Tribulations of a Dragon

Good food and telling friends stories is the best! The night is coming and the clear sky lets stars shine through. I want something to eat, but Kira doesn't let me take any food... She wants me to wash myself first, but I think wiping my hands is enough.

"Raya, you have to wash yourself. You're covered in dirt, grime, and dead things! Just sniff how delicious you smell! You too, Lauren. And these new friends of yours. Do you really want to smell delicious around a dragon? That seems unwise. But I came prepared!"

I don't smell that bad, but that might be because I'm used to it. Clarence and the others get a lot more nervous because of Kira saying they smell tasty, but she only eats people who attack us. Kira doesn't let anyone reply before she leans her head back behind her, and someone's angry shouting can be heard.

"I agreed to assist your allies, Dragon, but I did not consent to being manhandled by a monstrous tongue!"

"Shush, my thongue is wovewy, now geth thu sashtin.'"

Kira even brought a mage to help us wash up before eating! He's wiggling a lot while she's holding him with her tongue, but he's not in any danger.

"Do let me down, then. I can hardly be expected to work under these conditions."

Oh, he made a mistake. I know Kira well, but I still don't know why some people can get her to do what they want, but others end up upside down and dumped in the dirt when they do. Like this mage. He's covered in sticky spit and mud now. He very quickly starts casting spells and saying some words of power.

The water around us gathers up in floating drops and bumps into each other to gather up in large balls. Kira leans in and blows warm air onto the balls of water, heating them up before the mage begins to spread them out above the adventurers. I get one over me, too. And when he feels they're ready, he releases them to dump water all over us.

The water tickles, and his grimace of concentration shows that he's still controlling it as it scrubs dirt from our bodies and clothes. A shower without having to undress! While we're being taken care of, Kira's head shoots back in the way she does when she gets a weird idea.

"Oh! I have a plan! Punchy, keep that food under control so it doesn't burn."

Kira doesn't explain anything, but she begins digging a large hole in the grass and measuring the size with her body. Whenever she gets a weird idea, it turns out good, so I'm quite excited to find out what this is!

It isn't very deep, but it's wide both this way and that way. To stomp the ground flat, she slaps it with her tail, but her tail is bad for that, leaving a floor that feels like a forest with roots and holes trying to trip you.

With a look showing that she's ready for the next step, she tells people to step back and make room. The adventurers rush to get out of the way while Kira starts burning the dirt with her fire breath. The warm steam from whatever she's doing feels nice.

"Moistman! Can you fill this with water?"

The hole is coated in a layer of shiny rock, and Moistman sighs while getting to work, chanting his magic. Water gathers from all around us and flows into the hole, filling it quite fast. Kira doesn't let him finish before she starts asking for other things. She wants him to wash her feet before she climbs into the water. When one of her feet is clean, she dips it into the water, and when all four are in, she coils up around the edge, pushing a bunch of water out and making the mage sigh.

"Pfft, not my fault displacement is a thing."

We should get a mage with water magic so we can build small ponds wherever we go! Taking off my Kirarmor and stripping, I jump into Kira's pond and the water is warm! It feels so good! Everyone else except Punchy joins me, he's left tending the meat. Lauren gets into the water with a questioning scowl while wandering into a deeper part.

"How come you made it so uneven?"

"I can't expect Punchy to sit at the same depth as Raya. Either he'd barely be in the water, or Raya would drown. Both are bad, right? Raya is way too fit to float."

"You just made that up, and it wasn't your intention to make it uneven..."

The accusation changes Kira's eyes to become blue and orange, which means she's about to do something to get back at Lauren for revealing a secret like that. Lauren isn't paying attention, but Kira is scheming while lowering her head into the water. It's deep enough to cover her nostrils, but when they come back up above the water, I know that I need to watch Lauren to get a laugh!

The water is a little murky from all of us bringing dirt into it, so I can't see what she's doing, but a moment after her nostrils showed up, Lauren screams before being dragged under. And then dragged out of the water, dangling by her leg and held up by Kira's tongue.

"Let me down, you vicious beast!"

