39 - Taming Heedy
[Blink] took Arielle away in the nick of time, even though some of the fire touched the hem of her robe, singeing it.
She took care of it with the [Revertus] spell, but she didn’t have time to do much else as the dragon reared its head and sent another blast of fire her way.
This time, it hit the rock ledge and created a mushroom cloud that invaded her lungs.
The smoke blinded her for a few seconds.
She coughed and swept back again for the third time, adding an extra Calor chain with a Massa stabilizer to the end of [Blink], boosting her speed as she avoided the blast.
It made the spell more unstable, but she could handle it. She just needed to be fast enough to escape.
Unfortunately, the dragon was still much faster.
It had wings on its back, but to her surprise, it didn’t take to the skies. Instead, it chased her, its large body not making much of a sound as though it were merely tiptoing rather than rampaging through the forest.
She wasn’t going to outrun it in enough time, even with [Blink].
Then she remembered another spell she had. [Levitiate].
[Levitate] was a Calor and Massa heavy spell, typically reserved for raising objects. It worked kind of like [Telekinesis], with the only difference being that Telekinesis had less Calor and had a Luxa circle attached. Oh, and it was an instantaneous spell, while [Levitate] was an extended, gradual release spell that she could hold indefinitely.
Instead of targeting an object with the spell, she would target herself. She also added the Luxa as she went, and replaced some Massa with Vacu to boost power and eliminate drag simultaneously.
She'd never actually done the spell before, and so she was running calculations in real time. If she were wrong, the blowback would be painful. However, if she didn’t do anything, she would remain on the ground, and the dragon would eventually crush her with its large, clawed feet. She ran for her life, imagining the structure right as the dragon sent another gust of fire her way.
She blocked it with a [Rock Shield] right behind her, then finally boosted herself up in the air with [Levitate] and gave herself another [Blink] to blitz her away.
She'd just used three spells almost simultaneously.
Despite the danger of the moment, it was exhilarating to achieve that, and what was even better was that it had been so easy for her to use the essences in the atmosphere. She didn't have to mentally count how many she had left with her EPUQ or worry about it affecting her quota.
She could finally be free and use as many essences as she wanted.
It felt incredible.
Now, how to defeat a dragon.
Well, for one, they were immortal, which of course didn't mean that they couldn't die. It meant that they would never die of old age or disease, but with great effort and difficulty, they could be killed.
Arielle ran through her list of things that could kill a dragon. A spear through the heart? A sword through the belly?
She had neither, so she had to improvise and use the things she did have. None of the branches looked like they werestrong enough to pierce through the dragon's scaly skin.
Not that the dragon was blindly barrelling into them. In fact, it seemed to avoid them, ducking under, going through great trouble to keep from snapping them with the force of its movement. Interesting.
Then she had an idea.
The lake and the rocky edge.
Perhaps she could use the water to douse the dragon's fire.
Then she could cast a spell to drive the dragon into the wall to knock it out.
She just hoped it worked, because if not, the dragon was going to be extremely angry.
As another gust of fire came at her, she switched her trajectory mid-air, just in time to see the trees catch fire. The fire was instantly extinguished, and once again, Arielle was curious about why while she sped to her destination.
The wind slapped at her face as she shot through the trees, a mad giggle tearing out of her mouth. She hadn’t expected flying to feel this exhilarating, especially when she was in danger.
She held out her hand to put a stop to her flight, wobbling a little before she spun around to see the dragon running afterher.
It stared at her with its sharp teeth bared, and she assumed that was the look of unrestrained envy.
“You can’t come up here, can you?” she asked. Well, mocked more like. She just noticed how small the dragon’s wings were in comparison to its body, and when they spread out, its flapping seemed almost experimental.
It must be a young dragon, likely not even a hundred years old. It probably couldn't even fly yet.
At least that was what she thought, before it began to flap its wings, steadier, faster.
Slowly, it began to lift into the air. Its assent was clumsy, even clumsier than Ari’s, but that wasn’t important. What was important was that the dragon had just eliminated the one advantage she had.
What if it could fly faster than her?
She didn't wait to find out.
She flew away as she calculated her next move. As the dragon came close to her, opening its mouth once more, she turned around and used [Whirlpool].
The Calor particles dove into the water, Massa binding, Luxa offering direction for a controlled spin that she directed and splashed right into the dragon's flames, and its mouth, causing it to sniff and snort the water, which had also gotten into its nose.
The dragon gave a loud wail, which might have alerted others, and Arielle figured it was probably a good idea to get out of the sky.
She dove back toward the ground right by the dragon, who seemed to sense her descent.
