Tribulations of a Dragon

Okay, one detour. I need to make sure Frosty re-died from the fall or take responsibility if it somehow survived. Descending the mountain is uneventful, but it turns out that when you pay attention, you see all sorts of things, like the caves dotting the mountainside!

Not now, Kira. Finding the bear comes first, and spelunking can happen some other time. Refocusing my attention, I keep an eye out for any signs of bear splatter, but so far, I’m not seeing any.

Tonight is quite cloudy, which means I won’t have all the time in the world to find Frosty. Picking up speed, I continue down along the rough trajectory I assume it fell at, but even the smell is gone. I can’t possibly have knocked it so far away that it didn’t even hit the mountain, can I?

Who knows, I’ll have to find out.

It isn’t until the cliffside levels out that I find my first trace of Frosty, and we’re about halfway down the mountain at this point. So it’s pretty great that I found signs of Frosty, not so great that I only found signs of Frosty…

Did the freakin’ thing survive that drop?! Approaching the landing zone, it becomes clear that either it dragged itself away, or something else did. I’m gonna need a moment to decide which is worse…

Okay, got it. If something else dragged it away, it was most likely just a scavenger, so that’s okay, I can deal with scavengers. Probably.

Following the trail, it doesn’t take long before I arrive at another drop, the trail just continues right off this ledge. Maybe the third option was that it rolled down. Continuing to track the thing, I follow it over the edge and descend further down the mountain.

I might have to hurry up because it's getting dark, and I want to go home.

Lucky for me, it turns out it’s far easier to track the bear on this cliffside, it has left gory marks along the path it took. How very considerate of it, and that pretty much rules out a scavenger, I think. So that’s positive news I made up!

Arriving at another ledge, the splat trail stops abruptly, but the smell is still strong. Frosty has to be somewhere around here. There are some crevices, but they look too narrow for an entire most of a bear to fall into.

If I want to find this thing, I can’t keep flying over the ledge. It's pretty clear that my wings are spreading the scent too much.

Landing with a thump, the smell of decay fills the air and it is potent. It's quite obvious that I’m in the right place. The lovely odor of the bear- No! I refuse to like it! The horrid stench of the carcass permeates the air, giving away its position as I close in on one specific crevice.

Nearing the crack, it becomes obvious why I couldn’t see it from the air. The bear is wedged into a gap slightly larger than itself. With great care, I reach my head just enough to bite down on a bit of Frosty, I should be able to get it out. Wary of my horns getting stuck, I pull my head back slowly.

If I had to guess, then I'd say Frosty is dead this time. It isn't moving at all, to my relief. Through gentle efforts, I managed to pull the entire thing out, and I didn't even get stuck or anything! Point to Kira!

Giving it a chance to move, I sit by the carcass, practicing my patience. I wanna bring it with me and show it off to Raya and Joras, but I want to make sure it's dead first. It would not be smart to fly away with a wily corpse. I'm sure they'll get a kick out of seeing this thing!

Having waited for at least a long while, I'm confident that it won't attack. I may also be getting impatient, but mostly the confident thing. Digging my claws into the soft flesh of Frosty, I spread my wings and take off, which turns out to be a heck of a lot easier than earlier.

Frosty still has some weight to it, but now that it isn't frozen to the ground, it's a lot lighter.

With my course set for Tuiran, a sense of pride overcomes me at having defeated Frosty twice. I'm pretty sure I did very well both times, even if the first time was more of an 'accidental' victory.

With a glance down to make sure Frosty's doing okay, I notice it's dripping a bit. I should probably be mindful of that, so I don't drip any Frosty on someone's house. That would be quite inconsiderate. I wouldn't want someone to drop a chunk of bear on my home. I should probably leave Frosty outside...

Approaching my den, I drop off Frosty near my entrance as I land. I'll just grab a few bites before heading down for a snooze. I might have to look into hunting more frostclaws if they’re this tasty, even if Wreyn thinks I should stay away from them.

Entering my den, it becomes very clear that the craftsfolk have been very busy. They have evened out and smoothed the clay, making for a quite nice entryway. Floor this smooth feels very nice to walk on. Entering my main room, I can't help but notice a goblin-sized door by my hoard. I'm about eighty percent sure I didn't order any doors.

That's for tomorrow-Kira to deal with, today-Kira has a hoard to grow! With very little effort, I regurgitate the money I collected from my mountain and add it to my growing hoard. One day it'll be so big I won't be able to reach the ends!

