I’m not gonna agree to some weird Joras deal on an empty stomach, I know how he operates. Grabbing some meat from the fire, I give it a good chew as I pretend to consider his offer. It’s obvious I’m going to do it, finding herbs isn’t a problem at all, and I’m benefiting from that as well.

“So, how are you able to understand Lauren if you need me to teach you the language she speaks?”

That’s a fair question, and I don’t really know the answer to it. It’s like I hear her twice: once aloud and then again in my head, but I don’t know why or how. I’m pretty sure that if she practiced, she could learn to speak to me with her mind alone, but that’s for her to discover.

“We’re connected somehow, I don’t know how it works, but I’m starting to be able to tell how she feels. Like when I lick her, she feels disgust and anger, but also comfort and hope. As far as I can tell, it’s like she starts believing things will be okay.”

Lily is looking at me with wide eyes, and Joras is staring into the fire with his thinking brow. I’m not sure what to make of that, but I’m sure they’ll come up with something. Piercing another chunk of meat with my claw, I give it a quick roast with my flames and eat it. A little charred on the outside and raw on the inside, but very delicious.

“Can you demonstrate this connection, Kira?”

It shouldn’t be too hard to demonstrate, so I let him know that I’ll be asking Lauren to come over and continue preparing that spiced meat she left behind. I really want to try it.

“Lauren, Joras has a question for you, and I want you to finish cooking that chunk of meat so I can taste it.”

Leaving the children behind, she trudges on over and stares right at Joras.

“If you want me to answer your questions, find me and ask me. And you, Beast, this is mine, so I’m taking it with me.”

Dang it! She’s leaving for a different campfire now and I’ve missed my chance at spices! This is all Joras’ fault! At least she’s having fun. I should try some veggies and bread too, it smells delicious and there’s a nearby group cooking some.

Getting up, I saunter on over to one and nudge the woman cooking a bunch of things on skewers. With her unoccupied hand, she strokes my snout as she continues turning her skewers. Counting the heads around us, I would guess she’s cooking up a few extra, which means I might be able to steal one or two!

“Kira, you shouldn’t ignore this bond between you and Lauren, it could be dangerous.”

“But skewers…” He doesn’t understand the importance of deliciousness…

Shaking his head, he walks away with a chuckle, leaving me to enjoy the smell of cooking. I suspect he’s gonna wake me up tomorrow for a lecture or something. The skewers look about ready and I nudge the chef, who responds with a chuckle and gives me one! It’s delicious! She deserves another nudge.

With that sorted, I should be responsible and talk to Joras about this whole Lauren business. I’m sure he’ll have something to say about it, especially with his history of being a blood mage. It does worry me that it might be some sort of binding affecting Lauren, but she seems sure that she isn’t affected by any such thing.

“I’m back, Joras. Sorry I just left, I may have gotten distracted.”

“Are you sure that’s all it was? If I were to consider your motivation for leaving, I might suspect that you wouldn't want to know in case it turned out she was bound to you.”

Stupid observant Joras… At least he won’t wake me up tomorrow if we talk about it now, so that’s something. He’s quick to launch into a lengthy explanation about forms of binding that he’s familiar with, like mind magic and blood magic.

“So mind magic will influence the will of the target through mind bending, encouraging, and compelling it to do as the caster commands. Following orders makes the victim feel bliss, while disobeying brings discomfort. It is also extraordinarily difficult to break a mind bending without help from others. It’s not unlike an addiction, with the substance being in your head at all times.”

Okay, geez, that sounds freakin’ awful… It’s pretty clear that I didn’t dislike it enough and it already scared me…

“Comparatively, blood magic will create a binding seal on the target’s heart. Instead of bending the mind of the victim, blood magic will break their will. Comply or the seal squeezes their heart, resulting in debilitating pain, but keeping the blood pumping. In doing so, the will of the victim will be broken through torment until they learn to please their master.”

I can’t tell which I dislike more… They both sound genuinely awful… And Charo tried to do that to me. If I hadn’t killed her, I’d bite her right now.

“Joras, have you ever done that to someone?”

