Short Story- Dragon Sorcerer- Part 3 (Patreon)

Part 3- New Friends

My blood was running hot at the moment. The rush of combat combined with the taste of fresh blood in my mouth had me pumped up, but I wasn’t some dumb beast. When I whirled towards the sound, I saw a child. At least I thought she was a child. She was much smaller than the others. Even calling her she in my head was my best guess. There were distinctive scents I could use, but the smell of blood overrode all of it. Humans were so ugly that they all looked pretty much the same to me and since they were all small, it was hard to be sure.

She was like the others in cloth attire rather than one wearing metal. There was also no sign of her having any weapons. I took a deep breath and calmed myself. I had wanted to talk to some humans. Maybe my mistake had been in speaking with the ones who were inclined to fight. I would not let a few bad ones turn me off from my curiosity.

I tried something different this time. Rather than rising to my full height, I stayed low. It would have chaffed me to act submissive around a human, but curiosity was greater motivator for me now. Besides, I reasoned that she was more likely to speak if she wasn’t afraid of me all the time. That triggered a thought in my head.

I called forth my status sheet for the first time. It only became available to a dragon after they experienced their awakening. That was the moment that they connected with the magic inborn within them.

Nicosandumas

Race: Dragon, blue

Maturity: Young Adult (48% to adult)

DKP: 2

Length: 25’8” Weight: 8,871 lbs.

Speed: 8 mph on land/84 mph in the air

STR: 11

AGI: 10

DUR: 11

MIND: 12

HP: 84/118

Regen Rate: 20 HP/day

Armor Rating: 25

Immunities: Electricity, Sleep, Paralyzation

Resistances: Magic- 30%, Physical Damage: 10

ATK: 20

DMG: 2-12+8 (claws), 2-24+12 (bite), 2-8+8 (wings), 2-12+12 (tail)

Critical Strike: 15%

Innate Abilities:

Breath Weapon: Spark storm 100’ x 10’ 12-48 dmg

Sprint: reach a maximum land speed of 70 mph for up to 30 seconds or maximum air speed of up to 192 mph for up to 1 minute.

Sound Imitation/Ventriloquism

Dragon Fear

Innate Magic: 30 mana points

Project Image: 10%

Illusory Image and Sound

Shape Change

I grinned as I was able to see my abilities for the first time. Some of them had been with me for a long time, like my ability to imitate sounds and throw my voice. I was also used to my dragon fear affecting non-dragons around me. It was most potent with 60 feet of me, but I imagined that lesser beings often felt it when they saw my majesty.

It was that ability which had reminded me to look at my status sheet for the first time. I wanted to stare at it. I had some new abilities to explore and others that I could now quantify for the first time. There was also the matter of spending my dragon kill points, or the power that I gained as I killed beings and gained a portion of their life force. That was how dragons grew, after all. Many thought it was simply a matter of age and eating, but that was only half the story.

Instead of levels like lesser beings, we had age ranks. The first few were fairly easy to get through. Then the transition to adult took longer as it produced some of the greatest changes. It was usually as a young adult that a dragon experienced the awakening, as I just had. The ten age ranks ran:

Hatchling

Wyrmling

Whelp

Youthful

Young Adult

Adult

Mature Adult

Elder

Ancient

Wyrm

Each rank became stronger almost in an exponential sense, but one thing is certain. If one ever comes across a wyrm, they are facing a monster most proficient in the art of killing.

Now, though, I pushed aside the thought of exploring my abilities. I could be patient when I needed to. Instead, I looked at the quivering human. Although perhaps she looked less fearful than she had a moment before. Ah yes, I had turned off my dragon fear aura. It was a necessary ability for dragons to have if we were to deal with our servants. I didn’t expect that this girl would become a long term servant. I had too much exploring to do, but she could serve my provide me with knowledge.

“Greetings human. I will not harm you if you don’t attack me.”

As I looked at her more closely, I saw a spark of electricity dancing in her eyes. Oh, the dragon dream said such a thing was possible, but none of my ancestors had ever experienced it. They mostly had lived in the desert and away from the lesser races. It was one reason I lacked knowledge about the world of Taleia beyond the great desert.

Apparently, this child had been caught up within my awakening and it had stirred the magic which is in all the world to inhabit her. According to the hints in my memories, she would now have the potential to become a powerful mage. Strangely, that made me happy. Magic was life and wonder, and I liked the idea that I had spread it. It was almost like she had become one of my hatchlings. Not that dragons are inclined to warm feelings even to their actual offspring.

She kept looking at me and for a moment I thought she wouldn’t answer, but finally she squeaked out, “You promise?”

“Yes, I am benevolent. I only killed the turtle men because they tried to harm me.”

She giggled. Had I said something funny? “Speak child. What amuses you?”

“The way you called the knights, turtles. I had never thought of it like that, but it is funny. Papa always says I’m having odd thoughts in my head, though.”

