Then she tilted her head sideways and stared at me intently. I was caught off guard by her expression and felt a combination of curiosity and excitement coming from her. A smile lit up her face, something which I now knew wasn’t her baring her teeth in a show of dominance. “You’re wondering if this makes you vulnerable and yet can’t stop being curious about how it works.”

  I nodded.

  She was doing a good job of proving that she could sense what I felt, but it was still not very specific. Her eyes squinted and she strained a bit. “You’re wondering if this will make you like Wasnera and me like Tra’vis, but I have no idea what those names mean.”

  She winced, rubbing her temples. “It’s painful to try and feel so deeply. I don’t think our connection is strong enough for anything other than simple emotions and I strain it when I push for more.”

  That settled it. I couldn’t help but be shocked. I had never spoken about the dragon dream to Cami or any other human, and I’d definitely never mentioned the name of my ancestor or the orc who’d been with her.

  I shook my head. “I’m not angry… I’m confused. And yes, I can feel your emotions, too—but I thought it was only happening to me. In retrospect, that appears to have been fairly foolish. But in my defense, you are only human, after all.”

  She stood up and put her hands on her hips. “Only human?! What’s that supposed to mean?”

  I started to explain about the natural superiority of dragons but then shut my mouth. It just felt hollow right now. “Never mind. I just need to think on this for a bit.”

  “But shouldn’t we talk about the dragon rider thing?”

  My eyes widened. “No! Definitely not. We should never talk about that ever again.”

  The anger which I had felt building in Cami deflated. She looked at me like I’d just snatched up and eaten her favorite food. Oh well, she’d just have to get over the disappointment.

  “I really should get ready to leave. I think they planned on us leaving after breakfast. Or did the plan change?”

  She looked at me for several seconds before answering me. “No, they wanted me to get you to come downstairs after we eat, but don’t worry. Even if you’re angry with me, I’ll never betray you and I’ll never put the adventurers or the university before you, Nico.”

  She gathered up the now empty plates and opened the door. “Come on Patch and Rollie, we better leave. This room is gonna be too small for anyone but Nico’s fat head.”

  She stormed out and the traitorous little bears took her side as they followed her.

  I started to call out, but her name caught in my throat. I needed time to think this through. Perhaps we could travel in silence, which would give me the opportunity to process this revelation.

  I’d wanted to call out to her, but something kept me from doing so. Cami was only a human child…err, young woman… or whatever. I shouldn’t be getting worked up about a servant… or was she my pet? Somehow, that thought only made me angrier with myself.

  Fortunately, the morning moved quickly and none of the adventurers tried to poke my sullen mood. They explained we had to travel to a city called Taleia which was only about a hundred miles away. Since Cami insisted on taking the bear cubs, we had to use a wagon for them and that meant we would be traveling a bit slower.

  Modessa complained, “You know this is going to add at least an extra day to our travel, don’t you? I personally can’t wait to get to an actual bed.”

  “Oh, don’t fret about it, the road is fairly level here. There are a few hills, but most of this part of Taleia is fairly flat,” Galbrecht said.

  I found his words confusing. It was something I had never considered before. We didn’t travel much in the desert but when you fly as a dragon, the nature of the terrain is never a consideration. Pondering what he said, I realized there was much more to learn about the world. I might not have to worry about such details in my dragon form, but if I ever wanted to raise an army to conquer one of these human cities, I would need to factor in such issues.

  Lisella laughed, “If he wasn’t so dense, Modessa, he’d be far more interested in you getting a big, soft bed that had room for sharing.”

  The rogue joined in the laughter and both women stared at the paladin. I was trying to figure out if this was some strange mating ritual where the two females fought over the male. Typically with dragon kind it was the males who fought over the most desirable females, although the exact reasons why it was so important seemed rather vague to me. I understood the need to procreate and could even admire an attractive dragon, but it was low on my priority list. Apparently, at some point it would become far more important to me. At least that was what the dragon dream hinted at. That was more for when I became a mature adult though.

  Throughout it all, Galbrecht just kept his mouth shut. I couldn’t decide if that was because he wasn’t interested or because he simply wanted to see how the battle for his attention played out. Watching humans was definitely interesting.

  Meanwhile, the human I liked the most was spending the majority of her time either in the wagon with the cubs or riding on her horse next to Serius and speaking with the wizard in low tones. When she wasn’t doing either of those things, she was pestering Liam to teach her how to drive the wagon. I wondered if I should approach her but decided it would be best to let her come and ask my forgiveness.

  The thing which drove that point home the most was the horse I rode. How anyone could believe a dragon could be ridden like this dumb beast was beyond me. It made me want to transform and smash the small orb for daring to suggest such a thing was appropriate. It made my blood boil, so I did my best to distract myself by listening in on their conversations.

