Fight or Flight

Chapter 13

Enola

It only took a few minutes to pry two of the larger crystals from the ceiling of my new den. The crystals there had begun to turn pink, just as the ones in my previous room had done, but for now they still had hints of their original colors. I picked out two that still had a deep red at the tips, creating the impression that the crystal grew darker as it got further from the base, and yanked those from the rock.

My ceiling now had two dents in it, but that was a small price to pay for getting rid of a potential magedebt.

I carefully clutched the two crystals in my left hand as I recited healing spells and walked back to the entrance of the caves... and I paused in surprise as I reached the sunlight.

Cess had landed on the flat ground just before the hill, and was staring at Simon in confusion. I watched from the shadows as he looked from the horse and cart to the human, then back again, before finally tilting his head at Simon. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Simon held the horse's reins in one hand while his other hand stroked over the horse's neck to keep it calm. "My name is Simon – are you looking for Enola? She should be right back; she just stepped into her lair for a moment."

A look of sheer confusion was on Cess' face as he looked towards the tunnel... and it only seemed to get worse when he saw me. I started walking towards them, making sure not to accidentally crush the crystals I held in my hand as I did. "Hello, Cess. What brings you here?"

"I finished helping with that bandit problem, so I decided to stop for a visit on my way back home." Cess frowned and looked back at Simon. "Why is a human here? Is he bothering you?"

"Yes, he is." I glared at Simon for a second or two... then reached out my hand to show him the two crystals.

Both Cess and Simon's eyes went wide as they stared at the large crystals. Simon recovered first, and took his hands off the horse to take the crystals from me. "Thank you, Enola." I could tell from his voice that he was confused and stunned by the size of the crystals I had picked, and I felt some amusement at that. Those dents in my ceiling were definitely worth it now, just to see Simon's expression.

Cess' confusion seemed to be growing more towards alarm, though, and he took a step closer as Simon turned back to his cart. "Enola, what's going on? Why are you giving him those? Do you need me to get rid of him for you?"

Helpless, useless whelp...

"I am able to take care of myself, Cess." I sat up and narrowed my eyes at the blue dragon. "If I wanted Simon gone, I would drop him out in the middle of the lake. He is fat, and I do not think he can swim."

"I am not fat. And I can swim just fine." Simon carefully sat the two crystals on the ground, then fished two crates out of the cart. He pulled some straw out of one of the huge sacks the knights had left behind for him, then began packing it into the crate.

Cess watched him for a moment, then looked back up at me helplessly. "Enola, what is going on? Are you letting this human live here?" I could see the unspoken, "You, of all dragons?" in his expression.

"I am. There was a problem with the human king of this land, and I tasked Simon to take care of it. He is annoying, but I am learning to live with it, and as hard as it may be to believe, he is less of a nuisance than the alternatives."

A slight pressure came over my ears, like when I climbed or descended too quickly in my flight, and I recognized the effect of one of Cess' privacy spells. "Are you sure, Enola? You haven't had the best of luck with humans – if you're in any danger, I can help you."