Fuck. I entered to find a raven haired mountain of a man lying limp on the floor. No not a man. Not entirely at least. A set of frost white wings, scales, and a long tail protruded from his back. So he’s one of the half-breeds. The half-breeds, or dragon kin as they were properly called, were human-dragon hybrids. The families who had traits like those were said to have been granted them by their goddess; an all powerful dragon of ice and snow said to inhabit a plain of eternal frigid mountains somewhere in the abyss. Many days of street corner preachers touting the “great word of Toskaraia” had allowed me to pick up on some knowledge of their beliefs. The second thing I noted about his room was the stench. It smelled of rot and death; the coppery scent of blood underscored the smell of nearly decomposing flesh. At first, I thought he was dead. Then he gave a small twitch. His head turned in the opposite direction from me. Well, at least he’s alive. Though for how long… Bracing myself, I stepped further into the room and called to the figure on the floor.

“Osiris, if you can hear me, I’m hear to treat you.”

All that elicited from the figure on the floor was a soft wheezing.

“I’ll take that as acknowledgement. Can you stand?”

He shook his head no slightly before beginning to heave again. Alright, that makes this a little more difficult. Looking around, I saw a set of doors on the back wall that must’ve led to the same balcony mine did. I didn’t know if it would work given how far the river was from this part of the castle, but if it could reach I could pull water from it to wash him off. He was covered in dried blood, dirt, and bile.

“Can you help me get you out to the balcony in a moment?”

He nodded and I moved to open the balcony doors. I was greeted with a cool breeze and I halted in my tracks. The blossom trees it’s been so long. The former queen had planted a thick ring of cherry blossom trees around the castle, giving the grounds a soft, sweet smell in the spring and summer. I would’ve thought they’d be removed but they were still there. Coming out of my revelry, I moved to the right side of the balcony, just outside my door. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the pond a short distance from the back gate. I had been out of practice for a long time, but all I had to do was will some of it to come to me and nothing. Damn, I didn’t think I’d be this rusty. A second and third attempt went unsuccessful, but on the fourth a rushing sensation filled the pit of my stomach as I felt the natural Elym, the force that ran through all people and natural things, as well as being what powered most kinds of magic, contained in the river reacting to my pull. A few seconds later and a splash of water hit my hands which were grasping the railing. A very cold splash of water. Shit. I’m going to need to heat this up or I’ll cause more damage than is already done. Moving back to the Clergymen’s room, I spoke to him once more.

“Osiris, is there a bucket somewhere around? Or a pot or something?”

“The kitchen.” He said, his voice coming out in a weak rasp.

Before my imprisonment, I had only been to the castle a handful of times, and none of those trips consisted of going to the kitchen. Stepping out of the room, I looked down the hall and saw a boy of no more than 13 moving in my direction.

“Excuse me, boy?”

“Yes Miss?” He said, turning to face me.

“I need a favor. Can you retrieve me a bucket or a pot or something from the kitchen. Bring it back here.”

“Of course Miss.”

Without another word, he headed off, walking back the way he came before seemingly disappearing into a solid wall. I was taken aback. I had forgotten the fake walls that lead to servants’ passages. Normally they functioned like regular walls, but if the right keyword was said, they’d become completely incorporeal. A design that had been set up by another Druid centuries ago. I leaned against one of the tables outside the room, tapping my foot nervously waiting for the servant to return. When he finally did, he brought with him a cauldron that was almost too big for him to carry.

“Will this do Miss?”

“Yes, I believe it will. Thank you…”

“Philip is my name Miss.”

“Thank you Philip.”

With that, I took the cauldron and went back into the room. The Clergymen had made it half-way to the balcony doors. I told him I’d help, but if he wants to do the xtra work I guess. Passing him, being careful to keep a tight grip on the cauldron as to not drop it on him, I went back to my spot on the balcony and set it next to me. Concentrating again, I willed water from the river to come to me and fill the cauldron. Again, the rushing feeling returned, bringing with it a joy I hadn’t felt since before my capture. Drawing on my power almost always had that effect on me. It was wholly rejuvenating to commune with nature. After the water had filled up the cauldron, I focused on it specifically. Another ability I hadn’t had much practice with, but understood the basic concept of, was heating and cooling various things. Just like moving it, I simply willed it to heat itself up. After a few seconds, I dipped a finger in to find I had made no progress. I tried again but found no success. What was it they had said? Something about exciting it… I had an idea but I had no clue if it would work. Instead of focusing on the water, I focused on the pot itself. Exerting my will, I tried to heat up the metal itself. It took a few minutes, but eventually the pot, and the water inside, had warmed enough to bathe the man. After the job was done, however, my head started to spin and I felt a bit nauseous.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

For the first several years of a Druid’s training, they were accompanied by an elemental. This had a few different functions, but the primary one was allowing the young Druid to have assistance performing magic as they learned. This allowed them to avoid burning themselves out, both figuratively and literally, as overworking one’s self while performing magic could sometimes have dire consequences. By the age of around fifteen or so, the elemental was no longer necessary, as the Druid usually understood their limits and had a handle on their abilities. However, my lack of practice had caused me to lose a grip on myself, causing me to exert much more Elym than was necessary for the task at hand.

“How… are you… doing… that?” Came a rasping voice from Osiris’ doorway.

Turning, I found he had crawled far enough to make it almost out onto the balcony. Picking up the cauldron, I moved over to him.

“Are you familiar with Druids?” I asked.

