The city of Tobuck had switched claws many times in the past years: first it had been part of Zarantia, then the Storm King had conquered the city, then after his death it had become the capital of an independent republic, then that state had been invaded by Chiropterra and then it had been liberated by Arisian soldiers, after which the Ain Trotgourait Treaty saw the city given over to Zarantia again.
Much like its past, the city itself was a confusing mess of conflicting styles and designs, which came together to form a city that was, for all its faults, possessed of a unique charm unlike any other place Coral Ridge had ever visited. And now he was here to interview a person he had never met before, of a race he had never seen for himself.
He only had a vague sense of where to go too. What a grand experience!
Let's hope I don't get lost here.
He made his way through the maze of narrow, winding streets, passing houses, shops, stalls and more. Ponies and Zebras seemed to be present in equal measure throughout the city, but Coral also saw a fair few Griffons, Hippogriffs and even the rare Harpy or Horse. This city was truly a melting pot of races.
Finally, he came upon the street he was looking for; he recognised it by the many houses that had shop-like signs hanging above their doors, but no wares on display.
The Street of Blood. Home to every mercenary in the city.
And home to the person Coral was here to interview. Now just to find him.
With a short prayer to Tiamat for guidance, Coral stepped into the street and began to make his way through it.
It took some time, a lot of moving around figures who looked like they could and would kill him for interrupting their day, and two mugging attempts, but eventually he arrived before the house he was looking for. It was one of the largest buildings in the entire street, but what made it truly recognisable was the symbol on the sign that hung above the door: a black dragonling, its neck angled downwards and its wings flaring back, placed before a circle of red, yellow and blue.
Of course, given the nature of the street, there was someone blocking Coral’s entry,
"Excuse me," Coral said as he approached the Zebra at the door. "I've been told Myrga Draconis resides here. Is that correct?"
The Zebra looked him up and down. "What's it to you?" he asked in accented Arisian.
"My name is Coral Ridge," Coral replied. "I have an interview with him today."
At the mention of the interview, the slightly-angry face of the Zebra morphed into a grin. "Ah, it's you! Myrga said you'd be coming by today! Didn't get lost, did you?"
"Thankfully not."
"Alright. Head on in and keep heading forward. Myrga's in the garden," the stallion said as he opened the door. "Can't miss him."
"Thank you," Coral replied as he headed indoors.
Inside, the building was cool, far cooler than the outside. Lamps lit the hallway and the stone floor was covered by rich carpets. There was only one way to go, and that was forward. So Coral made his way down the hallway, eventually passing by several doors and side passages that clearly led to elsewhere in the building. He ignored those and kept heading straight ahead, until he reached a curved entrance, covered not by a door but by red curtains. Behind the curtains, Coral could hear the sound of many voices blending together with music.
He took a breath and pushed on past the curtains.
What he emerged into looked like a garden; there was grass on the floor and the Sun shone down, obstructed only by some tents off the far left side and the slanting roofs of the house. A garden courtyard, then. One filled with revellers; mercenaries and the entertainers who were, well, entertaining them.
And there, across the garden and watching over the party in the garden like a resting lord watching his underlings, was the person Coral was here to interview.
Myrga Draconis was a giant, dark red and white dragon, sprawled liberally across one entire side of the garden. Before his forepaws danced a duo of scantily-clad Harpies, one male and one female, whilst a group of mercenaries seated around Myrga cheered them on. The dragon himself was silent however, watching the show with enjoyment visible only in his eyes.
Coral took a breath, then made his way across the garden, avoiding partiers as he did so and almost getting a shower of alcohol twice before he finally reached the dragon and his circle.
Just then, the dancers finished their performance, bowing towards the dragon under cheers and applause from the crowd.
"Well done," Myrga said. His voice was deep and rumbling, almost like a volcano. "An impressive performance, my dears. Take your rest, now. A new guest has arrived."
And he levelled his eyes at Coral.
"Good afternoon," Coral greeted as he made the last few steps through the crowd, taking the place the dancers had just vacated. "My name is Coral Ridge. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Draconis."
