—Sally—

  The sudden sight of a respectable and well-put-together elder shocked me into silence. Icaro—the apparent Medicine-Man occasionally mentioned by the villagers—was the complete opposite of the saggy, decrepit, and dementia-ridden grandfather who'd been leading the village.

  His back? Straight.

  His Demeanour? Regal.

  His posture? Perfect. His chin held high with a wisdom in his eyes that validated his arrogant, kingly personality.

  All in all, a seasoned veteran with a sound, unrotted mind, which thankfully seemed brain-worm free. Equipped with a well of experienced and—from what I could spy—an extensive repertoire of tools, potions, and weapons attached to his belt and leather shirt.

  I watched in silence as the regal Elder confidently and firmly marched forwards. He stepped in front of Aylin, nudging her behind him so that he stood between her and Orion. It was clear that he wanted to protect Aylin from what he thought was an abduction with unsavoury intentions. A glance at Orion's stony face showed that he was playing hard-ball with the protective grandfather. If he hadn't noticed the social faux pas he had unintentionally committed, I would begin to suspect that he had a much better poker-face than social skills.

  "Is there an issue?" Orion asked as he stood upright. The Ranger was half-a-head taller than Icaro, and because the Medicine-Man had inserted himself between Orion and our willing abductee, Orion was in Icaro's face, literally looking down on him from centimetres above. As effective a threat as it was, I found the aggressive response strange, as Orion was usually reasonable guy—I think.

  That detail made Orion's response inappropriate, and suggested that he was socially adrift as to what Icaro's question alluded to. Was he really just confused right now? Wondering what being alone in a forest with a little girl could possibly hint at?

  I burst out laughing, unable to withstand the absurdity of the situation and hold back my foxy giggling. I found Orion's inability to express his confusion laughably lacking, the silly—and unbelievably stupid—situation incredibly entertaining.

  The two adults stopped their staring contest to look at me. Orion stared at me with straight-faced perplexion, while Icaro seemed to be caught somewhere between arrogant indignation and shock.

  "Or-i-hon, ex-pl-hain… T-ho H-him" I wheezed, my throat still raw from too much talking. From all of the reassurances I had to whisper to Aylin to keep her calm during our escape, to the planning phase beforehand with Orion, talking so much had exhausted my nascent voice-box. I was hoping that at some point the muscles in my throat would improve if I kept on giving it these intense workouts.

  "We… technically, kidnapped your granddaughter to ask her-"

  "Did that… strange looking drakeling… just talk?" Icaro interrupted Orion, the woozy sentence spilling out of his mouth. The Medicine-Man had been so bamboozled by my ability to talk that he completely missed Orion’s confession. But I probably shouldn't have accidentally revealed my heritage either, given I was trying to hide my dragon-hood until we figured out why people acted so fearful about my existence.

  "GRAMPY! Stop being rude!" Aylin abruptly interjected as she walked out from behind her grandfather to lovingly kick him in the shin.

  "Ah-shhh-i-i…" Icaro almost swore, stopping himself halfway through the word with some deep breaths as he rubbed the assaulted leg.

  "That's Sally the dragon! And Orion! Who's… uhm… A guy!" Aylin attempted to introduce us, her inability to remember any of Orion's defining details only reigniting my chirping laughter. The sounds coming out of me were similar to what I imagined I would hear if someone did an Irish jig with squeaky clown shoes.

  "… Aylin. Did you just say 'Sally the dragon, and Orion, the guy?'." Icaro asked his granddaughter. He stood upright again, letting go of his bruising shin as he spoke in an incredulous tone, obviously disbelieving of her answer.

  "I'm a Ranger." Orion answered the question unintended for him. When Icaro gave him a scathing look, Orion simply unhooked the bow that'd been sitting on his shoulder, and showed it to him, as if it were the answer Icaro was looking for.

  But the display of the bow did raise one of Icaro's eyebrow, and he gave it a closer look. An expression of possible recognition flitted across his face before it settled.

