Tribulations of a Dragon

First thing I notice as I wake up is a gentle snoring. And smelling the air, I notice Jeannie’s scent and find her snuggled up by my arm. I guess she decided to take me up on my sleepover offer; she even brought a blanket.

Well, everyone needs an excuse to be lazy every once in a while, and today Jeannie volunteered to be mine. So I just coil myself up again.

Well, I would be snoozing some more, but then a different goblin shows up to interrupt my important plans.

“Good morning, Kira! Did you sleep well?” I did, but I should focus and find out if there’s a reason for Raya to show up this early, so I ask her.

“No reason, just wanted to say hello before I head out. What are your plans for today?” That’s nice; she deserves a boop. I tell her that I’ll need to ask Joras about the shadow man.

“What shadow man?” She was probably tired and didn’t pay attention. So I recap what I mentioned last night, and she does not look any less confused… “I really don’t remember any shadow man. I do remember you telling us you got lost and somehow found your way back.”

I prod Jeannie and ask her if she remembers, but she shakes her head. Okay, creep factor just went up dozens of points… Definitely going to ask Joras about that creep.

Raya looks worried. “Do you want me to stay with you today?” I’ll be fine though; I’m not doing anything dangerous today, so I’m not gonna be in any danger. In fact, I’m gonna steer clear of danger as well as I can until I fix whatever is going on with my magic.

There are a lot of things I want to do though. Secure my hoard, eat the bear, if it’s still preserved, visit Joras and if time permits. Maybe possibly apologize for not listening to his important lecture.

First things first, I should go visit Joras and ask about magic recovery. It feels like I’m still too weak after eating so much.

Once I arrive at his place, I kno- “Don’t do it, Kira.” Okay, I wait patiently and wonder how he knows I’m here.

It’s gonna be because of something obvious that I haven’t considered. This is when Joras opens his door and asks if there’s anything I need, which I do, information. So I ask if he knows how long he thinks it will take for me to recover my magic, and I tell him what we’ve been up to.

“Well, first things first, I wouldn’t have minded joining this little gathering.” Oh, I’ll have to remember that next time. “But getting to the point, I can’t say I’m an expert on dragons. I'm confident you should have recovered a significant amount of magic already. Both through food and absorbing ambient magic.”

Yeah, but I didn’t, so what’s the deal... Unfortunately for me, he informs me that he can’t say, so he fetches Lily and asks if she can inspect me.

“I’m sorry, Kira, I can’t. I don’t have a lot of magic myself. And with your affinity for draining magic, anything I try to cast would get dismantled and consumed.” Dang it...

Well, not much to do about that; I’ll have to ask the third magic user I know, Old Man Wreyn. I don’t feel like visiting him in my weakened state. Oakhold is too dangerous with those pesky adventurers around. That's definitely my reason for not wanting to go back.

So I ask Joras if there’s a way for us to get in contact with Old Man Wreyn without me going there, but he doesn’t have much of an idea. It’d be too dangerous for someone from Tuiran to go, aside from him or Lily. I'm not sure why that is, but he seems confident.

“Hm… Now that I think about it, couldn’t you fly over Oakhold and have Wreyn come to you?” Okay, yeah, that’s a pretty good idea. I might just do that.

While I’m here, I’m just gonna ask how he knows I’m about to knock on the door. Now he’s just staring at me…

“You block out the light. Any time you approach, my shop goes dark.” Okay, well, now I feel stupid… “Don’t mind it, Kira. You’ve never been inside a building, so it wouldn’t be a concept you’re overly familiar with.”

That feels incorrect, but I can’t tell why. It’s true that I haven’t been fully inside a building since I hatched, but I know how shadows and blocking light work.

Not much to do about that, so instead I ask if he knows the shadow man wandering the woods, and I even describe the being.

“Can’t say that I do, but it could be related to old stories about a mysterious guide.” Yeah, he did mysteriously guide me, so that checks out. What else?

“There are quite a few stories about a being swathed in shadows and death showing up to guide a hero in times of great turmoil. But those are human stories, so their validity is unreliable. Short-lived folks like that tend not to be the best record keepers."