The dragon looked down at him - literally. "Indeed, and it is similarly a pleasure to meet you, Mr Ridge. I particularly enjoyed your articles during the war. They were a great source of information." The dragon extended his left front paw, and Coral could do little else but shake it, though one of Myrga's talons was larger than his whole claw.
"I'm glad to hear you found them informative, Mr Draconis," he said, before pulling out pen and paper from his saddlebags. "Shall we get this interview on the road then?"
"Let's," Myrga agreed. "But first. Someone get Mr Ridge here a chair, and something to drink."
"Water, please," Coral supplied to no one in particular as a chair was pulled out for him.
"We have kelpwater here," Myrga informed him.
Coral considered that. "Then I will have kelpwater," he decided a moment later.
"See it done," Myrga commanded, and movement in the crowd indicated that it would be done indeed. "And call me Myrga, if you please."
"Then you must call me Coral."
"Of course."
The kelpwater arrived a moment later, topped off with a clam too! Coral was most definitely impressed. Even most Arisian bars usually skimped on the clam. "Thank you," he said to the Earth Pony mare who'd brought him the drink, before taking a sip.
Very nice indeed.
"So," Coral began, setting the kelpwater down on the floor. "Myrga. Can I start off by saying that I was very surprised to receive an invite for an interview with you from you? I was only familiar with your name before I received your letter, but I did some research afterwards and I must admit I was intrigued. A dragon mercenary in Tobuck that had, by all accounts, continued fighting even after the Chiropterrans took over. So, can I ask what made you decide to invite me for an interview?"
The dragon let out a puff of smoke through his nose. "As I said, I read your reports from the Colthaginian front during the war. They were well-written, and I will admit I was impressed by your bravery. You could have stayed in Mount Aris, and instead you went out with soldiers to the front. That takes courage."
"Most of it was rather boring, truth be told," Coral said after a moment of reflection. "But it's flattering to hear you say so. The war was an exciting part of my life, but I'm not sure I'd choose to relive it, to be honest with you." He scribbled some notes down in his notebook. "Alright. Speaking of the war, can I ask what made you continue to fight after the Chiropterrans took over Tobuck?"
"We tried to beat them head-on and failed," Myrga said simply. "The Battle of Miharzehir was a disastrous loss, and Tobuck fell to infighting before the first Chiropterran soldiers reached its streets. But I wasn't about to give up on the people here. You know what the Chiropterrans were like."
That Coral did. He'd done research into them for the trials… Some of the things he'd discovered haunted him more than the battles of the war. "So I do," he agreed. "And would it be correct to say that it was loyalty that made you fight on?"
"No." Myrga shook his head. "I fought the Chiropterrans to protect the citizens of Tobuck, because they deserved it. Loyalty is what caused all of these lads 'n lasses to follow me into that fight."
"Damn right!" someone in the crowd - a black-maned turquoise Thestral mare, Coral saw as he turned his head - shouted.
"We weren't gonna let those fools take over without a fight," a Zebra stallion put in. "They thought we were easy to defeat." He grinned. "They were wrong."
"So they were indeed!" Coral agreed. "And that, to get back on topic, is a noble goal indeed. But surely you knew you couldn't keep on fighting forever?"
Myrga grinned. "Dragons live for a long, long time." With the number of teeth on display, it was possibly the most intimidating grin Coral had ever faced. "But to be more serious; of course, we could not last forever. But we received support from many places. From the citizens, giving us food and water and other supplies. From Aris, sometimes; a supply drop in the backcountry or weapons 'abandoned' on the border, even a few volunteers. From Harpy traders via Maregypt. From Maregypt itself, even."
Well, that'll be another trip into the NIA's archives once I'm back.
"And did you have a plan you were working towards?"
"Not really," Myrga admitted. "I had several large operations planned that'd take dozens of individuals and months of planning, but no definitive plan to throw the Chiropterrans out of Tobuck. Not until the war, anyway." He tilted his head. ‘’Too many plans in one sentence. I should work on that.’’
Coral declined to comment on that. "Yes, I can imagine that must've been a relief to hear."
