Tribulations of a Dragon

Well, it’s very clear to me that Lauren has mixed feelings on this whole help situation, but I’m happy she isn’t being mind-controlled. Less happy that she yelled at me again, but that seems to be her thing. I should look into getting her to stop that.

There’s plenty of time for that, though, so for now, I should be the mature and non-yelling person.

“Did you enjoy Food Stall Day?”

She’s just staring at me with a scowl, and I don’t know what to do with that. At least the scowl isn’t indicative of a foul mood, as far as I know. I haven’t seen her without one, so I figure that’s just her face. The only rational thing to do in this situation is to lick her, obviously.

There we go, the scowl is gone! It has been replaced by a very shocked expression. Whether that’s an upgrade or not, I don’t know, but it's different.

“Why would you do that?!”

“I figured you were too lost in thought, and I got a little impatient.”

“I was considering my answer, you vile beast!”

She wipes my saliva away from her face as she mumbles and growls a bunch of words I’m not paying attention to, but it’s definitely foul.

“I would still like to hear about your day at the Food Stall Day.”

“It was fun... Your people are very welcoming and nice. They can’t understand me, but that didn’t seem to matter. This entire situation is unreal... Goblins aren’t like this, Kira, they’re supposed to be vicious, greedy, and primitive. I thought your goblins were just pretending to be civilized, but… this is real.”

“I don’t know about any of that, they were like this when I got here. But you had a good day, so that’s great! Good job, Lauren!”

“Thank you…”

Well, she’s staring at me again, so I’m gonna nudge her and go back to my den. Lately, every time I enter Tuiran, I feel stronger, and when entering my den, that feeling somehow gets amplified, which is definitely something I need to learn more about. No doubt it’s related to that hoard business.

Reaching my main room, I find myself glad that I dug out enough space to move around, it’s very comfortable down here. Heading straight for my small pile of money, I thump down on top of it and coil up to get comfortable again. Looking at the entrance again, I see Lauren standing there.

“Kira, can I stay here tonight? I… Uh…”

“Of course you can, Lauren.”

She’s hesitant to approach, but manages to make progress, reaching me after a short while. Joining me, she leans against the junction between my shoulder and neck, getting comfortable.

“Lauren, I’m really curious why you’re so comfortable with me, given our history.”

“I’m not sure, I think I might be lonely, and you’re being so kind, looking out for me… Can we talk about something else?”

“Sure. I wish birds existed.”

"... What?..."

"Birds, they're these small creatures with feathers, and they can fly too. There are all sorts of them and they're really neat. I like birds."

"I know what birds are, and of course they exist. Why would you think they don't?"

"I haven't seen any since I hatched. So I just assumed they didn't exist."

"If they didn't exist, Kira, how would you know about them?"

"I can't think of an answer to that, but how come I haven't seen any?"

“Maybe they’re smart. Seeing a large predator in their space, they hide.”

Well, that makes an annoying amount of sense... Silly birds, I wouldn’t eat them. Now I have to figure out some way to find birds that don’t flee before I spot them.

“I’m gonna go to sleep and ignore the implications of your nonsense. I don’t want to deal with that right now…”

Well, she seems tired, but birds aren’t nonsense, they’re neat. I’m gonna go to sleep instead of prodding her about birds.

————————

First thing I do as I wake up is do a proper stretch, and it feels good. Second thing I do is remember that Lauren was sleeping against me and she’s now on the floor. Well, I can’t undo that. And she’s opting for groaning instead of yelling, so she’s growing as a person!

I want to find Raya and do something fun today, something non-fighting. And I want to watch her apologize to Cranky, that’ll no doubt be fun!

“Hey Lauren, what are you going to do today?”

“I don’t know, wander the town, be lost in thought, and brood.”

Sounds like she has her whole day planned out, but it doesn’t sound like a healthy way to spend her time.

