A Dragon’s Tale

Alana darted through the forest like a panther on a mission, making almost no sound despite running at a good pace. She could've gone faster of course, but stealth was essential. Most people would have gotten lost running through a forest at night, but she wasn't most people and this was her forest.

She knew every single tree.

In just a few minutes, she started seeing the glow of torches in the distance. The fools were trying to find a wood elf in the woods at night. She almost felt sorry for them wasting so much time. It took her less than a minute to slip past them.

She still had her bow and was tempted to eliminate a few more of them. She wavered for a few moments before deciding she didn't have the heart to kill anyone in cold blood. Instead, she headed for her storage pit.

Her mind turned to Ethan as she ran. He was extremely confusing for a dragon. Other than her parents, she couldn't think of anyone who might throw themselves at over a dozen armed men -- plus mages -- just to distract them so she could get away. She tried to figure out why, but couldn't. Especially when she took into account how he had stood up to Drousin to save her.

He didn't make any sense.

She thought in circles for a few minutes until she came to her storage pit. She had concealed it so well that even she wouldn't have seen if she didn't know it was there. She allowed herself a satisfied grin before opening the trapdoor.

Thirty seconds later she had her travel bag, a depressingly light coin purse, and seven finished staffs that were tied together with leather straps. It had been a good crop and each would fetch a good price. That was enough money for a few months, but after that? She briefly considered grabbing her father's spear, but couldn't really carry that and the staves.

Alana glanced back the way she had come and curiosity got the better of her. She stole toward the bright fire that was her old house, knowing she could replace the house if only they had left her beautiful trees. When she reached the edge of the clearing, she wished she hadn't looked.

The soldiers had cut down every single tree.

All of her hard work for the last decade and her parent's legacy was gone, brutally hacked to pieces. She had seeds in her travel bag and could replant, but the first trees wouldn't be ready for years. She stole away trying to fight back the tears.

It took her twice as long to get back to where she had left Ethan. When she reached the spot, he wasn't in the tree anymore.

"Ethan?" she called softly once she arrived.

There was no response.

"Ethan?" she called a little louder.

Still nothing.

Alana walked to the tree to see if he had left any footprints, but there were none. She scanned the nearby trees but could not see him anywhere.

'It's okay, he's okay,' she thought. 'The soldiers haven't got this far yet and nothing in the woods would attack a dragon, even a younger dragon like Ethan.'

Alana walked to the closest tree, again looking for footprints, but couldn't find any there either. Her stomach started tying itself up in knots. What if something had happened to him?

She was about to start biting her nails when something brushed the back of her shoulder. She whipped around just in time to see Ethan's tail lift up out of sight. She looked up and there he was, sitting on a tree branch with a mischievous grin on his face. She was also pleased to see he had finished closing his wounds, although he looked like death warmed over.

"Are you done playing?" Alana asked, though she couldn't help but smile.

Ethan nodded and hopped down from the tree. "Where to next? I'm wiped."

"I know a place nearby where we can sleep for the night. It should only take a few minutes to get there."

Lead on." Ethan fell into step behind her.

Some five minutes later, Alana led them to a river bed that was mostly dry this time of year, except for a creek-sized stream. She hopped down the five-foot drop to the riverbed.

"In here." She pulled aside some hanging vines to reveal a very small earthen dugout. It was only about two feet high and about four feet deep, and it was just long enough for Ethan if he tucked up his tail a little. At least it was enough to conceal them both until morning.

"Ladies first." He said.

Alana crawled into the dugout and he followed behind her. She noticed he checked several times to make sure his body was between her and the creek bed and that he completely shielded her from view.

They lay there in silence for several minutes before Alana spoke. "Why did you want me to go in first?"

Ethan shrugged. "I just figured my scales could take a hit better than your skin if they found us while we were sleeping. Better me than you right?"

She said nothing for several more minutes. "Why did you save me from Drousin, and why charge those guards earlier? I've been trying to make sense of it and I can't?"

He mumbled something she couldn't hear. He was clearly very tired.

"Ethan." She repeated. "Why did you help me escape Drousin, and later try to distract those soldiers so I could get away?"

"Right thing to do." He mumbled sleepily, but didn't elaborate.

She lay there for several minutes pondering his answer. She had never met anyone like him before. That was the last thought in her head before she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Ethan drifted back to consciousness slowly. He was lying on his back and there was a warm weight draped across half his chest. He smiled.

"Morning Terry." He mumbled.

The weight on his chest stirred and a sleepy feminine voice said. "Who's Terry?"

Ethan was momentarily confused, and then the previous day came back to him in a rush. His eyes snapped open and the weight abruptly disappeared from his chest.

"Ow." Alana moaned.

She had wrenched herself off him so fast that she had hit her head on the low roof of the earthen dugout. Her chocolate-brown hair was a complete mess, but she actually looked good that way. She was rubbing the sleep from her almond-shaped eyes.

"Morning." He repeated.

"Morning." Alana yawned a reply. "Who's Terry?"

"She's... Well, she was my..." He trailed off and looked away from her. "Uh, never mind."

