Tee-ah? Leo thought, wondering.

            The incoming dragon back-flapped her wings in order to graceful descend. She landed with a blast of air far larger than her wings would imply. Overall, the landing was rather dainty, the dragon’s claws gently settling over the rocks.

Leo understood why Tea had used the odd landing—the dragon had a tiny, shriveled right foreleg that ended just after her elbow. She landed so that she sat on her haunches, her one good forelimb planted to support her slightly hunched form.

            Tea resembled old Hugh, from when he and Leo had first met, maybe a touch smaller. She had the same sloped back plate on her head with the backward-facing horns, the same bronze scales. And to Leo’s eyes, the exact same body shape, except, again a touch smaller—perhaps seven-and-a-half feet long instead of Hugh’s original eight.

            “Hugh?” Tea asked, her eyes wide as she stared at Hugh. “Is that you? You got… huge. And muscled. Really muscled.”

            “Right?” Hugh laughed as he flexed all his muscles while prancing in place. “My boy, Leo, helped me make levels. Four of them! I got eight stats and four abilities, and I’m crazy strong and tough now. And I can do this!”

            Hugh reached into the ground and pulled a bit of stone upward like taffy.

            “That’s amazing, Hugh! Your crazy plan worked out somehow. Did you get the hoard?”

            “Nah, but I got a hoard. It’s about a thousand gold worth of cool art and jewels and stuff.”

            “Did you make sure to get some coins?” Tea asked. “A hundred thousand copper coins to make a glorious bed?” She swished her tail from side to side as she half-closed her eyes, obviously imagining it. “So comfy.”

            “Well, I wanted the cool stuff…” Hugh muttered.

            “To impress Polly?” Tea said, her voice a touch frostier. She stopped moving her tail. “That stupid bird… You deserve better, Hugh.”

            Before Hugh could respond, Lily stepped forward, flicking her hair back as she did. “So, since no one here understands basic etiquette, I guess I’ll start. I’m Lilianae ap Willowynd, Duchess of Willowynd. This is Zirvyl ap Veltear, commonly called Zir, Duke of Veltear, and Hugh’s ‘boy’ here is Leo ap Evans il Stardew, the new King of Averia.”

            Hugh coughed. “Sorry. This is Teahuzuma, commonly called ‘Tee-ah.’ Tea, this is Lily, a mortal noble and our adventuring group’s healer, and this is Zir, an annoying kid with a penchant for stabbing stuff from behind and kicking things in their vulnerable parts.”

Zir laughed and then added, “And I’m a noble as well, Hugh.”

“Pleased to meet you, Tea.” Lily bowed formally and then straightened herself. “Although, it doesn’t help to do the introductions a second time after I did them, Hugh.”

“Right. Anyway, guys, Tea is a friend of mine, one of the dragons I hung with ’cuz we

were all broken and stuff.” He motioned to her shriveled arm.

            Tea used her good foreclaw to hide her other arm, her whole posture growing stiff as her shoulders bunched at her scaled neck.   

“Were?” Tea asked.

            “Well, I guess I still am, but Leo showed me that I could level!”

            “And you can fly?” Tea’s eyes were wide, her pupils a thin line of excitement.

            Hugh forced a cough. “Uh, no. B-But I’m strong and awesome and I have a hoard now, Tea!”

            Tea slowly nodded along with his words “I’m happy for you.” Nothing about her tone said she was happy.

            Hugh didn’t seem to notice. He went up and headbutted Tea, almost knocking her over. She scrabbled a bit to maintain her stance on only two legs. Then Hugh ran around her, full of exuberant energy. “It’s great, Tea! I got us all a place, which I’m carving out and constantly expanding. Wait’ll you see it! It’s a beachside and riverside cave complex, with all kinds of people around, and things to do. And I got us a way to gather hoards!”

            “Us?” Tea asked, always playing catchup.

