The memories of my parents rushing to the forefront of my mind fill me with a certain sadness, but it also feels good to remember where my life began and how much I’ve grown. There’s also joy to be found in not having forgotten who I am in all of the events happening in this weird world.
I hope they’re doing well, but even if I could somehow visit them to tell them I’m doing fine, I wouldn’t have anything to wear. What would a dragon even wear to meet up with her grieving human parents? I have no idea.
Lily doesn’t sit idly by as my thoughts wander. Instead she gets up and moves toward me.
“I do not know the procedure for this. Do I simply request that you lower your head so that I may hug you?”
She’s so adorable, and after giving her a nod and bringing my head down to meet her, she embraces my snout with a firm hug. At least as firm as she can manage.
Settling back down after our hugging session, Lily prepares another bowl of food for me, this time from the third pot. I’m not sure what it is, but it looks like soup stock. With half a bowl of the stuff, she adds some stew from the first pot before giving it to me. Everything here is delicious, and I want more.
I wonder what Lauren might cook up and how well it would go with Lily’s cooking. Once this winter business is done, I might have to look into a cultural food day.
It’s a shame that these pots are so small because we’re out of food, but at least we still have plenty of good company. Can Joras cook? I would imagine it’s quite close to his alchemy business, so he should be a great chef, but he hasn’t offered to make any dishes for me. I’ll have to investigate that.
Not today, though. I will need to figure out what time it is, and judging by Lily’s yawn, it’s late. Or early. Or she’s old and hasn’t had a nap today. Geez, I’m doing a terrible job of narrowing down the time.
Well, there isn’t much point in wondering about the time, especially when I can focus on a hug. We just stay like this for a while, with her attached to my face.
This does give me a moment to think about what to do going forward, and it seems that we will need to find this contact of Lily’s. And we need to gather up Skelly’s things so that we can bring them back to this patron the bony weird mentioned. That’s a lot of wealth leaving my hoard and I don’t like that, but it’s the right thing to do...
The sound of gentle snoring draws my attention, and as I open my eyes, it becomes very apparent that Lily has fallen asleep. And she’s drooling on me. With a few gentle movements, I manage to wake her up without her falling to the ground, and when she opens her eyes and stares at me, her face becomes flushed with embarrassment.
“My sincerest apologies. I did not mean to show such disrespect.”
A little drool is hardly disrespectful, but she sure is rambling about it. The easiest solution I can think of is to make us even, so she gets a lick! Just a small one. Well, as small as I can manage, given my size.
She does quite a good job of taking it in stride as she wipes away the viscous fluid left behind by my tongue. Most of it is stuck to her face, and it takes a moment for her to get it off, but persistence is key!
“Lily, if you’re tired, I know just the place for a snooze.”
“The oft-spoken-of armrest? I would be delighted to have the opportunity to try it.”
I didn’t know people spoke of it, but then I’m not around all the time to listen to every topic folks talk about. Nevertheless, it was what I was thinking. As I coil up my body, Lily gets ready to join me for a snooze. She isn’t quite as competent a climber as Raya or Lauren, so by giving a little help by nudging her with my nose, she manages to get up on my arm as she asks for instructions.
As far as upper body strength goes, Lily has none. She must have had a really hard time since getting cured of that poison thing. At least she’s getting better, so we will just have to find someone to train her a little.
Almost the moment Lily settles into the spot on my arm, she leans against my neck and falls asleep. I''m gonna join her, I deserve a snooze.
————————
The first thing I notice when I wake up is the sensation of someone climbing on me, which makes sense since that''s what woke me up. I''m not quite sure who it is just yet, but given how I haven''t lashed out, they must be familiar, so that''s good enough for me.
Opening my eyes reveals the identity of this mysterious climber, and it''s Raya!
"Hey Kira! I came to ask who the two people you brought back are."
Uh... I have no idea who she is talking about. I''m pretty sure I haven''t brought anyone back lately, and the last thing I brought back was a big slab of glass, before that, it was the steelback. I hope I''m not going crazy here and abducting people without realizing it.
