Hikaru and Amy had been walking for hours. The sun was getting close to setting when the trees parted. A village lay before their eyes, only an hour or two away. Given that they were somewhere in western Dragonsreach it belonged to the dragon clans, but for them it was a welcome sight. Most of the Dragon clans were nomadic. Villages often moved on a seasonal basis, but a few tribes had established more sedentary lifestyles. The soil in much of the region wasn’t exactly suited for agriculture. The forest they had just left was located in a more fertile area, but the trees were smaller and there was less growth compared to the forests in Ukova and Varixiyies. Many of the local clans followed the large game that made their home on the plains. These clans often trades with the more agricultural clans, but raids weren’t unheard of either. This village was clearly a farming town. The large fields around it were a mark of that, not to mention the quaint wooden huts. A sturdy fence had been placed around the village, and armed men were patrolling the perimeter.

They both knew that all towns and villages in the kingdom had walls, and mage maintained barriers around them to protect the residents from monster attacks. It came as no surprise that similar measures were in place around this village Certain monsters species, such as goblins were known for raiding towns when they have sufficient numbers. Goblins, in fact, were a real problem in Dragonsreach. Goblins were very common in the region, but at least they were fairly weak. Amy wasn’t all that familiar with Goblins given that there weren’t any in Varixyies. Nor were there any tribes in Ukova. The denser mana in those regions meant that weaker species like Goblins couldn’t live in the area. Ukova did have a few Hobgoblin tribes mostly in the southern parts of the region. Amy couldn’t really make anything else out about the town, at this distance, but she did spot a couple of roads. A good sign that the village might have an Inn, which would mean a proper bed for a night.

She considered their funds, and then glanced over at Hikaru. He was currently in his boring male form, but she knew his girl form was quite cute. The kind of cute that appealed to both genders. At that moment, an idea sprang to mind. They didn’t have a lot of money, so they needed to stretch that money as much as possible. She figured it was time to teach Hikaru how to use charm while shopping. There were tricks to getting discounts that would help stretch their funds. Giving her best smile, she leaned towards Hikaru, and asked, “Can you change forms before we go into town?”

Clearly confused he missed a step, and almost fell over. It took him a moment, before he replied, “Huh? Why?”

She pulled out the makeshift coin pouch their funds were in and jiggled it. “We are kind of light on funds. I know a few tricks, that with the aid of a cute girl like you that will double the worth of these coins.”

Hikaru blushed, and awkwardly replied, “That’s ... uh nice, but it can’t make that much of a difference will it?”

She knew that she had exaggerated a bit, but not by much. It really depended on the merchants to be honest, and how generous they were feeling. However, she wasn’t wrong that a bit of charm and cute looks could go a long way with negotiating a better price. “Come on, just change forms, and I’ll teach you a few tricks.”

Amy hadn’t mentioned it yet, but the guards are often more lenient with women, and she has always had an easier time getting through the gate than her male party members. A guild card can often get you through, but not all towns recognized those as legitimate. The kingdom officially had only one adventurers guild, but in practice the regional guild branches were effectively separate organizations. So a guild pass that is valid in one part of say Ukova, is met with skepticism in another. Here in Dragonsreach, those passes were entirely useless, and that meant they would have to pay an entry fee. Especially given their lack of identification. She still had her guild card, but that wasn’t valid here, as the guild had no influence in this region.

Hikaru frowned, and replied, “I’m not sure that is such a good idea.”

She gave him her best smile, and said, “Trust me. We will have an easier time if you change forms, and I’ll make up any inconvenience to you later.”

Finally Hikaru folded, and used the sword. Within moments, a cute girl was standing in his place. She glared a bit, and said, “I still not sure this is a good idea. I hope you thought this through.”

Amy didn’t respond with words, but gestured towards the village. Leading the way down to path to the village. As they were getting close to the Village suddenly Hikaru started to panic and hid behind Amy. Amy asked her what was wrong, and she pointed at a small barren hill just outside of the village but said nothing.

At first, Amy didn’t understand what was special about the hill until she noticed that it was moving, slowly. Then she began to notice other details and realized that she was looking at a young dragon. She couldn’t tell its gender, but based on size she guessed to be a young adult making it at least a few thousand years old. Just as she realized that she was looking at a dragon, it moved. Raising its head and turning to regard her.