“I have. It involves the reason for Lily and me being here instead of with our kin. It’s something I regret being necessary, but I’m not ashamed of doing what I had to, we can go into that another time. For now, let us focus on the topic of compulsion. There are also servitude bonds and pact bonds, but I’m not familiar with them. Wreyn most likely is. And finally, we have a soul bond, never engage with a soul mage. If you find out someone is a soul mage, kill them and leave. Do not hesitate in killing them, Kira.”

Well, that's not terrifying at all. Here I am afraid of mind magic, and then he springs that on me? How am I supposed to know if someone is a soul mage? I have no idea what that even feels like.

“What I do know of servitude bonds is that the master draws strength from the servant, and the servant will be compelled to assist the master, but it isn’t as intense as mind or blood magic are capable of.”

Okay, all of this binding stuff is putting me in a bad mood, so I’m gonna stop this talk here. I realize that I need to learn about this stuff, but it’s scary and I don’t like it. I’m gonna go talk to Raya and Cranky, I need a distraction…

“Lauren, Joras told me about servitude bonds, do you feel like I’ve made you a servant?”

Judging by the snorting laugh she let out, I’m guessing no. As I’m heading for Raya, Lauren comes over and hits my arm.

“Masters can tell when their servants lie, so if I say that I did as you asked and moved the furniture in Joras’ shop, can you tell whether I did it or not? Of course, I did do as you asked and Jeannie helped me rearrange the interior of his shop.”

I can’t tell… That’s a relief. Given how I doubt Jeannie would help with that, I’m pretty sure she’s lying, though, which means she didn’t do the one thing I asked! And she spiced me into a sneezing fit. I’m gonna have to punish her somehow.

“With the opportunities you’ve had, I doubt you could bind a string to a stick.”

“Of course I can’t, Lauren. Have you seen my claws? I’m not exactly the Mighty Dragon of Dexterity.”

She just laughs at me and leaves, telling me not to worry so much. I might have to look into following that advice, I have been worrying about a bunch of things lately, and it’s getting a bit overwhelming at times.

Closing in on Raya and Cranky, they turn to face me and an obvious problem occurs to me. I still can’t understand Cranky, and Joras isn’t here for his blood spell. I’m not gonna worry about that, I’ll just lie down and coil myself around them.

“Hey Kira, are you enjoying the evening?”

“I am, but I didn’t expect so many people to show up, it’s a little overwhelming.”

“You should know that there are talks about making it an event from now on. Tonight happens to be the half-moon night, and when the Guardian Dragon decides to have a gathering on the half-moon, it must mean something important!”

What?! I have no idea where they’re getting these crazy ideas from, but I just felt like sharing some food with friends! That is important, but it’s not some big event important… These things are getting away from me. Although on the other claw, more food-based events sound delicious and welcome.

Bringing focus back to things I can control, I mention that Joras has asked us to gather herbs for his advanced potions, but he didn’t tell me which, so we’ll have to rely on Raya’s expertise. I’m sure she knows where to find what we need. Joras must be making a lot of money if he’s selling out of the good stuff.

“Then we should start south of the forest. There are many good plants down there, and with your new backpack, we can gather so many things! We’ll be rich, Kira!”

That sounds like a fantastic plan! I especially like that last part! Now I kinda wanna go right now, but then I'd need to interrupt whatever Raya and Cranky have going for them. Which is also something I'm curious about, they seem like they've gotten quite close in barely any time at all.

"Raya, what do you think about Cranky? You two seem pretty close already."

She's turning red, so I'm sure I'm onto something here. "We're just friends, Kira! It's just friendship! I'll tell you about it some other time."

Cranky smiles at her embarrassment and gives her a poke in the arm, but doesn't press the matter as far as I can tell. Respectful guy, that one. Unless you're a bad guy, then he's a bit of a jerk.

Since I can't go get rich today, I'm gonna go get some sleep instead. And if I happen to grab some food on the way, so be it. Getting up, I start heading toward a nearby campfire, and the people sitting around it are quick to present some food to me. I'm starting to really like the peaceful aspects of this Guardian Dragon stuff.

Walking through the field of celebration, it occurs to me that I'm having no problems at all with the width of the passages. They made it dragon-accessible! That is worth celebrating! And I do so by grabbing some more parting snacks on my way toward the gate. For a moment, I did consider just taking off and flying back to my den, but I'm pretty sure the sudden gust of wind would affect the campfires, and I wouldn't want anyone to get burned.