Be that as it may, I still want to hear about it, Joras. Don’t leave me hanging like that!

“Ugh… Fine… The stories always start with a child getting lost in the woods. As despair sets in and they lose hope, the being shows up and gives them a path to salvation. If the child returns to find the being again, it will teach them ancient magic. The stories repeat the same theme. Those taught by the being grow up to wield tremendous power. It’s unclear why, but these great mages rarely join conflicts. They do tend to usher in a time of peace as the nations won't risk angering these great mages and their patron."

Huh, that’s weird. So basically, this guy goes around creating doomsday weapons that deter enemies. What a weird hobby.

Wait, is that why he guided me back to the lake? I don’t want that… He’d better not guide me to some great destiny. I just wanna hang out and have fun and amass wealth! I’m just gonna tell him to go away if he starts talking about some nonsense like destiny. Assuming it’s the same guy.

Well, since I’m here anyway, I should ask Joras about magic depletion… “Are you alright, Kira? I don't mean this as an offense, but you’ve been paying an unusual amount of attention today.”

Pfft, nonsense. I just need to learn this stuff and there’s no time like the present. “I think I know what’s going on.” No, no, I’m just being curious and attentive.

“We don’t really have any options except Wreyn, and you need the help, Kira.” I know! But I don’t like Oakhold…

Actually, maybe… What if the shocking lady in the woods can help. That way, I don’t have to go to Oakhold. So I’m just gonna go ahead and suggest that.

“I’m not familiar with anyone living in the woods, but I guess it’s worth a try.” Great! We’ll go there now, then.

“We are? I have work to do.” I see I need to use my greatest weapon… So I give him the cute eyes of pleading!

“That would work a lot better if you were about Raya’s size, but fine, I will join you…” Success! Now I have a translator, which is necessary because I don’t speak whatever she spoke. Assuming Joras speaks whatever language that was. He probably does; he’s a clever cookie.

I motion for him to jump on so we can set off. He quickly complies without complaint, as long as I ignore the sigh.

And we’re off! Wait, we’re backtracking a bit. “Anything wrong, Kira?” Nah, I just wanna see the symbol on Joras’ house. It is indeed a green triangle, huh, and three lines and two dots, that’s fourteen buildings from the square.

“Oh, did Raya teach you about the signs?” Yep, and I’m doing a good job of learning stuff!

Now it’s time to go find a forest lady, so using my newfound navigational skills, I make my way towards the square again. I’m finding myself looking at every building on our way to spot the signs, and they really are everywhere.

There’s even a white triangle. Raya didn’t mention anything white-colored. This demands investigation. I peek through the windows and it’s a clothing shop. This is perfect; I definitely need to take Raya here to get her dress fixed. Let’s see, that’s one line and three dots. Gotta remember that.

“Kira, I appreciate that you’re curious, but please do remember that you invited me to ride you. I’ve had to dodge six signboards already.”

Oh… Uhm… Just gonna back up slowly and see what he means. Sure enough, there’s a wooden board with what looks like a bolt of cloth carved into it.

Well, we’re practically at the square anyway, so I’ll just focus up and go straight there. Then we can get a move on.

“This really is quite the experience when you don’t have to spend so much energy dodging. I’m finding myself envying Raya’s short stature.”

Hah, that’s what you get for being very tall. Wait… I shouldn’t make fun of his size…

I tell him to hold on tight and then I feel his legs lock around my neck, so I set off. “By the Gods! This is fun! No wonder Raya keeps bringing it up.”

We’ve only just started flying, so the obvious thing to do now is take it up a notch.

I push more magic into my wings and fly even higher. It’s harder than it was ascending the eastern mountain, but I’ll manage. Joras is really holding on tight, and I’ve never heard him laugh like that before.

As we get to about half the mountain’s height, I level out and we just soar for a bit. “Oh, by the Gods, Kira! You could earn however much coin you want by offering this as a service! I’ve truly never experienced anything like it.”