This is something that I should look into, but if these mysterious people aren''t causing any harm, then I can safely postpone it and do something else. Like nudging Lily awake and asking about this contact of hers.
In fact, it might be a good thing for Raya to be here as well, so we can both hear what Lily has to say on the matter, since Raya is obviously gonna be the diplomat here. She has a knack for making friends.
Nudging Lily awake results in groans and attempts to push my face away.
"No... Leave me, I wish to sleep..."
She has a pretty good point. And with a few squirms, she''s thoroughly entrenched in the gap between my neck and arm as she snuggles up even more. I don''t think there''s anything else I can do, so all I can do is resign myself to being lazy today.
“Raya, what did you do with those two people?”
“I gave them to Turo. He’s still working on those clay things outside the wall.”
Oh, well, that sounds like a problem solved before it arose.
Sudden movement from the sleeping snuggler makes me move my head a bit to give her some room to get up. Lily is quick to use the opportunity to stretch with a big yawn. Nudging her and asking whether she slept well earns me a weird expression, some sort of mix between a glare and appreciation.
“It was a truly wonderful slumber, thank you. The notion that the natural armor of a Dragon would be so comfortable leaves me somewhat speechless, but comfortable it was, until you spoke.”
What? I kept my voice down, so it shouldn’t have been a problem. Maybe she’s a light sleeper, but suggesting as much has Raya chip in with an opposing viewpoint.
“She’s right, Kira. When you talk, it feels like being dragged across rocks while tied to a wooden board.”
“That is exactly what it is! Thank you, Raya!”
Their agreement sure did perk Lily right up, but having me in the line of fire seems unfair. I’m innocent of any crime they may think I’ve committed. Fixating an eye on Raya reveals that she’s staring at me, too.
“Your voice is deep and sounds like you’re growling sometimes, Kira. So it rumbles when you talk.”
Pfft, that’s nonsense, my voice is light and feminine and a delight, and Raya’s gleeful smile won’t change that! I can’t think of a retort, so puff of smoke it is. Take that, Raya!
With a delightful laugh, she sits down on me and brings up the topic of what we’re gonna do from here. In response, Lily clears her throat as she prepares to speak.
“The Shae is the one you must seek out. Though I must warn you, Kira, she and those with whom she associates hold tremendous power and do not take insult lightly. Should you meet them, please do be on your best behavior. It is of critical importance that you do not offend the Shae.”
For someone still snuggling up against me, Lily sure is speaking with quite a bit of authority. It sounds to me like she has intimate knowledge of what it means to offend this Shae person. At least I’m great at first impressions, and with Raya leading the conversation, I’m sure we won’t have anything to fear.
“The Shae reigns as the Warden of the Lands Beyond Death in the north. The Shae holds a reputation for mercilessness in the face of opposition and a true willingness to slaughter anyone standing in the way of her goals. To find the Shae, you must find one of her subjects to guide you on this journey as those uninvited will soon find themselves lost in a maze of mist and thorns.”
So flying south sounds pretty good, maybe we’ll find something interesting down there. We could look into finding some caves to hide out in or explore new lands. Yeah, we could even find some new food to try or fancy critters to hunt. Raya seems curious about Lily’s doom and gloom ranting as she asks who the Shae is and what these subjects are.
Continuing her rant, Lily brings up some stories about how the Shae guards the world from a great evil of some sort. It sounds familiar, but I can’t quite place it. At least I get some clarity when she brings up scalefolk and it occurs to me just who the Shae might be! It’s probably Shae Tara Volkai, leader of the Scalefolk, and if we just have to find a scalefolk person to lead us there, then we can go south and find Turgai! Or see if we can find Kaldren and Shae Tara Nenka.
Why didn’t she just say it was the scalefolk? Those people love me! So we could end up going south after all. Although I’m not sure how well that fortress city will respond to my presence if we go there. Hopefully, Lunch, the Commander, and Turgai have spoken well of me. After all, I’m a delight.
Raya could even meet up with Banyai and talk about poisons and herbs. It’s good to have someone to share interests with like that.
“What are you so excited about, Kira?”
