Travels with a Yellow Bird Part 3: The Dragon's Port

>Last time on Travels with a Yellow Bird

>You dueled with a Lizardgirl at dawn, and by luck and cheap tricks eeked out a win, blinding her in the process.

>You now have information on the nearby islands.

>As the sun shines in the early morning, the wind picks up you set sail for the Dragoon trading port at the island of Limus.


I lay in the bed of the Captain's Quarters, drinking some awful grog made with skunky lager. I feel a throbbing pain when I breathe, hoping I didn't crack a rib or worse while my side turns black under my shirt. I should be trying to get some rest before we reach Limus, but the best I can do is lie here. Flit worries about the cabin like a mother hen going over plans. Every once in awhile she glances my way and plucks a bloody healthy feather from her wings like a stressed parrot when she thinks I'm not looking.

Flit clucks to herself again. "We'll be there before any news has reached them from the mainland. Limus won't be looking for us. Still, they won't take lightly to a strange patrol ship in the harbor either. And we'll have a hard time bluffing any dock customs with one woman dressed as a guard and ship full of men. Forget about if they bother to board and check the brig." She rambles and sits down on the floor next to the bed, face level with mine. "In a Dragoon town, even a harpy will be noticed in a heartbeat. I can't just blend into a crowd like the scales. Others are just too rare." She rubs her disheveled hair. "But we need eyes-on information on where we can grab munitions and parts. And we need to find out what's ahead of us on the sea. We'll have to send Jenna out into the port for that job, maybe someone else too we could pass off as a husband or slave for backup." Her gold eyes stare into mine. "We can get our food and water on the unpopulated side of the island. I can pick her up under cover of darkness when it's time." Flit stretches. "I'll keep watch in the meantime. Get some rest."

>Who do you send with Jenna
>Other

We weigh anchor at the fringes of the harbor in the wee hours praying the patrols are as lax as Elsa suggests. Stan and some other crew lower Jenna and I over the side in one of the two longboat's the windjammer carries. "Don't look so worried." Stan grins at you. "With that beating you took, yer the spittin' image of a 'goon slave." Flit grips the railing tightly. "Watch out, both of you. We'll be back in two days."

Jenna sets the oars and begins rowing, the sails of the ship disappearing into the dark soon enough as we head for the lights and sounds of Limus. We slip the boat onto a dark shore and drag it into a copse of trees. There's almost nobody in the streets and the few tired guards are easy enough to bypass in the back alleys. Jenna stays in the shadows, clanky armor not disposed to creeping around in the dead of night. Scouting the town takes most of the night, we find the barracks and the armory building and make note of the guards stationed at each. The garrison seems to be mostly lizardgirls with a few lamia. I catch a good look of one when she nears the light cast by a hanging lantern. Their armor is a different style than Elsa's, older? Perhaps castoffs shuffled off the front. That could be a problem. I talk with Jenna and we find an inn and marketplace that look like they will be busy when morning comes. We find a place to hide and sleep for the rest of the night behind some old barrels near the inn and decide what to do the next day.

>Gather Information at the inn
>Gather Information or buy supplies at the market
>Attempt to sneak into or bluff your way into the military areas
>Other

I awake to the sound of the town in full swing, Jenna already up and sitting next to me. Her eyes glitter in the dimness of the visor, hard like twin brown garnets. She stretches her back with a pop. "I can't say sleeping in armor is any kind of way to rest. Figured you could use a few more minutes after the last couple of days."

My joints are stiff and every bruise is swollen but my cuts are already starting to heal. Jenna grabs me by the scruff of my shirt and drags me to my feet. "Sorry, gotta keep up appearances." The second we walk into the open, I can already feel the stares on me and the glares on Jenna. I hear two lizardgirls whispering as we make our way to the massive market. "A War Husband, young and handsome." The other nods. "She's so lucky. I would give my tail for one of those too. But look how she treats him, typical military Lizarda."

The market covers almost the entire area by the docks, and I see so many monstergirls I didn't even know existed plying their trades and wares. There are some with horns, with hooves, some with fur and fluffy tails, and even some with fins at the docks. The overwhelming majority are Dragoon and scales, some with features I've never seen before like wings all dressed in vibrant colors and adorned with gems. Seeing this opulence reminds me we have very little currency, just what Elsa was carrying. I'll have to spend it wisely.

As we approach the slave market, the catcalls begin from customers and merchants alike.

"Lizarda, how much do you charge for a round?"

"You interested in selling? He seems pretty well broken in."

"I hear wild men are far better than those farm-raised boys. I'd love to find out."

"Well at least sell me a little of his vitality to sample!"

Jenna brings me closer out of reach of the grasping hands and claws.

>Gather info from merchants
>Talk to slaves
>Purchase maps and clothes. You need more money for ship parts
>"Make some money."
>Other

Pick two.


Jenna stills under the armor, seems to be thinking something over.

"You girls want to see what this man looks like? You pay. A copper to look up close, a silver to touch, and five for a kiss. You won't get more. He's mine and I'm not interested in selling. And don't try anything funny. I traded my tail for him. Don't be stupid and trade your head." I swallow my surprise. Gutsy hard ass gal indeed. The novelty of this new man begins to gather a crowd. Usually prisoners of war are sent directly to the homeland. Even a few merchants abandon their stalls. The coppers flow in as Jenna instructs me to strip to my waist. We are drawing too much attention. My thoughts scatter as a Neried slave driver jams her tongue in my mouth. The wetness of her skin isn't unpleasant, but the calculating way she looks in my eyes clenches my stomach. "He's not very experienced yet." She whispers to Jenna. "Why not take one of my more trained men home with you? I'll give you a fair trade in and good price." Jenna waves her off. "NOT FOR SALE." It was the first of several offers she got.

