I only had to wait for about 10 minutes before my entourage arrived. I had made myself comfortable right on the edge of the tunnel's opening, looking in the direction of the kobold village. When I saw a blue glow join the yellow of the path up towards this spot, I knew it wouldn't be long before I could get going.

I wasn't sure if I could believe my perception, but it felt like these past few days, the few kobolds Red tended to bring with him to my lessons glowed with differing brightnesses, at least among those that did glow. I couldn't remember any of these differences among any of the kobolds I had seen before coming here.

As the kobold arrived, I had that same feeling that this one glowed just a bit more brightly than Red, but without him here to compare I couldn't be sure.

The kobold, a dark orange color in the yellow light, bowed deeply and greeted me with what I had come to know as the customary greeting for a dragon. I could only understand some of its more basic words, but I did know that the full greeting was meant to humble the speaker and praise the dragon.

A bit uncomfortable from the reverence, I nodded my acceptance, prompting him to introduce himself. The less formal greeting was easier to understand, though the meaning of his name was beyond me. I still committed the sound to memory, hoping I could remember them without an associated meaning. I should think of some sort of notation so I can keep track of that in the list. A task for another time, though. I want to get moving again.

I had already noticed on my way up the path that my coordination of my legs had suffered since I first arrived here. I had stumbled twice, and nearly fallen on my face again once. So, when I started moving in the direction of the illusory wall, I did so slowly and deliberately, getting back into the rhythm of walking.

The kobold, I'd call him Dark until I could figure out the meaning of his name, followed me a few steps back. I was undecided on whether I wanted to try small talk or not, so I simply concentrated on my legs. 1 2 - 3 4 - 1 2 - 3 4. The rhythm was easy to get back into, at least.

After a few minutes of walking, we arrived back at the magical wall that hid this tunnel from the outside. While it might have looked realistic from the other side, from this side it looked nothing like the wall of a cavern. Then there was still the fact that to me, it looked like someone had put up a wall of blue LEDs and arranged them into the shape of a circular wall-section.

“Wait.” Dark whispered just as I was about to go through the wall. I turned around, just to see him disappear. Ignoring the fact that he still glowed in mana. “Safe.” he whispered from the other side, just a bit louder than the command to wait.

The area outside was the same I had last seen nearly two weeks ago. The exact arrangement and pattern of moss might have changed a bit, but otherwise it was as I remembered. I licked the air, and for the first time in what felt like forever, the area wasn't dominated by the smell of kobolds.

It wasn't like kobolds smelled bad, but it does get somewhat grating after a while. I couldn't explain why, though, so I just enjoyed the change. No, the smell that seemed to be most powerful was that of the glowing moss, but that was easily ignored. There were two smells I couldn't identify, coming from the direction I had first found the kobolds.

They, just like the smell of the giant goat, smelled just a tiny bit like the vegetation of the watering hole I had found on my first day. I almost made the decision to go the other way, thinking there would be nothing there, then remembered the lion creature that I hadn't been able to smell.

I tried to see any signs that there might be something hiding in that direction, but couldn't see anything past the first bend in the tunnel, let alone any tracks I could attribute to anything. “Where safe?”

Dark was a bit surprised at being addressed, but quickly answered “There no ~safe place ~here~.” There were more sounds than needed to make up that message, so he had probably given it some detail that flew completely over my head.

Well, that's not very useful. Also likely true, though. While I had been walking around for a long time back then without seeing anything else, that was probably just luck or some sort of period of lesser activity. I primarily wanted to get more familiar with my wings, so I figured I didn't need to go far for now.

I decided to just go to the next steepest section of the tunnel within a few minute's walk distance. Once there, I positioned myself at the top, spread my wings, and started flapping.

It felt awkward with Dark right next to me, watching me fumble and stumble on occasion, and I wasn't even making any sustainable lift. Every time I thought I was about to actually lift off, my wings hit the ground. OK, this doesn't work. Good to know. Next up, flapping my wings while gliding.

There was a height difference of maybe 6 meters between the top of my little rise in the tunnel, and where that rise began. I do wonder what sort of process could have made such winding tunnels. As far as I know, magma tunnels are pretty much dead straight. And a lot less uneven. With the exception of the floor, which was likely worn down from all sorts of creatures walking across is for who knows how long, the walls and ceiling looked like they were shaped by blunt force.

Let's not grind myself against that, shall we? I slowly began running down the slope, with wings still extended. After a very short time, my feet left the ground and I was gliding. I angled myself so I wouldn't touch the ceiling, then did the first confident flap while in the air.

And promptly fell to the ground, tumbling head over heel down the rest of the slope.

Dark came running while I picked myself off the ground again. Okay, next time, I'll not go so high before trying this again. I quickly recovered from the little bit of disorientation, then moved back up the tunnel. This time, however, I only went up 2 meters, rather than the full 6.