“Y… yes?” He almost sounded afraid, and he seemed to be trying to bring his wings in closer to him.

“I am one.” I said simply.

“H… have they sentenced me to death… then?”

“What do you mean?”

“They… they were monsters.” He whispered, seeming to remember something horrible.

He turned his head to the floor and… There… what’s that on his ears? Thick scar tissue marked the tops of his ears. It almost looked as if… as if something had been cut off.

“What happened to your ears?” I asked, the previous topic momentarily forgotten.

“None… of your concern.” He answered curtly.

“Oh…” I didn’t have anything else to say. What exactly do you say to that? Wishing to move on, I changed the topic. “I’m going to need you to hold still for me.”

He nodded, keeping his eyes to the ground. I set my focus back to the water, willing it to come out in a stream that washed the various bits of build up off of his body. He was not wearing a shirt, and I noticed some of the scales running down his spine, which appeared as though they’d normally be a snowy white, were a sickly grey color; dry and rotted.

“How exactly do I handle the scales?”

“What do… you mean… handle?”

“How do I get the dead ones off?”

I had never had to take care of one of the dragon kin before so I had no clue how I was supposed to remove them… or if I was supposed to at all.

“You… you pull… them off?”

Taking his word for it, I braced one hand on his muscled shoulder and used the other to pull the scales off. They detached easily enough and I set them aside, not really having a place to put them for the moment. That finished, I moved the stream to wash off his back. Looking lower, I realized things might be about to get a little awkward.

“Osiris, I’m going to need you to remove your pants.”

“Turn… around please.” He said sheepishly.

Without a word, I averted my eyes and waited for him to give the go ahead.

“Alright… you’re fine to… turn around.”

Turning back, I did my best to keep my eyes above his waste line as I directed the water to wash down his legs. Looking at his face, I saw he was blushing which caused me to blush in turn. Suddenly I found the door to his room rather interesting. An awkward silence stretched on between us as I finished cleaning his body and stood up. How am I going to dry him? After a minute of thinking, I went to retrieve a throw blanket that sat on his bed. Applying the same concept as I had with the pot, I willed it to heat up, catching it on fire and making myself dizzy again, thanks to pouring too much Elym into it.

“Please don’t burn my blankets… they’re made fore me.”

Moving quickly, I dunked the blanket in what water there was left, extinguishing the flames.

“It’s all right, the blanket is okay… if a little wet. You’ll have to give me a minute to dry it off.”

Surprisingly, Osiris began to laugh. The laughter was broken up by coughing fits. I didn’t know what he found so funny. Continuing my work, I willed the water to completely drain from the blanket, and went about reheating it. With much less intensity this time. Having warmed it, I turned back to the man and found him holding his hand over his mouth. Tossing the blanket overtop him, I picked up the cauldron and moved to the railing, preparing to refill it.

“What’s… your name?” He asked with a cough.

I paused for a moment, a bit surprised. Turning to face him, I cocked my head.

“Why would you like to know?”

“Just… curious.”

”It’s Liena,” I said after a short pause.

“T…thank you.”

”You’re welcome.”

Returning to my work, I brought the water to a boil and took it into his room. I had meant to clean the walls and floor, but found a small problem. There’s no way to drain the water. I didn’t know how it was going to go, but there was another spell I could perform that would let me mold the stone and wood, allowing me to make a channel it could flow through. Closing my eyes, I let myself sink into the wood beneath me, almost becoming one with it. It took a minute, but I was able to reshape it into a serviceable drain the lead off the edge of the balcony outside. That done, I set about cleaning the walls and floors. A half an hour later they were almost spotless, with only traces of those substances that had already sank into the material and couldn’t be removed. Going back out onto the balcony, I addressed Damien.

“Can you stand?”

“Not… without help.”

“That’s fine, though I’m not sure how much support I can provide. I just need you to get to your bed. Or better yet my sofa. Those fittings need to be thoroughly washed before you use them again.”

“I’ve… never sat or laid on a sofa.”

“You’re… joking right?”

“Should I… be?”

“No… it’s just… most people have sat on a sofa at some point.” I said, looking incredulous.

“Well… I’m… not most people.” He accompanied this pronouncement with an attempt to gesture toward his wings.

“Clearly not. Well, I guess you’re going to have a new experience today. Come on, get up.”

Using both the frame of the door, and my shoulder, he slowly stood up. He balanced most of his wait at first on the frame, which I was very thankful for as I wasn’t sure I’d be able to take the brunt of his weight without preparing first. Making our way at a crawling pace, we got back into my room. We stopped at the sofa, where Damien dropped into a seated position.

“Now, you stay there…” Not like he can really do anything else “…and I’m going to fetch some bread. You need to try and keep something down.”

With that I turned on my heel and left the room, running into Duana in the hall.

“Oh, perfect timing Miss Morrigan. I was asked to inform you that you are free to roam this floor, however you should be aware that the guards have been told to keep a close watch on you. If you should need any sort of assistance, send for me.”

“Thank you for the notice. Osiris is resting on my sofa, his room and person are clean but the fittings of his bed will need to be washed.”

“You would do well to address him with formality, Miss Morrigan. Respect is of highest importance here, and any infraction may result in… consequences.”

“Noted… on a different topic, could someone bring me some bread from the kitchen? I’d like to see if Master Osiris can hold anything down.””

“That can be arranged.”

”Thank you.”

With that, Duana turned and made her way down the hall.