“It’s done,” Kas assured me, and she came to stand by me. “Here, let
me show you.”
She waved her hand over Blar, and suddenly he looked almost
identical to Larena’s dogs. He was medium sized with long gray hair and a
tail and muzzle, and I couldn’t believe my eyes for a moment, since the
transformation was so incredibly realistic.
“Whoa,” I breathed.
“Yeah,” Kas said as she waved her hand the other way, and the illusion
disappeared as quickly as it had come. “It doesn’t work if you observed the
spell being cast.”
“Oh.” I frowned. “So, how did you show me just now?”
“I revealed the illusion to you,” she explained. “That’s what he’ll look
like to everyone else, but to us he’ll still look like himself.”
“Strange,” I murmured as I stared at the little dragon. “Does he feel any different?”
“I don’t think so,” Kas said, but she pursed her lips as she thought.
“Animals can’t really talk to ask them, but none of the ones I’ve done the
spell on have ever been hurt or anything.”
“How about it, Blar?” I asked. “Do you feel any different?”
The little dragon looked down at his legs, then back up at me and
shook his head.
“There you have it,” I laughed.
“I guess the rules don’t really apply to him, do they?” Kas chuckled.
“Not exactly,” I agreed with a smile. “We should get going, though,
it’s already midafternoon. We don’t want to waste any more of the day.”
“Right,” Kas agreed, then she looked down at Blar. “Should we… I
don’t know, put him on a leash?”
“Hm,” I hummed, and I thought for a moment. Most people did put
their dogs on leashes when they took them out on the main roads, so it would
be the proper thing to do, and we didn’t want to attract unwanted attention.
“Hold on.”
I went into the house and grabbed the piece of tough string I’d found
the same day I’d discovered Blar and brought it back out. It was just long
enough, and I tied it around his little neck loosely, so it would fit like an actual leash.
Blar glared at me and tugged on the rope with his front paws.
“I know, buddy,” I said. “But it’s just while we’re walking on the road.
This way you can be out in the open. Kas made it so everyone will see you as
a dog instead of a dragon.”
The little lizard smiled and put his hands down, so I guess not having
to ride in the satchel was worth a little bit of discomfort.
Blar and I were ready to go, but when I glanced up at Kas, I saw she
looked slightly nervous.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I don’t want to waste any more time,” she said. “But now that we had
to do this spell, I’m wondering what other spells we might have to do once
we go through the portal.”
“Will doing more spells be a problem?” I questioned.
“Only in that I might not have everything I need,” she sighed, and she
bit her lip.
“Okay,” I said. “Where can we get it?”
“We can go back to my father’s shop,” she suggested. “But the whole
trip there and back to the portal would probably take an hour or so.”
I weighed our options. We could go into the portal as we were and
possibly come across some crazy otherworldly beast that was too much for us
to handle, or we could take some extra time to make sure we were prepared.
The choice seemed easy to me. It was always better to be prepared than to
rush into things head on without consideration as to what might happen.
“Let’s go to your shop, then,” I decided.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“It’s better to be prepared.” I nodded. “Besides, your father said the
portals normally stay for about twelve hours. We still have time.”
“Okay,” Kas agreed with a smile. “Thanks. I don’t mean to slow us
down.”
“You’re not,” I assured her. “We had to come back to my house for my
axe, now we’ll go to your father’s shop for magical supplies. Besides, we
figured out a way to disguise Blar, that was definitely worth all the time
we’ve spent already.”
I knew I was walking into realms I’d never been to, and I didn’t know what I
might find there. I’d heard stories, sure, but who knew what other creatures
lurked in the shadows of these worlds. I wasn’t about to be caught off guard,
not if I could help it. It was always better to have a strategy in place to deal
with such things, especially since we were unable to fully prepare for the portals ahead of time. We had no idea where they led, and we only had a
certain number of hours there before the portal closed and we were stuck. It
wasn’t the greatest conditions for exploring, but it was what we had, and
luckily, we could continue to find different portals to explore, even if we had
to leave one after only a few hours. There was barely any known information
about dragons anymore, either, which just made our job that much more
difficult. We had to travel through each portal and hope we made contact
with one, or found some eggs, and if we didn’t find either, then I just hoped
we’d find something of value to make the trip more interesting.
Regardless of the strange conditions of our travels, I was happy to be
on the adventure with Blar and Kas.
Kas had already proven herself a valuable member of the team with her
skills at the clearing and now with Blar’s disguise. If it wasn’t for her, it
would be a lot more difficult to travel with him, so if she needed an hour of
our time to gather supplies so she could continue to do magic like that, then I
was more than willing to oblige.
