Tribulations of a Dragon

I can't decide whether to stay here in the hot tub or go get started on everything so we can go back home. One thing is for sure, though. Hearing about Raya's adventure makes me want to go on an adventure. I'm filled with envy, but I would most likely scare off most of the critters around here.

At least I don't scare off the people around me, so we can enjoy a night under the stars while soaking in a hot tub. I should have dug it deeper to fit me better.

"I wish to end every mission in a manner such as this. The warmth of the water softens my muscles and allows my bones to calm themselves..."

"Too bad, Punchy. Lauren wouldn't let me steal you, remember? If she had, who knows how many baths or feasts we would have had."

Punchy finds my quip fun, but Lauren is glaring at me with the stink eye. It was a very reasonable request, and she denied it. That's just a fact. And with Foreman and Doc joining us, we can expand even more! Ooh… I can't wait to see how much I can add to my hoard. Or how much has been added to it while we've been away.

Before I have a chance to defend myself, Lauren gets up and moves to my head. Staring me down, she splashes water onto my face without holding back! Her ferocious and unrelenting attack draws the attention of my nearby allies, sparking an all-out war as Raya joins the fray. The tiny goblin launches a counterattack by splashing Lauren, hitting the stovetop rock and causing collateral damage as steam rises throughout the area.

Hidden alliances whisper in secret, hoping not to be heard, and soon Sarah the Terrible joins the war! Raya is outnumbered by the two healers turning their attention toward her, but she refuses to be outmatched! With the invention of steam, Raya now has a new weapon! Calling upon the dark lady she serves, Raya creates a fiery ball of flame and launches it toward her adversaries, creating an explosion betwixt them!

Heated chemicals rain from the heavens in the wake of her deadly attack, earning Raya a reprimand from the world stage as Moistman calls upon his water curtain to protect himself from the droplets of doom! Driven to madness by the attack's collateral damage, Punchy's booming laughter fills the battlefield as the war rages.

Calling upon her dark lady once more, Raya asks for backup, and the very air chills her adversaries as the wind billows past the two. A beast of nightmares appears on the battlefield in the wake of the changing weather. With a mighty exhalation, the beast unleashes a breath so fearsome that the adversaries of her subject stand no chance!

Though the beast directs her breath toward the water's surface, the sheer force of it topples the two healers, resulting in a terrible dunking as the hot tub swallows them! Driven mad, the two healers emerge from their hellish baptism with the cackling laughter of insanity!

"Asking Kira for help isn't fair, Raya!"

"Neither is two against one, and I'm small, so it's practically three against one!"

Celebrating her victory leaves Raya distracted, and Lauren is quick to utilize this opportunity to swim toward my arm. It doesn't take Lauren long to cover the distance and settle in. Getting a good look at her, more scales cover the exposed parts of her body, and her eyes are becoming more slitted with darkening sclera. She isn't fully sold on the changes, but she's beautiful to me, and I'm confident that she can handle anything that comes with it.

I half-expect Raya to complain about stolen spots when she notices Lauren sitting on me, but instead she swims up to my arm and climbs it to join Lauren. With Lauren's arms wrapped around her, she settles in and falls asleep moments later. It's getting quite late and getting some sleep might not be a bad idea, especially because it won't be a result of some magic depletion or other nonsense tonight.

While Raya and Lauren come to me, Sarah returns to Punchy and sits in front of him, leaning against his chest. Welcoming her, he wraps his massive arms around her as he pulls her close.

Looking up at the clear sky, I'd guess it's just past midnight, and the stars are quite wonderful. I'm getting a little curious to learn more about them, and I wonder if this world has people studying the stars or some sort of star magic.

"Sarah, does star magic exist?"

"I cannot say. I'm not familiar with anyone who might utilize the stars for magical purposes, or a way to do so."

"What about disease magic? I don't know much about it, but I keep hearing that it's terrible and bad all the time. But what stops a disease mage from making a disease that doesn't spread but hardens the epidermis of the dorsal side of the arm? It could become living armor for fighters. In theory, at least."

Sarah, Moistman, and Punchy staring at me makes it obvious that I don't know a lot of the words in Lauren's language, and I just substituted them with my own. So, slowing down, I explain that dorsal is the top of the arm. Just like with fish, the dorsal fin is on top of the fish. The soft underside of the arm is the ventral side.

Explaining that the epidermis is the outer layer of skin leads to a short biology lesson as we go over the layers of skin and why paper cuts suck. Sarah seems quite interested in the subject, and as we reach the end of my lesson, she brings the topic back to disease mages.