“I have a task for you, Lauren. I need someone to go into Joras' store when he isn’t there, and move his stuff around. Just enough to be annoying. And once that’s done, I want you to find me a cask of booze.”

She sits up and eyes me with a semi-glare; I think she might be suspicious that I’m up to something, but I’m not! All of this is important Guardian Dragon business! I might even help her out. Turning around, I gently knock on Jeannie’s door, which opens immediately. She’s quick.

Standing in the tiny doorway is a very ready-looking Jeannie, and now I suspect she might have been waiting for us to finish our conversation. Hold on, that doesn’t make any sense, I was talking to Lauren with my mind, so Jeannie couldn’t hear that.

“Were you waiting for Lauren to leave?”

“No… uhm… I was waiting for both of you to leave.”

“You don’t have to wait, Jeannie, you can come and go as you please. We both live here. Roomies for life! But it's good that you’re still here, I have a favor to ask!”

She’s experiencing all sorts of emotions based on her changing expressions, and the latest one is, I think, trepidation. I explain my plan for Lauren and that I’d like Jeannie to be her guide and keep the first aid kit out of trouble. She seems worried, but she isn’t afraid of Lauren, so that’s very good.

As luck would have it, she agrees, and now I just have to wait until these two become besties! Someone timid like Jeannie will benefit from someone as assertive as Lauren.

“Jeannie, if you want a suggestion for what to do first, I’m sure Lauren would like a bath.”

Turning to Lauren, I move toward her, towering over the human as I glare into her eyes. It’s clear that she worries about my sudden change in demeanor, but that’s all part of the plan. Leaning down so we’re face to face, I give her a sloppy lick and run off!

“YOU VILE IRREDEEMABLE BEAST!”

“Good luck, Jeannie!”

Time to find Raya. The obvious place to look would be her house, but it’s close to noon, so she’s more likely to be out and about than stuck at home. My thoughts turn darker as I think back to the assault, and I think I might need to visit the place I ruined. Joras did say I broke some buildings. And seeing as I’m a responsible dragon, I should offer to help out.

Taking to the skies, I soar over Tuiran looking for the ruined buildings, but I’m not seeing any. Geez, maybe they’ve fixed everything already. They did work hard on my den immediately, so I shouldn’t be surprised. There’s also the pavement goblin who repairs the damage I do to the streets just by walking.

I’m pretty sure it was in the northwest, but everything really does look pristine... I can’t even tell that a couple of buildings were torn down during that fight. Well, if the evidence of my mayhem is gone, I’ll consider that a win.

Changing course, I glide toward the western gate, I still want to find Raya, and I’m sure the guards will know whether she left town or not, they’re usually pretty informed on the comings and goings of folks.

Landing outside the western gate, one of the guards falls on his ass with a scream, a very manly and intimidating scream, you’re doing well, buddy. The other guard is laughing and clutching his belly. There’s a chance I may have landed with a little more force than I had intended, but it’s good to keep these guys on their toes.

Approaching them, I ask if they’ve seen Raya around, and the fallen guard is the first to collect himself, he informs me that they have seen her! That’s a clue!

“She left by sunbreak and didn’t bring her basket, so she may be exploring.”

Well, then she has a head start and I’m not gonna linger here. It’s time to track down a goblin. This might be a fool’s errand on my part, because it’s a large forest and she has had quite some time to run around in there, but it’s nice to just fly and not have to worry.

I’m still not seeing any birds, but Lauren seemed confident that they do exist. Maybe there are some in those small holes in the side of the eastern mountains, birds love small safe places.

Wait… If Frosty turned into one of those dead things, what happened to the other bear that fell? Okay, that’s a scary thought, I might have to consult someone about that.

“Lauren, can you hear me?”

Waiting for a bit, I don’t get a reply, so of course I try again. Don’t give up just because it doesn’t work the first time.

“Lauren, can you hear me? Lauren, what happens if one of those frost bears falls from the mountain and nobody is around to make sure it’s dead?”

