Caldor let his head fall back against the tree he was leaning on, drumming his fingers against the leather of the spellbook in his lap. There was no one around aside from him, but he couldn't help but keep checking his surroundings over and over.

It was ridiculous because even if a dragon found him and wanted to attack, they weren't exactly stealthy, so he would know immediately even without looking, and yet he could barely stand still, anxious and fidgety. Cal really hoped Idri would be done soon because he wasn't sure how long he would be able to just wait here.

Caldor sighed. He also hoped that Idri was all right. From the sound of it, this Zarleth person wasn't very friendly in general. He was still kind of annoyed that Idri had intentionally kept the fact that he was meeting another dragon from him, and Cal would force him to talk to him about that later, but most of his annoyance had fizzled out by now, and all he had left was a mild sense of worry and anxiousness.

Caldor flinched at a soft rustle behind him. He bolted upright and whipped around, gripping the tree as he peeked over its edge. And then he sighed. There was a red squirrel, searching through fallen leaves. Of course it was just a squirrel.

Cal shook his head at his reaction as he watched the squirrel run up a tree and disappear among the leafy branches. He was getting paranoid, and it had only been a moment since he and Idri had separated.

Shaking his head again, this time to clear it, he moved away from the tree he'd been hiding behind and started to aimlessly wander the woods. It was the opposite of relaxing as he kept looking around, waiting to be attacked at any moment, but it was still more tolerable than not doing anything at all.

It made him wonder if he would feel better waiting in the field next to the forest after all, but Idri had probably been right. Caldor was less of a target surrounded by all these trees, even if the way they limited his field of vision was putting him on edge.

He continued wandering around, making sure to turn around every once in a while to avoid going too far away from where he had been waiting originally. He knew that Idri could probably smell him and track him down, or however that worked, but he didn't need to make it harder for the dragon.

Caldor only stopped once he came across a few large, brown mushrooms. Normally he wouldn't pay any attention to them, but Idri seemed to like to cook, didn't he? Perhaps he'd appreciate some variety. Cal certainly would after several days of only eating unseasoned meat. But the problem was that he had no idea which mushrooms were edible, as that wasn't exactly something he'd had to worry about back in Redreach. The only mushrooms he'd gotten there were acquired from merchants, and those wouldn't gain much from poisoning their customers.

But Idri had all those books—maybe he would know. And besides, even if the dragon didn't, he could heal poisoning with his magic, right?

Deciding that it might be worth a discussion at least, Caldor reached for the mushrooms so he could pull them out of the ground, but he stopped as his eyes caught the glint of something under the thick grass that grew close to the mushrooms.

Caldor pulled it out of the way, frowning down at the small, shiny pebble that was now uncovered. He picked it up, running his thumb over the very smooth surface as he got up, taking in the various shades of red and brown it had to offer. Despite its relatively pretty appearance, Caldor knew very well this was just a common rock, and that it was worth nothing. And yet he found himself studying it further and not throwing it away.

And he realized why just a few seconds later, as he smiled to himself. The color reminded him of Idri's left eye. That was likely just his fondness for the dragon talking, not that he cared about that. But he felt silly at the idea of giving the pebble to Idri, who had literal piles of riches back at his fort. Caldor did want to give Idri something in general to show the dragon he truly liked him, and he did suspect that dragons liked shiny things, but this was probably a bad first gift.

He pocketed the stone as he tried to think of something else. Did dragons like flowers? Cal felt like he could manage to find some around here, even if they would be relatively plain.

He quickly abandoned that thought, though, when he heard a thud somewhere behind him, followed by the sound of snapping branches. Caldor turned around to see what the source of the noises was, only to freeze up and gape at the sight in front of him.

Some forty feet away from him, there was a red dragon. But it looked different. It still had the usual wings, claws, horns, and scales, but it stood on two legs like a human, at least eight feet tall by Cal's guess. He'd never heard of anything like this, let alone seen it. What was this thing?

His eyes widening as he saw the dragon sniff the air, and he dove for cover, hiding behind the nearest tree as his heart raced against the spellbook he was clutching to his chest. Cal had no idea how much help hiding would be against a creature that could find him by smell alone, but he was afraid of straight-up running away. Staying quiet and slowly putting distance between them was his best bet.

He tried to hold his breath as he, from behind the tree trunk, watched the creature turn its head from one side to the other before finally turning away and walking deeper into the forest, away from Caldor's hiding place.