            “R-Right! That’s the extra good news. Leo will pay you to work for his kingdom, so you can start accumulating wealth. And there’s a place to level—well, you can’t level yet, but you know what I mean. That place has treasure, too. And no one will come tell you to get out of their territory!”

            Tea smiled, the same baring of teeth that Hugh did. When she responded, her voice was lively—her mirth and genuine excitement returning. “Really, Hugh? That’s great news!”

            “You gotta work, though. Leo needs defenders, so from time to time, you’ll probably need to fly through the sky and shock some orcs or something.”

            Tea gave a very small, cute roar and bit at the air. “I can do that. I may not be a great fighter on the ground, but I fly well and can hit a bird mid-flight with my breath weapon.”

            “Yeah, it’ll be awesome!”

            Then Tea sobered again. “What about Zun? Are we gonna lose her?”

            Hugh stopped his romp and reached out with a paw, putting it on Tea’s shoulder—a gesture closer to what Leo used when he wanted to say something heartfelt than a natural gesture for the dragon.

            “I haven’t really told Leo about Zun yet, but he’ll save her. It’s what Leo does. Trust me, we’ll find a way to make it work for everyone.”

            “Zun?” Leo asked.

            Hugh frowned as his gaze fell to the rocks below his claws. “You’ll see.”

            “Right…”

            Then Hugh perked up again. “Is Cal still around?”

            The tip of Tea’s tail swished around again. “Yeah. He was pretty upset after you left, but, well… you know how it is. Not like we had a lot of places we could go.”

            “Well, enough of the sadness!” Hugh said. “I saved you all! I got you guys a place where you can be safe. Let’s go have Leo meet the other two, and then you guys can go wait at the boats until I go get all the other dragons now that I’m badass!”

            Tea’s eyes tightened, but she nodded. “Okay, Hugh, we’ll do that. And thanks for remembering us.”

            “Of course,” Hugh said. “Gotta punch those good deed cards!”

            “Well, enough about your magnanimity,” Leo said. “Let’s go meet your other good friends.”

            “Sounds like a plan, Leo. We’ll catch up shortly, Tea.”

            Tea spread her wings and took to the sky with just a few powerful flaps of her wings. Then she flew off as Leo picked up his shield and then they continued their climb.

            “I think you should stop referring to yourself as just kindly helping all your sad friends, Hugh,” Leo muttered after a few minutes.

            Hugh tilted his head. “What? What do you mean?”

            “Not to sound juvenile, but I think Tea likes-likes you,” Lily said. “And I think that you treating her like a charity case to be saved is really cutting her up inside. These were your good friends before you left, right?”

            “Yeah.” Hugh sighed. “’Cuz we were all the losers. And Tea probably likes me just ‘cuz there aren’t any other options for her.”

            “You’re not a loser,” Leo stated. “Stop saying that. Perhaps these dragons aren’t, either. It remains to be seen. I mean, I guess at some level, they stayed here and seem to be accepting the role everyone else assigned them, but maybe they just need to be shown a different path. But you’re hurting Tea with your words and attitude, Hugh. I know you thought you were one of the losers. But that just means you think they’re losers still.”

            “Seemed like I was until I met you and you helped me level,” Hugh said, rubbing a claw over his chin. “And I still can’t fly, so it’s still arguable that I could be a loser.”

            “I can’t fly,” Leo said as he did a quick one-two jump, kicking off one rock to land on another as they climbed. This body’s—well, my—Agility is insanely good. “You think I’m pretty cool.”

            “Don’t play games, Leo. You’re a elf. You wouldn’t be sad if a dog couldn’t fly, but you’d be sad for a bird that couldn’t take flight. The rules for elves and dragons are just different.”

            “I still think it’s a matter of perspective in this case, but I’ll leave you to your misery.”

            Hugh heaved himself up on a larger rock and then gave a huff. “C’mon. I’m hardly our group’s wet blanket. I’m the on-fire blanket.”

            Zir laughed as he followed Leo, jumping and then jumping again to land on the next rock in their climb.

