The Consequences of Meeting a Dragon

After leaving the registrar's office, they went to one of Kamari's market districts. There were a number of these scattered throughout the city, but they were roughly divided into three types: wizard, non-wizard, and mixed. As the names implied, the main difference was how many magic products were sold in the area. The wizard districts were also where most expensive luxury stores were located, since the people who shopped there were more likely to be able to afford their products.

Thenio had grown up mostly shopping in a non-wizard market district, though his family had occasionally gone to a mixed one to buy magic tools and supplies. His parents also went to one of the higher-class wizard districts from time to time—usually just before they were planning to visit Aunt Suliya's house so that Thenio's mother had something to talk about when her sister started not-so-subtly bragging about one of her recent shopping trips.

Today, they were going to a mixed district, since it would have about the right level of ambient magic for their insulation testing.

"There's a bookstore near here that I wanted to visit," Ariom said as they were climbing out of the carriage. "But otherwise I don't need anything in particular, so let's just browse around the stores for a while. Thenio, your first month's salary isn't scheduled to be transferred into your guild account for a few more days, but I can give you an advance if there's something you want to buy."

"Uh...no, I think I'm all right," Thenio said, feeling awkward. "I have a little bit of money with me, and there isn't anything I really need, so...."

He still wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of getting a salary at all, since he knew he wasn't really doing enough to earn one. All he'd done so far was play around with Iggy and provide some chaos magic crystals. And in return, he was getting a nice place to stay with food and other necessities supplied for him, world class wizards researching and treating his magic problems, his very own message book, excellent training facilities and equipment, and regular lessons on magic, archery, and acrobatics.

Getting paid on top of all that just seemed excessive. He knew Ariom could easily afford it, but still....

Ariom shrugged. "All right. You can let me know if you change your mind."

They left the parking area and walked along one of the wooden sidewalks that ran through the district, pausing to look at stalls or in shop windows whenever one of them saw something interesting.

Which was quite often, since Iggy was present.

The little dragon wanted to look at almost everything. The walk to the bookstore, which would normally have only taken five minutes or so, took them almost an hour because they could only move a few feet before Iggy spotted a stall selling shiny jewelry...or a row of brightly colored bottles in an alchemist's shop window...or a funny-looking statue in front of a store selling home decor...or whatever else happened to attract his attention....

The rest of them didn't really mind letting the little dragon look around, although it made for quite a lot of going back and forth across the sidewalk for Thenio, who was the one carrying him. But Seyli and Tava were also enjoying the window shopping. Tava seemed to be interested in a lot of the same things that Iggy was. Thenio remembered reading in the dragon encyclopedia that most dragons were attracted to shiny, colorful objects.

Ariom seemed content to simply follow slowly along behind them, keeping watch on Thenio's magic power. He didn't intervene until they went past a pet shop just before reaching the bookstore.

Or rather...didn't go past the pet shop....

There was a large cage full of small, brightly colored birds in the store window, and Iggy was immediately riveted by them. He pressed his face against the glass and watched them intently, thrashing his tail with excitement and occasionally letting out soft chattering noises.

After about ten minutes of that, when even Tava had lost interest in the birds and was starting to look bored, Ariom finally stepped in to take Iggy's leash from Thenio and drag the little dragon away.

"But why can't we buy some birds?" Iggy was arguing as they walked toward the bookstore. "They can live in the climbing tree and be my friends! We can play together!"

"Birds are a lot of work to take care of, little guy."

"I'll take care of them!" Iggy said eagerly. "I'll share my food with them. And take baths with them. And show them how to play in the sandbox. And share my toys with them...."

"Those are tropical birds, Iggy. They take even more work than normal birds," Seyli put in gently, obviously trying to help Ariom out. "Their bodies aren't built for living in places where it gets cold like Kamari does, so they need special cages that are just the right temperature or else they'll get sick. And they're too small to play with you. Birds that size have really fragile bones, so they can get hurt very easily. You don't want them to get sick or hurt, right?"

"Oh...." Iggy's head and ears drooped pitifully.

Tava tilted her head and let out a soft whimper, watching him with concern.

Seyli reached up and patted her. "He's okay, sweetheart. He's just sad right now."

