Lately, I've been starved of human interactions and have only met hostile elves, dragons, and a god. 'I wonder if I will ever be able to walk among the humans again?' I thought as I continued on my way to the cave. I never wanted to live in medieval times because of its harsh rules and torture. I needed to refresh my mind.
I came through the cave entrance to see everything where I'd left it. Meridith was still staring at Seraphina in annoyance. When Meridith saw me come, she got on her feet and was almost blasted to oblivion by Seraphina. Before that could happen, I spoke up.
"Woah, woah, woah. Sera chill out, I'm back," I said as I grabbed Meredith with my tail and pulled her out of the way.
"Oh, I'm sorry but you did kinda interrupt our staring contest." She replied unapologetically.
"It's fine, but Meridith and I will be leaving here in a second."
"Yeah about that… Before we go, let's check to see if the spell works." Meredith interjected.
"Oh yeah, that would be smart."
Meridith stared at me intensely. After a few seconds, she lifted her hands above and below eye level and began to bring her hands together. Slowly but surely I began to shrink. As her hands were about to completely cover her pupils, she let them fall to her sides.
I was now but a wee laddie who could fit atop Meridith's head. In my new form, I could be registered as a legal mount. While an elf with a draconic pet may draw some attention, it would certainly be less noticeable than an elf and a dragon waltzing into a town.
"Ok, pick me up Meridith. You rode me last time, now it's my turn."
As Meredith gasped, we turned to Seraphina.
"You let her ride you?! You are disgusting! Do you even know what that means Scourge!? Oh my god, you monster, S-she is your rider? Scourge I-I didn't know you were into elves, my goodness!"
"Hmm is that a bad thing?" I asked cluelessly.
"Is it a bad thing!? YES, Scourge, YES! If a dragon chooses a rider they can no longer reproduce with another dragon, but must reproduce with his rider! She also must be close to you at all times or you'll become rampant. You must lend the rider some of your powers, but if she dies you become crippled! It is a horrible investment that only four disgraceful dragons have ever pursued!"
"Well shit, I mean, I guess it's fine if I don't reproduce and she just stays close to me."
"No Scourge you don't understand! In order to keep dragons from ascending this realm, Ajax the third god of this world has set a time limit. You must reproduce in that limit or suffer the consequences! Every fifteen years a male dragon must have at least one child. For females, it is thirty years because we are the ones who raise the kids, but that isn't the point! If you don't meet that requirement you will be severely weakened to the point of being vulnerable to a group of humans. Keeping a humanoid everywhere you go is also fairly annoying; you two will be at each other's necks!"
"WAIT WHAT! I thought if I became his rider he just became mine!?" Meredith said flabbergasted.
"Hahaha, little girl. You may have gotten into something bigger than you can handle… A lot bigger if you know what I mean…" Seraphina smiled sadistically.
"Oh no! What have I done!"
Meredith stared into the distance and shook in fear. This was the second time I had seen her genuinely scared.
"Okay, okay. Let's not worry about the little things right now. Why don't we just get to the city already? Meredith, pick me up please."
"Ok, be safe Scourge, and remember: you are already ten years old and only have five years."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll see ya later Sera!"
"Bye Scourge, and don't die," Seraphina said with a hint of longing. She then turned her back and walked deeper into the cave."
After walking about twenty minutes in silence, I tried to start a conversation.
"So, umm. How does magic work here?" I asked as I craned my neck to look her in the eyes. I was perched on her shoulders, so my head was now blocking her field of view.
She didn't bother to give me a glance and kept on walking, but she did start to speak.
"Magic in this world is divided into three groups: Motion Magic, Spoken Magic, and Thunken Magic. While most humanoids use Spoken Magic, we elves mainly use Motion Magic. Motion Magic is stronger but can't be used without moving. Spoken Magic is weaker; it's just like learning a language. Thunken Magic can only be used by dragons, demons, and angels, so I don't know much about it. Only that it is the strongest technique. After these main classes, are the subsets; the elements like fire, water, earth, wind, and arcane. Then are the subclasses and unique elements, like how water has ice magic or fire has lava, explosion, and blue fire, or earth has nature magic. Within those are different techniques and even more subclasses like ice's most common subclass, snow. There are too many different combinations and some people can even master two. Everyone can use magic, but affinity with the magics is a birthright."
"Wow, that's a lot of information, which I won't remember at all."
"That's only the tip of the iceberg, Magnus."
By the time she finished speaking, Hullberg was coming into view. The town was at the base of the volcano and looked like a medium-sized port town. It sat on the shore of a large lava lake that had grown in what seemed like a crater. Paradoxically, wooden boats sat in the lake, and people were fishing off the docks.
"Wow, this town looks crazy," I said to myself. Meridith seemed to agree with.
When we got to the small town gates, there were two armored guards. Their helmets rested between their arms; they were deep in conversation. As we approached, they took a couple steps towards us and began to speak.
"Aye lassie! Ya lookin fer entry teh Hullberg?"
Their accent was stereotypically Scottish. They even walked in a sarcastically jolly manner.
"Yes, I am seeking entry into Hullberg," Meredith said in a proper tongue.
"Oh, let us be oot yer way missy," the guard to our left said as he stepped aside.
As we walked by, the two guards grabbed Meridith, halting her advancement.
"Yer a cheeky besom aren't yeh?" The guard on the right said with a grin.
"Yeh didn't think we were just gonna let yeh pass withoot e visa did yeh?" The other one continued on.
Meridith grabbed a copper plate from her pocket and held to the guard.
"Ooh, a Queen's Honor pass? Surrey if we annoyed yeh, we but a couple uf dunderheid's, be on yer merry way now lassie!"
And with that, the gates of Hullberg opened.