  "Ignoring… whatever that creature is, why do you have that bow?" The Medicine-Man asked while dismissively waving me away.

  "It was given to me as payment for hunting animals for the village." Orion succinctly replied.

  "M-hm! He hunted a big deer!" Aylin corroborated, her support of Orion's story and exaggerated hand gestures of the animal’s size were enough for Icaro to ease his guarded, protective stance.

  "You've been assisting the village with food?"

  "We've been… trying to help." Orion answered.

  "We? Who is the other person—or people—that forms your 'we'?" Icaro asked—still completely ignoring me when I raised a wing.

  "Sally?" Orion replied with a hint of confusion, pointing at me when Icaro refused to acknowledge my existence with even a glance.

  "I'm unsure if that is a species of drakeling, but it is certainly no dragon, and is extremely well-trained if it is able to parrot some small sentences." The Medicine-Man grumbled, reducing my existence to a disciplined pet.

  I growled at the man, aggravated enough to rely on the animalistic noises I hated—my voice and human words still too exhausted to use.

  "Sally can speak! Maybe… just not right now!" Aylin answered him, but her words only seemed to make him more entrenched in his disbelief of my race.

  "Uh-huh… Well Aylin, if it can't-" "He." Orion interjected, correcting the dehumanising language Icaro was directing towards me.

  "If he can't talk right now, then let's resume this conversation when he can." Icaro expertly defused Aylin. He then sent Orion a glare, obviously irritated by his correction. I was beginning to dislike this guy, his behaviour had dashed my excitement of him being the most sane villager so far with disappointment.

  "In the meanwhile… the Ranger could explain some context?" Icaro asked in a manner that really didn't make it feel like a request.

  "Well… it started on the first day we arrived, on our way back-" Orion began to explain, but I interrupted him before he could spoil Aylin's innocence. I had slapped Orion's leg with my tail, the meaty impact interrupting his retelling of the events before he could mention a man getting his entrails eaten. The visual was… bad, and I don’t think Aylin would sleep well tonight if she was told that she was almost eaten.

  When all three people around me turned towards me, I pointed towards Aylin with a claw. I then sat on my hind so I could mime covering both of my ears with my talons. After a suspicious look from the Medicine-Man, he whispered something into Aylin's ear and then covered both with his hands. While she did pout, Aylin didn't resist Icaro's removal of her participation in the conversation.

  "… Continue." Icaro commanded Orion, though he never moved those old eyes away from my body.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  "On our way back, we came across an unnatural creature. It had killed one of the townspeople, and was eating his corpse. The next day..." Orion continued to retell to the Elder, but I tuned out for the rest of the conversation. It's not like I needed to pay attention to the parts of the story I was present for.

  "… We were across the street watching Aylin's house when the Wendigo appeared again. It showed itself talking for the first time, and Aylin's mother agreed to… fatten her up when asked by the monster. We decided to kidnap her directly afterwards." Orion eventually finished, Icaro's regal demeanour beginning to crack under the weight of his rage.

  I took a step away from him, getting ready to use my meat shield if he attacked us.

  "Yusota! That bitch." Icaro cussed, surprising me with his immediate belief of our story and blaming Aylin's mother.

  At least I now knew the mother's name, though I did enjoy hearing Icaro's wonderfully creative monikers far more than learning about her. The insults ranged from 'that bitch' Yusota, 'scheming parasite' Yusota, and my personal favourite, Yusota, 'that thieving rodent, who stole the best years of my son's life'. But after listening to Icaro artfully insult Yusota for a while, I decided to intervene in his verbal flogging of the women who wasn’t even present for it. If I hadn’t, I didn’t think that we would’ve achieved anything productive before it became dark.

  I cleared my throat loudly, that noise was enough to remind Icaro that there were people waiting for him, and he halted his tirade. After taking a second to regain his composure, he released Aylin's eardrums and returned his attention to the problem at hand.

