Chapter 22

I had been flying for a few hours, going west. We had stopped at Xyon's house to get his belongings, but left swiftly when we discovered even more dragons at that forest. They were leaving the humans alone, but it had looked like the entire army of that tribe had come. Just how serious is this situation? It won't do much good thinking about it, not now, not when I'm not going to return for a long time. He only grabbed about two bags of things, but I can still feel the extra weight as stress on my wings. "I can already feel the air getting warmer...but are you sure it's a good idea to go inland? There are towns and villages this way, far more than in the north."

"It's fine...I'll get by somehow." Maybe.

"How? You're exhausted...does this weigh too much for you?" I appreciate his consideration, but I don't want to worry about it. Going to warmer climates is the safest bet I have right now. The water tribe is after me and knows what I look like, so I don't necessarily possess much choice here. I need to keep flying until my wings feel like they'll fall off, then keep on until they do. "Zavi. Land. Right now." I spared a glance for him at his tone. "Do it yourself or I'll jump off and drag you down with me."

"How could you possibly--"

"You're weak right now. It'd be a piece of cake. Especially with these." I looked back at him to find out what 'these' are. He held up his hands, dark magic swirling around them. When the black mist disappeared, what I saw sent a jolt through my whole length. Starting halfway between his elbow and wrist, black scales spread down to his hands. There, replacing his fingernails, he possessed obsidian talons that gleamed menacingly in the sunlight. That's...dragon paws! How?! When?! He wiggled his fingers at me with a grin. "I do believe these would be sharp enough to go through your scales, right? Fascinating." There were two scales beneath each of his eyes and his teeth had sharpened slightly. Amazing! This is insane! He took me seriously!

"When did you…?"

"When you left me at my house...when you fell asleep...after I fell off of you...and just now." He blinked at me and closed his eyes. His dark magic whirled around him and he bit his lip. Does it hurt? The scales spread further up his arms, reaching his shoulders. When he reopened his eyes, they were slit, but maintained their icy blue color...although, they look a bit more like gemstones, the same as every other dragon. Flawless so far. I gazed into those eyes and didn't want to look away from the gentleness I found within. "What do you think?" I snapped out of the trance and smiled.

"Cool. Is that as far as you can go?" I glanced at his feet to see they had become changed up to his knees. He's really putting in a lot of effort.

"I managed to get a tail when struggling...I'll try more." He resumed practicing, and, just as he'd said, his wolf tail morphed into a scaly dragon tail. More than that, there were scales coming up his neck to underneath his chin and the number under his eyes had turned to five. The eyes themselves had become even more crystalline too. "How's that?" His face was pale and he didn't seem to be feeling well. What if I filter magic into him?

"Great...I'm going to experiment with something. Please allow my mana to bond with yours temporarily." He nodded, breathing too hard to speak anymore. When I sent it through contact, I was surprised at how easily it bonded with his. Because of his dragon form? Most likely. As I sent him my mana, his complexion slowly got better. "Try again." His magic went through some sort of shift and my wings hitched when he sprouted wings of his own! And long straight horns parallel either side of his head.

"Wha?!" He stared wide-eyed at his back. I smirked, about to pick on him, when he flared those pitch black wings experimentally. He was instantly yanked off my back, flailing in panic after his blunder. Why?! There's no way he's that stupid! I whipped around, grabbing hold of him with my front right paw.

"Xyon! You idiot! You can't just open your wings like that!"

"Ugh...yeah...I kinda figured that one out…"

I gently lifted him up to my back. "Don't do that again. Still going west, right?"

"Well...don't see why not. It's our best bet." I turned back around and continued on. The wind blew from behind me, making it slightly difficult to adjust properly. A good headwind would be better. His magic evaporated and he looked like a normal beastkin again. Lasted longer than I thought it would, but that must've been only because of the magic I fed to him. "Now, find somewhere to land. I almost forgot about it, but I won't let you off this time. Go down. Now." I growled but did as he said, folding in the outer wing struts to descend. I don't feel like diving. He fussed with his bags as I set down gently in a field. Hm? This looks like wheat...a farm? I examined the area while he finished up. Sure enough, I could see a barn and farmhouse not too far away from us. I can already hear chickens and cows...what else do they have? "You know...it's hot this far out. I don't think this form is very helpful here." He switched back to his human self, sliding down my leg. "What are you looking at?"

"A house. This is a farm. It wouldn't be a good idea for me to go ask them anything, so I'll leave this up to you. Think you can get me some food?"

"Us. You're not the only one who's hungry."

"No, but I am the only one who's flying. My exhaustion trumps yours." He laughed liltingly.

Genuflecting, he said, "As you wish, your majesty."

With a smirk, I replied, "Go, slave, before I have to chew on your worthless hide."

He kicked my leg. "Ouch!" After his cry, he began hopping around on one foot.

"That doesn't look like it felt very good. Maybe you shouldn't hit a dragon's scales when your only protection is a boot." I helped him with healing magic anyway, feeling guilty. "Better?"