  One of the things I found most interesting was how Lisella and even Modessa were talking about perhaps taking a turn teaching at the university. I didn’t know much about Lisella—other than that she was a high-ranking priestess of Miseria. Oh, and apparently she came from some sort of noble family amongst the humans.

  It amused me that humans thought birth conveyed some special status. They were all born as naked, pink primates. Well, to be fair, the dragon dream had shown me images of humans with different skin colors, but the point was the same.

  Every dragon knew the simple truth. What you obtained in this life was done by the might of your claws, breath, guile, and magic. To believe the world worked any other way was a fool’s paradise.

  Modessa, on the other hand, I learned quite a bit about. She seemed dismissive of staying in one place for too long, although she expressed a repeated desire to spend time in what she called a proper city. Thus, it seemed strange to me that she would want to join the university.

  Then her motivations dawned on me. She wanted to teach Cami.

  A surge of pride went through me. My pet was very gifted. All of the humans agreed, she had a great many talents and great potential. She would be able to serve me well in the future. We just had to get past our current awkwardness.

  A humorous thought crossed my mind. I didn’t receive the image for the pursuit of the shadow, but what if I had? Perhaps I could use illusion magic to mirror it. It would have been a great hoot to see Modessa trying to ingratiate herself to me to teach me about shadow magic.

  For the first time since my fight with Cami, I felt a smile creeping across my face. Yes, that would have been a wonderful thing, humbling Modessa after all the disrespect she had shown me. That thought kept me company even when we stopped to camp and I fell asleep under the stars.

  Chapter 22 - Unexpected Mentors

  The night went by peacefully. Galbrecht, Modessa, and Liam took turns keeping watch. I noticed that neither Lisella nor Serius offered to stay up, but wasn’t quite sure why that was. In my dragon form, I could have easily kept watch the entire night. Just like dragons can sleep for months on end, they can easily stay awake for days.

  It might have something to do with the human need for dreams to clear their minds whereas dragons always had the dragon dream to lean upon. Not that I was an expert in human frailties. The next day started out much the same. Cami and I were at least polite with one another, although I could feel that she was still upset. I didn’t like that, because it made my own awkwardness feel all that much worse.

  About an hour before the sun reached its apex, Lisella nudged her horse over towards me. She rode along silently beside me for several minutes, but it soon became apparent—even to a newbie at this conversation thing, like me—that she wanted to say something. I’d watched other humans interact like this. I think I was supposed to offer her some opening, but I felt no compulsion to do so. If she wanted to speak to me she could petition me as was only proper.

  Eventually she broke down. “You know that divine magic is one of the rarest pursuits.”

  “Hmm…”

  She waited for me to say something more but went unfulfilled for the next couple of minutes. “Is that all you’re going to say?”

  “Not sure what else to say. I’ve never had any particular interest in the gods.”

  She shrugged. “You’d be surprised how many users of divine magic feel the same. The twelve gods are not all easy to understand or even relate to. I’m fortunate because everyone wants healing and my connection is with the goddess of healing. I revere her for the power she gives me and the way she brought healing to the world, but I don’t follow blindly.”

  “I wouldn’t have expected to hear something like that from a human.”

  She chuckled. “Sometimes you have the oddest turn of phrase, Nico. But my point was, you don’t have to become a sycophant to use divine magic. You do have to reach an agreement with the particular god or goddess that you work with because the power is regulated by them even if it uses your own mana. Normally, that’s done through one of the churches but there are examples of different individuals reaching private deals with the gods.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” I asked.

  The way she looked at me after my question told me that she wasn’t used to such bluntness. It seemed humans were always dancing around the issue, being polite. It was frankly exhausting, but I knew I needed to work on it.

  “Hmm… let me rephrase that. Is there something I can help you with?”

  She chuckled and shook her head. “It’s actually rather refreshing to have someone talk to me so rudely. First, I was the daughter of a duke and in the line of inheritance for the throne of Forlay. No one wanted to risk offending me. Then I attended the university and was considered an advanced student following the rare pursuit of divine magic and everyone respected me. Next, I became a priestess of Miseria and everyone wanted favors from me. Finally, I reached level twenty as an adventurer before the age of thirty and everyone was afraid of me.”

  “Causing fear in others definitely makes life easier… err… I mean it seems like it would make one’s life easier.”

  She laughed again. “Not as much as you might think.”

  “And why do you think that I have an aptitude for divine magic?”

  “Because of the images that showed up in the orb. Has no one taken the time to tell you about them? Perhaps it’s because you’ve been so standoffish.”

