Dragon Sorcerer 1- Chapter 21 (Patreon)

Chapter 21- Travel

I dropped her hand like it was suddenly poisonous and shot up so quickly I felt like I might hit my head against the ceiling. The room was none too big after all.

Cami’s expression fell, her smile becoming a look of fear. It wasn’t that I was I could suddenly figure out exactly what a flat squished human expression meant as much as her emotions practically screamed through the connection we felt. She had been so joyful and full of hope one minute only to suddenly feel like it had all come crashing down.

Her lip trembled. “Did I say something wrong?”

I indignation gave way to confusion. Was I really that obvious to her. Perhaps the way I’d stood up in my shock cued her in but no, she let me know something even more shocking than the idea that the university featured a pursuit for mages who treated dragons like horses.

Her eyes were wide and the trembling from her lip seemed to be spreading over her entire body. “No, I can just feel how upset you are. I didn’t mean anything bad. I keep seeing this image in my head of horses. But I don’t think that’s what a dragon rider is like at all.”

There was so much to unpack there. How could riding a dragon not be an insult to the dragon. I wanted to roar. I wanted to bite her head off. The only thing which tempered me was the memory of my ancestor allowing the orc Tra’vis to ride upon her back. The dragon dream didn’t share everything with those who saw the visions but that one had been the strongest I’d ever experienced and I’d felt nothing but contentment in my ancestor. For some disgusting reason she enjoyed having the orc riding her. At least there hadn’t been a saddle or other of the accoutrements of slavery like bridles and bits which were imposed upon horses.

As shocking as that image was for me, what hit me harder was the sheer fact that Cami was apparently able to feel what I was feeling. It was so strong for her that she even saw some of the mental images which had popped into my head. That or she was simply very good at guessing, but she was only a human, so that defied logic as much as the idea that she could feel what I was feeling.

The connection. That had to be what was going on. I had naturally assumed it was a one way connection. It was my magic which had activated it after all. Why would it ever occur to me that it would be a mutually shared experience. She was a soft, tiny human. I was a dragon, child of the powerful, heir of the world.

“Can you feel what I’m feeling too?” The words came out before I had time to think about if I wanted confirmation.

She stared at me. “Oh… is that’s what’s bothering you? I thought you were upset because I mentioned the idea of being a dragon rider.” Her face squished up even more and I got the sense she was thinking things through. I wanted to be mad at her but it was like having a pet which is objectively ugly but is adorable to you. There was something about her expression which made me what to ‘ooh and ahh.’

“Let’s talk about this. I’ve been slowly gaining a sense of what you’re feeling ever since my magic was awakened. Are you saying that you feel the same?”

She squealed. “Oh Nico, this is awesome. I had no idea that you could feel a connection with me. I had thought that something about you magic imprinted onto me. This is so much better.”

Then she tilted her head sideways and stared at me intently. I was caught off guard by her expression and felt a combination of curiosity and excitement coming from her. A smile lit up her face, something which I now knew wasn’t her baring her teeth in a show of dominance. “You’re wondering if this makes you vulnerable and yet can’t stop being curious about how it works.”

I nodded. She was doing a good job of proving that she could feel what I felt, but it still not very specific. Her eyes squinted and she strained a bit. “You’re wondering if this will make you like Wasnera and me like Tra’vis, but I have no idea what those names mean. It’s painful to try and feel so deeply. I don’t think our connection is strong enough for anything other than simple emotions and I strain it when I push for more.”

That settled it. I couldn’t help but be shocked. I had never spoken about the dragon dream to Cami or any other human and I’d definitely never mentioned the name of my ancestor or the orc who’d been with her. I shook my head. “I’m not angry. I’m confused. And yes, I can feel your emotions too, but I had thought it was only something happening to me. In retrospect that was fairly foolish, but in my defense you are only human.”

She stood up and put her hands on her hips. “Only human, what’s that supposed to mean.”

I started to explain about the natural superiority of dragons but then shut my mouth. It just felt hollow right now. “Never mind. I just need to think on this for a bit.”

“But shouldn’t we talk about the dragon rider thing?”

My eyes widened. “No. Definitely not. We should never talk about that again.”

The anger which I had felt building in Cami deflated and she looked at me with the sorrow of a lost opportunity. Oh well, she’d just have to get over the disappointment.

“I really should get ready to leave. I think they planned on us leaving after breakfast. Or did the plan change?”