"We would have to consult a plague mage and experiment with the possibility, but they tend to be quite rare, as the magic is shunned. I cannot say that your idea is impossible, but the dangers of a plague mage would have you facing pushback for exploring the matter."

I can handle pushback. With Raya and Lauren to help me, we'll defeat this undead jerk, and then we can start building a hoard empire in Tuiran. Everyone who belongs to me will live a life of luxury! I might have to consult with Merciferus on the matter of disease, though. Since she seems to be the one holding it back, she must know a lot about it. I'd rather not start an apocalypse.

Wait... If disease, germs and microbes are being suppressed...

"How the heck is bread made, Sarah?! Yeast is a microorganism fungus... Very small mushrooms go into bread to make it fluffy. How do you make fluffy bread? And what about booze?"

"I did not know it was a mushroom responsible for the fluffiness of bread. Bakers and homemakers have done well to master the practice, but more knowledge would be most welcome. They simply keep part of a dough they know to work and add it to the new batch. On the matter of booze, I must admit that I am not well-versed in the art of brewing, I'm afraid."

Oh, so a starter. That's smart. Making alcohol is, at a basic level, very easy and happens on its own with a bunch of fruits, so that's not much of a mystery now that I think about it.

"Kira, I have to ask you. Is the guild an enemy to you?"

Sort of, but not really, I suppose.

"How do you want me to answer that question, Sarah?"

"I wish for the answer to be no, but I fear it might be yes. I fear the Guild is the founder of its own destruction. I fear your growth will continue, and breaking the Guild will become the wise choice for you. I fear you will realize what power you hold and turn it against the people to become a threat like that of the Undead King."

"That sounds like way too much work, Sarah. Be realistic. Tae'liri likes me in a sort of 'Aah! Scary dragon' way, but I don't think she intends to attack me any time soon. So at the very least, not all guild leadership is stupid. But no, the guild is not my enemy. Jerks attacking me are my enemy, especially that undead jerk who keeps going around launching assaults everywhere. How will I build my trade empire to grow my hoard if there aren't any people left to trade with? It's that simple. Lauren is fighting as the champion of Merciferus, Raya wants to stop him from killing people, and I want to grow my hoard and have fun with my friends. Our goals align with the guild."

Sarah seems to accept my answer as she leans back and looks up at Punchy, who smiles down at her before planting a kiss on her forehead. From the looks they exchange, I get the impression that he has been defending me, but she has remained skeptical of my motivations. Which is fair, I guess. From the perspective of the guild, I must have looked quite villainous.

"By the Gods! Is the matter of the Dragon speaking of destroying the Guild in terms of effort, rather than capability, not something we are discussing? Or the bizarre words not of this world? Or the seemingly deep knowledge of how men are made?! Or the interest in plague magic?!"

Moistman has been quite helpful with our watery needs, but I did forget that he's here. His rant picks up speed until a small ball smacks him right in the forehead, causing him to take on a quite confused expression. From the lack of smell, I don't believe it hit hard enough to wound him, but he does look a little confused.

"Be quiet! I'm trying to sleep!"

And the source of the rock has been found! Raya's awake! Her aim is impeccable, but we might have to work on this habit of throwing things. Especially with how accurate she is when targeting my snout.

"Don't worry about it, Moistman. Grab another treat and enjoy the night."

With a side-eye, he does as I suggest, and to his credit, he doesn't smell afraid at all. And his choice is excellent! A drumstick from some sort of bird, coated in spices. This whole night has had such wonderful smells, cooking meat, corpses, and spices.

Lowering my head into the water again creates a wave big enough to wash a few bits off the stovetop rock, and now it's sleepy time! Moistman asks some more questions as I extend a wing to cover us for the night, but I don't want to answer any more questions right now.

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The first miscalculation of the day is the lack of cave, resulting in a ridiculous amount of sunshine right in my face. What happened to the dang fall clouds? And what happened to my extended wing? They were supposed to protect my sensitive eyes from the sun's lack of compassion. Stupid sun...

I must have made my displeasure at the sun's presence known because Raya is climbing my face. With one look at my eyes, her frown turns into a wide smile. The little black and green-scaled goblin seems satisfied with me just being grumpy about waking up because she leaps from my muzzle into the water. It's really not deep enough to dive safely, but she seems to manage.

