Valo crept through the narrow hall, the floorboards creaking beneath his feet. He found himself drawn down the hall by the alluring smell staining the wind, and the gentle whispers ushering him along with quiet, barely audible words. He wasn’t even sure if he was hearing things or not—but, nevertheless, Valo’s unquenchable curiosity drew him forward.

At the end of the hall, he found a door, hanging half open. Firelight danced on its thick wooden surface. As he stood there, the wind rushed past him, opening the door further and revealing what—who—lay beyond.

The old woman sat beside the fire, its golden light painted on her face. She glanced over her shoulder, at Valo.

But, to Valo’s own surprise, she didn’t seem shocked to find a dragon darkening her doorway. She didn’t even react to his presence, as though he were no more than a cat. She quickly turned back to the fire, staring into it.

“Come in,” she said, her voice gritty, yet smooth, like slush. “I’ve been expecting you.”

Expecting… me? Valo didn’t know what to make of the old woman—but he was starting to suspect that she wasn’t just a tavern keeper.

The young dragon crept into the room. The room was small—just space enough for a small bed, a desk, and two chairs facing the fireplace. The place was too dark for Valo to make much else out.

The old woman leaned forward and tapped the chair beside her, gesturing for Valo to join her. Valo plodded over to the chair, the warmth of her crackling fire bathing his ruby-colored scales. He hopped up onto the chair, stomping around until he sat comfortably. The hatchling kept glancing around the room, still not entirely sure if she could be trusted.

The old woman leaned closer, her gaze drifting over Valo, up and down, drinking his presence in. “A real dragon…” She huffed. “I’ll be damned…” She leaned back in her chair. “I never thought I’d see one of your kind again. Where’d you come from?”

Valo looked at her. She seemed like she was expecting an answer, but he didn’t even bother trying to speak.

“Oh, right—you’re still young,” the old woman said. She groaned as she rocked up onto her feet. When she was up, she shuffled over to the far side of the room, where a shelf was filled with all manner of herbs—medicinal and otherwise—stored in assorted glass jars.

She plucked one jar from the shelf and promptly unscrewed the lid. She dug around in it, then plucked a small, cloth-wrapped bundle from within, holding it up and smiling faintly. The old woman set the jar aside and marched back to Valo, extending the bundle toward him.

“Here,” she said, smiling. “This’ll help you find your voice.”

Valo hesitantly took the bundle from her. The bundle was small in his palm—about the size of an eye—and it felt almost weightless. Curious, Valo sniffed at the bundle, but it smelled of nothing. He glanced up at the old woman quizzically.

Sensing his confusion, the old woman explained.

“Unwrap it,” she said, gesturing at the bundle.

Valo peeled away the layers of cloth, revealing what lay within: a perfectly round orb, with an iridescent surface that shimmered a rich tapestry of colors. Hues of gold, orange, sapphire, emerald, and purple shone from it, drawing Valo’s eye.

“It’s called a dragon-pearl,” the old woman explained. “Dragons didn’t…” She pursed her lips, catching herself. “Dragons don’t just lay eggs. Sometimes, when a dragon gets old and senses that its time is near, it seeks to leave behind something for its offspring—something more substantial than gold or a legion of devoted mages.” She raised a finger and pointed it at the pearl that Valo held. “That. That is something real—knowledge. A piece of a dying dragon’s knowledge, laid before she died.” The old woman looked saddened at that.

She sighed and shook her head. “Anyway. It’s only useful to another dragon, and if you haven’t noticed…” She gestured down at her own form. “I am most certainly not a dragon. So please, take it.”

But Valo didn’t know how to take it. He simply stared down at its cloudy surface, watching the colors twist and curl about. He glanced up at the old woman. What was he supposed to do with it?

As if to answer a question he asked in his own mind, the old woman pointed to her mouth and made a quick snap with her teeth.

“Bite it,” she said.

Valo’s gaze fell back down to the pearl—then he looked back up at her again. This time, though, he didn’t have a question on his mind. This time, he had an accusation on his mind: the last time he saw someone eat something the old woman gave them, they’d fallen into a deep sleep.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

If he bit the pearl, would he too fall into a slumber? Would he fall unconscious, leaving the old woman to do whatever she pleased with him—take him Gods-knew-where or do Gods-knew-what to him?

Was the pearl laced with something, like the stew must’ve been?

Valo narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.

The old woman sensed his hesitation.

“What?” she asked, lifting a brow.

Valo pointed a claw back out of the room—to the room that Garth had booked for them. Even from here, Valo could hear the warriors’ chorus of snoring, their deep slumbers evidently unshakeable.

