It took three days to heal everyone and the line never stopped moving from dawn until dusk except for my own restroom breaks. I ate on the job. When the king saw Vi giving me elixirs and food, he immediately called his retainers to provide a feast on one side of me while still bringing in his people on the other. Eating with my left hand and healing with my right. Though it may have taken less days, there are definitely more people in this capital than Lilia. Healing this place was very quick and efficient due to the cooperation of the people. It would have taken a long time to awaken everyone if it weren't for King Dante. Especially with the level of hostility there was when we reached the capital. The hate for humans seemed deeper in the capital than in the neighboring settlements. Though that may just be me mistaking their lack of fighting power to resist and just cooperating out of fear. Their attitudes changed toward our party after each settlement and like with those the people here changed their tune. The person who hit Vi even found her during this time and apologized which was nice. Before you ask, yes she did accept the apology. At the end of the third day the king tells us that we will be heading to the mountain first thing in the morning.
We mount our respective horses and start riding to the mountain which is close but not that close. We start trekking the mountain with the King and his guards in the front taking point. I am directly behind him on Em and the others are behind me. Carlos said with a slight fearful/anxious tone, "The one who can talk to the danger-lizards should be in front." The others seem to agree except Vi who was a little apprehensive of having me on point. Out of self preservation for them obviously. They have seen dragons. They know.
We go to start climbing the mountain and are greeted immediately with a dragon who flies down and plops down in front of us with a massive gust of wind from their wings as they descend. They say in a very deep voice I would totally expect coming from a dragon, "Who dares enter our lands?" They say exhaling in a frustrated manner. Ok me, do not to shit yourself at this ginormous dragon right in front of me that wouldn't even think I was a snack. Breathe in. Breathe out. I say doing my best to keep my cool with a bead of sweat dropping from my brow from the dragon's pressure, "My name is Zoe and we are so sorry for intruding on your lands. We were wondering if we could borrow your spring for a time to restore my friend's magic power here." I say as I point to Ash. I continue, "I can offer my magic as a service for your brethren. I can awaken living beings with my 'HEAL' spell."
The dragon asks with a slightly higher inquisitive tone yet still very deep, "So you can use light magic, human?" I nod, "Yes, I can." I then heal Em there for the day as a show of my power. I was saving it for a moment just like this. Em's hair grows long. We have cut her hair countless times by this point and if we keep this up we could definitely start a wig business if I knew how to make them. SO MUCH HAIR. Whatever you are thinking, double it or triple it. I swear I could make a few life sized horse sculptures of Em with the amount of hair we cut off of her throughout these past 6 months. We could probably make more to be honest because we had to cut her hair every few days because it grew out so fast. That multiplied by six months is a lot (this world's time which is around 216 days). It actually is looking like it may need to be cut tomorrow.
The dragon was pleased with the show of my magic and said, "Very well. We have some young wyverns who have yet to awaken. There are some younger dragons 150 years old and less that still have yet to awaken as well. Let me take you to them. Follow me." With that he starts flapping his wings and he flies to a habitat for dragons and we approach on horseback. The wind from his wings makes our clothes wave wildly in the wind. The way Em's hair flows in the wind when she is in this state really is something. I have noticed it before OBVIOUSLY, but this is my first time really appreciating the beauty in how the hair flying in the wind glowing a magical glow and moving in a magically natural way. During these past 6 months it has been more of me making a conscious effort to NOT look at her hair. It was too hard sometimes and I would tighten sometimes just being reminded of that terrible night with flashbacks.
I reach down to pet Em and say as we walk, "If you are ever near when I tighten, would you be able to help me?" Em then says, "I would love to but I do not know how." I reply, "All you have to do is touch me. Like this. Just a simple touch." I say as I stop petting and just rest my hand on her neck. I continue, "Touch me with the intent that you want to help me and desiring to take away my pain. That is it. Those are the two requirements" Em perks up, "I can do that!" I go back to petting her, "Thank you, Em. You are a great friend." Em then says, "So are you. You always treat me so well. I never felt this amazing ever at the castle. I feel needed by a human for once. I wasn't as strong as the other horses so they were getting ridden more than I was. I was just rotting away in my stable struggling with my negative feeling when you showed up. I love being able to run like this. To actually feel strong like this. I don't know if I ever told you thank you yet, but thank you Zoe." I reply while petting her fur as we trot along following the dragon, "I am sure you already did but you are most welcome. I am just really happy we are friends. I don't think I ever told you, but when we first met I was terrified of earth magic. To be honest I still am. You see, I was deeply wounded and almost died because of a forced photosynthesis. They made me despair, draining me of my power. I trust you though. If anyone deserves more power it is you. Opening up and telling you would have meant coming face to face with that painful time in my life that still haunts me to this day. It is still just as painful to think about now as it was right after it happened and it will stay that way until the moment I die, maybe past that but I want the goddess to wipe my memories in my next life. Forgetting is a blessing."
