Robin was quite grateful for the three more pies she had been granted the very same day, but it was kind of sad to sit alone in Edith’s shop. Everybody else had rushed home to pack their bags for the mission, since they would spend a couple nights away from home. They would need clean clothes and food supplies. Robin didn’t need those things, and neither did she know where anybody lived, so she was deposited in the bakery and told to stay there since it was the gathering spot for the team. They had bought Robin a couple pies to fill her time - and as an apology for leaving her alone -, but Robin was still lonely. So she decided to call over Madame Edith, the old lady keeping the bakery all by herself. They were the only two people in the shop, anyway, and neither of them had anything better to do. Alright, Robin supposed Edith could work on some other pastries in the kitchen, but she was so nice to come hang out with the spirit so she decided she would enjoy the time while she could.
Edith had all sorts of stories to tell and Robin listened with interest to the old baker’s stories of adventure. Nobody else knew she had been an adventurer before, and nobody had asked either so Robin was honoured to be the first one to hear about this.
“Why are you sitting here all alone anyway?” Edith asked about 20 minutes into their chat. Robin gave a short rundown: “A dragon was spotted near the city so my... friends... are preparing for a mission to get rid of it. We’re meeting here.”
“A dragon you say? I fought a dragon once. It was horrible, many people died. It was a long and hard battle, but we defeated the dragon. Only for it to be a fruitless effort, since the dragon was never dangerous to begin with.”
“What do you mean?” Robin queried.
“The dragon never meant any harm. It was only when us adventurers got involved that it got hostile. It expected an attack from any human that came close. Had we realised it sooner, we could have prevented many deaths. Promise me one thing,” Edith said, completely serious, looking Robin in the eye. “Talk to the dragon before anybody attacks it. Don’t fight it. Just ask it to relocate. I’m sure they will agree to your terms.”
“Alright…” Robin was unsure what else to say, but she had never spoken to a dragon before so this was a new area. “It can’t be that bad, it’s just a big lizard. I can communicate with lizards to some extent.”
Edith left to work back at the kitchen after that conversation. Robin was left alone with her one remaining pie, so she took small bites of it as she waited for the group of adventurers to arrive.
Firo arrived first. He walked right over to Robin and sat down on the other side of the table, setting down a blue backpack on the floor. Robin ripped off a small piece of the pie and handed it over to Firo. He was surprised to receive the piece, but grateful nonetheless and ate it with a quiet hum. Mona arrived not much later, also joining the table, with a red carrier bag draped over her shoulder. Robin didn’t give her a slice of pie though, and Firo didn’t mention it either, having already eaten his piece. They both came to a silent agreement not to give anyone else pie today. Robin quickly ate the rest of the pie, which wasn’t much anymore, and she finished just as Nyx walked in the door with a big brown backpack on his shoulder. Mona and Nyx chatted up a conversation, Firo and Robin just silently staring at each other, sharing thoughts on an emotional level instead. Robin didn’t know how it worked, but it was comforting to know that there was someone else who didn’t spend every free second chatting with someone.
The four of them waited a while for Jason to show up. He did, though extremely late. Mona had almost ran out of conversational topics by that point. “Sorry, guys! So sorry! I totally lost track of time!” Jason was also wearing a backpack, his was dark green. “Shall we get going then?” Nyx gave a word of confirmation and the team headed out, to the west of the town, away from the forest or city walls.
Robin hadn’t even been this far out. They walked on a cobblestone road for a while, but it eventually stopped and was instead a dirt path. It looked like it would get muddy as soon as it was wet - which was true, Robin knew. Mona was singing some travelling song, Robin wondered how she knew it. It seemed to go on infinitely.
“Forty eight little pots on the shelf there was, forty eight little pots on the shelf~ The cat came over and knocked one over~ Now there’s forty seven pots on the shelf~! Forty seven little pots on the shelf there was, forty seven little pots on the shelf~ Granny came in and grabbed one with~ Now there’s forty six pots on the shelf~!” Mona sang.
“Hey, Mona?” Mona stopped singing the next verse, glancing at Robin, who was walking a little after Mona. “Yeah, Robin?”
“What happens when there are no pots on the shelf?” she asked.