Seeing my little pile of wealth grow like that fills me with a very nice feeling, and it looks quite comfortable. Moving on top of my small hoard, I coil up and get comfortable, letting sleep take me away.

—————————

“Kira, Kira, please wake up.” Ugh… Who dares wake the mighty dragon from her slumber?! With great effort, I manage to force an eye open. I don’t see anyone, that’s weird…

“Kira, may I please be let out?” That voice sounds very familiar. Just as I’m thinking it’s too early to deal with anything, I hear voices from outside my den, too. They sound quite worried. Fine, I’ll get up… Stupid curiosity…

Giving the door some room to open, it creaks as Jeannie's little face appears. Well, would you look at that, I have my first neighbor! It's nice and all, but I'm a bit curious how she ended up with a room in my new home.

I want to ask her, but I'm not sure how to do so without making her feel unwelcome, so that's an obvious topic to postpone. No doubt Raya has something to do with it.

Unable to hold back a yawn, I turn my head toward the voices coming from outside. I should find out what they're arguing about. On the other claw, the walls of my den appear to have all sorts of artwork covering them. Geez, these goblins have been busy.

Beginning at the entrance, I study the wall murals, and they seem to tell the story of how I arrived at Tuiran. From what I can see, the first character to appear is Charo, and how we met outside the gates, so right off the bat, the story is wrong. Raya was the first person I met after hatching.

It does show how Charo died, and Raya, Joras, and Turo are leading me back to the town. Turo shows up quite a few times, even some I didn't know about, but he always has his head hanging low. He must really have had a tough time before I showed up. Good thing I'm here now to make everything easier!

Continuing my studies, it's clear that Raya is shown as some sort of hero. Geez, I thought all that Dragonbringer stuff was a fun way to tease her, but these guys might be serious about it. And worse! I might have missed her seeing this mural! Oh, she would be so embarrassed! I hope I didn't miss that.

“Do you like it? Our people spent all day carving it together. Folks came and went as they added their own touches to it while the carvers worked."

It's beautiful, so of course I like it. Jeannie and I move around the room as we look at the artwork, and just enjoy each other's company in quiet contemplation. There's a lot of story here that I never knew. It turns out Joras has become more accepted, and he's shown as what I guess is an important figure now.

I kinda wanna stay here and go through all of this work, but I have things to do today, like visiting Oakhold and doing that hunting job for Wreyn. I'm a busy dragon!

The voices outside are getting louder and I don't particularly feel like dealing with that, so I'm gonna come up with an excuse to stay here. Nudging Jeannie, I inquire about her new residence and whether she's settling in okay.

"I think I am, but it's a little frightening. It was such a relief when Raya told me a new home could be made for me here."

I knew it! I knew it was Raya! Ooh, she's in trouble now!

“Kira, get up here!" Crap, I'm in trouble now.

Peeking my head out of my den, I see a bunch of familiar faces and some whoever they are. Joras and Raya are the most important people here, but Big Guy and his team are standing around Frosty as well. Even Lauren is there.

"Where did you find this?” Joras doesn’t sound happy at all, but they’re the ones surrounding my snack! Looking at the remains of Frosty, I may have taken more than a couple of bites last night, but that doesn’t mean the rest of it isn’t mine.

Climbing out of my den, I go to grab the rest of it, and as soon as my jaws close on the bear, I take a few steps back. I don't want these guys to get any funny ideas.

“Kira, no! Drop it! Drop it!”

It’s mine, and you can’t have it!

“Don’t growl at me, Kira. Use your words.”

It’s rude to talk with food in your mouth, so I won’t use my words, so there! I'll need to be quick if I want my bear to myself! Taking a few large bites, I eat most of it, which quickly elicits a groan from Joras as he covers his face with a hand. That means I win.

Raya and Big Guy seem to find the whole thing amusing, but Big Guy's teammates don’t look so good. They should find some food of their own to enjoy.

“Kira, how about a trade? I get the rest of that, and Lauren heals your wounds.”

That’s a difficult choice... On one claw, less snack, but on the other, Lauren appears to have understood him and doesn’t seem pleased at all.

Fine… Getting healed is a good idea, that way, I can save some magic for Wreyn’s hunt. And if she can get rid of this poison magic, that’s even better.

