Avea fled down the road and around a corner. He stopped when he was out of sight of where he had been. That had been crazy embarrassing. But he’d been so excited! Star won! Time to check in.
“Hey, you okay over there?”
“Yes. I will be resting for a while, then I will find a way to bring this carcass home so it can be preserved.”
“Damn, you got preservation spells over there? That’s fancy stuff.”
“...Yes?”
He’d almost forgotten the reason he’d left in the first place. He was supposed to go find something to celebrate the Human’s new level. It was the polite thing to do, and if he was getting an enchanted item, treating the human kindly was a small favor to Sunica that would rid him of the obligation. Plus, she seemed nice enough, if horribly awkward.
“By the way, uh, Mister Star was it?”
“Just Star is fine.”
“Alright. Star then, feel free to call me Avea too.”
“Very well.”
“So, this is embarrassing, but I wanted to ask while we’re talkin’ in private. What’s your Master’s name? I haven’t caught it, and at this point it’d be rude to ask.”
“Lady Flamewalker.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“She’s a [Lady]? Damn. I guess I should have guessed with her tastes being sweets and other expensive shit. What’s she doing with Sunica if she’s that important?”
He made his way down the road and deeper into town. The guard house was built along the wall in case it needed to be defended. But, the further you went into town the more shops you’d find.
“She is not swayed easily by rank. My Master is not comfortable around many. To find a friend is more valuable than protocol. At least, that is my guess.”
“Huh. Well, she ain’t gonna fit in around here. Not lookin’ forward to the blowout when it happens.”
“Blow out?”
“Yeah, well, you know. She’s valuable. A [Lady], an [Enchanter] with some special skills, and politically too with that rank. She’s out of Sunica’s scope. It’s only a matter of time before someone comes to claim Miss Flamewalker.”
It was the truth. No matter her level, those were valuable classes. Hells, even if she didn’t have the [Lady] class the rank itself was worth something. Sunica could play at being her guardian for now, but when someone important took notice it’d be over. It was a shame, since they did seem to get along well. Maybe he’d do something nice for Sunica after it happened to cheer her up. They hadn’t been close since they were kids, but he still didn’t want to see her sad.
As he turned a corner, he bumped into an older woman carrying a sack of groceries.
“Oh, Mister Avea. How nice to see you! Are you off duty already?”
Shit, what was her name? He envied the guards that lucked into the [Perfect Recall: Names] skill. It was so damn useful. Right, the lady’s name. Li- something. Li. Li. Lizuca! Right!
“Miss Lizuca, good to see you. I’m on official guard business! Escorting a magical creature around town.”
“A magical creature? That appears to be a doll.”
“Hello Miss Lizuca. My name is Star. I am a dog. The spell on this doll lets me speak at a distance. Mister Avea is carrying me around today.”
“Oh my. What a polite dog. Well Mister Avea, you must take something to make you more comfortable on your duty. Please, take a piece of bread courtesy of the Tescu family. I hope you’ll think kindly of our bakery.”
“Oh no, I couldn’t Miss. Please.”
“Take it, take it! I made too many. I’m just visiting my son, and one missing won’t be noticed.”
Damn. Part of his job was maintaining good relations with the public, factions and families. It was always such a hassle though. What could he give her in return? Oh, right!
“Thanks Miss Lizuca! I’ll gladly accept the gift. But I won’t let you leave empty handed either. Here, Mister Nikia gave me a few too many kindleberries. Wouldn’t want your fire goin’ cold! Although your scales are still so white I wonder if the cold even bothers ‘ya!”
He laughed along with her. Flattery will get you everywhere. She accepted the kindleberries and then was on her way. Avea took a bite of the bread. It was quite good. Maybe he should stop by the bakery for something for Miss Flamewalker. He started in that direction. Star waited a moment, and then asked a question.
“What was that about scales and the cold?”
“What do you mean? It was a compliment.”
