MIR, the sentient Wyvern.

WinterFort

Krator arrived in the evening and explained to me that he had to kill 10 bandits to save the merchant

I hugged my uncle wyvern between my paws and we licked each other.

A strong animal trait but one that united us all.

And especially white who leered at me and didn't miss licking my neck.

"Great, Krator... you made the right decision but you have to be careful... Humans get revenge."

It was too much to ask and their reasoning was no more than that of a 7 year old.

We'll see later.

"Krator, your payment!..." and I took out of a chest I had bought, a honeycomb. A treasure not to be found in winter.

He quickly devoured the dish and squeaked with gustatory pleasure, as if he was coming from the mouth.

Others wanted it too.

Then I turned to "Work... paid... reward!"

Dad then intervened to protect me from the excitement of the other wyverns attracted by the smell of the precious nectar.

For fun we built a sort of bar with the barrel and water and some wooden cups and my sisters played tavern and made up stories. And the booze... well, the adults emptied the whole barrel and they roared when the barrel was empty.

Everything was precious and expensive.

Meanwhile, in the village of Autrerive Jack arrived and several passers-by looked at each other when they saw the intact wagon, but he simply walked through the village to a larger town: Fortd'hiver.

As the name suggests, it was a knight's outpost with an armoury, guild and barracks. There were stables and it was a small town in itself.

On arriving at the guild, the soldiers took their leave, were paid and went to rest in the main room to eat and drink, then went upstairs where austere but heated rooms awaited them.

The heating was simply a hole in the wooden floor with a cover for noise. The heat from the inn would rise and warm the room a little.

Often the chimney would pass through the rooms and the stone would give a simple heat to cut the cold.

The windows were sealed with just a small hole for light, and plugged with a piece of wood. The shutters were closed and between the window and the shutter there was hay to insulate the window from the winter cold. Often the temperature dropped to minus 20, especially when there were no clouds.

A troubadour, accompanied by a singer and dancer, raised the mood with a tambourine and bells.

He played an instrument like a lute and accompanied his travelling partner in song.

Having a roof over your head for the night, a meal and a bit to drink was the lot of the troubadours, but they often ran out of money. It was a survival job and a thankless one.

Anastase, the head of the guild, received the merchant's report and took the mail and letters from the places he had passed through.

"You went through the Dark Forest? but that's insane! You could have been killed! This is the hunting ground of the Dire wolves, the terrible wolves and...then there are the terrible wild wyverns...though they are hibernating now"

He then took out of his bag an imperial eagle's beak and the beak of a royal griffin.

Immediately, silence reigned in the great hall, all the customers, baroudeurs, knights in armour had their eyes turned towards these pieces of deadly predators.