I find myself looking forward to our field trip tomorrow. Seeing as Raya didn't mention any giant snakes, I'm gonna assume that they're rare and not fuss about it until we meet one. They might even be easy to kill and delicious, who knows.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

That's for tomorrow, though, tonight it's snooze time. Lauren joined me by the gate and we're walking through the streets in silence. She seems have had enough socializing for today.

"Can I sleep in your cave again?"

"Of course, Lauren! You can consider us roommates. And if you feel like paying rent, add it to my hoard."

"Uh... I'm not looking for a mate right now, Kira. I doubt humans and Dragons are compatible."

I have no idea what she's talking about, but I think we're compatible, and another friend is always welcome. She's a good person as far as I can tell, and I like her. That's not something she should consider embarrassing.

Well, I'm not gonna push the subject, if she's uncomfortable being roommates, she can be a couch surfer. It's no problem at all.

Reaching my den, we head in and settle down. Lauren still feels a little embarrassed, but I'm sure she's fine. As I coil up, she joins me, and soon enough, I fall asleep.

————————

"Kira, get up here! We need to discuss a matter of grave importance."

This yelling at me to get up better not become the norm, because that's the third person to do it and they're on track to find out how grumpy I can be in the morning... It's possible I need to commission a sign threatening people who yell at me to get up there.

"Lauren, are you awake?"

"Mmm... lemme sleep, ya doofy dwagon..."

Well, that's a pretty strong argument, so I'll need to untangle myself from her without waking her. She's leaning into me as she sleeps on my arm, so I'll need to get clever with this. Using the wide blade of my tail as a backrest for her, I manage to free my arm and that's the first part done! Now I'll lower my tail to the ground and slide it right out from under her.

With great care and caution, I manage to do it without issue! Point to Kira.

"Kira! We need to talk about the adventurers!"

It's definitely Wreyn up there and he just woke up Lauren after I did such a good job of not waking her... Fine, I'll find out what he needs to say about these adventurers.

Heading up, he just stands there at the entrance to my den, and to my surprise, he looks exhausted and worried.

"Kira, the Guild is making preparations for an assault. I expected this to happen, but your attack on Plainshold has accelerated my plans. We need to strengthen you and attack them before they're ready."

"How are we supposed to strengthen me, Wreyn?" I have no idea how he expects to accomplish that, but I'm up for getting stronger.

"Preparations are already underway. This was inevitable with these bladebrained morons. Their affinity for starting conflicts and having it come back to take a chunk is precisely why I want them gone."

Well, he sounds quite worried. It does sound pretty bad, and I am very against having more adventurers enter Tuiran. We've got enough of those.

"Our first step will be to teach you why coin is so useful to you. It does not have anything to do with the value of the coin, but instead it is the material of which the coin is made. Metal has varying degrees of magic conductivity, and it just so happens that the coins we use are created using copper, silver, and gold, three high-conductivity metals."

Oh, so I just need to get rich. I see no problem with that plan. But if we're on a schedule, it might be difficult to get any sort of wealth going.

"I have sent word to have my personal treasury transferred here. We will add it to your hoard so you can recover magic faster. Though it is important that you do not let yourself become frenzied as your power grows. Where is Neithro? Never mind, I will find him. You go to the east gate, there's a treat for you. Once you have eaten it, fly toward Oakhold along the road and bring back the carriage. Leave the people alive."

He's probably still hanging out with Raya, but this mention of a treat has me intrigued. Wreyn has already left, so I take flight and head toward the eastern treat.

"Lauren, Wreyn says that some guild is gonna attack, do you know anything about it?"

I don't get much back except for worry and fear. I think she might know who they are, and if so, I doubt she wants this to happen. What I find at the eastern gate is some sort of giant lizard, I'm pretty sure these are used as beasts of burden, but this one is very dead. I suspect Wreyn rode it hard enough to kill it, which suggests that this is far more serious than I initially thought.

Getting to work chowing down on the beast, I don't dwell on ceremony or manners, I just rip it to shreds and swallow chunks of meat. Making quick work of the carcass, I take flight again and do as Wreyn told.