"I'm sorry, little guy," Ariom said, rubbing Iggy's head comfortingly. "We'll buy you some new books instead, all right? You really like reading Seyli's dragon book with Thenio, don't you? I'm going to buy you some books about magic beasts like that one, so the two of you will be able to read them together."

"Oh." Iggy's expression brightened a little. "So we'll have our very own dragon book?"

"Right. We'll get a copy of the same one, if they have it here."

"They probably do," Seyli said. "That encyclopedia series is pretty popular. They're a little pricey, but it was a joint project by the Association and the Merioc Research Alliance, so the quality is really good. We have a full set at home. The team that did the dragon encyclopedia gave it to Grandma as thanks for letting them come to the hatchery to do research on our breeds." She let out a small laugh. "But Mom and Dad eventually had to buy me my own copy of the dragon volume because I kept looking at it so much."

They reached the front of the bookstore. Similar to the registrar office, there was a sign on the entrance that read, 'No animals or large magic beasts in the store. Small magic beasts must be restrained. Owners will be responsible to pay for any damages.'

Thenio hadn't seen very many magic beasts during their time at the market district, but there had been a few around. And apparently the bookstore had enough coming to visit that they felt a need to set some restrictions on the ones that were allowed to enter. It was quite a large store, so it made sense that it would attract a wide range of customers, including wizards who brought magic beasts along. Ariom seemed familiar with the place, so that was one grandmaster with a dragon, for starters.

"Welcome." A waiting sales clerk greeted them with a friendly smile as they entered the store. "Can I help you find anything?"

"I'm looking for some academic books on demons," Ariom told her. "Do you have anything like that?"

"Yes, we should. Though some of the books on that topic will be certification restricted."

Oh, it was a store affiliated with the Wizard Association. That must be why Ariom had chosen to come here. Affiliated stores were able to sell products that other stores couldn't, although they had to follow certain rules, such as only selling to wizards who had the proper certification rank.

Ariom nodded. "That's fine. I was expecting as much."

"Then if you'll just wait a moment, I'll call over one of our employees who works in that area of the store."

While the woman went to find the appropriate person, Ariom turned to Seyli. "You know where the magic beast section is, don't you?"

"Yes."

"All right. Then why don't the four of you head over there?" He handed Iggy back over to Thenio. "If you two help me pick out a few books for Iggy, I'll buy you each a book in exchange. Deal?"

"Deal!" Seyli said, giving him a brilliant smile. She beckoned to Thenio. "Come on. I'll show you where to go."

"And Thenio..." Ariom added as they started walking.

Thenio paused and looked back at him.

"Don't worry about the cost. Just pick out something you want."

"Ah...okay...."

Was it that obvious he'd been thinking about looking for something inexpensive? Ariom hadn't been lying when he said he couldn't use mental magic, had he...?

A little embarrassed, Thenio followed quietly after Seyli. Iggy, who was riding on his shoulder, seemed to have recovered from his disappointment about not getting any pet birds and was looking around at the bookshelves they were passing with interest. Thenio could feel the little dragon's tail waving slowly against his back.

After they'd gone far enough for Ariom to be out of earshot, Seyli stopped. "Hey."

Thenio also stopped and looked at her questioningly.

She turned and gave him a gentle smile. "I know it makes you a little uncomfortable when Ariom gives you things like that. Uncle Bero told me you'd been brought up to be very conscious of how much things cost. And it's not like there's anything wrong with that, but....well. You know Ariom isn't very good at expressing himself, right?"

"Well...yeah, I'd noticed."

"So this is one of the ways he feels comfortable interacting with people. By buying or making them things. He does the same thing with me and other members of our family. Even Iggy...." Seyli gave a wry smile. "Especially Iggy. It's not good to try to take advantage of him, obviously. But as long as he keeps it within reason...try to go along with it, okay?"

"Oh."

Thenio considered that for a moment. Maybe it was a little like the way he'd always used cooking and other household chores. It was a way to connect with his family, even if they didn't really want to be around him.... And he had to admit that he'd feel bad if someone didn't want to eat something he cooked for them.

He nodded. "I guess I can kind of understand that."

She gave him the same brilliant smile she'd given Ariom earlier. It made her blue-green eyes light up in a way that Thenio found quite distracting.

When they reached the shelves of books on magic beasts, Seyli skimmed over them and quickly found a large section of matching encyclopedia volumes. She pulled out one that Thenio recognized.