Both Lauren and Joras approach, with Joras taking out his dagger again. He really likes stabbing and cutting people... Luckily, Lauren goes first, but then he also gives me a quick nick in one of the wounds left by the bear. Bringing the blood together, I feel the tingle of his spell.

I immediately use this opportunity to let Lauren know that she smells worse than Frosty.

“Are you fucking kidding me?! Joras, tell that BEAST to behave!”

What?! I’m no mere beast, you lousy first aid kit!

“By the Gods… Lauren, you’re yelling at a child. Kira, stop being such a child…”

Yeah, stop yelling at kids, Lauren, that’s not how you behave in public.

“Leaving that nonsense behind, Kira, what is this, and how did you get wounded like that?”

Using this opportunity, I tell him of my heroic battle against the corpse of a frostclaw and how it attacked me, even though it was dead. Which is a very peculiar thing to do. But I won, and it was a very fun fight.

To my surprise, Lauren is the one to speak first, I didn’t see that coming.

“They aren’t supposed to be this far north… I need to ask Rein… We need to inform the local lords of this, precautions must be taken.”

I’m going to Wreyn’s place anyway, so I can tell him. Joras seems to be telling Big Guy to do something, which I assume is to inform some other people about this thing. I don’t know what the big deal is, but it sounds serious. I still wanna know what Frosty was though, so I nudge Lauren, but she just stares at me.

“That means she wants information about something, no doubt about what the bear is in this case.” Well, if she doesn’t understand my obvious request, then I’m thankful for Joras translating it for her.

“Oh, this thing is undead. Undead are things that died surrounded by a huge amount of ambient magic, which attracts the Corruption. These monsters come in two primary forms, the first being an originator, which this is, and the lesser undead: minions. Originators can spread the undead plague and create the weaker form of undead. Minions are as clever or dumb as the originator is, but without an originator nearby, they’re pathetic, weak, and easy to kill.”

Interesting, so about this undead plague… Is it spread through weird magic? And can it be healed?

“Yes, actually, it is spread through magic injected through the originator’s weapon. For beasts, it’s claws, teeth, and whatever else a beast might naturally use, but in higher beings, their preferred weapons can become tools of evil.”

I don’t like her use of ‘higher beings,’ but this doesn’t feel like the time to bring that up. And she didn’t answer whether it could be healed or not. I’m just gonna nudge her and point her to my wounds.

“I can heal the damage, but if you’ve been affected by the corruption, there isn’t anything to do as far as I know. The Corruption’s magic grows and consumes the host. Even a small infection will kill the wounded in a matter of days, turning them into undead as well.”

Okay, so that sounds really bad. Pushing my magic toward my wounds, I take a look at the weird magic, and it hasn't grown at all. Maybe Lauren doesn't know as much as she thinks she does.

I should figure out a way to use that to annoy her! Although she has been mostly willing to heal me and share information, so I guess I should cut her some slack. With my thoughts occupied, I barely notice her healing my wounds, and they close up nicely. It's still clear where I got hit, and my scales haven't returned. Dang it! That means I'll have to recover those on my own, and that hurts...

“Joras, my recommendation is to kill her before she turns. We can’t risk another Dragon turning into an Originator. I can already feel deep pain and sorrow coming from her.”

Okay, never mind, annoying her it is. And here I was thinking that she was warming up to me by explaining all of this so well. And if she just wants to kill me, then why did she heal me?! Also, I don’t consent to being killed, that sounds like a bad time.

"Ah! FUCK!"

“Run, Kira! I won’t let them hurt you!”

Judging by the events unfolding, I’d wager Raya doesn’t consent either, because she just ran up and stabbed Lauren in the leg.

Don't you worry, Raya, I don't plan on letting anyone hurt me. Rather than leaving though, I pin Lauren to the ground while preparing in case any of the other adventurers get any funny ideas. To my relief, Big Guy just stands there, his hand held out to stop his teammates from acting.

“Aron know Dragon good. Dragon beat bad.” Who the heck is Aron?!

“Lauren, don’t just suggest killing people. Raya, don’t just stab people. Kira, good job showing restraint. Let’s all just calm down. How severely is she affected, Lauren, and is there any way she can recover?”

Hah, screw you, Lauren, I got praised.

“There's too much fucking Corruption! With that much of the shit, she'll be dead in less than a day of infection no matter what you do. Killing her would be a kindness! At least then she won't fucking kill everyone else! You can't be fucking serious letting this go on! Even with a Dragon’s resistance to magic, it will consume her own magic and she’ll become weaker until her body gives out.”

