Chapter 68: Dragons Are Fiercely Loyal

I pull some monster bones from the arena and start a campfire on the roof Anna has been standing on. She looks at the map while I prepare a simple meal. Rice, paddlehorn steaks, and a sweet onion sauce. I slice the steaks and place them over rice bowls, then drizzle some of the sauce.

“For you,” I say and hold a bowl out to Anna.

“Oh, thanks, Sio,” she says and rolls the map up to trade for the bowl.

“We’re about halfway, right?” I ask, and Anna nods while chewing.

“We are, but wow, you humans are really lucky with the meat you have..” she answers while gulping down more of the meal.

“That meat is some of the best,” I reply with a smile, “I spent weeks hunting those animals after I tried the meat, it’s the fattiest red meat that I know of.”

Anna nods and chews, but doesn’t say any more until she finishes her meal. I wolf down my portion and send some extra magic out to scan for monsters that could’ve been attracted by the commotion, but there aren’t any. I wash the bowls and pans, then toss them into storage and stand up.

“I think we can safely fly from here,” I suggest while looking at the giant, broken buildings all around us.

“I use a lot of magic to fly..” Anna says, and I turn to her with a frown.

“I can carry you,” I offer, and she sighs.

“Fine, but no touching my tail,” she says and steps in front of me.

I pick her up and fly along the rocky ceiling overhead, but there’s a large empty area amongst the large structures below us. I lower our altitude and push my magic towards it, but my magic disappears.

“Anna, I think that’s the gate,” I say, and her eyes follow to where mine are staring.

“It just looks like rubble..” Anna says, but I shake my head.

“My magic gets near something under there and disappears,” I reply, and unconsciously start flying us lower.

“Sio,” Anna says sternly, then taps my chest with her hand, “we’re not here for that.”

“You don’t want to look?” I ask, and I see her expression shift.

“Of course I want to look, but who knows what’s down there? It could be dangerous and get in the way of our mission,” Anna says, but I’m lost in thought.

I wonder what it would be like to go through? Maybe I’d run into a fire dragon like in the story Lark told me. Maybe there are even wilder creatures on the other side that I can’t even imagine.. oh man I wa-

“Sio!” Anna yells and snaps my trance, “Let’s just get the books and go back. We might find a way to close the path, then you can come back down here and investigate it with us.”

“Ah, fine..” I concede the argument and lift us back up near the ceiling. We fly out of the city center, but the outskirts on the other side are different. There’s a metal rail line with a destroyed train car on top of it. The line goes in the same direction as the X we’re trying to reach, so I fly over top of it until we near our destination.

“There, Sio!” Anna yells and points ahead of us. A collection of metal and stone structures, several stories high, is built in a circle. It reminds me of the academy back in Sante.

“It must’ve been some kind of research college..” I murmur and fly lower to the ground. I let out some magic to scan the area, but there have been few beasts since taking out the stampedes in the city center. And that doesn’t change here.

“I don’t sense anything,” I say and lower Anna to her feet, “which building should we start with?” I ask.

Anna walks to the first building and reads the inscription above its door.

“Artifact research,” she says quietly, then walks to the next building with me in tow. We go around half the buildings when Anna’s face lights up.

“Library!” she yells and swings the doors open. I direct my light orbs inside, and bookcases fill my vision. They’re multiple stories tall, with ladders spread across the room. The walls are also lined with books, but spell stones are hanging from the ceiling, too.

“Should I activate them?” I ask and point to the hanging stones, but Anna shakes her head.

“We don’t know what spells are in them. They might not work at all, but there’s a chance they explode and ruin the books,” she says.

“That would defeat the purpose of coming here,” I reply, and scan the mountain of books before us, “should we take all of them?” I ask.

“I can fit half a bookshelf in storage, and that’ll be pushing my magic to its limit..” Anna answers sadly, then turns to me, “How much can you fit?” she asks.

“No clue, but I don’t have the house with me, so probably a lot,” I answer and make storage openings under the bookshelves throughout the room. They fall into a black abyss and make a wind that throws dust at the two of us.

“Ugh, gross,” Anna complains, and I bounce up and down for a moment.

“It doesn’t feel like my magic is draining too fast. I can probably fit the rest,” I offer, and Anna stops swatting at the dust in front of her.

“Really?” she asks with wide eyes.

“Yea,” I answer and create a storage opening in the center of the room, “let’s pull the rest off the walls and toss them in.”

Anna jumps onto a ladder on the left, and I float up to the right. We pull the books one after another and toss them into my spatial opening. An hour later, the room is cleared out. We descend, and I close my storage opening. Anna is all smiles, which is a welcome change from her seriousness throughout this whole thing. But right as I open my mouth-

“GROHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” A roar booms in the distance, and a powerful wave of magic flies through the air.

“Wha- what was that?!” Anna asks as she collects her own magic for a fight.

