Tribulations of a Dragon

Now that I have spooked some random citizen, I encourage Joras to get down to business, but Raya isn’t having it. She’s giving me the stink eye for being a meanie.

I'm harshly informed that the random citizen’s name is Jeannie and she takes care of Joras’ partner while he’s out. Dang it, it’d be much easier to justify not apologizing if she hadn’t been nice.

Turns out such a simple task, apologizing, is not something my dragon half appreciates.

“Jeannie, how about you make a request as an apology for the scare? I’m sure you can think of something a giant flying beast can do that very few have tried.” Beast?! I’m no mere beast, Joras! Pretty good suggestion though. This guy is taking so many liberties, might have to nip that in the bud.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what I would ask for…” Turns out she is quite timid, but it’s fair, what kind of favor would you ask a stranger? I certainly don’t know. He then places his hand on her head and suggests flying.

Am I a beast of burden now?! This is- “I wanna go too!” Dang it, Raya, I’m trying not to be a taxi.

Putting my foot down, I make it- “Then it’s settled, we’ll fetch some straps and you can both ride Kira today.”

This certainly got out of hand for me…

Raya quickly pulls Jeannie along as they run off to somewhere. Probably to get some straps… I ask him if he’s aware that I can still refuse to give my blood for his experiments and the butt-head just shrugs. He shrugs!

“I doubt you’ll do that, I’m fairly certain I have your character figured out. You’re very kind, but you’re also easy to read, so I know well in advance when I'm about to go too far. I have no doubt you’re curious how I’m reading you, and I’ll tell you. It’s your eyes. They’re stunningly blue when you’re happy or otherwise content. They turn violet when you start being cautious or excited. And when you’re itching for a fight or otherwise feeling aggressive, they turn a deep blood red.”

I’d say this guy needs to be less observant, but that seems like a super easy way to read someone’s mood. Freakin’ mood eyes, how am I supposed to hide that? Dang it.

“Don’t worry, Kira, I won’t tell anyone who might abuse it.” Dang it! He read my mood again…

As I think about ways to hide my mood eyes from being read, Raya and Jeannie return. They're hauling a surprising amount of leather goods.

Joras moves closer and suggests that, if I’m up for it, we can fill a vial with my blood and then go outside the gates to sort out this riding session. That would give him time to study while we’re having fun, which sounds like a pretty good plan.

Apparently the guy just happens to have blood siphoning equipment, that’s not creepy at all. Four vials later, and I don’t feel any different, so that's good.

My biggest fear with this whole deal is still that he plans some nefarious scheme, but I also feel that I’m being unfair to him. Can't do anything about that now, we’re gonna go outside the gate and fly around because flying is so much fun!

Raya groans loudly when she realizes that she has to carry everything outside the city limits. It isn’t that far, she’s just very small, which makes this excellent punishment!

Again, folks just move aside as we trudge through the streets, very nice of them. As we make it to the gate, I notice that this gate is even larger than the west gate.

Apparently, the northern and southern gates are just larger to allow easier access to the city center, while the eastern and western gates are reserved for foot traffic.

Seems good to have a plan like that. It also turns out that my mountain is in the southeast, which means my original conclusion of flying east when I left it, willingly, was ever so slightly incorrect. It was west, I flew west after I fell, I mean, after I flew from the mountain.

Focusing up, I notice that Joras has tied a bunch of those straps together and from the looks of it, it’s looking distinctly harness-shaped. At least I’ll be the best darn mount in town.

I would have thought some sort of leatherworker would be necessary to actually assemble a harness, but Joras just uses some weird glue substance, which sizzles for a bit and then binds the leather straps together. He’d better not make that stuff a permanent feature on me!

It doesn’t take long for him to finish up his crafting and fling the harness over me, fastening it. Apparently, his plan is for them to just lie on me on either side of my spinal spines.

Seems weird, but I guess it can work if they’re tied in properly. All this prep for flying is making me itch for a flight. I’m itching for him to hurry up, but he’s taking his time making sure everything is safe.

