Athyra POV

The journey back to White Rapids was full of spite and hateful glares. Shivers of ice crawled under my scales each time one of the adventurers looked at me funny. It was driving me mad, but my magic was bound to this humanoid form that the mysterious male wizard trapped me in. I didn’t know Myrra had such a skilled wizard in her guild. Being stuck in this form was worse than going on that disaster date with the elf boy.

We have walked for six days straight. I thought we would have been there by now, but I thought wrong. Every tree on this trail looked the same. I missed flying through the sky and the wind under my wings. Hell, I missed the carriage Eriz and I used to travel to White Rapids and Pine Row. I would take the smell of those brainless horses over my sore legs any day. Myrra had kept us going at a fast pace, trying to beat the Gleaca Council back to her town.

My emotions were a mess like that dumbass wolf. The little monkey freed me from the endless rage when she allowed me to stab her. Once the rage left my system, I truly understood the curse of a dragon’s rage. It was painful for everyone. I killed so many adventurers when they tried to face me in battle. The only thing that kept me remotely grounded was Eriz. He had defied nature and befriended me. Even now, he was by my side although Myrra had him acting as my jailer.

The town was coming into view as we followed the winding river north. It felt familiar and foreign at the same time. Part of me wanted to redecorate the place in ice, however, Eriz’s warm hand on mine kept me from trying. I was a dragon with a friend. It was merely unheard of back home. Dragons were considered solitary creatures by nature. Eriz annoyingly found his way into my heart as someone I care about. Had that been part of Talan’s plan? No. Impossible. That perverted elf wouldn’t have been that clever. Besides, if the council tries to burn me, I plan to take Talan down with me.

“Feeling nervous?” Eriz whispered. He knew I wouldn’t divulge my true thoughts out loud.

“Nervous? No. The only nervous person is that perverted scum.” I sneered.

Eriz looked confused for a moment. “You mean Master Talan?”

I nodded. The elf will burn once I reveal all I know about him… I hope I get to watch it happen. The most satisfying bit will be when the obsidian cuff falls off Eriz’s wrist. Eriz will be free by the time I am done talking to the council, and that was enough to leave a smile on my face.

The town was the same as when we left. Colorful buildings and bustling streets surrounded us as we walked. It felt like I was a trophy being paraded through the streets for the glory of the White Rapids Guild. Myrra, the Guildmaster of the White Rapids Guild, led the party into the guild hall. My eyes were glued to my back as I passed people in shackles. Myrra decided to cut the party short in the guild hall by taking Eriz and me into her office. Not much in her office had changed in the last two months since I had been in here. Myrra sent everyone else away and closed the door behind us.

“I think six days of unwanted glares is enough for anyone, even a criminal.” She muttered as the doors thudded closed. “Are you ready to talk, Athyra?”

“Talk? Talk about what? You caught me. End of story.” I hissed at her.

Eriz frowned. He didn’t like how I talked to Myrra, but he wasn’t the one about to be on trial. There wasn’t much to say, and I didn’t want to repeat myself. I am not sure Eriz would understand that if I explained it to him. He pulled on my shackles to bring them over to Myrra’s couch. Gesturing for me to sit, I gave in and rested on the couch. Myrra watched as I cautiously made myself comfortable on the edge of the couch.

“Athyra, you should talk to Myrra. She can help you plead your case to the council,” His eyes were pleading with me to participate in this conversation.

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Ugh. Who knew caring for someone meant they would become a weakness of yours? Eriz had certainly become mine. I knew he didn’t want me to be burned for my crimes, so he would try to keep that from happening if at all possible. I wasn’t sure I should attempt to save myself because I did kill a lot of adventurers in my rage. I destroyed part of Pine Row and injured that ass of an elf. Hell, I demolished part of the Evergreen Forest chasing the red wolf and white monkey.

“There’s not much to say, Eriz. You saw everything. I destroyed part of a town, injured and killed people, and turned part of a forest into my icy playground.” The bitterness in my voice was louder than I had intended it to be.

