The Trouble with Magic

Balron growled in frustration, snapping his teeth at the tree branch lodged in his hind leg. It dug in painfully, and he flapped his wings irritably, fighting the urge to roar his malcontent to the mountain-top. Roaring would only alert anything in the area to his presence, which was a bad idea—especially if he was in another dragon's territory. Balron twisted his head back towards his injured leg again, managing to catch a leaf in his teeth this time. The leaf snapped off, but the tree branch didn't move.

The branch was in deep, he knew; he couldn't change back to his human form without removing it first. The branch was thick, wider than his human leg, so he'd be effectively cut off from most of his leg if he changed. That would be much more painful, and he'd probably lose his leg as well.

He couldn't reach the branch, though. Whimpering, Balron twitched his tail back and forth, then settled into the dirt of the forest floor gingerly. At least his dragon form felt pain much more dully than his human form; the wound was nothing more than a painful nagging. The bleeding was sluggish and tapering off, so it probably wasn't dangerous as long as he stayed a dragon.

Resting his head on his front feet, he pondered ways of getting the branch out. The wound wouldn't heal properly until it was gone, but he couldn't reach it and transforming was out of the question. He also wasn't sure how he'd managed to impale himself on a branch; he'd been flying low over the forest, but not low enough to run into a tree.

There was a village nearby—but no, he couldn't go there for help in dragon form, not in this part of the country. He probably couldn't visit in human form, either, though they might be willing to sell him supplies. Some villages welcomed dragons simply because of the gold they carried, and they wouldn't know he didn't have as much as a single gold coin to his name.

Growling softly, Balron stretched his leg out carefully. It was compromised, as he couldn't force it to extend all the way. Twisting his head, he stared balefully back at the injured leg, letting his wings droop dejectedly. He didn't have time to stop—stopping meant his pursuers would catch up.

Balron twitched his leg, ignoring the jolt of pain and shaking the smattering of leaves still on the branch. He'd rest and think; maybe a short nap would grant him an epiphany and he'd be able to remove the branch and get on his way again.

*~*~*

Tane huffed out an unimpressed breath, tugging his heavy pack back into its place strapped over his shoulders. Glaring at the tree which had tried to yank it off his back, he said, "You, later," under his breath before picking his way along the barely existent forest path. That tree would serve well enough for his next dragon trap.

Pausing a few steps down the path, he focused on the faint traces of the bespelled powder he'd dusted over the projectile he was tracking. He'd gotten pulled off track; he was headed too far west. Correcting his course, he continued to climb the mountain, ducking through the dense foliage.

The mountain was a beautiful spot for a lair. A thick forest separated the top of the mountain from the village at the foot, and caves ran extensively throughout the mountain. The forest was extensive and had plenty of game; between that and the village at the base of the mountain there was plenty of food to sustain a dragon. Unfortunately for the dragons, the village happened to be where Tane had been banished, and he didn't take kindly to dragons. He'd killed off half a dozen of them since he'd arrived in the village nearly a year and a half ago.

Tane glowered as a bush attempted to trip him. Muttering a short spell, Tane zapped the offending bush, letting it crumble to dust and ash. He hated climbing the mountain; the forest seemed to have it in for him, so he tried to avoid hiking through it as much as possible.

His mood was only made worse by the fact that he'd just made this trip last week to kill off another encroaching dragon. He shouldn't have had to climb the mountain for another few months. The trap hadn't even killed the dragon, leaving him just the carcass to deal with. No, he got to go finish the job himself.

That he'd had his dinner interrupted by that obnoxious tart of a Mayor's wife, flashing cleavage and generally running about in maidenly distress, hadn't helped. He was taking that damn alert away from the Mayor and keeping it as far from the rest of the village as possible. That would prevent them from panicking and generally being insufferable in his presence.

A fire spell would do the trick. Dragons were surprisingly combustible if the fire burning them was hot enough. He just had to make sure he didn't catch the trees on fire, too; putting out a forest fire would not improve his day.

Pausing again, Tane oriented himself quickly before continuing his climb. He needed to get to the dragon and kill it before night fell. It would be easier—and safer—to kill the dragon in the light of day. If he didn't make it before dark, he'd have to spend a night in the forest with a live, probably hunting dragon.