Looking at the sky, I'd guess it's late morning, leaving plenty of day for us to get into trouble. And our first stop is the guild office. Moving my arm a little, I can tell that Lauren is still sleeping on me, and she has me to block out the mean light. It's tempting to move and dunk her into the water, but I'm gonna be responsible and not-

"You should drop her in the water."

"That's a terrible thought, Raya. She's our friend, and she's sleeping peacefully. We should wake her gently and find some breakfast."

My disapproval of her mischief isn't enough to stop her. Raya swims closer and splashes water onto Lauren, causing the lousy first aid kit to yelp in surprise. With impressive speed, Lauren gets up and jumps from my arm to grapple with Raya. She manages to dunk Raya a few times in a deeper part of the hot tub. Raya may be stronger, but that won't help when she can't reach the bottom!

I don't see Punchy, Sarah, or Moistman anywhere, so they must have gotten up early and left. As I get up, the water I've displaced settles into the hollow I left, dragging Lauren with it. With me out of the way, Raya swims to help Lauren up again, but all that earns her is Lauren dragging her under the water as well. Which is definitely on purpose, given how Lauren cackles like a maniac the moment she breaches the surface.

As I get out of the water and, with their score settled, they join me and head for their discarded clothes.

"Kira! Dry me!"

With her arms spread wide, Raya jumps toward me, landing with her feet spread apart. Focusing on my magic, I pull on it to heat up my breath, but not enough to burn her, of course. By the time I stop, Raya is a dry little goblin with a lot more volume. Geez, we might need a hairbrush to get that under control.

Now it's Lauren's turn! But instead of being receptive, she begins to run away! The audacity!

"Get away from me, you unruly beast! My hair is far too valuable to suffer a fate such as that!"

It's almost unfair how much more ground I can cover compared to her. And she might have a point, Raya's hair is a bit longer than shoulder length, but Lauren's reaches the middle of her back. They're quite similar in texture, though, so the results would likely be the same.

I wonder if anyone in Tuiran would be interested in becoming a hair stylist. I'd quite like to see all sorts of hairstyles around town, even if I don't have any hair myself anymore. Curly red hair was the best.

Running through the grass leaves Lauren growing tired, and I think she might have focused a little more on speed instead of endurance. But even with that, I'm so much larger that she has to take multiple steps for each one of mine. Tiny claws tapping on my tail scales let me know that Raya has joined us, and now she's climbing up my spine. Even tiny Raya is faster than Lauren...

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

With all this running, Lauren has replaced her freshly bathed smell with that of exercise sweat. It's a soft and pleasant smell, but I think it might also indicate that she needs a break. As I slow down even more, so does she, and when I stand still, she turns around to face me.

"Does that mean I win?"

"You win on effort."

"Can I get a ride back? That was far more running than I had expected to do this early."

Lowering my head to the ground, Raya walks onto my muzzle and moves to help Lauren up. As Raya hands her a bundle of clothes, Lauren begins to unwrap it, revealing the Kirarmor hidden within. She's quick to get dressed with Raya's help, and with her clothes on, she climbs my face some more and settles in between my horns, only to flatten herself out on top of my head with an exhausted sigh.

"I ran faster and I'm fine!"

"You're half-Dragon at this point, Raya. It doesn't count..."

"Half-Dragon, half-goblin, all incredible!"

Watching Raya in her Kirarmor flexing at Lauren is fun, and being able to feel Lauren get annoyed by it as she taps her fingers against my scales makes it even better. We can't stand around teasing Lauren all day, though. Turning around and spreading my wings, we take off. From up here, the hot tub looks a lot bigger than it felt when I sat in it, and the rock is still keeping the heat going, and it's tempting to bring it home for a hot tub back in Tuiran. I shouldn't, though. So I'm being generous and not at all lazy when I say that's my gift to the city.

The walls encompassing the noble district still stand as a testament to me not breaking everything. They're made with shaped stone instead of the boulder-based building the rest of the city uses. The ramparts at the top appear to be wide enough to fit four people side-by-side, allowing a lot of movement.

The sight of Lauren's destruction is impressive. The house is now gone and the tunnels underground are collapsing. Whatever magic she cast seems not to be done, as more and more sinkholes appear. An opportunity Raya won't let go.

"Look what you did, Lauren! You broke so many things, and we can't afford to pay for all that destruction!"

She did break so many things. And she's not paying attention to Raya as she inspects the wreck from up here.

"It's growing… The spell hasn't stopped, but it isn't draining my magic. Are you maintaining it, Kira?"

