“We do, Kira. You burned down a town, and I have to deal with the aftermath. And from the looks of this, you have brought another headache to my doorstep.”
He’s gesticulating with his arms towards the two people I dumped at his feet, and… he might have a point there… Shaft certainly did try to give me a headache when I tried to snack on Tower Shield. Not my fault, though! He looked dead. I wonder if I can just fly away and dodge all of this responsibility… Probably not, he knows where I live…
“As you may have noticed, Kira, your presence appears to have scattered the remaining adventurers, so do make sure to warn the traders in Tuiran about bandits when you return.”
Oh! That sounds like he doesn’t mind if I-
“Stay. You can inform them later. We will need a plan for the winter as the refugees from Plainshold need shelter and food, which you will be assisting in acquiring.”
Geez, he’s feeling particularly bossy today. Glancing over at Cranky, all I get is a shrug, but he seems to understand my plight. As far as I’m concerned, I haven’t done anything wrong, they started it, and they made it worse than it had to be by taking what belongs to me.
From the sounds of it, he already has plans for all sorts of work I need to do, which is not ideal. I would much rather just be lazy and have snacks, so I’d better get paid for that work, and I want to be paid well!
For some reason, Shaft chips in with her own opinion on the matter, and as far as I can tell by the smell of frustration and her tense muscles, she agrees that putting me to work is unfair.
“Er saewira du Themar? [You command the Dragon?]”
“What’s your name, adventurer? I suspect the name I have been given is subject to Kira’s proclivities.”
“Maya. Curnu er toina averin enui wesilanei. [And you didn’t answer my question.]”
“Maya, that is a subject to be discussed in private. As I understand the situation, we both hold knowledge that should be shared with the other party. I believe you may come to understand my position, given that you’re somehow still alive.”
For a moment, I feel a little excluded, but it’s clear that if I partake in this private conversation, I’ll just get more work or worse… criticism! I’m far more interested in getting back to Tuiran and getting Lauren settled in again, she’s had a tough time today.
Wreyn and Shaft continue bickering as she sits on the ground looking up at the mounted man. As far as I can tell, she wasn’t satisfied with the subjects being discussed in private at all, and they seem quite preoccupied with each other.
“Wanna go home, Lauren?”
“Yeah…”
Leaving the pair to bicker away, Lauren and I take off toward Tuiran, ignoring the shout from Wreyn that I hear behind us.
“Now look at what you have done!”
They’ll sort it out. Lauren and I are gonna find some snacks and make sure she’s snug as a bug! Judging by how she’s just lying limp on my head, I’m pretty sure she needs some rest. If Kaldren is still around, I’ll have him make a hearty stew for her, his cooking is delicious and she needs to eat.
With our quiet flight, it doesn’t take all that long to reach home, and from the looks of the crowded square, the traders are still around. Judging by the music, laughter, and cheer, tonight will turn into a party again.
With my target in sight, it’s clear that they’ve respected my boundaries and haven’t gotten close to my den. Good on them, respecting boundaries is important. There’s a pause in the celebration as I fly over the caravans, replaced by marveling exclamations and a few screams of terror, but mostly the first thing.
Landing by my den, I take a couple of whiffs around the entrance to make sure there aren’t any foreign smells, and it turns out my visual inspection was correct, no intruders that I can detect. It takes some effort, but I make sure not to bump my head against the ceiling since Lauren is still on top of me.
Entering the main hall, she gets ready to climb off me as I lower my head to the ground. She seems somewhat muted… Time for that stew. Giving her a nudge, I take my leave and go find Kaldren. She was so strong when she got out of that basement thing, but now Lauren has just deflated entirely, and I think I might have to keep an eye on her.
Before I reach the caravans, Shae Tara Nenka comes to greet me, cheerful as ever. I had thought that causing a ruckus in Plainshold would put a damper on that, but she seems indifferent to the whole thing.
With a quick greeting, I sneak in a question about Kaldren and his willingness to provide emergency stew for my friend, and in response, Tara brightens as she stands straight, clasping her hands.
“Oh, wonderful! He will be quite delighted to hear that not only is his cooking enjoyed, but it is sought after! We shall go to him immediately!”
“Tara, how come you’re fine with Plainshold burning? It’s a little suspicious, and I would have expected adventurers like you to rise to the challenge of defeating a mighty dragon.”
“In your presence, I am but a humble trader, and you may consider that to be true for the foreseeable future. As for Plainshold, merchants already knew to stay away from there. Too many disappearances. And of course my merchant’s heart cannot deny the opportunity for trade in the wake of tragedy! There’s no doubt our coffers will grow heavy.”
That feels a little exploitative… I might have to actually work a lot with Wreyn to make sure the people he has taken in are cared for. I’m at least, like, ten percent responsible. Most of it is on the adventurers for not leaving me alone, though.
“I can tell that your thoughts of me have soured, so rest assured that the lord I serve, Lord Faran, would never allow us to exploit tragedy for excessive profit. It would result in banishment from The Lands Beyond Death, something none of my kin would risk, much to Kaldren’s frustration. It is simply the guaranteed sale that is enticing, people need supplies to rebuild, and I am willing to be the supplier.”
I feel like she just threw Kaldren under the proverbial bus here. That’s for later, though, I still need that stew. As we move on instead of just standing around for no particular reason, we join up with Kaldren, who gives me a cautious side-eye, as if trying to avoid challenging a beast.
The two are quick to exchange words, and Kaldren begins assembling a cooking fire as Tara brings out a large cauldron. It’s stew time! He’s quite good at stacking wood, but significantly less good at starting a fire. I have no idea why he isn’t using magic to do it, but with a nudge, I get him to step back so I can light the fire for him.
Using my nostril trick, I unleash a small nasal plume of fire, expertly setting the wood alight. After nesting the cauldron in the cooking fire, Kaldren starts fetching materials from barrels and crates. I have no idea what half of this stuff is, but apparently he’s using some sort of alcoholic broth as the base. He’s adding ingredients faster than I can keep track of, and by the time he puts a lid on the cauldron, I’ve completely lost track of how much stuff he threw in there. Geez, he’s fast.
As I watch the cauldron cook, he waves to get my attention and blows a breath toward the food. As far as I can tell, he wants me to heat it up, and I have a trick for that! Using Coma Dragon Kira’s heat breath trick, I blow a very hot breath toward the cauldron, heating it up in a jiffy. And if I had to guess based on Kaldren’s jumping around and screaming, he doubted the heat of my breath enough to stick his hand in the way. Not advisable, buddy.
“Faro nui! Nuia ti itarn! [Fuck me! That is hot!]”
With the impromptu dance performance out of the way, he returns to his wagon and rummages around for a bit before pulling out a potion, pouring the contents over his hand. As far as I know, dwarves are naturally skilled with forging, so he should know that heat doesn’t need fire to be dangerous, so that’s on him.
With his hand healing, he seems to have forgotten the whole ordeal as he returns to tending the now boiling stew. It smells so delicious, and Lauren is gonna feel great getting something to eat!
Kaldren tastes it a few times, adding more spices until he’s satisfied, and then puts the lid on again. With a few weird motions aimed at me, he brings out a few bowls and says something to Tara.
“He says if you can carry the stew with the lid on, it will be ready when we get to your den entrance, then your friend can have as much as she wants.”
That’s a good idea. She should be allowed to have a bunch of delicious stew! With one hand, I hold the lid tightly on as I tip the cauldron just enough to get my jaw under it, and with the dexterity of the mighty Dragon of the Stew, I manage to get it into my mouth so I can carry it. With Tara and Kaldren in tow, we head towards my den. I can’t smell anything but deliciousness, and I’m envious of Lauren having automatic dibs.
Careful not to slosh the stew around, it takes a little longer to reach my den than it should, and since Kaldren and Tara have been so helpful, I invite them in. They seem like good people.
“Lauren! I brought dinner!”
I can tell she’s stirring through our mental link, not overly enthusiastic about my waking her up, but stew will change that! Entering the main room of my den, I see her lying on the ground, looking toward the entrance. I guess we really should find her a bed for when I’m not here, maybe even some other furniture. That’s for non-stew times, though.
Marching my appropriately sized dragon butt on over to her, I maneuver the cauldron out of my mouth and place it in the ground without spilling much. She’s staring a bit as the sound of metal striking flint rings out from behind me.
“You brought guests?”
“I did! Tara and Kaldren! They made the stew.”
“I don’t think I’m in a condition to see anyone, Kira… I’m sorry…”
“Shush, everyone needs some food, and if they’re mean, I’ll kick them out.”
There’s a sense of appreciation from her, but underneath it, I can tell she’s hurting far more than she’s letting on. I don’t know how to fix her problems for her, but the least I can do is be here for her.
Turning around while focusing on the sway of my tail, I find the dwarf trying to light a torch, and with a gentle nudge, I push him away from it and light it for him. Picking up the torch, he becomes distracted and drops everything but his light source as he runs toward the walls, letting out a bunch of weird explorer sounds as his eyes fixate on the gorgeous murals carved by the goblins.
“I do believe we have lost Kaldren, Lady Kira.”
Tara lets out a giggle as she picks up the dropped bowls, a kind smile gracing her lips as she watches her friend explore my den with the excitement of a child released into an amusement park.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Ti nuia du Themaret buvilamuro? [Is this the Dragon’s history?]”
“Yeah, the people of Tuiran carved that as soon as she dug out this place. They’ve been expanding on it ever since.”
Woo! Lauren is talking to other people. That’s a good sign. I don’t think Kaldren is paying attention, though, so that’s a bit rude. That’s forgivable this time, we’ve got more important things to do, like get these bowls handed out.
Nudging Tara, she gets the message and starts removing a somewhat sticky substance of unknown origin from the cauldron before removing the lid and filling bowls with the amazing contents. Steam rises from the stew as she dips in a bowl, handing it off to Lauren, who is quick to dig in.
The light in her face returns as Kaldren’s cooking renews her life, but then the serene image of a friend slurping stew shatters and gives way to tears and pain spilling out. As she lowers the bowl, tears flow from her eyes as she looks up at me. Lowering my head, I make sure to give her a firm nudge, making sure she knows I’m here for her.
“Kira, we need to talk about what they were doing in Plainshold… They shouldn’t have known what Vile Steel is, but they had so much of it. You need to know what it is and why you should avoid it.” Her gaze fixates on Tara as she pauses. “Lizard, what is your rank and heritage?”
“Shae Tara Nenka. Fourth. Kaldren shares my status.”
“Good… Kira, Vile Steel is not quite an appropriate name for that material, it is grown from true evil. There’s a soul mage somewhere, and they are killing people, twisting their souls into material form, and that is what Vile Steel is. The people sacrificed for it crave to become whole, taking whatever they can from anything that comes into contact with it. But it's impossible for them to become whole again, and they won't ever be able to move on to the next world. When you touched it, you no doubt felt a drain in your magic, but that isn’t all, if you kept touching it, or had it enter your body, it would begin consuming your soul, propagating itself.”
That makes me want to throw up, geez...
“Lady Kira, did you experience this as well? I do not know of any records outside my homeland even mentioning Vile Steel…”
Tara smells scared at this revelation, and I give her a retelling of what I experienced, which isn’t helping her feel any better. How are we even supposed to deal with this without being soul mages ourselves? This feels way above my pay grade. Oh, there’s one thing I should deal with, though.
