Mary

  Consciousness returned to Mary as she found herself in a room she didn't recognize. Her eyelids fluttered. Trying her best not to let wakefulness slip, she took a good look around, seeking to find out where she was, but the cover of darkness hid most of the details from her, and her attempts proved futile.

  What happened? she found herself wondering. Though the soft feeling under her back almost made her slip back into unconsciousness once again. She was on a couch. Had she returned to the building of the nice lady who answered Meriel's questions before? That would be really nice. She was a bit scared of entering the house of someone rich, but she was really nice, and so Mary found herself wishing they'd stayed.

  She let her head fall back onto the soft cushion again, and that's when her memories finally returned. The thieves who ambushed her and Meriel. The dragon that appeared from the night like a shadow, obliterating the three of the crooks in one fell swoop.

  She shuddered and sat up, looking around, trying to see if her being here was a trap. If the dragon was there, however, she couldn't see it nor hear it.

  Maybe she was in the afterlife already? Did the Taker collect her soul already? She found herself being sad at the thought. She wanted to do a little more out of this life than die by a beast she'd seen for the first time.

  She tried to listen for some sounds and found herself not hearing anything at all, not even the sounds of people passing by the building. No talking, no sounds. Her assumption about this being the afterlife grew even stronger.

  She looked at the walls again and found herself recognizing them a little more. She was in the room she wanted to take Mr. Meriel to—the abandoned house of her childhood friend. Did Mister Meriel save her from the dragon somehow? Take her here? How did he find it in the first place, though?

  "Mr. Meriel," she whispered, trying to see the familiar silhouette of the mysterious man she had only met several hours ago. He was a strange man, almost seeming like he was out of this world by his lack of knowledge. Not that she was the most learned person in the world though—as information and learning were hard to come by when you had no money to your name.

  She stood up, careful to be as quiet as she could, and tried sneaking towards the door on the other side of the room. It was supposed to be the kitchen, and she thought she might have heard some footsteps coming from that direction. As she traveled through half the room, she finally recognized a sound.

  It came in soft whispers, but his voice was recognizable easily: Mr. Meriel. She sped up, dashing towards the door and opening it with a wild swing.

  Mr. Meriel was standing there, a small candle emitting light onto his slight frame. The dragon that was in her dreams stood right next to him, looking up at Meriel as a dog might look up at his master. She felt her mind stop

  And she screamed. Quickly she tried to run away, but she realized that her legs didn't listen anymore. She was sitting on her bottom, and Meriel quickly rushed to stand in front of her, placating her.

  "What is it, Mary? Does something hurt? Did something happen?" he asked worriedly, looking her all over. The dragon ignored them for some reason, still standing right where Mary was moments ago. She pointed her finger, her whole body trembling, and tried to stop her screams for just a little. "A dragon. There's a dragon, Mr. Meriel! Look! He'll eat us!"

  He looked back and giggled. The man giggled at the sight of the dragon. It was the weirdest sight she'd ever seen, and though she was young, she had seen a lot of weird things.

  "Calm down, Mary. It is a dragon, yes, but he’s a friendly dragon!" He offered, messing up her hair as he ruffled his non-stumpy hand through it.

  "You're lying! A friendly dragon? But dragons kill people, Mr. Meriel. Just look at the teeth, look at its wings!" she said, finding herself calming a little as the dragon tried to stand on his hind two feet to pick up something that Mr. Meriel was keeping on the table. It wasn't the lizard-y dragon from the legends, not completely. It also had weird skin patches between the scales, and... leaves?

  Meriel went to reply, but followed her eyes and reprimanded the beast first. "Ziggy! Down! I'll let you have some—just wait a little." He turned back to her, and gave her a reassuring smile. As if a smile could fix a dragon being in front of her!

  "I sure hope you're not lying."

  She finally stood up. Although her legs remained a little jelly-like. She decided that she wasn't in any immediate danger at this moment. She had to believe that he was telling the truth. "So he's a pet of yours?" she offered, her eyes locked onto the dragon.

  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

  She still couldn't understand the situation completely. Dragons were supposed to be the strongest beings in the world. Apparently, someone had slain the last dragon in the Lavarza kingdom, but they didn't escape.

  Explaining how Mr. Meriel had one of these beasts at his beck and call was beyond her.

  "Not a pet," Mr. Meriel answered, his eyes locked onto the dragon as well. "His name is Ziggy, and I created him with magic." He sighed, running a hand through the back of his head. "There's a lot of things I forgot to tell you before now."

  Something about his tone told Mary that he didn't forget but decided not to tell her. She couldn't really blame him though—not that she could understand him having a dragon.

