Tribulations of a Dragon

"Raya, you're the dragon expert. What the heck is going on with my flames? Why are they blue?"

All I get is a shrug, a clear indication that she hasn't pumped Foreman for enough information. Glancing at Halty, he just mimics her. Not even the burning corpse writhing on the ground is helpful in this matter... We aren't getting anywhere, and I'm tempted to go find Foreman to see what he has to say about the matter.

"Should we go find Hralthar and ask about it?"

"Nah. I don't get distracted like that, Raya. We have to root out these undead jerks, and when that's done, we can find Foreman."

Given that I've already said I won't eat the undead, that leaves very little to do with him. So I'm just gonna squish him and start searching the house for clues of what they might be doing here. Forming my claw into a general 'fist' shape, I slam it down, turning the remaining parts of the corpse into paste.

With that taken care of, it's time for Detective Kira to find out what they're doing here! Sticking my head into the second floor of the building leads to the discovery of a bunch of furniture. Just gonna take a moment to snack on some of the more valuable metals. Whoever said candleholders weren't edible hasn't met me. The place is littered with wooden furniture, all of it covered in a layer of dust.

"Kira, are you just breaking stuff?"

"I'm investigating, Raya. It might look like breaking stuff, but we're looking for clues as to what the cultists are doing here. Come up here and look for papers or other suspicious items."

Having hid behind my horns as I thrust my face into the building, Raya appears again as she jumps to the floor and begins searching through dressers. Knickknacks and utensils fly all over the place as her vigor intensifies, but that stuff smells valuable!

"Raya, throw it to me instead of on the ground. If we're here to search for cultists and their plans, we might as well loot the place like adventurers."

Telling her so earns me a nod as she starts aiming for my mouth. And the flavor of delicious value makes it clear that my hunch was correct. Footfall from the stairs draws our attention, and the following jiggling of the handle on the door leading into this room has Raya standing on guard. As soon as Halty opens the door, he's met by Raya with her dagger drawn. I guess we did sort of leave him behind.

"Welcome to the second floor, Halty! We're looting the place, want to join us?"

Accepting my generous proposal in silence, he starts rummaging through drawers alongside Raya. It doesn't take the two long before they've searched the entire room and started heading toward some door in the back. With the two of them walking side by side, it looks like Raya might have gotten taller. Not much, but I feel like there's a difference.

Halty seems to be struggling with the door as it refuses to budge, which leads to a pull on my magic as Raya forms a fireball in her hand. As she's satisfied with the size and intensity of it, she presses it to the door, yielding an explosion big enough to blast the door off its hinges. Both Raya and Halty fly backwards, with Halty landing on his ass and Raya on my nose.

"Your new magic is mean, Kira."

"Not my fault. You should always practice when you're given new tools so you get used to them."

With a sly smile, Raya slides off me and heads for Halty to help him up. She even gives him a treat for being a good boy, which he readily accepts and eats. He seems a little discombobulated, but otherwise fine. And the door is now open, so mission accomplished. I can't see anything in there, aside from what little the doorway allows, but I do hear someone walking.

"You will not stop our master's plans, interlopers!"

"Hold on, cultist person. Before any interloping or fighting, do you want to tell us what the plan is? Bad guys are supposed to monologue to people."

There's obvious fury in his eyes as everyone stares at me, but bad guys are supposed to monologue, dang it! Instead, I get shot in the nose by a black bolt of some sort. It feels rotten, and it hurts a little... With quick instructions for Raya to protect Halty from that, I lift my head up, making quite a mess of the ceiling and roof before bearing down on the cultist, teeth first.

As I take a bite out of the room, the sound of shattering glass draws my attention, indicating that the cultist has fled. Rather than run around with a mouth full of construction debris, I turn my head toward the sky and unleash my flames, burning it to ash in moments. Which is decidedly faster than I had expected. Refocusing on the fleeing cultist, I charge behind the house and pick up the scent of disturbed grass and rot.

Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for the structural integrity of the neighborhood, I don't get to chase the cultist far, as I find his corpse littered with arrows... The stupid adventurers showed up and actually helped out for once instead of attacking me... That's not fair, they have helped out a few times, I'm just grumpy at having lost my opportunity to chase something...