It took me 11 more tries, before I didn't completely lose it after the first flap. Then another 5 until I could flap twice in quick succession and not fall. I was satisfied with that number for now, and just did that for a while. I'd go up the slope, begin my glide, then flap my wings twice. After that, I'd get back into a stable glide, and repeat until I hit the ground.

I was positively ecstatic the first time an attempt hadn't resulted in me kissing the very rough floor. Ohh, I'm making progress now. I just know it, a few hours of this exercise, and I'll be able to really fly. Well, fly in a straight line, that is. Then again, how difficult could it be to extrapolate to turning?

I was just about to do another lap when Dark came running. “Follow!” And ran right past me, away from the direction of the kobold lair. While I did take the advice of my little kobold friend, I tried to taste the air for any smell I could identify. I only got the same smells I had been able to pick up since we came out through the illusory wall, but Dark must have seen something that had him spooked.

The little guy had been running back and forth in both directions of the tunnel, likely to watch out for anything that would inevitably come upon us. I didn't know why he didn't just make us invisible, like Red had said he could, but I hardly had the words to ask him, let alone while we were running away from something.

I might have felt inadequate about my running speed before, but Dark was somewhat slower than me. This, at least, meant I was able to close the distance between us he had created when he ran past.

I could have tried to pick him up when we crested the next rise and glided for some time, but I didn't trust my air control enough to carry a passenger as well.

It was a moot point anyway, as Dark had rather suddenly stopped. “Wait!” We were both heaving for breath a bit, having just run at his top speed for 2 minutes, but that didn't seem to be his problem. He was gesturing me to come closer to the side of the tunnel, where there was some of the rock missing.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“Hide.” At my confused expression, he repeated the word with a lot more force, then basically tried to shove me in the direction of the crevice. While he was a lot lighter than me, he did get me to stumble closer a bit.

I tried to make myself as small as I could to fit in the void, but wasn't quite able to. Yeah, if this is supposed to be a hiding spot from anything that can see even remotely well in this environment, I'm fucked. Dark seemed to disagree, because he actually nodded to himself in obvious satisfaction, then shoved himself under my wings. This, of course, made me very uncomfortable at the almost intimate closeness of our bodies. Even more so, when I realized neither of us had any clothes on.

I hope dragons can't blush. I really, really hope they can't. I was so preoccupied by my own embarrassment, that it took me a minute to realize the blue glow around us was getting brighter. Panicked, I looked in the direction whatever Dark had seen would be coming from, but saw nothing.

When I looked at just outside our heap of scales and legs, however, I got an even bigger surprise. There, forming from what I could only describe as glowing shadow, as contradictory as that seems, were swirls, lines and shapes, and countless combinations of the three.

I made an involuntary sound almost akin to a purr, though somehow harsh-sounding. Is this magic? It must be. Is this going to be what they use to make themselves invisible? How does this work, anyway? I tried to make any sense whatsoever of the symbols forming seemingly from nothing, but it might as well have been gibberish.

Dark took almost one and a half minutes to finish his thing, and not one second too soon, either, because right when he released a breath of exhaustion, something came into view.

It wasn't, as I had expected, the lion-thing from two weeks ago, but instead a snake-like creature, a meter tall and wide, filling the width of the 4 meter tunnel nearly completely. I could feel that I wasn't the only one that tensed up at the sight, half expecting the thing to notice us once it accidentally slithered across us.

It was a very, very tense half a minute before it was past us, coming as close as a centimeter to my hide on a few occasions. My heart was positively hammering in my chest as the creature retreated in the opposite direction, and I could feel Dark wasn't any better off. That was entirely too close for my liking. I'm just glad it didn't try to smell the air near us, or it would have gotten a nice afternoon snack.

A minute after it had left my sight, I leaned down to Dark, intending to thank him for his literally life-saving magic. However, I become very conscious of our position once again, when I noticed that I had been holding him tightly to my side with my wing. I didn't know when I had started doing that, but he didn't seem to mind, seeing as he was unconscious.Before I could consider why, the circle of runes around us faded, losing all their luminosity and shape.

While Dark's heart was still beating rather quickly, the beats seemed to be slowly getting weaker. His breathing also became shallow, as if he had trouble breathing. Shit, what's going on?

With an edge of panic rising, I hauled Dark up and out of the little hole we were in, and examined him more closely. As I did, I noticed that the blue glow of his mana had diminished to almost nothing. On top of that, his face seemed pained. I wasn't any sort of doctor, but I was certain there was a connection there. Using too much magic must be bad and that was exactly what Dark had done, whatever it was exactly that he had done.

He was obviously still alive, at least for the moment, but I didn't know if that might change without immediate help. Either way, I didn't know anything that might help him in this situation. I frantically ran through my options, limited though they were.

The moss has mana right? And they collect the stuff! But no, what if it needs to be processed before consumption? I shuddered at the thought of poisoning him, instead of helping him.

