years since their deaths and more than ten years since the last episode that haunted his memories crowded in on him. Tonight would be bad and the big man shuddered at the thought. There was not much that made Karl Strange shudder. Karl decided to push the thoughts as far as he could manage by attending to the needs of his new guests.

Karl strode briskly into the expansive kitchen of the in and called, "Dora, my love! I need to talk to you about the foods to be served tonight." Karl rocked back on his heels while he waited for Dora to make her appearance.

Dora chuckled to herself, Karl was upset about something tonight and Dora suspected that it had to do with his dead family. She played this role whenever he was bothered about something, for Karl always allowed Dora to rule her kitchens and govern the staff of the inn. She knew she was fair and honest with all who worked at the inn; no voice was ever raised against her rules. She was boss, second only to Karl Strange, himself, and posed as supervisor, mother, nurse and hirer of all the staff. Dora loved her job as she loved Karl Strange and the staff. They had supplanted the loss of her own family twenty years before and the loss of an infant boy when she was but eighteen.

"So, what can I do for you Master Karl?" Dora asked, using the term she always applied to him. She raised her black eyebrows and cocked her head to the side as she awaited his answer her lips turned downward in a mock scowl.

"Dora. Dora, you always seem to diffuse my tempers." Karl laughed at the fake look of outrage on his cook and housekeeper's face. " I came in here looking to find something wrong to set my teeth into and you abuse me with your cocky looks. I feel I get no respect around here, my dear!" Karl tried for a stern voice but lost it all when Dora wrinkled up her nose at his words.

"Now, Master Karl, you know that all you have to do is come in here and have a cup of hot potage laced with brandy and talk with me. You have been thinking about Margaret and Rachel again. Right?" Dora remarked as she pulled out a chair for him to sit in and reached for a heavy ceramic mug and filled it with hot potage. She pulled a hidden brown bottle from her own personal cupboard and poured a liberal amount of the brew into the cup. She added a dash of cinnamon and handed it to Karl.

"Now, before you say a single word, drink all that cup down to the bottom." Dora place her hands on her ample hips and put a stern, motherly look on her face as she waited for Karl to comply. She did not worry that he would not do as she requested, he always obeyed her reasonable requests.

Karl drank the strong brew, then shuddered as it hit his stomach. Dora had laced the brew with strong brandy and the hot portage added to the speed it worked in his system.

"Whoa, how much of that did you use in that cup?" Karl's eyes were watering yet again, but this time because of the strong drink. Karl finished the mug of brew and put his hand over the brim in refusal of a second cup. "I just need to see a friendly face, Dora, not drown in a cup of potage." Karl explained as he caught his breath a second time.

"Now, you feel better, right?" Dora asked as she put the cup back on the cupboard.

"Yes, I feel better. Now we have eight new guests and a problem with the Night Stalkers. I need some ideas of how to keep these guests entertained and inside the inn tonight." Karl knew he could handle the matter himself, but having Dora's input acted as a balm to his emotional upset.

"Those nasty beasties have been getting closer and closer each month and that's the truth. I pray that you will find a way to control them before they reach the inn, Master Karl. As for the guests, just have me put food on the long table and have the staff set up the gaming tables. That will take care of the city folk until they drop from exhaustion or from the drink. The staff will see them to bed, to be sure. The same rules of service apply with this group too?" Dora asked, she knew there were some rich men in this bunch and some of the staff was hoping for some easy extra money. The staff was honest and gave fair service for the money they received. Dora saw to it no one was ever robbed by the staff or visa versa.

"Dora, you would have made a grand madam in a formal house." Karl teased.

"Now, do not even go their Master Karl. I do not approve of this sort of business, as you well know. But these young ones are the support of their families and every penny they can make is given back to their folk. So as long as the staff respects the guests and the guests respect my staff, I shall turn a blind eye to those goings on. But never confuse my actions with approval." Dora had stood up on her tiptoes to be eye to eye with her still seated employer.

Karl laughed and pulled his stout Cook and housekeeper to him. "Dora, you never have to fear that I would allow any of your staff to come to harm." Karl never even considered the employees to be under his command. He merely saw to it that order was kept when Dora's rolling pin failed to keep the peace. Her marble pin was well known and no one ever challenged her second time. Then she did not know of what happened when offenders left the confines of the inn after attacking Dora's staff or the grand lady herself. No, there were no second offenders. Karl and the outside staff saw to that.

"Well, dear lady, I shall leave you to prepare food for this bunch and I shall get the bar set up and the tables ready for some gambling enjoyment." Karl smiled as he walked from the kitchen and headed for the great room to see to his guests' comforts. Perhaps the night would not be so bad after all.

"By the way, Master Karl, you had best watch out for that blonde haired filly that nearly fainted when you smiled at her. She seems to be the type that would get you into her bed and find herself pregnant the next morning. She has that lean and hungry look that many of our young bucks get when fresh female flesh comes about. She sees your attentions as favoring her, she also sees your money as belonging rightfully to one as beautiful as she is, so you beware of her." Dora said over her shoulder as she hurried off to start the mid-day meal.

"Never fear, Dora, my love. Only you hold my heart, no other female could ever measure up to you." Karl teased.

"Of course they cannot measure up, I'm too short for any of them to even see most of the time." Dora laughed. The subject of her height was a running joke between them. Dora felt very protective toward Karl Strange, for she had known him since she was but a young girl and then he had been there to rescue her when her entire family had been slain by the Nightstalkers. He had comforted her when the young child she had found so long ago had to be sent away to protect him from an evil force that hunted him. Dora knew that if it ever became necessary, she would give her life to save Karl's life.

Send your comments on this story to the author: Your Name:  Your E-mail: