How the heck do I fix this?! I need to do something, so I'll hold him down and try reaching into him with my mind to pull the magic back out. It isn't working, I’m just bumping up against some barrier.

I really didn’t think this through. I’m sorry, Joras! I need to stop this. How the hell do I stop this? He’s only been nice and now I’m killing him, what the fuck is wrong with me?!

And fucking eating people?! That’s insane! Why the hell am I looking at people as if they’re just another snack, that’s fucking serial killer shit!

No, it’s worse than that! It’s cannibal serial killer shit! And ripping apart animals is horrible, so why the hell do I enjoy it so much?! I’ve become a fucking monster!

Did Charo see me for what I am and try to stop me? And when the hell did I develop pica?!

This is too fucking much. I can’t do this. I want to go home. I just want to go home.

But what if I hurt people back home too? What if I killed my parents?! Holy fuck, that’s an actual possibility! I can never go home, I have to stay away from people.

I’m too fucking dangerous, I can’t trust myself to not harm people. What the fuck do I do

Fuck, fuck, fuck. I can’t be allowed to live, it’s too dangerous. Why the fuck did I learn to use my fire breath! That just makes me even more dangerous!

I need… to… I… uh, what… I can’t…

—————————

Kira quickly backed away from Joras, leaving Raya to wonder what the the hells is going on. Whatever is happening to Joras is advancing, as scorch marks appear on his skin.

Something is clearly burning him from within. Not having many paths forward, Raya began rummaging through Joras’ satchel, looking for healing potions.

This whole thing had gone awry way too quickly.

Managing to find one, she quickly uncorked it and lightly doused the elf, but the liquid just sizzled and evaporated, which is not how that type of potion is supposed to behave.

Knowing that potions quickly lost their potency after being opened, Raya straddled Joras’ chest and grabbed his face to force him to drink the rest of the potion.

It didn’t feel like a safe thing to do, but leaving someone twisting in pain also felt unsafe.

Having done what she could for Joras, she moved away from him and focused on Kira. The Dragon looked terrified, walking in circles while whimpering softly.

Cursing her lack of alchemical knowledge, Raya discarded the idea of finding a Mind Bridge potion, as most utility potions looked alike.

Instead, she just called out to Kira, hoping to break the spiral the Dragon currently found herself in, but it wasn’t working.

Kira couldn’t be reached, and the situation wasn’t helped by this damn language barrier.

This whole thing had gone awry so fast it made Raya’s head spin. Joras seemed to have calmed down a bit, whether that was because of the healing potion, him currently dying, or whatever was happening slowly passing, she couldn’t tell.

But there wasn’t anything else to do about him, so she focused her attention on Kira. She had to get Kira to snap out of whatever was happening to her.

So, being a clever little goblin, Raya used a tried-and-true goblin technique for situations in which they can’t figure out what to do.

Rush into it and just hold on. So that’s what she did. She ran towards Kira and jumped, landing on and grabbing hold of the Dragon’s face.

“Kira! Listen to me! It’s gonna be okay! Calm down!” But her efforts were having no effect.

Joras woke to find a Dragon clawing at the ground with a goblin attached to its face. A most peculiar sight.

The last thing he remembered was seeing Kira fall over unconscious. And he had jumped to the conclusion that she suffered from severe magic depletion.

Intending to help her, he had connected their magic and attempted to pour some of his magical energy into her. Before he could react, her magic source had ripped most of his magic away, leaving him catatonic.

Whatever had happened during that event burned through him, purifying the magic channels in his body, and he could feel his magic flowing more freely, having become far easier to reach.

Looking at his hands, he could see the scorch marks corresponding to his magic channels, weaving a web across his skin.

But now was not the time to wonder about such things, he had to help Kira and Raya with whatever was going on.

“Raya! What in the hells has happened to Kira?”

“I don’t know, some sort of mind attack, I think, but I don’t see anyone who could have cast it!” Not an unreasonable assumption, he thought, but this was no spell.

“Raya, I need you to take out your blade and make a cut underneath her scales to make her bleed. Then I’ll be able to subdue her.”