  "Whilst I would love to hear more of your tale immediately, I believe it would be prudent to make camp before nightfall." Icaro declared. His decision seemed strange, as there was a village of houses—and his home as well—just a few minutes away.

  "Why wouldn't-" "Aylin! Let's have another camping night, doesn't that sound fun?" Icaro ignored Orion's question, instead speaking to Aylin with the universal tone always used with puppies and children.

  "YES! It's been so-o-o long!" Aylin squealed, shaking with excitement.

  "How about… over there?" Icaro childishly asked, shifting his pack of camping gear off of his shoulders and handing it to Aylin. The girl didn't seem to mind the heavy lifting, wrapping the bag in a bear hug as she teetered under its weight. The kid then ran to the spot Icaro had pointed at, a flat surface on the other side of the clearing, and—very conveniently—just far enough to be out of earshot.

  "We will continue our discussion of the threat later, after Aylin has gone to bed. I recommend you camp with us, as I suspect the forest will be safer than the village. Especially if the beast has already attempted to sneak into your room while you slept." Icaro whispered, his suggestion one I was thankful for. I had not been looking forward to trying to sleep with the threat of a hungry home-invader possibly attacking at any moment.

  With his piece done, Icaro moved to his granddaughter's side, returning to the kind, affable grandfather Aylin knew him as. It was a bit jarring to see the jump between personalities, especially with how expertly the wizened professional could mask his emotions. While the man did have his issues—namely his disrespect of my dragon-hood—the assistance of… a mage? Alchemist? What does a Medicine-Man do exactly?

  Well, whatever his skill set, I'm sure it'll make finishing the [Quest] a breeze.

  I stopped scheming when I noticed that Orion had begun to walk over to the pair setting up the campsite, so I trotted after him.

  ***

  It was almost nightfall by the time they'd finished assembling their kit. One small tent with only enough room for a single person to lie down in, a pot over a hastily assembled campfire, and a few logs to use as seats.

  It was… rustic, but nice enough to suffice for the night.

  It had taken most of the hour for them to build the campsite, and I spent most of it watching them. Naturally, I wasn't going to involve myself unless I had to. But I did have to deal with something so utterly mundane for the first time that I didn't realise what it was at first.

  I had to go to the toilet. Apart from the incident, my bowels hadn't forced me to dispose of any waste products, ever. Not even a single number-two since birth.

  It was an inevitable event in hindsight, but when I began to feel a pressure from between my legs, it wasn't hard to guess what it was. So I slunk off into the bushes, planning to deal with it and return before anyone could be any the wiser. Mostly so I could go back to ignoring my gear downstairs as soon as possible. A habit from when I was human. Both then and now, I found touching or even thinking about them perturbing—disassociating.

  They were a burden I had to occasionally take out, deal with, and then stow away as quickly as possible. I had never really hated my old set of equipment, it was that I simply had never wanted to look at the wrinkly trio for any longer than necessary.

  I couldn't imagine how much worse it'd be if I had attempted to deal with the serpentine version of them I’d been given.

  So, I refused to look at the offending area as I experimented with the muscles that'd been sending me the signals. It took a few tries, but I eventually felt a set of scales retract, and the exposure of the sensitive skin underneath to the open air.

  It only took a few moments for the uncomfortable pressure to be replaced with relief. But before I could even consider cleaning the area, the scales recovered it. I tried to check anyway, but I was left looking at a clean crotch, and I stopped before I could feel even more uncomfortable with myself.

  I did spare a moment to investigate what I'd produced, and thankfully it was the most inoffensive pile of shit I’d ever seen. The pile resembled a stack of black rocks rather than animal waste, and a poke with a stick confirmed that they were just as hard as the stones they resembled. With the necessary task of unravelling my alien biology dealt with, I cast aside the chore to deal with more pleasant things. If bathroom visits continued to be this sporadic in the future, then I wouldn’t have to think about it again for weeks—maybe even a month.