Cal let out a heavy sigh, leaning onto the tree, but he only gave himself a second to appreciate that he was still alive before moving away. He needed to get going before that dragon thing came back and either find Idri or better cover.

Caldor forced himself not to run as he made his way deeper into the forest, grimacing at every crunch the dry leaves beneath his boots made. It was impossible to avoid them since they were everywhere, and if he started running, it would only get louder.

He came to a halt when he noticed an old, broad tree, surrounded by smaller ones and ferns. Given how flat this entire forest had been so far, this was probably the best Cal could find right now.

But before he could even make it to the tree, a deep voice spoke behind him. "What do you want here, human?"

Caldor almost yelped as he jumped in surprise, scrambling to look at the owner of the voice. His mouth went dry as he locked eyes with a pair of yellow, piercing ones high above him, and instinctively Cal backed off until his back hit the tree he had wanted to hide behind.

Clearly it was a bit too late for that.

"I smell a dragon on you," the creature continued, narrowing its eyes and flaring its nostrils. Caldor swallowed. He would have taken another step back if he had anywhere to go.

Could he even try talking himself out of this? But he supposed thinking about that was pointless, since it was the only thing he could try to avoid dying.

"Oh, r-really? It must be the new s-soap I've been using," Caldor joked. Gods, he hated how much his voice shook. In fact, his entire body was shaking, but he couldn't help it—the creature staring him down was likely going to kill him soon, and possibly eat him.

And the way it was now showing off its long, sharp fangs wasn't helping. Was that a grin or a grimace? Either way, it was horrifying.

"Mortals are always so amusing," the dragon said. Assuming that it actually was a dragon. Caldor knew that right now this didn't matter at all, but his terrified brain seemed to find it difficult to get its priorities straight.

He flinched as the creature took a few steps forward, which made the experience even more terrifying. Cal had his hands clamped around the spellbook so tightly it almost hurt. "Did a dragon bring you here?"

Caldor cleared his throat. He had no frame of reference for how much information he could divulge. Would Idri get in trouble if Cal said the truth? Idri had gone here to meet with that dragon lady, so obviously she would have to know he was here, but the dragon threatening Caldor with its very presence was clearly not her because its voice sounded male.

So referring to him as an it was probably not a good idea if Cal wanted to avoid offending the creature.

"No, I came here on my own," Caldor lied, finally able to calm his voice enough to sound halfway convincing. "To, uh...gather mushrooms."

The dragon stepped back a bit, shaking his head in what looked like disappointment. "Your lying is pathetic."

It was such an unexpected reply for Caldor that for an instant all of his fear left his body. "I'm not lying."

"Yes, you are," the dragon shot back, glaring. "You come here with the scent of a dragon on you, and you expect me to believe you are not a spy?"

Caldor blinked, now incredibly confused. He definitely didn't have enough context because he didn't at all understand what those two things had to do with each other. He could imagine a person like Augerill sending someone to spy on dragons, but the spy wouldn't smell like a dragon as a result, so this made no sense.

"A spy for who?"

The dragon glared, and immediately Caldor was terrified once more. Right, he was still very much in danger of being killed. But if this creature was only worried about spies, maybe Cal could convince him not to kill him yet.

"Look, I'm not here to spy on anyone," he continued, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. Naturally, the dragon just narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him, unconvinced. "I came here with Idri. He needed to get some ingredient from someone named Zarleth."

"Idri?" the dragon repeated with a tone that was both confused and mocking. Some very stupid part of Caldor wanted to take offense at that because Idri, both the person and the nickname, was lovely, but thankfully he managed to say nothing about it.

"Idriseth," Cal clarified. The dragon's full name felt almost wrong to say at this point. It was too formal and impersonal, but then again, that was perfect for this conversation.

He grimaced as the dragon staring at him glared harder. There was a tense moment of silence before the creature hummed and spoke. "That is far too specific. I believe you."

Cal blinked. This dragon was so hard to predict. But before he could relax, the dragon grabbed him, lifting him up by his shirt and slamming his back in the tree. Gasping in pain, the spellbook flew out of Caldor's hand. He grabbed at the dragon's wrists, trying to get free, but he knew it was hopeless. The dragon was much stronger than him.

"I still have to kill you, however. I cannot allow a human to know where Zarleth's lair is."

Caldor swallowed, his heart beating in his ears. This was very, very bad. "W-wait! You don't have to. I don't know where her lair is."

"You know enough."