Em then frantically says, "Wait wouldn't that mean if I touch you while you are tightening that your power will drain?" I shake my head though she is not looking at me and say, "No. That was only because they forced it. If you do exactly what I told you everything will be just fine and you will get a power boost, too." Em then asks with a worried tone, "What if I accidentally try and force it?" I reply, still petting her neck as we trot, "The fact that you are even asking me that right now is proof that everything will be just fine. Just think of wanting to help me when you touch me and wanting to take my pain away. I might not be able to tell you when this happens because thoughts of despair and helplessness flood my core when I tighten and I forget all other things in that moment. In the throne room was one of the exceptions. I think that may have been a bit of clarity from Goddess Aruna herself in my time of need." My chest pulses like my thought was correct. So Aruna really did help me in that throne room.
I giggled a little, "The goddess just confirmed she was there in the throne room with me." Em replies, "I have always wanted to talk to the goddess." I reply, "We can totally fix that, you know. With my ability I can make it so you can soul travel with me to the goddess realm. We can even do so tonight if you would like." Em wants to prance but can't due to running so she does a dressage trot instead to display her excitement, "That is the best news I have ever heard. I would love to, Zoe, if it really is ok."
Before I can reply 'of course it is ok' the dragon touches down on the ground in front of us about maybe 300 meters away. As we approach I let Em know that it really is ok. Once we get there there are many dragons and wyverns of varying sizes. All still big, just some are not as big. Wyverns are like half the size of dragons on average from making a basic observation. The dragon then says, "Anyone who has yet to awaken come here. We have a human here who can help you with her light magic." There were more than I was anticipating. Since they live so long I figured more of them would be awakened. Their adults are more awakened though. There are only around 5 younger dragons still in their adolescent stages under 150 years old who have not awakened and there are 1, 2, 3, ….. 29 is what I count right now but I think there are more wyverns behind them I can't see due to their massive size. I get to work. Healing them takes more magic since they are larger. I knocked the dragons out first since I knew they would take the most magic. They are like 10-20 griffins worth a piece. There was a dragon that flashed dark when I healed him. He, like all other dark magic users, took twice as long to heal.
This is the one the goddess told me about. I am sure of it.
I don't stop to talk to him now, but instead keep healing instead. I will give him the spiel later. After healing the dragons, I start on the wyverns. There were definitely more than 29 but I lost count. I get through all of them and I feel a tad dizzy. I wasn't keeping track of how many I healed. Vi comes running over, "Dummy, you overdid it again. Come here, drink this." She brings an elixir to my lips and I drink it and I pass out.
When I awoke I was in a hot spring. Must not have been here long because I am not feeling overheated or anything. OH SHIT! Totally forgot I have a tattoo to prevent overheating in my grogginess but still. I am fucking starving right now. Vi who was holding me up in the hotspring realizes I am awake, "Great you are finally awake. You must be starving. The dragons really appreciated your help and provided us with some of their provisions to prepare food with. We have some food ready and are actively making more to fill your voracious appetite. They brought you here so we figured it would help you restore your magic if they wanted to bring you here. We can't understand what they say but their body language says it all. They are really grateful to you." Well if she is in here with me we must not have been in here that long since she doesn't have an enchanted temperature tattoo like I do.
