carl@fire

"I don't think those two goddesses'll be bothering you any more, either," said the dragon, interrupting her tearful reunion.

Ir'alith looked up.

{Alith, who is this man?} The eye on her axe moved to regard the brown-haired "man".

A dragon, Papa. He saved me. And you.

{He returned me from the between-space?} She felt her father's shock in his words, and the eye on her axe grew slightly larger. {Such power! My father had said that the dragons roamed the stars freely during his time, but I never believed it!}

"But just in case," the dragon said after a moment, seemingly deep in thought, "I'm gonna add you to my friends list so you can mes—contact me. The, um, world won't allow mes—uh, spells from fire to be blocked, so I'll make sure nothing like this happens to you again, okay?" He pushed his key board to the side, where it floated next to him as he approached with his hand outstretched in a gesture of friendship.

{He would count you among his friends? Alith, you must not hesitate!}

Friend.

The word seemed foreign to her.

For so long she had been the Protector.

Leader.

Her dwindling population's pillar.

Time for friends was time better spent planning, analyzing, working to counter the humans' unstoppable aggression.

Time she refused to waste.

Time she could not waste.

Not after what she had been through. What she had seen happen to others.

Ir'alith held her hand out carefully, not wanting to damage his shapeshifted form with her claws, but also unwilling to be anything but herself for a time now that she was free.

"Add friend," the man intoned as though invoking a ritual or spell. After a moment, he released his grip, and she followed his lead.

Friend. It was a warm feeling.

"Do—Do you have a name?" she asked abruptly, hugging her axe as though she could hide behind it in her sudden shyness before her new friend.

Her savior.

"Carl from Eyetee," said her friend, grinning.

"Carl of Eyetee," she said slowly, copying his pronunciation.

{Eyetee? I have not heard of this place. Little surprise, if he has truly come from the plane of fire. The path was closed behind them when they left.}

"I thank you, Carl," she said, putting her axe to her side and bowing in gratitude. She felt the accursed leash go slack as its end rested on the floor. "Thank you, my savior."

{I thank you as well, Carl of Eyetee.}

"Um, yeah," said Carl, sounding somewhat uncomfortable, likely from detecting the unfamiliar astral presence in her axe. "Don't, uh," he paused, probably to ascertain whether it was a threat. "Don't worry about it. Um, you can stop bowing now?"

Ir'alith stubbornly held her bow, trying feebly to convey the depth of her limitless gratitude. She straightened after an appropriate amount of time. "Truly you are not who I expected when you appeared in this place."

"Just trying to help where I can," Carl said. He turned his head to the side and muttered a short incantation, and a smaller magical projection filled with different runes appeared next to his head. He glanced at it briefly, then turned back to look at her as he stroked a hand through his beard. He muttered another incantation, and the projection vanished.

{Truly this one is a master of infiltration. See how easily he mimics the human mannerisms?}

{He is powerful, too, Papa.}

"Do you have a nickname I can use?" Carl asked with a slight nervousness in his voice.

{What?!} Her father's exclamation roared through her mind.

He… He wants to…

"Ir'alith is a cool name and all," Carl continued, "but the apostrophe is kind of a pain to type, and—"

{He dares request an engagement to you directly?!} Seth'tith's astral voice was outraged. {Before even consulting me?!}

Ir'alith blushed, the request for an intimate form of address being the most common way to propose among the longer and more complex-named demonfolk society. She turned her father's eye towards her friend so she could hide her burning face. "No!" she exclaimed. "No short name! I…" How could someone as powerful as this desire courtship with me? I, who was caught In such an obvious—

{Alith, what are you saying? Closer ties with the dragons would—}

"No!" she exclaimed to both of them. "Unworthy!" I cannot! I would never… Not with someone I do not l—

"Okay, okay, sorry," Carl said, laughing the awkwardness off as only the most confident beings in the universe could do after so roughly having a marriage proposal rejected. "Forget I asked."

{No! Alith, you—}

"Anyway," Carl continued, "I gotta get going—"

"You do?" Ir'alith said, looking out from behind her axe. I have not had time to consider all of this! I… It is all happening too swiftly!

"Yup," said Carl. "I just ended up here on my way to do some fishing." He winked, then muttered another incantation and reached his hand out. A long, sea-green spear appeared from a pocket dimension. The light that it radiated bathed the entire room in a greenish glow.

That is—

{The spear of the primordial sea god!} Her father's exclamation felt no less surprised than she was feeling. {By the ancestors, this dragon could destroy the entire world in the blink of an eye! Fishing? He must mean to lure out those twisted goddesses for an ambush! And with a weapon like that…}

Ir'alith felt a deep sense of unease. If he truly thought me worthy… I fear I may have been too hasty, Papa. Even if there is no love, like with you and Mama, such an alliance—

"Let me just send you home, and then I'll maybe still have a minute or two to try and catch something before I've gotta get back to my world," Carl said, his grin widening.

{A minute or two? He sees his victory with barely a fight? I wish I had believed my father's tales when he told me of the strength of dragons. But why would they flee if—}

Ir'alith was too shaken by the most recent turn of events to think more deeply.

Carl casually discarded the most powerful weapon ever created into his pocket dimension, then moved his fingers around his key board. "I'm really sorry you had to get stuck here for such a long time. I'd do more to try and even it out, but—"

"No, no, no!" Ir'alith exclaimed, her mouth moving before her mind could catch up. "Carl, you have already helped me so much! I," she stopped speaking, having run out of words temporarily. "I can never repay this debt already, no matter how many eras I live through. I—" She cut herself off before she could beg him to once again consider his earlier proposal and further embarrass herself. "If there is anything, anything at all that I can do for you, Carl, please do not hesitate to request it."

Her mind felt like she had been spinning rapidly in a circle for too long.

"Don't worry about it," said possibly the most powerful being in the universe whose marriage proposal she had childishly turned down without genuine consideration. "Happy to help. Like I said, I've got a daughter—well, two of 'em—so I can be kinda overprotective when I see a young lady like you in trouble."

{He has children? And he protects them? Surely he must be a strong father, too! Alith, you must not give up!}

"They are lucky to have one such as you as their father," Ir'alith complimented him. "And," she hesitated, having never flirted before. "Your wives must be very happy as well." She turned the head of the axe to block her face again, feeling as though she must be showing an even deeper blush on her face than the embarrassed pink hue of her body.

{Well said!}

Carl laughed loudly, clearly enjoying her praise. "I do my best. Alright, nice meeting you, Ir'alith. Off you go, now."

Off I go? She spun the axe around again, revealing her still-blushing face. "But I have just decided…" After a couple words, she found herself suddenly in the air before an unadorned, utilitarian, pitch-black chair sculpted from the trunk of an ancient shadewood sapling.

Her throne, ceremonial as it may be.

She was home.