Rivka found herself slowly returning to consciousness and... Everything was fine! She felt detached from herself, floaty, stretching her wings only to then hear a terrified scream. Her wings? Wait. The side of her face was numb and she was sprawled atop matt patterned metal, a dragon. For that matter there was a tube fed into one edge of her muzzle, she forced her heavy eyes open.
She was in what increasingly felt like her 'true' form, fifty foot long, sprawled over the decking in the cargo hold she had become so familiar with over the past few weeks yet surrounded by an array of medical equipment as well as several people she assumed were doctors, or nurses, or something. A dull throb from the side of her head where, she assumed, she must have been shot.
She had also just bitten through the tube fed into her muzzle and was growling low as most of those around her expressed variously suppressed forms of abject terror. Well that was not good, she swallowed, throat dry, clearing her throat before speaking. “How long was I unconscious. What happened?”
The signs of abject terror abated before a short man in late middle age stepped forward, greying hair, dark skinned. Dully, with newly developed senses, she realized that he was a mage of reasonable strength. “Mistress dragon.” Not a term of address she had heard before. “I am enlighten senior doctor Estrada. You have been unconscious for just over seven hours while we operated on you but you will make a complete recovery both cosmetically and functionally. The maser blast would have decapitated a human but even without an Aegis your physiology prevented more than superficial damage and concussion. We were also able to salvage the brains of two of your assailants for interrogation after you... Bisected them.”
This was not the first thing Rivka had been thinking of, her tail lashed, a scrape of diamond hard scales against the deck behind her. “What about the other passengers and the damage to the ship?”
The doctor seemed rather surprised at this. “All of the casualties were limited to steerage passengers your ladyship and of course the management take all responsibility for the damage upon themselves. You were assaulted aboard our vessel! We have forwarded all information we have to House Sepra and hope that our care and assistance compensates even slightly for what you have experienced.” The man seemed conciliatory? But she had, she did not know, did she accidentally kill a dozen people, twenty? Fifty? Not to mention melting a swathe of the interior of a starship.
Even if it had been in the steerage section she must have caused damage worth millions as well as those who were killed and maimed. Who had they been? Immigrants, families, children? A low, frustrated growl, angry more with herself than others as she pulled in her wings to hug against her flanks.
The doctor's eyes widened, the others started to back away. They were terrified, of her! “Mistress dragon! Please.” He dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead to the deck as he bowed to her. “I beg that you speak to the Tribune Emeritus Koehler and do not judge us harshly. We are merely the ship's medical team assigned to labour in restoring you after your ordeal.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Tentatively Rivka reached out with her newfound senses toward the side of her face. She was sore, the side of her face definitely injured, but it did not feel too bad. Obviously she had been subject to magical healing as well as conventional and whilst she felt numb and detached, obviously drugged, she was certainly not at risk. She dry swallowed, a deep breath, then answered with.
“Attend to the other victims of the attack. I will recover without further assistance apart from perhaps a final check before departure.” Wait. “Also changes of dressings when I alter shape. I strongly suspect that some of those steerage passengers are in greater need for attention than me.”
Doctor (senior doctor) Estrada considered her for a moment before bowing again, then carefully rising to stand again. “You are most generous Mistress Dragon, I am sure that the charity of House Sepra will reflect well upon you.” Realisation was dawning now as Rivka's drugged mind considered things.
It was not something she had ever had to think about given her own background, her own father was a doctor! But of course a starliner would not provide more than first aid to steerage passengers, apparently she had just volunteered her sponsor noble house to pay for full medical attention for however many people she had injured. A moment of further consideration. Good.
If they wanted the advantage and benefit of her being a dragon and tied to their service then they could help salve her conscience as part of the price. Better she answer for that then whatever literally poor souls had the misfortune to be in compartments adjacent to the assault.
But she was so very sleepy, after most of the medical team departed she found herself in a half slumber sprawled across the decking.
A tap, another tap to her muzzle. She opened one golden eye to find the now rather familiar sight of Koehler looming over her, a hand resting upon her face. She blinked. The ex Imperial officer was looking rather serious and... Concerned? That was new.
“They were kidnappers.” Lissette then expounded. “Cut-outs were used and so we have no idea who hired them but their hope was that you were still fresh enough and easily enough intimidated that you would go along with them without a struggle. They were going to eject with you in an escape pod then be picked up by what I presume must have been some house's warship where you would be compelled into whoever's service. Instead you killed all of them. I would praise you for that but.”
Rivka winced internally, tensing a little, she could guess what was coming next. “You fucked up. If you had raised an aegis you would have been fine but you were shot in the head then lost control and killed eight people, maimed thirteen and injured another forty two. You gutted a fair portion of three decks. The only mitigating factor is that you did it in steerage and so nobody of consequence cares. I think the magnitude of your actions probably weighs heavily already upon you. But remember this and remember the consequences of your composure or lack of it. We exit jump in two days. I will still be tutoring you after you begin at the academy but you will be judged by altogether more antagonistic figures there and be infinitely more public.”
“I do not need lecturing. I understand, unlike a lot of people I care. I fucked up, people died.” She wanted to vomit at that, her gut churned. That... Unleashing of flame had ripped indiscriminately through families. No. She had to think about what she could do to prevent it ever happening again instead of dwelling upon the horrible reality. “I do not just accept that. I do not even like that I killed those people trying to grab me, but we have two more days. Continue to train me.”