After a couple of hours we have plenty of cash and Jenna begins clearing away the stragglers. I feel quite molested enough for one day. Just as I think we are done, a magnificent dragon shoulders her way up to us, clearing the way with her wings, gold adornments and chains chinking musically. She holds up a gold coin. "I want him tonight. My husband has been dead for fifty years and I'm tired of broken men. Yours still has fight, just like 'he' used to."

"No." Jenna replies curtly. "I though I made that clear."

"I beg your pardon, did you mistake that for a request?" The dragon leers. "Nobody refuses the Dockmaster of Limus. Bring him to my mansion tonight or wish you had." She throws the gold on the ground at Jenna's feet and storms off in a maelstrom of radiant chitin scales, silk and gold.

Jenna snorts in her helmet. "Let her be angry. We'll be out of here before she can do anything."

We spend the rest of the day among the stalls gathering supplies and crucial ship parts: spares like sails, fittings and rope. All the supplies are piled on a small dock we rent, inconspicuous and out of the way. As the sun begins to set, the dragon's threat rises again in my mind.

>Visit the Dockmaster, attempt to pry information from her
>Lay low until pickup

I decide it might be worth visiting the Dockmaster after all, risky as it is. Jenna argues against it. We've heard stories of dragons in the old castle at the capitol and none of them are pretty. How would this one be different? Before we can settle the discussion, I see two armored guards being pointed down the dock by the sweet mermaid owner.

The first, a lamia, speaks up. "We are here on behalf of Melat Ironscale, Dockmaster of Limus and acting governor of the port, to escort you to your rendezvous." It's obvious what she means by rendezvous. "Come with us man, your owner shall remain here." They hold their spears tensely.

Jenna's hand goes to her sword hilt. "She shall not." She gasps as a spear grazes her side from depths unseen in the water.

"She shall." The lamia repeats. With considerable effort, she grabs me up and turns her ponderous bulk around on the small dock. The lizardgirl accompanying her follows at our side. It's not long before we're slithering and marching through the streets proper, the lamia cutting a long path through smaller passerby. The lizardgirl finally speaks up. "Come Alara, can't we just have a taste? We both know neither of us will ever save up enough money for a husband even to share, and way out here we'll never catch one."

The lamia Alara remains unreadable "The Mistress Ironscale said to bring him unspoiled. That's what we'll do."

The lizardgirl sighs exasperatedly. "Just as well. Knowing you, you wouldn't be able to stop and would run off with him somewhere to raise a bunch of cute little rattlesnakes. You soft romantic viper."

The rest of the trip is made in tense silence under the gaze of the port's citizens until they bring me before a titanic columned complex on the water's edge, one I'd mistaken for some kind of temple earlier. At the entrance, heavy dark lacquered doors open into a space filled with warm torchlight.

As the guards lead me deeper, I begin to notice bits of gold and jewelery scattered casually on the floor. More and more, thicker and thicker until jewels and loot carpet the floor. A great set of vaulted doors set jammed open by the tide of treasure. Inside is a mountain of gold surrounding a four poster bed, the curtains drawn.

"Come in." A jewel-encrusted claw beckons from behind the golden cloth. My guards shove me forward a few stumbling sliding steps and take their leave. "Come to the bed." Ironscale's imperial voice commands. I suck in a breath and try to approach confidently. This was what I wanted after all.

I reach the bed and Ironscale draws back the curtain fully. She reclines on the sheets, leathery wings draped over a blue silk dress highlighting curvaceous hips, a generous bosom and a long midnight blue tail, a body greatly belying her age. "You know what I have called you here for." She rumbles, steam escaping from her nostrils as she rises from the bed. Her manicured talons slip from the bed into the gold below and work their way into the coins joyously. "But do you want to know why you are here?" Her fangs reflect the shining spots of gold reflected by the lights cast on her hoard. She wraps her arms around my waist. The heat coming off her breath is incredible as she breathes softly on my neck. "You'll have to please me first." I feel my bruises and pains lessening as she throws me down directly into a smooth pile of heavy gold. She begins tearing away my clothes slowly with her teeth and nails, not rushing, savoring each moment. "Don't worry. I'll fix you up cute boy, as many times as it takes."

I lay naked, sandwiched between the cold treasure behind me and the sexual inferno before me as the dragon lowers her dripping slit upon my member. "I've not had a man in so long." Ironscale moans at the pleasure as she envelopes me slowly. She rides me, passionately, roughly, but it feels so good. She shows her experience with human fragility, tempering her monstrous strength. Her movements increase bringing me closer to the edge. Her wings wrap around me and claws grip me passionately as I release deep inside her. My head swims and I wonder, is the spell of the Dragoon? She nuzzles my neck, singeing my hair and biting my ear. "We're far from done. I feel you already again. Ravish me, defile me." Her voice is almost guttural. She starts to move again, tail twisting around my legs locking them in place. Her hips move in rougher, more powerful strokes as she begins to lose herself. Her wings pin my arms as her arms work across my chest drawing slivers of blood. "Do what no man has done, give me a child, just one beautiful daughter, the most precious treasure." I feel her clench around me and shudder as she lets out a room-shaking roar. She kisses me on the lips fiercely and her passion burns even higher. I'm beginning to lose myself as she leads me to the bed, blood pounding in my ears. Ironscale grabs my hand. "Take the lead now. Show me what kind of man you are!" I never knew a command could be so inviting. We tangle in the sheets, sweating and scorching the bed.

A loud bang brings me to my senses. A guard stands breathlessly at the entrance to the Chamber.

"Mistress, I have word from the far outpost. There's man in the forest!"

Fire escapes from Ironscale's lips as she glares lividly at the impudence of the poor lamia.

"Then put out word to the city for a husband hunt! I want no further disturbances!"