Dragon Sorcerer 1- Chapter 19 (Patreon)

Chapter 19- My Dogs?

As soon as the words were out of my mouth I had no idea why I'd said them. I knew they weren't dogs, but also that humans tended to keep canines as pets. So my instinctive response had been to tell them that Rollie and Patch were my pets.

"Dogs? Are you blind. Those are freaking bears. They may not be full grown now but if they start thinking they can come into town it won't be long before some kid ends up drug off into the forest."

I struggled to understand his concern. The words made sense but not his intent. I began working through them. Why would he be worried if some random child was eaten by a predator? That would simply mean more for his own offspring.

By the look of the boy and girl clinging to the female I took for his mate they were in need of more food. Then something trickled into my mind. I remembered that humans had some odd ideas about communal safety. It probably came from being so weak as individuals.

I scoffed. "Bah, why would they want to eat a human child. Looking at yours their rather on the stringy side."

The man's eyes grew wide and suddenly he was holding up the pointy end of his weapon at me. As I looked at it, I realized it was more likely a farming implement than a weapon. The metal tines were to thin and they had a curve more like they'd be used for scooping rather than fighting.

All through the crowd I heard people murmuring. Apparently they didn't like what I'd just said. Waking up after being unconscious for a few days must have made me cranky because half of me wanted to switch to dragon form and just electrocute them all.

That was until I heard a low laughter coming from the man adventurer. I'd almost forgotten him amidst my musing about the frailty of humans. He walked over though and I didn't sense any intent to attack. Rather than coming to me he put his hand on the man's weapon.

"Put the pitchfork down. That man's a candidate for the mage's university. You know what would happen to him if you hurt him."

The man's face grew whiter and lost some of its pinkness. Once again it was that thing humans did with their faces where the color of their scales or rather skin changed to show emotion. I shook my head in wonder. This one seemed to reflect fear. Hmm... I guess it was a good thing for him to be properly afraid of me.

Before I could say anything more a ball of energy came running through the crowd and dove for the bears. I saw a flash of Cami's blond hair as she pulled one of the bears in for a hug. "Oh Patch, I've missed you."

She kissed the bear on the dark spot on his head which had given him his name. Then she looked over at Rollie who had begun to try licking all over Cami's face. "Yes, and I missed you too, Rollie."

She turned to the crowd, her face still flushed from the reunion with the bears. "We need to get these two to safety. They've been alone and unprotected for too long now." Her eyes were bright with determination and her voice was strong.

The crowd didn't seem to happy. They likely had wanted to see a fight. At least that is what dragons would have expected in such a situation. They all glanced at the ranger though and likely were afraid to go against the adventurer.

Cami stood up and shouted at the crowd. "Go home. You all have work to do."

I doubt they were moved by the young girl, but I felt proud of her for some reason. She was becoming even more confident than she had been when I first met her. The ranger took a step forward and that in combination with her words had everyone moving away quickly. They all must have realized at the same time that they had somewhere else to be.

The only one who stayed was the man who's smoke house this was. The bears had eaten several chunks of meat he had hanging and he didn't seem to know what to do. He had put down the pitchfork but was staring at the Liam, the ranger, as though asking the stranger for help.

They must have had some type of non-verbal communication because Liam said, "Since the bears belong to a university candidate, I'll reimburse you for the damage."

Then he fished into a pouch on his waist and pulled out a pair of gold coins. The thing is that his hand reached further into the pouch than should have been possible. I'd never seen one, but the dragon dream had taught me about spatial magics. Humans and other races tended to use that as they weren't big enough to carry everything they needed. It was just another sign of inferiority.

The man with the pitchfork's expression completely changed when he saw the flash of gold. I must admit I completely understood what he was thinking. It was only two coins but it was the first time I'd ever seen gold. Each one was barely an inch across and much thinner than that, but they were gold.

Something about it sang with my soul and for the first time, the true urge to gather a hoard began to form within me. It was all I could do not to reach out and grab the coins for myself. My hand may have been shaking as I held my arm to my side.

An instant later, I found Cami pressed up against me. She put her arm around my lower back and whispered softly, "Are you okay?"

All I could manage to do was nod, but she didn't seem to believe me as she pulled me even tighter. It was strangely reassuring. Rollie and Patch were fine, but I really didn't care that much about them. The only reason I'd been protective was because they were mine and no one threatened what was mine, least of all some pathetic low level human.

Cami was entirely different. I still couldn't figure out exactly what she was to me, but I found that I liked her grasping me with her arm. Her presence was oddly soothing. Maybe she was a type of therapy pet. It was an odd thought, but I could see how weak humans would find comfort in a pet. Surely, I hadn't become that weak though.