“I won’t tell you!” Mona laughed. “You’ll just have to listen on!” And she continued singing. Robin looked over to what everyone else was doing to find an activity instead. Firo was engrossed in a book. “How does he read without tripping while he walks?” Robin wondered. Nyx was glaring at Mona more and more as she continued singing. It seemed he didn’t like her song. Jason was the one holding the map and he checked it every couple seconds to make sure they were going in the right direction. Robin was glad at least one of them was focusing on the mission. Robin again focused on Mona’s song, waiting for her to reach one pot on the shelf, counting how many times the cat knocked one over. Approximately every fifth was a cat’s work.
This journey was going to feel like eternity.
☯
They had been walking for a solid four hours when Nyx finally decided to take a rest thanks to everyone’s complaints. The whole team was dead on their feet, the water supply almost out and everybody’s feet burning. Except Nyx. Nyx was fine. Robin desperately wanted to know his secret - “How is he not feeling like he’ll fall over any second now?” - but now was not the time. The group of adventurers collapsed on a big rock near the river. The same river that flowed through Robin’s home forest, but here it was much more grand, stronger and bigger. You couldn’t cross it without a bridge, unlike the more stream-like flow of the river in the forest near Robin’s tree where you could easily walk through the water without much resistance. It was stronger upstream and divided into parts halfway down because of a higher hill in the middle of the forest, but Robin’s den was pretty far from the splitting point and had slow flow.
The water supply was refilled - Nyx volunteered, seeing as everyone else nearly passed out as soon as they sat down, Robin included. “Oww~ My feet hurt soooo bad!” Mona complained loudly to nobody in particular. A mess of jumbled humms of agreements echoed through the group, Robin joining in with a frustrated grunt. Jason had a closer look at the map meanwhile he sat on the rock. Mona had thrown herself to the ground and was now laying there, almost looking like a corpse if not for the even movement of her body that came naturally with breathing. Firo had leaned on the rock and lost his balance, leaving him tripping all over said rock. Along the way he had managed to drop his book, as it was now laying down on the ground on the other side of the rock. Firo looked kind of desperate as he reached out for it, but he couldn’t reach.Nobody else moved to help either and it seemed Firo prioritised his burning feet over a book.
“Alright then, drink up! We can’t have you being dehydrated!” Nyx said, handing a flask of water to Jason and one to Firo. Mona grumbled a little, but didn’t make a move to rise from the ground. Firo handed the flask over to Robin when he was done, having nearly drunk the full flask. Nyx was quick to refill it and give it back to Robin. “So, Robin,” he said. A conversation starter.
“Hmm?” Robin replied with a humm, still chugging water flom the flask.
“Do you have any special talents we could use in combat other than the minor healing? Anything offensive? We gotta take you into the team and include you in battle plans, after all.”
“Mh,” Robin grunted, still drinking water. The flask emptied quickly and Robin was forced to give it back to Nyx. “I can use most elemental attacks. I don’t know how strong they are compared to humans, but elemental magic in general is what I can do,” she replied.
“Would you be alright if we tested it out sometime?”
“I don’t mind if you find a good place with some space.”
“Great! I’ll be sure to keep an eye out.” Nyx stood silent again and so it stayed for a good few minutes. Robin lied down on the rock with Firo, who moved over slightly to make room. Sitting there in the sunlight without moving a muscle was relaxing. Robin wondered why she hadn’t done it more often.
Robin jolted awake when a sound scared her all of a sudden. A loud thump. Quickly looking over the small group, she figured Mona must have also fallen asleep, as she had now rolled around on the grass, looking at the source of the sound with the dirtiest - literally - sleepy face Robin had ever seen. “Sleeping face first in grass can’t be that comfortable.” Jason was sitting on the ground a little bit left of Mona. Nyx had jumped up from the ground where he had been sitting. And Firo-
“Are you alright?” Firo was on the ground, having fallen off the rock. That’s what had produced the thump. The fall wasn’t high, but it couldn’t have been painless either. Firo grunted, signalling slight pain. “That’ll leave a bruise,” he said, voice hoarse. Robin threw a weak healing spell at him and closed her eyes again, settling down on the rock once again. Firo gave a small moan and a thanks, not bothering to move from where he had fallen.
The group rested for an hour or so before agreeing to move on and also keep an eye out for potential training grounds to test Robin’s combat abilities. They didn’t have to go far, since Jason just offered a clearing that he noticed on the map. They headed over and had a look. It seemed to be a proper grassland with a few rocks dropped about and a couple bigger ones here and there. Nyx deemed it perfect for practice.