"That looks like Seyli's book!" Iggy said.

"That's right. You're going to get your very own copy, so you and Thenio can spend lots of time learning about dragons together." Seyli looked over the other books. "Ariom doesn't have any books from this series, does he?"

"I don't think so," Thenio said, shaking his head. "I don't remember seeing any, and I specifically looked for books about magic beasts. He mostly has really dense academic books on stuff like analyzing magic beasts' magic circuits and constructing familiar contract magic formations. I guess he got those when he was researching how to hatch Iggy's egg? The only other things I could find were a few books on raising dragons and some of Iggy's picture books."

Seyli laughed. "Academic treatises and picture books. And all for Iggy's sake. That sounds about right." She pulled three more books off the shelf. "Let's get the first three volumes, then. They're a broad overview of different kinds of magic beasts, divided into land, water, and air. That will be a good place to start. Are there any kinds of magic beasts you want to learn about, Iggy?"

"Gryphons!" Iggy said eagerly, tail swishing. "I want to read about my new cat-bird friend!"

"Oh? You met a gryphon this week?"

Thenio nodded. "Yes. A parrot gryphon named Casturi. Iggy really liked her."

"Mmm! She has pretty, soft feathers, and she let me take a nap in them! And we had snacks together...and climbed my tree together.... Oh! And the cat-bird got stuck! Thenio had to rescue her!"

"Got stuck?" Seyli looked surprised.

Thenio laughed a little. "Yeah, in the tree. She tried to go through a gap between two branches, and her hindquarters got caught. It looked really funny. I had to climb up and try to lift her up."

"You had to...lift her up?" Seyli repeated, her expression strange.

"Right. Well, not very far. I'm not strong enough to lift a whole gryphon, obviously. I just pushed her back end up enough for her to get her claws hooked onto the branch so she could push herself the rest of the way out."

"No...I mean...." Seyli was still looking perplexed. "Were you close by when she got stuck?"

"Huh? No. I was in the kitchen getting snacks for her and Iggy."

"Then why didn't she just use magic to lift herself out? Gryphons can all use wind magic. I could understand her not using any if you were there, but if you were in another room...."

"That...oh." Thenio blinked. Now that he thought about it, that was strange. "Um...Ariom had warned her not to use magic not long before that. Maybe she didn't realize it was okay if I wasn't close to her?"

He felt a little bad for Casturi if that really was the case. She'd gotten her pride injured for nothing....

"She must have a really gentle personality for a gryphon, then. Most of them are pretty vain, and they hate anything that makes them look bad. So in a situation like that, they'd probably use magic and try to get themselves unstuck before anyone noticed, even if they weren't sure if it was really all right or not."

"Well, she did seem pretty nice. She and her contract partner used to work for a magic circus, so I think she's had a lot of experience being around children. She's probably extra patient because of that."

"Mmm! She's a good cat-bird!" Iggy chimed in.

Seyli smiled at him. "Good. I'm glad you made a nice friend." She pulled out another book and added it to the stack she was forming on a nearby shelf. "We'll get the volume on gryphons and hippogryphs, then. That's another one of my favorites, actually. It has a lot of nice pictures. And then...let's see...didn't you tell me last week that you'd made friends with a storm hound, too? Then how about a book on canine-type magic beasts?"

"Mmm! Okay!" Iggy said happily, waving his tail. "I like the wind-dog, too. He's really good at playing bird!"

"All right. Well, I think six books is enough to last you for a while," Seyli said, looking over the volumes she'd selected. Then she turned to Thenio and gave him a wink. "Now Thenio and I need to pick ours. Though I think I already know which one I want. As long as they still have a copy here."

She went over to a nearby bookshelf that was labeled Magic Beast Veterinary Studies and looked around for a minute before reaching up to pull a thick book from the top shelf. She held it up so that Thenio could read the title: Herbal Medicine and Nutrition for Dragons.

"This one!" Seyli said happily. "I saw this the last time I was here and wanted to get it, but I didn't have enough money. Reference books like this are really expensive, you know?"

Thenio raised an eyebrow at her. "Weren't you saying something earlier about not taking advantage of Ariom...?"