Hikaru shuddered as she sensed the attention of the dragon moving this way. She had acted tough and hidden it best she could, but that last encounter with a dragon had left her a bit traumatized. Being a dragon’s playtoy for a day was no fun at all. The experience had given her a healthy respect for the power of dragons. Hiding behind Amy helped her feel a little safer, but not safe enough. She really didn’t want to be seen by the dragon, and a part of her felt glad that she was currently a girl. No one would laugh at her for her behavior, 

Then suddenly she heard an amused female voice speak up, “That’s not a very good hiding place little one.” followed by amused giggles.

Hikaru looked around startled for the source and didn’t notice that it was actually the dragon that spoke. The dragon shifted its position to better them before speaking again clearly even more amused, “I’m right here, little one.”

Finally her eyes locked on the dragon, and then she glanced at Amy who was next to her. Amy seemed a little concerned, and at that moment asked the dragon why she was here. The dragon dismissed her question with a wave of a clawed hand, and looking at Hikaru asked, “ Care to tell me what has a cute thing like you so afraid of me?”

The dragon’s tone was clearly curious, and the words caused her to briefly experience a flashback of her experiences with a lesser dragon. Hikaru quickly suppressed the memory, but didn’t know how to answer the dragon’s question. Not realizing that she already had. At least until the spoke up in a more apologetic tone, “Sorry to hear that you went through that little one, but I am not going to hurt you. Why don’t you and your friend come a little closer.”

Hikaru sighed, as she realized the dragon could read her mind. Having faced one before, she knew she was no match for this dragon. She could tell it was stronger than the one she had faced, and running wasn’t an option. Playing along with it, and hoping it lost interest in her was her best bet. Still, Hikaru hesitated for a moment before taking her first hesitant step towards the dragon. Amy followed, and Hikaru sensed she was nervous as well. Then again who wouldn’t feel nervous in the presence of a dragon.

A few moments later as they were getting into easy conversational distance, a pair of stone seats formed from the ground. The dragon gestured for them to sit. Hikaru was understandably uncertain about being so close, but she sat on the seat. Mostly because she was afraid of angering the dragon, she complied with its wishes. The seat proved decently comfortable, but that didn’t really help her relax.

The dragon let the silence hang for a moment, and then glancing towards Amy said, “To answer your earlier question, Priestess of the Mage Clans, I am here waiting for this village to select their sacrifices.” Hikaru noticed Amy take a sharp intake of breath clearly she was worried, and it made Hikaru feel even more uncomfortable. Before she could panic however the dragon continued, “Don’t worry it would lose meaning if I accepted either of you, as their sacrifice so you two are fine.”

Curious Hikaru nervously asked in a small voice, ‘Sacrifices?”  Amy looked like she was about to reply, but it was the dragon that did first. 

“Its part of an ancient agreement between the Dragon Clans and us dragons. Every few years each clan gives up a number of young females to us, and in exchange, their clan receives our blessing and protection.” She gestured to the ground, and raked a claw through it, “The soil here is terrible for farming, but one of our blessings on the towns help with that. The clans couldn’t live here without our aid. As for the girls, they sacrifice we take them home and have them help around the nest. You may be surprised to learn how useful the humanoid form is for certain tasks.”

Amy added after the dragon paused, “You forgot to mention that a few dragons are perverts, and like to play with the girls they capture.”

The dragon snorted, and replied, “Every race has it perverts. Its kind of obvious.” Then she focusing Hikaru said, “Anyway Priestess, I answered your question, what brings you and your apprentice to this part of the world?”

Hikaru listened, as she idly wondered why the dragon kept referring to Amy as a priestess. She guessed it had something to do with the mark she now bore, but Hikaru didn’t ask. Instead, she stayed quiet, while Amy related their recent experiences. She kept the details to a minimum.

“You two made a deal with a goddess to save your friends. How very noble of you. Those corruption zones are a problem for us as well. We have cleaned up a couple of them, but we have other concerns as well.” suddenly the dragon manifested a pair of pendants, and said, “I can’t really help you, but these will let you enter any town associated with my family. I would suggest you avoid towns not associated with my mother Aurora, and also don’t expect the pendant to solve all your problems. Consider it a basic town pass not unlike a guild card. It is only valid in towns that adhere to the temple of Aurora.”