He was getting closer. The dragon hadn't taken refuge in the caves, and it didn't seem to be moving at all. That made his job easier. Tane smiled viciously—the dragon was a sitting duck. If he was right, the dragon had made it to one of the stone-circled clearings that were a remnant of a past dragon, one that had lived there long before Tane had ever settled in the area. That would make it much easier to contain the fire.

Tane slowed his steps as he approached the clearing, listening for movement. He heard nothing, so he crept closer, pausing close to the ring of boulders to listen again. He could hear the faint whistle of the dragon's breath, but no sound of movement. It was probably resting; it was wounded, he knew that for sure, though he had no idea how badly.

Mumbling the words under his breath, Tane started to recite the firestorm spell, setting the temperature to 'hotter than dragons-breath' as he inched out from behind a boulder. He'd get a quick look, set the spell to the area the dragon was in, and then duck behind the boulder so he didn't get singed.

There it was—a white dragon. Tane had never seen one in that color, but he didn't let the bright, shimmering scales distract him, snapping out the final word and ducking back behind the boulder as fire twisted into existence, swirling around where the dragon was stretched out with a thick tree branch jutting out of its injured hind leg.

The heat died out seconds later, and Tane took a deep breath, steadying himself. Firestorms took a lot of energy, which was why he'd be staying on the mountain for the night instead of dragging himself home. Steadying himself on the boulder, he wobbled around it—only to fall to his knees, shocked as the dragon blinked at him, shaking the ash from its pristine white flank.

The dragon's scales shimmered, changing to silver then gold, and then the dragon was in its human form. Straight, white-gold hair fell to partway down his back, bound by a black ribbon. He was dressed in a pale shirt, a dark vest and white pants that were rapidly staining with blood.

"Thank you," the dragon called cheerfully, undoing his belt buckle. "I couldn't reach that stupid tree branch."

Was the dragon stupid? Tane scowled, hastily pulling his bag off his shoulders and running through the inventory of supplementary spells he'd brought along. What would kill him? The fire hadn't, and it should have. Tane stared, distracted as the dragon dropped his pants without any shred of modesty. There was a gaping hole in the dragon's thigh, bloody and raw, and Tane looked away, fighting not to throw up.

"Ah, damn," the dragon said. Tane wondered how the hell he was managing to stand, let alone do more than scream in agony. The dragon was speaking again, and Tane glanced back without meaning to because he could deal with ashes and killing dragons, but open wounds were another thing altogether.

"Dragons don't have magic!" Tane exclaimed, wide-eyed as he watched the dragon's leg finish knitting back together.

"It's not," the dragon said, wincing. "Well, there go a perfectly good pair of pants. Thank you again for the fire-bath, by the way. It felt wonderful, just the right temperature."

Tane shook his head, massaging his temples to ward off an impending headache. He should have known, given the way his day had been going, that killing the dragon wouldn't be a simple matter. He couldn't use any of his poisons; as close as he was to the dragon, he'd be affected by them as well. The fire hadn't worked, and dragons were immune to ice and water spells. He had a few earth spells, but nothing of a large enough scale to do more than irritate the dragon. That left the healing spells, which would do the opposite of kill the dragon.

Cursing roundly in his head, Tane fought to think—there had to be something he could do. He had a bit of energy left—maybe if he forced that into one of the earth spells—

"Are you all right?"

"Aah!" Tane yelped, tumbling backwards as wide, bright red eyes stared at him from disconcertingly close. Slipping on the grass, his head knocked hard against the boulder behind him. Sparks flared across his vision and the errant hope that he wouldn't be eaten flashed across his mind before everything went dark.

*~*~*

"Oops." Balron frowned, staring at the unconscious mage. Making a face, he resisted the urge to pluck at the front of his pant leg. He probably should have waited for the blood to dry before he put them back on, but he didn't really like standing around half-naked.

Glancing at the sky, then back to the mage crumpled awkwardly against the boulder, Balron sighed. He'd have to stay the night. He couldn't leave the man who'd helped him with the tree branch alone, braving the elements and wilderness. There was also the chance that one of Balron's pursuers could catch up enough to find the mage, and he couldn't leave the mage to their non-existent mercy.

