I drop down from the carriage and walk back towards Amn’s carriage, but everyone is staring at me. All of the soldiers have stopped whatever they were doing to stare at me. I guess the new form is just as eye-catching as I was hoping it would be.

  They stare at me all the way to Amn’s carriage, but no one tries to stop me from entering. Luckily, when I enter the carriage it is just Amn and his daughter inside. They both stare at my new form and I wait to give them some time to get used to it.

  “So, like my new form?”

  Emperor Amn says “Yes, I do. It is quite majestic. Is this how you plan to appear when we reach the Magic Kingdom?”

  Shiro says “I think you look great!”

  “Yes, it is, but I will also be using it as my permanent form. So, what did you want to see me about?”

  Emperor Amn says “We are planning to camp at an oasis tonight, but according to the scouts there is already someone there.”

  “Did the scouts say who they are?”

  Emperor Amn says “From the scout’s description they could either be some of the nomads or they could be bandits.”

  “How long until the caravan reaches the oasis?”

  Shiro says “We should be there in about an hour.”

  “Then I will fly ahead and take a look. If it is nomads, I will try to talk to them. If it is bandits, I will wipe them out.”

  Emperor Amn says “You are going yourself this time instead of sending your wife? You better tell her you are going! Don’t try to blame it on me when she gets mad at you!”

  “I wouldn’t do something like that!”

  Shiro says “That look on your face says that was exactly what you planned to do!”

  “Ahem! Anyway, I will go tell Myria and then see what is going on at the oasis.”

  I quickly leave the carriage, with the two of them laughing behind me, and head to my carriage. I tell Myria the plan while Lizzy and Leylisha listen in, but surprisingly no one objects. I was expecting Myria to at least insist on going with me, but she doesn’t say a word.

  I don’t wait around for her to change her mind and quickly fly ahead along the road. To be honest, it makes me a little nervous that Myria and Lizzy didn’t say anything. I am used to not being allowed to run around on my own, so this is a welcome change.

  It only takes me a few minutes to get to the oasis by air and I easily spot the people there. They have women and a few children with them, so I am betting on nomads. They have set up camp on one side of the oasis, so I land on the opposite side to avoid freaking them out.

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  Of course, my arrival still alerts them and warriors go rushing to either end of the oasis. It looks like they want to block my path to their camp, but it wouldn’t do much since I can fly. Still, I hold my place and try not to scare them as I wait for someone to approach me.

  The warriors are yelling at each other, but I quickly realize that I can’t understand them. I am just going to have to hope that someone among them speaks the common language that I know. After about ten minutes an old man comes limping around the oasis using a cane.

  ??? says “What manner of beast are you?!”

  “Oh good, I’m glad you speak the common language. My name is Ash and for lack of a better term you can call me a dragonoid.”

  ??? says “Alright, Ash, what is it that you want here?”

  “My caravan should be here in less than an hour. We plan to camp at this oasis. I came ahead to see if you were bandits or not. You don’t look like bandits to me, so we will share the oasis peacefully as long as you don’t attack us.”

  ??? says “Is your caravan more creatures like you?!”

  “No, the caravan is mostly human. I am the only one of my kind as far as I know.”

  ??? says “What would you have done if you had found bandits here?”

  “I would have wiped them out.”

  ??? says “You make it sound like it would be easy?”

  “Well, unless they were extremely high level, it would be. I am stronger than I look.”

  ??? says “Considering you look really strong, that is rather hard to believe.”

  “Are you having problems with bandits?”

  ??? says “Bandits are a constant problem in the desert. It is to the point that all the remaining tribes avoid the southern part of the desert.”

  “Why is that?”

  ??? says “That is where the bandits stay most of the time. They only come up north to raid caravans on the path you are following.”

  “Does that mean they have some kind of base? If you know where it is, I will happily go wipe them out for you.”

  ??? says “I do know, but it isn’t that simple. They have built a hidden port on the coast and it is a haven for bandits, pirates, and slavers. It is not something a single man could deal with.”

  “I dislike bandits and pirates, but I absolutely hate slavers! Tell me where this port is and leave the rest to me!”

  The old man sighs, but then after a minute he starts drawing a rough map of the desert in the sand using his cane. The shape of the desert is close enough to what was on Amn’s map for me to recognize it. Once the map is done he marks two points on the map and from the scale I can tell one is the oasis we are at.

  ??? says “We are here, the bandit port is here. Depending on the number of ships in port, there could be thousands of enemies.”

  “That isn’t a problem. The question is, should I destroy the port, or would it be useful to the tribes?”

  ??? says “It would be useful to us, but only if the bandits are completely wiped out. Including those roaming the desert.”

  “That can be arranged.”

  ??? says “And what are you going to ask in return?”

  “That you cease hostilities with the neighboring kingdoms and open trade instead. I am sure that there are unique resources in the desert that are useless to you but valuable to outsiders.”

  ??? says “While I can’t speak for all the tribes, I think that they would be willing to accept that proposal. All I can promise is that I will argue in favor of it.”

  “Alright, I can accept that. Although, it feels weird accepting a promise from you when I don’t even know your name.”

  ??? says “My name sounds silly when translated into your language. You can just call me Chief.”

  “Okay, Chief. I will wait here for my caravan. If I run off without telling my wife I will end up in a ton of trouble.”

  Chief says “Oh, yes, absolutely! Not giving your wife the chance to lecture you on being careful is a major sin!”