"I am not. But my magic is pretty hungry, and the affront does smell quite good when it rusts, so I get it. That being said, you shouldn't go into unstable tunnels like that. That's just irresponsible."

"They weren't collapsing until I cast that spell!"

"So you admit fault... Tsk tsk, Lauren, tsk tsk..."

In retaliation for my tsks, she drags her nails up the small ridges of one of my horns, creating a very uncomfortable sensation in my skull and making me shiver. It's enough to make me shake my head involuntarily! Dang near dropped Raya, but she was quick to clamp onto my snout.

"I regret doing that..."

"I'm the victim here, Lauren!"

She groans a little about being rattled between my horns and how it hurts, but that's on her. I maintain that I'm the victim because that was a very uncomfortable shiver and she's laughing. I want to know how she thought of doing that, though.

"I get uncomfortable when someone tickles my neck. I thought you might have something similar to it with your horns. You do react when we tap them to get your attention."

"Of course I react. They're attached to my skull. Good job proving your hypothesis, though. You aren't really hurt, are you?"

"No, but I will have bruises..."

That settles that, then. Speaking of hypotheses, the noble district feels odd to me, so, out of curiosity, I push magic into my eyes for that awesome magic vision, and the hole becomes almost invisible. It's oddly uncomfortable to look at. There's practically no magic left in the hole except the burning tendrils of Lauren's spell consuming the vile steel. Both Raya and Lauren pull on my magic and begin watching the ground as we circle above.

"Hypothetically, Lauren. What happens if an area becomes devoid of magic?"

"That would be bad. It is said to have happened on the eastern continent, south of the capital. A lush jungle died to become a desert in a matter of weeks. But that was different. We don't know whether this was caused by the affront or the spell, but my guess would be the affront. It's the hole left behind when you dig out a rock."

That does sound quite bad, but it also sounds like we aren't to blame, so I'll take it. And as I turn off my magic vision, I declare that it's time to leave before we find evidence of this being partially my fault! Onward to the guild office! Following the path from the broken gate takes us in the right direction! And flying was the right choice because the streets are bustling with activity. The ones still intact, anyway.

Colorful carts drawn by horses and lizards fill the space available on the street, with the sidewalks full of folks going about their day. The smells of sweat, activity, and manure fill the area. But not fright! The morning sun makes the brick buildings sparkle as it hits the embedded rocks.

We've reached the guild office, and I need to drop down again. At least this time, the small square outside the guild office has already been softened. As we hover, Raya takes the opportunity to jump over Lauren and run down my spine. As she reaches my tail blade, she uses an upward sway to jump and latch onto a building with her nails before climbing down.

"I have to admit, being able to do that does make it tempting to accept these draconic changes..."

It's barely a whisper from Lauren, so I'm not sure she meant to say it out loud. I'll just pretend I didn't hear it and focus on Raya herding people away from the center of the square. With the area cleared, I'm ready to drop in! Going as vertical as I can with a beat of my wings, I fold them up and drop!

I don't get any complaints from Lauren, so I assume she's okay. And my head is very good at remaining steady in the face of turbulence. Huzzah, long neck! Getting back on track, I step closer to the guild office, so I can gently knock on the door.

The door of the guild is impressive for such a tiny thing, built of sturdy wood with intricate symbols carved throughout it. There's a small tingle of magic coming off it, which I think adds to its durability. Everything in this city is freakin' magical. Except that giant hole in the noble district.

Giving the door a soft knock leads to some commotion behind the wall and moments later, the door swings open with a dozen adventurers coming out to greet us. There's a scent of delicious value following them out, tickling my greed. Focusing instead on the adventurers, the most important part to notice is that they aren't wielding their weapons, so we're definitely making diplomatic progress! In fact, most of them aren't carrying weapons at all, and they're dressed in everyday clothes made of cotton, I think.

Now that we have their attention, I can step back a little and lie down. We'll need to wait for Tae'liri to show up before we can start discussing plans for hiring adventurers and rewarding me for all my work against the undead menace. She hasn't arrived yet, so I'm gonna go ahead and ask about her.

One of the adventurers, a dwarf who smells like dirt, steps forward and looks at me. He's wearing a simple outfit with a linen shirt without sleeves, covered by an impressive beard, along with leather pants and sturdy leather boots for his big feet. Getting my head a little closer, I give him a sniff to get a little more of that delightful dirt smell. He doesn't seem to mind too much, but he does try to shove my head away. I'm way stronger and he will be smelled!