“You said you could use elemental magic? Show us fire, water, earth and wind then?” Jax offered to Robin. Firo was ready to take notes, Mona was excitedly bouncing on her spot and Jason was just grinning like a fool. Robin gave a small nod and approached one of the bigger rocks, which was about her size. She sent off a small flame in it’s direction by waving her hand and looked back at Nyx for feedback. “Too weak,” Nyx said. “Go all out if you can.”
“But I don’t want to burn the forest down,” Robin replied, leaving the adventurers baffled. Before they could comment, she sent another flame attack at the rock, this time a bit stronger. The rock went up in flames for a few seconds and when Robin ceased the attack, it was smoking lightly. The top layer of the stone was charred black. Firo scribbled away in his notebook. Robin moved on to the water attack, sending a strong stream of water at the rock instead, keeping the flow steady by placing her hands in front of her, palms directed at the rock. The water moved at great speeds and managed to lift the rock a little, moving it a foot’s worth. Robin, happy with the results, moved on to earth magic.
Since the target was a rock, she just blasted it to shards with a calculated kick and sent the shards flying at the ground with a change in the airflow’s direction so as to not harm anyone in the vicinity. The stone pieces were smaller and bigger, the smallest being the size of a fingernail and the biggest the size of Robin’s arm. Robin turned to Nyx. “That good?”
“That… Was AMAZING!” Mona yelled. “You obliterated that rock! You’re the strongest magician I’ve ever seen!”
Robin started to argue: “Surely there’s someone stronger-”
“If anyone, it would be the royal mages,” Firo interrupted. “They are extremely high level, the best in the country. But since elemental magic is very hard to grasp, and you know several of them very well, I’d say you were in the top 10 of the country’s most skilled magicians.” Firo ended his analysis with a small bow. Jason and Nyx quickly joined in the celebrations. Robin was the only one left confused. “Magic is hard… to grasp?” But nobody seemed to hear her quiet mutter and Robin was left to ponder on her own as the group moved on toward their goal.
☯
Robin sat on her bed quietly, not sure what to do. The sun had risen. She had woken up in a bed. An actual bed. She had never slept in an actual bed before. Nyx had gotten them into some sort of guesthouse, so now here they were, the two of them. Robin and Mona slept in one room. Well, Mona was still sleeping, that was Robin’s main problem. What was she supposed to do now? So far away from home, she didn’t have a purpose other than to stick with the group. And Mona was asleep. The boys were all in another room and Robin didn’t know which one, since the house they were in had many. Her best option was to wake for Mona to wake up.
Or wake her up. But that would be rude.
Robin didn’t know what she should do. So she just sat there, keeping an eye on the window, listening to the birds in the nearby trees singing. She eventually got bored and decided to still wake up Mona. Robin silently got off her bed and snuck over to Mona's. She gave Mona a small poke in the arm. She only turned a little. Robin sighed a little and poked again. It didn't work either. Robin gave Mona's arm a small slap. Mona just pulled the blanket over her head.
"Mona," Robin hissed. "Mona!" Another slap. Mona still ignored her. Robin gave up on using her hand and instead went to get a pillow from her bed. It would hurt less this way. And with her mighty power, Robin threw the pillow and where she figured Mona's face would be under the blanket. Bullseye.
Mona jumped up with a yelp. "Wh-! What time is it?" Robin took a look out the window. "I'd say it's nearing noon."
"Already?!?" Mona jumped out the bed and Robin diverted her look to the floor. Mona was wearing practically nothing. "You should probably change before we go anywhere," she noted and went to place the pillow she was still holding back on her own bed. Robin quickly left the room to give Mona privacy and stood in the hallway to wait for her. Robin had nothing in particular to do there, so she just examined the small cracks and scratches on the wooden wall. It had a small indent that looked a bit like a smiling face. Robin was immediately a bit happier when she saw it.
Mona joined her minutes later, she took a bit longer than Robin had expected, and the girls headed downstairs. "So.." Robin broke the silence. "Where are the boys?"
"I don't know what room they're in. Maybe they woke earlier, too."
"That's inconvenient."
"I'm hungry too," Mona complained. "I feel like we're eating breakfast without the boys today."
"I don't think this inn offers breakfast," Robin pointed out. Robin couldn’t see a cafeteria or any sort of dining area at all.
"Well, Sora. I guess we'll have to find a vendor and spend some funds. Unless you have some magical ability to make food appear," Mona grumbled. Robin perked up. "I can hunt," she offered. Mona took a second to consider.
"Eh, what do we have to lose?"
And that's how Robin found herself standing unmoving near a bush behind the inn as Mona stood a bit further away. Any small movement from anywhere and Robin would attack. She knew rabbits usually lived in similar areas, making burrows in the roots of trees or under bushes. This was a prime location for a rabbit's home.