Joras just put on his thinking brow, so I’m sure he’s about to cook up some weird idea. While pinning Lauren, I just give Raya a lick, she’s awesome. Everyone should have a friend who’d stab someone for you.

“Kira, when exactly did you sustain those wounds? And do you feel the corruption spreading?”

I have no idea at what time Frosty decided to hurt me, so I just tell him about my day instead. All the way from leaving Tuiran to repeating my heroic fight with Frosty and recovering my money. But the weird magic feels exactly the same as when Frosty first hit me.

“What the fuck does it matter? The Corruption corrupts! My people have no records of anyone ever surviving such a severe case of that shit! She’s obviously lying about the spread to save herself.”

Yeah, I’m definitely growling at her and pressing my claw down a bit harder than necessary.

“Lauren, I know you don’t know Kira or particularly like her, for good reason, but she wouldn’t lie about something like that. I’m not sure she’s capable of it.”

Pfft, I’m plenty capable. I’m also getting bored with Lauren’s nonsense, so I suggest to Raya that we leave for a trip to Oakhold. She can bring her dress and we can get it fixed. Fortunately for me, she’s quick to agree as she climbs onto me.

Before taking off, I request that Joras keep them out of my den. I don’t want them snooping around my money.

“Of course, Kira. They’ve already been told to stay out.” He gets it.

Just as I take off, he says something else, but I don’t quite catch it, and I don’t feel like turning around right now. Raya and I fly to her place, and she seems to have ideas on how to handle this.

“Could you keep flying? I wanna try something!”

Doing as she asks, I hover above the buildings. I'm curious to see what she wants to do. Before I think of anything, she jumps from my neck and grabs hold of my wing! Geez, that's dangerous! Somehow she's managing to traverse my wing until she reaches the tip. My flapping wing isn't doing her any favors, but she's holding on tight. On a downward stroke of my wing, she lets go and lands on the roof of a building with a tumble. Geez, when did she become the Queen of Agility… I feel clumsy just watching her.

She then proceeds to climb down the building as if she's done it her entire life! She disappears into her home, only to reappear a moment later with her dress wrapped around her. As if that wasn't enough, she rushes into the alley next to her house disappears again. Obviously, I go to watch her, and I find her using the narrow alley to climb up! Hands on one wall and feet on another with the dress tied around her.

Reaching the roof again, she calls for me to bring my wing closer. Lining up the tip of my wing with her position, she jumps and catches it. Holding on tight, she follows along an upward stroke and just before going down again, she lets go and somehow manages to land on my back! How the hell did she do that?!

“That was fun.”

That was amazing! When did she learn to do all that?! I need to know her secrets. How did she grow so strong and powerful?

“I don’t know, I just feel stronger lately.”

That’s not much to go on, but I’m sure it’s fine. With her being even more awesome, I won’t have to worry about her as much. That’s a relief.

Since we’re going to Oakhold, I guess I should make myself presentable. I may still be covered in a bunch of various goop. I think I saw a river in the grassy area to the east, but I'm not sure, we'll find out though!

Informing Raya of my plan, she's quick to make a different suggestion.

"We could just go to Undine Lake, we know it's actually there, instead of a river that might be there."

Well, maybe I don't want to go to the lake. I'm gonna focus on finding this mysterious river instead. If not, Wreyn will just have to deal with a messy dragon.

Luckily for Wreyn, we do find a river! A quick dive and a soar later, we land on the bank. The whole area is quite nice. Wavy grass dotted with wildflowers. Oh! That gives me an idea! If I roll in the flowers after my bath, I’ll smell like the flowers, all fancy and stuff.

First things first, I need to get this grime off me. The river is barely wide or deep enough to fit me, but I submerge as much of myself as I can. The cool water feels lovely.

The grime and Frosty bits come off me in flakes, and Raya joins me after hanging her clothes from a branch. She’s quick to start scrubbing away at the remaining dirt and, to my surprise, it doesn’t take her long to clean me up.

It feels really nice, and I kinda wanna stay here all day. I can’t, though, I have things to do… Stupid things...

Since I'm clean now, I guess I should be responsible and focus on my original plan, going to Oakhold. And not telling Raya that she'll be apologizing to Neithro!

Nudging Raya, she gets out of the river and hesitates as she looks at her clothes.