She looked at me for several seconds before answering me. “No, they wanted me to get you to come downstairs after we eat, but don’t worry. Even if you’re angry with me, I’ll never betray you and I’ll never put the adventurers of the university before you, Nico.”

Then she gathered up the now empty plates and opened the door. “Come on Patch and Rollie, we better leave. This room is gonna be too small for anyone but Nico to fit.”

She stormed out and the traitorous little bears took her side as they followed her out. I started to call out to her but her name caught in my throat. I needed time. Perhaps we could travel in silence and I’d have the opportunity to process this. I almost called out to her but something kept me from doing so. She was only a human child, young woman, whatever, I shouldn’t be this worried about a servant or pet. Yet somehow that thought only made me angrier with myself.

Fortunately, the morning moved quickly and none of the adventurers tried to poke into my sullen mood. They explained we had to travel to a city called Taleia which was only about a hundred miles away. Since Cami insisted on taking the bear cubs, we had to use a wagon for them and that meant we would be traveling a bit slower.

Modessa complained, “You know this is going to add at least an extra day to our travel. I personally can’t wait to get to an actual bed.”

“Oh, don’t fret about it, the road is fairly flat here. Just a few hills, but most of this part of Taleia is fairly flat,” Galbrecht said. I found his words confusing. It was something I had never considered before. We didn’t travel much in the desert but when you fly as a dragon the nature of the terrain is never a consideration. Considering what he said left me realizing there was more for me to learn about the world. I might not have to worry about it in dragon form but if I ever wanted to raise an army to conquer one of these human cities I would need to factor such issues.

Lisella laughed, “If he wasn’t so dense, Modessa, he’d be far more interested in you getting a big, soft bed that had room for sharing.”

The rogue joined in the laughter and both women stared at the paladin. I was trying to figure out if this was some strange mating ritual where the two females fought over the male. Typically with dragon kind it was the males who fought over the most desirable females, although the exact reasons why it was so important seemed rather vague to me. I understood the need to procreate and could even admire an attractive dragon, but it was low on my priority list. Apparently, at some point it would become far more important to me. At least that was what the dragon dream hinted at. That was more for when I became a mature adult though.

Throughout it all, Galbrecht just kept his mouth shut. I couldn’t decide if that was because he wasn’t interested or because he simply wanted to see how the battle for his attention played out. Watching humans was definitely interesting.

Meanwhile the human I liked the most was spending the majority of her time either in the wagon with the cubs or riding on her horse next to Serius speaking in low tones. When she wasn’t doing either of those things she was pestering Liam to teach her how to drive the wagon. I wondered if I should approach her but decided it would be best to let her come and ask my forgiveness.

The thing which drove that point home the most was the horse I was riding. How anyone could believe that a dragon could be ridden like this dumb beast was beyond me. It made me want to transform or smash the small orb for daring to suggest that such a thing was appropriate. It made my blood boil so I did my best to distract myself by listening to their conversations.

One of the things I found most interesting was how Lisella and even Modessa were talking about perhaps taking a turn teaching at the university. I didn’t know much about Lisella other than that she was a high ranked priestess of Miseria oh and apparently she came from some sort of noble family amongst the humans. It amused me that humans thought birth conveyed some special status. They were all born as naked, pink primates. Well actually to be fair the dragon dream had shown me images of humans with different skin colors, but the point was all the same. Every dragon knew the simple truth that what you obtain in life if done by the might of your claws and sharpness of your mind.

Modessa on the other hand I had gotten to know a bit. She had seemed dismissive of staying in one place for too long, although she expressed a repeated desire to spend time in what she called a proper city. So, it seemed strange to me that she would want to join the university. Then it dawned on me. She wanted to teach, Cami.

A surge of pride went through me. My pet was very gifted. All of the humans agreed, she had a great many talents and great potential. She would be able to serve me well in the future. We just had to get past our current awkwardness.

A humorous thought crossed my mind. I didn’t receive the image for the pursuit of the shadow, but what if I had. Perhaps I could use illusion magic to mirror it. It would have been a great hoot to see Modessa trying to ingratiate herself to me to teach me about shadow magic. For the first time since my fight with Cami, I felt a smile creeping across my face. Yes, that would have been a wonderful thing, humbling Modessa after all the disrespect she had shown me. That thought kept me company even when we broke camp and I fell asleep under the stars.