I replied after my stomach roared like a beast perking up at the talk of food, "Where is the food?" Vi turns my head nonverbally motioning to the stone edge of the spring where there are many large leaves holding food like plates. I light up very excited and hurry over and start stuffing my face with my lower body still in the water. There is a dragon head that appears close by that startles me at first since they just popped up and asks me in a worried deep feminine tone, "How are you feeling, human they call Zoe? We were quite concerned when you collapsed." I pause stuffing my face for a moment, "I am doing a lot better now that I am getting some food. Once I eat my fill I should be 100 percent." After saying this I eat some more while the dragon says, "That is wonderful news to hear. I don't believe I introduced myself earlier. They call me Glacia among my kind for my ice powers. I am the elder of our settlement here. I wanted to wish you a speedy recovery and offer you a treasure of our people. I ask you to keep it a secret and not tell anyone."
I nod wiping my mouth and say, "If it is a secret I shall not tell even my most trusted." Glacia continues, "If other life forms drink of our blood they can gain skin as tough as ours. I am offering you a drink of my own blood." That sounds way more powerful and potent than the dragonkin story I heard. They would be hunted for sure if this got out. This blessing is way too much for someone like me and I respond, "I couldn't possibly take something so precious from you!" Glacia sternly says, "You have given our kind something very precious. A payment in kind is only fair."
I sigh in defeat knowing I lost this one for now, "Ok, let me talk to Vi first before I officially accept or not." I turn to Vi, "If I become a monster and use my powers for evil, can I ask you to kill me when that time comes?" Vi replies, furrowing her brow, "Where the hell is this coming from?! This is you we are talking about. The fact that you are asking questions like these proves you deserve whatever power they are offering you." I sigh and reply, trying my best to explain my fears without telling her too much, "I am not talking about now though. Everyone living has the capacity to turn evil depending on the circumstances. I am asking if at any time in the future I become evil using powers to bring harm to others, I beg of you to kill me. Can I ask this of you?" Vi now crying, "This is not a fair thing to ask of me. How could I ever kill the very person that means the most to me? If it is your wish and if that time does come I will do it only because you asked. Just know that if a time like that comes my core would kill me from losing the source of all my calm."
I approach her to wipe some of her tears, "Do not worry, I am not looking to lose myself. I just need to know you can if it does happen. The power they are offering me is a mighty one. My skin will be just as tough as dragon scales. With a power like that it would be very easy to lose one's way. Power does things to people and I am just scared I won't be what makes me me if I get this ability." Vi stops crying, "If you got an ability like that my core would be so strong all of the time because my worry for you would be a lot less. Instead of thinking how it will affect you, think about how it will affect me." I go up and kiss her, "Ok. Fine, you convinced me. I will accept the gift. Can I get you to leave for a moment? They want this process to be a secret and I would like to respect their wishes." "Sure thing honey." She says as she gives me another kiss then gets out of the spring and does her magic thing to dry completely off. She kept all of her clothes on probably from the urgency of getting me here and lack of really needing to.
Glacia was right there the whole time so she heard the whole exchange so there was no need to update her or anything. Once Vi is gone and Glacia and I are alone, Glacia pierces her hand with her opposing one to draw blood and she offers it to me. I take her hand and drink her blood and the power I feel from drinking her blood is insane. If people knew of this they would hunt dragons until the end of time. I must guard this secret with my life. I feel so strong. I feel unbreakable. Physically at least. Mentally I am obviously still a hot mess and will be for a long time.
I then ask, pointing to her bleeding hand, "Do you need me to heal your hand for you?" Glacia shakes her head, "This is but a tiny scratch. It should heal quickly without your magic, so don't worry about me. Thank you again for helping my kind. As thanks, use this spring as you desire. Here, let me leave you to get back to your feast so you can get back to your best. I will check on you later." She then makes her exit and once she leaves Vi comes back in and asks, "So, do you feel any different?" I reply while picking up a large piece of roasted meat that looks like straight from an anime, "The moment it happened I felt the surge of power running through me and I feel unbreakable now. The immense power I feel right now is incredible and I am not even at full strength right now. I am sorry I can't go into details on how I got this ability. I promised her I would not tell a soul. If anyone asks, it was the goddess that gifted me this ability. Which is not completely a lie since she did create this world and all of the laws in it." After saying this, I take several bites of this piece of meat voraciously.