Get help? ... No, that would take too long! I couldn't be sure how long I could leave Dark here, alone, where any wondering monster could just snatch him up. 

His glow, dim as it was, didn't diminish further while I contemplated, but his vitals were a different story.

Maybe if I could carry him? My legs were still burning from my previous sprint, but I thought I could manage that. I nodded to myself and started to move him onto my back.

I had some trouble getting him into a position in which I could carry him, but eventually got there. I moved as quickly as my straining legs could carry us, but the kobold was heavier than I had thought. While the journey back to the kobolds' lair was only about twice as long as the way here, it seemed almost endless. Constant thoughts of Please, hold on a little longer. and strings of ever more elaborate curses ran through my head, only interrupted by having to readjust Dark on my back. He was heavy and somewhat bulky, so I kept stumbling. 

With every step I took, Dark's heart seemed to become weaker, his breath just a bit shorter, and my legs were burning that little bit more. By the time I got to the illusory wall, I thought I was about to collapse. I pushed myself on, regardless, glad that this tunnel was smoother than the rest. 

When I came to the canyon I had started calling my home, I was finally at my limit. My legs trembled, my mind filled with explatives I wanted to shout at the pain in my legs and my stupid decision to come out here, and collapsed at the very top of the path leading towards Dark's salvation. At least I told myself that. But alas, exhausted as I was, I could barely summon the energy to stand up, let alone walk on more step. I took one more sorrowful look at my weakening passenger, and slumped down. I failed. I'm so stupid! What was I even thinking? How could I hope to protect myself from such monsters? Despair gripping my heart, I tried to call out for help to the kobolds over in the village, but it only came out as a weak keening sound. I couldn't even esacpe from anything if it came to that. My stamina is shit, I can barely glide, let alone fly and- I remembered my wings, my mood lifting ever so slightly. It's risky, but i could glide down.

If I stay up here, he'll die anyway. With a new resolve in my mind, I gathered the last scraps of energy together and lifted us up.  Please don't fail me now.

I didn't trust myself to glide out over the gaping chasm, so I forced myself over to the path, flapping my wings to ease the burden of walking. The path was just about wide enough for myself with my wings streched out, so I threw myself forward with the last vestiges of power in my legs. Gliding was a lot faster than walking, maybe a bit too fast, but I ignored my fears in that moment.

Just like during my walk back, I felt Dark slide to one side, just as we got to the bottom of the canyon. I tried to readjust him, but that unbalanced my flight and forced me to flap my wings to regain control.

I managed it for a second, but when he started to slide again, this time in the other direction, I overcorrected. We were still a ways away from the village proper, but I thought the kobolds had noticed us. My flightpath had shifted to one side, pointing us straight at a wall. There wasn't enough time to correct it again, without definitely losing my passenger. We were still at least 20 meters in the air, so I grit my teeth and braced for impact. My left wing clipped the wall first, shortly followed by my shoulder, at which point we started spinning. Thankfully, Dark stayed on until we hit the ground, his fall cushioned by my body. We separated on impact, only coming to a stop some 10 meters later.

Fuck me, that was my hardest landing yet. Despite my once again aching left wing, I forced myself up to look for Dark. He had come to rest a few meters away from me, looking a bit worse than I likely did. He had a few bloody cuts, and I didn't think that his tail should not have been bent that way.

Getting up was managable, now that I didn't have Dark on my back any more. I noticed that my front right claw also hurt like a bitch when I stepped on it, but ignored the pain as I limped my way closer to Dark, who had already been surrounded by other kobolds. One of these set off running, likely to get someone who could help.

I could see him still breathing, if barely, so I hoped thatwe had made it in time to save him. It seemingly wasn't until I drew closer to the group that they noticed me for the first time. Instead of doing what I had expected them to, that being also seeing if they could help me, they arrayed themselves between me and Dark. I could see in their bearing that they weren't happy. I saved him, though! I didn't know what else to do!

I took a step back at their hostile postures, and as the ground and walls around started glowing and seperated into small glowing stones, I started to fear for my life. Some of the stones shot towards me. The first few must have been warning shots, because they only hit the ground around me, but their intention was clear; I need to leave.

Horrified that my fear of nearly two weeks ago had come true, I backed up until they let up with the stones, trying to avoid any that were meant to hit me directly. I shielded myself against all I couldn't dodge with my good wing, and turned around when I judged the distance great enough. My legs felt like lead weights as I ran, my front right claw causing me to stuble every few steps as the pain flashed up my leg.

I didn't go up the path, as out there lay certain death in my current condition and I wouldn't be able to fly or glide back to my alcove right now. Instead, I ran along the chasm until I couldn't feel my legs at all. When I stumbled and landed in a heap, I had just enough energy left to curl up into a ball and contemplate what I had done to deserve such a difficult life.

Who knew dragon tears were salty as well?