It was also perfectly situated now, against the escarpment.
This next part would be easy enough.
She waited until the dragon had descended somewhat, and she hoped that she wouldn’t get in trouble for what she was about to do next.
How would you get in trouble? No one can see you.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit NovelFire for the authentic version.
Fair point. So she pointed at the dragon, straight into its chest, and said "[Mass Anchor]. [Repel]."
That took a lot more focus than repelling Percy Strauss had taken.
The wind rushed around her, the sheer force throwing her back so hard she nearly hit a tree.
Okay.
The dragon was much heavier than she was, so she had to balance the weight. Good to know.
The dragon flew at her, and she swerved, flying towards the rocky ridge again, running the calculations in her mind.
Maybe she could try another way to slow the dragon down. Dragons did not have a lot of weaknesses, but an idea did occur to her.
When it tried to breathe fire at her once more, she said, "[Revertus]."
The fire swept back into its throat.
The dragon crashed to the ground, coughing.
She flew around it and planned her next move.
This was more work than she thought it would be. At the same time, she was enjoying herself. It was nice to get real-world practice with the spells she knew and cast them without cost.
It was quite fun, actually.
Though she understood that she could take care of this quickly and finish the rest of her quest, she still slowed and waited to see if it would get up.
If it did, what would she do? Try [Repel] again? If she could recruit more essences and maybe add some Vacu to eliminate weight, she could send it into the rock face.
The dragon also seemed to be sensitive about trees, just the way elves were. She could use that somehow.
As the dragon tried to move again, Arielle thought about whether [Cross Dissolve] would be able to cut through its scaly body.
Then she saw something glinting from its neck.
At first, she thought it was a jewel that had gotten trapped on its body.
But then she realized it was attached to a silky ribbon, not unlike the fabric Prince Aerendyl had been wearing.
Suspicion colored her mind as she drifted closer, having her blockade ready in case of another fire attack. The dragon seemed to be tired of fighting, yawning now as she read the name on its collar.
“Heedy?” she asked, and its head reared towards her, but not in attack. It cocked its head as though curious.
Arielle gaped.
This was the poor, soft-hearted pet that had been frightened by a falcon? It had the yellow eyes and the scaly body that was turning red now that it no longer needed to camouflage itself.
But Ari had been expecting something like a cat or a cute marsupial. Or a lizars. Not a whole baby dragon.
“You’re Heedy?” she said, and once again, its head tilted the opposite way in response. It recognized its name but couldn'tunderstand what she was saying.
Well, on the bright side, she had found the pet.
On the not-so-bright side, she was pretty sure she’d caused enough of a ruckus to call the Elf King’s attention here. Andwhether or not he would kill her for his transgressions remained to be seen.
Though she was done with her mission, her quest menu was still active, the timer counting down. Which meant that she had to take Heedy back to the meadow, but what if she encountered the King's men while there? Or should she just wait at the edge of the forest?
She wished the prince had been clearer about that.
If she indeed had to take Heedy back to the meadow, how would she convince it to go with her?
It wasn't like she could talk to the dragon, could she?
Unless....
The Elven Prince said that his universal translation was an attribute, not a spell. But there was a translation spell she could use.
She didn't know if it would work for dragons.
"[Quick Translate]."
In real time, she added a two-way Luxa-focused seven-pointed star that would better illuminate the inner workings of the dragon's mind and enable the dragon to understand her somewhat.
"Heedy, Hungry."
"Oh." Arielle noticed that in her haste to flee, she hadn't dropped the fish. Instead, she had somehow stuffed it in her pocket.
She pulled out the slimy, soggy thing now and tossed it at the dragon.
Its jaw snapped over it instantly, and it licked its lips.
"Fish, tasty."
“I'm glad you enjoyed it, Heedy," Arielle smiled, pleased.
"Human, tasty."
Arielle stiffened. "Well, I wouldn't know. And you will likely not find out today."
"Human. Tasty."
It bared its teeth and snapped at her, but she gave it a warning tap on its nose with a branch.
That was enough to calm it down.
"Come," she said as she began to walk with it to the edge of the forest. To her surprise, Heedy followed her obediently. Every now and then, she would curl her head towards Arielle and say, "Heedy. Want. Touch."
Arielle would then pet her nose, and Heedy would respond with a sigh, smoke curling out of her nostrils.
Now that she wasn't baring her teeth at her, she was quite adorable. Arielle stopped along the way to retrieve some more gold from the ground, and she saw a teardrop-shaped crystal as well. That might be extremely valuable on Earth. Sheadded it to her inventory.