            Lily sort of scrabbled up the rocks, and Leo helped her the last of the way by grasping her wrist and pulling her light frame over the edge.

            “Sorry,” Lily said, rubbing her legs. “Caster build. I’ve got most of my stats in Capacity and a bit in Connection, although I did follow your advice on the last level and get some Toughness.”

            “Not even slightly a problem,” Leo said. “We all love having our dedicated healer, trust me.”

            Lily smiled.

            “We’re almost there.” Hugh pointed with a foreclaw at a small waterfall. “That’s the Kashin Stream Falls. C’mon. Let’s get into the valley before it starts raining again.”

            A droplet fell on Leo’s nose. “You had to say it, didn’t you?”

            About five minutes later, Leo and company were in a very small valley, perhaps a half-mile long and a couple hundred feet wide. Multiple brooks fed a small pond, and the Kashin Stream left that. Hugh took them over a fascinating, clear-watered swamp with cute fish and numerous fascinating plants, to a small cave—more of a deep overhang—at the base of the next mountain heading up.

There, they found three other dragons—Tea and two new ones.

            The first dragon was even smaller than Tea, maybe seven feet long, and probably about a third of Hugh’s current mass. The dragon also had a partially missing lower jaw, and drool came out of his mouth as he talked.

“Hel-lo, Hue,” the dragon mumbled awkwardly, then he dipped his head.

            “Hey, Cal!” Hugh said, going up and headbutting him on his side. “Good to see you again, friend.”

            But the last dragon…

Leo saw what Hugh had meant, and why everyone was sad. The last dragon was about the same size as Tea, but it was very busted up. Zun had a missing wing, and one leg was twisted at a horrible angle—obviously broken and healed all wrong. But the worst was the eyes, which were a milky-white and incapable of sight.

She lifted his head, her expression one of confusion. She sniffed the air and then whispered, “Who all is here, Tea? Is it Hugh and the elves you spoke of?”

“That’s correct,” Leo said. He slowly walked over to Zun and fist-bumped his side, trying to imitate the dragon headbutting ritual. “I’m Leo.”

Zun turned her snout to Leo and inhaled. Leo’s hair shifted back and forth as the dragon took in all his scents. “You don’t smell like normal high elves.”

High elves have a standard smell?

            Hugh stomped over. “You remember my story, Leo? About how my mom decided to prove I could fly, right?”

            Leo nodded, his mind racing ahead of Hugh’s story to very dark places.

            “Well, Zun was like me—born without Air magic. But remember when I said my mom was kind, for dropping me over water? Even though she dropped me at all? You thought I was being a weirdo.”

            “I never said that,” Leo muttered.

            “I could tell you were thinking it, but I’ve learned to ignore that. The point is, Zun’s mother dropped her over land. Zun hit so hard, she broke multiple limbs and only survived because she hit trees first—which lost her a wing. And when her head hit, she lost her eyesight. And her mom wouldn’t even use a potion from her hoard on Zun, like my mom used on me.”

            Zun’s head drooped.

            “Zun’s mother just left her to die and called her a worthless, flightless dragon,” Hugh continued. “Well, in the other order, but you get my point.”

            “How did she survive?” Leo asked.

            “I’m right here,” Zun muttered, her white eyes narrowed. “I can speak for myself. Hugh convinced his friends, Cal and Tea, to help feed me and to nurture me back to health… Even when there were days that I wished they wouldn’t.”

            Leo nodded once. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

            “It’s fine. You already know how the story ends, why stop now?” She spread her one wing, and showed off her barely functioning limbs. “I healed—sort of. But without magic, or a good place to stay, I healed permanently broken. Sooner or later, I’ll die, and till then, I’ll only be a burden. And now you know my sad story.”

            There was a prolonged moment of silence.