“I figured out a plan! We know some scalefolk we can ask, and with their help, we can find Shae Tara Volkai, and she can tell us where Skelly’s faction is, and then we can help them fight the cultists while we sit back!”
Ranting a bit about the people we’ve met does make Raya a little curious as she ponders the situation. Who needs doom and gloom when you have friends and acquaintances?
“I did not think you had been so industrious in your social endeavors, Kira. Most I hear on the matter relates to your affinity for... removing unsuspecting adventuring parties.”
Geez, no wonder she’s worried if she thinks I attack before saying hello. I’ll have her know that I’m very polite and I’ve been friendly to most people I’ve met. Those jerks just have a habit of attacking me, is all. And I don’t like getting attacked, so I defend myself, which I think is perfectly reasonable. That it happens to be lethal for them is their problem. They started it.
So our choices going forward are seeking out Turgai or Nenka the Trading Adventurer. I’m not sure I ever got Turgai’s clan name, but I do know that Nenka’s full name is Shae Tara Nenka, which suggests that she might be a descendant of the Shae. We don’t know where she is, though, so Turgai might be the safer bet, although he has the issue of being in that fortress.
I definitely don’t want to go into that daunting place, so we would have to lure him out, so we can talk to him. I’m sure he would be interested in helping out, especially if it means fighting back against the undead jerk controlling the cultists.
First things first, though, we need to get up and stop being lazy. Moving my arm to the side elicits a few groans from Lily as her resting spot is disrupted, but that’s too bad, Lily!
She surrenders to the coming day as she lands on her feet, allowing me to stand up without her getting injured, and that means it’s stretching time! Ooh, feels good.
There’s an unfamiliar scent wafting in from the outside, and I want to investigate it, but before I can, Raya calls out for me.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
“Kira, wait. We should bring the pots out for Lily. She can’t carry them all.”
That’s true. Raya jumps off me and onto the ground, grabbing hold of two of the three pots before climbing up on me again. Lily moves to grab the last one, but I intercept it with my tongue, drawing it into my mouth as I lower my head for her to join Raya behind my horns. Raya places the two pots on top of my head as she helps Lily climb up, and with the two of them somewhat secure, we’re ready to head out!
Trudging toward the opening of my den, the scent becomes stronger and the sound of raindrops makes it obvious what the scent is! It’s the scent of disturbed dust as the rain hits the ground and it’s quite lovely, but it isn’t similar to what I’m used to at all. I’m not sure whether that’s because of my stronger sense of smell or something else, but I like it.
As we ascend the ramp, it becomes quite clear what a good decision it was to have Lily ride on top of me, as the moist clay is quite malleable. My feet sink into it, but my claws keep me secure, and I’m pretty sure that Lily would have slipped in this mess. In a few days, we’ll find out whether my den will flood or not, I guess.
As we reach the outside, I notice that I don’t notice any shift in temperature, which is a little odd, but I’m pretty sure the rain is cooling things down. I don’t want Lily to catch a cold, so we should get her home soon, and that will be the first priority considering Raya must be accustomed to the outdoors, so she’ll be fine.
The deserted streets allow me to rush a bit, and the street is doing a pretty good job of withstanding the assault of my weight, but I’m getting the impression that they won’t handle regular use. It wouldn’t be great if I ruined the road by stomping all over it in the rain. Which means more limitations... Yay...
“Why are you hurrying, Kira?”
“I want to get Lily home before she catches something.”
“Like what? You think someone might throw something at her?”
It doesn’t feel like she’s teasing me, so her question makes me think I’ve forgotten something... Instead of wondering too much about it, I just talk about how easy it is to catch a cold in the rain and get sick. And considering that Lily is still recovering from a longer period of bed rest, she might be especially susceptible to things like that. It doesn’t quite have the reaction I expected, as Raya draws her knife and the scent of fear permeates the air.
“Tell me where the plague mage is, Kira! I’ll kill him!”
Right... That’s what I forgot. They don’t really deal with random diseases here because of Merciferus. Well, good news road-fixing goblin, I’m gonna take it slower for the last stretch of road. I’m a gentle and non-destructive dragon, after all!