“That sounded familiar,” I reply and push my magic out to its limit, “dragon,” I add flatly, and a look of panic crosses Anna’s face.

“D-dragon?” she repeats, “It’s small, right?” she asks, and I focus further.

“Smaller than the one you guys had in the north, but I can feel its magic from here. I think this one’s stronger,” I say and start stretching my body out.

Anna paces for a moment, then the anxiety washes off of her, and her red eyes glow.

“I’ll fight it. You need to get those books to the village,” she says firmly.

“Aha, good one,” I reply and crouch down to stretch my legs.

“It’s not funny! The information you’re carrying could let us close the path!” Anna shouts.

“Yea yea, hooooahh,” I jump up from stretching, “how far from the village do you think we are?” I ask.

“Far, we should be well north of it,” Anna replies, “but why does that matter?”

“Well, I’ve got a plan,” I reply with an evil smirk.

“Ugh, is this another release a wave of magic and start a monster fight plan?” Anna asks, but I shake my head.

“This is far, far stupider than that,” I answer and start walking to the door, “follow me, please.”

I walk outside and hear Anna scampering up behind me.

“What is this stupid plan? You should just run!” she yells at me.

“Nah, that wouldn’t be any fun,” I reply and take to the air. I see the dragon in the distance flapping its wings to speed up its run. It’s definitely a size smaller than the one Priscilla was bonded to, but its magic is no joke.

I fly away from the ancient college and toward some less important-looking stone buildings. I push fine points of condensed magic into the ceiling overhead and work them back and forth to break up the stone. Sand falls from the spot, and the light of a sunset starts breaking through.

“Anna,” I say and turn to face her in the air, “I want you to go back to the village and bring Priscilla.”

“Priscilla- wait, Sio, this can’t be your real plan,” she protests, but I just nod and smirk.

“Hurry, please,” I say and wave her toward the hole in the ceiling. Anna frowns, but I see magic collecting around her feet, then fire explodes from them. She flies up through the hole in the ceiling and disappears.

“GROHHHHHHHH!” The dragon draws closer, smashing entire stone buildings under its feet with each step, and blowing chunks of rubble towards me with its wings. Magic collects and shoots from its feet as the dragon lunges at me with its mouth open.

I toss a fireball at its tongue and fly up through the hole I made for Anna to leave. I scan the area around me and see lush green grass with a snowy mountain just behind me. I fly higher and look down at the hole in the ground. A bright, magical light is shining through, then pink flames shoot from it and into the sky. The ground turns glassy on contact, and the dragon charges through, shattering the area and flying into the sky with me.

It looks smaller up on the surface, maybe half the size of Priscilla’s dragon, but that’s still monstrous compared to anything else on this continent. Its wingspan and height are several school buses in length, but its scales are black, and its body is covered in grey scars. Its mouth is open and smoking either from my fireball or that pink flame it shot, but that gives me an idea.

I condense several layers of magic around me and pull my sword from storage. I fly forward, and the dragon swings its claws at me. But I parry them at an angle instead of trying to block them outright. I fly in circles around the beast, parrying every claw and not sitting in its line of sight, but staying close enough to work some magic. I weave my magic into the air, then into the dragon’s head. It seeps into the dragon’s brain, and I create T-Rex roars that sound like they’re coming from just behind it.

The dragon’s tail whips around and slashes through the empty air. Proof of concept. I continue circling and parrying its claws, but its magical glow is hardly going down. I need to draw more powerful attacks out to drain it.

I fly up higher than the dragon and release magic into the sky. I command the energy in the air into massive fire and lightning bolts, but it's too thin at this altitude to create attacks with every element. I push more of my own magic to form a cyclone around the fire spear, as well as ice and stone spears. The attacks fan out overhead, all aimed directly down at the dragon.

I look down and see the dragon’s magic collecting at its mouth. It glows bright, then turns into a pink flame that flies up at me. I release my own spells to meet the dragon’s attack, and the world below becomes chaos.

Pink and blue flames swirl together as ice shards and dust fill the sky. Purple lightning crackles through the mist, but a strong wind comes from below to clear the air.

“GROHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

The dragon’s roar empties the sky, but its magical glow is waning, and its wings are struggling to keep it in the air. There’s a bleeding gash on its cheek, and its left wing is riddled with holes. I fill the sky with magic and create hundreds of small light spears. The dragon’s mouth fills with magic again, but its pink flame is smothered by my onslaught.

BANGGGGGGG

“GROH GROGG”

It wails from below, and I fly down to find the dragon in a blood-filled crater. Its eyes watch me, and the little bit of magic it has left collects in its mouth, but I jump to its side and kick its jaw closed.