I’ve just spotted a flaw in my plan. Lauren speaks aloud when she talks to me, so she won’t be able to reply, even if she can hear me. I should apologize for that.

“Sorry, Lauren, I forgot that you can’t speak into my mind like I can to you, so I’ll remember that for next time. I also don’t know if you’re even hearing me, I’m a good distance away from Tuiran, so who knows. Well, I guess you do. Nevertheless, I’ll be more mindful of you in the future, so you won’t have to hear my ramblings about scary subjects like dead bears and stuff. I’ll go back to looking for Raya now, I hope you and Jeannie have fun!”

There, nice and concise to make sure she won’t yell at me when I get back.

I’m not any closer to finding Raya, so I’m gonna go south! I haven’t been south much, so it might be exciting to explore! I could even follow that road and see where it leads to. Although this time, if I find a town, I’m not gonna approach it. I’m pretty sure Wreyn is an outlier when it comes to being friendly with dragons.

I haven’t spotted anyone using the road, but it isn’t overgrown, so I’m pretty sure it's seeing some traffic.

The option to turn around becomes more tempting as the landscape changes from forest to green hills and all I’m seeing is a gray fort in the distance. It looks way more fortified than anything I’ve seen so far, and I’m pretty sure visiting is a bad idea, so I stand by my earlier decision not to visit towns! Point to Kira for not being led astray!

Flying is nice and all, but I’m getting bored of not finding Raya or anyone else, for that matter. I want some excitement! Howl at me, wolves, so I may hunt you down and claim your territory!

I listen for a while, but no howls happen, solidifying the notion that wolves are, in fact, very rude creatures. I guess it is some time past midday, so they’re probably resting from their morning hunt.

I guess it was always unlikely that I’d find a tiny green person wearing brown clothes in a forest. I’m gonna head home and find out if Lauren heard me. I’m sure she has something to say on the matter of dead bears, and if not, Joras might.

Thinking back on the wolves as I fly over the forest again, it’s kinda weird that I don’t really get hungry, but I can eat all the time. It seems to me that that’s a peculiar situation, but it might be a dragon thing.

I’m gonna try getting smarter on the subject of me! Using my magic to see inside me, I don’t feel any remnants of stuff I’ve eaten, and I’m pretty sure I haven’t been careful with things that are traditionally considered non-edible, like equipment.

I should try exploring this after having eaten, it might be an interesting topic for Wreyn. I’ll have to make some mental notes and see what else I can learn about my own biology. For example, am I really- OH GEEZ! That is a rancid stench. I’ve hit some sort of cloud of yuck. Who dares offend my nostrils like this?!

That nearly made me flinch right out of the sky! I need to find the source and make it stop. Looking around, it doesn’t take me long to find someone running northwest between the trees, and I’m pretty sure they’re the guilty party because they just threw another stink bomb!

Not at me, granted, but I still got hit! The person on the ground is being chased by some sort of snake, and I don’t know what it is about this snake, but it’s making me want to leave it alone.

The dang thing looks longer than I am and thicker too. If it’s a constrictor, it could probably kill me, but what if it isn’t a constrictor? That means it’s venomous. That’s even scarier! I don’t know how I would react to venom, I might be allergic! That’s two beasts around my size, and that does not sound safe with so many tiny people around.

Going back to the events currently unfolding, I’ve thought of a brilliant plan! I can annoy this snake for making me uncomfortable! There’s a clearing up ahead, and if the running person makes it there, I can snatch them up and leave!

The runner is making good time and somehow, they’re staying ahead of the snake, both heading directly for the clearing and I’m following from above, though I’m having to crisscross to not fly ahead. I have no idea whether they’re fast or not, but I’m faster and that makes me feel good.

Getting ready, the runner enters the clearing and I swoop down. They let out a scream as I pick them up by the waist and take off again. Don’t worry, random person, I’ve got you! The snake hisses at us, so I hiss back. That’ll teach you to be big and scary!

