by Billy Wong
The officer shrugged. "Admittedly, I don't know if all the details of the story are true. I've never seen this woman, though there must be something to her infamy."
"What does this woman supposedly do? Your description paints her as a powerful warrior, but who does she fight and where?"
"She is said to be the leader of the Hatefangs, the raider tribe that lives in the Aldman Valley."
Rose rolled her eyes in exasperation. Looking back at Finn, she explained, "We're going to the Aldman Valley, since the man-dragon was found there. Is that place some kind of dragon magnet? This is just our kind of luck, too. Must every old ruin we investigate have a powerful monster?"
Oh well. It's not like we haven't gotten lots of good memories that way. One more won't matter, unless it's our last.
Rose turned back to the soldiers, who stood waiting for orders, or for the couple to give them a reason to run. "We'll be going now. Please don't attack us, all right?" She mounted her husband then, and they flew away while the dumbstruck men looked on.
#
So what's the plan, kill them all? Finn asked, growing impatient as he waited out of sight while Rose looked down into the brown-walled, barren valley.
"We can kill whoever decides to attack us. I'm sure many of them will flee at the sight of you, though. Dragonhood has its benefits, doesn't it?"
I could scare people well enough as a human, thank you.
Rose shrugged. Studying the raiders' camp, she noted, "It doesn't look like there's that many of them, to us anyway. Only fifty or so, it seems. But we've got to be careful of this dragonrider and her dragon if they exist. We'll go down there together, but I'll check out that hole at the bottom alone since it's too small for you. I'd say that's where the man-dragon was most likely found, unless the place where it was dug up can't be seen anymore."
Finn grinned. So fight first, look later?
"Normally I'd be against it, but we know we're going to get attacked on sight anyway, and besides they are raiders. Better we surprise them, than for them to get the drop on us when we're trying to play nice."
Sounds good. So where do you want to come down on them from?
"You pick. You know better than me where you're comfortable landing."
Right in the middle. We'll be surrounded, I know, but we'll make a better first impression. You agree?
"Whatever you want. It's not like we're unused to being surrounded. So I'm going to have to fight mounted, huh?"
You don't want to? Finn asked considerately.
"No, it's fine. I usually don't like to because of some bad experiences I've had in the past, but I'll make an exception for the dragon I love. Don't drop me!"
#
Neal the Eel was contently enjoying his badger stew when a gust of wind blew off his beloved bearskin hat and a shadow blocked out the sun. He looked up to see a huge scaly form descending rapidly towards his face, and dove to avoid the titan. Facedown in the dirt, he heard the panicked cries of fellow raiders, and rolling over saw that the thing was a dragon. Though most of his friends were in full flight, Neal prided himself on his courage. Knees weak with terror, he nonetheless stood up and drew a javelin. He realized a large, dark-haired woman sat on top of the monster, and shifted his aim to throw at the more vulnerable human target. Just then, another raider's javelin flew at her from the side, and Neal thought she did not see it coming. But with merely a slight movement of her wrist she used her sword to deflect the spear, and the dragon breathed a stream of whitish air at the attacker who dropped frozen to the ground. Neal's raised javelin fell from his hand. He turned and fled, all thoughts of courage forgotten.
#
"That was a good easy fight," Rose decided. Looking at the scattered arrows hanging from Finn's wings, she asked with concern, "Are your wings all right?"
A bit shamefully, Finn answered, Yes, they don't really hurt. Apparently my wings are almost as tough as the rest of my body. I suppose I shouldn't have been so afraid of those soldiers, huh.
Rose smiled. "That doesn't matter. You hadn't been shot at before; now we know. You still have to watch out for bigger missiles, though." She leapt down from Finn's neck and counted sixteen bodies in sight, the rest of the raiders having fled when they'd seen how outmatched they were. Frankly, she'd expected them to flee quicker, but at least neither she or Finn had been seriously injured. Now she made her way to the hole in the valley wall, wary of the raiders' thus far unseen leader. She wondered if it was all a myth, for she hadn't seen any signs of another dragon, or the warrioress the officer described. Following the tunnel, she began to hear distant chanting and slowed her pace, careful not to reveal her presence.
