Irida’s snoring was loud and content as she napped at the foot of Laz’s bed. That made Calder’s job much easier. He had told Laz he would watch over her while the wizard ran errands and cast spells around town. The sun had reached its peak hours ago, but now as it began to sink behind the mountains to the east, Calder began to feel uneasy.

He’s been gone for a while now. It was supposed to just be a few clients…

The fact that Laz was running late wasn’t what bothered Calder. While he would have preferred to know Laz was safe and close by as dusk settled over Evermine, he also knew he was helping him more by keeping Irida out of trouble. No, what really bothered him was that he didn’t have anything else to do anyway. He was bored and, with Irida asleep, Laz out working, and his patrol shifts dwindling over the past couple of weeks, he was spending more time alone with his thoughts than he ever had before.

I’ll have to ask Faramond about patrols. In the summer there was always an extra shift up for grabs, and now I’m lucky to have five in a week.

In the meantime, Calder wandered around Laz’s cramped, freezing room. As tempting as it was to crawl back in the bed he had shared with Laz some days prior, he wouldn’t risk falling asleep after being entrusted with standing guard. Instead, he squeezed between a crooked wooden dresser and the bed frame which ate up half of the room, all the while hoping his meandering wouldn’t wake Irida.

The young dragon had finally been improving after such a long stagnation. She ate two batches of gems a day and had been steadily growing again. Her new limbs were being graced with thick, sharp claws, the same blue-ish purple as her back and tail. And on her head, Calder could see two small knobs forming that hadn’t been there before. He took them to be the iconic, wicked horns that all of the capital’s tapestries depicted on the hazardous beasts.

Even after raising her through the first half of autumn, Calder still hadn’t gotten used to how unreal she was. Always glittering when hit by the faintest of lights, growing faster than any animal he had ever seen, eating a diet that he once thought would be impossible to digest, let alone live off of. His eyes were drawn to her, easily lost in her perplexing, gem-like hide.

Did your kind truly need to be eliminated? It wasn’t impossible to believe, with how many rare minerals she required to grow, yet Calder was sure there had to have been a way for them to exist naturally without magic-generated food.

She didn’t respond, other than her relentless, high-pitched snoring.

Calder absentmindedly marched along the edge of the bed until he was at Laz’s closet, overflowing with fancy robes, soft tunics, and other various clothes that he couldn’t identify. On the floor beside it sat a wicker basket with some of Laz’s already worn items, ready to be washed next time he fancied a walk to one of the many streams in Evermine.

Maybe I could clean them for him while he’s out. I think he’d appreciate that. He lifted the basket and froze. Laz wore these…

An array of thoughts played through Calder’s head, each of them making him more ashamed of himself. They probably smell like him. He has a nice scent. A perfume he mixes from the flowers in his garden. Coupled with the fact he’s sweating all the time, it’s very uniquely him. Visions of Laz getting undressed were all he could focus on.

The moment he thought about lifting one of the tunics out, he forced himself to drop the basket and step back, bumping into the bed.

What am I doing? I like him but I shouldn’t be touching his stuff like this. It’s creepy.

Irida cooed, mumbling nonsensical chirps to herself as she stood up and stretched on the bed.

“Sorry, girl. Did I make too much noise for ya?” Calder could see himself blushing in the mirror on Laz’s dresser.

The glinting dragon stared blankly at the knight before letting out a hoarse cough. She hopped down from the wrinkled sheets and walked through the curtain that led to the main room.

Oh no, is she sick again? Does she need something even rarer to eat? Is there a rock-equivalent of a vegetable she needs to be eating? He rushed to follow her.

Out in the lab, she was sitting patiently by the back door to her fenced-in part of the yard. Once she saw Calder, she dragged her claws against the door. Each day her claws grew bigger, as did the scratch marks at the base of the door. Not wanting another lecture on why a good-looking home was important to his studies, Calder hurried and opened the door for her.

She doesn’t seem weak and sluggish like before. I suppose she could have just been clearing her throat.

Irida took one step outside before she coughed again. It was deeper than any other sound she had ever made, guttural and ugly. Calder knelt down to lift her up and try to comfort her, but before he could, she opened her jaw wide and threw up.

A tangle of silver chains, copper bands, and other strings of jewelry slid out of her mouth and into the mud, covered in a glossy coat of Irida’s spit. They were all knotted together, forming a lopsided ball of valuable metals.