“Oh, right, that…” She smiled and shook her head. “It’s just a little something to help them relax. It’s harmless. In fact, it’s quite good—they’ll wake up feeling ten years younger.” She shrugged. “But I didn’t do it for their benefit, truth be told. I did it for yours.”

Valo narrowed his eyes.

“I assumed you were their captive,” she said simply. “Or, well, their prize. I figured they’d stumbled onto you, stuffed you into that rucksack, and were planning on selling you to some flesh-peddler in a grimy city somewhere.” She looked genuinely disgusted at the thought. Her face relaxed as she realized that it wasn’t the case. “But… the fact that you’re concerned about them suggests otherwise. You aren’t their captive, are you?”

Valo shook his head.

“Ah, that’s a relief.” She sat back in her chair. “Well, then rest assured, your friends are presently having the best night’s sleep they’ve ever had.” She smiled reassuringly and pointed at the pearl. “And that won’t do the same to you. In fact, the herb—drowser root—I used to put them to sleep won’t have any effect on you—well, other than being repulsed by it, as you’ve undoubtedly experienced.”

Valo nodded. That was why the stew smelled so vile to him. It was probably responsible for the warriors scarfing it down, too.

The young dragon looked down at the pearl again, tentatively sniffing it for any traces of drowser root—but he found none. If any of it was present, he was sure he’d smell it strongly, given how viscerally he’d reacted to it being mixed into the stew. He didn’t smell anything else on it, either, and his sense of smell was quite acute.

Out of a mixture of curiosity, and more than a little naivete, Valo decided to trust the old woman.

The hatchling raised the pearl to his maw—then in a quick motion, he tossed it back, catching it between two of his sharpest still-forming teeth. With a stern bite down, a loud crack sounded, and the pearl shattered. Shimmering dust filled Valo’s maw, pulled in by his lungs as he took in a surprised gasp.

The sensation hit him instantly. His senses felt woozy—and yet, at the same time, sharp. The strange flavor hit his mouth and snout instantly—equal parts mint and iron and bittersweet goodbyes.

His vision sharpened, etching out all the shapes of the miscellany in the old woman’s abode. When the smell and taste of the pearl receded, all the smells of the room—the starch of the freshly washed sheets, the acrid smoke of the fire, the dry scent of wooden planks—were crisp and unmistakable. Every sound—from the tiniest movement of the countless insects outside to the howl of the wind—was sharp.

But his senses weren’t heightened for long. The sensation passed quickly, fading away despite Valo trying to cling onto it. In its place, though, words appeared before his eyes, etched in the same shimmering gradient as the surface of the pearl:

Dragon-pearl consumed!

Choose a Skill to level-up:

BASIC Skill: Dragon Tongue (Lv. 1)

BASIC Skill: Fire Breath (Lv. 1)

Valo wasn’t sure what any of that meant. Level up? He didn’t know those numbers next to his Skills actually meant something.

But what did they mean, exactly? On that front, he wasn’t sure. Sure, a ‘1’ would become a ‘2’, but what did that mean?

As if to answer, the words in front of his eyes contorted. The first line faded away, and the others drifted apart, allowing for more room between them. And in a moment, the newly formed space was filled with more text:

BASIC Skill: Dragon Tongue (Lv. 1)

Lv. 1 → 2

As a dragon, you understand all languages, spoken and written.

LEVEL UP: At Level 2, you gain the ability to speak them as well.

BASIC Skill: Fire Breath (Lv. 1)

Lv. 1 → 2

Expel a blast of fire from your maw.

LEVEL UP: At Level 2, your fire intensifies—both in heat and in force.

That’s helpful, Valo mused, scanning each line of the ethereal words hovering before his eyes.

One ability seemed far more useful—and far more needed—than the other. Upgrading his Fire Breath was… nice, but even at Level 1, it already did what Valo needed it to do. Perhaps there would come a time when he needed that Level 2 upgrade—but now was not that time.

Now, he needed to speak. He didn’t doubt that he’d need to tell Holly and the other warriors something in the future, and writing had, evidently, proved to be less than ideal.

Valo turned his attention up to his Dragon Tongue Skill, and nodded, firm in his decision.

But the words just hung there, unchanged, waiting for him to lock in his choice to level his Skill.

“Tap it,” the old woman said kindly. She raised a finger and tapped the air, demonstrating.

Valo cautiously raised a claw and tapped his Dragon Tongue Skill. The moment his claw touched the floating words, the words evaporated with a sudden puff. A cloud of shimmering dust hung there, then slowly began to form something new:

BASIC Skill leveled up!

Dragon Tongue (Lv. 2):

You are fluent in all languages, spoken and written. You can now speak them as well.