I don’t know where this person is from, but- HECKING OUCH! They shocked me! This darn person shocked me! Here I am, on my best behavior… Well, maybe not from the snake’s perspective, and I did kinda just abduct someone... Never mind that! I got shocked and that's not nice!

Looking down at them, I see…. Yeah, I’m just gonna dump this one on the road and leave. I’ve got more important people to look out for. Setting course due east, we’ll make it to the road in no time, then I can leave her and forget this ever happened.

At the very least, I know that I don’t react as much to being shocked as I used to, so that’s a lovely discovery I was totally looking forward to making.

Making it to the road, it becomes clear that I can’t just land anywhere, I need enough room to take off again. I’m not walking back to Tuiran, that’s for sure. So far, I’ve been shocked four times since picking her up, which I find to be very rude, honestly. I did save you from a snake!

It’s not even clever shocking, it just makes me squeeze her a little every time she does it.

There’s a clearing up ahead I judge to be suitable, and I’m getting a little tired of these shocks. So it’s time to prepare for landing, and this will be interesting, because I usually use my hands when I land, but they’re occupied holding this shocking woman.

On the other hand, why overthink it? I'll just dump her on the side of the road in a patch of grass and leave her there. I’m going back to Tuiran, and she can follow the road to wherever she wants. That’s what you get for throwing things at me and shocking me, weird forest lady!

I’d like to think I’m growing as a person because it was really tempting to just drop her as soon as I recognized her, but I didn’t, so point to Kira again. I’m scoring all the points today. And now I’m gonna head back to Tuiran and see if Raya has returned.

If the sun is any indication, I should be back in Tuiran by evening, which is also a great time to hunt. Don’t get distracted, Kira. No hunting today, we’re just gonna go back to Tuiran and find Raya. Maybe stop by a butcher for some snacks, it’s been a while since I’ve picked up snacks.

The flight is remarkably uneventful until I near Tuiran and a strong scent of blood hits me. Looking around, I see a trail of blood going from the forest to Tuiran. Not again… If someone has attacked Tuiran again, I’m gonna make sure it can’t happen a third time.

Landing by the trail, I smell a mix of wolf and goblin blood, with how weak goblins are, I doubt it can mean anything other than a hunting pack. Following the trail into the woods, I rush between the trees. The smell grows more intense and I’m confident that I’ll find something soon.

There’s something up ahead… The stench of blood is overpowering, and I see two dead wolves, but no trail leading away from here, aside from the one I followed…

“Hey Kira!”

Turning around, Raya stands there looking innocent as she smiles at me.

“What happened here, Raya?! I smell goblin blood!”

“Oh, that’s my fault, I cut myself when I tried to skin a wolf and my knife slipped, so I decided to drag them back to town and have someone else do it. But now you can help me carry one! I can see why you like hunting wolves, it’s fun!”

Okay, she took on three wolves and won? She was outmatched by one when we met… Inspecting one of the wolf carcasses, I do see both stab and scorch marks. The burns are centered around their faces, so I’m guessing she blinded them before stabbing them. That’s vicious. Point to Raya, geez.

Grabbing a wolf with my jaws, I lift it up and start heading back to town, Raya is somehow managing to drag the other. With my mouth full of wolf head, I ask her how she’s become so strong.

“I don’t know, it’s like when I need strength, I can reach for this big source of power, and it comes to me. I think it has something to do with you because my skin is also becoming hard.”

Nonsense, I haven’t done anything. But she really is getting stronger. She’ll be able to fend off humans in no time! Raya the Dragonbringer, pummeler of annoying people, whacker of Cranky.

The titles write themselves.

Raya tells me about all the things she’s been up to lately. As it turns out, she’s been getting challenged to fights by guards trying to prove how tough they are. And winning with ease. At one point, she even fought Big Guy, but he won. I suggested that she just smack him into a building, because that worked well for me, but she doesn’t seem to think that’s viable for her.