"In a way," Myrga said. "It felt good that someone powerful was finally taking on Chiropterra, but I must confess I had my doubts in the Arisian military the first months. After all, you hid from the Storm King."
"And we learned from that."
"So you did."
Coral took another sip of his kelpwater. "Very well. Let me ask you an entirely different question: what made you come to Tobuck in the first place?"
Myrga hummed. ‘’Boredom.’’
Somehow, he hadn’t expected that answer. ‘’Boredom?’’
‘’I was a hatchery guard once. Quite possibly the most boring job one can imagine. So, I wanted something more… exciting. And that something was Tobuck. You have to understand that this city was falling apart after the Storm King’s death. Blood, money, power, all of it was up for grabs here.’’ Again, Myrga grinned a toothy grin. ‘’And I can imagine you know what dragons love most.’’
‘’Blood, money and power.’’
‘’Just so.’’
Coral glanced down at his notes. ‘’And did you find what you were looking for?’’
‘’An interesting question,’’ was Myrga’s answer. ‘’I suppose I did. I have gotten plenty of blood over the past years, and I’ve amassed enough wealth to pay for all of this and more. As for power, I’m by and far the most powerful mercenary left in the region. Much easier without most of the competition. And I’ve made some good friends here, which are worth more than all of those things combined.’’
‘’Was competition a reason you came to Tobuck, instead of elsewhere?’’
‘’Not in that sense,’’ Myrga said. ‘’I chose Tobuck above, say, Colthage City or Skyfall because it was open to all sorts of creatures. Even those great international cities are not always pleased to host a dragon of my size and appetite. And of course, it can be difficult just to house me. Tartarus, I can’t use most of this house, and I own the entire complex.’’
‘’Yes, I can imagine that might be difficult.’’ Coral paused to take another sip of his drink, then continued: ‘’Speaking of, wouldn’t it be difficult to obtain toiletries and whatnot as a dragon?’’
‘’Oh it is. Especially when I was busy being a pain in the flank for the Chiropterrans. But we made do - Chiropterrans make great toothpicks. And now I can afford those kinds of things without issue.’’
Coral deliberately ignored the toothpick comment for the sake of his sanity and his stomach. ‘’Of course. May I ask where you get your money, nowadays? I understand that you still operate as mercenaries?’’
‘’So we do.’’ Myrga paused for a moment, looking out over the garden. ‘’When the client calls for it. But you Arisians, you’re not a big fan of mercenaries. Not in your own country, at least, or the countries under your ‘protection’. Suffice it to say an accord was reached with certain individuals and myself, and now we take only legal jobs. The Zarantians like to solve their own disputes, but sometimes an outside voice is… appreciated.’’
He was definitely diving into the NIA’s archives once he got back. As the saying went: every shell can hold a pearl. And this pearl might just prove to be very interesting indeed.
‘’So has the Zarantian government taken any official notice of you?’’
‘’If they have, I haven’t been informed.’’
‘’Thank you.’’ Coral took a minute to scan through his pages of notes he’d written down. ‘’I think that is everything, then. This has been an absolute pleasure. Thank you for your time.’’
This is going to be the story of the month. Tartarus, the year. I could write a whole book with these notes.
‘’The pleasure was all mine, Coral.’’ Myrga gave him a small nod. ‘’Now, it’s getting late, and I think some people are eager to get back to their party.’’
‘’Party, party, party!’’ a pair of children - a Zebra filly and a Zony colt - started to cheer.
‘’And of course,’’ Myrga went on, ‘’some people should be making themselves ready for bed.’’
‘’Awww!’’
Myrga pointedly ignored the children - except for the fond look he quickly shot them. ‘’You are, of course, more than welcome to stay and enjoy the party, if you wish.’’
Coral considered that.
Eh, why not?
‘’I’ll take you up on that offer, as long as there’s more kelpwater!’’
Author's Note
Two notes:
- NIA stands for National Intelligence Agency
- the two kids at the end, in case it wasn't clear, are supposed to be Matanzal and Zaalhanni, two characters from Tobuck. Technically they'd be young adults by this point if I followed their age from the mod, but I made them younger so it fit the story better.