            When it became apparent no one would speak, Zun turned her blind eyes to Leo. “So, mortal king, what will you do? Will you try to take a dragon who can’t fly or walk to safety down a treacherous mountain? Tea said you came to give us a better place to live, but I’m not a naïve hatchling. You can leave me.”

            “Don’t be silly, Zun,” Hugh said, a forced cheeriness to his voice. “And don’t be so darkly melodramatic. Leo saves everyone, seriously. We’ve got this.”

            Leo used analyze on Zun.

            For a second, he got a less complete chart, but then Zun allowed his magic, and he saw her unblocked basic status chart.

Zunochcatlicat of the Storm Vale “Blind Zun,” Storm Dragon Juvenile
Level 1(5)	Mind	Health: ~40	Stamina: ~8	Essence: ~12
Physical Attacks: Bite: Damage ~10 Claw: Damage ~7 Magical Attacks: N/A			Defenses: Armor: ~4 Lightning: ~10
Special Abilities: N/A			Strength and Toughness: Very High. Perk: Mindlocked: Mind magic replaces Air magic. Mind magic comes extremely easily to this being, and they may learn Mind magic at ages two and up. Mentalist: +6 Intelligence, May acquire rare Mind powers as if a quality step higher. Mind Master: +2 Mind Affinity, may acquire rare Mind magic powers as if two quality levels higher. Shattered: -20% physical Accuracy, -50% Dodge, -10% health. Blind: -85% outside modifier to Accuracy.
This dragon is the poster kid for Child Protective Services. Treated like crap, forced into a do-or-die situation as a young child, and finally heartlessly abandoned by her mother to fend for herself when she failed to either do or die, Zun is barely able to function, completely as the result of abuse by her family. She is now utterly dependent on others to survive. She would surely have perished but for Hugh’s soft spot for the only other dragon who couldn’t fly besides him.   You’re probably expecting some kind of joke here, but don’t be a dick, me. The abuse this dragon suffered is the best argument for losing all faith in humanity and becoming a supervillain we’ve ever encountered.

 

            “She’s like you, Hugh,” Leo said. “Her lack of flight wasn’t a flaw. It’s a perk that gives her the ability to Level right now.”

            “A shame that opportunity has been stolen from me forever,” Zun muttered.

            “I’m not so sure,” Leo replied, his mind already working. “I think we might have solutions to that as well. I’m having an idea…”

            “Don’t play with me, mortal,” Zun said, her tail twitching and anger in her voice. “I’ll be weak and crippled forever.”

            “No, seriously,” Hugh said. “I have to say this to, like, everyone we meet, but I was skeptical of Leo’s ideas at first as well. But they’re exciting, most of the time, and he’s done some amazing things.”

            I really hope I don’t disappoint that dragon’s faith in me. I almost feel like I must, someday, given to what unrealistically high standards he holds me. But I really hope I don’t.

            “Well, can you chill here for a day or so, Zun?” Leo asked. “We need to go see about getting Polly and whatever other dragons Hugh plans to recruit, but then we’ll swing back and get you to a new, and I hope, far better home and future.”

            “An’ me?” Cal asked, his jaw struggling to function. “I ge’ ’ame ’eal?”

            “Of course you get the same deal,” Hugh said.

            “Yeah,” Leo echoed. “You can fly and breathe lightning on people? And at least claw their faces if you need to, once you run out of essence?”

            Cal nodded. “I claw goo’, no ’orry.”

            I’m gonna buy this guy a telepathy ring, if it’s even a bit cheap, Leo thought to himself. Maybe I’ll take it out of his first year’s pay, at cost, so it’s a good deal for both of us. He talks weirdly from his jaw and probably talks less because of that. He should to be able to talk to people the way Freyvir did when I formed my pact with the ghost wolves.

            “So, on to Polly?” Leo asked, then grimaced as he saw both Tea and Zun tense slightly. Of course Zun would be carrying a torch for the dragon who saved her, and I already knew Tea was into Hugh. Way to be a jackass, Leo.

            “Yeah!” Hugh said enthusiastically.