The whole ordeal ends up taking about an hour and a half before we get the two women strapped in. But when we do, I’m off!

Only moments after taking off, Raya is howling and laughing, she gets it. Jeannie, on the other hand, is mostly just screaming, which means I at least know she’s still attached to me.

We end up just spending half a day flying around lazily without anything in particular happening, and that’s really nice for once. I decide to turn back down, and we make quick work of the journey back.

I land outside the western gates and, as usual, the guards momentarily ready themselves for a fight, but only momentarily this time.

Then Raya yells for one of them to help the two women down, and one guard just strolls up to me like it’s the most normal thing in the world.

Some bickering and cussing later, and he’s managed to cut them loose, but I doubt the harness is gonna be useful again. Didn’t like it anyway, it was uncomfortable.

Never mind that, it’s time to see if Joras has made any progress! The guards don’t even intervene as I start wandering through the gates. Raya and Jeannie are quick to follow and we make our way… into the town… “You don’t know where you’re going, do you, Kira?”

Shooting a glare at Raya, I just shake my head. Folks are a bit too smug with me, gotta do something to fix that. Now that Raya is leading the way, we actually make it to Joras’ place quite fast, a quick knock later and someone I don’t know opens the door.

“By the Gods, Joras, I didn’t think it was real. How in the world did you manage to tame a dragon?” Oh now she’s done it! It’s slobberin’ time!

“Lily, don’t use any magic while covered in that substance, please.” I can’t quite tell what sort of expression she has, it feels like a mix between curiosity, excitement, and outrage.

How peculiar. Also, what does he mean by 'substance'? It’s just saliva.

Joras joins us as he throws a piece of cloth to Lily, he at least looks genuinely happy, that’s easy to tell.

“It worked, Kira. I’ll tell you what I did later. But don’t tell anyone about the materials you’ve supplied so far.” Huh, that’s suspicious, but I’m happy that it worked, good for him.

“Tell her to never do that again, Joras.” Lily’s back, it seems. I might have to have more fun with her in the future.

“Okay. Don’t talk about taming in front of a Dragon, they may take it personally. And all things considered, you got a rather mild punishment.” Oh, so he can be a butt with other people too, that’s good to know.

“As usual, you just have to be a third party, huh?” Judging by the punch Joras received, I’d wager the outrage is feigned.

The two of them bicker back and forth and I’m getting somewhat bored of just standing here, judging by Raya and Jeannie having left, they got bored too. Wandering the town it is!

There’s a surprising amount of folks down this street, and they also make way for me to just pass through. Though some are a bit wary, they’re mostly just staring at the spectacle of a dragon wandering their streets.

Turns out there are all sorts of shops and whatnot around here. Now if only I could fit in any of them… Moving away from the unjustly sized shops, I make my way further into town and end up at a large square. A large square filled with stall shops! Street food! YUSH!

This situation has me in a bit of a predicament. Things cost money, I have money to pay, but the money is inside of me. I could really use some hands and upright walking.

Okay, different strategy, mooching. So I just walk up to the first stall and give the vendor my best adorable eyes, which has him looking at me for a moment, and then he grabs one of his skewers and holds it out to me.

It’s working! Opening my mouth slowly, I lean forward to grab it, but apparently he’s not comfortable with that because he withdrew his hand.

As I’m trying to come up with a solution that won’t risk bodily harm, he apparently comes up with one first and inserts the skewer between two of my teeth and pulls back. That feels quite weird.

But it worked! The delicious flavor washes over my taste buds, and goodness, that is good. I suddenly find myself interrupted by more people with treats. This is gonna be a very good day.

As I’m enjoying some lovely non-verbal networking with the locals, I feel something crawl on me. It’s a kid! It appears this little girl has more courage than most adults approaching me.

I guess that’s fair, kids aren’t known for identifying danger all that well. With a very light shake, she grabs onto my spines allowing me to stand up without her falling. Now she’s really high up, which, judging by the laughing, suits her just fine.

