Euclid scoffed then turned back to Abhishek."If I give you a dragon skull and twenty thousand kesh, will you go out and tell people there is no dragon to be found in the Forbidden Forest?"
"Yes," Abhishek said, staring hard, voice cynical but laced with unquenchable hope."If you can actually produce all of that, and let my team here leave without further harm, I'll do whatever you want."
Euclid gave a single, sharp nod, and then walked off into the woods.
Abhishek hesitated, then said, "He knows something about the dragon personally, doesn't he?Like where it is or something."
"Yes, he and the dragon are close."Drawing a knife, Dipak sliced through the rope and then broke the magical binding.
"Thanks," Abhishek said."So you really did kill him?"
"It was that or stand by and let him kill thousands."
"Yeah, I get it."
Dipak rather thought he did."I'm glad you were amenable to this solution."
"Well, ending the day dead really wasn't all that great an option, and I'm not going to argue being able to drop off a skull and then go literally wherever I want with my newfound wealth."
Euclid reappeared then—and on the ground beside him was an enormous skull, unmistakably that of a dragon, worn and covered in moss.He tossed a leather bag to Abhishek, who caught it deftly, tossing it lightly without opening it."Jewels?There's more than twenty beads in here."
"Beads?Why would I give you beads?"
Dipak smiled as they both stared at each other in confusion."Bead is slang for coins.Newer coins have a hole in the middle to mark them out from older coins that are easy to forge.People put them on strings like beads.You probably don't see them out here, since you've no use for them as we all deal in trade."
"Ah.How clever.There is indeed more than twenty thousand in value, payments for your friends as well, assuming you don't keep it all to yourself."
"I won't.I could not care less about the rest of the Bloodletters, but these six are my team.I'll look after them.Thank you.If you can help me get them to the edge of the forest, I can handle the rest from there.We have a cart almost dead east of here."
"I marked it," Euclid said."I'll handle it from here, Dipak, and meet you back at your glade."
He saluted playfully."As you wish, my lord."
Once Euclid had taken them all away, hauling them one by one, Dipak made the short trek home.
By the time Euclid joined him, he had tea ready by the pond, on a flat, smooth rock that Euclid had put there as a sort of table.It had become their spot, somehow, though neither of them ever said anything about it.
He also hadn't said anything about that night he fell asleep, with Euclid right there in his true form like the best sort of magic heater.A show of trust that Dipak hadn't really earned but was desperately trying to.
"I'm glad we found such a relatively simple solution, but please tell me why you had a dragon skull lying around."
"I didn't," Euclid said."I had to go much,muchfurther afield for that.An ancient dragon graveyard where we all are taken when possible, even if it's only a single finger bone that can be managed.The rest of that dragon is there, undisturbed by naught but time, and she would gladly offer her dried out skull to ensure another dragon lives.Any of us would."
"You can travel like that just anywhere?"
"I can do it best in my forest, where I know all the paths, but when needed, yes, I can find paths for other places.People describe it as transporting, some sort of instantaneous movement from one place to another, but I am being sincere when I say I simply walk paths you can't see.Not magic in and of itself, but not unrelated either.I'll teach you."
"I hope the headache and dizziness go away."
"With time."
"Fantastic.Sit and have some tea, dragon.Easy solution or not, it's still emotionally exhausting to haul around the corpse of your own to save lives."
Euclid smiled.
Dipak poured them tea as they settled in, the evening fireflies flickering around them, the rustling in the forest increasing as the evening and night creatures stirred."So this glade is clearly protected; nothing dangerous ever enters it."
"Less magic and more respect, though yes, there are some protections laid around the perimeter so the stronger creatures do not disregard that this space is important to me and not to be disturbed."