“Knights… hmm… it is good to know what they are called. I know many things, but much of the dream is unclear and my ancestors rarely ever strayed outside the desert.”

She stared at me like I was speaking a foreign language, so I let it go. She had already taught me an unfamiliar word. There was much for me to learn from her. “And who is this, Papa?”

“I like you. You really are so beautiful, but papa was angry when he found that you had eaten some of his cows. Papa is what human children call their fathers, although I’m 14 now, so I’m not much of a child. What do dragons call their fathers?”

I snorted, which caused her to step back. At first I didn’t, but I liked this child. She was respectful and recognized how beautiful I am. “Dragons don’t know their sire, only their mother, and only until we are strong enough to hunt on our own.”

“That is sad, but Old Tamey says the world beyond Cloverdale is full of all kinds of wonders.”

“Who is this Old Tamey you speak of?”

“Just a woman in our village. She offers charms and such. Mama doesn’t like me spending time with her, but she knows all kinds of things. Papa won’t let her teach me magic, but I so yearn to find out more about the world. I don’t want to end up married off to Paul. He is always passing gas and acting like it wasn’t him.”

She spoke in riddles as far as I was concerned, but then it dawned upon me. The lesser races didn’t have the same inherent connection to magic that dragons did. Elves might have a bit, but nothing like us. Humans had to study magic to be able to perform even the simplest of spells. It was really a rather bizarre idea and made me almost feel sorry for them. I chalked it up to further proof of my superiority.

“I can’t be sure, but I think you will find that magic is part of your life now. I see a hint of my magic in you now. With some practice, you may be able to learn to control it.”

Her eyes opened wide in an expression I took to be wonder. Human faces really were so hard to read. “You are serious? How?”

“During the battle, I experienced the awakening.” Then, seeing that she didn’t understand what I meant, I explained a bit about how it works for dragons. I was enjoying speaking to someone who wasn’t my clutch mate and didn’t want to kill me, so it was lost upon me that I was actually giving her more information than she was giving me.

“So you mean that I’m wizard?” She was practically jumping up and down as she asked.

“I’ve never seen this first hand, but I believe that to be the case. In fact, I should ask your name, human. If my magic flows in you, it is only appropriate.”

She squealed. “I’m Cami. But what should I call you, great dragon?”

It could never be said that dragons were immune to flattery,, and I was no different. I puffed up my chest a bit and shook my wings. That, of course, caused a ripple of pain to spread through me. The cut and the tiny sticks which were stuck in my wing were really starting to annoy me. “My name is Nicosandumas, and I have thought of a way you can help me child.”

She struggled to say my entire name before smiling and saying, “I think I’ll call you Nico. It is rather an excellent name for such a dashing dragon, don’t you think?”

I liked my full name, but all the human names I had encountered so far seemed to have two syllables so I decided to allow it. I nodded and tested out the name a couple of times. “Nico. Hmm… I will accept this.”

She was smiling. At least I think that was what it was. Her mouth was so small it was hard to say, but she no longer smelled of fear but instead gave off a scent like she was happy. “What can I do for you, Nico? I really should get back home. Papa and Mama will be worried about me, but if you really gave me magic, then I owe you.”

I held out my wing and used my tail to show where the two small sticks were imbedded in the membrane. She immediately began to make a cooing noise. “Oh, you poor thing, Nico. Those are called arrows. Did someone else try to hurt you?”

I explained about being driven from the only home that I knew by the adventurers. There was something about this girl which made it easy to speak to her. That and I did like the sound of my own voice.

She was appropriately appalled by what had happened to me, so I lowered my wing and she used a tiny metal claw which she wore on her belt to cut through the arrows. She was really very gentle as she extracted the remains and even checked for any splinters that might have been left behind.

After that, we spent some more time talking. She told me about where she lived. Her explanations helped me to understand many things and put words too many of the human implements I had seen. Her father was a farmer, and they lived at the edge of a human town called Cloverdale. There were apparently as many as a thousand humans who called Cloverdale home. It was a small number compared to the vast cities I had dreamed of, but an overwhelming number to one such as I who had been accustomed to living in the desert with only my clutch mates and prey.

Eventually, she spoke about her dreams of attending a magic university. When she explained it to me, I admit it sounded fascinating. The idea of learning magic from books seemed impossible to me, but I was soaking up all the things she told me. That was when her eyes lit up and she said, “Oh, Nico. I wish you were smaller. If you were people wouldn’t be so afraid of you. I could show papa you didn’t mean any harm.”

I wasn’t sure that was entirely accurate or even desirable, but I confess that I was intrigued by the idea of exploring the human world more. I had the time after all. I would live for hundreds if not thousands of years if I didn’t run across a stronger dragon or even some of those adventurers. Getting to know more of how they had the power they did made a great deal of sense.

My lips parted, and I smiled. It made Cami gasp and shudder. I suppose my smile might be rather terrifying for a human, but I was too caught up in the idea that I had. Yes. The more I thought about it, the more I decided it could work.