The dragon grabbed Caldor by his neck instead, raising his other claw to maul him. The grip on Cal's neck was so tight that he couldn't even feel properly terrified as he gasped for air.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

He desperately grabbed at the claw, trying to somehow wrench it away, but the dragon's scaly fingers didn't even budge as black spots started to dance in Caldor's vision.

But then suddenly there was a loud, angry cry. A second later he was falling forward as the dragon let go abruptly, hitting the ground with a thud. Caldor gasped and coughed, trying desperately to pull himself to his feet and run while he still could, but he was too dizzy to move.

Cal flinched when he felt a hand grasp his shoulder, expecting it to be the dragon again, but no, there were no claws. This was a human hand.

He shook his head, finally regaining enough clarity to notice that Idri was now crouched next to him protectively and glaring fiercely at the red dragon, who was glaring back.

Idri had great timing, Cal thought to himself as he tried to clear his aching throat, managing to stand up. Idri didn't put his hand away as he stood up with him, though, which was probably the only reason Caldor felt even a little safe in this situation.

"Why did you bring your pet human here, Idriseth?" the red dragon asked, glaring directly at Caldor, who glared back at the offensive term he had been called. The creature was keeping his distance and wasn't trying to kill Cal, though, which probably meant that Idri was stronger, even though it was a little ridiculous to think that when Idri looked this human.

"That is none of your business," Idri snapped, pulling Caldor closer to him while still keeping eye contact with the other dragon. Assuming they got out of this alive, Cal needed to ask Idri why that dragon looked like this and in general ask about what was happening right now because he was completely lost.

But as Cal looked away from Idri, and back to the red dragon, he noticed the creature was staring in the direction of his neck, shock in its large eyes. Caldor frowned, touching his throat on instinct, but as he found nothing unusual and his fingers slid further, he quickly realized what the dragon was looking at when he brushed the mating scar Idri had given him.

The scar stung on touch, still too fresh to have fully healed, but Caldor barely felt it as his stomach knotted with dread. The look the red dragon was giving him now was of pure disgust and outrage, and the fact that he hadn't expressed such dramatic emotion even while actively trying to kill Cal only made it worse. Caldor immediately covered the mark up, pulling his tunic over it, but it was too late.

"Tell me you did not do this," the dragon told Idriseth, his voice deathly calm. But there was both fury and horror right under the surface.

Idri just glared back, saying nothing. Not like he had to­­—the silence more than spoke for itself. The other dragon shook his head in what looked like disbelief, flaring his nostrils and showing off his sharp teeth in a snarl.

"I must notify the clan leaders about this," he said before spreading his huge wings and flying up, the sound of snapping branches following as he broke through treetops.

Cal let out a breath, rubbing his sore throat and coughing. He was going to feel that for a day at the very least. Damn unnaturally strong dragons, Idri excluded.

"Clan leaders? That doesn't sound good."

"We need to leave," Idri replied instead of explaining what any of this meant. And while Cal was a bit annoyed that he was avoiding the question, he wholeheartedly agreed, so he kept his complaints to himself for now.

Cal grabbed the spellbook and let himself be led out of the forest, not minding at all that Idri kept a hand around his wrist the entire time. He probably would have objected eventually, but he still felt too dazed to do so.

His whole body was still trembling from what he'd just experienced, his throat hurt, as did his back from being slammed into that tree, and he just felt exhausted all around. Cal was used to stress due to his previous profession, but he wasn't used to the kind of stress deadly dragon encounters could cause. And he certainly hoped he wouldn't have to get used to it.

He was relieved to see Idri turn into his true self, and he was even more relieved to climb onto his back and let himself be carried off to safety. He had no idea where Idri was flying but away seemed like a great place right now.

He hoped all this had been worth it at least. After everything that had just happened, he hadn't even thought to ask if Idri had gotten whatever he needed from that Zarleth person, but he must have—why else would he have shown up to save him?

Caldor felt his face grow warm as he suddenly became embarrassed. In hindsight, it must have taken Idri only a moment to get that ingredient, and Cal couldn't have managed to stay hidden for even that long. He was a master thief, and so stealth was supposed to be his forte. Sure, hiding from dragons who could find him by smell was a completely different level of difficulty, but he should have managed for longer.

Caldor shook his head. It didn't matter now because hopefully after this they would be able to stay around humans only. And he knew how to handle them.

Idri flew to them to the top of a nearby mountain. Normally, Caldor would have thought that to be a good, safe place to hide, but he wasn't so sure with other dragons around. Still, he decided to not say anything about it. Idri probably knew what he was doing better than Caldor did when it came to dragons.