Needless to say, they were both stunned as they held the precious items gently. Hikaru was a bit stunned by a sudden tingling sensation when she picked it up, but it lasted only a moment. Seeing her stunned look, Amy held out her pendant, and said, “Its an enchanted item. Just feed it a little mana, and say ‘reveal card’” The moment Amy said that a light purple holographic window projected above the pendent. It displayed an image of Amy, with her name, age, occupation, gender, and a title on it.

Interested in that Hikaru tried the same, and a moment later a similar window appeared before her. One that left her with a bit of a question, and a sinking heart

The name window was filled out thankfully in the right order, with her family name in front of her personnel name. What really hurt was that her title was officially ‘Failed Hero’ on this window. That title was an effective reminder of her own previous failures, and something she didn’t exactly want to share with others. The occupations didn’t quite feel right to her, but what left her with real questions was her race. Before she could ask about anything on the card, the dragon said, “I took the liberty of filling in the occupation title for you two myself, and not letting the magic do it. The term mage isn’t well-received around here, and these are close enough to your true occupations anyway.” She looked right at Hikaru and said, “I marked you as an apprentice healer as it would explain your lack of a mark, and why you are learning magic. Healer is the only magical occupation around here that is widely accepted. That staff of yours also has a powerful healing spell on it.”

Hikaru clutched her staff more closely, and asked stunned, “How did you know it has a healing spell on it?”

The dragon chuckled, and answered, “I can read spell forms. You will be able to do the same with enough practice. Anyway, I enjoyed this small distraction. I’ll be keeping an eye on you two, but I’ll let you go into the village.”

Just then Hikaru noticed a figure approaching them. While the design differed from the outfits she had seen in the kingdom, they were the robes of a priest. The man wearing them was an older man whose hair was beginning to gray, and his eyes reflected the wisdom of age. In fact, he seemed to be a friendly and approachable older man. Despite his age, he stood fairly straight. Behind three younger and naked girls followed him. They seemed a little uncomfortable with their nudity, and the oldest couldn’t have been more than fourteen. The priest seemed to note their presence but spoke to the dragon instead. “We have selected the rest of this cycle’s sacrifices, I apologize that they are a bit younger than normal this year.”

The dragon looked the new girls over, and said, “They will be acceptable.”

It didn’t escape Hikaru’s notice how all three girls and the priest relaxed at the mention of acceptable. The dragon then said something that Hikaru didn’t catch, and the girls approached the dragon, as a basket materialized seemingly out of nowhere. The girls willingly entered the basket, and then the dragon departed carrying the basket in its talons. The priest turned to them, and said, “The great one said you two could use my assistance. Something about lodging for the night, and finding replacement supplies?”

Amy stepped forward, and gave him a gentle smile, “Yes, we had some troubles on the road. She was kind enough to give us new identification, but we lost most of our supplies to a monster ambush a few days ago.”

The priest nodded, and said, “Yes, monsters have been getting worse of late. Sounds like you two were more fortunate than most. Come along, the village inn is a little full at the moment, but there is a free room at the temple. It is a little late for shopping, as the market is closed.”

Hikaru asked, “The inn is full?”

The priest nodded, and on the way to the village explained that many travelers were just staying at the inn, and not leaving due to the rise in monster attacks. The inn wasn’t very big to begin with having only twelve rooms, and all of those were in use by the merchant caravan that didn’t want to leave without sufficient escort. As for the temple, they didn’t have much free space either, but they had one small room that was free. Upon seeing it Hikaru noticed that they would have to share a small bed.

Closing the door, Amy commented, “Not bad certainly better than a tent.”

“There is only one bed, though,” commented Hikaru.

Amy smiled, “we’re both girls we can share, and besides, we already shared a bedroll.” Hikaru pointed out that he was a boy, but she laughed that off. Instead, she settled down on the edge of the bed, and said, “Now would be a good time to get into your second lesson. The essence of mana.

Now one of the very first questions a mage needs to answer is ‘what is mana.’ There are many misconceptions about mana, but it is the energy that fuels spells.”

Hikaru settled into a wooden chair set near the lone table in the small room and began to listen. This latest magic lesson was a welcome distraction for her.