He didn't want to think about his ex at all, so he looked out of the dugout to distract himself instead. The sun was clearly up, but judging from the shadows on the creek bed it was shortly after sunrise. Ethan listened for a moment but didn't hear any sign of the soldiers pursuing them.

"I'm going to stretch my legs, back in a minute." He said, rolling onto his legs -- all four of them. As he walked about, he marveled at just how natural it felt to be walking on all fours. He felt as if he'd been doing it for a lifetime, not a day. He walked over to the creek and looked into a puddle of water.

The face staring back at him didn't look at all familiar.

His face didn't seem particularly reptilian, looking more like a cross between a wolf and a large cat, but with small steel gray scales covering everything. His nostrils were slits and his ears were smaller, but otherwise he didn't look much like any reptile he'd seen. Growing out of the back of his head were two horns that gently spiraled like an African antelope -- a kudu -- only straighter.

Taking care not to step in the water and disturb his reflection, Ethan moved so he could see the rest of his body. Except for the scales, he was again reminded more of a large cat or wolf than a reptile. His tail was another story. It was almost as long as his body, though it felt quite light and flexible, ending parallel to the ground in a flat diamond shape.

His wings had all but disappeared against his back. He opened them to get a better look and wasn't disappointed. They looked almost exactly like bat wings, although the 'arm' part was also covered in scales. The membrane of the wings looked just like skin, the top a steel-gray color and underneath a much lighter gray-blue. The membrane stretched from his shoulders down to just below his hip.

The 'arm' part of the wing terminated in a single 'finger' that ended in a hooked claw. He remembered seeing bats at the zoo using their wing claws and feet to climb upside-down along tree branches and vines. Glancing at his hind legs, he realized they were almost the same as his front legs and could grab things. He wondered if he could climb upside down along branches too.

His hands and feet had three forward-facing claws and one facing rearward, similar to those of an eagle, although he had discovered that his claws were retractable. He flexed his hands and sharp claws slid out of their sheaths, each ending in a wicked-looking point which almost scared him just looking at them.

"If you hadn't just got that body, I'd say you were pretty vain." Alana chuckled from behind.

"I never had the chance to examine a dragon up close before." He replied with a wink. "I didn't want to waste it."

Alana laughed. "Well, I need to water the forest; back in a minute or two."

"Good idea." He replied, realizing his bladder was full too. He walked around the nearest large tree and out of habit stood up to relieve himself.

When he looked down, he realized his 'equipment‘ was missing. He was about to get worried when -- almost by instinct -- he felt something shift. He could feel some internal muscles contract and the scales around his groin area pulled back to let his cock and balls meet the air.

What shocked Ethan wasn't that they were protected -- although he approved of that idea -- but rather the size. His cock was at least six inches long and quite thick even while flaccid. He found himself wondering how large it would be fully aroused. After he'd finished relieving himself, his cock and balls retracted themselves to once again be hidden by his scales.

He smiled.

Why didn't humans have something similar?

He got back to the creek bed before his companion and started thinking about his situation while he waited. The longer he thought, the more concerned he became.

"Let's get some breakfast before heading out." Alana suggested after returning and fetching her bundle of staves from the dugout. She pulled some dried strips of meat and some dried fruit from her bag and offered some to him.

"Thank you. Where are we going?"

"Away from the men who are trying to kill us." Alana said with a twinkle in her eye. "They shot you last night remember?"

"I remember." Ethan chuckled. "I meant long term. I literally have nothing here and no idea where we are or where we should go. They destroyed your farm, although I assume you'll want to rebuild it."

"I don't know." She said as she finished chewing, and then hastily clarified. "If I want to rebuild that is. I loved that house because I shared it with my parents and had many happy times there, but they're not there anymore. I always assumed I would grow staves because it's all I've ever known. But now..."

She trailed off.

"So, what do you want to do?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. I know almost every tree in this forest but I've only ever visited one city. I don't even know what's out there."

"Me neither." Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well, how about the immediate future? Have any good ideas where to go?"

"Gralden."

"Gesundheit."

"Where's that?" Alana asked. "Is it closer?"

He suppressed a chuckle. "I'm being silly. What's Gralden?"

"It's a city and home to one of the largest banks in the entire land. It's a three-day walk from here, but most of that is over the open road. We're only about a few hours' walk from the edge of the forest."

"I don't fancy our chances out in the open." He said. "Any other options?"

"Not without a map." She replied. "How's your mana?"

Ethan closed his eyes to check. He had used up most of his slushy mana cloud healing the previous night and it had shrunk to a mere fraction of its original size. It hadn't regenerated overnight much, if at all. It was still a mostly gaseous cloud with little substance at all.

"It's about the same as last night." Ethan replied "I thought you said magic users could pick up residual magic from the air."

"All magic users except for dragons." She explained. "Dragons can't pull magic directly from the Ether. Instead, they collect gold and make it resonate. When the gold resonates, it pulls Ether through the barrier."

"What barrier?"

"There's a barrier between the Ether and our world." Alana explained. "Think of it like a very fine mesh that only allows tiny amounts of mana to go through. When the gold resonates, it's like shaking a strainer to let more water through. Dragons collect this magic, and it's almost impossible for them to get it any other way."

