Path proceeded cautiously passed the counter, to the side the woman working there had indicated. There was a hall. Everything smelled nice, herbal maybe? There was also a slight chemical undertone of soap. All in all, it reminded her a little of the bedding from the hotel, if maybe a bit more fragrant.

There were some women standing, running soap over their bodies. There was running water from fountains near them. There were baskets for clothes. Path found a corner that seemed to be out of the way, listening to all the water splashing down and all the chatter. I still do not feel used to this kind of ambiance with humans talking.

She felt that they were not paying attention to her. This made her feel that it was a little more tolerable to be here by herself as she sat down and started to pick at the laces of her boots the way she had watched Dainin doing it. I am getting used to these fingers, she thought with a huff as she flexed them.

She was all undressed and she cleaned her body. Then, since other women were walking through this room to another, she would walk through to the next one. There were straw mats on the floor everywhere she stepped, and they insulated her feet from the cold stone floor but had random little bristles from time to time that pricked into her skin. These are constantly sore, she kicked her foot a little as she felt one of those pricking sensations. The next room was big and open, there was a large pool in the middle that had stairs into it. She would wade into the water, feeling the heat definitely soothing against her soft body and particularly around her feet as she went to a corner and sat.

Everything was misty. When she sat in the water, minerals and some sort of softening effect tingled on her skin, she lifted her hand from the water, watching the slight way that it bunched up on her skin. I never tried warm water on my scales, but this has definitely been nice on this skin.

It felt a little odd to be anywhere without Dainin. She had come here because she needed time alone to focus on the artifact she was being forced to wear by his horrid Goddess. She rubbed at it there, on her thumb and it didn’t shift or move. She could feel the texture of the chain, the hardness of the gem on the top of her thumb, but it did not budge or move. I went through it before. There is a gap, she tried picking at the gem, to see if she could turn it on the chain at all, to see her skin beneath, but it did not move.

Dainin wasn’t at risk, but she could, when she focused on her magical senses now, feel that little gap, the tiniest space between the gem and her skin, so small she could not see it. A single failure point in quite the curse. The problem is that it is self-mending, and I cannot hold out against it very long, even with all my magic.

She sank down into the water up to her chin with a sigh. I am going to have to get used to this shape. There’s no way I can take it off, Dainin will not try to take it off, so unless some other member of Mysteera’s clergy can do it, I am going to have to make this work.

It was a depressing thought, but not as crushing as it had been a few days ago. She held her hand up out of the water, above her head, looking at the purple gem catching light slightly. My hoard and my way of life is gone, but it doesn’t feel as bad as it could have. She lowered her hand, touching the amethyst pendant she was still wearing. There was still a terrible ache in her heart, a homesickness for when things were simpler and she was only making sure people knew not to mess with her.

She thought about the giant hermit crab in Quiet Wharf. I have not seen anything like that, anything that has been unusually large. But despite herself, she began to wonder if it had been a consistent problem facing the people of the Corian, so they had wanted a dragon actually interested in protecting them?

For a moment she was angry, she told herself that it could have been her, if they had just asked her. They didn’t need to bring in that blue dragon thief. I hope my hoard poisons her, she thought angrily, sinking into the water up to her nose.

However, after a few more minutes, she knew in her heart she had done whatever she could to keep the humans away from her. I would not have allowed them to even ask before because I felt that they were more dangerous near me than if I kept them away. Dyran is good at trapping and hunting dragons.

She sat up a bit with a sigh. She felt humbled. She did not like it.

I had let Dainin bring me here with the thought that I wanted to try the hot water on scales. She breathed out, watching the steam from the water curl in response to it. Let’s just see what happens, if I can do it.

She closed her eyes as she imagined that little gap on her thumb, feeding magic through it, and working to free her true from beneath it. Now that she knew what to expect, she did not have to be quite so forceful, she focused on just pushing back the spell on her, trying to contain and just push back the way the forced shape clung to her.

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She turned into a dragon.

There was some screaming. Humans here were not ready for a dragon.

She ignored it. They could scream if they wanted to, she wasn’t going to hurt any of them.

She felt the heat washing against her scales, and she laid on her side, overflowing water everywhere, letting it tickle between them, This is much nicer than the sea, she thought, as she slowly turned on her back, clawed feet in the air. The minerals and warmth seep between the scales and makes everything feel soft.

There was not quite enough room for her to put out her wings, and she could hear some of the women screaming toward the front. Even though her magic was rapidly draining, she still felt relaxed. The aches and pains in her human limbs and feet were dulled. I am going to see how many seconds I can get away with, she thought, closing her eyes.

***

Dainin heard screaming, and then something something dragon. Path, he thought, his face dropping. No wonder she had gone quietly. Now that she could reach her true form, she was clearly looking for causes to use it. We are about to be thrown out of Arulteer or into prison.

He got out of the water, several men were rushing, and he got himself dressed, the screaming had continued, he knew she was not hurting anyone, but no one was likely prepared for a big damn scaley lizard to appear from nowhere in the bath with them.

He tried to think about what his best plays were to smooth the situation over as much as possible.

***

Path heard people coming. She was now on her other side letting the water lap at her scales, and she would sigh. I do not want to be exhausted. She would let go of the big dragon shape, feeling the curse envelop her body once more and make her human once again. She stood up in the water, feeling the weirdness of two legs as she waved her arms out in front of her to catch her balance again.

As she got up to try and just blend in with the other guests trying to flee the place, a female knight wearing the curled wind symbol of Aurell came in with a crossbow. “Where is the dragon?”

“Not here,” Path said quite honestly.

There was a moment of the knight staring at Path. “You’re the dragon?”

Path tilted her head, “What makes you say that?”

“You’re hair, and you being the only one here, and you have an odd aura in my eyes, like you are covered in black snow. Are you the dragon or not?”

A goddess’s blessing for a life of servitude, Path thought with pursed lips. I got my connection to the Gods with a curse for a single choice. She thought about denying it, and then she decided she was doing no such thing. “I am.”

“What are you doing here?” The woman gripped that crossbow harder, “What do you want?”

“A bath?” Path said looking around her.

“Come with me, no… no transforming.”

Path enjoyed a little, the awe and fear the woman seemed to display. Well, she did run in here to try and find out about a dragon all by herself. If my magic wasn’t so blinded by Mysteera, I wonder if I would see she is surprisingly strong? She had more appreciation for the bravery than she used to, and she would start to walk toward the woman, “I will not transform as long as you keep your eyes on me,” she grinned.

The woman clenched her teeth, “Walk in front of me then.”

Path probably should have been more afraid of the quivering weapon than she was. Her human body was soft, it was not the way it had been when she had dragon scales that a bolt like this probably could not penetrate. But, she remained calm. She had an impression that the woman did not want to actually pick a fight with her. A good plan, Path thought to her, I still have some energy left to make everyone miserable if I have to.

She felt a little smug. This was how she was used to dealing with people, and she liked the sense of power it gave her knowing that someone was a little terrified of her.

“Please put on a robe from the wall,” the woman said as they came into the room with the fountains.

Path would take a black one from the wall, and after looking at it for a moment, guessed how it should be put on. It felt awkward though, as it pressed to her neck, and she could not really reach behind her to pull the opening closed, so she took it off and tired the other way, tying off the front.

“Thank you,” the guard said in a somewhat bemused tone. “Let’s go, please.”

Path pointed to a bin, “Those are my usual clothes.”

“Let’s go,” the guard said again.

Path decided not to argue it. The stones in the city seemed smooth and she hated the shoes anyway.

However, as she came into the main area with the counter, she saw a red-faced Dainin glowering at her, and she felt a little less smug.

A little.