To just about no one’s surprise, the adults are not quite as cheerful about this development.

Obviously I’m gonna focus on the kid, because she seems like a very fun person. She walks back and forth on my back, so I stretch out a wing, which she’s quick to notice and rushes over to balance on my wing arm.

To my surprise, she’s actually doing a remarkably good job of it. As she gets to the middle of my wing’s membrane, I give it a jolt, causing her to lose her balance and fall onto the membrane. With a scream, she slides down onto a stall’s canopy.

Someone quickly helps her down, but she appears to want to go again, and she’s no longer alone. I think I might not have given the ramifications of my actions enough thought. I’m swarmed by kids. They’re everywhere.

I lie down again and rest my wings’ elbows on top of a couple of stalls and let the kids sort it out. They’re very quick to rush up and climb me, taking turns sliding down my wings. Yeah, I’m definitely blocking this pathway.

Maybe being a playground isn’t so bad, especially since the vendors seem to have made a competition of feeding me. Today is a day of noms and friendships.

As nightfall sets in, the vendors start packing up and parents collect their kids, and I find myself a little disappointed that the day is coming to an end.

I’ll just have to see if I can make tomorrow just as fun. I turn to leave and this time, I actually know where I need to go to get to Joras’ place. I just have to follow the slightly damaged cobblestone road.

They really should do a better job maintaining their roads. Also, it turns out I can’t whistle.

When I arrive at Joras’ place, I prepare to utilize my glorious knocking skills again, but just as I’m about to do it, I hear Joras shout from inside the building.

“Don’t do it, Kira. I don’t want damage to my door.” Rude! First of all, I was going to knock on his wall, not his door, and second, how did he know?!

Apparently, Lily is the door-opener this time, with a smile, no less.

“Welcome back, Kira, I hope you’ve had a good day.” I have! It’s been very fun and tasty. I really need to learn some sort of speaky spell.

Appears Joras is joining us in the doorway. “Want to see a neat trick, Lily?” With crossed arms, she just nods.

“Watch Kira’s eyes, notice how blue they are. Lovely, aren’t they?” Well, some flattery is always appreciated.

“Now, Kira. I’ve been reading up on dragons in the few books I have. And from what I gather, your kin are terrible at general magic, but astoundingly good at your specialties, one of which is self-enchantment.” That’s interesting, shame that I won’t be learning all sorts of weird stuff.

“And Lily is an enchanter.” Oh! She can teach me enchanting! Maybe I can enchant my vocal cords to work with speech!

Lily is looking at me very intensely… “Ooh, I love that! Such a vibrant violet color.” Dang it! I forgot about my mood eyes again. I’ll definitely need to punish Joras for that one.

And he promised not to tell anyone!… who might abuse it. Dang it! The fine print got me!

“And there’s the indication that we shouldn’t take this play much further.” So he says, but that smile could indicate his intentions to do otherwise…

“Now, the point of this little demonstration is, as you’ve no doubt realized, for Lily to teach you some magic and make you more self-sufficient. And to do that, she has to have a way to read you, since facial expressions aren’t likely to work all that well.”

I’m gonna learn more magic stuff! And it might help me talk to people! I am very excited for this development.

“Appears I don’t have much of a choice here. I hope you know what you’re doing, Joras.” She may sound apprehensive, but I can definitely tell that she’s interested in teaching me. And I’m an excellent student.

“But it’ll have to wait until tomorrow. It’s getting very late.” Dang it! Foiled again by Time, that rascal! It’s probably preferable to have the entire day for training anyway. I’m gonna be way too excited about learning enchantments to sleep. Why must you be so cruel, Time?!

Well, maybe I’ll just go for a flying session then. Have some fun instead of waiting around for tomorrow. I glance up at Joras and he’s just smiling at me.

“Well done, Lily, you’ve made a Dragon pout like a child.” I’m not pouting! I’m considering my unfavorable situation!