As she came to a branch in the path, it became clear where the chanting came from, and she moved closer to listen in. "All praise the dragon god," male voices were saying with devotion in their tone.
Another voice, strangely androgynous, led them in their ritual. "Give yourselves to the dragon god! Become part of the dragon god!" Some of the chanting turned to screaming.
Rose had to see what was going on, and peeked into the chamber. A circle of about a dozen shirtless, dragon-tattooed men gathered around a somewhat short armored figure with long red hair hanging out of its dragonlike helmet, cutting themselves with red-hot daggers. Some of these men, less scar-covered than the rest, screamed as they lacerated themselves, while the more experienced dragon cultists continued to chant as if it did not pain them in the slightest. A revulsed Rose looked away from the grotesque spectacle to survey the rest of the room. Seeing the runes carved on the walls and the ancient bookcases behind the group, she realized to her chagrin that this was most likely the former lair of the man-dragon.
She wasn't sure what she should do. While their ritual was disgusting, it didn't hurt anyone else, and she couldn't be certain if they did anything harmful to other people. Then again, if they weren't comrades of the raiders who had just been driven off, they were at least associates, which was one strike against them. As Rose pondered her dilemma, the next thing the leader did decided the matter. Drawing an ornate sword at least as wide as Rose's own, though much shorter, the armored figure swiped at a newbie cultist who had stopped cutting himself and sliced his throat.
Rose ran into the room then, and shouted, "Enough!"
The circle of men stopped their ritual and stood to run at her, brandishing their daggers. And here she'd been trying to help. They didn't give her much trouble, but while she was occupied with them, their armored master ran around her to escape into the tunnel she'd come from. Annoyed, she felled the last of her attackers and decided not to give chase to their leader. After all, she was just here for the man-dragon's secrets. She filled two sacks with books and walked back down the tunnel.
Coming outside, she waved her sacks at Finn. "So where do you want to go to study these?"
It doesn't really matter. Any forest will do.
"Let's go to the one near Gustrone. It's closer than the forest I found you in, I need to get back to the city, and Derrick will probably enjoy seeing you as a dragon."
That's a good idea. When we get back, we'll... He stopped, looking at the cave from which Rose had emerged. Her gaze joined his, and the couple saw an enormous jet-black snake with a bony crest on its head, far longer than Finn though not as thick, slithering out of the tunnel. Sitting on a saddle behind the snake's head was the armored figure.
"Defilers of the holy ground! You will die!" the cultist leader yelled in the voice that could have belonged to a young man or a deep-voiced woman while the snake rushed at them.
Mounting her husband, Rose asked, "You want to fight, or just fly away?"
What do you want to do?
Rose smiled. "Running away isn't in our blood, is it Finn? Besides, this person kills for no good reason, and apparently brainwashes others into thinking that's all right. Let's get... it."
The snake reared up to tower over Finn, and its rider yelled, "You have stolen from the god's home! I, his flaming scion
wielding his own star-forged blade, shall repay you for your sin!"
"Hey Finn, I think this one worships the man-dragon we killed as a god. Should we tell it? Oh, I already did!"
"How dare you speak such blasphemy! Die!" As the snake lunged, the cultist swung its rune-covered sword down hard at Rose's head. But with her great strength, she caught the blow easily on her own blade. Admittedly, the red-haired warrior was strong, but not quite as strong as the size of its weapon had led Rose to believe.
The huge snake tried to bite Finn's shoulder, but only got a faceful of icy breath for its effort, and the dragon slashed it across the underside while it flinched away. The serpent thrashed in pain, throwing its rider off balance. Rose took the opportunity to open up a gash on its thigh.
"So are you a boy, a woman, or just a small man?" she asked.