A branch moved and so did Robin. A quick flip of a hand sent sharp rocks at the bush. A weak thump and a row of squeaks. She had done it. It didn't feel good by any means, but Robin didn't want Mona to starve or spend her money unnecessarily either. She moved to collect the rabbit and end it's misery as fast as possible.
Mona volunteered to cook the rabbit - she said not to mention the campfire they made in the grass to anyone - so she could eat it. Robin declined the offer of food this time. She didn't need it, anyway.
When Mona had eaten, Robin stared at her for a little while. "So… Boys?"
"Boys," Mona agreed and got up from where she was sitting in the grass. Robin followed her back to the inn. They asked the receptionist about the guys and got a room number to try. Mona marched right up and slammed the door so hard Robin was afraid it might fly off its hinges. Luckily, it didn't.
Robin couldn't see the reactions of whoever was inside since the door didn't fly off its hinges and thus was still closed, but she could hear a yelp, then footsteps. The door opened.
"Mona? Robin? Why are you up so early?" Jason asked them.
"It's noon."
"Oh, is it?" Jason craned his neck to look out the window. "Huh. It is. Alright, we'll get up." He then closed the door. Robin could hear some talking. It seemed Mona deemed the mission a success and they went back downstairs to the entrance to wait for the boys.
Jason, Nyx and Firo came downstairs just a couple minutes later. "Man, I'm hungry! What's for breakfast?" Jason asked. Nyx nodded along enthusiastically. Mona sighed and smirked: "There is no breakfast. You'll just have to go out and buy something to eat from a vendor, if you can find one!" Nyx let out a groan while Jason visibly lost all hope he had previously had on his face. "No breakfast? What kind of inn is this?"
"A cheaper one."
"But you must be starving as well, so you better come with," Nyx argued.
"Aha! We already ate!" Mona clapped her hands together. "I guess you boys will have to eat on your own. Meet us back here in an hour~" she said in a singsong voice. Mona ran out the door, grabbing Robin's forearm and dragging her with. Robin would actually have preferred to chat with Firo a little bit, but Mona gave no mercy as she dragged her back to the little bit of forest behind the inn.
☯
Robin wondered if adventurers took long trips like this one in the forest as well. They'd been walking for days when they finally reached their destination. A big cave, fit for a dragon's nest. The entrance alone was gigantic, Robin bet it was at least five times Jason's height. A cold breeze came from the cave, giving the whole thing an eerie vibe. Nobody really wanted to go in there either, considering the fact that somewhere in there lived a big and probably angry dragon, but nobody knew where exactly.
"One of us has to go in and then signal the group to follow every now and then. We can't all go in at once, we will get killed like that," Firo stated with no regard for the tension in the air. None of the adventurers wanted to go in first. Robin assessed the situation for a few seconds. "I'll go," she said. "Nobody else wants to, and I've never been to a cave this big before. I want to explore it."
"Robin!"
"For real?!"
"You'd really be willing-"
Sounds came from all around, everybody showing off some sort of surprise. Firo was the only one to not say anything, instead scanning Robin from head to toe as if to see if she was being sincere. Robin nodded. "None of you want to go, right? I want to see the cave and from all of us, I probably have the biggest chance to survive on my own. It's only logical."
"Robin, I don't really know how else to do this," Jason said in some sort of apology before hugging the spirit tightly. Mona was quick to join in. Firo also joined, awkwardly patting Robin's head a little. Nyx took a while to get the clue but also joined the group hug a few seconds later.
The hug lasted a whole minute before Mona let go. "We're with you in spirit," she promised. Robin nodded in understanding and, without further ado, walked right into the cave. A little while in, not sensing any danger but still seeing light from the opening of the cave, Robin decided to give her first signal. A high whistle echoed throughout the chilly cave. Robin could hear talking from behind her. "Robin? Was that you?" Mona yelled. It echoed back in the cave. Robin had the sudden urge to slap her own face with her palm. "Yes. It's the signal. Don't talk anymore," she replied. Silence sounded. Robin moved on, deeper in the cave. At one point, she couldn't see light from the opening anymore, so she cast a quick light spell. Her hand started glowing softly, illuminating the cold cave. Robin worried a little. She was fine in the cold, but would her human friends be? "When did I start thinking of them as friends? I've never had any before." Robin continued and gave off another whistle every couple minutes, signalling that it was safe to continue onward. She couldn't see the others anymore, but could hear their footsteps a little. They were probably doing their best to stay quiet.
