As she soared through the air, Aurelia had to admit she was not entirely sure about this.

​

On the one claw, Sir Nestor had quickly settled into his new role as acting mayor of Stonebrick. Fortunately, he had not tried to take the old mayor’s mansion, now Aurelia’s home, but instead set up office in the inn where he had stayed the past few weeks. As such, he had been busy day and night. However, he had not forgotten his promise to her, so he said.

​

On the other claw, the first thing she needed to do, according to him, was show the whole town that she could do good things for them. He suggested flying around and fixing their problems for them. Well, he said something like that at least. The whole idea was so foreign to her that she tuned out the latter half of his instructions. Still, she was confident she could do what he asked.

​

Of course, the first couple of times had not gone so well. She thought she spotted a mugging happening in a back alley. A man and a woman were behind one of the market shops, drawing ever closer together. As she had recently been on the wrong end of a theft, her righteous anger flared up. Down she swooped and crashed into the street behind them. They screamed and demanded to know what was going on. By the time they could speak again, a crowd had gathered. They explained, haltingly, that they were engaged to be wed and had only stepped out of the loud market to have a private discussion about their plans. Aurelia, feeling a little heat in her cheeks from embarrassment, apologized and quickly left the scene before an even larger crowd could come. She did not fully understand what they were doing, but it was clearly no mugging.

​

Next, of course, was the incident with the wagon. A farmer coming to market had accidentally got his wagon caught in the mud. Once again, Aurelia swooped down and offered to help him out. Though hesitant, he agreed. Aurelia, of course, had no trouble at all lifting the wagon from the pit of mud, though it did sully her scales a little. However, she had neglected to take the farmer’s skittish horse into account.

The poor animal had been nervous the entire time, for it was no trained charger. The moment, however, that the wagon wheels touched solid ground, it began edging forward and away from her. Aurelia reached out to grab it and pull it up short, but as her claw brushed by its flank, the horse panicked and bolted.

​

She gave chase, of course, which only made the animal run faster. It could not outrun a dragon in full flight, of course, but she could not quite manage to grab the reins. Then, as it turned out, the reins grabbed her. Wildly whipping about, they wrapped around her foreclaw and pulled her straight downwards on top of the farmer’s cart. The tug on the reins pulled the horse up short, but the cart turned to splinters against her armored hide.

​

When the farmer caught up, huffing and panting as he ran, his face had gone white as a sheet. Aurelia had not known what to say, so she had mumbled an apology and took off as soon as she got her claw disentangled from the reins.

It was now well into the afternoon and her mood was grim. Well, can’t give up now, she told herself. Surely there were humans in need somewhere. They did have an amazing ability to make trouble for themselves.

​

She decided to stay away from the crowded town and look more on the outskirts. Her path took her over the farmlands, which had much more open space and, to be frank, smelled better than the center of town. She was just admiring the rolling hills and fields of golden grain (ah, how she missed the sight of gold!) when she heard a shrill cry come faintly from below.

​

“Help!”

​

Her ears perked up. Within seconds, she pinpointed the sound and dove downwards. That voice had a note of panic. Her eyes picked out two children huddled beside a well. With a burst of energy, her wings snapped out and flapped furiously as she brought herself to a picture-perfect landing behind them. They whirled and gawked up at her, eyes wide with fear and awe.

​

“What’s wrong?” she demanded, “Why were you calling for help?”

​

The taller of the two, a girl maybe halfway through her childhood, shook herself free of her stupor and pointed towards the well. “We were playing and Thomas fell in!”

Aurelia’s gaze snapped to the well. She leaned over and looked down. There! At the bottom! She could barely make out a small form struggling and splashing at the bottom. It would be impossible for a human to reach that far down, but maybe a dragon could.

​

“I will save him,” she said confidently, “Stand back. I don’t want to hit you with my tail.”

​

Their eyes went wider, if that were possible, and they retreated behind the nearest tree.

​

Aurelia leaned back over the well and said, “Human!” Wait, no. Even small humans liked to be called by their names. “Er, Thomas! I am going to pull you up.”

​

“Please hurry!” he called up, “I can’t swim!”

​

Debatable. He seemed to be doing an admirable job of it. Still, Aurelia was not going to argue with him. She bent down and stuck her foreleg in as far as it would go. “Grab my claw,” she ordered.

​

“I can’t! It’s too far!”

​

Aurelia strained and pushed to get her foreleg down as far as possible. The stonework around the well broke apart under her. Fortunately, it spilled outwards, and only a little dirt fell into the hole. “Try now!”

​

“I can’t!” the boy insisted.

​

Aurelia could not reach down any farther. At least, not with her foreleg. Her neck, however, was very long. She could certainly reach him that way.