Well, without much to do, I’ll just wander the streets some more.

“Goodnight, Kira!” I give her a small grumble, she’ll get it. Street wandering at night. Stuff is certainly gonna be closed. Nevertheless, I can walk around and get my bearings. So that’s what I do, and apparently these folks have guards patrolling the streets at night.

Obviously I’m on my best behavior, and I definitely won’t be hiding behind a corner waiting for a guard to startle.

For how poorly this whole situation started, these people have been quite awesome. It occurs to me that, while I still miss my old home, I can definitely see this becoming my new home.

My wandering takes me through quite a few streets as well as by a few streets I can’t fit through. And it turns out only the main street is lit up. They've got some streetlights with tiny boxes on top. I can see some weird mushrooms inside the boxes giving off a surprising amount of light.

I'm gonna have to remember to ask Joras about those. Maybe they're tasty. Returning to my exploration, I notice that most of what I see appears to be residential housing. I wonder what they all do to pass the time.

Distracting myself from that distraction, I continue my stroll. And to my surprise, I end up at a gate, which is not closed. I look around and don’t see any guards. That’s peculiar.

Lowering my head to the ground, I sniff a few whiffs to see if I can pick up anything, and I do. Something has definitely snuck inside. Something not gobliny. At least I don’t smell any blood.

It’s hunting time! I’m gonna track this whatever down. Nose to the ground, I follow the trail, and it doesn’t take long before I have to take a detour.

Darn this lack of dragon accessibility! Moving swiftly, I make my way to the other side of the passage, I pick up the trail again. I find myself doing remarkably well with this tracking business, and there’s even a guard following me for some reason.

Curiously, I see no signs of me having passed this way before, not that I leave marks, certainly not minor property damage. Disregarding spontaneous destruction, I continue on my way.

I get the feeling that I’m moving quite fast, in part because the guard is jogging to keep up with me. I’m definitely getting closer to whatever this smell belongs to.

Slowing my pace, I attempt to sneak, but the sound of my claws hitting cobblestone makes my presence quite apparent. Hopefully that won’t matter much. I’m very close now, but I still don’t see anything.

Unfortunately for me, I do feel something. The dang thing jumped me! It latches onto my back and bites down hard. I can feel the scales at the base of my neck crunch. Admittedly, I may have provoked this, but still, what’s with all the attacking me?!

I thrash around trying to shake it off, but it’s latched on good. Another crunch and I can feel a spike of pain. It’s through my scales. Shit.

I try to wrap my head around to bite it, but it just lets go long enough to dodge me, and I get a look at it. It’s some sort of cat creature with deep purple fur. And it is big, not as big as me, but bigger than one of the wolves.

I really need it to stop biting my neck because, judging by the blood flow, it’s making excellent progress, which is a problem. So far, I’ve been careful to avoid damaging the structures, but I don’t think I can afford to anymore. I let out a roar and hope people start evacuating.

“People! Leave your homes! We’ve got a Mire Panther on the loose!” Right, the guard. Good job, random guard!

All this tussling is telling me that I’m still not entirely recovered from my wolf tumble, can’t do anything about that now. If I don’t kill this thing, I won’t have to care, that’s for sure.

I see people evacuating their houses in a steady stream, so it’s time to try something. With a running start, I make my way toward a street junction and as soon as I can, I unfold my wings and give a powerful push.

Using the resistance from my wings, I flip over backwards and land on my back. And that freakin’ hurts. Like REALLY hurts. Don’t land on your back when you have spines.

Apparently the darn cat doubled down and stuck to me, so it is also not having a great time. I didn't get it with my spines, but it still took quite a hit from my mass.

But it’s still able to get up, so as soon as I manage to get myself standing, the dang thing is back on my back! I really want to just burn the crap out of it, but then I'd likely also burn down most of the town.