As they reached the edge of the forest, she saw two elves approaching her.
Prince Aerendyll and a taller, more aesthetic version of him, with extremely symmetrical features.
She stiffened as their bubbles popped and they landed on the ground.
Both jerked to a stop, reacting in surprise for some reason.
The older prince frowned at her. Arielle resisted the urge to introduce herself.
"You told me she was human," he said.
"She is. This is a disguise," Prince Aerendyl said. "And look, she is alive. She is not dead like you said she would be."
"Yes, I'm shocked by that as well. I can't believe a human, a tiny one at that, tamed Heedy."
"I told you she was skilled."
"Yes, but it doesn't detract from the fact that you brought a human to Elfheim."
“Because the spell you gave me didn’t work.”
“It would have worked if you’d done it correctly. By Orpheus's beak, what is a human doing here? Father will tan your hide for this."
“Not if you don't tell him.”
“Now you hope to rope me into your deceit?"
"There is honor amongst thieves," Arielle told them. It had not worked out for her, but How to Charm Kings hadtold her that for a fact.
They both glanced at her, then decided to ignore her.
“You are very lucky she has not been eaten by Heedy. Then we would have an interdimensional incident on our hands. Though it looks like she managed to tame Heedy relatively quickly." A glint of amazement appeared in his eyes, and he gave an almost approving nod. "You must be very skilled for a human mage. She did not hurt you, did she?"
The question was directed at her. Arielle shook her head.
"Did you hurt her?"
Arielle responded, "Define hurt."
That led the older elf to blink in shock and glare at the younger one again.
"She wasn’t supposed to fight it, just to fetch it," Prince Aerendyl said.
“You sent a human to fetch a dragon. Do you know how stupid that is?”
“How would I know? I’ve never met a human before.”
"And if father finds out what you’ve done, you'll never meet a human again. Or any other creature because you will be confined to your domicile till the turn of the century.”
"Ehem." Arielle cleared her throat. "I do not want to interrupt, but my menu suggests that my quest is complete, and I would like to go home now."
The anger released its hold on the older elf as he gave her a considering look.
“How exactly did you capture it, human?” he asked. “My brother says you are merely an apprentice mage, and you look young and not experienced.”
"I’m fifteen.”
“Forgive me,” he said. "I’m not good with human ages. Is that a toddler or an elderly person?”
“Somewhere in between."
"Yet you managed to subdue a dragon."
"Yes."
"That's...odd."
Arielle shrugged. "I receive that comment a lot."
The older elf was silent for some time, his gaze analyzing her. "What is your name?"
"Arielle Blacksoil."
"Arielle Blacksoil." He tested it. "I will remember that name. Well, Arielle Blacksoil, I’m pleased to meet you. I apologize for my brother's misdeeds. Please accept extra compensation in return for never telling another soul about this. Do we have a deal?"
She thought about it, then decided the reward was likely worth her silence. She nodded.
"I warn you that this deal is a binding vow. The consequences of breaking it are severe pain, though not to the point of death. Please, you cannot tell anyone, both for your safety and my brother's. Do you agree?"
She blinked. She had thought that was a suggestion, not a binding vow.
"Will you let me leave if I say no?"
"I am afraid not. The crime is my brother's, but you will share in the punishment, unfortunately."
Hmm. What if she needed to tell someone? What if she needed to tell Elric?
She probably wouldn't tell Elric anyway. For plausible deniability, so he didn't get in trouble for her sake.
Arielle took some time to think, but then decided that if she did need to tell someone, she could figure out a way around it later. If it were just a spell, it could probably be broken, secretly, in her own way.
She nearly smiled at the thought, and the two elves shared a confused look.
She nodded again. "Yes, I agree."
At her words, a ring of essences circled her neck before vanishing. She analyzed the shape, though she had less than a second to do so. It was a complicated shape, too. Four of the essences had been the secret purple essence. Interesting.
She wondered if she could study it this way, if it would follow her back to Earth. If so, then this binding vow just worked in her favor.
Her pessimistic mind told her that the older elf would not have performed the spell if it meant that she could gain access to an Earth-incompatible essence that way.
However, he also didn't know that she could see essences, so maybe he didn't think she would realize it.
She smiled completely, startling the elves once more.
Congratulations! You have completed your quest.
Note:
Quest Official has been changed from Prince Aerendyl to Prince Elarys.
Reward Added: One canthumite and one luverian gem.
Total Rewards: Ten thousand units of earth-compatible essences, sixteen gold bars, one cryonite, one canthumite, and one luverian gem.
Choose your percentages of earth-compatible essences now.