Raya is quick to bonk me on the head as I bring up my mistake. She’s a little upset, which is fair, since she was genuinely frightened by the possibility of a plaguemancer.
“I cannot fathom how terrifying it must be to live in a world in which plagues and diseases spring up without the presence of a plaguemancer.”
Oh, they have no idea... Granted, we didn’t have magically powered diseases, but this is an opportunity to tell scary stories!
“In my old world, a cut on your finger while gardening could result in half of your arm needing to be cut off! A small cut from combat could be a death sentence! And poo was used to deal poison damage!”
“To live with such horror... How awful it must be.”
Lily seems worried and scared by the concept of microbial life affecting people like that, so I might have overdone it. At least Raya doesn’t seem all that fazed by it, but we should probably cheer up Lily a little. This is a job for the positive things from my old world! Shopping centers, indoor plumbing, and smoothies!
Judging by her hmm''s and other noises of a thinking nature, my mission to cheer her up ends up confusing her more than anything, but it does lead to her asking me to elaborate! So I do! Launching into an explanation of smoothies and how great they are and that you can make them in your own home seems to work quite well, until I realize that she’s focusing on the entirely wrong thing here...
“How does this ‘blender’ work? Does it not require magic to function or maintain its strength? I do not understand how such a thing can carve fruit at such speeds without magical inscriptions.”
We’re standing outside the shop, and I’m not sure Lily has noticed. She seems far too engaged in asking questions about blenders as she fires a few more my way, but I don’t know a lot about how they work, so I’m just guessing when I explain it to her. If she wants to try to make one, she needs as much information as I can give her.
I’m getting the impression that we could end up standing around here talking if I don’t cut it short, and we do have things to do. I’m sure Joras would be interested in hearing about it, too, since gears and mechanical force will no doubt have the potential to help his alchemy as well. And there are some skilled craftsfolk in town who would probably love the challenge of creating new things like that.
It does make me curious about things like flour milling, considering how much easier that becomes with more mechanical energy. Maybe they’re using some weird magic to do the same thing. Oh! The blacksmith would most likely love having a trip hammer! But I don’t know how to make those... I’ve only ever seen them in video games. I’m sure people can figure it out if they start working with gears.
“Kira, you’re distracted again.”
“Pfft, no. I was just exploring possibilities on my own instead of sharing them with the group.”
Raya doesn’t seem convinced by my explanation, but a welcome distraction in the form of laughter comes from Lily as she invites us to stay.
“Please do leave the pots as you depart, I would rather not have to seek them out in peculiar locations around town.”
Oh... I forgot about those... So I have some bad news for Lily, and now I need to let her know that she only has two pots and a chewed-up piece of scrap metal. Opening my mouth and letting the chunk of metal fall to the ground elicits a laugh from Lily. All I can do is apologize, which earns me a laugh from the elf. Raya might have been right about me being distracted.
“Do not worry, Kira. With the flow of Dragon’s Gold, replacements for these old things are in order. It would allow me to create new and more powerful inscriptions, as you have provided quite a few potent reagents for us to work with.”
Her optimism sure is helpful in making me feel less guilty about treating her pot as chewing gum. Giving her a nudge, she pats the side of my face before heading inside with the two surviving pots. I’m just gonna push the scrap to the side and leave.
It’s quite exciting to maybe have the opportunity to visit the Lands Beyond Death, and to think, all it took was me literally dying. All we need to do now is abduct a scalefolk person with a friendly disposition, and we’ll be exploring that legendary place in no time!
“What do we do now, Kira?”
“We need to find a scalefolk person, Raya, and for that, we can either go to the fortress and find Turgai or see if we can find Shae Tara Nenka anywhere. Which do you think we should do?”
With a ‘hmm,’ she starts wondering about what to do, and it is a big decision considering one of them will take a lot of time flying around, hoping for the best. And the other takes us to the fortress of unknown friendliness.
I’m leaning toward the fortress, since we can stay a safe distance from any armaments while waiting for someone to come greet us. And if they look hostile, we can fly away before they have a chance to reach us.
We could even bring Lauren to smooth out any misunderstandings. Between Raya and Lauren, we’re diplomatically unstoppable!