We walked out toward the road, and at first I felt nervous with Blar
down by my feet. I’d never had him out in the open before, but I had to
remind myself that while he still looked like a dragon to me, he’d look like a
dog to everyone else.
So, I took a deep breath and stepped out onto the road.
“This feels strange,” I admitted with a small laugh.
“It does,” Kas agreed. “But don’t worry, nobody else will recognize
him.”
I nodded, and we started toward her father’s shop. I watched Blar as
we walked, and he looked all around as he pranced along happily at my side.
He was obviously enjoying his newfound freedom, and I was happy Kas was
able to give it to him. It must have been hot and dark in the satchel, and now
he was able to be out in the fresh air with everyone else. He was so young,
too, that he was entranced by everything around him. He tried to stop and
sniff the different flowers and things off to the side of the road, and I’d let
him get a little smell in before I hurried him along again.
“I think he likes being out with us,” Kas observed as we came to the
road that led to the market. We’d go the other way, but there were bound to
be people walking home with their supplies. This would be the real test.
“He does,” I said with a smile, but then I heard a loud gasp, and I
looked u
p to see a family around the corner from the market.
Then two small children ran straight toward me.
“Ask the banner warrior first!” the mother called out, and she was a tall
woman with a baby on her hip.
“Can we pet your dog, warrior?” the little girl asked as she and her
brother stopped right in front of me.
“Sure,” I chuckled, and I was happy they had said ‘dog’ and not
‘dragon’.
“What’s his name?” the little boy questioned.
“Blar,” I said, and I watched as the children bent down and began to
pet him gently.
Blar ate up the attention, and he rubbed himself against their little
hands and even dared to lick them a bit.
“Alright,” the father laughed. “Come along now, we need to get
home.”
“Thanks, warrior,” the little girl giggled, then she looked down at Blar
and waved before she and her brother ran back to their parents.
The father smiled and nodded at me, and I returned the favor. It was
strange to feel so welcomed by others, but I guess a man with a dog was
somehow less threatening than an orphan with nobody around.
“That went well,” Kas said as we continued walking.
“You did good.” I smiled. “Thank you for doing this.”
“Well, I figure we’re kind of a team now,” she said with a shrug. “If I
can make things easier, then I might as well do it.”
“Still,” I said, “I appreciate it.”
“Sure,” she mumbled, but she blushed slightly and looked away. “I
think Blar likes the attention, at least.”
“I can see why,” I said. “It’s nice to feel welcomed by others.”
“Larena seems to welcome you just fine,” Kas chuckled.
“That’s true,” I allowed. “But normally in public most people avoid
me.”
“Oh,” she said with a frown. “I don’t really go out in public too much,
but when I do, I’m Ramir’s daughter. I don’t really have an identity of my
own. It’s not exactly the same, but I can understand the loneliness of it all.”
“I’m sorry people treat you like that,” I replied.
She was such a beautiful woman, I couldn’t imagine anyone seeing her
as only her father’s daughter, but then again, her father was ancient and
presumably quite powerful if his daughter’s skills were any indication. Men
might avoid Kas just because they didn’t want to piss her father off and wind
up as a goat on the hillside.
I shuddered at the thought. A good enough threat could deter most
men, no matter how gorgeous of a specimen they’d get if they took the risk.
“It’s alright,” Kas sighed. “It’s not like they’re mean to me or ignore
me. I’m only an extension of my dad, and I get that.”
“Just from experience, I’d say the ignoring is probably worse,” I
chuckled.
“You don’t seem to let it get to you,” Kas remarked.
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “It’s not their fault. Most people
just follow the lead of those around them. I worked hard and got into a
warband, and I like my life. Whatever they think about me is their own
problem.”
“Wow,” she breathed. “That’s a good mentality to have.”
“What else are you going to do?” I asked, but we’d reached her
father’s shop, so I pulled open the door and stepped inside.
“Ah, back again,” I heard Ramir’s voice say, but I didn’t see him
anywhere.
“I came to get some supplies father,” Kas said as she pushed past me.
“What kind of supplies?” Ramir asked as he popped up from behind
the counter.
“I want to practice some spells,” Kas replied in a calm tone.
“You want to practice spells with him?” Ramir asked, and he smirked
and raised an eyebrow at her.
“Yes,” Kas answered, but her tone was sharper than before.
“I’m Rath,” I said, and I extended my hand. “I don’t think I introduced
myself properly earlier.”
“Rath,” Ramir echoed. “I like the name. My daughter must have taken
a fancy to you. She doesn’t practice magic in front of anyone.”