Kira puts on a smirk while doing what she's told, lowering Lauren slowly. When Lauren's dangling hands meet the water, she realizes her mistake and shouts for Kira to stop. Kira doesn't stop, though. She lets Lauren down, headfirst, into the water, causing Lauren to fight against the water and splash it all over only for Kira to let go so Lauren falls the last of the way.

Kira settles back down again, letting me take the best spot where her neck and body meet. The warm water is high enough to still soak me, and the soft movement of Kira's muscles makes it hard to stay awake.

Looking at Lauren, I can tell that she considers getting back at Kira, but instead of making a mistake, she changes her mind and asks Punchy for some food instead. The campfire has a grate of iron with cuts of meat and tiny spears with vegetables and meat impaled and coated with spices. Punchy hands her one of the spears, and I want one, too. Calling out to him, I ask for one, and he gives me a nod and a smile while going back to get another.

With a couple of tiny spears between his fingers, he walks into the water, causing big waves to form from his giant legs moving. It's almost enough to wash me away, but Kira lifts her arm a little, keeping the waves from throwing me into the water.

When he gets to me, he hands me both the spears, and Kira starts watching me while I eat one of them. They're so tasty, and the spices make everything even better!

"Kira, open your mouth and get closer! You have to try these!"

She does what I tell her to, and with her teeth near, I take one of the spears and wedge it between them before pulling. All the meats and vegetables fall off, and I can tell that she loves it too!

Clarence and his friends are relaxing on their own side of the pond. They're a little shy and don't want to get too close to Kira, but they look very comfortable.

Whenever the water starts to cool, Kira warms it up again by moving her head closer to the middle of the pond and blowing her warm breath into the water. The warmth spreads out with waves hitting everyone.

"By the Glory of the Gods, I want to end all missions like this…"

"I don't see why you can't. Earth magic to create a compacted base for the pool, water magic to gather the water or a water wheel and some pipes near a river, and then fire magic to heat it, or a brazier in the middle. Every part of this is doable without having a dragon like me around."

I think Kira is forgetting that her magic becomes part of everything she uses it on. Clarence is right about this feeling great, and part of it is Kira's magic making us feel better. Clarence isn't done feeling great, however. And to show it, he lifts his foot out of the water.

"Look! My toe is back! Look at it wiggle! I missed you, little buddy. Do you think you can heal like that, Drauhildr?"

"I'm familiar with the spell, but the magical structure and components used result in a phenomenon with which I am unfamiliar. I cannot say that I will ever attain the power to perform such a feat. Cleric Lauren, might I ask how you did it?"

"Oh, easy. I just used draconic magic alongside creation magic and bound the two forces with divine magic. Common magics that anyone can use. And then simply use a strong healing potion and the wisdom of a clever goblin."

I don't always understand adventurer expressions, but the face Drauhildr the healer is making makes me think that Lauren is teasing them. But I like being called clever. Lauren and Drauhildr begin talking about healing spells and magical knowledge, but it's too big for me. I can't understand half the words they're saying, and I haven't learned most of them. There's still a lot I need to learn about the blessed tongue.

While they're talking about fancy magic, Kira gets up and looks toward Punchy.

"Punchy, stop staying all the way over there. Find a big rock to place in the middle of the pool, and we can build a new fire and cook the food right here."

Without warning or giving him a chance to find a rock, Kira gets up and wanders into the distance. The hole left in the water by her body causes everyone else to be caught up in waves and splashing. A bright blue light in the distance makes it clear that Kira is up to something. She's always up to something, and it's usually good.

She comes back while grumbling about rocks being heavy, and she's carrying a large rock while trying to walk on her hind legs. She's not very good at it, but I can't see any other way for her to carry the rock. It's half as big as Punchy, so it must be very heavy. The top side of it is glowing a little, and it's been flattened.

Punchy leaves the campfire and runs to help her. I don't think Kira likes walking on her hind legs. The weight of the rock didn't seem to bother her, but the moment she's back on four legs, she stretches and shakes her tail.

Punchy is having more problems carrying the rock than Kira was, and he even has to strengthen himself. His loose clothes fill out with muscles while picking up the rock, and he starts walking closer to the pond with it. They start talking, but I can't hear what Punchy is saying. Kira is telling him to put down the rock again. When he does, she cuts it in two with a hit from her tail knife.