Stooping, he first swung the mage's heavy pack across his shoulders, wincing when the straps tugged at his hair. Then he scooped the mage up. They'd be safer in the woods, where the dragons would have a harder time spotting him. Them, really, because he'd wait until the mage woke up to leave him.

*~*~*

Tane woke slowly, his head pounding. He was never spending another night at that damn tavern. He swore they did something to their ale to make the hangover the next morning worse. He didn't normally end up waking up outside, though. Well, no, that wasn't true. There was that one time he'd fallen outside his hut. House. Shack. Yes, shack, that was a good word for it.

Tane groaned, deciding it didn't matter. It wasn't the first time he'd passed out outside, and the way he was going, it wouldn't be his last. Blinking his eyes open, he stared blearily up at the trees above him and abruptly realized his situation was much worse than getting drunk and passing out outside.

The dragon, he hadn't gotten the dragon—and then he'd slipped and fallen. Tane sat up quickly enough to make his head spin, searching for the dragon. His energy had replenished halfway overnight, but nowhere near good enough to set up another firestorm. Tane hastily pushed his hair from his face, glancing around the clearing.

He hadn't been left by the rock he'd bashed his head against, oddly enough. The dragon was still there, too, and Tane stared, more confused than ever. The dragon was still in human form; his white-gold hair was mussed and his mouth hung open slackly. He was fast asleep, apparently uncaring he was sharing a clearing with a dragon-killing mage.

Tane scowled, wondering why the hell the dragon hadn't killed him or taken off to hide out in the mountain caves. But he was a strange dragon, Tane remembered, recalling the odd healing spell that apparently wasn't magic. He also had a higher tolerance for fire than most dragons; Tane wasn't sure he could make a firestorm hot enough to kill him.

"Guh …" The dragon made a face and waved sleepily at something in front of his face, unbalancing himself enough that he toppled away from the tree trunk. The dragon made a face, then clambered to his feet and straightened his clothing. He brushed bits of bark from his hair, and tugged at his stiff, blood-soaked pant leg, wrinkling his nose at it before looking at Tane.

"Good morning," the dragon said, no more upset than he had been yesterday about Tane's attempt to kill him. He blinked sleepy, dark red eyes at Tane. "So you're all right then? Not going to pass out halfway home or anything?"

"What?" Tane asked, annoyed. The dragon had stayed to make sure he was fine? What the hell was wrong with him?

"You're okay, right?" the dragon asked intently, staring at Tane critically. "Because if you aren't, I'll stay with you or help you get home."

"What the hell?" Tane asked, pushing himself to his feet and ignoring the throbbing that set off in his head. "You're a dragon. That wasn't a fucking firebath last night! I was trying to kill you. Why aren't you dead?"

The dragon just stared at him unblinkingly, tilting his head curiously. "I'm not a proper dragon. Why were you trying to kill me?"

"I protect the village at the foot of the mountain from you beasts," Tane said, crossing his arms. It was not the wisest thing to do, to bait a dragon, but he'd lost his temper and well … regaining it now wouldn't do him any good.

"I see." The dragon smiled sadly, but Tane refused to feel bad. "Well, don't worry. I was simply passing through when I ran into that tree branch. Thank you for removing it for me, even if you didn't mean well."

"Wait a minute," Tane said shortly, stalking closer. The dragon watched him warily, but didn't move.

"You're not trying to kill me again, are you?" the dragon asked, tucking an errant lock of white-blonde hair behind his ear. "Because that's just not nice."

"No." Tane rolled his eyes. "I doubt I could. I'm half strength—" Tane winced, because that was the most moronic thing to say. "—anyway. How'd you heal your leg?"

"That's a secret." The dragon grinned, baring his teeth. "Nice to meet you anyway, mage."

"What? No, answer me—damn it," Tane swore as the dragon shifted forms slowly, white scales shimmering brightly in the pale morning sun. Tane stepped back, trying to get out of the way, but the dragon rustled his wings and then he was flapping them powerfully, knocking Tane on his ass as rising into the air.

Tane glowered, wishing him good riddance even as he hoped another of his traps would get the damned dragon.