Love and Other Magical Adventures

one

When we first saw Sylvie it was from our position beneath the cage in which she lived, hung high above the grungy tiles in a bad man's castle. Our eyes met for a few moments and I faltered, for hers were a startling violet in an exquisite face as blue as the early morning sky.

I then turned my attention back to the despicable baron in front of me, likely living his last hours while I held a silent conversation with Grimmer. Our purpose here has become clear. I kept my fury in check for the time being but it wasn't an easy thing.

It certainly has, his mental voice rumbled in my mind.

The loathsome human guffawed, hacking up phlegm and spitting it at my feet. I felt my eye twitch. Despite his boldness, his and his men's fear of my companion radiated off them in a muddy yellow-brown, a common--and warranted--response to Grim in his dragon form.

The baron gestured upward. "You'll be wantin' to take notice of me fancy pet above us, captured from the Jundi seven years ago and tamed by sorcerers. Stole her two years back and she was quite the little fighter, the damned thing. Not so much fight left in her now though, is there, poppet?" He jerked the thick chain that suspended the enclosure, causing it to sway.

The prisoner inside remained blank-faced, although she was forced to grasp the rusted bars to keep from falling into them. Her face distorted briefly before she arranged it into nothingness again, as if contact with the iron pained her. 

I was nearly overcome with the urge to draw my sword and dispose of these wretched degenerates then and there so she need not spend one more second in that prison.

Patience, Grim warned me telepathically as the hold on my anger slipped another notch. Let's at least get out of her sight so we don't add to her trauma should they be foolish enough to challenge us.

He was right, and so I swallowed the desire to make an immediate attempt at their lives. If only we could tell her we're not leaving her, I lamented to Grimmer as we moved into the next room of the ramshackle castle. 

She'll know soon enough.

As it turned out they did refuse to flee, and when we flew off at dusk with our new passenger, we left behind only slain bodies. 

Grimmer flew us well away from the castle and we landed in a small clearing far from any villages. The rescued stranger slid off him and swiftly moved to sit with her back against a tree, arms wrapped around her legs, studiously ignoring us. As Grimmer was six feet high at the shoulder and thrice that long if you included his tail, this was no small feat.

She looked like a human other than her cyan skin and amethyst eyes...or maybe it was we who looked like different colored Jundi. She was somewhat of a wonderment to us as we'd never  met one of her people but we tried as possible not to perceive her, so as to afford her some privacy. 

We didn't pressure our guest to speak, just went about our business as if she wasn't there while we gave her a chance to adjust to freedom.

Grim went to find some logs for us to sit on and I made a quick fire, then combined dried rabbit strips and a handful of vegetables in our cooking pot with a soup mix. I used a spell to speed up the cooking time in case she was hungry.

When I glanced at her she was looking at me, so I took the opportunity to speak. The simple language charm on my bracelet allowed us all to understand each other. "If I may?" I asked gently, my heart pounding a little. I wasn't the greatest at social things. "We're Questers; I'm Lorali, she/her, and this is Grimmer, he/him. You're safe with us, and we'll do our best to keep it that way as long as you need or wish us to."

Her feelings were so guarded even I couldn't read them, but she was clearly dazed. "Thank you." Her voice was somewhat raspy. "I owe you both my life." She met my eyes. "I was certain I would die there."

I held her gaze to show her she could trust me though I found eye contact generally uncomfortable. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want."

She grabbed a handful of dirt and examined it in wonder, her next words a whisper. "I thought I would never touch the earth again."

She made me want to make promises. "You'll never touch iron again, if we can help it."

Her head dipped in response, soil crumbling between her fingers. She was clad only in the soft beige pants and warm hooded shirt I'd shared with her to replace the rags she'd worn, magicking some shirts into undergarments at the same time. 

Grim returned with two fallen trees just the right height for sitting on, and placed them on either side of the fire. "I'm going to change forms, so don't be alarmed," he warned her.

She watched with widened eyes as the indigo dragon wavered and then vanished, leaving only a tall, brown-skinned guy wearing the same color clothing. We'd formulated a charm for that when we were still quite young, which obviously made things a lot less awkward than him being naked upon transformation. Especially when we weren't by ourselves.

He sat up and shook his head a little as he grew reaccustomed to being so much smaller. "Whew. You'd think I would be used to that after a lifetime of it." He averted his gaze so as to avoid any semblance of intimidation. We assumed she wouldn't be overly trusting of men in particular.

A glimmer of bright yellow curiosity flared around her, which he saw through my mind, and we smiled at each other in our thoughts. No one could resist the lure of dragons.

"While many dragons command the ability to shapeshift, I'm a composite, and have two true forms," he explained."My mother was a dragon and my father a human; I belong to both worlds." He stood and brushed himself off, smoothing his black hair into a short ponytail with a wry smile "Or neither."

That was more truthful.

"And just to save you the trouble of trying to imagine how that worked," he went on. "I'll add that my mother had shapeshifting magic and became human when need be." Think she'll tell us her name?

I thought she probably would. "Do you wish to share your name?"

She withdrew again. "It's Sylviestreya," she mumbled. "Sylvie is fine. You already know my pronouns."

"Well met," I told her. "Just let us know if there's anywhere you'd like us to take you."

She hugged herself, silent for a few moments. "There's not," she finally said.

"You're welcome to accompany us as long as you wish. Hopefully you like rabbit stew?" I dished some up into an oversize mug and added a spoon, holding it out to her. 

She took it with a nod of thanks and tried not to eat too fast, then accepted a second helping that went down slower. She drained her reusable plastic water bottle and then stood, wordlessly disappearing through the overgrown foliage into the night. I wondered if she would return.

A sinking feeling accompanied the thought of not seeing her again.

A trill behind me forewarned of Feebur seconds before he jumped into my hand, a magical creature as silly as a puppy and as loyal as an old dog. The size of a grapefruit and just as round, he was covered in an incredibly soft, fuzzy dark fluff. He spun in circles in my hands, happy to be alive, and I gave him a piece of hare from my bowl. It was impossible to tell where the meat went, as Feebur had no discernible head, but it vanished and his zooming became even more excited.

I set him down and he sped to Grimmer, leaping twice along the way several feet in the air. He circled him and pelted along to examine the spot Sylvie had occupied, then herded the fire five or six times and returned to me, coming to a stop on my pack. "You are the most ridiculous fool thing in this world," I mock scolded him, tossing him more meat. He slept in my bag much of the day, especially when we were on a potentially dangerous rescue.

At that moment the tall plants parted and Sylvie returned to her place, never raising her eyes. Feebur ran to her and she tensed as he bounced into her lap, relaxing when he rolled in place under one of her hands. She stroked his soft fur and yawned, covering her mouth with the back of her other hand.

I could sense nothing from her, which was new to me, and I hoped she would stick around long enough for that wall to come down.