“What?! I’m not hurting Kira!” How tremendously frustrating, but he did not relent; continued requests and demands finally made Raya yield, and she took out her knife and jammed it underneath one of Kira’s scales.

“It’s stuck! Now what?! She's not bleeding.” He had feared that might happen, but it had to be tried. He needed an open wound on his target for his spells to work properly. A breach in one’s natural barrier.

He was aware of the broken scales on Kira’s neck, which he could most likely pierce with a spear of blood, but it would definitely be dangerous to attempt that. An option marked as a last resort, to be sure.

Joras walked closer to Kira and inspected her, surely she’d have some old wounds from fighting in this region.

It wasn’t even close to the most dangerous region on this continent, but the dangers were still very real.

“Do something, Joras! Don’t just walk around having a look!” Glaring at the goblin for having reprimanded him, he continued walking around Kira at a calm pace, intent on not triggering a response from the obviously frightened Dragon.

Needing to prepare, he pulled out his dagger and made a cut in his arm, along one of the scorch marks.

Drawing out a not insignificant amount of blood, he formed it into a spear, finding the process far easier than it ought to be.

Focusing on reach, he made the shaft longer than would typically be wise to make a blood spear and then he prepared to strike.

Now he just needed somewhere to make a cut. For a moment, he thought he might be able to simply weave the blood between scales, but he decided against it after considering the risks of her magic absorption.

Losing that much blood and having to create another spear would leave him quite vulnerable, so he needed somewhere specific to strike.

There. He had found something. Near one of her ankles, some scales had been torn away, leaving flesh exposed.

It wasn’t ideal to draw blood from an extremity when using blood magic like he intended, especially when the target was something as powerful as a Dragon, but alas, he wasn’t exactly spoiled for choice.

He went for a quick jab, but missed. Martial arts were not something he had mastered. On the contrary, he was infamously bad at physical tasks among his peers.

A flaw his partner very much enjoyed teasing him about. It took him more attempts than he cared to admit to land a strike with enough force to draw blood. He finally managed and began doing what he was far more proficient at: weaving blood magic.

Focusing on the wound, he took hold of Kira’s blood with his magic and used it to stop the blood supply to her head. A delicate task, requiring him to focus deeply on both the magic and how Kira responded, this could very much kill her, but he had no other option available.

It took longer for the spell to truly affect Kira than he had expected, but it was affecting her.

As his spell took hold, she started losing consciousness. He prepared for the next part, to correct the flow and prevent blockages, which would likely occur in the moments after the spell took effect.

Blood magic was, by its nature, an offensive school of magic.

“Watch out, Raya, she’s about to fall!” Raya looked up in confusion, just as Kira began falling over.

Raya quickly jumped off Kira, her body exhausted and bruised from being part of Kira’s thrashing. Elegantly landing on her face, Raya got up and looked at Kira, wondering what had happened to cause her such distress.

“Will she be okay when she wakes up?” A simple question directed at the elf, but he found himself unable to answer.

“I hope so.”

————————

Elder Turo found himself caught up in another day of petty squabbling politics. How endlessly frustrating it is to deal with these other elders.

Charo’s impulsiveness had long since turned to recklessness, which continued to result in damage to the town.

Likewise, Brahan’s caution had turned into an endless source of hesitation and anxiety, leaving him practically paralyzed any time he had to make a decision.

To his relief, at least Mako hadn’t changed much; granted, she was frustrating to deal with from the very beginning of her tenure.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“So, Elder Turo, now you have spoken to both the mad elf and a dubious young woman, not the most reliable of sources, are you still convinced we are dealing with a Dragon?”

It had been days of this bullshit. How in the Hells could these morons not accept something as obvious as the basic facts of the situation?!

At this point, Turo found himself almost wanting the Dragon to attack. If for no other reason than to prove to these fools that it WAS a Dragon.

But he suspected that even then, they’d deny it, making excuses like ‘maybe it was the faefolk playing tricks’ or some other nonsense.

Deciding this was getting nowhere, Turo excused himself, telling the remaining two to figure it out. It was time to face the bull and talk to Charo. If only because he wanted to find someone who’d acknowledge that it was a Dragon they were facing.