Her opponent was hissing in pain at the moment, but did not answer when that moment passed. Instead it slashed its wide sword fiercely at Rose, who met the assault with even greater force, breaking its blade when their massive weapons clashed together. As the serpent-rider sat stunned to see the artifact of its "god" broken, Rose saw her opening and chopped at its chest. The heavy blade crunched through steel plate and buried itself in the breastbone. Rose wrenched the sword free and her opponent put slender fingers to its chest, attempting to quell the jetting blood. Without warning the huge snake used its crested head to butt Finn on the snout, stunning him and making him stumble back.
The serpent reared to tower above the couple, but its stricken rider could not hold its seat and fell backwards out of the saddle, its blood dripping down the snake's back while it hung limply from its stirrups. Still the monstrous snake lunged again at Finn, this time aiming for his neck. But as it came on inconsiderate of the puny human on the dragon's back, Rose slashed up, cutting deeply into the underside of its jaw and halting its attack. The ebony serpent tried to draw away, but Finn struck, clamping long jaws around his opponent's neck. Twisting frantically, the snake pulled itself free, but blood ran from deep gashes in its flesh. It turned to slither back into its den, but Finn pounced like a cat, pinned it and seized the back of its head with his teeth. This time, it lacked the strength to break loose, and after a loud crack it went limp in his grip.
Finn dropped the carcass and said, Dragon? Bah, who would mistake this thing for a dragon?! It's clearly just a big snake—no wings or even legs!
"Most people have never seen a dragon before, though I suppose they'd know what one's supposed to look like. I think the story just changed over time, so that it no longer reflected the truth. But what I want to know, is whether our cultist friend really was a woman or not."
What, are you going to get off just to see if you have a fellow, if dead, woman warrior down there?
"I haven't decided yet. What do you think?"
If not, you'll probably still be wondering about it in a year. So fine, you should go and see.
Rose dismounted and approached the figure still hanging from the snake's body. To her surprise, she heard ragged breaths. "Hey, it's alive! Should we do something?"
You're too compassionate, Rose, Finn admonished her. If this freak ever woke up, it wouldn't thank us for saving it, but scream something about its dead god and try to kill us. Better to just leave it; it probably can't be saved, anyway.
She thought to make an argument on the side of compassion, but the discussion was rendered moot as the labored breathing came to a stop. "You win. It's dead." Then she unbuckled the cultist's helmet and pulled it away to reveal a beautiful young man, little more than a boy, with a smooth face unmarked by battle unlike Rose's own. Observing the still features, she breathed, "It's kind of sad, isn't it?"
Finn sighed, unmoved. Yeah, yeah, we know he wasn't a woman now, and he was trying to kill us, so who cares that he's dead?
Rose basically agreed with her love, but mused, "I wonder who he was? He was really young. In the end, just some guy who seduced others into letting him kill them and finally met justice, I guess."
I like how you used the word "seduced."
"Whatever," Rose replied while she re-mounted him. "I didn't really mean it like that... though it could have been. Hey, was that sword of his really magical?"
The couple looked at the shattered blade. It appeared it was now beginning to melt, despite the cool evening air. "Was" is the operative term, Finn said.
"Magical or not, it wasn't a match for mine."
Finn scoffed. What are you are so proud of? You didn't forge that ugly thing yourself, did you?
Rose gasped in mock insult. "You know damn well I did, you troublemaker!" She gave him many a punch as he flew into the air, and ribbing each other constantly, they left Volston with their prize in hand (or bag).
#
The flight to the forest near Gustrone took less than a day, and Rose promised Finn she'd be back soon, returning home to spend the night with her kids. Meanwhile the dragon began to study his new books, using the incredibly dexterous tip of his tail to turn the pages nearly as easily as a human using their hand. The next morning, Rose returned with a big smile on her face and Derrick in tow.
The scholar gaped as he marveled at his transformed friend. "Finn, you look amazing! It's too bad you don't want to be a dragon anymore. I'd love to experience your life now!"
No you wouldn't. Isolation's a painful thing. I'm sorry I had to put the burden of running the center on your shoulders alone. How have you been since I left?