“Bet that felt good to let out,” Calder said as he petted Irida’s back. She flopped down in the mud and let out a sigh of relief.

I guess we have to be careful about what we feed her. He recognized all of the hacked up bits from her feedings over the past few days. It had baffled him and Laz, but the spell would sometimes give them fitted jewelry along with the gems. How the magic decided what to turn the elixir into, Laz wasn’t able to explain, but he hypothesized it had something to do with what memories he pulled magic from when casting. More testing would be needed to say for sure.

Calder lifted up one of the chains in the ball, lifting the entire mess into the air as it glistened with dragon saliva. “We’ll melt these down for you next time, don’t worry.”

As Calder considered their best method for melting down metal – he knew they would need access to a real forge to do any serious reshaping, as opposed to Laz’s method of heating it just enough to cut it – a familiar gleam in the center of the chains caught his eye. At the center of the ball, a pale golden band was caught on a loose chain.

He plucked bits of jewelry free from the cluster, each one falling into the mud as he focused on his work. Eventually, he was able to pull the stuck item free. Calder was sure of it; it was Laz’s old bracelet, now missing its iconic sapphire.

I guess it popped out when she swallowed it? Or her spit can dissolve it somehow, like sugar crystals. Still, Laz might like to have this back now that we can feed Irida properly…

The hem of his shirt made for the perfect rag to wipe the band clean, and he slid it into his pocket. Calder recalled the emerald he had swiped when Laz was picking a new focus, and an idea began to take shape.

Oh, that’ll be perfect!

All that was left to do was find a way to fit them together before the day of the ball.

***

A scattering of stray light beams remained in the sky, just enough for Laz to see the path ahead of him. His last job of the day had been an easy one, though it was all the way across Evermine. Despite being a poor and sparsely populated town, the shifting streams and underground pockets of water left the town spread out and it could take nearly an hour to cross from one side to the other. Especially when one was straining to hop over mud puddles.

Despite the long walk ahead of him, Laz hummed along with a tune Calder had stuck in his head and enjoyed the fiery pink sky. If sore legs were all he had to worry about then he couldn’t complain. The air was crisp, the dragon he was harboring was well fed and as healthy as ever, and his magic studies were finally progressing after a two year lull. Not once since his mentor disappeared had his mood been at such a peak.

Of course, not everything was perfect.

This topaz is… lacking, he thought as he rolled the yellow gem through his fingers. Barely enough room to cast a spell I know by heart, and I can already feel it’s on the brink of chipping.

Keeping an elderly woman’s room warm. That was it. A clear cut use of Climate Control that he could do in his sleep, yet the weak focus took more attention and care when casting than he cared to expend. Since learning Irida could be used to cast spells, he had practiced more than Exchange Elixir through her, and each spell was easier to weave, stronger in effect, and longer lasting than anything he had ever performed. He dropped the temperature in his room to help ward off nightmares and could read the Magic Message encrypted notes for twice as long. Within mere days he had already grown accustomed to casting with the dragon.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

It’s like taking away a bard’s drum and giving him two limp sticks. Or trading a skilled swordsman’s saber for a kitchen knife! If only that idiot king would drop dead, then I could use Irida in town and really help people out with some enhanced spells.

On top of enhancing the ability of a spell, Laz was certain that they didn’t wear down her durability at all. Unlike a normal focus, the fact that she was alive seemed to negate whatever caused gems to deteriorate when magic entered them. If anything, she enjoyed the feeling of the energy flowing inside of her. After a few attempts, he didn’t have to tell her where to aim a spell, she could feel his intent and direct it without words or even gestures. All he wanted to do was keep practicing and honing his techniques with her.

Twilight began to overtake the marshland, and Laz made a point to carefully lift the longer part of his robe for the rest of the way home. In the distance, faint cries mingled with the raven cries and appeared to set off the chorus of frog croaks. Must be more children out late. Even if our town isn’t well-fed or healthy, people manage to have a good time. I still wish I could do more, though.

Apart from the weak gem, another thought kept tugging at him. The date that he had agreed to go on with Calder was approaching. A special ball being held in the capital to celebrate the knights of Kradall, an event that Laz had never heard of, but confirmation with other knights in town told him it wasn’t a hoax.