“I’ve got an idea, do you think you can go higher?” Not sure why, but yeah, I can definitely go higher. It takes some effort and I have to focus more on steadying us. We climb higher and higher until we’re above the eastern mountain's peak.

“Do you think you can catch me?” Yeah, sure, you’re perfectly safe with me, Joras. No need to worry.

…Why is he getting up? We’re not at a ‘getting up’ altitude, Joras. “Kira, hold steady, I want to try standing up!” Uh, that seems like a bad idea.

To my surprise, he actually manages to stand up and not fall. How the heck is he managing that? I’m pretty sure the wind resistance should’ve knocked him off.

Oh shit, if he falls, he’ll probably hit my spines! That’s very not good.

“Kira! Get ready to dive and follow me.” WHAT?! Follow you? Pretty sure you’re the one who is supposed to do the following here!

He freakin’ jumped! The absolute madman jumped! Obviously, I pivot and follow him. His limbs are spread out and he’s using his jacket to act like membranes. Somehow, he’s actually managing to slow his speed.

The ground is still approaching very fast, so I move to have a wing under him, which he quickly grabs hold of, and I level us out. He’s holding on to my wing’s elbow joint as we fly, making flight more difficult as I have to compensate for the added weight. And I have to make sure I don’t crush his fingers when I flap my wings.

He manages to pull himself up and maneuver onto my back, and, using my spines, he crawls to my head and sits back down. I thought Raya would be the crazy one. Turns out I might have been wrong…

“I can honestly say that I have never tried anything like that before, Kira. Do you always feel that rush when you fly?” Maybe not exactly like that, but it’s always a rush to fly, yeah.

There’s no way I’m letting him sit on his own again. That was too dangerous. I’m gonna need a seat belt installed on me or something.

“I can’t believe I got to try flying on my own. That’s something I’ll never forget.” Yeah, a real once-in-a-lifetime experience, especially if you had hit the ground, you crazy weirdo!

We’re gonna head towards the forest lady and not do any more crazy sky shenanigans. It’s pretty evident that this guy can’t be trusted to keep his arms and legs on the dragon during the ride.

As we fly towards the forest lady’s hut, I begin thinking about Joras and how different he is now compared to when we first met. He seemed so grumpy and sad, maybe even angry, but now he’s like a child experiencing the world again. So I ask about it.

“I don’t think I’m that different, but maybe the spark of life was reignited when my Lily’s health improved, and that’s what you are seeing.” Huh, could be. I guess that makes sense.

I’m gonna ask Raya what she thinks later. For now, we’ve arrived, so I land in the backyard and Joras dismounts before I even lower my head to the ground. So weird to have a much larger person riding me.

Joras is quick to ask where the woman is, so I lead him around front and he stares at the scene a moment. “I can’t say I blame her for not liking you, Kira. Her fence is broken, several crops have been damaged, her pathway is a mess. Judging by her thatched roof, you also didn’t watch where your wings were going.”

Geez, with a summary like that, I feel like she might have been justified shocking me…

Having documented the damage, Joras walks up to the door and knocks. And knocks. Nobody’s answering. “I would imagine she left, Kira.” Why would she do that?

“A dragon shows up on your doorstep and you defend yourself against it. Do you stay and wait for it to come back to settle the score, or leave and not give it a chance?” Okay, fair… And then he just walks inside. He looks a bit funny, having to bend down to enter a hut built for humans.

Hmm… How does he visit anyone in Tuiran? Those homes are built for goblins, who are even shorter than humans. And he’s like two or three times taller than any goblin I’ve seen.

“No one lives here anymore. From the looks of it, anything of significant value has been taken and whoever this woman was, she’s long gone.” Oh, well, hopefully she’ll be fine and I can apologize one day.

Can’t do anything about that, I’m certainly not gonna track someone down who seems quite intent on me not finding her. So what will I do now…

“So what will you do now?” I don’t know… I suggest we go back to Tuiran and call it a day, but Joras doesn’t seem interested in that.