Punchy takes a piece and doesn't struggle anymore, and Kira takes the glowing piece in one hand and starts limping toward us. They finally get here, and Punchy places his piece in the middle of the pond before taking Kira's piece and placing it on top of the other one. The water around it starts to sizzle, and Punchy leaves the water to fetch the food.

The top of the rock stays above water, but not by much. The water splashing onto the rock turns into steam, and a lot of it, when Kira gets into the pond again and lies down along the edge. My spot is back!

Swimming toward Kira and fighting the waves is difficult, but I make it and settle into my spot. Punchy takes off most of his clothes and joins us in the pond while tending the food. There's more waiting at the shore, so we're prepared for a long night of fun.

"You haven't told me about your adventure, Raya. I still want to hear about it."

---------------

That's right. So it began in Punchy and Sarah's room after you left with all that magic. I wasn't doing anything, but then Sarah got upset about something and started shouting. She told me to stop carving symbols into the table, but I didn't have anything else to do! You weren't here, and I got bored and worried, Kira!

"I did not yell for no reason, Raya. I told you that we have to pay for any damage caused to the furniture, and carving is considered damage."

So Sarah was upset, but then she noticed that Punchy was carving, too, and that's when she got really upset! She yelled at us to leave and stop breaking things, so I asked Punchy what I should do. And he suggested that to take my mind off worrying about you, I should try a mission with the guild. I didn't think that was a good idea, but he insisted very rudely by picking me up and not letting me run away. He was mean to me, Kira! Punish him!

"I'm not gonna punish him for encouraging you to try new things."

I'll have to do something later then. Prepare yourself, Punchy!

So Punchy took me to the guild and started talking about the mission board. Did you know they have symbols for mission types so that adventurers who can't read can still accept missions? A leaf for gathering, a skull for dangerous missions, then there's a bow for hunting and a wheel for traveling with merchants. And they have markings to show how difficult each type of mission is!

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"That's clever. Do you think we should do something like that in Tuiran, too?"

We should, but I don't know for what. We have guards doing stuff instead of adventurers. But maybe that's worth changing. Don't distract me, Kira! I'm telling a story!

Punchy told me that I could pick more than one mission, but it wasn't recommended to pick more than one skull or hunting mission, and if I did, they should be gathering missions. And traveling missions can't be picked with other missions. You can still gather things on a travel mission, but you should focus on protecting the traveling people.

I picked three gathering missions and a skull mission, but then Punchy said that I shouldn't do it alone. He said that if I got into trouble on the mission, having allies is how you get out of trouble, so he wanted me to find two more people to help. I didn't know how to do that, so he showed me how.

We just looked around the guild house and tried to spot younger adventurers without good equipment. I picked easy missions with good payment, so we didn't have to find strong adventurers.

"I do not doubt your might, little Raya. Though you possess power rivaling that of many adventurers, it would bring me deep worry to send you out alone."

Yeah, I understand, but it's still annoying when I could do it alone. We looked around and there were a few people sitting in groups of two, so I asked one of them if they were going on any missions soon, and they were! But they wanted someone who knew about camping in forests, so I said that I've lived most of my life in forests!

"Did you know that they probably meant that they wanted someone familiar with camping and starting fires?"

I did not! I didn't learn that until later, but I can start fires on my own now. Look! I can use my own magic to make tiny fireballs now! They're strong enough to start a campfire, but not much else. They can also scare animals, I guess, but I can scare animals without fire too.

I told them about the missions I wanted to do, and they were excited to join! It turns out that new adventurers can't accept as many missions as I did, but Punchy being there confused the mission person, so she let me have more. So we got four missions instead of two!

Their names were Jaima and Marzin, and they were excited to join me for my missions. Jaima was a sneaky thief and she's great at finding and setting traps. Marzin liked to stay back with his bow and shoot things. He was good at it, too!

"Isn't that an unbalanced team? They don't have a frontline, mages to fire rocks at things, or a dragon to burn things..."

"It is as you say, Kira. Except for the Dragon part. Yet many new adventurers focus on what they know from childhood. The young boys of a small village often learn archery to hunt. And the skill of stealth is often learned through necessity. Their futures are not determined by skills they have as their journey begins, so it may be that the future holds other roles for them to pursue."