"Yes. Thank you. I'll be off then!" He walked away slightly moodily. He'll get over it soon enough. I sighed, laying down and curling up, trying to use the wheat to hide better. I listened closely when I heard Xyon knock on the door with a tap-tap-tap. The door creaked open seconds later.

The voice of an old lady said, "Yes? Who is it?"

"Excuse the intrusion, ma'am. I'm Senra Xyon and I was wondering if you had some food…?" He sounds so scared...at least he's managing to keep the stutter out, if barely.

"Food? Of course, of course. Is there anyone with you?" I tensed. Please don't outright tell them you're traveling with a dragon…

"Yes. My friend Zavi. She's waiting for me elsewhere...I didn't want to risk any danger, so I told her to wait." He never said danger to me, just danger in general…does he think I would hurt them? Hah, only if they attacked first.

"Ah, what a brave young man. Come in, come in. I'll get you something to eat." I crawled closer when the door shut. It's clear these forests aren't entirely safe. There's bound to be something dangerous that attacks when you least expect it. I could hear her introducing him to others in there. Most of them sound younger...a family group? He's fine at the moment, but I won't put down my guard because of that. I don't know what dangers there are out here, or if I can actually fight them well. This went on for another eight minutes. How long is this going to take? Okay, I get it, being accepted by the people in there must feel amazing, but I'm waiting for him! Seeing as I was growing impatient, I stopped caring about my surroundings entirely at some point. That may have been one of my most stupid moves that day. Something prodded my ribs and I turned sharply to find a teen just barely younger than me. He gaped at me, but was too scared to make sound or even run away. Yep, people are way more frightened by dragons than Xyon or those adventurers I met. How do I fix this? Is it even possible to fix? I abandoned trying to hide and sat up, facing the kid and tilting my head.

In a quiet voice, I asked, "Is this where you live?" He gave me a tiny nod. "It's lovely here. Please don't mind me. I'm just waiting for my friend to come back." I did my best to smile without fangs. If they don't know me, then that smile is one full of death to them. "He was invited inside your house a bit ago and hasn't come back out yet."

"S-Senra?" Ah, he knows him. How did I not see him leave the house?

"Yes." Keep him calm and it will be fine. If he yells or screams, even cries, then I'm in trouble. His eyes were on my sharp talons when I shuffled around. "Do I scare you?" I already know that answer. I lifted my paw carefully and sheathed my talons where he could see. "Want to touch me? I promise I won't hurt you." He stared at my opal scales and seemed to unconsciously be raising his hands. He's holding a spear...is that what prodded me? Not like it did any damage though. I carefully moved my paw closer to him to let him touch me. His tiny hands were calloused from working in the fields every day, but still felt like those of a child. I gazed at him with a gentle expression, the awe on his face entertaining. Dragons seem to be a symbol of fear, so touching one has got to be incredible. I'm perfectly fine with it, so I don't see why not. That's probably only because I have a human's experience in life, but still. He looked up and saw the bags tied to my spine-spikes.

"Does he sit on your back?"

"Yes." He's very curious. I have to warn him before he starts trusting other dragons. "You need to understand that I might be kind to you, but that doesn't mean the other dragons will be. Never forget that."

"Okay." He traced a scale with his finger. "You're very nice. Are you Zavi?"

"Yep, that's my name. Say, would you mind running inside and telling...Senra...to hurry up?" I prefer the name Xyon, but both are still amazing.

"Sure!" He hopped up and down then ran off. If he says I'm a dragon...great, now I'm making even more mistakes. Is he thirteen? Twelve? Either one, it doesn't really matter. Worried, I settled down even lower than I had last time, practically praying that this didn't turn into a fight. It wouldn't be much of a fight for me or Xyon, but the farmers could get hurt. Despite what I thought would happen, there was a short goodbye and he walked out carrying three huge bags of food. Two were full of meat and the other with bread and vegetables.

"Zavi?" He kept walking but clearly couldn't tell where I was. I slid my tail closer and wrapped it around his leg before yanking him to me, "Awah!" catching him in my front paws. "Why?!" I couldn't help but laugh at his startled expression.

"You looked so confused! I was just helping!"

"No! That was not helping!" Hah, his face is red! Embarrassment for sure! With a flick of my wings, I flipped into the air and went between the trees. "Woah! Careful! I'm not armoured!"

"Relax. You're fine. So, what'd you get me?!"

He eyed me for a minute, then presented the bags to me. "Chicken, beef, and mutton." He shoved the meat-filled ones closer to my face and pointed at the last one. "Carrots, bread, potatoes…" He opened it and rummaged around. "Onions, garlic, lettuce, cucumbers, and zucchini. Geez, just how much land do they own?!" That was a long list, but a delicious one! All of those can be used to cook fantastic dishes! I would know, since I used to do it all the time--I did? A hint to my past showed up at the oddest of times. When did I learn to cook? "You know, the most surprising thing is how green everything is. The only things that are white are plants and the clouds. It's amazing! So many colors!" His amazement startled me out of my thoughts. Ah...that's right. I've seen this in my past life, but he never has. It's all new to him.