Arriving at the house of the town physician, Turo found himself appreciating that Charo managed to secure a larger building for the physician, and one near the alchemists, no less.

It was a brilliant decision, he must admit. A lot of lives had been saved through the proximity to additional potions and herbs, and there was enough room in the building to house a number of patients long term.

Illness wasn’t much of an issue, but people were very good at getting hurt. With a deep breath, he went inside.

“Hah, didn’t expect to see you here, asshole. Finally had enough of the others?” She knew exactly what he was up against dealing with the others, which made him wonder if he had been too hasty to suggest her demise.

“I just want to know what you think the beast was, Charo.” Turning the scorched remains of her face toward him, he could feel the fear and rage radiating from her.

“Don’t tell me Dim and Dumb are still arguing about that… Do they think we can just wait out a fucking Dragon?! At the very least, a feast should be prepared: gold, jewels, anything a Dragon might want. By the hells, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone suggested executing me!”

That last exclamation struck Turo’s composure. “I may have suggested that. I apologize.”

“Bah! You finally apologize for something, you arrogant prick, and then I can't even see your stupid face...” Turo was caught off guard as he found his years of frustration and anger at the woman fading away.

“So, what would you suggest I do, you reckless old hag?” At his question, he noticed she tried to move the stump of her arm to her face, only to hesitate and switch to the other hand.

It was a harsh punishment for her sins and greater than he felt was necessary.

“Naturally, I’d suggest you find a suitably large cliff and jump off of it, but that isn’t really productive right now. So do what I have no doubt Raya has done: seek out the Dragon and ask it for leniency and forgiveness. I’d do it myself, but I can’t really see a way for me to do that on my own. Hah!”

He had considered that, but not knowing where to look, it seemed like a fool’s errand.

Giving Charo a look, Turo spoke. “Care to join me? I could use a fool for this errand.” With another laugh, Charo agreed to join, the two of them working together to get Charo ready.

It took a surprising amount of bickering before the duo had prepared for a trek into the forest, having settled on visiting Undine Lake first for the simple reason of it being a landmark.

Both of them knew that this was a dangerous trek and could very well lead to their demise. They had considered bringing guards along, but opted not to, as approaching with an armed force could easily lead to an unnecessary confrontation.

“So, you’ve had more contact with the Dragon than I have; what do you think our chances are?”

Thinking about her question, he opted not to answer. Feeling the familiar anger from Charo, Turo couldn’t help but grin.

It was already past midday, and the two wouldn’t have much time to linger, so they headed northwest, intending to use the trail leading to Undine Lake.

Turo wondered if Raya even knew the trail existed, as he hadn’t heard of her ever using it.

The journey went without incident until they got closer to the lake. They could suddenly hear quite a ruckus and chose to hide in the nearby bushes.

“Stay down, Charo. Can you see what they’re up to?”

“Oh, ha ha, make fun of the blind person, very good, Turo, very good.” Letting out a sigh, he went on to describe the scene; he could see Raya and Joras near the Dragon, but it was just lying on the ground, mostly motionless.

“You should go out there, Turo. Ask what they’re doing. They like you better than me.” Turo just stared at her for a moment; this very much felt like a bad decision and the kind of recklessness Charo had become known for.

But she was right, even if just because they disliked Charo very much.

————————

Raya was still on edge as she had no idea what to do in this situation, she felt thoroughly powerless and anxious.

It felt like every time she and Kira were together, something bad happened. And then she heard rustling from the bushes, startling her. Reacting quickly, she wove her fire bolt spell and launched it towards the noise.

As soon as the fire bolt flew, she was filled with dread as she recognized the man standing there. She had just attacked an elder…

Much to Turo’s own surprise, he managed to dodge the fire bolt, only to hear a scream behind him. Turning around and rushing to Charo’s location, he found the old woman with fresh burns to her chest.

And she was currently on fire. Acting quickly, he worked to put out the flames and fished out a healing potion from his pack. Raya quickly ran over to see what had happened and found herself very surprised to see Charo.

