Margorie was stunned Ginelle knew what item she was holding was, even more so than actually finding it in her room. The old witch was telling the truth about how she had found the tooth, for it was under Ginelle’s pillow and had fallen to the floor when she removed the sheets to watch them. It was a very large tooth, but the old witch wasn’t an expert on teeth, so she was unaware of what kind of tooth she had discovered. The answer came to her later that day while she was going about her chores. The old lady had used magic to clean the bed linings and found out that the sheets had come out much cleaner than they usually did. Then came the dinner service, and she noticed a stark uptick in productivity in the kitchen. Her mirrors were worker harder and more efficiently that evening, as if the spell was being magnified and casted at a higher level despite her usually efforts to cast said spell. Margorie suddenly realized what she had on here as only one creature could enhance someone’s spells just by being in possession of any part of it: a dragon. To hear Ginelle confirm what she had suspected made the old witch very nervous. To even hear of a dragon being this close to the camp wasn’t good as well and was bound to make Harrison very nervous if he heard or saw something like that so close to where the men might be working. All of this made Margorie very uneasy as well as dragons were known to be very unpredictable creatures.
“This is very troubling, Ginelle.” Margorie said, placing the tooth on the table. “This is a very dangerous artifact. Some witches would even go as far as to call it a totem.”
“What’s a totem?” Ginelle asked.
“A totem is any piece that enhances a witch or wizard’s magical abilities.” Margorie said as she gestured around the kitchen. “Did you happen to notice how fast and efficient my mirrors were working this afternoon? They finished their work so swiftly I had to give them additional chores to do.”
“Wow, I had no idea.” Ginelle said, rather impressed by it.
“I need you to be straight with me, Ginelle,” Margorie asked, “Where did you get the tooth?”
“It was given to me,” Ginelle answered. It was an honest answer that just happened to be missing a few key details.
“A dragon’s tooth is not a toy!” Margorie called out, as it was clear she was trying to keep her composure. “Dragons have been known to come after their property. You could endanger us all it comes here looking for it.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen.” Ginelle said, very sure of herself.
“Is that so?” Margorie asked, curious about her casual response. “Where did this person find the tooth?”
“It wasn’t given to me by a person,” Ginelle said, sighing. “It was given to me by the dragon, as a gift for helping him.”
“You spoke to a dragon?” Margorie inquired.
“I did,” Ginelle confirmed, “His name is Ruki and he’s quite nice. He’s also a very big fan of your meatloaf.”
“You’ve been feeding him?” Margorie said, almost ready to faint.
“I thought if he had something filling, he wouldn’t want to eat the animals around here, or try to even consume one of our loggers.” Ginelle said, acting like it was no big deal.
“You said you helped him,” Margorie recalled, “How?”
“He had a broken tooth,” Ginelle replied, “He saw me heal Garrak’s leg and asked me to do the same for him. When I tried to heal the tooth, it popped out and a new tooth grew in its place. It was all so weird. Ruki was so happy to be free of pain that he said I could keep the tooth as a memento of our meeting.”
“So, it was a gift,” Margorie said, feeling a little relieved. She had heard tales of hunters that killed dragons and were cursed for stealing dragon parts from the big creatures. There were even stories of dragons that came after the hunters to fetch their missing scales or claws or whatever else was taken. To hear that the dragon consented to her taking the tooth meant there would be no curse or dragons coming after her to retrieve it. Still, the old witch was concerned about the matter and needed more information.
“What possessed you to speak to a dragon?” She asked the young girl.
“I didn’t,” Ginelle reminded her, “He approached me because he was in pain and asked for my help. What was I supposed to do, refuse and risk him getting angry at me?”
Margorie paused for a moment and considered the girl’s story.
“I suppose you’re right,” Margorie said, “He wanted your help and you’ve always been a kind soul. It took a lot of bravery to help him like that. It’s also quite remarkable that you can speak to him at all. I’ve never heard of any witch being able to speak with dragons. That’s the first for me as well.”
“Wow, I had no idea.” Ginelle said, “And I didn’t know about the tooth being a totem. I kept it in my room and never attempted to cast any spells with it. Does it really work like that?”
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“I can assure you it does, my dear.” Margorie confirmed, “My mirrors have never worked so hard since I started using them. But let’s do an experiment and see if this works for you as well.”
Margorie handed the tooth to Ginelle, and then backed away from her.
“Tell me a spell that you’re struggling with.” Margorie requested.
“That’s easy,” Ginelle said, “That mirroring spell. I just can’t seem to get any mirrors to come forward.”
“Try it again now,” Margorie suggested, “And hold that tooth in your passive hand as you do it.”
“Alright,” Ginelle said as she held the tooth in her left hand and stood up from where she was sitting. She stood there and began to cast the spell and while this was a spell she usually struggled with, that wasn’t the case this time. Almost immediately, a mirror emerged from Ginelle’s body and stood there beside her ready to serve. Ginelle looked back at Margorie with a shocked look upon her face.
“I did it!” Ginelle said, beaming with pride. “I made a mirror!”
“That is amazing,” Margorie said, “You’ve been given a great gift dear, so I suggest you be careful with it and only use it only when absolutely necessary. I would also be careful when handling it as they’re quite sharp too.”