“You know, you’ll have to face your fears. Based on what Wreyn told me, the people of Oakhold wouldn’t be welcoming to you. But they also wouldn’t be gathering pitchforks and torches to chase you out.”

But what if they did? What if it turns out like Charo again? I don’t want that. I tell him as much, but that just makes him smile at me.

“You’re afraid one bad experience will end up being overshadowed by good? and you’ll be accepted by the people and welcomed into their lives? That you’ll build friendships and not have to be alone? Or perhaps that you’ll improve the lives of those you meet?”

… Fine, we’ll go to Oakhold…

In an attempt to find a final excuse not to go, I check on my magic, but I should be fine to fly there and back. Dang it.

As soon as Joras mounts up again, we’re off. Feeling a little retaliatory and petty, I decide to fly a little faster than necessary. He isn’t quite dressed for that, so he’s gonna be cold. Serves him right.

The flight itself proceeds without incident, and it doesn’t take long at all before we reach the forest’s edge. I spend my time watching our surroundings, and these flat areas are quite nice. Most of the area is covered in grass ranging from green to slightly yellow, sprinkled with some pretty yellow, red and purple flowers. There are even a few trees here and there.

I'm gonna have to have Raya teach me about plants so I can identify these things…

“Kira, I think you should pay attention; we’re approaching Oakhold.” I am paying attention, just not to where we’re going. Botany will have to wait, I guess. We are indeed approaching Oakhold. I ask Joras whether we should fly over the town and lure Old Man Wreyn out or approach the gates.

I wonder if the gates are even an option, as there is quite a gathering outside. If I had to guess, I’d say about thirty people are standing off to the side of the road by the gates.

I’m seeing humans, elves, scalefolk, and two types of folks I’m unfamiliar with. One is a very short and wide person, like a squished human, and the other person has fur all over and a pair of pointed ears. Ooh, so many new folks to get to know!

“Well, I hadn’t intended on joining you for your trip to Oakhold, but now that I’m here, we should approach the gates. Showing civility will likely help your image.” Right, I asked him a question. That makes sense to me. Frightening the townsfolk after the trouble I took part in last time would be a bad look.

We land a safe distance from the gates, about a hundred meters (109 yd), I think. Walking the rest of the way will be easy enough. To my surprise, the four guards at the gates aren’t rushing to attack, so that’s a relief. They’re mostly just looking at me and each other. I suppose it might be helping that Joras is walking a bit ahead of me.

Approaching the gate, the crowd seems content to just stand there and watch. At least until someone speaks up all of a sudden. “Ti du themar feren? [Is the dragon friendly?]”

I assume it was directed at Joras because he just nods and gestures for the speaker to come closer. And they do come closer! It’s a young human guy, I think. He seems quite cautious about the whole thing. I don’t bite! Well… I don’t bite without a reason…

“Wara E shena idu? [Can I touch it?]” Whatever that was, it earned another nod from Joras, and then he tells me to lie down. So that’s what I do as this guy approaches me with almost impressively tiny steps.

Yeah, this is taking too long, so I get up and approach him instead. I’m gonna boop his nose with my nose! As I do, I also notice that he smells quite delicious, and that scent is increasing by the second.

As gently as I can, I make contact with my nose and he is standing very still. Yeah, I’m gonna have to play with him a bit, so I exhale with a little more force than necessary.

I hadn’t expected him to scream, but scream he did as he fell on his butt. The crowd bursts into laughter as the guy turns very red. I’m pretty sure it’s embarrassment. He doesn’t seem upset to me.

I have to commend his bravery for trying to approach me in the first place. That kinda impressed me. To my surprise, I didn’t even scare him off. He scrambles to recover and compose himself, and in very short order, he’s standing in front of me.

I notice the crowd’s laughter has died down and they’ve gone still. I wonder if they’re expecting him to do something foolish. But he doesn’t, he just reaches out and touches my cheek. “E Shenain un themar! [I touched a dragon!]”

I’m gonna need Joras to teach me their language. I don’t think I can rely on falling into traumatic comas, having people’s spirits show up and gift me knowledge as I unintentionally lash out and kill them. That just doesn’t seem like a viable long-term plan.