Robin continued on, pausing every few minutes to let the others catch up to her whistles. The cave got colder and colder as they moved deeper and Robin started to fear they might get lost.
The spirit forgot all about her worries when she made it to a giant chamber. The walls were black like coal - Robin was pretty sure it was charred from some sort of fire - a bit off the centre of the room there were three big pillars reaching to the ceiling, wider on the bottom and top than in the middle. They were made of lighter stone and Robin didn’t know how they could have just gotten there, so she put it aside as a mystery to solve another time. In the dead center of the big cave - “Room?” - lay a small pile of gems, reaching up to Robin’s knees. She stepped closer to investigate, but halted her movement when she felt eyes on her. She took a frantic look around and determined the source to be behind her. Robin spun around to meet big blue eyes, sparkling varily, following her every movement. Robin only registered the scales and big teeth on the same face a few seconds later - it was the dragon, guarding the entrance on the wall right above it.
Overall purple, blue and red in colour, the magnificent creature was about three times Robin’s height. The spirit was a tiny bit scared, but mostly curious and very much interested. She’d never met a dragon before, though she had heard that one lived even further in the forest, far from where Robin patrolled, in another spirit’s territory.
The dragon also looked interested in Robin. She raised a hand. “May I…?” the spirit halted to ask permission to touch the dragon. It shifted a little and nodded its big head. Robin softly touched the dragon’s scales, slipping her hand over the edges and examining them in wonder. “You’re beautiful…” Robin whispered. She meant it, too. The dragon was truly majestic. Robin was even sad that it was hiding in this cave and not showing its beauty off in the world. She looked into its eyes again with a small smile. The dragon seemed to perk up at Robin’s comment, as if it was happy. Robin supposed it was. “What can I call you?” the spirit asked. The dragon had no real way to reply, but somehow Robin knew. She knew its- No, her name. Edhyr, the dragon of gems. Robin was left confused on the how, but pushed the thought aside, instead opting to look Edhyr in the eyes. It was almost as if they developed a connection in the short time, understanding sparking between the two magical beings almost immediately. Robin didn’t want to part from the creature anymore. The dragon understood her like nobody had before. No human or animal had ever even come close to this feeling.
It all went south when the dragon suddenly roared loudly and jumped defensively, claws first, in Robin’s direction. Robin rushed out of the way, barely managing to dodge. Edhyr curled protectively around her pile of gems, leaving the entrance open for view. "Don't worry, Robin!" a familiar voice shouted. "We're here to help!"
"No!" Robin yelled at the sight of Jason holding a longsword, Firo armed with his axe, Mona with her bow already aimed at the dragon and Jax standing at the front, sword clear in view. "It's not what it looks like!" But they didn't listen, advancing on the terrified dragon still defending her treasure. Robin rushed to Edhyr's aid. "Guys! Stop it!" The spirit stood in front of the dragon, hands open to either side, blocking Edhyr off from the adventurers. Nyx faltered, but Jason jumped to pull Robin away. "Get away! It's dangerous!"
"STOP!" Robin screamed, but it wasn't enough. Edhyr roared, jumping to Robin's defense. That startled Mona and she let go of the arrow on her bow. It narrowly passed Robin's head. Edhyr, startled by the sudden movement, flinched to the side. Unfortunately, that didn't save her. The arrow pierced Edhyr's left eye, which would have been left intact if she hadn't moved. The dragon roared in pain and the cave shook from the volume. Robin started crying and rushed back to Edhyr's side. "I'm sorry! This wasn't supposed to happen!" Edhyr, visibly in pain and upset, swiped her claws to clear the way out, forcing the adventurers to dodge, and dashed for the exit, fleeing from her home. Robin managed to grab a hold of Edhyr's leg and thus went with.
The dragon, reaching the forest outside the cave a couple minutes later, leaped high, spreading her wings, and took off into the skies. Robin climbed up to her back and hugged her as best as she could with the dragon's size, still crying. "They weren't supposed to- Hurt you-" she managed to say between sobs. Edhyr seemed to understand and responded with a reassuring growl.
Robin didn't know where they were flying. Neither did she care. She was too sad to care. Her friends hadn't listened, hadn't heard her pleas, and they had harmed this magnificent creature forever, blinded in one eye. She glanced over at Edhyr’s eye. The arrow was still there. Removing it would hurt even more than it did to receive it. It made her even more miserable.