Instead of lingering with those kill stealers, I'm gonna return to the house and see if I can find anything else to hunt down. Rearing up on my hind legs lets me turn around without crushing everything. My tail sliding across the lawn does leave a mark, but the fallen lamp posts weren't my fault.

Returning to the hole I've made in the side of the cultist clubhouse, I take a step onto the floor. The sudden impact of floor and support beams against the underside of my face makes it clear that my claw went through the floor and I fell forwards...

"Are you okay, Kira? That looked painful."

Raya is quick to jump down and inspect me, but I think the only things I really hurt were my pride and my patience. Screw these cultists and their trap floors!

"Raya, take Halty and step back. We're not taking it slow anymore."

Jumping up on me, she continues to the second floor where Halty waits. Grabbing his hand, she pulls him with her as they leap onto my muzzle while I rise up, using a claw to impale the underground wall for stability. With Raya guiding him, he does his best to follow along, running across my face and down the back of my neck.

With those two safe, or soon to be, I'm gonna start getting to the bottom of this basement. The more weight I put on the wall, the more it crumbles, but it's sturdy enough to get me back up. As I reach solid ground again, I can begin my work. The first thing to do is to dig a ramp! Clawing at the soil takes out huge chunks of the lawn, leaving the fresh scent of earth in the air to combat some of the sweet fragrance of rot.

As I dig, the earth begins to move away at my very touch, a tingle of magic forming... Earth mages have gathered around me to help dig. With a bunch of adventurers helping out, we reach the underground floor in no time, and the first notable thing is that these walls aren't just stone. They seem to be melted into place, and clawing at them reveals an internal mesh of vile steel. I'm still not a fan of that nonsense, and the sensation of my magic being drained by touching it results in a spike of fear going through me.

I can't let that stop me. If I'm feeling threatened by something, all I have to do is remove the threat! Clawing away as much rock as I can results in a sizable area of vile steel left vulnerable, which means it's time to get licking. I know the stuff is vulnerable to my anti-magic venom, so there's no reason not to utilize it. Focusing on creating an outline for an entrance, I work my tongue through the mesh. As I work, I'm having to remoisten my tongue whenever I start to feel the vile steel drain my magic. It's slow going, but it is going.

With more gaps in the mesh, the smell of death and decay intensifies, and I might have to call in backup. And this is a perfect opportunity for Lauren to test out her cultist-destroying powers!

"Lauren, you should come to the place I broke into."

"What?! You actually destroyed a house?! Where are you?"

"I don't know, some noble district. Just ask a guard or follow some adventurers. They're gathering here as well and I'm sure they've heard about the gate I broke by now."

"You broke a gate?!"

Lauren is focusing on all the wrong things, but I'm sure she's on her way. The pleasant odor of the rusting vile steel fills the air and, since Raya isn't down here to stop me, I'm gonna bend it and and have a quick taste...

"Don't do it, Kira! I can see you scheming!"

Dang it! Observant little rascal... Well, all I can do is continue licking the metal to rust it, since I don't want to claw at it more than necessary. I'm not keen on creating more dust particles of vile steel again. Dang things are dangerous.

"Heavy Shielders! Head in! Spears behind, and support forming the backline!"

Some woman begins barking orders behind me, and moments later, a bunch of adventurers run underneath me, storming into the underground lair and taking up defensive positions. The jerks are stealing my kills again! And the hole in the vile steel isn't big enough for me yet... Dang it!

Forming a shield wall, the frontline consisting of twelve shield-wielders blocks an incoming barrage of spells, but they're taking hits and that's corruption magic. A wave of corpses comes running toward the defensive line as spears poke through slits in tower shields, creating a porcupine of death. Oh! I can be of help here!

"Spear people, take turns standing at the front, and whenever you're not fighting, come dip your spear in my venom."

The undead continue to struggle against the spears as they try to get to the shield line. The support casters are destroying some of them, but it's slow going. My suggestion only has one person try it out of the twenty spear-wielders present. But the results it yields as the spear penetrates an undead prove that my idea was a good one. And soon, I'm swamped by spears pointing at me, but this time without hostile intent.