Cal really needed to ask him some questions after they got somewhere where he didn't need to worry for his life.

As Caldor climbed off Idri's back and waited for him to change into his almost human form, he tried to stay silent and not ask any of the dozens of questions he had about how this spell was going to work. Back at the fort, Idri had needed a lot of ingredients, and yet now he only seemed to have a shiny red rock of some kind for this.

It would be easier if Cal knew anything about magic, but to be honest, he didn't really want to try to understand it. It was way too complicated for him, just judging by what he'd seen so far. Not to mention that he couldn't actually use it.

Cal frowned when he saw Idri look around the rocky mountaintop while pulling on his robes. He had wanted to refrain from asking any questions until this was done to get it out of the way as fast as possible, but it seemed he would have to say something. "What's wrong?"

"I need something to imbue the spell into," Idri said, starting to walk away as he continued to look around. Caldor went after him, cringing at the jagged rocks shifting beneath his boots. How was Idri even walking on this? Cal had thought that his seeming immunity to foot pain was due to him never wearing shoes, but this was getting absurd.

"Like what?"

Idri didn't look back at him as he answered. "Something durable and small." Then he came to a halt, frowning in thought as he gazed off into the distance. "Something to put on a necklace, perhaps. I will need to have it very close to my skin, ideally touching it, if I want the spell to work, and simply holding it in my hand seems cumbersome."

Well, Cal supposed they could just pick any rock from the ones that were all around here, but given their size—

His eyes widened in realization. He could just give Idri the stone he'd found. With the nearly deadly encounter with that dragon, he'd completely forgotten about it. His hand immediately fishing for the stone in his pocket, Cal retrieved the stone, holding it out to Idri.

"Will this work?"

The dragon turned to look at him, his eyes studying the pebble curiously as he took it from Caldor. "Yes, I believe so." Then he looked up, giving Cal a curious glance. "Do you usually carry pebbles in your pockets?"

Caldor laughed, shaking his head. Even though it was rarely intentional, Idri was much funnier than Cal had ever thought a dragon would be. "No. Lucky accident."

Idri looked confused, which made Caldor feel a bit bad about lying, but he felt very stupid for wanting to give a worthless pebble to Idri as a gift, so he didn't want to admit to it anymore.

"Indeed, this will be more than adequate. Thank you," Idri said, giving Caldor a smile that made his heart flip. All of a sudden he felt even shakier, and it wasn't from nearly dying just a moment prior. All Idri had to do was smile, and Caldor got all warm and fuzzy inside, didn't he?

And also speechless, of course, as he found out when he tried to tell Idri he was welcome. Cal settled on a smile, staying silent as he watched Idri grasp the red rock that looked like a ruby and the pebble in one hand.

"Hand me the spellbook, please," Idri said, and Cal did so immediately, watching him page through the book. Once Idri found the right page, he began to mutter the spell, the stones in his hand beginning to glow with a deep red light.

Caldor flinched a bit at the sight, frowning in worry, especially once he saw Idri stumble. Cal rushed forward, grabbing the dragon's arm to steady him, but Idri barely reacted, continuing to chant his spell.

Caldor could swear he was the only thing holding the dragon up by the end of it. He was about to tell Idri to stop when the spellbook fell out of the dragon's hand and he blinked a few times, his eyes glazed over and unfocused.

Cal wanted to ask him if he was okay, if something had gone wrong, but all of his worry turned into shock as soon as he properly looked at the dragon. Idri looked...well, like a normal human. Too normal, in fact.

The scales, horns, and wings were gone, leaving behind no evidence of Idri's true nature. Caldor was almost disappointed the spell had been so effective. Idri was still beautiful, of course. With that golden hair and sharp cheekbones of his, how could he not be? But Caldor already missed the way he usually looked.

At least he still had those brown and green eyes. Cal was very happy to not see that covered up by magic.

It did beg the question of why Idri hadn't just made both his eyes green to fit in with the other dragons if he could change his appearance with magic, but Cal suspected that if he'd asked, Idri would tell him something along the lines of it being dishonorable and wrong to lie like that. Or perhaps dragons could see through illusions like this. Either way, Idri must have thought of it already.

"Was...was it successful?" Idri asked, still sounding a bit unsteady as he patted the top of his head, looking for his horns. Cal struggled not to grin at that sight, grabbing the spellbook off the ground.

