Dragon Tamer: Shopping! 2 of 2 (Patreon)

The tanner was unexpectedly helpful. He flat out told me that he could buy the Greeny fangs and the death orbs, but that I would get a better price at the local alchemist shop.

Holy crap. They had alchemists?

The question was: were we talking Full Metal, soccer mom essential oils, or Walter White level of alchemy?

I had to find out.

With a quick, "Thank you!" I slipped my coins in my pocket where it joined my quest coins and change from yesterday. Then I scooped up my various forms of poison and took off in the direction that he had indicated.

"I really need a purse," I told Tiberius. "Put that on the to-do list."

Tiberius chirped at me.

The alchemist shop was an actual brick and mortar place located at the end of the row of commerce. It had dark, aged wood paneling on the outside which gave it a gloomy, hot topic feel.

When I opened the door and stepped inside, I was greeted with low lighting, dusty shelves jam packed full of animal parts and jars — and some jars full of animal parts — and a sweet-peppery smell that tickled my nose.

It look like he was going for the D&D wizard vibe. Very cool.

I expected a reedy looking wizard type manning the front counter.

Instead, I got a bear of a man who stood at least six and a half feet tall with broad shoulders that would have made the brawny paper towel model jealous. He had a thick lumberjack beard — neatly trimmed, not wizardly at all — close set eyes, and a kind face.

"Welcome to my shop, young lady," he said in a deep basso voice. "Beauty products are to the right."

Wow. Stereotype much?

Then again, if he had a zit zapper for those occasional breakouts…

Business first.

I walked to the front of the store with a peppy smile and said, "I found some interesting ingredients while hunting yesterday, and I was wondering if you would be interested in a trade."

"Hunting?" he repeated, then leaned over and looked down at Tiberius who sat politely at my feet. "Oh. You're a tamer from out of town? That explains why I haven't I didn't recognize you."

“Yeah, I'm new in town."

And new to your planet or universe… Still haven't figured out which.

His close-set eyes seemed to light up when I put down the items on the counter.

“How in the world did you come across bone orbs?" he asked.

"Bone orbs?" I repeated.

"Yes, the essence of bone dragon." He very carefully brought one to his eye as if to peer through the smoky white orb. "The only time I've seen one this clean was when the tamer had a looting skill.”

I chuckled nervously and resisted the urge to rub the back of my neck. I probably should be keeping my special traveler powers under wraps, but it seemed pretty obvious to those who knew how to look for it.

Oh well. At least this was a small town, and if I moved on, news was unlikely to follow me.

I don't know why I was so paranoid about people knowing what I could do, other than the mass amount of media I'd consumed telling me that people with valuable powers were always under threat by others who wanted the power for themselves.

Case in point, Creepy Todd who wanted Tiberius.

Okay, maybe I wasn't so paranoid.

“Yeah, I got lucky. I had three of them, but on the way back we were attacked by some egg suckers," I said, only lying a little. “I got the orbs but that gas is nasty stuff."

The alchemist gave me a slightly patronizing look. "You are very lucky the necrotic gas didn't blow back on you. Unless you're bonded to a bone dragon with a non-base crystal, most people don't attempt to work with this ingredient."

"What about you?" I asked, slyly.

He snorted. "I have a number of toughening potions and personal protective equipment. And, my snakeskin dragon, Sammy."

He nodded to the corner.

The shadows within the shop were so deep that it took me a few seconds to realize that there was a dragon in there.

It was half in and half out of a wicker basket. It's scales were dark charcoal gray and the body was long, exactly like a snake. It lay coiled around and around the basket, with the tail end still inside.

It also had a couple of bumps I assumed used to be limbs.

"Nice," I said, though I had no idea what he was talking about. Going by context, snakeskin dragons conferred some protection or toughness to their tamer.

Dammit. I needed a note book or something to start writing this down.

Meanwhile, the alchemist guy, who I decided to call bear since he hadn't given me his name, had picked up the greeny fangs and was examining them with interest. "You managed to gather the venom sacs as well," he noted.

"Venom sacs?"

In answer, he turned one of the teeth to me. It had a greenish core to it, in what I assumed had been the root of the tooth.

"Venom sacs is sort of a misnomer," he explained, patiently. "There are actually tiny capsules inside the hollow tooth. Every time that pressure applied to the tooth, the capsules break and the venom drips out. It's a fascinating process."

It sounded pretty gross to me, and weird, to boot. I was pretty sure that there wasn't anything like that in earth biology. At least, not in the frogs I had dissected in science class.

I decided to put on my bargaining hat. "So, are you interested?"

He made a noncommittal noise. "I find it's bad business to trade strictly in coins. Most people who gather supplies for my store receive a steep discount, or unprocessed items, or trade for the processed versions.”