“Lauren, calling the scalefolk ‘lizard’ or 'lizard person' is derogatory, you should refer to them as Faranean or Scalefolk.”
Lauren stares at me with a blank expression, and Tara bursts out laughing for some reason. I’m not sure what’s so funny, but it’s important to nip this stuff in the bud, otherwise, animosity might grow over time. I’m not getting any opposition to my correction, so I’ll assume it’s dealt with. Lauren continues explaining, ignoring Tara's laughter.
“Right… Returning to the matter at hand. Kira, you must stay away from Vile Steel, and soon from me. It is anathema to what you are, and when you breathed in a small amount, you passed out. What do you think would happen if you were impaled and shards broke off inside you?”
Yeah, that sounds pretty bad, if those shards just kept feeding off my magic, they could probably grow to quite a size, and then that would grow even more, and I don’t like this situation at all…
“Lady Lauren, if you would allow it, I would like to send word to Lord Faran about this discovery, his knowledge on the matter would no doubt be invaluable. Though his secretive nature would no doubt mean that he would deal with the situation in Plainshold alone if we choose to inform him.”
That seems like an obvious path to take, if he just takes care of it, then we don’t have to deal with it at all. I vote for the path where I don’t have to deal with the dead people murder metal.
“A generous offer, but we need to know how to deal with it on our own for when we encounter it again. We will need to inform a few more people of this situation and bring them up to date. Joras, Raya, and Lily come to mind.”
“What about Wreyn? He knows magic stuff.”
“I’m sorry, Kira. Lords talk, we don’t know how much Wreyn knew about this, and we can’t risk including him until we do. The operation was far too large for this to have been a recent situation. Don’t share anything more than necessary.”
I don’t like secrets like that... If I’ve learned anything from watching TV with my parents, it’s that if Wreyn is a bad guy, he already knows and we should know that he knows, or he doesn’t and he’s not a bad guy, but us treating him like one will turn him a little more bad than he should be.
I let my thoughts be known, minus the things about my past, and to my surprise, Tara agrees. Sorry, Lauren. Lauren seems to think it over, but she doesn’t say anything as she grabs another bowl of stew. Between her and Tara both eating, the cauldron is getting dangerously low as the risk of me not getting enough increases.
As she brings the bowl to her mouth, Lauren unleashes a mighty yawn, reminding me that it’s getting quite late and we should get some sleep. Tara is quick on the uptake and realizes what I’m thinking. With a gentle sway, she walks over to Kaldren and picks him up before leaving, bidding us goodnight.
The dwarf is shouting, grunting, and flailing his limbs, he’s almost adorable as he tries his best to get free from the mighty scalefolk’s grip. I get it, those walls are very pretty, and I’d want to study them too if I hadn’t lived it.
With the tradeventurers leaving, I refocus on Lauren, it’s pretty obvious that she needs some sleep in a safe environment, and I am gonna be that safe environment, that’s for sure. I hope she’ll be comfortable enough to share what happened, but I suspect she’s gonna need some more time to rummage through whatever they did to her.
Moving around a bit, I get comfortable and coil up, Lauren is quick to take off what little clothes she has on as she joins me, snuggling close. Given the spikes of pain I felt from her, I doubt she’ll have a comfortable night. She’s strong, but I can’t see how anyone would be strong enough to endure whatever they did to her. One thing’s for sure, there’s a hell of a lot of fire in somebody’s future.
“When you’re ready to talk, Lauren, I’m here. You don’t have to be alone with this. I felt some of your pain, so I hope you’ll share more of it to lessen your burden.”
She doesn’t reply, but I can tell that she appreciates it. For some reason, there's a sense of sorrow mixed in with the hurt and appreciation.
————————
It turns out I was right. I’m coiled up tight, leaving my face close to my arm where Lauren sleeps, and her flailing arm hitting me right in the eye makes me acutely aware of her nightmares. It freakin’ hurts! Nudging her a few times, she settles down and the fire inside me burns brighter as my instincts push me toward vengeance. There’s a compulsion within me pushing me to find whoever is responsible for this and bathe their world in dragonflame. I’m not sure I want to fight that.
