Chapter 30: Brawl won't work

Rowan POV:

The ducklings let Basil and I take the lead. It is obvious that they were considering running away. If I were their age, fresh out of the academy, I would have run from a dragon as well. Still, even a pebble could topple down a house, depending on what sort of pebble it was.

"Dragons breathe fire thanks to a special gland in their maws," I wanted them to figure it out by themselves. Lars was a healer, Jean a nature spirit. The good parenting practices, demanded that I gave my ducklings a chance to use their gray matter. "Their bodies are covered in scales, which can't be broken, not even after their deaths."

"And they are mostly mountains of muscle, kiddos. One must never forget that," Basil, on the other hand, was having the time of his life. A dragon was nothing for him, to be sure. He might even find the power of the dragon funny. Still, Basil and I couldn't remain with the ducklings forever. We still had a job to do. They had to learn to fend for themselves.

"This gland... is it protected somehow?" Ah, Lars was beginning to figure it out. As expected from a healer.

"Well, the research is not clear. There are about 1,000 or more dragon species. But, for the most part, there is a rule to these things. If the dragon is bigger than a mountain, then the gland is protected," the steps behind us quieted, and soon I heard as Lars started rummaging in his backpack.

"Here it is written, that the dragon is about ten meters high. Rowan, is that enough to qualify as a mountain?" He sounded hopeful and unsure. If I could have had children, which I couldn't because of the witch, and because of the fact I loved Basil, who lacked the proper equipment, then I would have wanted that the children were like the ducklings.

"No, that is just a rank D dragon," which sounded a bit of like a joke. Dragons, even the hatchlings, were too dangerous to be put in ranks. The person who came up with them really needed to be hit over the head with a chair a couple of times.

More than one new party had used the rank system to gain false confidence. Only to end up medium rare.

"Basil, don't use the ranking system. You know as well as I that it is a complete piece of garbage," honestly, Basil should have known better. He snorted.

"Look, kiddos. If there is one thing you can do to a dragon, then it is to poison it!" Basil clapped his hands together, then laughed loudly. "We are in a forest. Look around. We are bound to find something in here!"

Lars looked around, then scratched himself behind the head.

"I... I can't mix poisons. I just grow the herbs," which was understandable. It was one thing to heal yourself after handling a poisonous plant. But to have to take the risk to inhale poisonous fumes? No, it was smart of Lars to not dabble.

"But..." He looked at Nate thoughtfully. Surely, he wouldn't ask it of him, would he? "Nate, may I have a couple of drops from your blood?"

Oh, he did ask it of him. Well, shit.

"Why?" And it seemed that Nate was not ready to trust Lars to the point of allowing something like that. For a demon, blood was sacred. One could enslave the demon with it, kill him from a safe distance. No, Nate would not agree just because Lars batted his eyelashes.

"So, I can get more mana. I swear, I will not bind you to me or anything. It is just that... I know that I can force the dragon to get a heart attack. From far away as well. The thing is, that I don't have enough mana," which was actually smarter than the idea that played itself in my mind. The dragon would surely die, quickly, without suffering too much.

It was not the worst thing one could do to a living being. After all, if we hacked at a creature which was about as smart as a dog, it will be in more pain than it deserved to be.

It was not like the dragon killed and burned because it was fun. It was defending itself. Just like all wild animals had the right to.

"I... and you are sure it can work?" I blinked. Was Nate about to agree? 

"Yes! I mean, I will need to go near the dragon, but I think that I won't get noticed. I have runes on my boots, which silence me. You know, since my steps are normally so loud. What with me being fat and all," those costed a fortune. Basil's boots could have used such a rune. What with him always making sure he had iron on the soles.

Not because he needed that to be deadly, but because he liked it when his shoes were heavy. To each his own.

"And you promise you won't bind me to you?" I didn't know it back then, but right at that moment I was seeing the beginning of a partnership. Something that will be the stuff of legends. Something that would put Nate in a different light in the eyes of the people of Lergo.

For if a demon was ready to put his life at risk for mortals, then he couldn't be all bad, now, could he?

"We can seal it with a hug," Lars made a couple of unsteady steps towards Nate, then smiled. "And you can drink from my blood. I don't mind."

Did he know what he was offering?

"Really?" Nate knew what he could get. His smile was blinding. My ducklings were getting married in the middle of nowhere, during a warm and sunny April day. The blooms on the trees their wedding bouquet, their party members their witnesses.

No priest in sight, no one to scorn them. 

It was heartwarming, I kept silent. Lars will figure it out some day. But honestly, that was something that only Nate had a right to tell him. 

I hastily brushed a tear from my left eye. God, darn it, Basil was not going to let me forget that I really behaved like the mother of the party at that moment.