Which meant that he probably made a tidy profit since he madethose items.

But, I wasn't going to bitch about somebody's else's hustle when I was in their store. I nodded, looked around, and realized I knew nothing about what was on the shelves — or what was even possible.

I knew that there were healing dragons, but was there such a thing as healing potions in this world?

And would it be weird if I asked?

I didn't want to be like a person going up to a McDonald's worker and asking if they had trout in their mixed fish sandwich.

I had to be sly.

"I think I found a good lead on more greenies," I said, "but I am a little worried about me or my dragon getting bit by one. What would you suggest?"

Again, he looked at me with a slightly patronizing air. "That you not be bitten." Then he sighed and reached down to pull up a few vials from the back of his counter. Apparently, this is where he kept the good stuff that couldn't be easily shoplifted. "This is anti-venom for your dragon. For that little fellow, I recommend a quarter vial. The instructions are on the back. As for you…"

He lifted out three separate vials, each with a strange rainbow mixture. Whatever was inside stayed separate, but slowly churned up and down like a lava lamp.

The three vials were about the same size, the length of my middle finger from root to tip. They were elegant and thin with fancy, wax sealed stoppers on top — made from the sort of glass I used to see at craft fairs. I guess, in a society where everything was handmade, people were able to get fancy.

Though they were in a rainbow mix of colors, they were of different hues.

The one closest to me was a mix of blues, slate grays, and dark purples. The one in the middle was of greens, oranges, and yellows. The last were a mix of brighter color orange, pinks, and vibrant reds.

I stared at them and wished that Jane or Sienna was at my side. They would be able to explain what this meant.

The bear of a shopkeeper hadn't said a word which probably meant whatever these were, they were common.

"Which grade would you prefer?" he asked after an awkward moment.

"I… haven't done a lot of shopping for myself," I said, awkwardly. "This is my first —erm — dueling adventure. You know, as I try to be the best that I can be? I didn't get out of the house much." And, I was babbling. Get it together, Harmony! "Can you describe these for me?"

The man's eyes squinted slightly, but then he rolled one massive shoulder in a shrug. "Well, when it comes to humble shops like myself, you have the three basic grades. Sapphire.” He pointed to the blues. "Rubies." This was to the reds. "And golds." This was to the orange.

"Oh, like the basic crystal list?"

He nodded, looking a little relieved, and I had the feeling that I had just proven myself not to be a complete idiot.

"Yes, exactly. In the big cities, you'll find alchemists who mix — or pretend to mix, higher quality healing potions they say is in the platinum or diamond ranking. Some of these are outright scams."

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"If the price is too good to be true, then it usually is," he said blandly.

I nodded. "Okay. So what are the differences between the three?"

He pursed his thick lips in thought. "Basically, the Sapphire will take care of minor wounds and poisonings, Rubies little more serious, and the Golds more serious than that. It's no substitute for a talented healer, but if you're out in the wilds, these will get you by in a pinch."

"If I got bitten by a mountain greeny..." I trailed off, leadingly.

He considered for a moment, then pointed to the middle. "That should take care of it, unless you have a particularly severe bite."

I was tempted to ask if any of these potions —especially the higher quality — could fix birth defects. A club foot, as a random example.

But I had the suspicion that it just might be possible. That was why the shopkeeper had specifically warned me about scams for the higher quality stuff.

That was going to be a life goal. If I could fix my leg with a potion instead of expensive surgery, I was all about that.

Hello, I would have gone for the surgery if I could have afforded it.

That was a thought for later.

"And what could I get for my goodies here?" I asked, gesturing back to the fangs and orbs.

"You say you have a lead on more greenies?"

I sensed a business deal. "I do, but I also have expenses. I want to rent a cart to bring back the meat as well as the hides and fangs," I said, inventing wildly. That way, no one would think twice about me taking off with a cart for the eggs.

The shopkeeper shrugged. "Well, as I said, I don't usually trade in gold coins. I mostly trade in supplies."

I stayed quiet, sensing a "but" in there.

"But," the shopkeeper said, "it's bad luck to scam a child. And these two orbs are worth a pretty copper to those who know how to use it.I'll trade you four of the Sapphire, two of the Ruby, or one of the Gold quality."

That sounded like a good deal, but I had to double check. "We’re talking per orb, right?"

The man grinned, and I had the feeling that if this world worked like an RPG, I would have gotten a haggling bonus. "Of course, per orb," he said in a way that told me it hadn't been that originally.

I thought for a moment, and then told him to give me two rubies and one gold.

Then, I said, "And what will you give me for the fangs, keeping in mind that there will be more coming in…"

He and I haggled for a little bit, and even though he said he usually didn't exchange for gold, I managed to come out with two silver pieces as well as a small handful of other, lesser potions.