As the ghouls start to fall, the shielders are forced to step back to avoid the fallen corpses becoming stepping stones for the oncoming waves. As the spear folk continue to dip their spears in my venom, someone suggests calling in archers, and the commander is quick to react. The archers are quick to join the fray, with squires carrying extra quivers.

It feels a little irresponsible to bring kids into this, but the squires appear to be quite accustomed to witnessing battle. Following in the steps of the spear wielders, the squires begin dipping arrow tips in my venom before adding them back to the quivers and handing them off to the archer they're responsible for.

With a proper ranged line, the casters hiding in the back are taken out in short order as a barrage of arrows pelts the enemy backline. A few of the archers do complain about not being able to infuse their arrows properly, but the results of my venom are undeniable.

"Commander, the corpses are falling! What do we do with the remains?"

"Burn them."

It was tempting to interject and suggest feeding them to me, but with all the vile steel around, already becoming airborne, I'd rather not risk my health. Who knows what these corpse jerks contain?

A group of mages with a distinct scent of smoke rush in from under me and begin torching the fallen, but... wait...

"Commander lady, are you afraid to ask me to burn them?"

I don't get a response. Instead, she calls for a retreat, which I'll interpret as my cue. With the shielders walking backwards as they leave, they fend off the undead forces, giving me an excellent opportunity to roast some jerks. Pulling on my magic, I do just that. Blue flames bathe the area in glorious light, leaving the air somewhat stale for some reason.

The smoldering corpses of the previously undead litter the ground, cracks of blue flame shining through and creating a lovely tapestry of scorched flesh. I should make sure to burn more things with my new, fancy blue flames.

Aside from the stale air, my fire also felt less draining on my magic, leaving me with the impression that I could burn more things. Which is good as another wave comes running toward me. They don't put up much of a fight as I light them up, but this feels like something else is going on. They're too willing to throw themselves at us.

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"Raya! Have you found anything suspicious? This feels like a distraction. And don't go pointing out that I'd be familiar with distractions!"

There's a subtle curse coming from somewhere above the hole, which makes it clear that she fully intended to make a joke at my expense. All Raya has to say about the situation above us is that she hasn't seen anything. And I'm sure Raya would have stabbed something if it thought it could get away from her.

Unfortunately, that doesn't bode well. It seems likely that they have some other exit and we'll have to flush them out and find it. The waves of undead appear to have stopped, at least, so that's progress. I don't think we have a choice aside from sending in the adventurers again.

Since I don't have to care about property destruction, I'm gonna climb out of this hole instead of trying to go backwards. My claws dig into the soil surrounding me, allowing me to make it up to the top in short order. A tingle of magic makes it clear that earth mages have helped stabilize the dirt for me to get a better grip, which I approve of.

More adventurers march into the hole leading to the underground, with earth mages reinforcing the surrounding dirt and creating pathways to reduce the risk of slipping. Watching them get to work makes me think that my preemptive attack in Plainshold was the right move. If they had managed to get organized before I showed up, I might have been in trouble. Or maybe the only ones to show up were jerks looking for easy gold.

Regardless of which it was, these people look a lot more intimidating as they file into the basement in groups and call out to each other with every little change. There's even birdsong to create a nice ambiance for my adventurer watching.

"Kira, Punchy is here."

"I greet you, Kira! I have brought a mold shaped by dwarves for the creation of my hammer. It is my hope that you might have the time and magic to spare so that we may create a magnificent weapon!"

I do have time and magic, so we can do that. And I don't want to postpone his hammer anymore, so it's pretty good timing, too. Throwing him a quick greeting, I tell him that he can place the hammer mold on the ground and I'll get it done. Someone smells a little afraid... Sniffing the air leads me to the source hiding behind Punchy.

"Hello, Sarah. Why are you still afraid of me? I thought we were friends by now."

As Punchy takes the mold from his shoulder and places it on the ground, he takes a wooden shaft from the side of it. While he does that, I get an excellent opportunity to nudge Sarah, which is an opportunity I take! An adorable yelp later, and she feels a little more comfortable in my presence.

"I'm not afraid of you anymore. It's this place... It feels wrong, like it wants to consume my very being."