No, it had to be something else. I just couldn't figure out what it was at this moment. Then I realize didn't really care. I just enjoyed the sensation.

Liam looked at us and said, "If you want to keep these bears safe we need to get them back into the forest. He wasn't wrong. If they start to see the town as an easy place to find food they'll get into no end of trouble."

I started to say that he could do as he pleased but Cami spoke up, "No, the bears need to come with us. They lost their mother and think of Nico as their replacement mother."

Liam cracked a grin but didn't directly reply. After a moment he nodded and said, "Well bring them to the inn. It'll be worth it if for no other reason than to see the expression on Serius' face."

It took some doing but between Liam and Cami they got the bear cubs herded to the inn. Neither one would go inside until I went first. How, I had ended up in the position of caring for some immature ursine creatures was beyond me, but I just went with it.

When the bear cubs walked into the bar I almost immediately found a reason to let them follow me around. People started screaming. The serving girl practically leapt up onto the bar and even the adventurers jumped to their feet.

Liam also seemed to enjoy everyone's distress and I decided that while he might have been one of the murderous adventurers who drove me from my home that I'd make sure his death was as painless as possible.

He explained about the bears and soon Cami got them to lay down in the corner while she sat and listened as the old adventurer with the white beard began asking me questions. His beard seemed to be trimmed much shorter than what I recalled of when he invaded my clutch. I hoped it had been burnt off, especially if it was painful.

"It's good to meet you. Nico, correct?"

"How can it be good to meet me if you aren't even sure about my name?"

I locked eyes with the old wizard. Neither of us broke contact until finally he grinned. "No respect, but at least you have mettle. You'd have to though in order to drive off a dragon."

I shrugged remembering the story that Cami had told Galbrecht about me using an illusion to drive off the dragon. Of course, I was that dragon so there had been no driving off.

"Dragons are too powerful to flee from a single human. I suspect that the dragon simply had somewhere better to be," I replied.

Serius continued to look at me. "That may be true. If it's the same dragon as the one we were pursuing from the desert, he was young, but the feat is still impressive."

I wanted to leap across the table at him and bite into his neck, even if only with my flat human teeth. I trembled as I restrained myself, but that was when my eyes fell on the orb that rested on the table.

It practically oozed magic.

"What is that?" I asked, pointing to it.

Serius chuckled. "It's my crystal ball. It contains powerful spells that can be used for a variety of purposes from scrying to defense. For our purposes it's what I'll use to test you for fitness to enter the university."

Something about his tone got under my skin.

"And you think I'll fail this test?" I asked, my voice dripping with arrogance.

Serius laughed and stood up. "Have no fear. I'm sure you'll do just fine. I can already tell you have potential and of course I've heard reports from Galbrecht and Modessa about you. Young student Cami was particularly descriptive of your magical power. She seems to think you can do no wrong."

I smiled, almost preening at the compliment. I knew I was powerful. How could I not be? I was a dragon after all. Yet for some reason hearing about Cami's faith in me made a surge of energy rise in my chest.

I nodded my head at Serius and he began to explain the test. "Your friend may have already explained the test. It's quite simple. You place your hand upon the orb. It will take a drop of your blood and from that provide us with an assessment of your potential. It's worth saying that young Cami is the most promising student I've heard of in the past decade."

The thought of giving them a drop of my blood made me nervous. I knew how complete my transformation skill was but had no idea if it went down to the level of blood. If my blood tested as that of a dragon then there would be problems.

I began looking around the room as I calculated my chances of getting outside to transform. The biggest problem was that at this level the transformation would take too longer. If I was as I had been when fighting the horror, I'd have no concern about them, but that was likely hundreds of years of growth away.

"And what if I don't want to take the test?"

A human female in blue and white robes stood up from a chair where she sat behind Serius. "There is nothing to worry about. It is mostly a formality at this stage but we should still do things in the proper way. You have my word as a priestess of Miseria that no harm will come to you during the test. And it is necessary in order to attend the university."

Judging from my limited experience with human expressions the adventurers all seemed to think that settled the matter. It irked me for them to believe they could so simply dictate what I would do. They were murderers and if only I were a bit stronger I'd take my chances and attack them.

"Once again this assumes that I want to attend your university."

Galbrecht groaned. "We've been over this Nico. You said that you'd give it a chance. Does your word mean so little?"

Modessa was already on her feet. Her hand moved to the dagger on her hip. "If you don't want to go then I get to deal with you like all wild mages should be dealt with. So please, don't take the test." The last few words came out very slowly and deliberately with a smile on her face as though saying them was making her day.