“I don’t want my clothes to get wet…”

I have a solution for that! Blowing flames nearby, Raya quickly picks up on what I’m doing and uses the heat to dry herself. For some reason, that makes her giggle. I wanna know the source of the giggles!

“You. I’m getting used to it, but it’s still sometimes weird to have a Dragon just help out with simple stuff.”

Perks of friendship. Now that she’s ready, we’re out of excuses to postpone responsibility, as Raya jumps onto me and we leave the river behind. Heading towards Oakhold, we pick up speed and it becomes clear that I’ve missed her laughter.

Dang it! I forgot about the flowers! I’ll just have to try that some other time. I feel like I have way too many things going on, and I need to make more time for us to just go explore something again. Everything has been so busy, stupid adventurers…

For a moment, I consider returning to Tuiran and kicking them out, but Big Guy’s team has been very friendly, and I guess Lauren hasn’t been troublesome aside from being annoying.

Arriving at Oakhold, we fly around for a while as I watch the streets. Folks are buzzing around the streets, but not in a ‘fleeing in terror’ kind of way, it appears they’re getting accustomed to me. Being the responsible dragon that I am, I don’t give in to the impulsive desire to make them scurry away in fear. Much.

Letting out a roar, the townsfolk all look up as they seek shelter. Haha! Scurry, small ones!

“Was that necessary, Kira?” Yes, it was.

Besides, they went back to ignoring me as soon as they saw us hovering, and I can’t take Raya’s reprimand seriously when she’s laughing like that.

That’s enough playing with the townsfolk, we should land and find Wreyn. Setting my sights on Wreyn’s manor, I take aim at his lawn and decide that’s where we’ll land. It’s nice and big, so it shouldn’t be a problem. And if he isn’t home, I’m sure we can find him.

The door to Wreyn’s manor swings open as soon as we touch down, and Emily rushes out to greet us. She’s so brave! And talkative! Unfortunately, she forgot to cast that spell, so I have no idea what she’s saying.

Raya is quick to jump down and greet her, and then I notice the most adorable thing ever. Emily is taller than Raya! I think Raya noticed my chuckling because she’s glaring at me.

“What do you think you’re laughing at, you overgrown lizard?!”

I’m not laughing at anything, you undergrown cucumber.

In classic Raya fashion, she flings out one of her fire bolts aimed straight at me. It harmlessly strikes my shoulder and… I feel it… not just the magic, but a slight sting. She is getting stronger, not just physically! Lily was wrong about her magic!

Her eyes widen as she apologizes for it. “I’m sorry, Kira! I didn’t mean to hurt you!”

That’s amazing! She’s gonna be the best fighter in the world with super strength and deadly magic! Then we can go hunting together, and I won’t have to ever leave her to keep her safe.

Another tingle of magic interrupts my grand plans for exploration and daring fights. It came from Emily, she probably realized that she couldn’t understand us either. She’s looking a little less happy compared to before Raya shot me, but I’m sure we’ll all be fine.

As I greet her, she perks right up and I ask if she knows where Wreyn is, but all I get is ‘work.’ Not much to go by, but that’s fine. Maybe Neithro is around instead, he's supposed to join me for the hunt anyway, and I’m sure Raya will be safe left in Emily’s care.

In fact, Emily seems to have become fascinated by the shorter person using magic she doesn’t seem to know. Not wanting to be left out, I shoot some fire into the sky, which quickly draws Emily’s attention.

Raya suggests that they teach each other their spells, stealing away Emily’s attention. You win this time, Raya. I have to go find Wreyn or Neithro anyway, so it’s fine.

As I leave the yard, the lack of guards swarming me kinda surprises me. The few guards I do see are just minding their own business, which I take as permission to do what I want! Strolling through the streets, folks are quick to move aside while staring. Bit rude, but I get it, I’m quite a sight.

These people are a bit distracting though, I can smell the wealth coming off them, and I have to fight back thoughts of taking it. Best behavior, Kira, don’t just rob people. Although, I am surprised at how unafraid they are. I can certainly smell that they’re worried, but I’m not smelling much actual fear.

Which I’m gonna take as affirmation that my diplomacy skills are excellent!

As I continue my walk, some guy suddenly stands in front of me and holds up a piece of paper. What am I supposed to do with this? I can’t read that…

Well, I’ve encountered folks who could speak Raya’s language before, so I just ask if anyone can read it for me, and to my surprise, someone does step forward. A cautious-looking elderly lady with fur and adorable little fuzzy ears sticking out of her head.