"Oh, you're probably right about that. It's all vile steel. They've been building this for ages, as far as I can tell."

Wait, that means Sarah is a vile steel detector. We can find the boundaries and, depending on the depth she can feel it at, we can find the other exit that probably exists. Nudging her again, I tell her to climb on as I lower my head for easy access.

"Hammer first, Kira. Punchy has waited a long time for it."

Right, I got too caught up in Sarah's detective skills. Okay, it's hammer time! The mold is on the ground and, with a nudge, Punchy steps away with Raya and Sarah in tow. Drawing on my magic, I release a consistent blast of fire until I get the general vibe that the goop is cooked through. I have no idea how long goop has to cook for, but I'm gonna get it well done!

As I stop my flames, the sight of a burst mold comes into view... Crap, it might have been too much. Dang it, blue flames, I trusted you!

Raya approaches the cracked mess with a request for a beat of my wings to generate a gust of wind. Doing as she asks, the wind blasts the mold into dust, disappearing into the wind and leaving behind a crystal half the size of Raya. The crystal sits in the middle of a blackened area of melted stone, and it feels powerful.

If Raya had worn normal boots instead of the superior Kirarmor boots, I wouldn't be surprised if her feet got too hot. She's holding her hand toward the crystal, but she stops before getting too close.

"It's hot."

To prove her point, she spits on it, which results in sizzling. That does sound hot, so I'm gonna conclude that her conclusion is correct. As I look at Punchy, it becomes clear that he isn't quite sure how to handle this development. Not one to be deterred, he takes the shaft and uses it to flip the hammerhead, revealing that it does have a slot for the shaft.

The smell of burning wood fills the air as he merges the shaft with the hammerhead, and I think he might need a different material to protect the shaft.

"What did you make?..."

Sarah's question is a pretty good one, and I don't have an answer. The crystal appears to be shimmering with blue and purple, as if energies are fluctuating within it. All I know is that I'm pretty sure I've made an excellent weapon. Punchy pulls the shaft from the hammerhead before running off toward the city, disappearing over the rubble of the gate. And there's Lauren!

"You really did break a gate. And that building is your doing as well?"

"Yep. And notice how only the things I wanted to destroy are destroyed. I did pretty well, if I do say so myself, so I deserve praise."

A wave of amusement matching her laughter flows into me as the scent of cooking meat fills the air.

"Well done, Kira. Has the Guild begun the attack, then?"

I confirm that they have, as I bring her up to date on the goings-on so far. Including the cultists or undead whatevers who used corruption magic. I want to suggest that Lauren join the adventurers, so she can use her fancy magic to counteract the corruption, but I don't want her going somewhere I can't reach her...

I can't tell whether I'm being protective or selfish, but I don't care. I want her to be safe. With a solid 'what in the hells is that?' I'm given a distraction as Lauren focuses on the crystal that Raya is...

"Raya, where did you get that meat?"

She's cooking meat on Punchy's hammer, and Sarah is working with her! Naturally, being the ever-respectful dragon that I am, I accuse them of disrespecting the weapon that I so painstakingly crafted. Raya doesn't care as she smiles at me while pulling out another slice of meat to hold toward the hammer head. Sarah on the other hand...

"I haven't eaten yet, and she offered."

Well, at least I can relate to that reason. I deserve a slice for being so easygoing. With her slice ready, Sarah pulls out a piece of bread and breaks it in half before adding the meat to it and chowing down.

"Raya, are you sure you should be using your poison dagger to cook with?"

"Ish fine. Delish food. Heat ruins poison."

That doesn't feel reliable. Elemental poisons, like those from metals, are definitely not ruined by heating. Protein-based venoms would be, but plant-based poison is a mixed bag. That leaves my venom. I don't know how it works exactly, and I'm a literal freakin' dragon, so I doubt heat is going to do much to it.

Sarah seems to share my doubts as she spits out her poisoned meal. Sensing an opportunity, Lauren snatches the rest of Sarah's sandwich and begins eating. Given that we're technically still on a battlefield, these guys sure are calm.