  I shrugged. What did I care for how humans viewed me? Except, I realized… I sort of needed them to see me in a favorable light. I wanted things from these people and needed to not let my pride keep me from gaining the power that they had.

  “Maybe you’re right. This is all new to me. I lived my entire life with my mother… until recently. Now, I don’t even have a home.”

  “Sir Galbrecht told us something about your story, although he didn’t seem to know much. Your mother was the one who taught you magic and how to fight with your hands?”

  “Something like that. Although I’d still like to learn other weapon skills.”

  “If you just asked, most of us would be willing to teach you little things, maybe even Modessa. Students with as much potential as you and Cami only come to the university every few decades. Once I got past my jealousy with how far you outshine me in potential, I decided that I really wanted to help you. Which is why I want you to consider accepting me as your mentor.”

  My eyebrows scrunched together. Sometimes the way this body moved on its own was disconcerting. “I honestly had not expected you to reach out to me. I don’t even know what the images mean.”

  “Well, the images are only one of the reasons that I am making this offer and you don’t need to make any kind of decision yet. But, as far as the images are concerned, your fourth image was a glowing halo. That is the one which indicated you have aptitude for divine magic. Then there is the other reason… which is that I can feel Miseria’s touch on you. I don’t know what it means and the goddess has refused to answer any of my attempts to commune with her regarding the issue, but I’m still certain you’ve been touched by her somehow.”

  I snorted. After I did, I realized it was rude, but I just couldn’t stop myself. At least Miseria was keeping her side of the bargain. “I never really considered myself as a healer.”

  She said, “Healing is more potent than you might imagine. I would have thought you’d realized that after seeing what Sir Galbrecht did to the horror. He channeled a piece of the goddess herself and her very presence was enough to weaken and eventually destroy the horror.”

  I remained silent and didn’t bother correcting her about how the battle had actually gone down.

  “The power of healing is the power of life itself. You may not have heard this, but if you think on it, I believe you’ll find it to be true. We have a saying about Miseria’s power and life in general. Specifically, Life breaks barriers. Life brings pain but also growth. In the end, life always finds a way.”

  “That is intriguing. Will you tell me what the other symbols mean?”

  She gave me a sly, secretive smile. “Will you agree to let me be your mentor?”

  After a moment of awkward silence her grin widened as she bared more of her teeth at me. “I jest. I won’t withhold such simple knowledge from you, but I do truly wish for you to consider my proposal. You would have a lot to gain. Two of the other pursuits which showed are much simpler and are things which you could learn easily enough with me as your mentor to secure you the appropriate assistance.”

  She shrugged. “As for the other images, the squiggly lines were the symbol for an illusionist. From what I’ve heard, you already have some strong natural ability in that field, so it won’t be hard to develop it. The lightning bolt represents electrical or sometimes storm magic.”

  “What’s the difference?” Now I was genuinely curious.

  “Lightning magic is a type of elemental magic which deals with the power of electricity. It is best suited for a variety of offensive tactics, although there are a few defensive spells which I’ve heard about, and some even more rare movement skills. Storm magic is ultimately a combination of air/wind, lightning, and water magics. Again, though I am no Elementalist, if you chose me as your mentor, I would be able to see that you got instruction in that pursuit. That would be one of the advantages of choosing a mentor with my resources.”

  “Hmmm… that’s the second time you’ve mentioned resources. Can you explain what you mean?”

  “Yes, I guess if you grew up without much then you might not realize what an advantage wealth and position can be. I have both in three different ways. Any of the professors at the university will be experts in their field, so I can’t say I shine in that area other than to say that Modessa and I were the youngest to reach level twenty in the recorded history of the empire. But beyond that, I have wealth as a noble to buy you the things you need. Then, there’s also my position in the church—which could open other doors for you. There are very few mentors with as much to offer you.”

  “I didn’t know you were a professor at the university.”

  She smiled, “I’m offering to become one for you. I could manage my duties to Miseria and take a sabbatical from the adventurer’s guild. Oh, and if you’re worried about it, you should know that the university forbids mentors from demanding personal relationships with their mentees. It happens, of course, but I wouldn’t absolutely require it if it wasn’t something you wanted.”

  Lisella must have gotten something in her eyes then because she batted her lashes a few times and made an odd expression. I was a bit lost but simply nodded. “That’s good to know.”

  She made an odd ‘harumphing’ sound at this, but I didn’t know what she meant by it.

  “I notice you only told me about three of the images. What about the pair of wings?”

  She frowned. “We’ve actually been debating that one. Serius is the one who knows the most about the images and he says he’s never seen that one before.”

  I wondered then if I’d caught her in a lie. “Wait, I thought that Cami got the same image and was told what it meant?”