Fight or Flight

Chapter 12

Simon turned back to me with a look of surprise and worry on his face, though, and I felt a renewed hope that I might be able to extract more fun from him. "What do you mean?"

"I would pick you up, fly over to the lake, and then let go. The water would do the rest." I made a show of inhaling slightly, then shook my head. "Though I do not believe there is enough water in the lake to make a difference with your odor."

Simon closed his eyes for a moment and exhaled slowly, then opened them again. One of his eyes twitched slightly in an annoyed fashion that I found incredibly satisfying. "Not that. Why won't a mage want anything to do with me?"

"Those crystals." I made a shrugging motion with my wing to indicate the cart. "They hold a lot of magical power, and it creates a sort of 'hum' against someone's mage senses. Two or three may not be an issue, but if there are a lot of them together in one place, then that 'hum' begins to sound like screaming – and it rubs off onto things that are around them. You have been in and out of the mine every day for several weeks now, so now the sense of crystals surrounds you, to the point where it would feel like staring right at the sun to sense you. Any mage will get a bad headache just by looking at you, much less being close enough to talk to you. Certainly not enough to craft a spell for you."

"Is that so..." Simon looked back at the cart of crystals, frowning in sudden thought. "Interesting." He was quiet for another second or two, then looked off towards the forest. Or rather, to the place where the human knights had made their encampment weeks before. "That must be why the soldiers didn't have any mages with them."

"Likely." I sighed at the turn the conversation was taking. Simon did not seem nearly as annoyed as I had hoped. If anything, he almost seemed excited about learning that mages would want nothing to do with him. I did not pout, exactly, but I looked away from him out towards the distant lake.

I hated to admit it, even to myself, but these past few weeks had been... interesting. Simon had left the horse with someone in the human village, then moved his things into a cavern not far from the one I had originally picked to sleep in. Which had given me all sorts of lovely opportunities to mess with him. Not a day had gone by without my doing something to his camp, be it merely confusing, such as moving all of his things to be on the other side of the room, to outright detrimental, such as spilling the bags of beans and spices onto the rocky floor. Despite all of that he had never entered my own room in revenge, and he continued to invite me to meals cooked with his interesting spices and seasonings.

All he seemed to want – aside from a spell for heating coffee – was to talk with me while we ate. And the conversations had not been completely insufferable. It was almost tolerable to talk with him in the evenings.

On some level I had the dreadful feeling that I might actually miss him these next few days, while he was dragging that cart all the way to the human town. He had said it would take him two or three days to get to town, with two days that he planned to spend in the city, and then another two or three days to get back. Nearly a full week without anyone to mess with.

I already felt a bit of boredom sinking in just at the thought.

"Why doesn't it bother you, then?"

I blinked at Simon's question, looking back at him. What had we been talking about...? Oh. The crystal's energy, and the effect that such a large concentration of it would have on any mage.

Or at least, a mage whose mage senses worked.

I rolled my eyes as if insulted by the question, and answered in an obvious tone. "Because I am a dragon."

Simon nodded thoughtfully, then began leading the horse back to the cart. "Enola, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Mm?" I had started to turn back to the lake, but paused at Simon's question. Usually he waited until dinner to ask me questions – I assumed he felt I was less likely to hit him in response to a sensitive question if I had food in my mouth. But apparently this one was important enough that it needed to be asked now, instead of when he got back from town. Which meant it was likely to be extra sensitive. Hopefully not another question about Cess... though I could not imagine why that question would need to be asked now. I gave up trying to guess the question, and just looked back at Simon. "What is it?"

"I've got the full load of thirty crystals I agreed to deliver, but I was wondering if I could take a few extras. Two extras, specifically."

Suspicion and anger began to rise in me. Was this what Simon had been after all along, then? A means to steal crystals for himself? I held back the growl I could feel rising in my chest, though I was certain my expression had grown dark and annoyed as I glowered at him. I tried to think through the request – two crystals would not be worth much, especially against the thirty he had dug out.

And with a surge of alarm, it suddenly occurred to me that if Simon stole the thirty crystals he had mined... the king would send his troops back to attack me. I had no guarantee that he would actually deliver any of the crystals he had in that cart. The crystals were more than valuable enough to replace the things he was leaving behind, and as far as I knew none of the food or bedding had any sentimental value to the human. He could disappear on the road, and I would not even know something was wrong for a week... during which time, the knights could already be back on their way.

A chill started to fill me, driving out the pleasant warmth I had gained from sunning myself on the hillside.

But... if he wanted two more crystals... was that a good sign, or bad? I tried to keep the frightened chill from my voice, and instead forced a growl into my reply. "Why?"

"Two reasons, actually. One is just personal – I've told a cousin of mine what I've been up to, and he doesn't really believe me. That I'm living in a crystal mine with a dragon, I mean. If I could send him one – even just a small one – then it would go a long way to convincing him that I'm not just pulling his leg or making up stories." Simon was turned away from me, and spoke conversationally as if nothing was wrong. He stayed focused on hooking the cart up to the horse, and this time he managed the left side without the horse getting spooked.

"And the second?" I had no interest in letting Simon take a crystal to show his friends. That would just encourage more of the annoying humans to come visit – and if that one was a cousin to Simon, I was sure he would be just as annoying.

"Money." Simon walked to the far side of the horse and began securing the cart there. "I've had to spend a good chunk of my money lately. Part of the trade for this cart. The spices and herbs I've used in our meals. The food for Smokey – even with Henry taking care of him for me, I still have to provide the food. If I could sell a crystal while I was in town, it would go a long way towards covering those purchases. It would also help me get a cart that isn't as likely to fall apart on me. And some proper tack for Smokey would be nice, too, instead of just the herald's saddle. You know. Just in case something frightens him suddenly, while I'm trying to get everything ready."

The chill faded beneath a sudden sinking feeling as Simon listed the things he had bought. All things he had only bought so as to help me. All things I would have felt a growing magedebt to repay, if my senses had been working well enough to warn me.

I owed him.

"...very well. I will get them for you." I rose to my feet and started to walk down the hill, taking the path that avoided Simon's horse.

Simon looked surprised, and paused in the middle of tying the horse to the cart. "It's no problem Enola; I can get two out easily enough. I was just going to grab two small ones, so it would just be an hour or so to dig them out."

"No. Keep playing with your horse. I will get them." I could hear Simon start to object again, but I ignored him and ducked into the tunnel.