“Lauren, we’re almost at the north gate, and when we get there, we’re gonna head back to the square, could you meet us there? I wanna hear your thoughts on how to acquire a scalefolk person.”
I’m just gonna ignore that sensation of worry and confusion. Instead, I should probably duck under the gate, so I don’t ruin this one, too. I would rather not get a reputation for being an accidental gatebreaker.
Spreading my wings brings even more new-ish sensations as the raindrops beat against my wings’ membranes like drums, creating their own little musical number. Raya is quick to climb down to one of my wings and join in on the drumming. We can’t really stand around here listening to that all day, though, especially not when I’ve asked Lauren to brave the rain to meet us.
Raya is quick to grab hold of me as I move my wings, and we set off into the sky. As it turns out, the rain isn’t really an obstacle at all for me, especially not with my nictitating membrane protecting my eyes from wind and weather.
Flying in a wide circle over the town reminds me of the trenches dug to keep the rainwater flowing, and looking down makes it apparent that they’re working quite well. They’re already diverting a bunch of water to the walls, allowing it to flow into the surrounding landscape instead of flooding the town.
That’s some solid rudimentary civil engineering. I’m sure they could improve it once spring rolls around.
“Kira, I don’t want to keep flying in the rain...”
Right. We have things to do. Refocusing and setting a course for the square, I feel Raya hiding behind one of my horns to shield herself from the rain as much as possible, and we might have to come up with some sort of solution for that.
It doesn’t take us long to reach the square, and Lauren is already standing outside my den, ready to chip in on the decision-making.
As we land, Raya is quick to jump down and shield herself from the rain underneath me, and Lauren joins her, leaving me to be the only one getting pelted by the weather. I can do better, though! Coiling up around them, I spread a wing over us, shielding them and my head from the merciless assault of liquid discomfort.
I can even heat up the space with a little dragon breath of heat. Lauren seems curious about my actions as she speaks up.
“How cold can you make your breath, Kira?”
I’m not sure, but it’s an interesting question. Focusing on my breath, I try to lower the temperature even more as I blow still-warm air onto my body. Raya touches the stream of air with a hand and notes that it isn’t too warm anymore, but as Lauren tries touching it, Raya earns a smack on the back of her head. Judging by that interaction, Raya is inheriting my fire resistance.
“Did I burn your hand?”
“No, I burned my hand, but not too badly. I’ll be fine.”
She holds up her hand for me to see and it is a little red, but it’s just a first-degree burn, so she should be fine. I don’t think I can lower the temperature any more than that, though, so it’s not great for drying clothes or heating people. Well, it is great at heating people, but more in the charred fashion, rather than the more helpful ‘not cold’ fashion.
“So why do you need to ‘acquire’ a scalefolk, Kira?”
That’s a good question and as I tell her about our brilliant plan to gain access to the Lands Beyond Death, and if we have time, possibly convince the people to the south not to wander into my territory. It would be neat to not have to kill as many adventurers, but they do seem to be quite interested in me doing just that. I don’t mind the free treats that they are, but it would be quite bad if they ended up hurting more of my people.
“Maybe we should hire some of them to hunt you, Kira. That way, we can get rid of the dumb adventurers faster.”
The smack to the back of Raya’s head indicates that Lauren might not agree with her suggestion, but I don’t know... There is some merit to it, I think. If these quests into my territory end up with a high fatality rate, it could discourage others.
“Raya, don’t encourage that behavior, and Kira, stop considering it. The goal should be to reduce the amount of needless death. That being said, if the Shae can point you in the right direction for allies against the cultists, then I think it’s worth the effort. We just need to be careful we don’t end up with more enemies.”
“Don’t worry, with Raya in charge of diplomacy, we’re gonna make friends all over the place!”
I don’t think Lauren is all that convinced...
“And you’re certain that Raya is the right person for that? What merits does she have to warrant being at the head of your talks with foreign powers?”
“She convinced a dragon to play in a lake and then protect her town. That’s some high-level diplomacy.”