And horrified at having attacked two elders with one spell.

“Impressive shot, Raya. I’m surprised you managed to hit someone hidden in the bushes like that.” Joras’ support gave Raya quite mixed feelings.

He was a skilled mage and compliments from him meant something, but the situation wasn’t exactly conducive to celebration. She watched as Turo poured the healing potion onto Charo’s wounds, stopping the bleeding.

“I did not see that coming. Hah! Fucking hells, I need to work on my relationship with fire, it has turned very abusive recently.” Raya quickly started apologizing profusely and bowing to the Elders.

“Stop it with the apologies, woman! Help me up instead.”

“Not that this hasn’t been fun to watch, but what brings two Elders to Undine Lake?” Joras appreciated being on the questioning side for once, rather than being questioned.

It was Turo who would speak up first.

“Our goal here, Joras, is to ascertain whether a peaceful resolution to this whole thing can be reached. On that topic, do you think it might be possible?”

With his usual shopkeeper hmm’ing and haah’ing, Joras thought about how this situation might best be utilized. His first thought was that it was an excellent opportunity to squeeze the two Elders, benefiting Kira as well as himself.

“To start with, perhaps you, Charo, could assist in resolving the turmoil currently affecting the Dragon, she should have woken up by now. Although, if given that opportunity, I’d advise against any of those tricks you’re so fond of pulling, I’m not sure you have enough arms left to risk it. And I would be remiss not to also inform you that Raya has quite the reaction to people attempting to harm the Dragon.”

Charo immediately tensed up, she knew it was common knowledge that she had binding magic. She got the impression that Joras knew far more about her than she was comfortable with.

Nevertheless, she could most likely help with matters of the mind. “Fine, I’ll see what I can do.”

“I don’t trust her, Joras. She has already lied to me about helping Kira, why wouldn’t she just lie again?” Raya was clearly on edge about this whole thing.

“Quite simple, Raya. She will do as she is told, because otherwise you will stab her, and I will rip the blood from her body before she can give any commands. Don't fight a blood mage when you have open wounds. And with her death, the binding will break anyway. We will, of course, have more things to discuss once this is done.”

Raya just looked up at him, thinking she might’ve underestimated how ruthless he could be.

Raya found herself beginning to wonder how much of Joras’ help was altruism and how much was simply manipulation to get what he wanted. But that wasn’t something they could focus on now, Kira needed help, and for that, Joras was necessary.

“Are you all just gonna stand around or is someone gonna help me find this damn Dragon?! I’m new to being blind, remember?”

Turo quickly grabbed her remaining arm and brought her closer to Kira. Neither Joras nor Raya let them stray too far. The Elders felt very much like captives.

“To do this, I will have to use mind magic, so don’t attack me.” Charo reached her hand forward, feeling for Kira.

Touching the uneven surface of a scaly face, she reached into Kira’s mind with her magic, finding it much harder than it should be.

————————

The mindscape Charo found was vastly different from anything she had ever known. Buildings reaching for the clouds, carriages without draft animals, and so many lights.

“Run! Don’t just stand there, we have to hide!” A young woman screamed out to her, and Charo quickly moved towards the alley where the young woman stood.

“What’s going on? What are we hiding from?" The young woman looked out from the alley, definitely looking for something specific.

“There’s a freakin’ dragon out there! It’s been hunting me for weeks! Quick, this way!” The young woman pulled on Charo’s arm.

The two rushed into another building when a roar sounded in the distance. Pushing a finger to her lips, the woman shushed Charo.

“Be quiet, that thing has ridiculously good hearing. It keeps finding me, but so far, I’ve gotten away every time.”

Confused, Charo simply opted for following along, this wasn’t like anything she had ever experienced before. Another roar. Closer this time.

“Oh darn it, I think it knows where we are. You need to hide, lady, I think it wants me for some reason.”

The two ran through the building, checking doors, only to find them locked. They continued to run down the hallway until a window stopped them.

“Darn it, we’ve checked all the floors, but there’s nowhere to hide.”