  "So he's your companion? I don't understand magic much, sorry. I know that some Spell swords walk around the city and they go out of the academy waving their magic swords around and such, but that's all I know."

  "You know more than I thought." Meriel said, walking back toward the table he was standing at before. "Sit down, please. I’m cooking some dinner." He shooed the dragon away; the beast chirped in an annoyed way as he was pushed away from the source of his interest, and he sat down, his eyes still locked onto whatever Mr. Meriel was about to throw into the pan.

  Mary listened to Meriel's request. Sitting on another chair, having to jump up to even be able to reach it, she was also looking for an escape all this time, trying to see if there was a way out if here if the dragon decided that she was a worthy snack after all.

  "So, you created him??" she asked again, trying to understand.

  "Yeah, with magic. He's something like a kid of mine, I suppose."

  "But I thought that magic could only be cast if you had a sword, and I've never heard of anyone creating a dragon." She said. Maybe she didn't understand magic as much as she thought, but it was mostly a subject that the noble and rich kids studied, not a poor orphan.

  She went to ask more, but she stopped as she realized that the dragon was paying attention to her now, probably due to her raised voice. She felt her mouth dry up, and her thoughts stop. The dragon slowly walked towards her, and she screamed internally.

  She tried to decide between her options, trying to think of a way to escape. It didn't matter what Mr. Meriel told her about the dragon being not dangerous. She could take one look at the thing and know that it was the most dangerous creature she'd ever seen in her life.

  She found her body not listening to her commands, however, and she could do no more than remain sitting, watching the dragon's approach. The thing wasn't large, as the dragons of legends were. It was maybe as big as a big hunting hound or maybe a baby donkey. It also didn't have the scaly exterior that the dragons were supposed to.

  While yes, it did have some scales, it also had some reflective sheen. The skin type reminded her of a mushroom she liked to eat. And there were leaves growing all over its body. The green a contrast with its black scales and color.

  It approached even closer and sniffed at Mary's legs.

  This is the end, I'm sorry mom, sorry dad. It's going to take a bite out of me now. I can feel it, the Taker, approaching! She muttered in her mind, praying to the Alighter so her passing would be quick.

  The dragon, however, only licked one of her calves, huffed from its nose, and turned back to Mr. Meriel, deciding that his cooking was probably more interesting than eating a child.

  "You don't need to be afraid," Mr. Meriel offered, still not looking away from whatever he was doing. Soft sounds of blade hitting wood repeatedly told Mary that he was cutting something, and there was a smell of something savory being cooked. Was there a furnace somewhere in the house? She hadn't seen one. She didn't even see the source of the smells or heat.

  "Ziggy is as intelligent as a human is, so you can even talk to him and he will understand," Meriel offered again. He raised his hands in the air and whispered something that Mary couldn't hear.

  The dragon could understand her! Everything that was happening today was beyond crazy already, but a dragon being able to understand human speech was almost as shocking as the dragon existing in the first place.

  "Anyway," Meriel said again, turning away from the table and meeting Mary's eyes. "I'm afraid my offer to find a guardian for you is no longer on the table. I'm trying to remain hidden, you see. This world is more... before I make my move or hide away. I don't want too much attention."

  He stuttered, and Mary was once again taken aback by the weird way he talked. It wasn't that his accent was wrong or anything like that, but it was just as if he hadn't spoken to anyone in a long time and found himself forgetting how to say certain words—or maybe just nervousness taking over.

  "So what are you going to do, Mr. Meriel?" she asked. She didn't plan on leaving him anyway. It was the first adult that she met that didn't treat her like a burden that he wanted to be rid of at the first moment's notice. And as weird as he was, she liked his company. He could even resonate with his loss somewhat, though she still didn't understand who exactly he was grieving for.

  "What am I gonna do? Good question. I still need to visit the graveyard and the Academy. Since I don't really understand what you mean with people doing magic with swords, I need to find out as much as I possibly can. But after that..." He scratched his emerging beard, thinking. "After that, I'll probably enroll. I need to understand more of this kingdom." He repeated and then looked at Mary. "As for you, originally I just wanted you to take a look. I would probably teach you how to cook and take care of yourself and such— But now?"

  He inspected her, but his eyes didn't linger on her body. No. He looked at her strangely; his eyes glossed over, and Mary felt as if he wasn't looking at her but through her. "I think you can do more than just do some clean-up stuff. I can see you're taking in mana. Small amounts, yes, but you do have a mana heart. With a mana heart as strong as this, I think you’re likely to have a third eye as well. Maybe you could join the Academy as well?"

  "Mana? What is mana, Mr. Meriel?"

  …

  Meriel laughed out loud—so loud, in fact, that Mary feared he would bring some attention from the neighbours.