“My Master will want to know the details. Do scales change color at some point? Does white make cold more bearable? Do any of the other colors do anything?”
Avea laughed. Who were these people who knew so little about balaur? Well, he was trying to be a gracious host, so he might as well answer.
“Sometimes scales lose a bit of color when you get older. Usually just become more muted versions of the same thing. White becomes less lustrous, and so on. Well, only for the people that never complete their form. The initial color of your scales does provide some benefit based on color. It doesn’t actually go away when the color fades, that was just for the compliment. But people born with more saturation have better benefits, see?”
“I see. And white scales confers comfort in the cold?”
“Yeah, and a whole lot more.”
“Like what? And are the other colors as useful?”
Avea had to grin at that.
“Well, I mean, I’m pretty biased. I like my white scales.”
“What about Miss Sunica?”
“Ah yeah, her. She’s red. That whole thing is tragic as hell. Gives her a lot of trouble living in this area too, since it’s so cold. She either has to deal with all the snow melting around her or bundle up like crazy to stay warm. Before she could control her heat so well, she wasn’t allowed in Veni at all.”
It really was quite sad. Fucking politics were always ruining lives though. Not much could be done about it. Avea always hoped one day Sunica would leave and find her own people or somewhere that wouldn’t trash her, but he wouldn’t wanna leave Veni either. Not to mention her family.
“I see. What did you mean by completing a form?”
“Oh shit, you don’t know?”
“I do not.”
“Hah, that’s hilarious. I almost don’t want to tell you.”
“Do not be like that. I am your guest. You must be kind to me.”
“Alright alright. See, balaur are dragons. We’re all somewhere on the spectrum between humans and dragons when we’re born. But with a lot of work, some of us can control where we are on that spectrum. Literally change our forms.”
“What does that have to do with aging?”
“Huh?”
“You said the ones that perfect their form do not lose color with age.”
“Oh yeah. Any balaur that works hard enough at it and gets to the point that they have full control over their body becomes a dragon in full. Able to take that form when they please. And see, dragon’s don’t age.”
“That is incredible. Are you a dragon?”
“Me? Hells no haha.”
“Why not?”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Because it’s hard, and I’m low blood as hell.”
“What does that mean?”
“Usually people with noble bloodlines are the only ones that become dragons. Every couple hundred years someone like me will figure it out, ‘cause we all got that same blood in us yeah? But our rulers figure it out about half the time.”
“Only half?”
“Well, yeah. Like I said, it’s hard. The ones that don’t figure it out never get into a position of real power though. ‘Cause they’ve got mortal lifespans.”
“I see. And it is the blood that makes them more likely to succeed?”
“Well, I guess. That’s what they say anyway. More direct descendents from the dragons of old. You’d have to ask one of them for the details though. But hells, maybe you’ll get the chance.”
“How would I get a chance?”
Avea stopped in front of the bakery. Yeah, this was perfect. He could pick up Miss Flamewalker a sandwich and small sweet pastry or somethin’. Then they could have a meal in the guard house. Easy instant celebration for a skittish girl.
“How? ‘Cause Sunica’s family is gonna show up eventually. They rule Avezare and Veni.”
----------------------------------------
“You have the coolest fucking dog in the WORLD.”
Lily nearly jumped out of her skin as Avea pushed his way into her little room. It took her a moment to process what he’d said.
“Uh, yeah? I mean. Yeah! He really is the coolest. Why? What did he do?”
Avea looked for a brief moment like a kid who got stealing cookies, but then made an obvious attempt at covering.
“We– We just talked! His personality! He’s the coolest! He said he had to go just a little before we got here, and the spell seems to have turned off. Is that okay?”
Lily narrowed her eyes for a second, but then shrugged. It’s not like he was wrong. Star was the coolest.
“Yeah, he’s pretty great. I’m glad you two had fun! Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll connect it again later. I just finished up this project a minute ago. Here!”