"Stop yer fuckin' smellin'! I ain't a scent-log, ya overgrown beastie!"

"I will not stop my smelling, ya rounded pebble! You smell nice!"

My retort seems to have confused him, since he's no longer trying to push me away. He might be onto something with scent-logs, though. That sounds like an excellent invention. Tapping on my head reminds me of Lauren's presence, and it seems like she'd like to come down. Lifting my head and leaning back, I can feel her take hold of my horn a little further out, and as I lean forward, I lift her up, ready to lower her to the ground.

As her feet touch the ground, she lets go of my horn and pats me a few times with a thank you before joining Raya and wandering... Those jerks! They're leaving me to deal with the adventurers! Dang it! That means I have to talk to strangers... Ugh, fine...

"I need to talk to Tae'liri about hiring adventurers. Could anyone go get her for me?"

"Hirin' us fer what? What sorta business could'ya 'ave fer our kin?"

I explain the plan to build a town for the people of Plainshold, and to their credit, the adventurers seem quite interested in doing just that. There's a few mentions of dragons paying well when we aren't eating folks, since we have a history of being rich, but the thought of giving up my gold annoys me. A few others discuss the location of Plainshold, as they're unsure of it, but the stories of how flammable it was along with where to avoid because of some destructive dragon help pinpoint the location.

I can hear whispers of skepticism from some of the adventurers, which seems fair. Money is a universal language, though, and hopefully I can get some sort of discount by leveraging how much good I've done for them lately. There's no way they'd bring up collateral damage that happened at the same time.

"But so much destruction has been caused. Didn't you hear about-"

"Shut yer gob, boy. Don't go throwin' the forged steel out 'cause y'got a chip in yer anvil."

"I don't know what that means..."

Neither do I, but it sounds like the dwarf is defending me, so I'll take it. Returning to the subject at hand, I throw the dwarf a question about how much I'd need to pay the adventurers. I don't know anything about the going rates of hiring people around here, especially not when the location is quite far away. These earthbound folks can't just fly over a mountain like I can. Poor things.

My question has him grumbling to himself as he chews on something stinky. His thinking intensifies as he starts stroking his beard and frowning. His arms seem to have five tan lines each, indicating that he used to have something like several rings around his arms.

"Two silver eight a day fer lablads, five silver ten fer craftskills. Gon' need gatherfolk 'swell, five silver ten fer 'em. Y'want ta limit hires, or y'good ta open hire?"

"A good question, but first, what the heck does lablads mean?"

"Laborer. Folks t'carry goods fer construction. Craftskills mean carpenters, masons, what'ave'ya. Gatherfolk're lumberjacks, brickworkers, millworkers. Two silver eight's two silver coins an' eighty copper coins."

Just needed the lablads explained, but I appreciate the consideration. The prices he listed don't sound like a lot, but it's per day, so if we have forty of each, that's like... That's over five gold a day! Geez, that's expensive...

"Calm yerselves! Are ya with th'guild or are ya commoners?! A little snarlin' don't mean she fixin' t'attack."

I may have startled a few of the adventurers by calculating how much this dang project would cost me...

"Are you sure it's that expensive, or are you trying to fleece me?"

"Bah! I'd rather take me chance untanglin' Irathmar's assbeard than piss in a dragon's porridge."

Well, I'd certainly appreciate unpissed porridge... Geez, that was the easiest time I've had understanding him and he had to say that... Pushing that mental image out of my head, I focus on the topic of hiring adventurers again. I'm not sure leaving the invite open is a smart idea. I have no idea how much gold I have, and while I'm sure I'm rich, I would prefer to stay rich. Wait...

"Does the daily cost include travel time? It's a long way, and I'd rather not spend a fortune on people dilly-dallying on their way there."

"Ain't 'ow we do it in th'Guild. Y'need a new vein? Grab a merchant t'escort. Keeps the tradin' folk safe and guildies travelin'."

Oh, that sounds reasonable. Much more reasonable than the exorbitant price of hiring these people.

"Lauren. Is five silver ten a fair price for hiring a person to help rebuild Plainshold? This dwarf says it is, but I have no frame of reference."

"It's a little steep, and for a building contract, it would be per day. So he might be looking out for both parties, and it will get people moving faster, along with more skilled people becoming interested. So it's not a bad deal."

I already knew the per day part, but I appreciate that she makes sure I do. Nevertheless, it does sound like there's no piss in my porridge. Now I just need-

"Branchie Tae's got a chest'o'gold fer yer. All them dead fucks're payin' good. She ain't 'round, but could bring it out fer yer."