We’re arriving at Tuiran, and my mistake following the trail becomes obvious. I went for the stronger scent when I should have followed the path with less bleeding, since that’s where the carcasses run out of blood to bleed.

“I wanna eat one.”

“We should get them butchered first, then we can have a campfire! I’ve already got someone I know to pick them up from here, so we don’t have to do anything else.”

It’s easy to forget that Raya had a life around here before I arrived because she’s been here my whole life, always ready to help. I’m fortunate that she’s the first person I met.

“Anyone you want to invite, Raya?”

“Uhm… Don’t laugh, but I thought it might be fun to invite Neithro.”

That’s a good idea. That gives me an even better idea!

“Raya, invite everyone you want, we’ll make it work!”

She looks at me with a questioning expression, but then shrugs and wanders off. I, meanwhile, am going to find some trees to make seating out of! Heading back to the forest, I keep an eye out for trees twice the size of good goblin seating. And I do find a few! Empowering my claws, I rip into the wood, and it is surprisingly tough. I’ll have to do this gradually.

Trying a few deep and shallow cuts, I settle on a good feeling of progress and cut most of the way through the tree. With only enough left to keep it upright, I can push the tree over to make it fall exactly where I want it!

Now I just need to drag it out of the forest. Now, I’m no fool, so I recognize that I won’t be able to pull the entire thing, so it’s time to divide it into sections!

Repeating my previous cutting success, I manage to divide the tree into several sections suitable for seating three people, I think. I don’t know how much seating one person requires. But I’m gonna start dragging them out of here!

It just so happens that I surprise myself at how well this is going. I imagined myself having more setbacks, but I am Kira, mighty Lumber Dragon of Carpentry! With most of the logs out here, it’s time for the next part of my plan: creating actual seating.

With a single, gentle claw, I cut a groove into the log and then empower my claw with a bunch of magic, cleaving the log in two. That’ll do! Two halves make two benches! Now I just need to repeat the process four more times and the seating arrangements are complete!

I manage to do it perfectly, as long as nobody notices that there are only seven benches. I’m sure someone would like some firewood, so it’s fine. The guards seem to be paying attention to what I’m doing, so of course I set them to work too.

“Fetch me some dry firewood instead of loitering!”

Huh… they actually did run off, so that’s firewood taken care of! Someone should reprimand them for abandoning their posts. Well, I need to keep working here! Arranging the benches in a horseshoe configuration, I’ve managed to make it pretty clear that I either have too many benches or too few.

There are five in the inner circle, but only two on the outer circle, so I’m gonna fetch some more! Felling another tree comes easy, as I’m becoming familiar with the feel of my claws ripping into harder material, and dividing up the wood practically happens on its own. These are good skills to have if I end up having to find wood for Tuiran during the winter.

I only got four log pieces this time, but it should be fine. Making short work of dragging them back and dividing them, I add them to my campfire gathering area and it looks nice! Don’t mind all the grass I ruined and the splinters of wood left behind, that’s part of why this works.

“You’re not normal, beast…”

Yeah, that’s definitely Lauren. She sounds grumpier than she looks, so that’s progress! She’s at the head of a small crowd of people, and they’re bringing all sorts of goodies. Folks are quick to dump the food and other items they’ve brought and take a seat. I lie down in the opening of the arrangement and look at all the people gathering.

It’s possible I may have grossly underestimated the seating needs... There are still people exiting the gates. And they’re still bringing out stuff. Folks with firewood, meat, veggies, and bread. Folks with chairs and some sort of contraptions I’m not familiar with, but everyone’s smiling and chatting.

I don’t know why they’re still around, but Big Guy’s party is here too, and he’s walking right up to me.

“Big party! Much fun! Good Dragon!”

He’s got the right idea, that’s for sure! People are quick to arrange themselves into clusters and start building fires. It doesn’t take long before the smell of cooking rises from a few groups, and I want some.