Stop interrupting me, Kira. You can ask questions after I've finished my story. With our party gathered, we were ready to prepare to head out! Jaima and Marzin wanted to make sure we had enough supplies for a couple of days of travel, so we started by going to the stores. They wanted fire starters, bedrolls, and food. I don't know why we needed food, since we could just forage, but Marzin said we had to buy stuff in case hunting didn't go well.

I decided I wanted to buy new armor to fit in more, since Kirarmor is a little too much when all we had to do was collect some herbs. So I bought that gambeson and the sword you ate. After that, I got bored and buying supplies was taking too long, but they wanted to make sure not to spend too much coin on basic things. They had good clothes, but I don't think they had a lot of coin. But we got what we needed and were ready to head out!

We started heading west, toward Fenja's forest, and the dark woods made Marzin and Jaima nervous, but Fenja would keep us safe. The guards didn't even look at us when we walked by. They usually kept an eye on me, but with Jaima and Marzin, they left us alone.

"Where did Punchy go? Wasn't he with you?"

Oh, we left him at the guild house. I told you to stop interrupting me, Kira. But keep purring, it feels nice and makes the water wobble.

Back to my story! We left through the gate and headed west. We had to walk a lot before we got to the forest, and when we got there, we had to collect a bushel of each of three different herbs and hunt down a scary beast. The beast had been attacking livestock and making a mess. Some villagers wanted to get rid of it before it attacked a child, so that's what we were going to do!

On the way to the forest, I saw a lot of plants I've seen in plant stores, and I collected a lot of things. Marzin even got a little annoyed with how much time I spent collecting things, but when I told him how much the stores sold these plants for, he started asking for help getting the right ones. The first day out was spent gathering herbs and talking. It was a lot of fun!

We gathered too many things, so we had to go back, but when we sold them and split the coin, we got twenty each! And we spent that on a night at an inn and just talked most of the evening. They didn't know much about goblins, and I didn't know much about those felifolk people.

"They were cat people?! Raya! We must add them to our collection! I must have the fuzzy people in Tuiran!"

You're interrupting me again, Kira.

"Sorry."

We talked and learned a lot about a lot. It was almost morning when we went to bed, so we decided to sleep in and try again after noon. When we woke up, we got ready and left because we were already prepared from the day before, remember? We bought all those supplies, so we didn't need to do it again.

We left through the gate again and headed for the forest. This time we had missions to do and we didn't end up gathering all the plants we could find. And that's because I don't make the same mistake a bunch of times.

"Don't look at me while saying that, Raya. I learn from my mistakes."

Sometimes you do, but I learn more. But getting back to my story, we were reaching the forest, and the hunt for the plants we needed had begun! The first one was a vine that grew up along white trees with thin, curly bark, and the second was a type of moss that didn't like the sun. But the third one was the most exciting! It was a beautiful little yellow flower that smelled like honey!

We didn't find a lot on the second day, but we kept searching while keeping an eye out for the skull mission beast. We didn't know what we were looking for, but it was supposed to hunt in the southeastern part of the forest, so we knew where to look for it.

Hunting for the plants reminded me of home, but it felt different. It wasn't the same, but I was doing the same thing.

"You had a different goal. Back home, you were doing it out of necessity. This time, it was for fun and to spend time. That matters a lot."

I don't get why, but you're usually right about things like that, Kira. But back to the story! We made camp for the night and built a fire to cook some food. Marzin almost hit a rabbit, but Jaima caught one in a trap and prepared it for cooking. I had some extra spices to make it even tastier. I even had a few of those red poisonous ones you made me eat, and they were great!

You people don't have to look at me like that, I still have some in my bag, but it's over there, and I'm not getting out of the water to get it. Jaima and Marzin liked it, and they didn't die, so I don't think it's really poisonous.

"No, it is poisonous. Sort of. It's just that the poison is part of what you want. Salt is like that as well. A little salt makes things way better, but too much will kill you."

Too much salt also ruins food, but that's not what we're talking about. Jaima and Marzin liked my food and it was tasty, so they wanted more. We all did. Since we were in Fenja's forest, I thought I could ask her to bring something, and she did! She spooked Jaima and Marzin, though. They didn't like that Fenja showed up with all her wolves.