My eyes drift toward the entrance of my den, and the looming darkness makes it clear only a few hours have passed. There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s in for a long night... Giving the room a few sniffs, I smell for Jeannie and Forest Lady, but the scents aren’t fresh enough for them to be home, which I think is a good thing. I’m sure they’d forgive her, but getting woken up by Lauren’s screaming and my growling when she smacks me with that weird accuracy of hers would be annoying.
Since I want her to be comfortable, I move my arm a bit, opening a larger crevice between it and my neck, allowing her to drop into it so I can tug her in tight. It’s the best I can do, so I hope it’s close enough to swaddle her to help her feel safer. I know that I always liked a tight duvet when I had bad dreams. Rather than falling asleep again, I’ve decided to stay awake and nudge her whenever the dreams get bad. At least that way, she might get a little rest.
By the time morning arrives, her face has clear evidence of dried tears, but she got through the first night. It’s a team effort, but we’ll get her better eventually, we just need to keep working at it and keep her safe. One thing is for sure, though, I need to find out how Raya got so powerful through me, so I can repeat it with Lauren.
“Kira, why am I stuck?”
“Mystery of the world. Nobody knows.”
She exhales with a smile as I uncoil myself, releasing her from her scaly prison as we get up. She moves to pick up her clothes from yesterday, but her bravery falters as she gets near them. I don’t think I would want to wear the clothes given to me by assholes like that.
Telling her to wait here, I rush off in search of Tara. I’m sure the scalefolk lady has a dress or something I can bargain for, so Lauren doesn’t have to walk around in a reminder of what has happened. Something new is critical for healing!
Running across the square might be a bit inconsiderate considering my size and the inherent noise involved, but if anyone wants to complain, they know where I live. It doesn’t take me long at all to locate Tara and Kaldren’s wagon on account of it not having moved at all since I first saw it.
Getting closer, Tara exits the tented vehicle and greets me with a yawn. Admittedly, it is still quite early and the sun is only just rising, but that just takes us back to the fact that they know where I live.
With my target found, I make my request and she’s quick to comply, entering the wagon as the sounds of rummaging and dwarven complaints become more prominent.
Moments later, she returns with a beautiful dress of black and red with a leather corset in hand. As she hesitates to hand it over, it occurs to me that I don’t have a reliable way of carrying it without damaging it. Dang it, it looks like I’m a taxi again. Lowering my head, I tell Tara to get on, and she’s quick to comply. I’ll just ignore the wide grin on her obviously excited face.
Rushing back to Lauren, I hurry down into my den and let Tara down. Handing off the dress to Lauren, the two women help her into it, and it looks great on her, though it is a bit on the larger side, given that Tara is a fair bit taller than Lauren.
With that out of the way, Tara bids us farewell and leaves on her own. I didn’t even have to nudge her out.
“Kira, how much did you pay for this?”
“I didn’t pay, she gave it to us.”
“This dress is valuable. Not even accounting for the material, red and true black fabric dyes are expensive.”
“Good. You deserve nice things. All my people do.”
She turns her face away, but I can tell that we’ve got another case of spontaneous and extremely localized rain out of nowhere. Giving her a nudge, I lower my head, allowing her to climb on, so she doesn’t have to deal with getting clay on her new wardrobe. I should look into getting some flooring done.
We should find Raya, so both of them can show off their dresses! Leaving my den behind, we head out without too much of a goal in mind for the morning. It’s undeniable that I will have to listen to whatever Wreyn has to discuss, and I will have to take some responsibility for the refugees of Plainshold. I don’t really mind helping them out, I’m just feeling lazy and helping them sounds like a lot of work.
“Lauren, I have a question, and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but how come you didn’t pray last night or this morning?”