Drawing my attention back to my immediate area, the guards I sent for firewood have returned and started building a fire for me. That’s nice of them, they seem like a very helpful couple of guards. With the arrangement of firewood starting to look like a campfire, one of the guards steps back while the other tries to light the fire, but he’s not having much success.

Nudging him, I tell him to step back so I can light it, and with a plume of narrow flame, the campfire is lit!

My first friends take their seats around me and the logs I split quickly fill up. Lauren is the last to sit, but she’s brought some meat and a very smelly pouch of something. Opening the pouch, she reaches for a handful of dust and rubs- It’s spices! It’s deliciousness-empowering spices! I want them!

“Lauren, this is your brain speaking, you must give that meat to the incredible dragon. The dragon deserves your tribute.”

Instead of finishing up the meat, she puts it down and motions for me to follow her. I’m not sure where she’s going with this, but I follow her as we move away from the crowd. She reaches into her pouch and pulls out a small handful of spices and blows them into my face!

The urge to sneeze overpowers me and I can’t stop it! I’m caught in a sneezing fit and I hear people laughing, but this isn’t funny! I’m suffering here! Sneezing is the worst!

Someone arrest Lauren! She has assaulted your Guardian Dragon for no reason! By now, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve sneezed, but it’s finally settling down, and I blink away tears. Lauren is standing at a safe distance away as she smiles at me.

“You aren’t the only one with tricks, Kira.”

“Fine, no more pretending you have a brain. I’m sorry.”

Oh no… She’s holding another handful. Yeah, I’m just gonna run back to the campfire! I don’t want to sneeze anymore.

“You win this time, First Aid Kit…”

“We’ll see who wins next time then, Beast.”

To Lauren’s surprise, she finds herself amidst a gathering of children asking her about the spices, but the poor woman has no idea what they’re saying. This seems like an excellent opportunity for me to settle the score… or I can be reasonable and help her out.

“They want you to make them sneeze as well, they think it looked fun. Which they’re wrong about, by the way, sneezing is the worst!”

As she gets up, the kids drag her away and I can hear the first victim of the horrible sneezing fate. I haven’t seen Raya yet, and with a quick glance around, I manage to spot her, she’s sitting in the grass with Neithro and he’s braiding her hair. I did not expect the powerful man to be so tender.

Well, I won’t interrupt them, so who else can I look for… Well, Joras and Lily are still here, so maybe I’ll ask some questions about magic.

“Do either of you know if magic can happen for someone without their wanting to?”

Joras is quick to put on his thinking brow, suggesting that he does know a thing or two about unwilling magic, but it’s Lily who speaks up first.

“It is rare, but it does happen when a gifted individual lacks control. You can think of control as the barrier containing a river. The barrier has to be able to contain the river, or it will overflow. A particularly gifted individual may have such an affinity for magic that they simply cannot stop it from overflowing. Though such cases are apparent from early childhood and, grim as it may be, those children are often abandoned before they hurt someone.”

Geez, that got dark fast… I wonder if that’s the case for forest lady. Those shocks today seemed to be pulsing, like a slow heartbeat. As I wonder what was going on with her, I’m interrupted as someone brings over a bunch of delicious food. It needs to roast first, and I can be patient, I just have to try really hard.

“Oh! Joras, put away your thinking brow for a moment, I have a request! I want to learn how to speak that weird language Neithro and Wreyn use!”

“… Thinking brow?…”

“She’s right, Joras! You do have a thinking brow! I had not noticed it before, but it’s true!”

So Lily is out of commission… I can tell that I did a good job spacing these benches because she did not hit her head as she fell backward laughing. Yet another point for Kira!

“I can teach you, but I will need to prepare first. I will need a few days, but in the meantime, if you could take Raya out to gather herbs, I would appreciate it. I have run out of materials to brew most of my more advanced potions. One in particular has met a sudden and unexpected rise in demand.”

That sounds easy enough, but I’ll need a bite to eat as I consider this trade deal.