Maybe humans just weren't worth it. She should have stayed in the forest. "Wait- The forest!" Robin perked up a little. She could go home! And take Edhyr with her!
"Edhyr! Let's go back to my forest! I know a place you could stay for a little while," Robin finally spoke her thoughts out loud for the dragon to hear. She seemed to sadden at the reminder that her home was no longer safe and her treasure gone, but gave a nod nonetheless. Robin pointed her the direction in which the forest would be and they continued to fly that way from there on.
Now that Robin was no longer crying, she took a moment to appreciate the beauty around her. Edhyr's wings were giant, fading from a beautiful shade of sea blue by the back of the dragon to a gentle pinkish red at the ends, reminding Robin a bit of sunrise by the sea. The dragon's head had two hornlike ends, pointed away from the snout. Robin had to twist herself a little and risk falling off, but she wanted to also get an image of the tail. Edhyr's tail faded into white at the very end. It had four big flaps that helped the dragon steer in the air. Robin loved the overall look.
"You're truly beautiful," she muttered, smiling sadly. Robin leaned down and closed her eyes, listening to the wind and feeling it ruffle her hair. It was oddly calm for the situation they had just come from.
☯
A couple hours had passed in relative silence with only a couple sentences exchanged between the two when Robin sighted a familiar town surrounded by big walls. A quick check of the locations of the bigger trees and rocks in the forest confirmed that they were here. “Edhyr, this is it! My forest! You can land on that clearing there!” Robin pointed out a clearing she knew was near a bigger cliff where Edhyr could hide out for a while. The dragon twisted in the air and headed downward, forcing Robin to grab around her neck so as to not slip off. Edhyr made it past the trees without trouble and landed with a few mighty wing flaps slowing down her descent. The Earth shook a little when she finally touched the ground, but Robin doubted it could be felt all the way into the city.
Edhyr stretched a wing down to the ground, allowing Robin to slide off her back unharmed. “Thanks,” the spirit said with a small smile. Edhyr turned to look at Robin again, revealing her eye with the arrow still in it. It had been bleeding for a while and Robin had no doubt it was painful. She sighed deeply. “We have to do something about your eye,” she said sadly. Edhyr growled a little, it even sounded whiny, as if she didn’t want to.
“I know it hurts. It will hurt. But then it will get better. I’ll have to pull it out eventually and it’s better sooner than later,” she stated, hands trembling a little. Edhyr stayed silent, in thought. Then she lied down and placed her head next to Robin, looking at the spirit with her right eye. Robin didn’t move away and faced the gaze straight on. “It has to be done.” Edhyr seemed to agree, though still against the idea. Then she shifted, lifted her head to the other side of Robin, leaving her now blind eye revealed to Robin. The spirit inhaled sharply through her teeth. It looked a lot worse up close. The arrow seemed to be pretty deep in and that side of the face was all covered in deep red, almost black blood that had dried here and there. Robin took a deep breath. “Here I go…” she muttered more to herself than to Edhyr.
Robin grabbed a hold of the arrow embedded in Edhyr’s eye socket. With a quick twist and pull, it came loose, but not quite out. Edhyr howled in pain. Robin choked. ”I’m so sorry!” She jiggled the arrow a bit and managed to pull it free. The spirit conjured up some water to clean the wound as she threw away the arrow with her other hand, discarding it into the grass.
Robin quickly washed the wound of blood as well as I could, all while attempting to heal it so it wouldn’t bleed any more. Edhyr was still growling quietly, but the worse pain must have passed since she was no longer howling.
Robin took a few steps back. “How is it?” Edhyr lifted her head and blinked in test with her intact right eye. Her left eye slipped closed and so it stayed. She turned around and gave Robin a grateful look. Robin smiled back. “So it’s better?” The dragon nodded. Robin exhaled in relief. “Good then. Want to have a rest now? You had to fly for quite a long time.” The dragon nodded and Robin directed her towards the cliffside. It was slightly tilted, so it gave a little roof to hide under. It was too small to cover the entirety of Edhyr, since she was a big dragon.
“Have a rest. I’ll have to go find an old friend of mine, is it alright if I leave for a little while? Or do you prefer I stay?” Robin asked, looking Edhyr in the eye. The creature hesitated. That was a sign enough for Robin. “Alright, I’ll stay with you.” Edhyr lied down, leaning on the cliffside, and opened her front legs slightly to make room. Robin happily took the spot between the dragon’s claws, feeling protected by the warmth the creature gave off. It seemed that Edhyr felt the same, as she rested her head right next to Robin, closing her eyes. Only then did Robin register the emotional strain and lack of energy in her and she, too, decided to take a nap. “What a long day it has been.”
