There was magic in the air. It hung around him like a cloud, scouring his scales and burning his nose, like the scent of rain before a huge thunderstorm.
He knew on an instinctual level that this happened every now and again, but the last one had been many, many years before, back when he was still small. He had sheltered in the bottom of the volcano and stared up as the magic rained downwards like snow, gentle hands against his sides keeping him on the ground, the world hushed and muffled by the pounding rain outside.
It didn't seem like it would be so gentle an experience this time, and there were no soft voices to keep him grounded.
On his back, Passenger clung on with cold hands, fingernails gripping the edges of his scales in a way he didn’t like, but it was better than them falling off. This was going to be a pain.
He had been in the air for a while now, and he was doing his best not to fly through the cloud of magic, but it seemed to fill the whole sky, settling on the forest below with a visible sheen. It was worse higher up, so he was flying so low that he could hear the creaking of the trees as they worked to draw it in, the sounds of birds and beasts below panicking as his shadow passed overhead.
He banked to one side, allowing the claw of one wing to brush the tree canopy, rejoicing in the feel of the leaves and twigs breaking against his scales, the feel of static in the air. On his back, he felt Passenger grip tighter, hunkering down as best they could, and, a little embarrassed, he righted himself, catching an air current and flying back up.
Flying with no bags was great. No burdens at all would have been nicer though. The human on his back was feather-light, but did limit him in other ways.
He flew up, allowing his feet to brush the canopy only occasionally, until, finally in the distance, he caught the acrid stench of City.
Almost back. A short stop, and then he could travel back to Shortie and Shadows all by his lonesome, with nothing at all to weigh him down. That was gonna be fun.
-
The reception on the ground wasn’t what he had expected. Normally when he came in to land, there would be a nice cleared area, some goats, maybe even a cow if he was lucky.
Instead, the area below him was filled with people, sitting on bright fabrics and bits of wood, sunning themselves in the late spring air. They screamed and scattered as he appeared above them, the wind of his wings blowing the wood and cloth away, ducking away under hedges, holding onto their hats and children. Annoying, but it wasn't his problem.
His Passenger slid off the moment they landed and then proceeded with disgorging the contents of her stomach into the hedge. He hadn’t even been going that fast, and the landing had been much gentler than the one on the road!
He thought about it, as he snuffled at the pen where his goat normally awaited. This city had always been good about that, but today the pen was clean and empty, almost as if they hadn't been expecting him back.
Behind him the magic roared, the sky a deep, azure blue, and his scales itched.
Lack of goat acknowledged, grieved and forgiven, he turned to Passenger instead, giving the woman a gentle pat on the shoulder with his wingtip. It would be ok! Her, oh wait, his? Who knew. He wished he had a way to ask. Her, their, clothes were crumbling and falling apart around her, and Dragon raised an eye to the sky.
Humans were sensitive to that kind of thing, right? He had tried washing them down with magic once or twice when he was very young, and they had implored him to stop. He didn’t generally release it whilst on the job, the leather of the packs couldn’t take it, but his handlers had made it clear that it was not to be done at any time, not even on the ground.
He wondered what they were going to do about the storm.
Ah! The help was here. From the side gate came several nervous looking humans, all looking rather unprepared but probably willing to help. They were wearing the right uniforms and everything. This was a good sign!
He nosed the back of Passenger in what he hoped was a comforting manner, nudging her towards the group. She was no longer throwing up, but still looked haggard and unwell.
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The people split up around him, two heading towards Passenger with stern faces, one turning around and running back out of the area, and another running their hands over his scales, checking for injuries? Their frequent glances at the sky and shouts between each other indicated something was up, but Dragon wasn’t sure what.
-
They all hung around in the landing area for a few minutes, some of the humans doing their talking stuff, a couple more starting to pick the discarded fabrics and wood out of the hedgerow. Dragon attempted to help with the tidying up, but after rather a lot of pointing and shouting, he got the impression that he was doing it wrong, somehow.
Over the course of those few minutes, more figures turned up. One human drained the traces of magic out of Passenger, altering his appearance but seeming to cheer him up. Another with spare clothing, and more who only appeared to be there to ask questions which had already been answered.
