A Benevolent Evil Dragon

It takes a painful moment for my thoughts to stop being out of sync. I felt like a foreigner in my own body and then it all felt familiar again. Despite however much time I spent inside my soul, I am left only with the idea of reorganizing, patching and carving the shape of my body with the invading mana. I also have a few important moments, but they are foggy right now. My brain becomes a thunderstorm and the vague impression of my calmness is washed away by a flood of blaring alarms.

I am starving. I've been fed, but I eat multiple whole animals in a single day if I am hungry, and I doubt Edith managed to shove that much food down my throat. The lack of rich ambient mana must have made me even hungrier than normal in the first place, and my new body is larger and more expensive than ever, so overall I need to eat a lot and soon. I am also a bit bloated. Edith, bless her heart, gave me entirely too much water and my body dislikes that fact especially since I don't have an easy way to get rid of the excess for now.

I have not grown too much in size, but I feel my figure matches a bull or maybe a bison in overall size, but with a lot more length and a slimmer figure. In spite of said slimness, I have a lot of flesh I had never felt before. Speaking of, my limbs, my fingers, so many new complex controls and sensory spots that need to be mapped somehow by my mind. I get up, feeling around the soft, slightly muddy ground, and stretch in order to feel everything. It takes a minute to properly figure out each part and become steady on my feet. Such a large range of motions, so many more tools at my disposal!

The pitch darkness does help with focusing on the sensations at least, but enough stalling. I delve into the screaming of my sensory organs. My ears are more sensitive, now boasting an actual mobile earlobe that I can feel setting into multiple positions, reminiscent of a cat, despite them being slightly to the sides of my head rather than the top. My nose is improved in a less obvious way, being sharper and more capable of separating each scent present in the air. All of this is nothing compared to my eyes, though. I open them all and my body falters. I need to get used to the new inputs, new perspective, new filters, too much information… I feel like I am in some biological robot rather than my body and I just blew a fuse, causing me to close them all again.

Alright, baby steps. Upper side eyes are normal. They are almost unchanged, the only difference I can see, pun intended, is that they somehow became even better at what they did before. Put plainly, I have fully transcended biological constraints. Not by a lot, but by enough, seeing as I am at least 20% better at long range details. I close those and I open my lower side eyes, which makes everything look… gorgeous. I can see colors, all the colors, every color I could ever imagine and more. There's no words for this. Not truly. Never in a million years would I be able to write down something that would allow my past self to comprehend the beauty that birds and shrimp have been gatekeeping.

In more scientific terms, my second pair of eyes sees a slightly larger segment of the electromagnetic spectrum, likely a bit into the ultraviolet spectrum. It is nothing absurd, but I can see just a bit more light than before and I could lose myself in this sight. Even the plainest blade of grass shines in a beautiful way… thankfully, my simpler eyes don't seem redundant. These new ones see more color, but they are a lot more like my human eyes when it comes to distance and detail work.

Finally, my large, central eye makes me confused. I open it, closing the others, and I see the world like a grainy grayscale. It reminds me of a noise map for texture, or that time I spilled glitter over a patch of grass, but if I could only see the glitter. I look around and I find the range to be even worse than my UV eyes. I flick a blade of grass and the white grains lag behind, following a second after. I get closer, breathe in, and a patch of the grass vanishes from my vision, only to very slowly start appearing again, dot by dot.

I get an idea and breathe out a puff of mana, which while looking greyscale, is now an overwhelming glowing cloud. It's like white neon in pitch darkness. I got an eye that sees mana. Once I open up all of my eyes simultaneously I can see the dark, iridescent colors of chaos mana, including a whole slew of new ones I barely understand. Even the grains from before I can see highlighted when I focus on them. I do a final test by blowing another small cloud, then going behind a tree and looking through it with all my eyes. First, I see the tree, then the mana that clings to the tree, then I see the absolutely glowing but rapidly dispersing cloud behind it, only that I see it mainly white with just the faintest tint of colors. Weird.

This confirms multiple things. The reason I see everything other than the clouds I make as these tiny grains instead of the glowing fog I am used to is probably because this is the minimum amount of mana possible. I try to take control of the grains and weave the mana around, but it gets consumed from just moving it, so it is worthless. In spite of all that, getting a singular eye that I can actually toggle on and off, that lets me see mana is incredibly useful. Since I can also see more colors now, I should be able to differentiate types much better… It seems that whatever changes mana made by itself will not be a waste, even if I'd rather not have a giant, frail eyeball dead center in my head like a bullseye waiting to be shot. Obvious weak points are the death of raid bosses.

