Chapter 16: The Second Dragon

“Iris, can you heal the elder dragon?”

Iris flashed a brilliant smile. “Yes! Leave it to me!”

“Wait. You can’t be serious. It’s still a dragon. It’ll attack us the moment you heal it,” Delwyn argued.

“Someone or something must have pushed it from its home and corralled it here,” Vito theorized. “Right now, it’s just angry and scared. I’m willing to take a chance and show it mercy.”

Greye nodded in agreement. “Very well. Go ahead, heal it.” Parsifal begrudgingly released his chains and let them fade away.

Iris nodded and knelt beside the dragon’s head. Its suspicious gaze followed her as she held her staff and touched the floating sphere to its scales. Water gathered around her staff. “Healing Waves.”

Glowing water spread across the dragon’s large body and healed its wounds. Its scales were restored to pristine condition, the holes in its wings were filled in, and the cuts it received from the four swordsmen were closed. It was as though the elder dragon had never seen battle.

The dragon pushed itself up as the magic faded. Vito rushed to Iris’s side and caught her as she began to slump over in exhaustion. “There. You can go back home now.”

The dragon extended a talon and carved two lines into the ground. It spread its wings and beat them once to soar high into the air. The party endured a brief gust of wind as their enemy escaped and flew east. They were all surprised to see their status menus appear and announce that they earned a new title: “Dragon Savior.” They would be seen as potential allies to dragonkind, and they could learn their language and ways should they continue to earn the dragons’ trust.

Vito was shown a second announcement informing him that he received a new skill: Dragon Kinship, a skill related to Scan. He ignored the notice and the level-up notice that told him he rose from Level 26 to Level 29 and slowly helped Iris to her feet. “Good job.”

Iris gave him a tired smile. “Thank you.” Her words carried greater meaning. Vito smiled and nodded. He handed her a potion to restore her inner strength.

Delwyn loudly sighed and sheathed her sword on her back. “Dragon Savior is close to Dragon Slayer, but it’s not quite there. I don’t think I can even tell people about it.”

“You might get your chance. The elder dragon scratched two marks on the ground. There might be a second dragon for you to slay,” Parsifal pointed out.

“Really?!” Delwyn was excited about a second chance.

“We should determine if a battle is necessary first. The second one could be in a similar predicament as our new friend,” Vito suggested. “My Scan skill was upgraded with something called Dragon Kinship. Do you think that could help us?”

Greye was visibly surprised. “It’s an ultra-rare skill that would let you speak with dragons. You could even use their unique magic.” He then grinned. “I’m kind of jealous. I always wanted to ride on a dragon.”

“Its initial stage allows you to analyze draconic materials, such as their language and artifacts. As he said, an advanced stage would allow you to use dragon magic,” Parsifal explained. “At the very least, you should be able to interrogate the second dragon and learn why they have come here.”

“I think it’s better to speak with such creatures before resorting to battle,” Iris opined.

Vito smiled. “Of course, we’ll try talking to it. We just need to find it first.” Iris shared Rosa’s love of animals.

“Let’s head back to Orinis. They’ll be happy to hear one dragon departed, and they can prepare for a second,” Greye announced.

The sky darkened when they returned to the village. The elder eagerly awaited their return near his home. “What have you found?” Reinfar questioned them.

“The dragon will no longer worry you,” Greye replied. He chose his words carefully to not arouse suspicion or panic.

Reinfar and his guards were visibly relieved. “Thank the goddess Ivalis,” he breathed.

“I’m afraid there is more to report, good elder,” Greye spoke again, confusing them. “We have reason to believe that a second dragon may be nearby.”

The elder and guards were stunned. “A second…?” Reinfar breathed. “No, this cannot be. Surely you’re mistaken.”

Greye shook his head. “We saw two different sets of dragon tracks near an abandoned mine north of here. Only one took refuge there for any significant amount of time.”

Reinfar looked distraught and lost. Greye approached and put a comforting arm on his shoulder. “We rid you of one, and we can rid you of the other. We need only find it. If you know anything else, please tell us.”

The elder nodded and patted Greye’s hand. “Thank you. However, we’ve told you all we know.”

Greye regrouped with the others. “This was a long shot, to begin with. Let’s rest up at the inn and check again tomorrow.”

Vito approached the elder with an idea. “Have you seen any suspicious people? We believe the dragons were corralled here by another party.”

“What did you say?!” Reinfar was outraged. A guard tried to calm him down. “I’m sorry, but no. There have been no such reports.”

Vito’s expression softened. “I apologize for upsetting you. Please go and rest, good elder.”

Reinfar weakly smiled. “You are kind, young man. It is my duty as the elder of Orinis to coordinate such missions, no matter my age or health.”

“We saw something!” A group of children approached.

“You should be at home!” A guard berated them. “The hour is late. You should be getting ready to sleep.”

“Wait!” Vito held his hand up to the guard, then turned his attention to the children. “What did you see?”

“Well, we were playing by the old guard tower, and some scary people yelled at us,” a little boy reported.

“He nearly burned us with magic!” a little girl spat.

“We heard them talk about a dragon. Aren’t you looking for it?” another boy asked.

“Where is the old guard tower?” Vito asked the guard.

“West of here, toward the border. It used to serve the knights who defended the border against the Aitraethen Empire’s attacks,” he began. “The royal guard abandoned it over a decade ago when the Empire focused its efforts elsewhere. Orinis wasn’t deemed ‘strategically important’ anymore.” Bitter resentment highlighted his every word.

Vito took a small pouch of coins from his pocket and tossed it at the boy. “Good work. Be sure to buy some treats on your way home.”

“Thanks!” The boy and his friends excitedly ran away with their reward.

Vito looked back at his incredulous friends. “What? You should always pay your informants. Come on, let’s check in before they sell our rooms.”

“I think you were very kind. They’ll likely talk about this for days to come,” Iris praised him. He gave her a playful wink.