"Yeah...well." Seyli stuck out her tongue. "But he basically uses me as his official dragon consultant, now that Toflyn isn't around, so isn't it fair for him to buy me a reference book on dragons once in a while? He actually has asked me to research stuff like this before, like when he was designing Iggy's atrium and wanted to know what plants were safe to put in there."

"Well...I can't really argue with that...."

Thenio glanced at the stack of magic beast encyclopedias. If it was something that helped Iggy at all, he knew Ariom probably wouldn't care about the cost.

"So what are you going to pick?" Seyli pointed at the bookshelf she'd taken the herbal book from. "If you're interested in more anatomy books, they're in this section. I can help you find a good one."

"Actually...." Thenio hesitated. He had thought of something he wanted to look for, but he wasn't sure exactly what kind of book it would be in...or if he could even find it at all. "Do you know anything about the magic beasts that live in the Ket'qe Forest?"

Seyli raised her eyebrows. "In Ket'qe? I know a little. We don't focus on those species much in the magic beast healing program at the academy, since most of them don't like to leave the forest, so it's not very likely you'll run across any in a normal practice. But I've read some about them. And my family went to visit Ket'qe once, though I was pretty young at the time."

"Then...have you ever heard of dream beasts?"

"Dream beasts?" Seyli repeated, frowning a little. "I don't think so. Is it a species that lives in the Ket'qe Forest?"

"Well...I'm not sure, actually. I'm not even sure if they're real creatures at all. They might just be a fairy tale, like krakens."

"Mr. Kraken is real!" Iggy piped up. "We go to his restaurant to visit him and eat spicy fish balls!"

"Yes, we know, Iggy," Seyli said patiently. "But 'Mr. Kraken' is just his name. He's an octopus, not an actual kraken."

"Oh." Iggy tilted his head, as though puzzling over this revelation. "But the lady who brings the fish balls told me he was a teeny, tiny kraken...."

"Well, if a kraken is a giant octopus, then maybe it's okay to call a normal octopus a tiny kraken?" Thenio said with a shrug.

"An octopus is a normal animal, though," Seyli pointed out. "And krakens are magic beasts. Supposedly. As far as we know, they don't actually exist, so...."

"Mr. Kraken does have magic!" Iggy insisted. "I see him having magic when we go to his restaurant!"

Seyli blinked. "He does? That's strange. I'm pretty sure he's just a common spotted octopus...." She tilted her head thoughtfully, just like Iggy had. "Maybe there's some kind of enchantment on his tank? Ariom would know. I'll have to remember to ask him." She shook her head a little and looked back at Thenio. "Anyways. We got a little sidetracked. Where did you hear about dream beasts?"

"From my friend, Eteon. The one who does animal carvings. I told you about him, didn't I? Just after I had to leave the academy, he came to visit me at home and gave me a carving of a magic beast that he called a dream beast. They're supposed to be able to go into people's dreams. He said he'd heard stories about them when he lived in Ket'qe."

"What do they look like?"

"Like a really big deer, but with just one horn. Sort of like a unicorn horn, but curved, with a couple of extra prongs on it. And it has a mane and wings, so it also looks a little like a hippogryph. The body and wings are a dark indigo color with some white markings, and the mane is white, and—"

...and it's really soft and warm. Thenio stopped himself from saying that thought out loud just in time. He already felt a little awkward talking about dream beasts at all, and admitting that he'd even dreamed about one would be terribly embarrassing....

"...and it has a long tail, with some feathers on it," he finished lamely.

"I know that wing-deer!" Iggy said brightly. "That's the one that sits on the table by Thenio's bed, next to the little spotty cat!"

"Um...yeah.... That one." Thenio felt his cheeks turn slightly warm. He hadn't really wanted to tell Seyli that he kept Eteon's carvings next to his bed....

Seyli didn't seem bothered by that childish detail, however. She was holding the herbal book against her chest and tapping her fingers thoughtfully on the cover. "Hmm.... I really don't think that's a species that lives in the Ket'qe Forest. I'm sure I'd remember if I'd read about something like that. And going into people's dreams.... That would have to be some kind of mental magic, wouldn't it? There aren't very many magic beasts that can use mental magic, and they're all pretty well-documented...." She shrugged. "So as far as I know, it's not a real species. And the Forest People do have a lot of legends and fairy tales. So we should probably look for a book that has a collection of those kinds of stories. Let's see if we can find one of the store clerks and ask where the folklore section is. Do you mind carrying Iggy's books?"

