Dragon Sorcerer 1- Interlude 2 (Patreon)

Interlude 2- Cami

Cami was careful not to seem too excited. In her experience that was when people tried to hurt you the most. Her parents, her brothers, the other kids in town, the farmhands. It didn't matter. So many of them lived small miserable lives and seemed personally offended if anyone experienced any joy around them.

That didn't mean she wasn't smiling on the inside. She had gotten the same notifications about Nico's oath and about how their bond had reached level two. She also gained 1 DKP. Truthfully, she wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but assumed it was some type of experience. She'd grown up on enough stories about adventurers to know that they gathered something known as XP from their adventures which enabled them to grow stronger.

What XP was or what an adventurer did to earn it was always a bit more nebulous in the tales. It seemed like fighting monsters and performing heroic deeds were the most likely path towards XP, but even that was a little vague. She was just excited to be making gains and figured that it would work out in the end.

Part of what had her confused was that she had gained 10 XP for fishing with her spell and then cooking the fish. She didn't get the XP until after she actually cooked them. She also got 10 XP for 'teaching' Nico, the Force Darts spell. She wasn't sure she had actually taught anyone anything, but getting XP had to be a good thing.

She just needed to find someone who she could ask about it all. Nico confused her. He made an oath to protect her, something that only a husband would do and even then not usually mean it. Well maybe a father would, just not her father. She definitely didn’t think of him her father. Yet sometimes he was so clueless. That was fine with her though. She was in no rush for anything. This was already more than she'd dared to dream of. A friend was a treasure more than she could have ever hoped for.

Then there was also the fact that she had gotten a separate notification. At first she had waited for any sign that Nico had seen the notification as well. It was clear soon that he hadn't, so she memorized what it said.

You have taken your next step towards strengthening dragon bloodline. Beware this comes with great power but all power has consequences. It will also serve to further tie your fate with that of the dragon Nicosandumas. Be sure.

Her thoughts were broken as Modessa suddenly burst forward. A flash of steel flew from her hand too fast for Cami to follow. She heard a screech from the branch of one of the trees and then a thud as something hit the forest floor.

Sir Galbrecht stepped up in front of her and Nico. He raised his shield. "Stay back. Let us handle this."

Yet he didn't move. He simply assumed a defensive posture and watched along with them as Modessa streaked long the ground almost as quickly as her blade had flown. There on the ground in front of her was a twisted creature out of a nightmare.

Cami had believed Nico's description of the monsters which were part monkey and part mosquito but seeing was something entirely different. This monster wasn't the same. It was about the size of a newborn calf but had feathery wings.

Modessa thrust her sword forward and for a second, Cami thought she had seen a green glow around the blade. Then she watched as the woman twisted the blade then pulled it back, while leaping away at the same time.

The monster tried to stumble to its feet but its motions were slow and clumsy like her father was when he drank too much. It allowed her to get a better look at the creature. The best way she could describe it was to call it a half bunny, half bird. It certainly wasn't natural.

Modessa had her sword ready again and Cami noticed that the green glow around it had grown. It seemed almost like the weapon was starting to burn with magical energy.

Cami glanced at Nico to see if he was as confused by what was happening as she was. Instead he was inching forward. He wanted to join the fight but Sir Galbrecht was keeping them back.

Of course Nico would want to fight. He was a dragon after all. Cami had to remind herself of that. He was handsome like this and she felt a connection with him that went beyond words. He was the first man, if she could call him that, who had been nice to her just to be nice.

A part of her wanted to watch Nico and see how he fought. But it didn't appear to be necessary. The monster's struggles grew weaker by the moment and then the green glow faded from Modessa's weapon.

Galbrecht sighed, "I hate poison, but I guess it serves its purpose."

Modessa looked back over her shoulder at the paladin and winked. Then held a finger to her mouth before stalking forward.

Cami watched as the rogue disappeared into the trees in front of them. The way she moved was almost like a ghost. "Will she be okay?"

Sir Galbrecht shifted just enough to look back at her. He too held his finger up to his mouth in a universal sign for silence. Nico sighed but Cami was used to being seen but not heard. She would just have to hold her questions for later.

From the direction that Modessa had disappeared there were more screeches and the sounds of combat. Nico finally spoke. "Does she need help? Not that I care, but I am curious to find out more about these creatures. They are different from the ones I encountered last night."

"Normally, I'd be up there fighting but we can't risk two new mages being hurt. The empire needs all the mages it can get."

"I'm hardly helpless," Nico said."

Cami could feel the pride in his voice. It was so hard for the dragon to suppress himself. She knew it to her core. "We'll stay back here if you want to go help her." She spoke up mostly to try and distract Nico from doing anything foolish.

The paladin looked at both of them. It clearly bothered him to let the rogue fight without him. Cami definitely liked Sir Galbrecht. He was the kind of hero you read about in the stories.

"Fine, but neither of you move from here and scream if you see any monsters." Then he was off, running faster than seemed possible in the heavy armor he wore.

Cami glanced at Nico. She didn't want to say anything to offend him but just couldn't help herself. If they were really going to be friends, he'd have to learn to listen to her too.

"Nico, I know who you are, but only you and I do. You seem to want to hide it from the Sir Galbrecht and Modessa. If you keep acting like you can handle anything, they will eventually wonder why that is."

He stared at her and Cami felt her heart sink. She wasn't afraid that Nico would hurt her, but rather that he'd reject her. There was anger on his face. Then he took a deep breath.

"You are right, but this is difficult. There are things... no, never mind. Just know it is hard for me to stand next to them. I swore to protect you though and I really do want to learn more about your world."

Cami held in a sigh of relief. It was a big step for her to correct Nico. If she'd done such a thing with her father, it would have earned her a beating, no matter how correct she might have been. "You're really coming to the university then?"

He shrugged. "For now."

There was a sinking feeling in her stomach. How could he not feel their connection. It was eating at her. Maybe she was just being a child. She had had her own dreams last night though and in one of them she was riding upon Nico's back high in the air while dressed in black and silver robes.

It was just a dream but it had felt so real. She wanted it to be real. She wanted to matter, to do great things.

She looked at the ground and awkwardly shifted her feet. Her hands clutched the sides of her dress. Inwardly, Cami cursed herself. She was being a silly child. Nico had already given her magic. She didn't have the right to expect any more than that.

She had taught him about cooking and ohhh... that reminded her about the bear cubs. They needed to check on Rollie and Patch. She looked around. The fighting was still going on but it was happening to the north of where they were. The thicket they had left the cubs in wasn't that far from here.

"Should we check on Patch and Rollie?"

Nico's expression became inscrutable. "Why?"

"Uh, aren't you worried about them?"

Now genuine confusion sprouted on the face of the dragon turned man and Cami was confused. She had so loved the way he had saved the bear cubs and then taken care of them. It showed her another side from his abrasive comments. What a person said could vary but what they did showed who they really were.

He snorted and started to say something but then bit down on his lip. "Is it important to you?"

Cami nodded.

"Then we can go check on them, but quietly. The adventurers will react poorly if they think we are running away."