“I didn’t feel like it…”
That doesn’t sound like the whole answer, but I’ll give her some time to think before I push her on the matter. Moving my head with expert precision, I stroke her arm with my horn, which leads to her lying down on top of me instead of sitting.
“You still smell like smoke…”
Geez, rude… Of course I smell like smoke, I’m a dragon! Feeling my indignation, she taps my head a few times as she chuckles at me.
Leaving that behind, we head for Raya’s place to see if the weirdly strong goblin is home. Lauren did say we needed to tell people, so we might as well make an event of it. Following the marks on the buildings and cheating by looking over the buildings, we make it to Raya’s place in no time. I don’t even get to consider knocking before she opens the door, already wearing her mended dress. She gets it.
Before I have time to react, she runs up to my midsection and uses my limbs as jumping points, allowing her to reach all the way onto me somehow. She’s getting way too good at that.
Joining Lauren on my head, we exchange quick greetings as Raya asks where we’re headed: Joras’ place.
Since I don’t have to slow down for anyone, we make it there in very little time. This town is a lot smaller now that I’m a lot bigger.
Joras opens the door as I’m once again cheated of my knocking needs, and as he asks what we’re up to, I let him know that we’re going for a group event and I’m the boss, so he has to get ready and bring Lily and Jeannie.
“How did you know Jeannie slept here?”
“I can smell her, now hurry up, we’ve got a schedule to keep.”
We don’t have a schedule, but this is a rare opportunity to rush the orderly elf. It takes a while with some bickering from the building, leading me to lie down for a bit. Joras is the first to exit his house, wearing quite the snazzy explorer outfit. He’s got the sturdy boots, tucked-in pants, a fancy shirt, and a vest with a lot of straps holding potions. I’m not sure what he’s expecting here, but I guess it’s good to be prepared.
One thing does become clear, though: I haven’t prepared, and I’m not sure how I’m gonna carry all these people. The weight isn’t a problem, but the seating arrangements are.
Jeannie, Lily, and Forest Lady soon join him in the doorway, and I let them know to just find somewhere on me to hang on, so they’ll be safe while we fly. Joras raises an eyebrow to go with that smug smile of his, but I’ll just ignore that. I’ve washed my claws of responsibility by throwing the job in their direction.
With Joras helping, everyone gets on, and it turns out that with my new size, the space between the spines on my back has also widened, allowing for people to sit between them. Though it’s clear that I’ll need to be careful still, I wouldn’t want to squish anyone by stretching too much.
With everyone somewhat securely loaded, we head for the town square so we can take off and head out. Our troop draws quite a bit of attention, and as soon as I hit the open area, I spread my wings, and we set off.
We’re gonna have half a day at my lake before I have to meet up with Wreyn. Flying over the forest with my friends feels fantastic, and the prospect of watery fun even more so.
With a gentle-ish landing, I lie down, allowing everyone to dismount, and Raya is the first to throw off her clothes and rush into the water, splashing all over the place. Jeannie joins her shortly after, and it quickly devolves into a stampede to reach the lake and spray each other.
Of course I’m joining them! With significantly less speed than I thought I had, I run through the rocky and sandy beach and splash into the water, causing waves all over the place. Moving into the deeper area, I submerge most of my body and just take a moment to watch my friends on the lakeshore. Raya is throwing water around, Jeannie is cautiously standing in the shadow of Lauren as the taller woman starts a water fight with Raya, water splashing everywhere.
It takes a moment for me to spot Forest Lady, since she has wandered off and now she's groping my tree for some reason. Good choice of tree, that one’s my favorite. Joras and Lily seem content to just watch the rest of them, and Shadow Man is looking as ominous as ever. If Neithro were here, we’d have all of my best friends in one spot. The sight of Lauren laughing catches my eye, but it’s clear to me that most of her joy is just a façade to fool the others into not worrying about her.
Wait…