She nodded in understanding, "What ability? What dragons? What were we talking about?" she giggles a bit and comes to give me a kiss. I chuckle, "Or that works too. I almost feel like this is too powerful and I may have made a mistake in agreeing to accept the gift." Vi sighs in relief, "I am so glad you have an ability like that now too. That really makes my core burn warm with a sense of calm knowing that. You have brought so much good to this world and you will continue doing good in this world. So please do not regret accepting this."
When she said 'regret' it hit me like a ton of bricks, "OH NO! I won't be able to get tattoos anymore!" I say as I smack my head really kicking myself for not thinking of that, "They won't be able to penetrate the skin to give me more ink. It is probably for the best since I do have this new ability and I would be too overpowered if I could get more enchanted tattoos. That is just so sad. I was really looking forward to inking this whole body up." Vi giggles, "Who knows maybe there is a way to soften the skin temporarily or something. We live in a world of endless possibility so don't give up hope just yet. So stop talking like it is the end of the world and finish eating the food you love so much." I giggle and pull her in for a kiss while holding the big piece of meat to the side in the process, "You don't need to tell me that twice. Though let me get out to finish this food." Vi then says, "Once you are done eating I want you to get back in there for a bit longer. Just in case. I want to take care of my favorite person." I replied looking turning my head to see the rest of this very large hotspring, "I will definitely be good for another dip after I finish eating. I could technically eat while staying in here, but I am scared I will get food in their precious spring. Though I can't overheat, it doesn't mean that I don't feel the warmth. It is so toasty."
Once I am done eating and doing my post eating soak in the spring, I come out to meet most of the dragons and wyverns playing with their magic. It is a beautiful sight. The dragon who had earth magic can bend dirt and wood to his will and he made some huge architectural structures just for the dragons with his magic. Very similar to earth benders in avatar just added wood element in there too. There are also two separate water dragons. One wields water and steam while the other is water and ice. They are currently fighting a very interesting looking sparring match. Both are using water to get close to the other then transforming it at the last second to the other form. While using their ice or steam to combat against the other's magic. It was really a sight to behold. There was another dragon to the side that had fire magic and had electricity emitting from their scales.
I am looking for Ash now. He is mission number one. We need to get his magic now before anything else. I finally see him on top of a wyvern's head flying around the sky. To be clear, I heard his excited 'Weeeeeeeeeee!' first. He must be so happy to fly again even if it is not his own power. The wyvern sees me and comes back down. Ash then comes running to me, "I was so worried, but these guys said you were going to be ok. Are you feeling better?" I nod, "I sure am, lil bro. Ready to get your magic back?" He is now running everywhere with the 'zoomies' in excitement, "I sure am!" I take him to the spring and get in with him. I then followed Aruna's instructions and thought with intent, 'HEAL'. Like a whirlwind, magic started flowing out of Ash again.
He starts laughing almost maniacally and says, "This feels even stronger than before. I feel like I can summon storm magic too now. That gentle twister I could summon before I feel can be stronger and more powerful." I then say in excitement, very happy that he got his magic back and better than before, "That is amazing, lil bro! I am so happy for you. Did your feelings change with that?" He shakes his head, "My feelings are still the same. It feels like you opened a door within me to something that was already there." I reply, "That makes sense I guess. Let's get out and dry off with that now unlocked magic of yours." Ash excitedly flies out of the hot spring awaiting me to get out too so he can do his thing. I reach into my bag and get out the flight suit I had made for him. It looks more like a jacket but it has wings under the arms to make him more aerodynamic.
He dries himself off quickly with his now restored magic. After drying himself, he dries me too and I say wearing a huge smile just knowing he is going to love this, "Ash come here for a second. I have a gift for you. It should help you fly easier." I then help him put the jacket on and he asks with his eyes all sparkly in excitement, "Can you do that thing?" I replied wondering what he meant, "What thing? … OH WAIT! I remember." Remembering when I threw him over and over again in the lake many months ago after I first awoke saying, "Ok." Grabbing him and throwing him as hard as I can into the sky. He immediately takes the flight jacket for a spin. He is flying with extreme precision now and he is having a blast. All I hear is happy squirrel noises. He flies back down to my shoulder and says enthusiastically, "I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" I replied, cheezing pretty hard at his adorable excitement, "You are very welcome, lil bro." I say as I pet him, still smiling a big smile truly happy for him.