The Dragon-Archer’s Question

Snow drifts sideways as Gord and Rothütle move deeper among the broken towers of Schattenburg. The ruins no longer feel abandoned. Stones seem placed, corridors guided.

A sharp whistle cuts the air.

Rothütle's red hat vanishes from his head—pinned to a tree trunk behind him by a black-feathered arrow.

He freezes.

A large creature emerges from the shadows. It possesses the four-legged, emerald-scaled body of a forest drake. Rising from its back is the muscular torso of a man wielding a massive longbow. But the human half is not alone; coiling up from the front is a second, long, sinuous dragon neck, its reptilian eyes glowing yellow.

"Bright colors," the creature says calmly. "They make excellent targets."

Rothütle swallows, still in shock.

"We need to pass," Gord says steadily.

"Hey Gord," the archer replies. "You know the drill, you need to answer my question first." The archer moves to the tree, lifting the hat and placing it on its head.

"Sure, go for it," Gord says.

"What's your first pet's name?" the dragon-archer asks with a smirk.

"Seriously?" Rothütle interjects. "That's your security question?"

Gord looks at Rothütle while answering, "Aži Dahāka."

"There you go," the archer nods, but then looks at the trees behind them, pointing the bow. "Someone's there."

"We'll check it out," Gord says, raising her sword. "You should stay here and keep watch."

Then Gord and Rothütle move cautiously into the shadows.

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Tip of the day. Different services in a complex system should authenticate each other before exchanging data. It's not enough to rely on network location or IP addresses.

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