Robin did not expect to wake up at the ground beneath her suddenly shifting. It took her a couple seconds to remember where she had fallen asleep in the first place and took a look around. Edhyr was still there next to her, but she looked on edge, even panicked. “That can’t be good.” “What is it?” Robin asked, rubbing her eye with her right hand. Edhyr’s gaze snapped to the still sleepy spirit. Robin saw the urgence in her eyes. This wasn’t a mere problem, this was something big. And then she heard it. Footsteps.
“Oh, shucks,” Robin cursed. “Go! Go! GO!” She grabbed a hold of Edhyr’s leg, doing her best to hold onto it with her arms and feet as she took off with a mighty jump, rushing to escape from the humans approaching the clearing, and not a second too late. A big group of humans - adventurers, all of them, Robin could see the weapons on their backs and waists - entered the small forest clearing. They started shouting and Robin could feel Edhyr speed up. They both wanted nothing more than to be left alone at this point, tired and wounded, they both wanted peace. The world clearly wasn’t on their side.
Edhyr didn’t manage to dodge the fire sent at her from the ground, all she could do was hope that her scales resisted. Robin watched with sadness as the beautiful scales on the dragon’s tail were charred black almost immediately. A couple arrows came their way and Robin knew Edhyr could resist them on scales, but avoid them as much as possible. She herself dodged a couple as well, trying not to get shot. She had given up arguing. Nobody listened to her anyway. If Jason, Mona, Nyx and Firo didn’t listen to her pleas, why would strangers?
All in all, Robin wanted to get away, and so did Edhyr. But the humans hunting the dragon weren’t so remorseful. Another cloud of flames followed, this time burning Edhyr’s wings. She stumbled in the air, starting to lose height. Robin panicked, and so did Edhyr. “We’re falling! Edhyr, when we touch down, run as far as you can as fast as you can. We need to get away from them or-” Robin couldn’t finish the thought.
As they got closer to the ground, more attacks started coming at them. Fire, rocks, arrows, some people were already waving swords. Robin was scared, and she knew that Edhyr was too. As soon as the dragon touched the ground, she bolted, ripping down trees in her way, running for her life. Hers and Robin’s. The mass of adventurers followed right after, ready to kill the dragon as soon as possible. Robin directed Edhyr to the river, hoping to get to the other side to slow down the humans. They ran upstream, where the water flow was stronger and the water deeper than Robin’s usual slice of the river, which was one of three splits ahead and thus much smaller. Edhyr jumped over the big river easily enough, but when humans followed, they didn’t stop at the water. It took mere seconds for one of the magic users to catch up and use a spell to block the waterflow - they were catching up, and fast. Edhyr, not seeing another choice, turned around to face them with a mighty roar. She sent a wall of fire at the humans, delaying them longer, as well as swiping her claws at the nearer adventurers. Robin was usually against violence, but these humans had attacked first and weren’t content with the dragon fleeing. This was a fight to the death, and the enemy ranks were only increasing. The 40-something humans were on the offensive and Robin saw no other choice. She joined in, continuously adding to the wall of fire and sharp rocks. She also did her best to protect Edhyr by redirecting the offensive fire away from her with airflow, but she wasn’t sure how good of a job she was actually doing.
Robin and Edhyr were struggling, both running out of energy quickly, last night’s exhaustion coming back to haunt them. Robin was pretty sure a few humans had still persisted to the fire Edhyr was spitting and died in the process, but she didn’t even feel bad at the thought anymore. This was clearly war. Edhyr moved back a few meters every couple seconds, retreating to get away from the adventurers out for some dragon blood. It wasn’t looking good. And it wasn’t getting any better either.
Robin was horrified when she saw the net cannon in the distance. She knew the humans in the city had one, but she never thought they would drag it all the way to the forest. It must have taken up a lot of manpower to get it here, and they must have brought it for a good reason - they could restrain a dragon with it. Robin knew they could, she had seen them try it out from a distance. The net it shot had been pretty big, enough to pin down five people simultaneously. But this one was even bigger. Robin knew it was more than enough to shoot down Edhyr. She moved to warn the dragon, but had no way to reach her where she could hear. Up until now, they hadn’t had a reason to talk. She couldn’t climb up the dragon’s leg either, seeing as spears and swords were being swung at them from all directions, a few fireballs joining the army from the lone mages in the big group of adventurers opposing Robin and Edhyr.