The king must need to give his lapdogs a morale boost. As much as Laz hated the royals and all they stood for, a chance to check out the capital and dress up in some of his finer clothes made the occasion too good to pass up. And maybe I could find a clue, some gossip, anything about Master Edre. It will be my only chance to leave Evermine, maybe ever. I can’t waste it.

What’s more, Calder had been acting differently. Safer, more withdrawn, more reserved. At any other time since knowing him, Laz would have welcomed the change, but with their date approaching, he worried it meant the knight was taking the whole event rather seriously.

Is he going to expect certain things from me? He’s put up with my magic endeavors more than anyone should rightfully be expected to. But he wouldn’t get upset if the date ends and nothing happens, right? No, that’s not who he is. He’s… He’s a good man.

The same cry as before rang out, now louder and sharper. It was a muddled shout, ahead of him on the trail. Laz could no longer brush it off as children messing around before bed.

Is that a wild animal? Or a call for help? Maybe I should take the long way home.

It wasn’t unheard of for mountain beasts to wander down in the colder months looking for food, and Laz was not familiar with all of the sounds they could make. He was a second away from turning and taking a detour home when it came again.

Faintly, he swore he could make out the word “help” among the cry.

A rush of fear swept over him. The possibilities of what could have gone wrong swirled in his head, from invading marauders to a dire fox attack. Despite that, he ran forward, readying his focus in hopes it could ward someone off. He still had yet to successfully cast Dazer, but it was all he could think to do.

Every step he took closer to the sound, his fears worsened. Maybe I should have gotten Calder. He and his dumb knight friends could deal with this better than I can! Still, he didn’t slow. He knew his responsibility of helping Evermine didn’t end with slight temperature changes and mending scraped knees. If someone was in trouble, he had to do all he could.

Again, the cry rang out. “Help! Anyone!”

Laz was close enough to confirm it was a human. In fact, he thought the voice sounded familiar.

“Hey!” He shouted out, hoping to scare off any threats while assuring who he thought was in trouble. “I’m coming, don’t worry!” After another step and more fretting, he added, “And I brought lots of knights to help!”

He cringed at his own flimsy bluff. Maybe it’s a good thing Calder wasn’t around to have seen that.

The last glint of sunlight had vanished. Several torches in town were lit, but many houses had still yet to ignite theirs, and the moon had yet to arrive in the sky. A unique window of darkness had overtaken Evermine, allowing Laz to see what was directly in front of him and nothing more.

If only it wasn’t too cold for the fireflies. Although since all the frogs arrived, there haven’t been many of them anyway.

By the time Laz had arrived at the spot he thought the cries had originated, they had stopped entirely. A few yards in front of him, he could make out a soft whimper and some sniffling.

“Hello?” He held up his topaz as a precaution, though he had a hunch that he knew the source. “Bek? Is that you yelling out?”

Another big sniff preceded his answer. “Uh huh.” His voice trembled like a scared toddler.

I forget how young he still is, despite how fast he’s growing. As they exchanged words, Laz managed to home in on the farm boy’s location. Bek was off to the side of the trail, and next to him was a large wooden wagon, almost the same height as him, sunk in the mud and crushing one of his legs.

“Bek! Are you alright?” He knelt down by the kid and tried to assess the situation in full.

“I just slipped a little,” Bek said. He was already sounding better despite nothing being fixed. “My leg isn’t doing too bad, I can feel it all fine. Maybe a bruise.”

I guess he was more scared than injured. Luckily the cart is empty and the mud is cushioning most of the weight anyway.

“You’re sure you aren’t hurt? How long have you been out here like this?”

Bek sighed and looked up at the newly visible stars. “Less than an hour, for sure. I–” He was interrupted by a coughing fit. Shallow, raspy chokes that got deeper with each one. When they finally stopped he resumed as if nothing had happened. “It got dark and I accidentally stepped off the trail and into the mud, then when I went down one of the wheels popped off and I couldn’t get it off of me.”

Laz spotted the wheel behind them stuck in the muck at the edge of the road and frowned. He’s sick. That’s why he can’t lift this off of him, and probably why he ended up slipping in the first place. The coughing reminded him too much of Irida’s for him to ignore it.

“Here,” Laz said, grabbing the top plank on the wagon and lifting it barely high enough so that it didn’t press down on Bek’s leg.