"Yeah, it was," he said, steading Idri by grasping his shoulder with his free hand. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, of course," Idri replied, but with his hunched-over posture and his eyelids drooping, he didn't look very convincing. Cal grimaced, stroking Idri's arm. "The spell...required more energy than I anticipated. But I will recover soon."

Caldor sighed, kissing the dragon's temple. He wasn't used to seeing him like this, and he didn't want to get used to it.

"Let's find a place to sit down for a while, huh?"

Idri raised his head and opened his mouth to argue, but then he seemed to change his mind as he nodded silently, leaning towards Caldor who wrapped an arm around him. It was easier to do that without his wings in the way, but Cal still missed them.

It wasn't a great thing that they would be staying relatively close to those psychotic dragons, but Idri was in no shape to travel right now, and even if he wanted to, Cal would stop him. Traveling on foot while exhausted like this would be stupid, so flying was definitely out of the question.

They barely took a step, though, when Idri yelped, jerking away. Before Cal could ask what happened, he saw Idri clutching his foot, a grimace on his face.

"I didn't expect...." Idri frowned down at his foot, his face now more intrigued than pained. Caldor waited for him to elaborate on that, but Idri didn't say anything as he carefully put his foot down again, this time avoiding stepping onto any of the larger rocks.

"Would you mind holding onto the stones for a while?" the dragon asked, holding out his hand with the two stones to Cal. Caldor shrugged, taking them both off him. He almost expected something to happen, given that he was holding something magical, but neither the pebble nor the not-ruby made him feel different. He quickly slipped both into his pocket, smiling when he saw Idri had once again turned into his proper self.

The dragon still looked tired, but he seemed less so like this. It was probably just the small, glinting scales around his eyes that made him look like that, though.

"Thank you. It seems I will have to acquire footwear." Idri shook his head and glared off into the distance as if the thought of wearing shoes was offensive to him. Though, thinking about it, it probably was given that Cal had never seen the dragon wear them. He didn't think Idri even owned any.

But that just begged the question of why he needed shoes now. Did that spell do more than just make Idri look human? And did that mean dragons had some kind of natural ability to not be bothered by walking on sharp rocks? That was a very silly thought, but it would explain a lot.

"Don't worry, Idri. We'll get you a new outfit," Cal promised, smiling at the dragon, who immediately looked down at himself.

"Can I not wear this?" Idri asked, brushing his fingers over his black robes. Now that Cal thought about it, they sort of made him look like some dark wizard from a storybook. Except for the blond hair and golden scales, of course.

"Not if you want to blend in," Cal replied, rubbing Idri's shoulder. He could tell Idri wasn't liking this very much, but Caldor could understand that. He also got attached to his clothes. He'd had the cloak he was wearing for a decade, and he would definitely get annoyed if someone told him he couldn't wear it. But the entire point of casting a spell to make Idri look human was to fit in, so there was nothing to be done about it.

"We'll find you something you like," Cal added, hoping that would make Idri feel better. The dragon nodded, though he still looked displeased. Given the fact that Idri was having such a reaction to the idea of changing clothing of all things, it was a strangely adorable sight.

Caldor couldn't help but wonder where they were going to get the money to buy clothes, though. They couldn't exactly go back to the fort and get gold there, since it would be dangerous and the gold was still enchanted to be untouchable. Still, that was a problem for later. Right now, they needed to find a place to rest.

"Come on," Cal told Idri softly, taking his hand into his. It was almost an automatic thing at this point, and whenever Caldor did it, he froze up for just a second. But Idri seemed to like it—or at the very least didn't seem to dislike it—and Cal definitely liked it, so there was no reason to feel alarmed.

Or so he kept telling himself.

As they walked, looking for any space that wasn't filled with sharp rocks, Caldor kept looking at Idri. The way he'd seen him look just a moment ago would be how he would look most of the time if they decided to be around humans.

With how adamant Idri was about having to look human for them to accept him, Cal wouldn't hold his breath about the dragon putting the disguise away in a town or village, even when they would be alone. Which meant that he needed to take in Idri's full majesty properly while he could. He sure was going to miss getting wrapped up by those golden wings....

Caldor shook his head, squeezing Idri's hand. He needed to stop thinking this way. Above all, he would respect the dragon's wishes. If Idri needed this to feel comfortable, Cal had no problem with it, and he knew very well it was high time Idri had some fun and socialized.

Cal smiled to himself. He couldn't wait to introduce Idri to the true human experience.