Excitedly, Derrick told Finn about his experience babysitting his and Rose's children, meeting Julie, and the impressive progress the center had made even without the couple. Apparently, the researchers had been forced to step up their own study due to the lack of guidance, and this motivated them to learn faster. When he got to the Spelldrinker, Finn stopped him. Rose had talked constantly about that during their first day back together, so she figured the dragon knew everything he needed to, and then some, about the incident.
When he had his fill of talking about his life, Derrick asked, "So when you're a human again, what do you plan to do? Are you going to come back to work at the center, go back to adventuring, or what?"
"He's going to be the stay-home father of our children," Rose joked.
I might actually do that, Finn said to the others' surprise, at least for some time. When you had our kids, I was so obsessed with magic that I didn't really appreciate the fact I was a father. When I'm back to normal, I want to spend all day with my children, and get to know them better like you did.
"Me?! I'm a terrible mother. You were such a better parent than me, easily calming the kids whenever they were unhappy—how could you want to be more like me?"
Maybe I'm naturally more attractive to children, but I certainly wasn't a good father. I didn't even pay them any mind.
Rose laughed. "Then we're both terrible parents, hmm Finn? At least you're going to try to be better—I guess I'll have to try, too!"
"Don't worry," Derrick said, "we have plenty of money to pay for babysitting in the treasury if you need it."
The couple exchanged mischievous looks. Ideally, they'd take care of the kids most of the time, but knowing themselves and each other, they both turned to Derrick and gave vigorous nods. "Yes, we will!" Rose acknowledged unashamedly. "I mean, I can't stay away from my job!"
Now the three friends searched the books together for a way to change Finn back, having declared today a holiday for the center. Rose spotted an interestingly titled text, called "The Formless Fanolt," about a mage capable of transforming himself into any creature he wished. "What about this, Finn?"
It's a fictional story. If such transformations were possible, they would require a great deal of control, and I'm not sure such spells even exist. Magic isn't just wishing for what you want and getting it. Though I didn't know this as a human, I've learned that magic only manipulates existing energies in the world, using the language which speaks to those forces. But that manipulation can only go so far. Draw heat from y
our surroundings to create fire—no problem, relatively speaking. Modifying one's form—really complicated if it can be done, especially retaining your mental capacities in the process.
"You turned into a dragon, didn't you?" Derrick pointed out.
Yes, but that's different. A dragon is a more powerful, and supposedly higher, state a mage evolves into by drawing in elemental energies, not a regressive change forced upon one's body through magic. There's no risk of losing your intelligence there. A change in other directions might not be so safe.
Rose frowned. "That's that, then." She set aside the strange story for later reading and continued to browse the remaining texts. After a time, she remembered an idea she'd thought up before during a daydream. "Finn, with your new knowledge of magic, could you enchant objects like my weapons?"
He nodded. I think I could, though it is a long process. But it can wait until I'm human again, can't it? I'm sure I'll still be able to do it; other mages did. Though I am less skilled than past mages ascended to dragonhood, being rushed to it as I was.
"What could you do with say, my sword?"
A few things, but only traits relating to one element for a particular object, at least at my level of ability. For example, I could make it stronger with the earth element, feel lighter with the wind element, sharper with the fire element, or... well, I can't really think of a useful way to apply the water element to a sword—I'll get back to you on that.
"Make it float?" Derrick suggested.
Rose shrugged. "That wouldn't be too useful. Are only the basic elements viable for use in spells, or are there more advanced ones? The man-dragon used a spell to seemingly try and snuff out my very essence, and mages of the past were able to manipulate minds and even souls. What of it?"
The manipulation of the soul is beyond the skill I possess, and indeed that of the vast majority of mages—though most who ascended to dragonhood would have been able to wield such difficult magic. Spiritual energy too is a fundamental element of the world, but far more difficult to manipulate and control as even simple creatures have their own will, and intelligent beings most of all. It takes a mage of vast aptitude to affect souls with any success. Knowing what I do now, it seems all the more amazing that you were able to survive the man-dragon's death spell.