Chapter 3: Honesty

 Givontair: 

No matter how many times it has happened, I still gag at the smell of burned humans. For a dragon, it shouldn't be a problem. Yet, I have spent most of my life as a healer. It is my duty to heal those who need it, not to burn them. 

I shift back to my human form outside the ruin, and then enter. Erik is staring at the remains of the bandit with mute horror. 

"There were no captives in the camp," I say, and the boy's eyes snap to stare at me. 

"You are a dragon," I can practically smell the fear rolling off Erik in thick waves. I do not wish for him to fear me. Fear breeds hate, and I can't afford to be hated by someone I won't extinguish. 

"I think I owe you an explanation," I say, as I go to sit by the boy. I don't bother dispelling the barrier. It will make him feel calmer, if it stays. By the way, he hugs his legs, I think that he needs any safety net which I can provide. "I am an elder dragon. But I didn't lie to you. I am also a healer." 

"You killed that man," he points at the husk on the ground. I sigh. 

"He would have killed you. The condensed mana he placed near your barrier would have been enough to blow it away. I wonder from where he got it," the bandits were by far too organized. One of them even aimed a scorpion at me. Whoever they worked for, knew that I was in the area. I really need to move. 

"My mother? Did you find her?" Erik asks. "Did you find anyone, or did you just burn indiscriminately?"

"I snuck inside the camp before I turned in a dragon. There were no traces of any captives. But I did find this," I take out a scroll from the inside of my trench coat. I unroll it, and begin to read.

 Erik's eyes widen, when I get to the part about the people being sent off to fight in the arenas of the capital city of Dorumian, Corum.  

"They won't last even a single fight there. Please, we have to save them. I can't lose my mother. She is the only thing I have left," Erik's plea is not needed. It is not like I would leave people to enter the fighting pits. 

"I will take you along, but you can't tell anyone I am a dragon," I tell the boy. It is not like there will be a penalty if he lets it slip. For him, that is. I will be hunted down like a wild animal by the Order of the Griffon, what remains of the dragon slayers here in Dorumian. 

"I won't tell anyone," Erik then lets go of his legs, and stands up. Now that I can see him standing, I notice that he is tall. I wonder, how old he is?

"How old are you, Erik?" I ask the boy. 

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"Ten, eleven in three months," he tells me. I run a hand over my face. 

Not only am I going to have to take care of a child, I will have to take care of one this young. It is good that I asked about his age now. There are some painkillers that he won't be able to take, as he is now. 

"Do you feel like flying?" I offer. I still have a saddle in my bottomless bag from my time as patrolman. It is a bit frayed, but the leather still holds. Besides, I am faster when I fly, than when I walk. The forest around Corum will hide my bulk. 

"I don't want to fly," Erik says, and his eyes narrow. "You will be caught, if you ever show your form someplace where there are a lot of people." 

I smile down on the boy. Even as battered as he is, he still has a good head on his shoulder. 

"Can you walk? We must put some distance between us, and this ruin of a town. The burning bandit camp will attract attention. The Keepers of the Peace won't care that the bandits attacked first. Just that I am a dragon," I say. I move closer to the barrier, and touch it. Seeing as I was the one to make the barrier stone, it doesn't burn me. Erik nods, and I dispel the barrier. 

"I can carry you, if you'd like," I bend and turn around, so that the boy can get a better access to my back. 

"I am not a baby," Erik protests. I snort. 

"I took a layer of skin from your tight. You are hardly in any condition to walk," I feel arms wrap around my neck, and feel his body pressed to my back. Standing up, I adjust Erik in my hold, and begin to walk. 

"Why are you a healer, if you are a dragon?" Erik breaks the silence after only five minutes of walking. He is as light as a feather. I don't like that fact. As soon as we reach Portius, I am going to make sure he gets a warm meal in his belly.

"We are not all mindless beasts, Erik. A dragon has as much mana, as he has mass. With this much mana, there is never an operation that can't be performed. When I was young, I had two choices: make my horde by pillaging and causing pain, or do so, by healing. As you can see, I picked the better option," I pick up the pace then, as I hear something rustle in the bushes to the right. Erik must have heard it too because he stiffens. 

I let my mana swirl around the two of us. A fair warning for whoever or whatever is in the bushes. My answer is more rustling, and the sound of running paws.

As the fox runs off deeper in the forest, I breathe a sigh of relief. With how dense the forest is, and with it being a summer so dry, that many rivers dried up, I don't want to risk starting a second fire.

Now, I am really glad, that the bandits did me the favor of cutting off all the trees around their camp. 

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