“GRHUGGH,” it croaks, and the magic dissipates. I jump onto its head and sit down, then push more healing magic into its brain and command it to sleep. The dragon fights to move its body, but falls limp after squirming slightly. The beast’s magic glow is faint, but it's not absorbing my magic. Just to be safe, I pull my magic close to my body and only keep a small connection to its brain.

I press the few memories I have of Priscilla into its head. Her fierce anger at losing her bonded dragon, Etu, and her love for Yanto. I’m not sure how dragon families work, but hopefully this makes scaly more receptive to her magic.

The dragon grumbles a bit in its sleep, but it reminds me of Titus’s snores. It’s cute for being a giant murder machine, and I have to pet it. I run my hand over its scaly head and heal the gash in its face. The dragon nuzzles its head into the ground a bit, like a child seeking its mother’s warmth. I really hope this works.

“SIO!” I hear Anna’s voice in the distance, and she brought friends. It looks like the crew that fought froggy plus Priscilla. I raise a finger to my lips to shush them, and they descend slowly from the sky. I keep petting scaly and pushing memories of Priscilla until they touch down on the ground next to me.

Anna and Priscilla step close, but the others keep their distance with weapons at the ready.

“Pst,” I whisper and wave Priscilla closer, “I got you a new dragon,” I add with a warm smile, but she only grimaces. Priscilla steps forward and places a hand on the dragon’s scales, then shakes her head.

“I’m too old,” she says solemnly, then turns to Anna, “you should try, Anna.”

Anna’s eyebrows nearly shoot off her forehead.

“Wha- me?” she asks, but Priscilla just nods calmly.

I think of Anna pretty fondly. My memory pushing trick would work a lot better for her.

“It has a better chance of working, Anna,” I chime in and start pushing my infatuation for the fox girl into the dragon’s brain. It stirs and nuzzles its head into the ground again, then lets out a long sigh.

“Cover its body with your magic, Anna,” Priscilla directs, then pulls Anna’s hesitant hand toward the sleeping dragon. I fill its head with more memories, of Anna flying in the air and making a spear of fire to fight the murder frog. Of her defeating every Terran challenger in a bid to accompany me to the underground city. And of her now, offering her magic to sustain the dragon’s life.

Anna’s magic permeates the air, then the dragon’s body acts like a vortex, sucking in every bit of it. Its body vibrates as it stirs, and I jump off its head. It pulls more magic from Anna, then sends a little back.

“GAH!” Anna shrieks and stumbles into Priscilla. Her red fox ears grow taller and sharper, then turn black. Her bushy tail thins, and black stripes appear throughout. I jump to her side and hold onto her arms.

“Anna, are you alright?” I ask in a panic. She looks up at me with a painful expression, then her eyes shoot wide and bloodshot as she drops to her knees and places her forehead against the ground at my feet.

“L-L-leader..” she stutters, and I crouch next to her.

“Are you ok? Priscilla is right here,” I reply and look up at Priscilla for some sort of explanation, but she’s frowning.

“Y-your mercy.. thank you..” Anna mumbles, and Priscilla places a hand on my shoulder.

“Bonding is a give and take; her words are likely the feelings of the dragon,” Priscilla says gently, and I turn to look at the dragon. Its eyes are open and looking at me. I walk over and pet its head again.

“All good, buddy,” I say warmly and push healing magic into its body. I repair its wings and the smaller gashes I made in its scales, then turn back to Anna, who still has her forehead in the dirt.

“You can stand..” I mumble, making Anna shoot to her feet.

“Yes, leader,” she says firmly, and I turn to Priscilla with an awkward face.

“She’s not always going to be like this, is she?” I ask, but Priscilla shrugs.

“No creature of this age or power has bonded to a Terran before; it's impossible to say,” she replies.

The other Terrans have lowered their weapons, but they don’t seem pleased. The dragon rolls onto its feet and stands behind us, then drops and places its head against the dirt at my feet.

“Sigh, we’re going to have to work on this.. but I wouldn’t say no to a dragon ride back to the village..” I say, and the dragon’s tail wags wildly. Anna grabs me by my collar and jumps with me in tow onto the dragon’s back.

“Whaa- when did you get so strong?” I protest, but I’m seated on the dragon’s neck with Anna’s arms wrapped around my waist in a flash. Priscilla chuckles, then rubs her hand over the dragon’s scales.

“Dragons are fiercely loyal,” she says, memories flashing through her eyes. “We’ll go on ahead and tell the village not to panic when you arrive,” Priscilla adds, and rises into the sky. The other Terrans follow, leaving the three of us.

“Hey Anna,” I say over my shoulder, “you’re still in there somewhere, right?” I ask and feel her nodding against my back.

“It’s odd.. I remember your fight with the dragon, GUH, sorry, Eti. His name is Eti,” Anna answers and buries her head further into my back, “but I feel how Eti felt, his wonder at your magic, it’s hard not to see you differently..”

Balls. She’s going to be like another annoying sister.