“Lemme see here… It says… Oh… Uhm, Lady Dragon, before I tell you what it says, please remember that I do not have a hand in what this scoundrel is doing.”

Yeah, precautions seem necessary here. In a rush of movement, I pin the young man to the ground under my claws and ask the old lady to continue.

“It says ‘we have your goblin. Pay us fifty gold, or she dies.’”

I need more information, and this guy is gonna volunteer it. I ask the old lady to tell him that he can return my goblin, or I’ll burn everything I see until I find her.

The old lady reeks of fear now, and as soon as she relays my message, everyone around does too. I don’t have time for this. If Raya needs a rescue, Raya gets a rescue. Using the old lady as a translator again, I inform the scoundrel that he will be showing me where their hideout is, or I’ll find someone willing.

“E warac. [I can’t.]” Someone willing it is then. Putting my weight on my arm, feeling his chest compress and bones crack as he screams. The screams stop as he runs out of air before dying. For a moment, I consider asking for someone else around to show me where these bastards hang out, but it occurs to me that this guy's smell will likely lead me back to their hideout.

Making sure to commit his smell to memory, confidence builds as the trail becomes clear. And since I'm a responsible dragon, I'm not gonna leave food uneaten.

With that sorted, I get ready to follow his stench through the empty streets, and it doesn't take long for me to find similar smells among the fear coating the streets.

I don’t get to enjoy it for long because I manage to find a building that reeks of him and his lot. Another building not built for dragons, so I'm out of options, I'd say. Rearing up, I dig my claws into the wall around the doorway and rip out the bricks and mortar with little effort.

With an appropriate hole made, I can enter the building without much worry of getting stuck. I expected to find people here, but there's no one around that I can see. At least I have a nose for solving such problems. Smelling around, my first impression is that all this dust is annoying, and my second impression is that someone is here, in the basement.

As luck would have it, I happen to be great at digging.

Claws infused with magic penetrate deep into the floor as I rip out the boards. Wood flies around me as the basement becomes visible. I see four people down there, but no Raya. With a ferocious roar, I shout for them to return her, but as far as I can tell, not one of them understands me.

The floor of the basement is twice my height away, so I can’t just snatch them up and ask them one at a time. Instead, I make sure to block the original entrance to the basement, and then I crawl down to join them.

One of these people starts barking orders at the other three, but since Raya isn’t here, I don’t have to be careful. Unleashing my flames, two of the less important people scream as they’re caught in the plume, and the last one stops in his tracks and just stares at me.

I don’t really care about him, so I focus on the boss and tell him to give me Raya. He reeks of fear, and I don’t think he understands me. I guess we’ll have to find a translator again. As I approach him, he gets ready to fight. What a fool…

What was it Big Guy said… Something with a lot of S’s in it… Ah, Siresse! The boss seems to think for a moment, but then a gleam appears in his eye. I’m pretty sure he just chose death.

I get ready to attack as he raises his weapon, but before I can act, I feel a wave of magic and he’s thrown back by a giant icicle sticking out of his chest. What the hell? Looking around, I spot Wreyn. He’s standing on the edge of the hole I dug, staring down at us.

“They don’t have Raya. She’s still with Emily.” Oh… In that case, I may have overreacted slightly.

“Good to see you as always, Kira, but I fear I have a complaint to lodge.”

I hope he isn’t expecting me to pay for all of this, there were extenuating circumstances! It was all these guys’ fault! They’re liable for any damage incurred as a result of their reckless behavior!

“I don’t care about the damage! My complaint is that EVERYONE but me gets to see your Dragonflame! Raya has seen it, Emily has seen it, the adventurers who attacked you saw it, even Neithro has seen it. Now these scum have seen it! But me? I’m left out! I demand to see some Dragonflame!”

Geez, he seems genuinely upset about this… Fine, I’ll show off my flames when we get back.

“No! Right now, otherwise we’ll get distracted again, and then I’ll miss out on it!”

Is he really a wise old man?... I’m starting to doubt it, but it’s not that much trouble to let him have his way.

Unleashing a plume of flame upward, I hear his joyful laughter over the roar of the flames. Raya is still my focus, though, and I want to make sure she's safe, so I cut my flames short and start climbing out of the basement. The house was on fire when I got here.

“More!”

No.

“Aww…” Don’t sulk like that, old man, you’re supposed to be a dignified leader! Geez…