"Ooh, yeah, bring it! Oh wait, no. If I have to pay with it, I'll get all grumpy giving it up. Wait! No! I want it. Gimme! No, don't. I'll be growling all day about it if I see it... Is it a lot? Don't tell me, I don't want to know... But I do want to know! Tell me, you bastard! Stop keeping my gold from me! Dang it, I need to calm down... Deep breaths, Kira. Okay. I'm good. Don't bring the gold out, because I will get angry at having to give it up. Set it aside for paying for the mission and I'll go do something else. We're rebuilding Plainshold!"

"Yer'a strange one..."

"And now I'm off to kidnap Foreman."

"Yer what?!"

Ignoring whatever outburst came from the dwarf, I head toward the crafting district. Nudging a nearby passerby who is definitely not frightened by the giant dragonhead approaching, I ask for directions, and it turns out I am headed toward the crafting district. Turns out I chose wisely, and the random citizen is willing to not only give me directions, but they even help me find streets I fit through.

I appreciate the flower beds keeping the streets scented, but they aren't doing enough to keep the smell of manure down in the sunshine. There's a continuous stream of hands reaching out to touch me as I step over carriages and foot traffic, and, aside from a waft here and there, people don't seem afraid of me at all.

"Instead of touching me all the time, go to the big square and we can do a thing before I leave."

I'm not sure what thing I have planned, but the promise of a thing creates quite the buzz as people begin streaming in the same direction. And just like that, I have created a roadblock for myself. Good job, Kira. I can either stand and wait for the herd to thin out, or risk stepping on someone. And I don't think anyone here deserves to be stepped on.

At least it gives me a chance to listen to that repetitive birdsong again. It really is just the same tones being repeated like some sort of signal. Nudging my guide in the ocean of people, I ask the little fella to whistle the tones, which has the result of making him quite nervous, which in turn makes me suspicious...

With my stare focused on the rascal, the jerk ducks into the crowd and disappears! Dang it! I can't follow through those people! That's definitely suspicious!

"Lauren! I found something suspicious! Someone refused to whistle the birdsong and then disappeared!"

"Well done, Kira! You've discovered the thieves!"

That needs a little more explaining than Lauren is offering... Mentally prodding her about it leads to her telling me about how the guild employs thieves to help keep crime down and create an information network. Dang it... I thought I discovered a fun mystery, and then it turns out to be something well-known, but not talked about...

Her explanation continues as she brings up how the thieves train to disarm traps and whatnot, and that's a huge benefit to the guild. Especially when they can decline less savory missions and pass them on to the underbelly instead. At least it sounds like they're in a symbiotic relationship and people aren't suffering because of it.

"Wait, is that why people giving me magic felt safe passing out in the middle of the street?"

"They're called thieves, but their organization is stricter than the Guild. If you break the Guild's rules, you get kicked out, if you break the thieves' rules, you lose fingers."

They sound like a mean bunch. Hopefully, they have reasonable rules. Looking ahead of me, since I can't turn my head without slamming my snout or horns into a building, I notice the dwindling number of people. Most seem to have moved on, and the carriages are disappearing as well, leaving a lovely and empty street for me to walk.

A few stragglers help guide me, and we cover the last distance in short order. With the square coming into view, the main thing standing out is a very large number of people. Geez, where did they all come from? The city, obviously, but that's a lot of people...

Nevertheless, I said I'd do a thing. I can't take them all flying, so I'm gonna do the opposite! Plopping down on the ground and letting the kids use my wings as slides! Finding a good spot for myself, I do just that. The people under me scramble to move as I lower my body, making sure to do so slowly so they have a chance to get away. Spreading my wings to their fullest covers the area under them in darkness and lowering them enough for the tips to touch the ground. It feels a little awkward, but it's working, I think.

Instead of spending time explaining everything, I grab a nearby person with my tongue and put them on my wing's elbow and nudge him, causing him to slide down my membrane. His first response was fright, but the slide changed that to joyful laughter. He hasn't complained about slamming into the ground or falling the last distance, so I'm confident I did it correctly.

Nodding toward a carriage, a few folks catch on, bringing it over and gathering crates as well to build a scaffolding of sorts to climb onto my wing. The first person to reach my elbow wastes no time before sliding down, and soon enough, it becomes a stream of people running around me. My wings might be longer than my body, geez. They're huge. And impressive.