"Lauren, you know how you used my magic to destroy the cultists? You should try healing other things, too. We haven't been experimenting enough with your fancy golden fire. What if you can use my anti-undead properties to defeat the corruption and all those other things?"

Instead of admiring the wisdom of my brilliant thinking, she scrunches up her brow and moves to touch me. As she channels a little magic from both of us, her brow scrunches up even more.

"Kira, when did you purge your corruption?"

That feels like something I would've noticed. At Lauren's question, Sarah interrupts her cooking session to match Lauren's expression of confusion. Now the elven healer is approaching me, and as she comes close, she touches me without hesitation. I'll take that as progress, even though it seems more motivated by finding out where my corruption went.

The two of them definitely agree that I'm no longer carrying any corruption, leaving a bit of a mystery for the group to solve. I'm gonna assume it's because I'm incredible, but it would probably make sense to be sure, just in case.

The two healers begin bickering about how the corruption can't be healed by any means known to the blessed species. Their discussion draws my attention to the shield-wielders, and I can't shake a sense of awe at their willingness to protect their allies. With the corruption not being something they can cure, those people taking up the front are a display of impressive self-sacrifice.

Calling for Raya to follow, Lauren begins walking toward the basement of the cultist house as she starts to chant a spell. There's a considerable pull on my magic, reminding me of our time with Turgai. With her being so determined, I'm gonna watch what she does as I channel magic into my eyes.

The flow of my magic is obvious, mixing with the golden light of Merciferus, but there's also the green creation magic. Forming her spell, she wields it as a weapon against the affront. The moment she makes contact with the vile steel at the entrance of the basement, a loud boom sounds before rocks and debris fall to block the hole in the wall. I'm guessing that affront was load-bearing.

"Lauren, you're no longer allowed to say that I'm the most destructive person in our group."

The adventurers standing guard are quick to swarm the area and begin clearing rubble to open up the basement again. Earth mages cast their spells, forcing the debris to stabilize as fighters rush to throw rocks away.

As Lauren turns to me, she appears somewhat shell-shocked as she looks at me with wide eyes.

"I can feel them, Kira. Those damned by the cultists. They're free now."

So I get that that's nice, but as I have a look at my magic lake, it's clear that she spent dang near a third of it on her spell. I'm not made of... Wait, I am made of magic. Well, I'm not an infinite supply of magic!

At least we've learned a few things: Lauren can fight the affront head-on. I'm no longer corrupted. There's a second basement. And the remaining undead corpses disappeared in the blast of her weird healing spell. So aside from it being ridiculously expensive in terms of magic, it is a very useful way to fight back against the affront.

"By the Pantheon's Glory, how did you master such a spell?!"

Instead of answering Sarah, Lauren runs to me and, as I lower my face to meet her, she hugs my muzzle as well as she can.

"Thank you for believing in me. And you too, Raya."

Raya didn't have a chance at feeling left out before Lauren grabbed the collar of her Kirarmor and pulled her into the hug. As Lauren lets go of me, I can't help but notice that she's looking a little more... draconic. Her cheeks have become scaly and her hands have claws like Raya's, but I don't think she's afraid of the changes anymore.

"Not to ruin the moment, but if we're experimenting with your magic, you should try healing the shield people, too. I'm sure some of them have been affected by the corruption by now. Don't cast that big spell more than once, though. I'd like some of my magic for myself."

A few of the adventurers appear to have listened in on our conversation as they gather to guard Lauren. Raya joins her as they head down the path cleared in the aftermath of Lauren's spell.

Rushing toward them, I make sure to give both Raya and Lauren a nudge of good luck before turning my attention to Sarah.

"Good news, Sarah! You know how you get uncomfortable around the vile steel? We can probably use that to detect the secret exit! It'll be like you're a dowsing rod!"

Instead of being impressed by my ingenuity, she just looks at me with wide eyes and shock. She is still a skilled adventurer, so within moments, she manages to pull herself together and as I lower my head to the ground properly, she tries to climb onto me. I'm gonna have to give her a helping horn.

With that sorted and Sarah seated, we're ready to take off. My plan is to fly low and have her guide me as the feeling of discomfort lessens. I hope she can tell the sensation of the vile steel apart from her displeasure at flying.