Thenio scooped up the stack of books and followed after Seyli as she started off in search of a store employee. "So you think it's just a fairy tale, too, huh...? I mean, I know it has to be. It's just...." He gave an awkward laugh. "Well, it just...sounds nice, doesn't it? A magical creature that can fly through dreams...."

He knew the dream beast wasn't real. He'd never expected it to be.

But why did he feel so disappointed...?

Seyli paused and looked back at him. "I'm pretty sure it's not a real magic beast. And I think it's most likely that it's just a fairy tale, but....if it is real.... Well, I think it's possible if it's actually a mythic beast, rather than a magic beast. We hardly know anything about mythic beasts, after all. But we do know that they can do all kinds of crazy things that don't fit into the magic system we're used to. So I could believe that there might be a mythic beast that can fly through dreams."

Thenio's eyes widened. A mythic beast? Was that really possible...?

But as they resumed walking, his hopeful expression turned into a frown. No...that had to be wrong. Mythic beasts were absurdly powerful creatures. Strong enough that they could overpower high ranking wizards like Ariom or General Obarin as easily as squashing a bug. And they were well-known for being aloof and rarely interacting with humans.

There was no way a mythic beast would be interested in a useless nobody like him....

They soon found one of the bookstore clerks—an older man with a kind face who was tidying one of the bookshelves. He took one look at the heavy books they were carrying and quickly fetched them a shopping basket with a weight reduction enchantment on it. Then he led them over to the folklore section.

"Collections of stories from the Ket'qe Forest are quite popular, so we have several options. Did you want something along the lines of a children's storybook? Or more of an academic documentation?"

"Uh...the academic one, probably," Thenio said uncertainly. "I'm looking for a legend that doesn't seem to be very well-known. At least not here in Kafron. So I don't think I'll find it in a children's book."

"I see." The clerk nodded thoughtfully. "In that case, I would recommend this one." He pulled a large, thick book from the shelf. The title was A Record of the Legends and Tales of the Forest People. "This one's quite old, so it's not the easiest to read, but it's a classic resource for the study of Ket'qe folklore. It was written by a human researcher who lived with the Forest People for many years, studying their culture and documenting everything he learned. Most of the other books we have available were at least partially based on his work. So if the story you're looking for isn't in this book, it probably won't be in any of the others, either."

Thenio took the heavy book from him, doing his best to not look at the price.

After they'd thanked the clerk for his help, they went back to the front of the store, where there was a small lounge area where people could sit and look at books. They all sat down to wait for Ariom. Seyli flipped through her herbal book, and Thenio started reading the gryphon encyclopedia to the dragons in a soft voice, with Iggy still perched on his shoulder and Tava sitting on his lap. Thenio wasn't sure how much she actually understood, but she seemed to like looking at the pictures, at least.

Ariom came about fifteen minutes later. He wasn't carrying any books, but if he'd gone to a separate area that had certification restricted books, they'd probably asked him to pay for them there before he came back into the main part of the store. He must have put them in his space pocket, then.

Ariom looked over the books in their basket and nodded with approval at the magic beast encyclopedias. Then he raised his eyebrows a little as he looked at Thenio's choice.

"The Forest People, huh...? Are you interested in them because of Eteon?"

"Well, yeah. He told me about an interesting story not long ago that he heard when he lived in Ket'qe, and I've been wanting to learn more about it."

"It's quite a fascinating place. I go there occasionally. I know a good bowyer there, and I buy a lot of my archery equipment from him. Maybe you'll be able to come with me the next time I go."

"I'd like that," Thenio said, though the smile he gave Ariom was rather forced.

If he knew that Ket'qe Forest was high in ambient magic power, then Ariom would have to know as well. Which meant they both knew that trip would probably never happen....

"Well, let's go check out," Ariom said, picking up the shopping basket and starting toward the cashier's counter next to the entrance.

They paid for the books, and Ariom made the stack disappear into his space pocket. Then they made another slow trip back to the parking area, though they made sure to avoid the pet shop this time.

After Iggy and Tava had finally had enough of looking at shiny things, they all got back into the carriage and headed toward the enchanter's guild headquarters—the last place on their itinerary for the day.