Now guards are swarming around me, which limits my movement if I don’t want to crush the little guys. But their spears are also limiting the cat’s movements. It's hard to be agile in a field of spikes.

To my surprise, I feel one of them crawl up my tail and onto my back, if I time this right, his distraction should allow me to get a bite in, and with my teeth, escape is impossible unless I want it to.

The guard on my back swings at the cat, and I use that moment to strike, but this dang thing is quick. At least it’s not biting me right now, which is also a problem because it will easily be able to kill these small guards.

Oh, an idea. I unfold my wings straight up, creating a corridor for the cat. It does not like that, if the growling is any indication. Two guards with spears jab at the cat from the base of my wings’ membranes, they’re clearly trying to get it closer to my head. Good job, little guys.

It’s working, the cat is slowly backing up. Patience, Kira. It’s on my shoulder, a precarious position, so I shift and it loses its balance. A perfect time to strike.

I bite down on its haunch. Hard. I can feel the bones snapping, and it feels glorious. I pull the cat off of me and thrash it around. Property damage be damned, this thing is gonna feel some hard surfaces.

Whipping it between buildings, I can tell that it is not having a great time, so it’s time to end this. A final whip into the ground, and I grip it tightly with my claws while releasing my bite. It's time to rip out a throat.

I barely notice that the guards have climbed down, and I think the blood loss might be getting to me because I’m getting a bit light-headed. Just gonna have a lie down and eat that thing later.

Just as I’m starting to relax, some jerk splashes water on my wounds. And now some other jerk is trying to get me to open my mouth, just leave me alone!

“Kira! Stop resisting, you need healing!” Is that Raya? When did she get here?

“Open your mouth so you can drink a healing potion, you overgrown lizard!” I’m not a lizard… I’m a mighty dragon. But that is a good point, I need to remember that healing potions are a thing here, so I comply before I just close my eyes for a minute.

———————

Apparently I fell asleep again, but this time, I’m not dead, so that’s very much an upgrade. From the looks of it, I’m still on the same street. I guess I am pretty hard to move.

As I look around, I can surmise that I might have some apologizing to do. Some folks definitely lost their homes. The buildings are still standing, but they’ve definitely got a more open interior.

I think I saw someone run off as soon as I started moving. That’s their problem, I’m gonna focus on feeling a bit miserable after that fight. So many things hurt.

Don’t do backflips with spine spines. Moving my head, I can tell that my neck is still very sore, because ouch. Yeah, I’m just gonna lie here some more. I am officially no longer a cat person. Which reminds me, where’s my snacky reward?! Someone absconded with it!

“Hello Kira, how are you doing?” I don’t know, whoever you are, I’m not a doctor, or I guess. I’m not a veterinarian.

“Joras should be here momentarily to assist you.” Great, then I’ll get to talk to people.

“Thank you, Kira. That panther would likely have killed more people if you hadn’t stepped in.” Oh, so it did kill some, that sucks…

“Ah, Kira, I hear you’ve already lived up to your end of the bargain. Exceptionally well done.” That’s definitely Joras. I just growl at him a bit. I’m expecting a jab as usual, but instead he just places a hand on me, and I feel the tingle.

I can tell the magic is working, so I ask him what happens now, which seems to confuse him. “What do you mean? You really have done exceptionally well. This beast was a significant threat that very few here would have been able to deal with. I assume you’re worried about the damage caused and a couple of lives lost, but, and I apologize for being crass, that doesn’t really matter compared to what you saved.”

But it was a coincidence, I didn’t mean to end up where I did…

“Stop being a petulant child. To do well is not dependent on planning it. You made a choice when the opportunity presented itself, and you made an excellent choice. Celebrate your victory, grieve the losses, but don’t regret not doing more.”

I know what he means, but I’m tired and grumpy… “If you pay attention, Kira, you’ll notice it’s daytime, which means Lily is available.” Oh! That’s right, enchantments! Dang it, he used Greater Distract.

I have to ask him if he knows how many died, but I’m a bit worried about the answer. I’m gonna focus on something more enjoyable right now, breakfast.