"You're right." I gave him a smile, understanding his reaction perfectly. "So, are we going to eat?"

"Ah, I forgot. Here, let me get you some meat." My confusion must have been written all over my face, as he asked, "What? Something wrong?"

Bare? "You're not going to cook anything? Just eat it all separately?"

"Well, yeah. Onion and garlic are hard to chew through...but isn't it normal?" I was appalled by this discovery. Does this world not know about mixing them?! They're able to make bread, but haven't put it all together?!

"Has no-one taught you otherwise?"

"No...my mother and father did the same, so did the villagers. What's wrong with it?"

"Try putting some of it together! I must teach you."

"Huh? Teach me wha--aaaah!" I set him down abruptly, moving away just enough to give him space. 

"Take out some beef, onions, and garlic. This will be a simple lesson." He was obviously wondering why I had suddenly gone insane, but he did so anyway. I cut a neat slice out of a hunk of beef he offered, ending up with a raw steak. "The rest. Hand it here." I carefully cut thin strips of onion and lay them over the meat, then ground down a tiny chunk of garlic to sprinkle it on top. This is hard to do without a table or human-sized hands. I have four fingers and a thumb all placed correctly, they're just the wrong size. I'm actually having to use my left paw as a table and I'm not sure if that's a good idea. I blew a tiny stream of fire on it, making sure to keep it from being uneven, then flipped it over to do exactly the same to the other side. When I was done, I so badly wanted to eat it myself, but the portion was small and better suited for Xyon. I'll find another time to eat something like this. Took too much time to do. I held it out to him with a grin. "Well? Gonna try it?"

"Seriously? It smells good, but you put so much on it...are you sure mixing all that will be okay?"

"Yeah. Here…" I cut a few slices off with a few deft swipes of my talons. "Try it for me." He hesitated, but grabbed a piece and ate it.

His face lit up immediately. "Wow! So cool!" Sure...I hope I get to have something like this eventually. Besides that, when did I learn to do this? It all felt so natural, as if I'd done it a thousand times. I cut the rest for him and watched our surroundings as he ate. I need to be far more careful than I was earlier, no matter how tired or bored I am. After he'd cleaned away the steak, I licked my paw to discover just how yummy it had been. Woah! Come on, when did I learn this?! How?! With so little to work with, I made something fantastic!

"Full?"

"Yep! Thank you, Zavi! I really liked it!"

"You're welcome. By the way, you'll have to make it yourself next time. I'm not making it for you again--it was too hard. My paws are too big."

"Ack! I'll never be able to do that!"

"You'd be surprised. Anyway, give me what's left of that garlic piece, the onion, and the beef I cut into." He handed it over and I skipped cooking, just dumped it all in my mouth. The flavors won't combine like when cooked, but it still tastes better. I should've cooked that meat first though. "I want to keep going. It's still cold enough here for them to approach. We need to get to higher climates."

"Are you kidding? It's really warm here."

"No, it's just warmer than the north you lived in. The water tribe can go incredibly far into this heat but have to stop by the time they get completely inland. My father made sure I understood the weaknesses of every dragon tribe. He said it would be very important."

"Well, it's certainly paying off now." He reluctantly climbed onto my back with the food, tying it all together to ensure we wouldn't lose any of it. I think I could've gone hunting, but I don't know what lives here, not in this world. I'm not sure how similar the two worlds are, so I'd like to refrain from certain things for a while.

"Definitely. Ready to set off?"

"...Yes. I'd rather you didn't, Zavi." The concern in his eyes made me hesitate.

Eventually, I said, "Fine, I get it. I'll walk, but you should stay on. When I'm unconscious, you're the one who will have to work. Leave the travel to me." I'm going to pass out. It's no longer a debate, it's a reality. I can feel it creeping up on me and turning the corners of my vision black...I have to go just a bit further. Not ready to give up, I ignored the warnings and went on, forcing my mind to keep thinking and my body to move. There's a good distance I need to cover. I'll get there at some point. The exhaustion began to warp my mind and draw on painful memories. I felt like I was running from danger as well as trying to save a life.

After an immeasurable amount of time, I felt Xyon kick me angrily. "Zavi!" Even his tone betrayed his barely contained rage. "You will stop here, right now!" Agitated, I reflexively snapped at him in response. "Hey!" He easily dodged me and stood up. "Don't hurt yourself!" What's he trying to do? I'm not sure anymore...all I know is how much I want to keep going. I panicked when black tentacles made of magic wrapped around my snout, looping around the back of my head and under my chin. What is this?! "Zavi? Is your mind even okay?" His voice was far calmer, but only served to startle me more. The vine-like magic tightened and suddenly forced me down. The moment my head touched the ground, I forgot my mission to continue and went limp. "Uh...are you...tame...now?" He sounded so uncertain, but I had already begun to slip into my dreams.