"So I need gold to collect magic." He said. "And I only have a tiny bit of gold in my little dragon crop thingy, which is why I can't recharge my mana very fast."

"Exactly, that's why dragons collect and hoard gold." She said, taking another bite.

"Wow." Ethan said. "I didn't realize that dragons had such a raw deal."

"They don't." She shook her head. "Remember when I said that you can't enchant living things, because the flow of mana makes it impossible to get the enchantment to stick?"

"Yeah. You said it was like trying to build a house in the middle of a raging river."

"You were paying attention." Alana smiled. "And yes, but dragons aren't like that. Because dragons don't pull mana directly from the Ether, they don't have that constant flow."

"So, you can enchant a Dragon?"

"I can't, but a dragon can enchant himself. Meaning, you can use magic to directly augment almost any part of your body. You can make yourself stronger, faster, improve your senses and reflexes, make your scales harder, your claws sharper, your body lighter, and so much more. The possibilities are almost limitless."

"Nice!" Ethan exclaimed. "I guess that's not such a raw deal after all."

Alana shook her head. "Not one bit. Most dragons just use this magic to increase their size though, instead of going for the enchantments."

"Why?"

"It's way easier." She explained. "You experienced how hard healing two small wounds was and how much magic it took. Magic is incredibly hard when you start and most young dragons don't want to put in the effort."

"It sounds like it would be worth it though." He said. "Drousin was big, but I imagine he's pretty slow."

"Well, Drousin is absolutely huge for a dragon. I met Drousin's son before -- the body that you currently inhabit -- and he just recently hit maturity. Drousin was complaining about him lately and was ready to kick him out of the cave."

"Oh, so I'm a normal adult dragon size then?"

"Pretty much."

"Seems kind of small for a dragon." He mused. "I mean, I'm no bigger than an average man."

"That's how they start." Alana replied. "They collect gold and use the magic from that gold to get larger. That's part of the reason many dragons don't enchant themselves."

"Come again?"

"Well, as a dragon gets larger, the amount of magic needed to enchant themselves goes up like this." Alana moved her hand to indicate an exponential growth rate. "Pretty soon, it's just not worth enchanting themselves anymore because it just takes too much magic, so they usually just grow larger instead. That's how you end up with massive dragons like Drousin."

"Where did you learn all this?" Ethan asked.

"Drousin himself." She said. "I used to hang out with him occasionally to pick his brains about enchanting. Dragons are the world's master enchanters and I figured I could learn some things that would help me make better enchanting staves. I did, and he didn't mind my presence as long as I brought a gold coin every time. That's why my coin purse is so light. Apparently, he enjoyed our talks until he decided I would make a better dinner than companion."

She glanced in the direction of Drousin's cave with a scowl.

"I'm sorry he tried to eat you."

"It's not your fault." Alana said with a sigh. "I should've known better than to trust a dragon, you know how they--" She stopped mid-sentence and stiffened. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... I just meant that dragons are... well, not all dragons apparently." She gestured towards Ethan. "But most dragons have a reputation for being... well, you know."

"Not really, but I'm not offended." Ethan replied. "Judging by Drousin, dragons are an unpleasant lot and I imagine their reputation reflects that. Besides, twenty-four hours ago I didn't believe in dragons, magic, or even wood elves for that matter."

"Thank you." Alana relaxed a little. "That was probably kinder than I deserved."

"No problem. You can make it up to me by telling me how to create a fireball out of thin air, like that mage last night." Ethan added with a smile

She shook her head. "No one can create anything out of thin air. Did you notice the flames suddenly burning low right before he created the fireball?"

Ethan nodded, and she continued. "He actually created the fireball by pulling the heat and flames from the fire. Magic -- like all energy -- cannot be created or destroyed. However, you can pull it from one place and send it to another. Fire attacks are usually done by pulling the heat from the surrounding air, concentrating it, then shooting it at the target. If there's a big fire, it's even easier. Ice attacks are the opposite; they pull all the heat from one place to freeze it."

"Hmm." Ethan mused. "I suppose moving energy around is a lot easier than generating it."

"Exactly. I suppose you could try converting mana directly to fire, but you'd need a massive mana pool to make even a small fireball. Like you said, it's easier to move heat around than generate it."

Ethan and Alana finished their breakfast at around the same time and sat in comfortable silence for a few moments.

"So, how are we going to get to the G city?" he asked after a little while.

"Gralden." Alana replied. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure it'll work. I was supposed to meet my uncle's traveling caravan in two days and travel with them to Gralden. They often run a few days ahead of schedule though, so I'm hoping we can catch them at the edge of the forest. It's a larger caravan, so I don't think Hermair would attack them. He probably wouldn't have time to get reinforcements before we got to Gralden, so I think that's our safest bet."

"Sounds like a plan to--" He broke off as they heard a horse whinny in the distance.

"And that's our cue to leave." Alana said as she shouldered her pack and picked up her stuff. They both turned away from the direction of the horse and started walking in the opposite direction. Ethan offered to carry something, but Alana wouldn't hear of anyone but her carrying her staves.