Her name was Alice Marian Erskine. She was part of the staff of the Tristain academy of magic. If things had gone slightly different, Louise de La Vallière would have summoned a normal human. Instead she had somehow summoned a dragon of a till now unknown breed.
Things had gone of rails at this point. When Duran's wounds were treated, he was also examined by an expert. This was where Alice came in the picture. She was the youngest daughter of a smaller noble family and when her father died, she didn't get much of the inheritance.
After a small quarrel with her siblings, she left to find her own luck out in the world. Otherwise, her siblings would have married her of to some ally of the family. She had loved animals, both mundane and magical, since her earliest childhood. During her journey over the continent of Halkegenia, she had gathered lots of knowledge and experience in that area. Now she was Tristains greatest expert when it came to magical creatures and beasts.
Her knowledge about animal anatomy was even more useful because of her skill in water magic. It was only logical that they would send an unknown dragon breed to her for examination and treatment.
Where else could they have sent a fully grown dragon to? None of the other healers knew enough to do anything more then first aid and treating flesh wounds.
Alice nodded while writing in her journal. She had made notes about every peculiarity in the dragon's physique. Brimir only knew how much knowledge had been lost in history because nobody thought about making notes.
The beast had the most unusual wings she had ever seen. If she didn't hear of the battle, she would have been sure that she was seeing some kind of sea serpent. On the other hand, maybe these were not actually wings. She had also travelled through Nephtys, the desert claimed by the elf race. Of course she had remained incognito back then, but she had seen quite a few interesting species during her stay.
She had discovered a lizard with a sail like extremity. The little animal turned it in direction of the rising sun and the sail absorbed the sunshine's warmth.
Together with the dragon's ability to spew a high pressure stream of sand, it made her confident that their visitor was a desert dweller.
She was pretty sure that the dragon could also use its wings to heighten body temperature. It was one of the most ingenious abilities she had seen during her life. Unfortunately it was also utterly uninteresting to other nobles.
Not that she really cared. While on the street, she had learned many things. One of them was that most nobles were idiots. Sure, there were a few smart ones in between, but they were depressingly rare.
She had never before seen a dragon that lives in the desert. Maybe he (she made sure to check the dragons gender) was compatible with the local breeds? Alice was sure the army would love a dragon that was at home in the hot sand. After all, didn't they skirmish with the elves from time to time?
Hmmm! She should talk with Miss de La Vallière and Miss Tabitha. Oh! Alone the possibilities of a cross between a rhyme dragon and this new species were fabulous.
"Achooooo!"
Tabitha blinked and looked up from her book. That was unexpected. She was not even sure if dragons could actually catch the flu. She would have to read some books on that. With a small movement, she extracted a big handkerchief from her pockets.
"Here!" The young mage spoke and passed the tablecloth sized fabric to her familiar.
The dragon happily grabbed it and started cleaning its nose.
A few moments of silence passed.
"Troublesome!" Said the bluenette and returned to her lecture without further delay.
Back in Alice study, Duran was now awake and looked around curiously. A moment ago he had felt a horrible chill. It was like someone was walking over his grave and then he had almost sneezed. He hoped the demonic creature from the fight didn't curse him in some way.
The mage had left him more then enough place and he rather liked the bed of straw. Indeed, he could remember sleeping in worse conditions.
He remained silent, avoided loud sounds and took care not to attract the mages attention.
With slightly shaky movements he stood up from his lying position. He took in his body's condition. There were some freshly healed wound and three rather big bandages on his front legs and one wing.
Everything looked okay and it was nothing a good cleric could not heal. It was of course possible that they didn't have one available.
Maybe this world was like his other self's home and there were no gods? The mix of memories was still confusing, but for now he would rely on the memories of Duran Sanddiver. His other self had no experience with such situations. In contrast, Duran was used to surviving in foreign territory.
First thing first, what should he do? These people had been rather nice. One of them had even fought at his side and they had taken care of his wounds.
On the other hand, they were spell caster.
He was actually quite happy to be alive. His memory told him that most magic users were not kind to dragons. His body parts were useful reagents and he was well aware of superstitions about dragon blood bestowing immortality.
Sure, they had taken care of him, but maybe they just didn't have the tools at hand to preserve his organs. He really didn't want to lose any body part. He was attached to each of them.
Naturally there were some loopholes in that hypothesis. For example, if they planned to use him for potions, why was he awake? He would sure as hell drug any dragon he captured into oblivion. Dragons were known for many things, but not for sitting still while someone cuts them apart.
He could surely destroy, or at least greatly damage, the castle where he was summoned when inclined.
After careful consideration of all options, he decided to...
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(Posted Sun, 06 Jan 2013 15:59)
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