She tossed the canteen to Avea, who juggled it for a moment before catching it properly. He stared down at it.
“It’s done? It looks the same.”
“Yeah, but now it’ll slowly fill with water. I don’t know if it’ll be fast enough that you never have to take a trip to the well, depending on how much you drink. But it should reduce your number of trips during a day by a lot, especially in the mornings. It’ll also give off a small amount of light when it’s full of both water and mana. Oh, right, it stores mana when the water is full, up to enough to fill the canteen once. Any questions?”
“Wow. That was… comprehensive.”
Lily smiled.
“I try to be. I love what I do.”
It was her first time saying it. In some ways, it surprised her coming out of her mouth. But truly, she did love magic. For the longest time she was doing it to survive, but she had grown a legitimate love for doing it.
“So uh, I got some food. To celebrate. I figure we just hang out here and eat? You won’t turn down a free meal to celebrate a new level, right Miss Flamewalker?”
“Miss–”
Lily burst out laughing. Miss Flamewalker? Like that was just her last name? What had Star been telling this man? She gestured Avea to have a seat, and found herself actually a little touched by the seemingly genuine smile that crossed his face. But she had to clear this up.
“Miss Flamewalker? Did Star tell you that?”
“Yeah! He said your name was Lady Flamewalker. I didn’t know you were someone so important. Speakin’ of, apologies if I’ve broken some kinda etiquette. We don’t get much of the nobility around here. At least not the foreign kind. If… that’s what that title means?”
Lily was at a crossroads. She could try to explain, or just nod and go along with it. Explaining sounded exhausting, and she wasn’t really opposed to people thinking her last name was Flamewalker. The name was special to her because it came from Star.
“Geez. Well, I’m not someone important, so you don’t have to treat me any different, okay?”
Avea shrugged in reply, and sat down opposite Lily at the table. He started unloading the food. Two sandwiches and some kind of pastry cut in half.
“Works for me. I was just tired of calling you Miss Human or Miss Outsider. Anyway, I got us some food. It’s from the Tescu family bakery in town, so if you like it make sure to give ‘em some business in the future.”
Lily blinked and took a guess based on their earlier conversation.
“Sorry for calling attention to it, but you’re telling me that because they did something nice for you and you’re returning the favor by sending business their way?”
Avea grinned and handed her one of the two sandwiches. It was unleavened bread with a thick cut of meat in the middle. A cherry red sauce dripped down from the sides. Luckily, Lily was never really picky with food, so she decided it was better to just jump right into the culture. She took it with a nod of thanks.
“You’re gettin’ it. It’s not like they’d confirm whether I did something for them or not, but that’s not the point. Old lady Tescu handed me some spare bread just ‘cause she’s nice like that. So, I do somethin’ small and nice too. Is human culture so different?”
Lily took a bite. The red sauce was sweet to her surprise. The whole thing together tasted a little like a thanksgiving sandwich from earth. The kind people make with leftovers, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and turkey. It was quite good.
“Oh dip, what is this? It’s delicious! What kinda sauce is this?”
“Oh, that sauce is made from kindleberries. This time of year we get a lot of ‘em. They grow year round, but during the colder months the people who need to heat their houses end up with a lot of spare fruit since they’re really common. Don’t got ‘em where you live?”
“Nah, we don’t have anything like these berries. They taste a little like cranberries, but with a different more citrus texture? You guys got cranberries here?”
“Imported, but yeah.”
Lily nodded and took another bite.
“Humans have cultural norms like that too. At least where I’m from. It’s just less… rigid. For lack of a better word. More about trying to be a nice person in general than the give and take between specific interactions.”
“How’s that work out?”
She grimaced.
“The truth is, not well. But, that’s how the world is. I’m sure you’ve got selfish and awful people here too.”
“Yeah. That’s just people. Balaur, human, or any of the others. Doesn’t matter.”
“Er, others?”