As we take off, I feel another draw on my magic, this time not as intense, but Lauren is for sure using more magic than Raya. A tap against my horn alerts me to Sarah's sense of the affront weakening, and she guides me back toward the broken house.

We're flying quite low, so we should just have to fly in a spiral around the house to find out when she feels a quick blip in her affront detector. Although it does raise a question of why she hasn't used this ability to unveil the secret plots before. So naturally I ask her about it.

"I did not know that was what I felt... I'm ashamed to say that it's a familiar feeling and I dread to ponder the fate of the towns I've visited and felt it... We have to fight back against this evil force."

Well, at least her resolve is strengthened. And with Punchy becoming able to smash even more things, I'm sure those two will make an excellent team to find and destroy cultist lairs.

As we make our circle, I spot Punchy on the ground, and he seems to have assembled the-

"I HAVE MY HAMMER! IT IS A MOST WONDROUS CREATION!"

The half-giant is swinging around his new weapon without a care in the world as the wake of it forms a ring of steam. Steam... That's something we should look into. If we can have magic crystals like that creating steam, then the applications would be amazing. I'm not exactly sure how to go about creating something like a steam engine, but reliable fuel is a great first step.

Not done with his demonstration, Punchy swings his hammer toward the ground, creating a small crater of shattered stone and burning debris where it impacts.

"Such power, and it holds no enchantments... I beg of you, do not create an abundance of that material. It is far too dangerous..."

I'm not sure I want to. I only did it for Punchy because I like him, but selling some fancy and deadly weapons to the average adventurer sounds like a recipe for disaster for me. What if they used it against me? That would be terrible. I guess it could be alleviated through a contract to not use it against me, but I'll have to look into this world's contract law first. Especially when it comes to fine print.

"Focus, Sarah! We're here to find escape routes, not to marvel at my magnificent creations!"

Instead of taking me seriously, she pats me a few times as she laughs. It was a bit of a hard sell considering we've been hovering here for the entirety of Punchy's demonstration. Back to flying in circles we go! As we fly away again, Punchy takes the opportunity to run into the underground basement, no doubt to test out his new toy.

We aren't having much success up here, and it occurs to me that I never properly explained to Sarah what I want her to do. As I correct that mistake, she lies down on my head with her arms sprawled wide as we fly. Every so often, she taps the side of my head, and I make a note of the location. She's doing it in almost the exact same place.

With enough data points, I'm confident that I know where we're supposed to go. I was right about an exit and below us, there's just road, but looking closer, the grass at the very edge of it looks wilted.

Landing on the road, we follow it until Sarah taps me again, causing me to take a few steps back. The tapping and testing continue until we pinpoint the escape route beneath the soil. There's no scent of death here, so the exit must be farther away.

"How's it going down there, Lauren?"

"Quite well. The others are keeping me safe and letting me destroy the undead. Raya's fireballs work exceedingly well against our foes here."

Good, the two of them are working well together. The constant drain on my magic is a little obnoxious, though. Like someone poking me in the ribs every few seconds. I've become quite good at tuning out when Raya uses my magic, but the dang frequency of it right now...

My attention is drawn away from my annoyance as a wave of fear washes over me from Lauren, followed by a wave of frustration. I'm getting the impression that something just startled her, but I want to be sure.

"What's wrong?"

"Fucking Punchy just came rushing by... Who gave that brute a huge, glowing hammer?!"

Oh, it glows? That's fancy. I am definitely ignoring her question, though. It sounds like she didn't get a good look at it and didn't make the connection between his hammer and the large crystal she was looking at up here.

"I believe it's somewhere here. The sensation is stronger than it has been, which I believe could indicate that the Affront is closer to the surface."

That's good enough reasoning for me, and the slight scent of death helps too. The path we follow leads to the outer wall, but the trail doesn't have any clear end. The large stone wall blocks our path, and at the bottom of it, there's a patch of wilted grass. Ooh, that indicates that the escape route exit is just on the other side of this wall. And we're closing in on nighttime with cloud cover, giving me an excellent opportunity to ambush cultists as they try to escape.

The anticipation is enough to make my teeth itch.