Now that Sir Bravery has shown that I’m not an immediate danger, the crowd seems to have relaxed quite a bit. Even the three guards are relaxing again. Pretty sure there were four, but maybe I’m remembering that wrong.

Bringing my attention back to the people around me, I notice the scent of fear wafting off some of them, but most just seem wary. And so many of them smell like money. Maybe Joras was onto something with the whole selling flights…

Bring my attention back to my immediate surroundings. The first thing I notice is that the crowd has gathered around me instead of watching from the sidelines. Most seem content to just touch my scales, but I notice one person inspecting my claws quite closely.

So I inspect him quite closely. Moving my head towards him, people move away to give me room, and the guy hasn’t noticed me yet.

Well, if he’s interested in me, perhaps he’d like a closer look. So I prepare to perform my classic open-mouth startle!

“Don’t do it, Kira. Just push him away if you don’t want the attention.” Killjoy…

I give Joras a disapproving look for ruining my fun, but he just goes back to talking to the locals about whatever they talk about. I’m getting bored.

So I stand up slowly, making sure people have time to give me room. For some reason, Joras claps twice and says something or other, and the crowd starts returning to the side of the road.

It occurs to me that I have no idea who these people are or what they do, so I ask Joras what’s up.

“They’re trade apprentices. Traders will send their apprentices ahead to secure entry into a town or city, so that the trader’s carriage won’t have to wait outside.” Huh, that’s pretty neat.

No wonder they smell like money, but I don’t see any goods. So why are the gates closed? Surely they should be open to allow passage. I nudge Joras for an answer.

“You know, you don’t have to push me every time you want to ask a question…” Okay, fair, but get to explaining, buddy!

He chuckles at me, I don’t deserve chuckles aimed at me. “Incorrigible child. The gates are closed to keep giant lizards out.” That’s stupid, I can just fly over the walls and do whatever I want insi… Why is he laughing…

“No, Kira, I wasn’t talking about you, so you don’t have to look for ways you can get in. I’m referring actual lizards like basilisks and the like. They roam this region and they’re known to attack fortified settlements looking for shelter. They often mistake the gates for caves, so the gates have to remain closed until enough people need to pass through.”

I guess that makes sense. And the walls are necessary to keep other stuff out. That seems troublesome.

I find myself curious how long it takes to open and close the gates, and I actually get to find out right now, because they’re opening. At the center of the gates, I see a cranky-looking horseman.

The gates are pretty slow to open, so yeah, it makes sense to keep them closed to prevent intruders.

The rider is definitely Captain Cranky, and he’s very quick to approach Joras and start barking. Once he stops, Joras tells me that Captain Cranky will lead us to Wreyn’s place. Something about Wreyn being untrustworthy as a caretaker.

I suggest that Joras cast his little talky spell, so I can listen in on whatever Captain Cranky says. That might make him less cranky about my being here.

“Not a bad idea…” I know, right? He’s quick to start talking to Captain Cranky, and the guy just looks at me for a moment and shrugs. Joras pulls out his dagger, and I stick out my tongue. A quick jab and a tingle later, and we can talk! As we continue to walk, he speaks up.

“What do you want, Dragon?” Okay, I feel like I definitely got his name right.

His attitude sort of derailed my train of thought and I’m not sure what I want from him. So I just ask him why he seems to dislike me.

“Why would I not dislike you? Your kin are known as destroyers. Why would you be different?” Okay, now that’s rude. I didn’t choose to be a dragon, and I’m definitely not choosing to be a destroyer. I may occasionally cause a bit of a mess, but most of that hasn’t been my fault!

So I jab back by asking if I should assume he’ll attack me like the adventurers did, because if so, I might as well attack preemptively. Defending myself is only reasonable.

“Whether you attack now or later doesn’t change anything. But the next time you attack someone in Oakhold, I intend to be there to stop you.”

Geez, what a dick. I’m just gonna ask Joras to cancel the spell. This was pointless, and now I’m in a bad mood.