Robin had no choice but to yell and hope that Edhyr heard her. That’s exactly what she did: “Edhyr! They have a net cannon! You MUST dodge anything that comes of it!” She got no sign that the dragon had heard her. Robin had a desperate look in the cannon’s direction, only to see that it was now ready to shoot, aimed right at Edhyr’s head. A wave of despair washed over her and she could do nothing but watch as the weapon was shot. A giant net flew out of the device. It was made entirely of metal, the chains rattling as it pushed its target to the ground. The big weight gave Edhyr no other option but to tumble to the ground. Even with all her strength, the combined weight and impact of the metal net overpowered the dragon.
As Edhyr fell with a great tremble shaking the ground, Robin, who was holding onto her leg, managed to leap off and make it away from the trajectory of the fall. Unfortunately, she was still stuck under the giant net and it was too heavy for her to wiggle herself out of it. The crushing weight pressed her to the ground, she could only move her fingers and toes as they were not held down by the metal. Tears sprung to Robin’s eyes as the humans ganged up on Edhyr. Swords few at the dragon’s neck as she protested with roars and growls, the shiny scales barely holding up in defense.
It felt like forever, being stuck under the metal net. Robin knew Edhyr’s scales wouldn’t protect her forever. No escape looked possible, both Robin and the dragon were stuck under the net and nobody was coming to save them. Robin’s positivity was crushed, her only thoughts being of death and the happy memories she had made in her life as well as the one evening she had managed to bond with Edhyr. This was the end.
Or was it? Apparently the world thought otherwise, because it had sent Robin a saviour. Robin had never expected anyone to come to her aid anymore. All hope was lost. That was, until a small and very familiar fox showed up to drag Robin out from under the heavy net. Fluff sunk his teeth into Robin’s leg and pulled with all his might. It hurt, but Robin didn’t feel it as much as she should have. Fluff managed to pull Robin into a bigger opening in the metal net so she could wiggle out from underneath it. So she did, eyes still glued to Edhyr. The dragon looked tired, it looked like she had given up a while ago. Now just laying there, waiting for the humans to finally pierce her scales and chop off her head. Robin cried and she wanted to go help in any way possible, but Fluff pulled on her bleeding leg and directed it away from the chaos, into the forest. The humans, having been tasked with killing a dragon, didn’t notice Robin’s absence from under the metal net.
Fluff continued tugging on her leg, but Robin refused to go further. She sat behind a bush just next to the small area Edhyr was lying in, having pulled a couple trees out of the ground or just broken them, so now they lay on the ground, broken. Edhyr, somehow sensing Robin’s presence, shifted a little to look at her with her right eye, her left being blind from the arrow. The dragon gave a small whine. Robin couldn’t hold her tears in any longer and she started crying again. “I’m sorry,” she whispered to Edhyr.
When the adventurers finally managed to pierce the dragon’s scales and chop through its neck, when Edhyr took her final breath and closed her eyes, that was when Robin's mind went blank. "Edhyr… Is gone. The only creature to ever truly understand me is gone. Edhyr is never coming back." She was sad, very sad. Her whole world collapsed in front of her. "It's their fault. It's their fault she’s gone." "It's your FAULT!" A wave of rage overtook her and she jumped out of the bushes with a scream, sending as much fire and destruction at the humans as she could, taking out all her anger and sadness on the adventurers and getting her revenge for her fallen friend. Fluff was forgotten, Edhyr's last moments repeating over and over in Robin's head. "YOU DID THIS!"
The big group of adventurers scattered almost immediately, all of them attempting to dodge the flames that the spirit was sending at them, all escaping from her wrath. Not all succeeded. The fight quickly moved away from the dragon's body lying on the ground, Robin not letting anybody approach Edhyr. The attacks were very effective and Robin wondered why she hadn't used them before. The thought was gone in a split second, replaced with more rage and misery. "If I had attacked then- Edhyr would be alive!" Robin's attacks didn't cease anymore, she only pushed back the mass of humans, out of the forest, leaving behind charred corpses and burning trees in her wake. The forest spirit continued the offense, not caring for anything else anymore, her exhaustion gone entirely.
She didn't care that her body ached. She didn't care that the humans were screaming. She didn't care that she was burning down the forest. She didn't care that there were dead bodies on the ground. She didn't care. None of it mattered. Not anymore. It was all gone anyway.