“Yes, but they want to know why. What caused you to rampage, Athyra?” Myrra cut in as she sat on the chair across from me. “The motivation for such destruction must have been serious.”

I felt my emotions tumbling just beneath the surface of my scales. All the bindings on my magic were keeping everything in, which caused me to scream in frustration. “Why? That’s what you want to know. Fine.”

Myrra’s eyes grew big as I stood in front of her. “Tell me.”

“I arrived by ship in Creekmont. A greasy rich asshole scooped me up to do a job for a nasty perverted dark elf who was licking his wounds after your adventurers killed his assets. He became obsessed with getting some magic items your adventurers had. He sent me after them.” I answered sternly. “After that, I met Eriz, the single good thing on this heaven-forsaken continent, I attempted to free Eriz and get paid legally. I was trying to be different from normal dragons and earn my fortune. Chaos started as soon as we arrived here. It took weeks, but I found the adventurers in question. I followed the trail to Pine Row.”

My head sunk into my hands for a moment as I relived my date with Katar. “Everything that I had held back exploded when Katar tried to take advantage of me. I ripped his arm off. I killed those who attacked me. I squished buildings with my dragon form unnecessarily. The monkey hit Eriz with an arrow causing a big battle between me and that hybrid wolf. Rage consumed me after that.”

Eriz came and rubbed my shoulders. It was an unnecessary touch, but I understood his intention to comfort me. There wasn’t anything he could do to change my situation or the comfort he could bring me. This was what it is to have a friend. A foreign concept to someone like me.

“See, I didn’t know about Katar taking advantage of you, the horrible people who employed you, or the monkey injuring Eriz,” Myrra responded.

Eriz pulled me back toward the couch and sat me back down. He settled next to me, still trying to soothe me with his warm touch. I endured the light touch of his fingers on my back because I wanted to feel soothed by it. My body hated it when others touched me. One of the perks of being an ice dragon.

“It doesn’t change anything.” I sighed.

Myrra gently reached across to touch my knee as comfort, but it wasn’t comforting at all. “All of this may have been an error on my part. If I had just confronted you both before. I knew you broke into my office after you left for Pine Row. I had a feeling that something was off about you two. Kaya sent word a week ago that her son, Katar, was the frost dragon’s victim. Katar had lost an arm in the struggle with you, but your ice kept Katar from bleeding out after ripping his arm from his body. Katar will live, but such an act from a dragon is a crime. The Gleaca Council has called for your capture to exile you for your crime. Naturally, that means sending guild members to capture you for the council, but I didn’t want others involved if I could help it. Hence why I went after you myself with the binding spell that my friend made.”

Did she just say this was her fault? “Hey, I am the one who made the decisions, not you.”

“Yes, but you didn’t have another way. No one gave you another option. I could have given you a way out.”

“I am not your responsibility, Myrra,” I argued.

“You became my responsibility when you joined my guild.” She fired back.

“I am an adult, Myrra!”

“Ha. Eighteen may be the legal age of an adult, but your decision-making skills are terrible. You need help.” She challenged me.

I didn’t like this. Myrra was acting like I was someone she cared for, but I didn’t ask for this. Hell, I was still adapting to having Eriz at my side. Having Myrra there too felt overwhelming. Suddenly, my eyes betrayed me, letting tears slip out. Myrra forced a hug on me. Her arms were tightly wrapped around me like a constricting snake. She kept it brief and released me from her hold. What was wrong with this woman?

A knock on the door ended the uncomfortable moment as Myrra called out, “Come in.”

A male elf and a female elf walked in. Both of them looked familiar to me. I had seen them before somewhere… Were they members of the guild? I guess they were. Why else would they be here? Still, they both looked at me with such malice like I kicked their puppy or something. The image of Katar flashed through my mind. Both the elves looked like Katar…

“Kaya, Elias, what brings you to my office?” Myrra asked.

“Her,” Kaya responded by pointing at me.

Shit. That’s Katar’s mom.