A Tale of Dragons

Chapter 7

"Oh." Ethan said. "So I'm a normal adult dragon size then?"

"Pretty much."

"Seems kind of small for a dragon. 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, although he enjoyed our talks until he decided I would make a better dinner than companion."

Alana's expression didn't change much, but Ethan could tell she was bitter.

"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 her body tensed up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... I just meant that dragons are... well, not all dragons, but most dragons have a reputation for being... 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, so 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."

"We could circle the edge of the forest and try to find them to meet up early. 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 it'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.

* * *

A few hours of walking and occasional talking later, Alana found Ethan more confusing than ever. She had tried to ask about his family, but he had deflected his questions. As much as she wanted to pry, she also wanted to respect his privacy.

She had asked about his work, which resulted in a confusing few minutes while he tried to explain what a 'computer' and 'the internet' was. As best as she could figure, it was like an enchanted scroll with unlimited information that you could also use to communicate with others. She had to admit, the idea had a lot of potential uses.

She asked him about his personal life, but it sounded like he didn't have much of a personal life. Or at least, he didn't want to talk about it.

"So what do you do for fun?" she asked.

His eyes lit up. "I really love..." Ethan trailed off, and then shook his head. "Never mind."

Alana sighed in frustration. "We've been walking for hours and you've dodged almost every question I've asked. If you don't want to talk that's fine, but at least be upfront about not wanting to talk."

"No, I really enjoy talking with you." He said. "It's just I'm not used to opening up to people very quickly. In my world, people tend to talk about little unimportant things for a while before diving into the deeper stuff."

"Why would they do that?" she frowned. "I mean, if it's not important why would you bother talking about it?"

He opened his mouth to reply, and then stopped. "You know that's a good point."

"I'm sorry if I seem pushy." She apologized. "It's just my parents are... Well they aren't around anymore and I don't get to talk to people very often. That's probably part of the reason I started talking to Drousin; there wasn't anyone else around."

"Makes sense."

"So what do you like to do for fun?" she repeated. Ethan hesitated, and that's when Alana came up with a truly devious plan.

"How about this? You hide your hand behind your back and stick up a random number of fingers. If I can guess the number of fingers three times in a row, then you have to answer the question."

"And if you can't guess correctly?" Ethan asked.

"Your choice."

"Alright, if you can't guess correctly, then you have to let me carry something for you." He said. "Seriously, I'm feeling pretty lazy over here."

"Deal."

Ethan put one hand behind his back, then spread his wings a little to make sure it was hidden. "Okay, guess."

She smiled and put her plan into motion. She reached out with her senses until she felt the presence of a curious squirrel nearby. She gathered some mana and politely requested the squirrel's help. The squirrel -- being an animal -- didn't exactly understand the request, but it seemed to be fairly comfortable with her. Alana offered food in exchange for its assistance and it instantly she felt the walls around its mind drop. Alana very carefully took a look through its eyes.

"One finger."

Ethan frowned. "Okay, you were right once. How about now?"

She again took a quick peek through the squirrel's eyes. "One again. Trying to fake me out?"

He narrowed his eyes. "You're up to something."

"Maybe." She gave him her most winning smile. "Once more."

Ethan spread his wings so there was no possible chance that she could see behind him. "Okay. Guess."

Again, she simply checked through the squirrel's eyes. "No fingers. Tricky."

Ethan's jaw dropped. "How did you do that?"

She smiled and beckoned the squirrel closer. It ran toward her, but gave Ethan's draconic form a wide berth. Alana pulled a couple of nuts and a few berries out of her satchel and gave them to the squirrel.

"Say hello to my little friend." She said. "He let me peek through his eyes."

"You can do that?" His eyes were almost comically big. She suddenly realized that his cat-like eyes were a very bright shade of green.

"I've been in this forest a long time and we understand each other quite well."

He started laughing. "Well, you learn something new every day, like your traveling companion is a cheater."

The squirrel ran off with its booty and Alana turned to Ethan with a wide smile. "We didn't agree that enlisting help wasn't allowed, so technically I didn't cheat at all... and you owe me an answer."

"Fair enough." He sighed. "There's an orphanage not far from where I live-- used to live. I go there and try to teach the kids basic life skills they'll need, but probably wouldn't get otherwise. Things like how money works, balancing a checkbook, or how to make a profit ethically. I like playing with the younger ones too. The smiles on their faces are just... Well, you probably know."

"Why didn't you just say that?" Alana felt her heart melt. "There's no reason to hide that, it's wonderful!"

"I didn't want to sound like I was bragging or trying to look good." He replied with a shrug. "You're actually the first person I've ever told about that."

"Oh." Was all she could think to say. There was a moment of awkward silence before she decided it would be better if Ethan couldn't see her face.

"We should go before Hermair's men catch up." She turned and started walking again. Ethan fell into step just behind her.

"I don't know what they're like." She said after a few minutes of walking in silence. "Kids I mean. Elves don't have children very often because we live so long. I have older siblings, but they're long gone and my parents... aren't around anymore."

"Did something happen to them?" he enquired, although he sounded unsure about asking.

"Yes, a few years ago." Alana nodded, feeling her eyes moisten. "I've been on my own ever since. In some ways, I'm glad Hermair burned the farm down. I stayed there because it felt like a connection to my parents, but it was stopping me from living my own life. You were talking about the kid's smiles and I don't really know what they're like. I see them playing when I go into town and someday I'd like to have some."

"Kids?" he asked.

"Yes. I have no idea why I'm telling you all this."

"It lightens our load when we share it with others." He replied, then took a deep breath. "I know exactly what you mean about wanting kids. I was engaged back home, but my fiancé wasn't the person I thought she was. She'd been sleeping with my best friend behind my back and just before I came here, they literally stole the business I'd spent my entire adult life building."

Alana stopped and turned toward Ethan. "I'm so sorry." She wrapped him in a hug and couldn't hold the tears back anymore. They fell silently and dripped onto his shoulder.

After a few moments, she broke the hug and looked at him. His eyes were definitely wet and there was a single track where a tear had trickled down his scaly cheek. They looked at each other awkwardly for a moment before they both started wiping their faces.

"Well." Ethan muttered, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Yes." Alana replied, but couldn't quite meet his gaze. "Er... thanks for sharing that, and for listening."

"Ditto." He replied.

They walked on in companionable silence for the next hour or so. Alana couldn't help but smile when she thought about Ethan helping those kids. She also found herself idly wondering if maybe she could do it too. As she thought about helping kids, she also thought it would be pleasant if he was there to help her. That led to an idle wish that he was an elf instead of a dragon.

She instantly dismissed that notion.

About noon, they stopped for lunch. While they were eating, Alana found herself asking more about the kids he helped. She could feel her heart and spirits lift as he talked about them. He kept himself mostly out of the stories, but he would go on and on about the kids there. It seemed like he knew every one of them by name.