That just added to Charo’s confusion, they hadn’t ascended any stairs or ramps, so how in the hells had they reached the top of the building? Before she could come to a conclusion, another roar sounded and the dragon landed on the roof next to them.

The woman grabbed her arm again, causing Charo to look down, she had both arms again, and she could see…

“This way, we have to get away!” She was yelling at Charo as they ran down the road.

Wondering what in the hells to do, Charo snapped at the woman.

“Stop! We have to figure out what's going on here. You need to face the problem instead of running from it.”

“I’m not gonna face that monster, it’s too scary! We need to find some place to hide!” With a groan, Charo just followed the woman as she started running again.

As they turned a corner, they nearly fell into a lake, Undine Lake. “Can you swim, Old One?”

What? “My name is Charo, remember? We’ve met.” The woman just shrugged and jumped into the lake without her.

Another roar sounded. “You will not survive this, Charo! I will not forgive what you tried to do to me!” That shook Charo to the core, the dragon was clearly not inclined to talk calmly, so she jumped into the lake as well.

To her surprise, the two of them ended up in a small house, quite a beautiful one at that. “What is this place?”

The woman just looked at her for a moment and shrugged. “This is home, silly.”

Another roar sounded, and then a thump. “Oh no! The dragon found us really fast this time!” For how scared her voice sounded, the woman didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to run this time.

Then a gentle knock at the door brought Charo back from her momentary lapse in focus. “Who’s there?” Asked the woman, and in return she got a roar. “Sorry, no solicitors.”

Now the dragon gently turned the doorknob. “Hey! That’s not allowed, my home is mine, not yours! Stay out, monster!”

But the dragon didn’t listen and just entered. The woman stepped forward and as the two approached each other, they swapped form, woman becoming dragon and dragon becoming woman.

“No! No! NOOO! I’m not a monster! I’m just me! Stop taking me away from me! Give me back!”

For its part, the humanoid dragon just stood there, “What’s your name?” Tears flowing down the woman’s draconic cheeks.

“I don’t know! You took my name too!"

“What’s my name?”

“I don’t know! Monsters don’t have names!”

“What’s our name?” The woman just glared at the being standing in front of her with burning draconic eyes.

“I don’t know, stop asking me, I don’t know…” Watching the exchange, Charo found herself caught up in the pain emanating from the two.

“Kira.” They both now faced her, looking ready to kill. The two stepped forward as Charo stepped back. “Your name is Kira.”

This situation had gotten well out of hand for the Elder from the very start. Not even letting go of her magic allowed her escape, she was very much caught in the web of a much stronger being.

“Don’t use that name.” They both said at the same time. It was clearly doing something.

“You aren’t a monster, Kira.” Anger flared in their eyes. “What you did to me was my fault, Kira, not yours.” Anger turned to fury.

“You’ve only shown kindness to Raya, Kira. A monster wouldn't do that.”

As the two stepped forward, they should’ve bumped into each other, but instead started merging. “Me being here is proof that you are good, Kira.”

The world around them started fading away as the merge completed, forming into a tall, draconic woman.

“If I’m so good, why do I still want to rip your throat out, Charo?” With a smile, Charo looked straight into the amalgamation’s eyes.

“Everyone wants to lash out sometimes, Kira. Especially when they’re treated unfairly.” The world shattered. The two finding themselves in a black void.

“Why should I let you live after what you did?”

Feeling a crushing pressure in her chest, Charo found herself unable to answer, she couldn’t come up with an honest answer. By the hells, she was sure she’d do much worse if the situation was reversed.

“You shouldn’t, I guess. I know I wouldn’t in your situation.” “So what should I do? I feel so lost… I’m not even from here…”

Unable to stifle an awkward chuckle, Charo turned her gaze upward. “If I were you, I’d try to find a balance and build a new home. You don’t have to be alone and you won’t be lost if you build a new place to belong. I doubt we have much time left for our little chat here, you’re about to wake up. I’m sorry for what I did to you, Kira, please forgive me.”

Tears in her eyes, Kira just nodded. Charo smiled and said “Of course I forgive you too, so don't you worry about me. I know you’ll do your best, Kira. Don’t let bad people like me corrupt you.”