Dragon Tamer: 22. Shopping (1 of 2) (Patreon)

I slept like a rock.

Not a big surprise. I'd had one heck of a busy day yesterday, and despite the fact that I was outside and laying on the bare ground... part of me knew that I was safe with a big Momma Mimic guarding me. Also, the heat she threw off on her phoenix fire form was as good as any campfire.

Tiberius curled up against my stomach in a little Fennec dragon ball. Arcee and I didn't have that kind of trusting relationship. She kept about ten feet away with her eggs, but that was fine too.

I woke early the next morning to Arcee shifting around the eggs under her belly, reaching down to poke at them with her nose. It was pretty cute.

The moment she noticed I was awake, she extended her neck to bump me closer to the eggs. Then she rose and went to the remains of the Greeny's body to eat.

Apparently, I was on egg watching duty again.

"I'm totally buying a quartz crystal today," I told her. "You and I have got to learn to communicate outside of pantomime."

Tiberius was waking as well and did a long downward dog stretch before he wondered over to see if there were any greeny scraps to be had for breakfast.

Arcee showed her teeth at him.

"Be nice. We're all part of the same team," I told her.

I swear the dragon rolled her eyes before she tore off a strip of meat with her teeth and casually tossed it Tiberius's way.

My little fennec caught it with a 'yup' sound and fire flashed between his teeth as he insta-baaked the meat and started chowing down.

"Dragons are weird," I said and turned my attention to the eggs. There was no change with any of them. No cracks, striations, or evidence that they were hatching.

After Arcee was done eating, she disappeared into the greater forest to do what I assumed was dragon business. When she returned, it was my turn. Thankfully, there was a stream nearby. I washed up the best I could because sleeping on the bare Earth was dirty business.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot I could do for my clothing. I could have dunked the clothing in the stream or whatever, but I wasn't going to run around with wet clothing. Tiberius might be able to dry clothing... if I could get him to understand that I didn't want the clothes to be set on fire.

Ugh, I needed a quartz crystal.

With that in mind, I went back to the camp and started collecting my sellable objects for the day. Shopping was the name of the game. I bundled up my three hides -- two of the egg suckers and one greeny -- as well as the greeny fangs.

I hesitated before the undead gas orbs. On one hand, they were dangerous weapons and might come in handy again in a pinch. On the other hand... I didn't want fragile balls of narcosis damage bouncing around in my pocket. Between my uneven gait and how likely I was to fall...

Except I hadn't so much as misstepped once this morning. This was uneven ground so it had to be a new record.

I glanced at Arcee who was once again tending to her eggs.

"I don't suppose you had anything to do with this?"

The mimic gave me a bland look.

I gestured down to my leg. "When I tamed you, I picked your dex. Is that your doing?"

Arcee snorted at me. I got the distinct impression this was her way of saying "Silly human". Then she returned her attention back to her clutch.

Well, whatever. The death orbs were better off as money in my pocket. I decided to take them along to see what I could get for them.

"I'm going to the market," I told Arcee. "Hopefully, I'll be able to rent a cart or whatever to help you move those eggs. Will you be good for a few hours?"

Snort.

"All right." I waved to her, picked up the bundle of hides, deadly fangs and deadlier robs, and set off.

Tiberius chirped happily, trotting by my side like the loyal companion he was.

Weird.

Both were tamed but Arcee was a lot more standoffish than Tiberius. Was that because I had tamed him in the egg, because she knew it was a temporary situation, or just a difference in personality?

Soon, the town came into view. Even from far away, I could tell that the festive atmosphere was in full swing. Vendors were hawking their wares to early risers, and more people were piling in with carts pulled by dragon-type creatures.

Thankfully, creepy Todd and his friends were nowhere to be seen.

I walked in and found the tanner’s booth right away. The man was still getting set up, pulling stacks of hides and different fabrics out from storage boxes and piling them neatly on top of the table.

He smiled upon seeing me, and his gaze flicked down to the hides in my arms. "Well, I see you work fast. And is that greeny wool that I see?"

"Sure is. And I have a few other items that I'd like you to check out, if you have time." I set the hides down, and as I did I heard a ding! in my mind.

I kept my cupped hand down below the height of the counter. A few moments later, I got a completed quest notification and the weight of reward coins dropped into my palm.

I didn't bother to count the coins, figuring that the quest system was good for it. Instead, I smoothly dropped them in my pocket.

The tanner hadn't noticed a thing. He was too busy looking over my hides one by one. By the way that he was sucking on his teeth, I figured he was debating whether to give me a good price now in hopes that I would return with more valuable products, or undercut me and hope I didn't notice the difference. Honestly, I didn't care either way. I was already getting doubly paid by the quest and whatever I could sell these for.

"These egg sucker hides are ruby quality," he said. I'll give you the same amount I gave for the last one. This though… This is a special find." He patted the greeny hide. "I'll give you double —"

I thought for a moment. "How about you round it up to 3 gold," I said. "And I agree to come to you first for any wool that I find."

"You drive a hard bargain, young lady, but I accept," he said so quickly that I had the feeling I was being undercut. Oh well.

We shook on it and his attention went to the fangs and the orbs.

He picked up one of the orbs and gave me a disapproving look. "Don't tell me that you were tangling with the bone dragon out around the graveyard…"

“What you do about that?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Word is, the council has sent to the city for a priest to drive the thing out."

"Well, they don't need to anymore. But I wasn't the one who drove him out," I said, lying just a little. It had been Arcee, but she hadn’t even been mine then. "Did you hear about that mimic who escaped Todd Lennox? Apparently, it flew off in that direction…"

The man barked out a laugh. "If that's the case, it's the only thing that young fool has managed to do right in years. Even if it was by accident."

"What do you know about him?" I asked, eagerly.

Again, he gave me a look. "Only that he's more than a pretty face. I know he has his fans with the girls your age, but he's trouble."

Ew. Seriously?

"I don't like him," I said. "He challenged Tiberius and I to a fight tomorrow. Championship rules."

The tanner stopped, and then leaned down to look over Tiberius. His expression was very grave. "Did you accept?"

"I did, but mostly because I didn't know what championship rules were," I confessed. "Have you seen him fight before? Got any tips for me?"

Again, the man sucked on his teeth. Then, to my surprise, he reached down and added another two silver coins to the pile. "Get the best damn quartz you can. And hope to all the gods that he isn't on top of his game. That man will do anything to win. He's been known to destroy his own dragon to get a hit on his opponent."

A cold shiver rolled down my spine. "But… Wouldn't that hurt him, too? If he's connected…"

“Some men let their egos overrule everything. Pain, the suffering of others… It doesn't matter. Just as long as they win."

I felt an uncomfortable prickle at that. My own ego had made me accept Todd's stupid challenge. Maybe I should just grab these coins and run.

I looked down at Tiberius, remembering again that I had a plan. He was going to be focused on winning against Tiberius… He had no idea he was going to go up against the mimic. That would give me the edge. Right?

What if I lost her? What would happen to her eggs?

"I'll keep that in mind," I said, lamely, and pushed the silver coins back. I did have some integrity. "I have a plan."

He didn't argue with me much, just looked at me and said, “I hope it's a good one."

That made two of us.