The boy squirmed free and breathed a sigh of relief, before standing up and brushing as much mud as he could off of himself. His lower half was entirely covered from what Laz could make out in the dim light.

He dropped the wagon back down where it sank a little deeper.

“Thank you,” Bek said. “I can fix the wheel and–”

“Why didn’t you come see me if you were sick?” Laz stood in front of the wheel to block Bek from retrieving it. “You shouldn’t be out doing labor like this when your health is this poor. What if a dire fox found you before I did? What if nobody found you at all and you froze to death overnight! I know you want to help your family, but what good would you dying do for them!” He knew his anger was misplaced, but needed to get his point across.

More sniffling came from Bek, and Laz was sure if he had a torch he would see tears glossing over the young boy’s eyes.

It was harsh but he needed to hear it. Kids think they’re invincible when they’re not!

Stifled sobs were breaking the silence. “I’m sorry, I know. But we don’t have the money for any of your spells and I thought if I asked you would get annoyed and stop helping with the crops and–” His excuses became less coherent as he spoke until he broke into fully babbling.

Guilt struck Laz like a runaway wagon, making him wish he had never scolded him. Is it my fault? Maybe he heard I was doing extra jobs around town to earn extra and thought…

“Here, don’t worry about it.” Laz grabbed the wheel and pulled it from the hungry muck. “Let’s fix your wagon together and get you home. I bet your folks are wondering where you’re at. Sorry that I yelled.”

Bek’s crying sputtered out as he teetered on the verge of hyperventilating. “We’ll get more vegetables ready for you and–”

“No, you won’t. In fact, stay still for a second.” He lifted his right hand, aiming his topaz at Bek.

Rapid Refresh.

Memories of both joy and anguish flooded his mind and he was able to expertly pull the exact emotions from them and weave them into the suitable healing spell.

If only I could cast this with Irida, I bet you’d be healthy for a whole month.

The spell left the topaz. As it did, Laz could feel more of it deteriorating, though no cracks formed yet.

Bek gasped. Thankfully the moon was beginning her rise, and Laz could see for himself what his magic had accomplished. Bek’s greasy blonde hair softened, his clammy face dried out, even his breathing lost its raspy quality.

“You never have to pay me for keeping you healthy, alright? Never again, so don’t use that as an excuse.”

The boy nodded and wiped the tears off his face.

“Now, let’s fix this wheel.”

“Please, let me.” Bek looked up at Laz with a fierce intensity.

I guess he still needs to prove himself. Whatever, he isn’t sick anymore, and I bet he’s better at this kind of thing than I am anyway.

Laz held out the wheel, which Bek promptly carried away and walked to the other side of the wagon. With one hand, he lifted the sunken corner up and guided the entire vehicle back to the trail. Once there, he leaned down and lined the wheel’s center with the bare axel and kicked at it until all was well.

Maybe Calder could make them a better wagon. One with wheels that don’t fall off so easily.

He considered saving the idea to share with him before getting embarrassed that he was thinking of Calder when he didn’t need to be.

“Wow,” Laz said. “I’m impressed.”

Bek sheepishly laughed. “It’s not very heavy when it’s empty, is all. And that spell you did is what let me feel well enough to do it!” His smile faded to a content grin and his eyelids drooped. “But, I am a little… tired.” A large yawn followed his words.

“Yeah, the spell will do that. Go on, get home before you fall asleep on the road and get crushed by your wagon again.”

The two laughed and Bek pulled the empty cart away on the trail. “Goodnight! Thank you again!”

“Night!” Laz waved back and watched as Bek disappeared over the hill.

There, if something happens he should be in range of his parents hearing him at the very least.

Once the farmhand was out of sight, Laz continued his walk home. The bliss he had felt earlier was having trouble returning, and all he could think about was Bek’s tears. How he didn’t come to see him because he couldn’t afford it. How he could have died all because of a stupid reason like that.

Things aren’t perfect yet. I can’t stop just because Irida is fed, I have to keep studying. I’ll have to start learning spells quicker than every two years if I want to save this town.

At the door to his home, he stopped.

And where were any damn knights to help Bek? They love saying they’re here to protect us and couldn’t even lift up a wagon for some poor kid. They’re all a bunch of worthless…

He could hear Calder inside, talking to Irida. The words weren’t decipherable but it sounded warm and loving.

Well, almost all.