I am forgetting something… no, I am forgetting a lot. My meaty brain is overloaded enough trying to get used to all of this, so the emotional impact of all that has yet to kick in, but I am also forgetting… ah, the last thing the mana clouds I affectionately called gremlins told me…

Damnit, Edith… She's nowhere nearby I see a bunch of things though, including a shelter made of branches tied together with tall grass and covered in leaves, which I think I wrecked when I got up, a burnt out campfire, an ugly but seemingly functional clay jug and a few sharp rocks that look like she made them herself. Color me surprised, she's actually a capable survivalist.

Still, I have no idea how long I was asleep, but from the fragments of awareness I had, it sounded like she was struggling… I can smell blood… animal blood, her blood, it stains the ground in a way that basically glows to my new sight. I follow my eyes and nose, running after her freshest trail, only to hit a tree. I close my upper and middle eyes, starting to run again, but this time more carefully and with my mind keeping up with the movement. It takes a bit getting used to the six legged gallop, but it quickly becomes clear that even if I stumble I just don't fall. Extra security, weight support, and the movement is still cheap enough on my brain so long as I am not too absorbed by other things. My speed is better than before, my three tails do their jobs to balance me when I take a sharp turn, with my wings acting like hands and bracing me when I need an extra boost or to stabilize. Awake for minutes and my new body is already second nature.

Back to the task at hand, ignoring my glee, I focus on the important parts. The blood was old, so at least I know she's not wounded currently. My only concrete trail is the scent she left behind, the footsteps in the mud and the occasional bit of oils that had yet to break down from bacteria. The fact that she doesn't exactly seem to know how to traverse stealthily, like an animal, makes my job easier at least.

It takes about fifteen minutes for me to rush through the dense forest and uneven ground before I see her, looking over her from the top of a hill. She's hidden in some bushes, looking at the ravaged carcass of a snake. I can smell the thing from over here, so… Ah, she's trying to lure a predator? Smart, but doomed to fail. No animal that would care about a small snake would want to go find whatever ravaged the thing in the first place, which is why the whole patch around her is quiet. Works with fish, but not the best with land mammals. Sure, it attracts a bit of attention, but with her smell being so obvious, nothing gets close. I think about going up to her, but then my ear focuses on a noise a few minutes away.

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Hunger drives me and I run over, my skin darkening instinctively. There's birds all over, as well as rodents, insects, so much life but nothing drew my attention. However here we have two boars and some piglets, being harassed by a fox that is just weighing its options. That is a meal I can't refuse, so I take away its decision from it as I burst from the tree line. It is so easy now, killing animals in such savage ways. I bite into the bigger boar's head and tear it off, then welcome the sound of panicked squealing with three sharp blades being impaled into its mate's brain. The piglets, too small to have learned anything from their parents, try to run off but are unable to escape. They are too slow for me. I take this opportunity to get used to my tails even more, cleanly cutting off the heads of each of them, then pile them up next to their parents. The fox is nowhere nearby. It likely ran as fast as it could the second I popped up, but I could easily follow its smell if I wanted.

I don't though, it had too little flesh on its bones to make it worth the chase. Instead, I delve into the meal, without blacking out. This is me. It's not just instinct, this is my own self, accustomed with slaughter and survival, ravaging the carcasses despite being here for so little time. I can only sigh once the rather bitter realization of how inhuman I've become hits me once more in the face.

I pull away when I am done, only the piglets and some loose pelts I licked clean of meat being left of the family. I should go back. Meat though they may be, Edith needs to eat a proper meal too, so despite still being hungry, I grab the carcasses in my front arms and give running on four limbs a try. It's awkward now, my body is a bit too long and off balance, but it is manageable. Now, I just have to find Edith again… ah, I can follow my own trail thankfully…. and she's not here.

I look around for her, but there's nothing… oh, no, there is something. I see a sharpened stick left out in plain view. I try to sniff around, but it takes a while to catch her scent again. She seemed to be in a hurry and ran off not towards where I woke up, but directly away from where I went to kill the boars… Oh damn she heard me.

Thanking Edith is off to a rocky start.

I can't die now… not after all of that… I can't survive dragons, an army, monsters of all kinds, noble mages, an actual Duke and a Goddess, only to die here to some wild beast!

Edith ran because her life depended on it. She panicked and dropped her spear, not that it would do much to something that caused the entire forest to stir, but she only had so many options on hand. She dealt with wolves and foxes and a particularly angry buck so far, but if she were to face a hungry bear? Her chances were not looking great.

