Wild Dragon of Rome 31 (Patreon)

As we left the checkpoint behind, I couldn’t help but give a regretful glance toward that way. With the checkpoint successfully left behind, our escape had just taken a big step forward. I should be feeling happy. Elated, even.

However, as my gaze turned to the single, solitary scale on my arm, the only thing I felt was a deep frustration. How could I feel anything else, when the evidence of a potential disaster lay on my arm, showing that my botched breakthrough had more side effects than I had been expecting.

“Don’t feel stressed. I’m sure we can find a solution,” Lillian suddenly commented, still on my back as I carried her.

“I’m not stressing,” I said, but her scoff showed that I wasn’t particularly successful.

“Of course not,” she said, her sarcasm thick. “That’s why you’re not speaking, and sighing repeatedly.”

Despite the situation, I couldn’t help but smile gently. It had been a while since anyone actually cared about me enough to bother reading my mood. It was a nice change of pace. “I trust you, miss druid,” I commented.

“Hey, don’t speak that. It’s supposed to be a secret,” she said with a frustrated tone.

I chucked. “I’m sorry. You’re right, we need to hide it. Who knows, we might end up being hunted. Imagine what a disaster it would be.”

Lillian slapped my shoulder. “Don’t be a jerk.”

“Sorry, but I need to entertain myself somehow,” I said, then smirked. “And, things I could do while running is limited. Camping, on the other hand —”

“Shut up,” she said as she slapped my shoulder, and I laughed. I could hear the blush she was sporting in her tone.

“As you wish,” I said.

The silence ruled for a while, as I ran. Lillian was distracted by my condition, using the opportunity to cast a lot of diagnostic spells on my body, trying to understand what was going on. She was worried. I said nothing to distract her.

I was worried as well.

The situation continued until dawn arrived. We managed to find another cave. It was an even better resting spot than the previous one, with a nice spring nearby that could also function as a bath, with several berry bushes nearby. It was a far better resting spot than the previous few.

I let her relax a bit before I spoke once more, distracting her from her musings. “Our residence awaits, madam,” I said teasingly.

“Good,” she said as she cleaned the cave with a blast of water, careful not to alert any possible pursuers.

“I’m going to hunt. Any preference? Boar, maybe a deer,” I said. “I’m feeling famished enough.”

“Whatever you want,” she said. “However, before you go, we need to talk a bit,” she said. I nodded, gesturing for her to speak. “We need to find a way to get in contact with one of the tribes.”

“The Germanic tribes,” I commented, shocked at her comment. “Do you think we don’t have enough trouble?” After all, there was no love lost between the Germanic tribes and Rome, with both sides spilling enough blood over the years to change the color of the Rhine River. “They will make a terrible hiding spot. We should just need to follow the border as we travel the east, and soon, we’ll leave Gaul behind. Once we get to Dacia, we’ll be free of any pursuers.”

“Free, but not safe,” she commented.

I frowned. “You’ll be as safe as it’s possible when you have a suspiciously connected organization chasing you,” I said. I didn’t want to sound frustrated, but the day hardly felt safe for me either. Learning that my body was somehow achieving the impossible by absorbing mana had been an unexpected revelation, and I had yet to deal with it. Getting angry at Lillian for her preferences might not be fair, but I had my own limits as well.

Lillian looked at me in a way I found difficult to understand. Frustrated, but also … fondly. “Idiot, I wasn’t talking about my safety. We need to understand what’s going on with your body, and clearly, the shapeshifters are the best targets.”

“You have been thinking about it,” I said.

“I had a lot of time to think,” she said as she walked closer, and put her finger on the sole scale on my arm. “Whatever this is, it’s not something normal, and we need to understand what’s this. And, the Germanic tribes are our best hope, certainly when we’re on the run.”

“I…” I muttered, trying to find words. “It’ll be dangerous to contact them. Too dangerous. You don’t need to take such a risk. I can handle myself.”

“I don’t have to, but you didn’t have to try and save me from them either. You could have left me to my fate, and that way, you wouldn’t have ended up somehow merging with a dragon heart. Yet, you did. Why should I do anything less?”

I shrugged, avoiding her gaze. I could see her desire to help me even if it would risk her, and I felt touched. It was a novel feeling to someone to risk their life for me. No one did that for me before.

I didn’t hate it.

I looked into her eyes, trying to understand her determination. “Are you sure? We’re already in a messy situation, and once we contact the tribes, things will get even more complicated. Maybe we don’t need to take such a risk?”

“No, we do,” she answered. “I might not be a fully-fledged healer, but I know enough not to delay any more than necessary. I have been diagnosing you during the trip. Whatever was going on your body cannot be delayed.”

“And, why the hurry?” I asked.

She frowned despite trying to keep her expression neutral. A transparent attempt not to alarm me. “Just sit down for a moment. I need to check a few things to make sure my conclusions are correct.”

I sat down and crossed my legs, while she stood behind me, pressing her hand to my back, on my heart. In that position, she could kill me easily, yet I trusted her.

It was a novel feeling.

As her magic invaded my body again, I felt a wetness on my back, suggesting that she was using another druidic ritual rather than an elemental spell, the feeling of mana was much different. I didn’t question her about what she had been doing, respecting her secrets.

“It’s just as I feared,” she said.

“Tell me,” I said. It was clearly bad news, but I wasn’t in a habit of denial. It was always better to confront things directly.

“The scale is not an exception,” she said. “I don’t understand exactly what’s going on, but it’s clear that absorbing mana is changing your body on a fundamental level. It’s probably the source of your sudden strength. But, with the way the scale shows on your arm, I’m afraid of where it’ll stop.”

“And, you want to find a shapeshifter to learn how to contain those changes.”

“That’s the only way I could think of, at least without accessing a real library, which is rather difficult under the circumstances.”

I nodded. She was right. Going anywhere near civilization was risky enough, especially anywhere that would hold the information we might need. I was tempted to ask if she had any good news, but I did not. I didn’t want to make her feel guilty.

She spoke nonetheless. “But, I have some good news,” she said. “A way to limit the mana absorption.”

“Oh, that’s good news. How, exactly?” I asked.

“The mana density in your body directly affects the absorption. The more mana there is, the faster the transformation. The less mana you hold in your body, the slower it’ll happen. That way, we will have more time to understand what’s going on.

“Is that right,” I said as I caught her gaze, checking to see if she had been blushing. She was not, which, for a moment, I found insulting. I didn’t expect her to get used to our way of … dealing with my excess mana that quickly.

Then, even when eye contact didn’t make her change her mind, I realized exactly what was going on. Lost in the seriousness of the moment, she had missed the implications of handling my mana build-up.

I decided to remind her of that. “So, we should handle that before hunting, right,” I said as I grabbed her hand, dragging her toward the spring.

“What do you—” she started, then gasped as a blush spread onto her face.

Perfect.