It turns out that we didn't have to hunt the skull beast after all. When we talked to Fenja about it, she scolded one of the wolves and told him to stop hunting livestock.

"Was it Snarlacus? That jerk deserves a stern talking-to..."

It wasn't. He wasn't there at all. But Fenja also helped us get some extra pretty flowers with her magic. By the time we were ready to go to bed, we had done all the missions and filled a bag with more flowers. Fenja said they were valuable, and I decided to trust her because she's nice. And they were valuable! Selling the flowers she grew for us earned us more than the missions did!

"I do not believe your experience of adventuring was wholly authentic, little Raya."

"I see your point, but I don't wholly agree. Though Raya had a much easier time than what is expected of novice members, utilizing the knowledge and connections you have is very much in the style of the Guild. Although admittedly, knowing the forest spirit by name is exceedingly rare and I must advise everyone present to not speak the name with the intent of requesting favors. The spirits do not appreciate their names being invoked by those with whom they are unfamiliar."

Sarah is right. I just used my cleverness to win the missions. Just look at how often I have a problem and throw a dragon at it. That's no different. But with a camp full of fuzzy wolves to keep us warm and our mission completed, we were ready for a good night's sleep!

It was very fun, but I don't think adventuring is for me. I don't think I like missions like that. Flying around with Kira and getting into trouble is a lot more fun. And I get to see places I couldn't have dreamed of!

"But that's-"

"Shush! She wants to stay with me and explore instead of adventuring."

It's obvious that you're hiding something, Kira. But I don't care, we have a lot more world to explore! And I want to explore more of that food with you and Lauren! Toss me a piece, Punchy!

Hah! I knew I'd catch it. It's spicy and tasty, but it could use a little more poison fruit.

In the morning, the wolves had left, and we decided to break camp. That's what adventurers say, Kira. To break camp is when they start packing everything up and getting ready for the day.

With our stuff packed up, we headed back to the city and headed for the guild house to tell the mission person that the missions were done. We didn't do any fighting, but that's okay. Sometimes it's better to talk things through instead of attacking.

"Don't look at me while saying that, you little rascal! I talk things through!"

You also light a lot of things on fire, and you know it. No amount of grumbling is going to change that, Kira!

So we headed for the guild house, and when we got there, it was mostly empty. Marzin told me that most adventurers had either left already or not woken up yet, so we weren't supposed to make a lot of noise.

When we turned in the missions, we got paid sixty-five silver each! And then we sold the extra plants for another fifty-seven each! That means I earned almost a gold and a half!

"You should save that, and we can put it on a shelf at home! Your first payment from official missions! That's exciting."

I like that. We should do that. And this is when you showed up again with Karlon. He seems nice, but I still haven't told you about what Hralthar did while you slept after choking on your magic.

"That sounds familiar... Didn't I say I didn't want to know?"

You did! So what he did was have Punchy open your mouth with a chain tied around his waist. When he felt the chain was secure, Hralthar climbed into your mouth to inspect your belch sac. He was grumbling the entire way down your throat, and I don't think he liked it.

"Did he at least take off his shoes?"

He took off all his clothes and rings. He said your venom would destroy it, so it would be dumb to wear it. Besides, it might irritate your throat and cause you to swallow. That's what the chain was for. In case you tried to swallow him, but you didn't.

"Turns out I was right. I don't like that story at all. But it makes sense why he wanted a shower..."

Stop fussing. He helped by applying that ointment to help you heal. Don't you feel better? I know you do because you can breathe fire again. I asked him if he was going to be okay, and he told me that he would be as long as Punchy held onto the chain.

Once he climbed back out of you, he also said that you were healing well, but trying to use your magic again was like trying to arm-wrestle after having just broken your shoulder. And he called you a dummy for trying.

-------------

Raya's adventure is a lot to take in, and I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. I appreciate the medical knowledge Foreman has, but it feels odd to know what happened while I was unconscious... Sometimes medically necessary procedures can't get consent, I guess, but I'm still going to raise his property tax in Tuiran once he moves in. I will have my revenge.

"You're thinking mean thoughts again, Kira."