Apparently, he worked as sort of a pharmacy. Aside from the healing potions that would fix anything, he had other, lesser potions that were more specific. As well as a few oddballs.

He did actually have a zit zapper. Because I wasn't currently going through a breakout, I ignored it. He also had tonics for stomach aches, a few for water purification, and one guaranteed to, um, stop the creation of babies.

I would have been mildly affronted by the last one. I mean, personal, much?

But it had the side effect of stopping a girl’s period. And as I didn't think that this world had tampons, I grabbed one of those for the road. One dose lasted a whole month. Awesome.

The shopkeeper — who eventually told me his actual name which, I kid you not, was Bernard, had a whole bunch of other goodies in his shop.. Like, I was pretty sure that I could browse for a couple hours and not see it all. He had clothing for all occasions, some weird recipes, and various other animal parts to sell to other alchemists. That was all in the first room. The store had three.

If and when I got more greeny fangs, I was going to come back with Jane and Sienna and we were going to go on a crazy shopping spree.

Speaking of Jane and Sienna, I finally found them wandering the streets, between vendor stalls.

By the look of mild relief on their faces, they had been looking for me.

I met up with them and showed them my wares, and though Jane gave a slight sniff of disapproval about the prices I had paid, I got the impression that I hadn't been to badly ripped off.

"So," I said, "where do you buy quartz crystals around here?"

The first thing I did I wanted to do was return back to Arcee so we could have a talk.

Jane and Sienna exchanged a look. "Actually,” Jane said, "The first thing that we should do is stop by the bathhouse."

I squinted at her. "Like… Are we talking swimming, or actual bathing in public?"

Sienna rolled her eyes. "The houses are separated by genders."

"It's something we should do quickly," Jane said.

I looked between the two of them, in their fresh clothing, then looked down at myself.

I had made an attempt to bathe at the river, but as I noted before, laundry services I hadn't been able to do much for my outfit.

I… Had the bad feeling that I had turned into the stinky kid.

"I don't suppose that they do laundry, too" I muttered.

“As a matter fact, they do," Jane said so easily that I knew she was relieved I'd given in. "But tt can take some time to get out dirt stains. Until then, I brought a few changes of clothing for you."

She pulled a few folded up items from her bag.

"You really don't have to," I started.

But she just pushed them into her my arms. "I insist."

Then she snatched them back, remembering I looked like the dirty Peanuts kid. "But they can wait until after your bath."

"Wow, am I that bad?" I said.

Sienna took pity on me. "No, but Jane has standards to uphold."

Okay, so maybe I wasn't the stinky kid yet, but I was still the common ruffian and Jane was of… higher class.

I could handle that.

“Young lady! Young lady!”

We turned at the sound of the call to see the tanner out of his booth and walking quickly toward us.

Jane immediately put on a smile. “Tanner Jebidiah. How lovely to see you this morning. Is something the matter?”

Of course she knew the guy.

“Good morning, Lady Jane.”

And he knew her. Small town. It probably helped to be the mayor’s daughter.

Jebidiah turned to me. “May I speak to you in private?”

“Um.” While I considered what to say about some random wanting to meet me in private, Sienna spoke up.

“What’s this about?”

Jebidiah gave a decidedly cagey look. “The young lady and I had discussed some… uh, rumors over a championship. I’ve since heard news.”

“Oh, Creepy Todd. Yeah, they know. They were there when it happened,” I said. “What’s up?”

Jebidiah actually glanced at the sky as if to check what was up. Then he said, “People talk freely around the stalls. It’s as if they think the vendors don’t have ears. And… I’m not sure how much stock I should put in rumors, but you have been fair in your business dealings and should be warned.”

‘Fair in your business dealings’ was likely code for “I’ve been suckering you out of coin because you don’t know any better and I’d like to keep that up, thanks” but I was okay with it as long as I got the inside scoop.

“Yes?” I asked.

He looked around, not being subtle at all. “They say Todd Lennox has secured himself a void dragon.”

Sienna gasped.

Jane also gasped and put a hand on Jeb’s arm. “Are you certain?”

“As I said, it’s rumor, miss… but the young lady ought to know seeing what’s on the line.”

I asked the obvious question. “What’s so bad about a Void Dragon?”

Jeb looked at me like I had two heads. Since I was officially friends with Jane and Sienna, I was used to this.

Sienna of course was the one who spoke.

“Void Dragons are also known as null dragons.”

A bad feeling started in my stomach. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

“Their most common power is to negate magical effects in an arena.” Sienna looked deeply concerned. “All magical effects.”

Uh-oh. What kind of power could that do to my mimic dragon?