“Father,” Kas snapped, and she cocked her head to the side.
I could only see the back of her head, but I imagined the look she gave
him was as close to a threatening look as one could give their parents.
“Oh, pish, posh,” Ramir said with an eye roll. “No need to be
embarrassed, dear. He’s handsome and is obviously clever. Also, he likes
dragons.”
“I’m not embarrassed,” Kas protested, and I could hear her jaw was
set. “I’d just like some supplies.”
“Well, you know where they are,” Ramir said, and he flashed her a
smile.
“Thank you,” Kas grumbled, and she took off to the back of the store.
“So easily embarrassed, that one,” Ramir laughed and pointed in the
direction Kas had just disappeared, then he came around to the front of the
counter and looked down at Blar. “New dog?”
“Ah, yes,” I said, and I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’m trying to
teach him some things. Kas said she’d help me.”
“Hm,” he hummed, and he walked around Blar and me as if he were
scrutinizing everything about us, but then he stopped in front of Blar, bent down, and scratched under his chin. “They seem to really like this, don’t
they?”
“He does,” I agreed, but how did he know Blar’s favorite place to be
scratched?
“Most do,” Ramir said, and he looked up and smiled at me so the skin
around his milky blue eyes crinkled. “I would have expected you to be off
looking for portals already.”
“I had a few stops to make,” I explained. “Then I ran into Kas, and she
said she could help with the dog training.”
“Right… dog training.” The old man nodded, but it was obvious he
didn’t believe a word I said and knew exactly what was going on.
I supposed that was his way of giving me a blessing to take his
daughter on an adventure.
“I’m ready,” Kas announced as she returned from the back of the store
with a large red satchel draped over her shoulder.
“You two have fun,” Ramir said as Kas practically pulled me back
through the door.
“Your father is quite the character,” I teased as we walked.
“He’s embarrassing,” Kas muttered with a shake of her head.
“He’s your dad,” I chuckled. “Aren’t dads supposed to be
embarrassing?”
“I suppose so,” the blonde sighed. “It doesn’t make it any better
though.”
“You’re lucky to have him,” I murmured.
“Oh,” Kas said, and she looked at me with wide eyes. “I don’t mean to
complain when… ”
“When I don’t have any parents?” I chuckled.
“Yeah,” she whispered, and she bit her lip. “That.”
“It’s okay,” I said with a shrug. “If you couldn’t complain about them
then what would the point be? I’m sure if I had parents I’d complain about
them, too.”
“That’s true,” Kas chuckled, but then she looked down and bit her lip.
“Are you alright?” I asked softly.
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” she said, and she looked back up at the road. “I
was just thinking about my mother. I grew up without her, and that was hard,
but you didn’t have a mother or father. I can’t imagine how terrible that must
have been.”
I realized then I hadn’t even thought about Kas’ mother. She’d said she
was a Valkyrie, but I didn’t think about her having died.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I said with a frown.
“Thanks,” she replied, and she smiled at me slightly. “What about you?
What was it like for you growing up?”
“Strange, I guess.” I shrugged. “I think I was in an orphanage as a
baby, but I remember being on my own by the time I was five.”
“Five?” Kas exclaimed. “That’s so young. How did you survive?”
“I would do odd chores for people,” I said. “And they’d feed me or
give me money. I found that clearing where I live when I was about ten and
started working on it, then.”
“Wow,” she breathed. “You’ve been on your own a long time.”
“I have,” I agreed. “But I don’t mind it so much, you get used to it
after a while.”
I looked down at Blar then and smiled. I hadn’t had anyone around for
basically my whole life, but his presence already soothed me in some ways.
We were bound to each other, and I liked the feeling of knowing I didn’t
have to be alone any longer.
“You know,” Kas said as she looked down at Blar, “maybe you have
some sort of magic you don’t know about.”
“I’ve been wondering the same thing myself,” I muttered.
“Most of the demi-gods have powers or magic,” she continued.
“But some don’t,” I pointed out.
“Well, you don’t know your parents,” she said, “but Blar seems to
listen to you.”
“He does,” I agreed.
“But he doesn’t listen to me,” Kas said with a shrug. “Maybe you have
some sort of magic that lets you communicate with him better or something.”
“I felt we had a bond,” I mused. “But I hadn’t considered it might be
magical.”
“I can’t say for sure,” Kas said. “But it’s a possibility.”
I thought about what she said while we walked. Could that be why the
egg hatched for me in the first place? I had no idea what the previous owner
had done with it, but it was still intact when I found it, so either they didn’t