​

Hurriedly, she withdrew her foreleg and stuck her head down the well. Thomas was still flailing and splashing frantically. Worse, his head was beginning to slip underwater. Aurelia quickly revised her opinion of his swimming abilities. She almost opened her mouth and tried to pick him up with her teeth, but reckoned that would send the wrong message. Instead, she said, “Grab ahold!”

​

He looked up sharply. Apparently smarter than the average adult, he did not bother staring at her or asking what in the world she was doing. Instead, he simply threw his hands up and grabbed ahold of the nearest thing he could manage. Unfortunately, that meant that he grabbed her right on the nose.

​

She grunted. Even a dragon does not like being grabbed by the nostril. However, he had her very tightly, uncomfortably tightly even, and so she felt confident in raising her head. They rose a few feet and all was well. His grip became even tighter somehow. Then, Aurelia felt her horns catch on the side of the well. Their ascent ground to a halt. A trickle of dirt fell past her eye. Thomas grabbed her even tighter. And on top of it all, she felt the sudden urge to sneeze.

​

“Hold on,” she said. Her head dipped down and came back up with all her might. Her horns caught on the same place but made a few inches of progress. Not enough, however. She tried again. Her horns dug into the stone sides and made a horrible scraping noise, but got a little farther. Thomas let out a cry of panic.

​

“I’m slipping!” he said. Aurelia grit her teeth. He most certainly was not. However, his nails were surprisingly sharp and very unpleasant.

​

“Hold on,” she repeated.

​

“I’m trying!”

​

“Then get better at it!” she snapped. The urge to sneeze was growing stronger. Smoke already began to leak out her nostrils. She rammed her head backwards again, but this time her horns got well and truly stuck. Something grabbed them. A stray root of mischievous bit of stonework. She let out a sniffle and forced the sneeze back down.

 

“I can’t hold on!” Thomas cried.

​

“You will hold on,” Aurelia snarled, “You’ll hold on or I’ll gobble you up!”

His grip tightened once more. Aurelia took a deep breath and held it. With one last surge of adrenaline, she yanked her neck backwards and upwards. Her horns tore through whatever it was holding them in place. Together, she and Thomas returned to daylight.

​

The boy let go right as he reached the surface. Aurelia’s claw shot out like a striking snake and caught him. Their eyes met, and she glowered at him. “I just—” She paused and turned her head to the side. A tremendous sneeze shook the clearing, and even larger gouts of flame shot out of her nostrils and into the air. She waited a moment in case there was another coming before turning back to Thomas. “I just pulled you out of there. I forbid you to fall back in.”

​

“Y-yes ma’am,” he said. His entire body was trembling, but he was not shying away from her. If anything, he was huddling as close to her claw as possible.

Aurelia frowned. “Are you alright?” she asked in a softer tone.

​

“C-cold,” he answered.

​

Ah. Of course. Humans did not make their own fire. She considered him for a moment. Then, with delicate care, she placed him close to her chest and began breathing deeply, which stirred the fire inside of her without letting it spill forth. He pressed against her, shivering and shaking all the while.

​

The other two peeked out from behind the tree. “Why didn’t you use your tail?” the girl asked.

​

Aurelia blinked slowly and suppressed a curse. That would have been a much better idea.

​

Thomas stirred in her grip. “I’m okay now,” he said. She released her hold on him, and he stumbled onto the ground.

​

“Well,” Aurelia said. She was unsure where to go from here. For their part, the three children all seemed content to stare at her. Was she supposed to give an inspiring speech? She had heard of dragons giving words of encouragement to their servants before a battle. Still, no words came. Best to just cut this encounter short. She rose. “I should be going.”

​

“Wait,” Thomas said. He stood up and reached into a pocket. Two copper coins glittered in the sun as he held the up. “These are for you. For saving me.”

​

She stared at them. Such a pathetic reward. Barely worth the attention of a dragon. Yet she was in no position to complain. She did not have even this much to her name at the moment. Solemnly, she took them from him and nodded. “My thanks,” she said. Then, she took to the air and flew back to town.

​

She carefully deposited the two pennies in the middle of her chamber. They and the doll were the only things left now. Honestly it was kind of depressing. She decided not to look at them and turned her eyes towards the sunlight streaming in from the windows instead. A heavy sigh escaped her lips. For some reason, she felt tired. The work of the day had not been hard. For someone of her strength and power it had been simple. Yet she still felt drained. Though the hour was not yet late, she decided that now was as good a time as any to sleep. After all, who was going to tell her off for it? She doubted anyone would take notice of when she dozed.