It takes a while, but I manage to find a plain carriage. The rider stops as soon as he sees me approaching, and from what I can tell, he's quick to unfasten the lizards drawing it. The two beasts run away, and the rider jumps up on the carriage, holding up two thick ropes. From the looks of it, I can grab hold of them.

Swinging around, I hover over the carriage and grip the ropes in my claws and push magic into my wings. This thing is very heavy, geez... It takes a surprising amount of effort to get it off the ground, but once I do, I'm good to go. Setting course back to Tuiran, I find myself struggling for balance, but that can be solved by going higher to have more leeway.

A shout from below reminds me that I didn't let the rider off, so he's coming along for the flight. Looking down at him, he's grabbing onto ropes on either side of the carriage while wearing a very wide smile. He gets it, flying is great.

We're closing in on Tuiran and I begin to slow down as we head toward the square. I'm gonna have to be careful with this guy so he doesn't get hurt.

As we reach the square, I'm surprised to see a bunch of people gathered, I'm not sure why, but I'm sure I'll find out soon.

Going into a hover, my focus is dedicated to the lowering of this carriage, and the difficulty of doing so is surprising. Every time I try to lower us a bit, we end up dropping a distance, and I'm not sure I can save the carriage. The rider seems to have figured out my difficulties since he climbs up and grabs hold of my arm. And with that, I don't have to be as cautious!

Dropping the loot box, it shatters on the ground and money spills out in all directions. The people gathered around are quick to start collecting the coins and bringing them into my den. It doesn't feel like it adds much, but I guess the sheer quantity is what matters.

Going for a landing, the rider is quick to jump before I set down, still wearing his wide grin. Wreyn isn't here, but the rider waves for my attention and holds up two fingers, then points to the wreckage and holds up one finger. So I guess there's another carriage out there, so I take off again to look for it.

It takes a while to find the second one because it isn't on the road at all. For some reason, it's hidden behind a few trees. With a heavy landing, I start inspecting the area, and there's definitely blood here. And there's a trail to track heading further east.

The carriage is almost empty, so someone stole from me. I can't allow that. Focusing on the blood, I'm sure I can track the source. Between the fresh blood and the theft, I'm feeling that bloodlust growing, and I'm sure that is going to come in handy very soon.

It takes a while, but I reach a small gathering of trees and begin to smell old sweat and piss. There are definitely people living here. I just need to find the entrance to their hideout and take back what's mine.

Instead of approaching on the ground, I take to the skies and fly over the trees as I empower my scales. I'm a reasonable dragon, so I'll give them a chance to hand over my money without fighting.

"Return what you stole from me or feel my wrath!"

What I get in return for my kindness is an arrow plinking off my scales. Scorched Earth it is then! Making sure to enhance my flames with magic, I fly over the trees as I let loose. The screams last only for a few moments before all I hear is the roar of flames. But listening to the beauty of the fire's song doesn't get my money back, so I land in the flame-wreathed woodland.

Searching the area, I don't see anywhere they might hide. There aren't any buildings here, so I'm guessing they have some sort of burrow. I can't find them, and now everything smells like fire.

"Second chance! Return what was stolen, or I will bury you!"

It occurs to me that they might not understand me, but I feel like someone shouting and setting things on fire sends a pretty clear message. And it turns out at least one of them got the idea because some guy is running out of a hole hidden under the roots of the largest tree here. That's a pretty neat hiding place, and I'm kinda envious.

The guy approaches cautiously as I glare at him. His arms are held up and visible, which I'm sure is to indicate that he's surrendering, but I can smell the iron blade he carries in his clothes. Letting him come close, it becomes clear that these people are not going to surrender. As soon as he's in range, he reaches for his blade and rushes at my neck. That's easily fixed with a quick scorch.

Well, now I know where their hideout is, so I can get to work recovering my new wealth. As I approach the entrance, another man comes wandering out, but he's looking much worse for wear than the last one. Judging by the wound and the clothes, this guy was the rider of the lost carriage. What a tremendously foolish move, thieves...

With him out of harm's way, I fill the burrow with flame, and something tells me that I should be careful about doing that in the future. My suspicions are confirmed when I get blasted in the face with dirt and debris as a large explosion levels a nearby hill. So I'm guessing they had something volatile down there. That's not gonna make recovering my money easier...