With some effort, I pull myself up and ask Joras to lead me to the food stalls again.

“They aren’t open today.” Darn it! “But we could go find something for you at the butcher.” Okay, that’ll work.

Walking down the streets with Joras is quite a different experience compared to yesterday. People seem almost happy to see me. Geez, word spreads fast. We pass a tavern, and I get curious as I hear folks talk about last night, so I stick my head inside.

“You should’ve seen it. Fighting alongside a dragon against a Mire Panther, can you believe it? Hells, I barely can and I was there! Damn panther was bigger than a dire wolf, but the dragon wasn’t one bit scared and just fought!” Most of the tavern has noticed me and quieted down.

“Now, you might think us guards wouldn’t be much help, but we were! We kept the damn thing on its toes, so the dragon could finish it off! Proper teamwork. And the dragon is a clever one, immediately working with us.”

He’s a talkative one, it seems. It was a pretty good fight. And then he notices the rest of the tavern has gone quiet, and I half expect him to go pale, but instead he just smiles a wide grin. “Barkeep! Fetch me a keg! I owe someone an ale!”

To my surprise, Barkeep goes into the back room and returns with a small keg, handing it off to the guard. In barely any time at all, the guard has dismounted his chair and approached me, uncorking the keg.

“Open up, we’re celebrating a disaster averted!” Sure, why not. Opening my mouth, he pours a generous amount of ale into it. I’m surprised by how tasty it is as I swallow, I didn’t think they’d have some pretty good stuff available. Not that I was ever much of a drinker, but maybe I could be convinced to enjoy a brew once in a while.

Opening my mouth again, he pours in even more while having himself a hearty laugh.

"Fighting alongside a dragon and now drinking with a dragon! Who knows where I’ll go from here!" I can feel the booze affecting me, so I should probably stop here... after the next swig.

Having emptied out a keg, I’m feeling quite peckish, which reminds me of this butcher that someone mentioned.

Pulling my head back, I’m immediately met with resistance, the heck… Screw you, resistance, you can’t hold me. I’ll just need to apply more force, which I do. And that worked perfectly, I’m no longer stuck, but someone ruined the door.

I bet that was why I got stuck, shoddy craftsmanship. Barkeep should sue someone. Apparently, this is a sketchy neighborhood because the other side of the street has sustained damage too, luckily my tail isn’t hurt, could’ve been bad if it got caught in that debris.

Where was I… Right, food. Joras! Show me the butcher!

“I don’t think that was wise, Kira.” Oh, Know-It-All McDodgy doesn’t think it was wise to make friends with the locals. Well, I disagree, I’m having a great time. Time to hurry him up with this butcher business. Meat! Meat! Meat! I want meat!

Joras just shrugs and starts walking, seems like we’re finally headed somewhere. This will be delicious, I’m sure. After an amount of walking, we get closer to a delicious smell, which, using my keen dragon senses, I identify as the butcher over there.

We finish our journey and arrive at the famous butcher I keep hearing about, and it looks so good. As I’m about to go in there, Joras stops me. Apparently, he thinks he should bring the good stuff out to me, and who am I to deny service like that?

So I find a table and sit down, ready to dig in. In barely any time at all, Joras brings out a large cut of some critter, and he hesitates a bit before placing it on my table.

Now raw is pretty good, but I do like a nice roast, so I give it a few puffs of flame and now it’s nice and crispy on the outside and raw on the inside, the best of both worlds. There are even undertones of wood. A curious spice choice, but tasty all the same.

“Kira, you’re eating the table.” No, silly, I’m eating what’s on the table. Finishing up my first meal, I ask for another, but someone broke my table, how rude. I should look into all this wanton destruction happening, something’s clearly going on.

I end up eating a decent bit and then it’s time for a nap. I deserve it, I did well.

“Kira. Kira! You can’t sleep here, we have places to be!” Places will be there when I wake up again…