One of them had started getting quite aggressive, giving off anger displays and vocalising loudly, but a wing-claw on their shoulder had put a stop to that. Another pushed their way into the area, shouting and crying, throwing themselves in front of Dragon, but what they were upset about, he didn't know. Was it something he'd done? A minute later Passenger picked them up off the ground with soft words, and they were both escorted away.
All this was taking far too long, Dragon thought, eyeing the sky once more. The storm was getting worse, starting to worm its way under his scales in a way he disliked. He had managed to outrun it whilst flying here, but it was starting to drift over the city now, huge clouds of magic forming in the bright blue sky. Soon it would be too heavy for him to pass through without the harness degrading around him. The harness that they still hadn’t even started equipping him with yet!
There were a good ten people in the area now, and none of them were doing anything useful. Some were arguing softly with each other, some others cleaning up. There was no sense of urgency, and the tension that had been there when they arrived seemed to have dissipated. The one who had run their hands over him had left by now, but as he waited, shuffling his feet with impatience, another had finally appeared with the harness draped over their shoulder. Nobody was doing anything with it though, it had been left off near the goat pen, and Dragon turned his face into the breeze.
The wind was picking up now, and he could see the shimmers of blue on the edges of the city walls, smell the electricity in the air. Did the humans not… Notice? Could they not see it?
Over on the edge of the circle, Passenger had returned and was gesturing at herself, at her discarded clothes, and the looks of apathy and lack of urgency from those around him indicated that it wasn't something that bothered them.
They really couldn't see it, huh.
Ah. What a learning experience this last week had been.
With a sigh, Dragon rose from his crouch. After taking a moment to make sure there was nobody too close, he stomped one foot against the ground, hard. The noise was loud, a shudder that vibrated through the whole area, and plants beneath his foot sprang up bright and green as the earth trembled. Around him, everyone froze.
Good.
A huff of magic, very carefully directed onto the clothes Passenger had been pointing at. He watched in satisfaction as they crumbled into earth, becoming what they wanted to be. That done, he used his wingtips to point at the sky. Then again, just in case they didn’t get it. Then a third time for good measure, this time using his front legs and his nose. Humans pointed a lot, they should understand this.
That done, he then pointed at them, and let go of his tight control for just a moment.
There was a lot of squawking as their clothes turned to dust, as their little wooden seats crumbled and rotted underneath them. He watched as the metal of their badges and braces turned to rust, as the leather of their shoes rotted away around their feet. There were creaks from the hedges as the deadwood, sheltered from rain, suddenly succumbed to age, and various exclamations from outside the area. People's features shifted and adjusted, the ideals they had draped themselves in taking the spark of power and adjusting, closer to the original intentions, settling into permanence.
Whoops, he might’ve overdone it a little bit.
There was no movement, no shouting, nothing. Around him, they all held still, not even daring to breathe. Prey animals finally realising that what they had thought was a mouse was really a large predator that they had no conceivable way of fighting.
With exaggerated motions, Dragon pointed once more at the sky.
A final moment of still, and then sudden squawking and hoots and a frantic covering of different body parts.
Dragon settled down to watch the commotion, only then realising that he had accidentally destroyed the harness. Bugger.
-
Most people left, but a few hung around, apparently ok with their nudity. There was some muttering and quite a bit of pointing and laughing, but as Dragon glanced at the sky, he wasn’t sure they got the message. They… Might’ve simply taken it as a threat?
Runners were sent and a different harness was fetched, this one older and tighter and smelling a little of damp, but the humans with their smart little hands knew what they were doing, and with some adjustment, it would do. Or not, the Storm was in the way now, and to go around it would add days to the journey, if he even could. His stunt had sped things up, but he didn't think it had sent the right message, somehow.
Then he was leaving. Buckled, cinched a little tighter than he’d like, but ready to go. A warning humph, a flap of his wings, and he was off. Below him, the humans ran around like ants, and on the wind, he could hear laughter and cheers.
As the harness turned to dust around him, he wondered if he should go back.
Nah, they’d find out on their own soon enough.