The shockwave sent a ripple through my scales, and I suspect they're very good at dissipating force like that. The rider isn't doing too well, though, so I'll take him back to Tuiran so Lauren can help him, and then I'll return to collect the larger piles of coins.

He's on the ground and breathing quite heavily, so I nudge him to see if he's up for getting on me, but it doesn't seem like he is. Time to try something difficult... Picking him up with both hands, I do my best impression of a bipedal dragon, and I was right, this is difficult. But I manage to leave the fiery woods and spread my wings. We'll be in Tuiran quickly.

"Lauren, I'm bringing someone who needs healing."

She feels alert and serious, so I'm guessing she'll be ready when we get there. The rider won't last much longer, so I speed up and make sure to shield him from the wind as much as I can using my head.

As soon as we reach the square, I land on my legs again and it hurts. I'm really not built for bipedal action. Letting the man go, Lauren is quick to heal him and she confirms that he'll live. It appears Wreyn and Cranky are here too.

"That's not one of my riders. It's our uniform, but I don't know this man. What happened?"

Oh, well... I might have to share some bad news about the rider then. It seems likely that he's dead if he was in that cave. Granted, if he wasn't in the cave, he's likely dead anyway.

"Bandits attacked and stole the contents of the carriage. I followed them to a hideout and burned it down. Who was going to tell me about explosives? That's important stuff for a dragon!"

With a hand going through his beard, he seems to consider what to do. If this guy is one of the bandits, I would say it's obvious that we just kill him and get on with our day.

"Who are you, bandit? From where do you hail, and where is my rider?"

The bandit groans and doesn't respond, so Wreyn pulls out a small metal stick and pokes it through the bandit's stomach. I guess I'm not the only one with a cruel streak.

"Please do answer my questions when I ask politely. I'd rather not have to utilize what Lord Awirtatin taught me. I don't doubt your familiarity with the name and his... proclivities..."

The bandit groans something, but I can't make sense of it. Wreyn doesn't seem satisfied as he pokes the bandit again.

"It appears he blames you for my rider's death, Kira."

"Their hideout was too small for me to enter, so I filled it with flame, and then something blew up, so it's possible I killed him."

"Hmm... Well, who am I to blame a Dragon for resorting to flames to solve its problems. I would sooner be able to convince the sun to not break for the day. Well, since you know where their hideout is, or was, we will simply have to launch an expedition to recover the coin, but consider it lost for the purposes of our goals these days."

I'm sure that's the smart thing to do, but all that money makes me want to get it. But only knowing the rough area of where to dig would make it difficult to find. I don't even know how the tunnels turned and twisted underground, so it could be anywhere.

"Now you may dispose of this riffraff. We have no need for him, and prisoners are inconvenient when preparing for battle."

Yeah, that terrified the guy. He looks up at me, the smell of sweat and fear tantalizing my senses.

"Please let him live, Kira. I'll take responsibility for him, but don't resort to needless killing."

"Fine, but you'd better take care of your new pet. I'm not taking him for walks when you get bored of him."

"That's... not what I had in mind... And about your question earlier, you asked if I know anything about this, and I swear that I don't. I don't have anything to do with this. Please believe me."

"What? I never thought you had anything to do with it. I thought you might know something about the guild and maybe you could give me some information, but that's up to you. I'm not gonna force you to share anything you don't want to."

So that's what the worry and fear was about... I guess I should have been more considerate of her feelings, but in my defense, I didn't think of it at the time. At least she's feeling relieved now.

Grabbing the arm of her new pet bandit, she feels shocked and generally surprised by the crack she hears.

"Wow, Lauren, I didn't think you were that ruthless. You just broke his arm for no reason. Super harsh, geez."

"It wasn't on purpose!"

After healing him again, she pulls him to his feet. She is a lot more gentle this time and takes him somewhere to the northwest.

Turning to Wreyn, he looks pensive. I think he's considering what to do next, I doubt the loss of his wealth was part of his plan, but we'll manage. The first load of money was helpful, but it wasn't nearly as much power as I expected.

We'll figure something out. There's still time for me to gather herbs with Raya before sundown, and I want to do something simple and fun.