Avea gave her a confused look.
“Yeah?”
Lily realized she’d made a mistake. She laughed and spouted out the quickest explanation she had.
“I– uh. Did I tell you why I’m here in the first place?”
“No?”
“It was a teleportation spell gone wrong. Showed up in the woods at night. Sunica found me and saved me from the cold, actually. But the spell messed with my head. I don’t remember everything properly. So, um, pardon me if I say anything weird.”
His look of confusion quickly turned to one of deep concern.
“A teleportation spell? That’s high level stuff! Are you sure you’re not someone important? Shit, it messed with your memory? I’ve never heard of that kind of side effect. We could get a [Mage] to look at you?”
“No! I mean. No. That’s not necessary. I’m fine now. I know enough magic to give myself a check up. The memories are gone, it’s not a persistent effect that can be dispelled. So, I just have to deal with not knowing. Other [Mages] might mess with my enchantments, and it’s a whole thing.”
He still looked worried. Lily was surprised by how easily lies came out of her mouth. She wasn’t sure if they were good lies or not, but for someone who’s mental model of themselves was that of a good girl she was a little shocked at the ease of it.
“Fuck. That’s– That’s horrible. Well, fine. I won’t blink twice if you ask me anything weird, Miss Flamewalker. But are you sure there aren’t people out there looking for you? A lost [Lady] ought to be big news…”
“No one is looking for me. The one thing I remember is that the teleportation spell was a last resort. Everyone else is gone. Only Star is left.”
“Well, that’s heavy as hell. Alright. Explains some things though. Have you considered heading up to Avezare?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Well, it’s just, the Nor family up there might take you in. At least if you can prove who you are at all. They could probably help track down Star and in general have a place more suited to a [Lady] for you to stay.”
Nobility? No thank you. Lily already had some opinions on the kind of people who’d be in charge of a society where everything of worth is designed to slowly travel to the top. It really was just like her world in some ways.
“I’m actually very happy with Sunica, so I’m not really interested in that. Besides, I have no way to prove who I am.”
“I mean, they’d probably just take a look at your classes.”
“...what?”
“They’d use something like the [Appraisal] spell and take a look at your classes, levels, and skills. I’m sure you’ve got something special. Even your rare [Enchanter] skill might cover it.”
Oh no. What? They could do that? She had no idea! They could look at her and see, what? [Student] level 1, [Perfect Handwriting], [Fragment] level 1, [Heretical Mana]. That… might not look good. Lily would need to do her best to avoid getting noticed by nobility. Oh shit, Avea was still talking. She’d stopped listening.
“--okay?”
“Huh? What? Sorry, I spaced. What were you saying?”
“I was asking if you’re okay. You started looking pale as shit.”
“Oh. Um. Yeah. I’m fine. No no. It was just the thought of meeting so many new people. I got a little scared.”
She laughed it off. He didn’t look entirely convinced. But, after a moment he popped the last bit of his sandwich into his mouth.
“Right. Well, don’t worry too much about it. I’m sure they’d take it slow.”
“Yeah, probably. But I think I’ll just stay with Sunica. I’m pretty happy there. I just hope I’m not being an undue burden…”
“Pfft. Yeah right. Sunica’s the happiest I’ve seen her in years, even with yesterday.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Yeah. I knew the second you two walked up to the gate together. She had a stupid huge grin on her face. Haven’t seen that on her in a long time.”
“Oh. Well. That’s… Hah. I’m glad. I like her too.”
“Anyway, I better get going. If I take too much longer on break I’m gonna get chewed out later. Feel free to use the room for up to a couple more hours if you need it. Otherwise I trust you can find your way back to Sunica’s place?”
“Oh. Oh yeah! I can. I’m fine. I’ll just finish up here. Um…”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks a lot, for everything.”
“Happy to help, Miss Flamewalker. Congrats on your level. Be seein’ you.”
With that, he left.