​

When she awoke, the sun had barely descended past the horizon. She had really had little more than a nap, but something more pressing had roused her. She was hungry. She debated grabbing a cow from a farmer’s flock, but that would probably not be in the spirit of helping the town. She could hunt, of course, but she preferred to do that when she felt alert and fresh, not tired and drained. If anything, her nap had only made her feel more tired than before. Besides, the humans had places to get food, did they not? Why could she not also go and grab a meal?

​

Sluggishly, she took to the air again and searched for one of those inns that humans were so fond of. She preferred to avoid the one that Sir Nestor had made into his office. Doubtless the rumors of the crushed wagon had reached him by now. She did not want to have that conversation while half-starved. Therefore, she selected a tavern on the other side of town, the Leaky Barrel. Though the name and smell did little to recommend it, it had one distinct advantage over its nearest competitors: its door was wide enough for her to fit through.

​

She pushed her way inside. The idle chatter and clatter of tankards and plates stopped. All eyes turned towards her. They were certainly a rough crowd, but Aurelia had no reason to fear them. She let her gaze flit across each of them in turn until she found the person who seemed to be in charge of the establishment. After all, he was wearing the fanciest clothes of anyone here. To him, she said, “You. Yes, you. I would like to eat dinner.”

​

The humans in the room hesitated as they calculated whether or not she meant to order a meal or turn them into one. When no one spoke for a long moment, the owner said, “Very well, your worshipfulness. What’ll it be?”

​

“Meat,” she said, “A single boar should suffice.”

​

The man blanched. “A whole boar? You can’t eat a—” His mouth snapped shut. “I suppose you could,” he said ruefully, “One boar, coming right up.” He scuttled into the back and slammed the door behind him.

​

Aurelia nodded, glad he understood. She looked around. The humans were all seated, save for the ones bringing food and drinks to everyone. She supposed she should also find a seat.

​

She spotted a nearly-open bench and moved towards it. The humans sitting near the ends politely scrambled out of her way and found some other place to sit or, in one man’s case, stand against the wall. Aurelia plopped down and leaned her forelegs on the table. Both bench and table groaned in protest. The sound echoed in the silence that shrouded the hall. Something about them all looking at her, watching her with guarded, fearful, or even curious expressions without uttering a single word unnerved her. She felt the sudden, unexplained urge to say something, anything, to end that wretched silence.

​

“So,” she said brightly, “How—”

​

The bench cracked and splintered beneath her and she fell onto her own tail. It did not hurt, but she winced anyway. Great, something more she broke. She even broke the well, though that was to save someone.  

​

The innkeeper came running back out. His eyes went wide at the shattered bench. Aurelia gave him an apologetic smile. “I think I better sit on the floor.”

​

“So long as that doesn’t break too,” someone called.

​

Aurelia looked down sharply and studied the wooden floorboards. Fortunately, they showed no signs of suddenly giving way.

​

The innkeeper forced a smile on his face. “Right you are, ma’am. That boar’ll be out here soon.”

​

“Excellent,” Aurelia said. The room fell back into silence. The humans stared at Aurelia. Aurelia stared at the humans. Someone coughed. Aurelia cleared her throat. Well, she might as well take this opportunity to try and learn something more about humans. There was clearly much she did not understand. “So,” she said, randomly selecting a topic of conversation, “I picked this inn because it’s the only one with a big enough door.” Their eyes shifted from her to the door for a moment. “But you all could fit through a regular door. So, what makes you pick this inn over another?”

“It’s the farthest from my wife,” a tradesman shouted. For a moment, the room burst into laughter. Then they remembered there was a dragon sitting there with them, and it petered out awkwardly.

​

Aurelia leaned forward a little. “I suppose,” she said, “That she must be a terrible monster.” Humans kept as far away from so-called monsters as they could, so it only made sense.

​

The tradesman fidgeted, suddenly uncomfortable. “Well, not precisely. She—” He glanced sideways at the crowd. “She nags me, alright? It’s always something with her. Nag, nag, nag. You watch. She’ll nag me when I get back about spending too much on drinks. She’s a witch, I swear!”

​

The crowd softly chuckled, but not everyone was amused. Another man, much larger and broader about the shoulders, slammed his hands down and stood up. “What’s that you’re saying about my sister?” he demanded.

​

The tradesman’s voice quavered. “Oh, John, didn’t see you there.”

​

“You saying my sister is a witch?”

​

“I meant it as a metaphor,” the tradesman squeaked.

​

“Oh, ya like metaphors, eh? Well, I’ll show you a metaphor!” the bigger man bellowed and stormed forward with his hands clenched into fists. “I got your metaphor right here!”