“I noticed that too,” Ginelle said, “Are you still mad at me for speaking to the dragon and feeding him?”
“I suppose not,” Margorie said, as she had time to think about it. “Sometimes we don’t get to pick who we consort with. Many witches believe that mother earth brings people or creatures into our lives only when we need them. For some reason, mother seems to believe you need a bird, a wolf, and even a dragon. Three companions that will be very hopeful should a crisis come to our doors.”
“I see,” Ginelle said, “But maybe we should keep Ruki between us. As long as we feed him, he’ll have no reason to wander about or bother anyone.”
“What about your spell practice?” Margorie asked.
“Ruki’s been helping with that actually,” Ginelle said, smiling back at the old witch. “He let’s me use him for target practice.”
“Ginelle!” Margorie said, shocked to hear it. “You’ve been shooting fireballs and god know what else at a poor dragon!”
“He’s fine,” Ginelle informed her, “Ruki confirmed that dragons have great resistence to magic spells. No matter how hard I hit him, he laughs at me and says it tickles.”
“Fascinating,” Margorie said, unaware of what Ruki had taught her.
It was at this point when Harrison came walking into the kitchen to speak with the two witches. Before anyone could say anything, Harrison first noticed that there was extra Ginelle in the kitchen, looking back at him as if she were a twin sister.
“That’s amazing!” he called out, “Ginelle learned how to mirror!”
“I had some help,” Ginelle confessed. She was determined to learn how to do it on her own, but it was nice to know she could use the tooth to cast it and other difficult spells whenever it was needed.
“Some help?” Harrison repeated, “From whom?”
“Oh, you’re going to love this.” Margorie said, as it was her turn to smile.
“Should we tell him?” Ginelle asked, a little worried.
“We can trust him,” Margorie confirmed, “You can tell him.”
“Tell me what?” Harrison asked.
“You are never going to believe what new pet our little Ginelle here has suddenly adopted.” The old witch said, sitting down to get ready for it.
Harrison looked back at Ginelle and dreaded the idea.
“Are we going to have to build another pen?” he asked them.
“I don’t think that would work out,” Margorie said.
“Too small?” Harrison guessed.
“Other way,” Ginelle corrected him. “He’s too big. It would take you guys all summer to make a pen big enough to hold this creature.”
“Bigger than the wolf?” Harrison asked.
“Show her,” Margorie ordered.
Ginelle took the dragon tooth out and showed it to Harrison.
“Is that what I think it is?” Harrison asked.
“It most certainly is,” Margorie said, “Our young witch here has befriended a dragon.”
“Witches can talk to dragons?” Harrison said, as he never heard of it before. He knew that Margorie could speak to mice and even eagles, and that Ginelle could speak to her wolf, but he had no idea witches were capable of consorting with mythical creatures as well. Harrison was even panicked for a moment as he suggested evacuating the logging camp, as he was afraid that the dragon might burn it all down.
“That won’t happen,” Margorie said, “As long as Ginelle keeps feeding it.”
“Wow,” Harrison said, “So dragons like your magic cooking too?”
“It appears so,” Margorie said, looking back at Ginelle. “Is that why you were over enchanting the leftovers, little one? Making them denser and filling for our colourful friend?”
“Yes,” Ginelle admitted, “But he’s not colourful. Ruki is actually has black and white scales, with silver spikes. He looks very nice for a dragon.”
“Now that explains everything,” Margorie said, as she needed to sit down. “Black dragons are known for being rebellious and even spontaneous. They don’t seem to follow other dragons and do their own thing.”
“You mean like we do?” Ginelle countered, “So Ruki is like a chaos witch, breaking the rules and doing his own thing.”
“It appears so,” Margorie said, “No wonder you two get along so well. You’re like kindred spirits.”
“Are you sure he’s not dangerous?” Harrison asked, “The last thing I need is a dragon torching the camp to ash.”
“He won’t do that,” Ginelle insisted, “He’s just as scared as you as you are of him. He fled the mountains because there were hunters after him. I actually told him to take things easy and not draw attention, so I doubt he’d want to come near here out of fear the hunters will come looking for him.”
“So, he’s hiding out just like you are.” Harrison noted, “You two do have a lot more in common than we thought.”
“I really like him,” Ginelle added, “He’s very friendly.”
“Make him this offer,” Margorie started, “If your dragon friend stays away from camp and keeps his distance from the loggers, then you may continue feeding him and I’ll show you how to make some better meals that no doubt keep him very satisfied. If he does that, he’ll also not draw attention to himself and that will keep the hunters away.”
“We can always keep a look out for hunters as well,” Harrison added, “We can keep him safe as well if he behaves himself and doesn’t light up the camp of the forest for that matter. We need these trees for logging.”
“I will convey that message to him tomorrow,” Ginelle offered, “I have no doubt he will accept, especially since he already knows what a great cook Margorie is.”
“Fair enough,” Harrison said, sighing deeply.
“Are you alright?” Ginelle asked, worried he was still upset.
“I’m fine,” Harrison assured her, “I’m just glad we don’t have to make another pen.”