"No, I'm not. I'm thinking reasonable thoughts."

It does sound like a good experience for her to have tried out official adventuring. And I have to thank Fenja for keeping Raya safe. I wonder what a spirit might like to get as a present.

"Did Lauren tell you that she healed Clarence?"

"She did not, but Clarence did mention being healed! Why didn't you tell me, Lauren? That's huge! I can call you a lousy first aid kit again!"

My enthusiasm earns me a splash of water, but my neck is too long and my head too high right now, leaving the splash to hit my throat. The focus right now is Raya, so retaliation will have to wait.

"Are you sure you don't want to try out more adventuring? I'm sure Punchy can help you find a difficult mission."

"Nah. I meant it when I said it's more fun to go exploring with you. We've seen so much already, but there's a whole world to make a mess in, and I'm confident that you'll do it!"

Little rascal! She gets a puff of smoke! Unfortunately, my devious attack only leads to laughter. Which mixes in with the snoring coming from Raya and Lauren's adventuring buddies. They seem to have fallen asleep during her tale of wonder, but Sarah, Punchy, and Moistman are still awake.

Sarah and Punchy are just enjoying each other's company, with Punchy embracing Sarah as she leans against his chest. And Moistman has calmed down and seems to just be enjoying the free food and open bath. We really should get a water mage so we can do this more often. Maybe I can hire someone visiting Tuiran at some point.

As I lay my head back down with my nostrils just above the water's surface, Raya sneaks into the nook between my arm and neck again.

"How are you doing, Lauren? You seem a lot more quiet than usual."

"I'm okay. My thoughts are like a whirlwind, and I can't quite get them to settle down. I healed someone, Kira. I needed the help of a healing potion, but I did heal someone. In a day, I went from being a threat to the Undead King's army to becoming... I don't even know how to describe it. I can destroy undead and the Affront. This is the first time I feel like I can perform the duties of a Champion."

"That's incredible! I knew you could do it. You're a lot more awesome than you give yourself credit for."

Raya is quick to agree with me as she jumps off my arm to swim toward the cooking rock. Snatching several skewers, she throws one to me, which I catch like an expert! Any complaints about waves are to be directed at the nearest trash can, though. And there is no evidence that they were caused by my sudden movements, regardless of how surprised Clarence's team was.

Lauren looks a little worried all of a sudden. Raising her head, she looks at my eyes before throwing me a question.

"Did we get all the undead hiding in the city? I can't stop worrying that more might be hiding, but I don't know..."

"I can't smell any more fresh tracks. By the time I reached this back entrance, there were no fresh trails, and I killed the ones that fled before you asked me to light up the tunnels. So I think we got them all."

Which means I'm not sure where to go from here. I think going back home and making sure everything is fine is the way to go. And I want to kidnap Doc and help him with that unstable magic of his. It worked out well for Tiffy, the forest lady, and I'm sure we can think of something to help Doc, too.

And I...

"Raya, did either of us actually invite Foreman to Tuiran, or did we just keep talking about doing it?"

The innocent look in her face while she eats another skewer isn't helpful and leaves me with the impression that we didn't... Dang it, I can't remember whether we did. I'm gonna pretend that we did and make sure he's on my list of victims.

"The two of you are hopeless..."

Lauren's input isn't helpful either. But with that settled, it means I just need to visit Tae'liri to set up something like a mission for adventurers to come rebuild Plainshold! And I'm sure Tae'liri is up for doing all the paperwork for me. I almost forgot Cloudlon!

"Lauren, how important is a third son of some dwarven family? Cloudlon seems to have a lot of authority when he bosses the guards around."

"I may be able to answer that. The social structure of dwarves places familial inheritance quite high, meaning the first and second sons hold tremendous power within their respective families. Though this Cloudlon friend of yours more than likely feigned his way to authority. Guards are not required to follow the orders of nobles, but offending the wrong person could become quite troublesome for their captain."

Hah! According to Sarah, that rascal just acted his way to success and got me healed. I need to make sure to bring him back as well. He might not have a meaningful title here, but in Tuiran, he would have the title of my friend! Nevertheless, that's the plan! Speak to Tae'liri, then kidnap people and go home!