​

Aurelia raised a claw. “I don’t think you understand what a metaphor—” Her words were swallowed up as the two men tumbled to the floor, locked together in combat, and the crowd cheered. They crowded around and jockeyed for a good position. Aurelia sighed and watched with curious detachment. As is commonly the case, soon one person shoved another too hard while jostling for position and that person responded by throwing a punch. Ten seconds later the whole room was filled with flying fists and plates.

​

Aurelia drummed her claws on the table and leaned more upon it. She heard a loud crack and shot back upwards. The table was a little bent in the middle now, but if she refrained from saying anything, maybe no one would notice. “Innkeeper!” she called, “I’m waiting on my boar!”

​

The innkeeper’s head poked out from the kitchen. “Y-yes your grace! We are bringing it—” His eyes wandered over the room and he scowled. “—out now.”

​

From behind the door he produced a cudgel. Holding it high, he waded out into the melee and began shouting about how he would beat the living daylights out of everyone in this room if they did not stop breaking his plates. In the meantime, two serving boys exited the kitchen carrying what vaguely resembled a boar. It was missing a few key parts, such as the organs, but most of it was there. Aurelia presumed this was how humans ate them.

​

She smiled at the pair and gestured to the spot in front of her. They set it down. The table creaked loudly and bent a little at the crack she had put in it. Aurelia’s smile turned nervous. The pair looked at the table, then at her. She made a shooing motion with one claw. They took the hint and skedaddled.

​

The boar lay on the table in front of her, steam rising slowly from it. She gave herself a moment to breathe it in and appreciate the scent. It sort of smelled like her own fresh-cooked meals, but much more aromatic. Her stomach rumbled. Oh, she was going to enjoy this. Her head came down, jaws parting, almost ready to bite in when a stray bottle marked ‘Ale’ flew through the air and shattered against the table. Glass and foul-smelling liquid covered her meal.

​

Aurelia stared at it for a long moment. Then, she raised her head slowly. She felt a growl build in her throat. With a sudden frenzy, she leapt to her feet and roared. “Alright, enough of this!” she bellowed and slammed her fist onto the table. Already abused, it could take no more and finally split in half. The boar went with it and tumbled to the ground.

​

With a cry of dismay, she bent down and picked it up. It dripped a little and had a smudge on one side, but was probably still edible. She had eaten things off the forest floor on a regular basis, after all. Still, it would be a pain to pick out all that glass. Dragon or not, shattered glass would give her throat a very bad time. Her gaze fell on the now-still-as-a-statue crowd and she felt a hot, furious fire rise in her throat. “Why you little—”

​

The door opened. “Aurelia!” Sir Nestor’s voice boomed.

​

The fire in Aurelia’s chest died, choked by a sudden icy stab of—Aurelia paused. Was that fear? Was she afraid of Sir Nestor? She turned slowly, a wry grin on her face. “Ah. Sir Nestor. How good of you to join us. We were just having a bit of a fight. Care to join?”

​

Sir Nestor did not seem bothered by the state of the inn. He glanced over it, but his gaze remained mostly on Aurelia. “I want you to know,” he said, “I heard what you did today.”

​

Aurelia’s jaw worked silently for a moment. “I assure you, it was--”

​

“And I had to come rushing over the moment I heard the details.”

​

Aurelia shrank a little. “Oh did you.”

​

“I admit, despite what I said, I had my doubts. But still, I didn’t expect something like this so soon.”

​

Aurelia’s shoulders slumped. “Yes, well, I did my best.”

​

“And so.” Sir Nestor beamed up at her. “I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you.”

 

There was another long moment of silence. Such things were happening more and more in Aurelia’s life. She cleared her throat. “Come again?”

 

“You saved that boy’s life,” Sir Nestor said, “If you had not been there, he would have drowned before anyone else could have reached him.”

 

Understanding flooded into Aurelia’s eyes. “Oh. Oh yes. The child in the well.” A warm feeling filled her chest. It was like fire, but sweeter in an odd way. “Yes. I was happy to help.” This was a very strange feeling. She was not entirely sure what it was. Pride? But not the regular sort of pride.

 

Sir Nestor looked around and smiled. “Innkeeper,” he said, “I am in a very good mood tonight. I will buy everyone in this inn another round and a good dinner. Including the dragon. That should help cover any expenses you may have accrued.” He eyes the splintered table and bench by Aurelia, as well as the shattered plates and bottles here and there. “Tonight is a night for celebration.”

 

There was a ragged cheer and, having mostly forgotten why they were fighting, the crowd picked itself up, dusted itself off, and got back to enjoying the evening. Sir Nestor commandeered a stool for himself and sat next to Aurelia. She leaned down to him. “So you’re not mad about the wagon, right?”

 

He looked up at her. “Wagon? What wagon?”

 

Aurelia looked away quickly. “Oh. Nothing. Nothing at all.”