Joras reaches over and scratches my chin. It takes more than that to turn this frown upside down. Or I guess to change the color of these eyes. That’s not as catchy, though.

“Don’t mind him, Kira. We’re here to see Wreyn. What the pawns think is immaterial. You only need to consider Wreyn.” It feels a little harsh, but I appreciate the thought.

We’re moving through a somewhat crowded street, and I look around. Sure enough, those markings Raya taught me about aren’t here, so how do humans navigate? Another thing to learn!

This street seems mostly populated by craftspeople. I’m hearing some blacksmith ringing; I wonder if they’d like some Dragonflame too. Not now though, I’m not gonna risk burning something down. Again…

The buildings really are beautiful. From what I can tell, they’re a mix of solid wood and bricks. No wonder they could support my weight. Maybe Wreyn would be willing to teach someone in Tuiran to make bricks like that. Then I could climb buildings and take off from anywhere!

Ooh! We’re actually passing by the blacksmith, so I’m just gonna have a peek and see what they’ve got going on.

I nudge the door slightly and it isn’t locked! Pushing my head inside, I take a look around, and what a delicious-smelling room it is.

The room, or shop, has several displays showing weapons of all sorts. Although mostly axes. I’m just gonna go out on a limb and assume this is a weaponsmith’s shop.

I wonder if I could get metal claws made to go onto my claws. Super claws! The smells of the different metals are the most pervasive scents in the shop, but I’m also getting hints of fear. Weapons that induce fear seem like a hat-on-a-hat situation, but I don’t know their customs.

As I continue to look around, I realize I may have been a bit silly to assume the scent of fear came from the weapons. The shopkeeper is standing in a doorway at the back of the shop, and he’s looking kinda pale.

I’m just gonna leave and let him calm down. Yep, everything is normal here. Having successfully removed myself from the shop, I look around and see Captain Cranky. He seems to be waiting for me, and Joras is standing around with a wide grin.

“Building more friendships, are we?” Who knows where it’ll go with this shopkeeper, but at least I didn’t destroy anything, so that’s a very good start!

Captain Cranky doesn’t seem interested in niceties. He just gestures for us to keep moving, so that’s what we do. Can’t be long until we’re at Wreyn’s place.

Ooh! I smell food! Joras, can we go get some food?

“Sure, but you’re paying.” He says with a chuckle. Just this once, I agree. Captain Cranky speaks up as he notices us change direction. He seems upset again, but then from what I can tell, that’s his default mood.

“He’s just talking about having a schedule to keep and being too busy to babysit us.” Well, I’m fine with him leaving, Joras and I can have fun on our own.

As I turn to leave, Joras watches Captain Cranky some more, but the captain just shouts some more and leaves. I ask Joras what he said. It turns out to be some stuff about whatever is happening not being his responsibility anymore.

I’m surprised Joras is so willing to just ditch our escort, and a nudge later, he explains.

“I just didn’t like his attitude. It reminded me of myself in my youth, a time I’d rather forget. Too judgmental and rigid.” Huh, well, I wanna know more about his youth, but that can wait until he wants to share.

We walk further down this street towards the delicious food smells. And sure enough, we find a market! Ooh, this is gonna be great! There are plenty of food stalls and trinket stalls here. The stalls are quite pretty, each decorated with ornaments. I wonder whether they have any meaning or they’re just there to be pretty.

There are so many food options for us to try. And luck is on our side, because there’s barely a crowd today! Actually, there’s not really anyone. The few folks who were around have disappeared.

“Kira, you should try these, open up.” Ooh, skewers with veggies and meat! Those look delicious. Opening my mouth, he just throws them in. He didn’t even remove the sticks.

Doesn’t stop me from eating them, but that would have been considerate of him.

As we proceed through the market, he picks something from every food stall and throws it to me. We need to visit this place again. This is some great stuff.

I feel a tingle all of a sudden and then hear a familiar voice. “Enjoying yourselves?” We are, thanks for asking, Old Man Wreyn.