Water… Water! The river should be here, damn it all! Did I miss it? Did I change directions at some point? Come on girl, it all sounded far away, so the bear or whatever it was shouldn't come this way… Plus, it probably ate… sounded like it killed a boar, it should be fine… should be fine… should be-

Her head snapped back and a giant, dark blur was running perpendicular to her path, behind her, bulldozing through everything in its path aside from the old trees. She was relieved for half a second, before the shape took a sharp turn towards her. She did not wait another second.

"I BEG YOU, BURN!" She screamed and her hand, now a beautiful, pristine, healed sight turned into a gruesome thing as it ignited, iridescent lines pulsing with power as strong jets of dark red flame exploded outwards. She was lucky that only one flame tongue hit her in the leg, singeing her skin a bit. The rest of her magic went all around, starting a fire that should scare the beast, which was still a better outcome than the other times she used this magic. Still, she turned and ran as quickly as she could, hoping to wash away her scent and lose the animal if it somehow followed her through the flames.

What she hadn't expected though, was that the flames would just dim and stop. Explosive fire she had no control over, her magic infected by chaos, it all vanished. She had watched three wolves be turned to dust when she first lost control, but here it was, that same fire, being useless. The sound of water didn't make her happy one bit despite finally hitting her ear. It was too late.

She stepped on a stone, her ankle twisted and her entire body fell and rolled down the small hill and all the way into the water. She was in pain and she had no more energy to struggle. She fell in a shallow bit of the river, laying on a bed of stones as it calmly flowed past. She closed her eyes, awaiting her death as the large figure sounded like it was getting close. When it took one step into the water, Edith made peace with her imminent death, having half a mind to try and use her fire to end it all quicker, rather than let herself be ripped limb by limb… but she stopped as seconds passed and nothing happened.

She slowly opened her eyes, only to see five vibrant ones stare back into hers. The dragon was awake and she was not going to die yet. In its hand there were three headless piglets bleeding into the water. She almost breathes a sigh of relief, tearing up as the realization that she's not dying hits her, but then a wrongness twists her stomach and she empties out whatever little she left had inside. The piglets are thrown on the shore, one of the dragon's large limbs being gently used to hold her hair up while another carefully pats her back.

It takes a few minutes for her to fully calm down and sit on the shore. Tired eyes look at the confusing creature in front of her, then at the prey he brought. In the seconds she took her eyes away from him, he had finished gathering a large pile of fallen branches and dry grass, before surrounding them with river stones. He made a sound in her direction, pointing at it. She smiles, still exhausted, but nods, extending her once more healed hand. This prompts the dragon to move in close and sniff her hand, looking confused. She laughed humorlessly, then began chanting.

"Spark of living power, bringer of warmth and death, all consuming force of the natural world, I beg of you to grant me your gentle shine and light up this wood!" She felt embarrassed, having to use such a reverent chant for a tiny flame, but ever since the chaos magic happened, she was cursed. She watched as rainbow lights shone underneath her skin, then her flesh rapidly withered, spreading millimeters more towards previously healthy skin. After the spark appeared and easily started the fire, her hand rapidly turned back to normal, though she could still see the bits of flowing chaos, magic that refused to abandon her no matter what she did. Healing her only to consume more of her each time she used magic…

She banished the thought, focusing instead on getting dry and preparing the meat. She took off what was left of her clothing, namely a quarter of a shirt and the small dress she made from rabbit fur and reeds. She sadly didn't have a knife on her, having dropped it together with the spear, so it would have normally taken a while for her to try and make another one.

Nothing she saw was normal anymore. Not only had the dragon purposefully turned its back to her, but it took the piglets and started dicing them up with its tails. Curiosity got the better of her and she got up, looking over him at how it was going, only to be quite surprised. It was certainly better than what she could do with rocks. The organs were thrown out, the meat cut into rough cubes then left on the skins. It took a few minutes for it to be done, tails working in tandem while the dragon was focused only on the work.

When done, he got up, started searching for something, then came back with a few thin but straight branches. He sharpened the tip, ran it through the fire without letting it start actually burning, then stabbed chunks of meat into it and held it above the fire. She had given up understanding how the dragon's mind worked. If it wanted to know how to cook, it knew how to cook. She was hungry enough to eat the pig meat half raw or burnt.

Of course, it turned out that the dragon knew how to cook. She ate, smiling as she finally got a half decent meal in the month she survived alone. She looked over at him, unsure why the strange dragon refused to look at her so suddenly, then reached over and hugged him, whispering a soft "Thanks".

To her surprise, the dragon's body vibrated loudly as a raspy, hissing voice spoke out. "I should be the one thanking y-" And just as it started, it abruptly ended. She pulled away and looked in shock at the dragon. The bigger shock was that said dragon looked even more surprised than her.