  I slipped back into the campsite, jumping back onto my seat to see Icaro preparing dinner. Someone had successfully hunted something, because I could smell the cooking flesh, and the aroma of spices, which felt surprisingly unappetising to my nose. If my sense of smell was correct, then the wonderful collection of herbs exist back home were no longer capable of being interesting to me.

  Which was such a pity, because if Aylin's drooling, and Orion's rumbling stomach were anything to go by, it smelt fantastic.

  It did not take long for it to be ready, and I watched as Icaro spooned the fried meat into three bowls, handing them out to Orion and Aylin. I waited eagerly for my portion, but almost moved to bite Icaro when he placed a dish full of meat onto the floor, far away from my seat. The act was eerily similar to putting out a bowl of dog food, and I did not appreciate the parallels Icaro had drawn with his actions.

  A growl slipped through my lips, the action feeling… both mine, but uncontrolled. It was more ingrained, an unconscious expression through body language, no different from a yawn. Like the sensation of being scratched, it seemed that this part of my body's functions had become more mine as well.

  But my noise had drawn Orion's attention to the situation, and without a word, the ranger stood. He walked over to my food, ignoring Icaro and my staring contest to fetch my food, and placed it next to me on the log. I broke off my glare as Orion sat back down next to me, my hunger more important than Icaro's actions.

  It took a surprisingly monumental amount of effort to keep my eating civilised, the urge to just cut loose was overwhelming. But as much as my body—and I—wanted to stick my whole snout into it, I had promised myself that I’d resist those urges. Also, the pressure to stay civilised was only reinforced by my desire to not give Icaro any more ammunition he could use to affirm his beliefs.

  "It's no wonder that creature is so spoilt if you-" "-Do not speak about Sally that way." Orion quickly cut-off Icaro's insulting words with a curt admonishment, stopping him before he could dig a deeper hole.

  That seemed to be enough for the grouchy old man, and he resigned himself to giving me a stink eye between bites of his food. Ones that I was very happy to reciprocate, glaring right through his suspicious gaze. Though I did keep getting distracted, his white bushy eyebrows partially covered his eyes when they were furrowed.

  Halfway through the meal, I noticed Orion looking at me out of the corner of my eye, and the gaze seemed… expectant. Maybe even a little bit needy.

  It threw me off for a second, as I was completely confuddled with the stony-faced Orion suddenly wanting something from me?

  But his stares made me feel awkward, the intensity of it driving me to turn to him and give him a thumbs up with a claw out of desperation. It was intended to be a gesture that asked ‘you good?’, but it seemed to be answer enough for the warrior. Whatever question or desire he had held in that gaze had been completely resolved by the most basic acknowledgement by me.

  He returned his attention to his meal with a small smile on his face, an emotion that I hadn’t seen before. It wasn’t a grin, there was no grand transformation of his face either, just a little twist of the lips.

  It wasn't an expression I'd seen on his face before, but it was nice. It didn’t feel forced or performative, like some of his other expressions were, it was a smile just meant for himself. A peek beneath his exterior, and a glimpse the man beneath. Something about its purity made it hard to forget, even long after the meal had ended.

  ***

  As the fire began to dwindle, Aylin was overcome with an unending slew of yawns, and Icaro took her to bed. He corralled the sleepy child through a series of bedtime chores, before eventually depositing her inside his tent, and leaving her there to sleep.

  It was half an hour later before anything interesting happened again. Icaro had stood up and interrupted Orion's ten minute tirade about animals to go check on Aylin. He stuck his head inside the flap, was seemingly satisfied with whatever he saw, and then sat back down beside us.

  "Now that Aylin is asleep, we should have the real conversation." Icaro declared gravely.

  "Especially about the creature you call a dragon. And, the nature of that collar." Icaro continued, irritatingly reminding me what my unremovable fashion piece resembled.