For some reason, Lauren covers her face with her hand as she lets out a mighty sigh, but Raya agrees with me as she beams with pride. I’m pretty sure my point is valid, even if Lauren doesn’t seem to agree.
“That argument doesn’t work when you are that Dragon, Kira...”
“It’s called firsthand experience. Besides, she also convinced Kanen to help her, and kept me from eating the other mages. And she befriended Cranky. In fact, she might be the most socially skilled person here.”
For some reason, Lauren just stares into the void after listening to me until she gets up and starts to walk away.
“The goblin who attacked a Goddess is the most socially skilled person... Reality is pointless...”
That feels a little dramatic, but I feel like I convinced her of Raya’s talents. Don’t underestimate the wise and sneaky Raya.
“I think you broke Lauren, Kira.”
“Do I get credit for you not eating me, Kira?”
I’m inclined to agree with Raya, but Lauren’s question doesn’t have the answer she’s looking for... This might be a time to lie by not pointing out that it was Cranky who convinced me not to kill her. So of course she gets credit! And as I tell her, she raises an eyebrow with a clear hint of skepticism before coming back to join us again.
Well, changing subjects. We need to focus on these upcoming scalefolk abductions. I don’t have much of a plan outside of showing up and hoping for the best, and I’m not sure that it will work. I could think about it all day and never come up with a solution, so it might be time to just try something and hope for the best.
Neither Raya nor Lauren has any good ideas, although Lauren does suggest that she simply walk into the town and ask around, but given what happened in Plainshold, I’m not up for letting her try. I’m aware that it’s controlling behavior and it’s not great, but I really don’t want to risk putting her in a position where I don’t have time to interfere and save her.
As I tell her as much, she signals for me to lower my head, and as I do, she hugs me. She really shouldn’t be rewarding bad and controlling behavior like that...
“I know you worry for me, Kira, but you cannot be there to protect me every time I go outside. We will attempt your plan this time, but you have to prepare yourself to let me go in the future. I wouldn’t feel great if you ended up burning down every town I visit.”
Fine... I still don’t like it, though. She’s mine and I shouldn’t have to risk losing her. That’s another part of all of this, after all. To have fewer jerks trying to kill my people.
We can’t leave Raya out of this, so I nudge her for her opinion, and she’s quick to give it.
“We’ll be fine as long as we stick together. Who would be dumb enough to attack all three of us?”
Adventurers, probably... With that settled, I’m pretty sure we should just get moving before the day ends. As I tell them that I want to get moving, Raya is quick to use her weird acrobatics to jump onto me while Lauren is less agile. As I lower my head, she tells me to stop halfway to the ground before she tries to mimic Raya.
With a little distance between us, she rushes toward me and leaps for my arm. Her boot hits my bicep and, with a mighty thud, she falls backwards, landing on her ass. I kinda expected Raya to laugh, but instead the goblin climbs down and shows Lauren how to do it.
The two of them leave me standing like a wall as Raya demonstrates and instructs Lauren in how to climb me. She even throws some orders my way, like raising my arm off the ground to create a stair of sorts and lowering my horn as a handhold.
After a few tries and with Lauren having fallen a bunch, she manages to jump from my arm and grab hold of my horn before pulling herself up. With bright enthusiasm, Raya and Lauren burst into cheers as they jump around on me.
“Thank you both for being patient with me. It’s surprisingly difficult to get used to my new strength.”
“Yeah, but it’s so much fun.”
Raya begins sharing stories of things she has broken because of this strength of hers and how she has fought off adventurers, impressing Lauren quite a bit. For now, though, we should be heading out, and with the goal being to find Turgai, we’ve gotta get moving so he doesn’t end up in some weird adventuring location.
The entry to my den is even muddier now, and I’m lucky to have my claws to keep me from slipping, but we might have to temporarily evacuate Jeannie and Tiffy when I get back.
Leaving my den and taking flight goes off without a hitch, and the rain is making an excellent effort toward cleaning the muddy clay off me. Hopefully, nobody below minds the drops and clumps. To avoid any personal injury to those below, I rush a bit to get outside the town before we become entirely soaked.
Next stop: A safe distance from the fortress city of whatever its name is!