The Uninvited Fire Guest (3)
"Cough, cough...!"
Mnatsil clung to her fading consciousness with everything she had left.
Blood flowed not only from her wounds but from her very mouth, and through that crimson haze she could feel it. 'I will not live to see the dawn...' The end was truly upon her now.
Every last ember of her strength had gone into piercing through the magic arrayed across the sky above her. What remained was a body slowly cooling, its final flames snuffed out—so cold now that no warmth rose from the blood trickling down her scales.
She murmured within. 'My friends... what a great debt I owe you.' Time had shown her no mercy, granting not even a moment's respite.
Only one thing kept her holding on: the two fire spirits at her back, pouring out their power and warmth for her without reserve. They had burned themselves so dry that they had abandoned their human shapes entirely, dwindling into small foxfire-like wisps of flame.
'I will not squander this fate of mine, come to its final hour.' Mnatsil turned her gaze back toward the Central Officer.
In all her long life, she had seen only two expressions on human faces. Fear. And greed. 'The faces of those who feared my power and came to kill me. Fear.' 'The faces of those who craved my body, its fame, its hoard. Greed.' Bulging eyes, excited breathing, mouths chanting curses and worship alike—those all-too-familiar visages flickered before her eyes. Had the 'expedition' and the 'dragon hunters' not worn the very same faces? 'And this one, called the Central Officer... will he be different?' Just as her friends had claimed—was he truly some other kind of human entirely?
She allowed herself one faint ember of hope. Then she made her decision, boldly.
— Thud.
The thing most precious to her. The thing a mother must protect even at the cost of her life. She laid it bare before him completely. If she wished to know his heart, she would have to show her own.
"Raise it."
With that one short word, she stared unblinking into the face of the man before her. 'To a human, this egg would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.' No one could hide their true heart in the face of such temptation.
And yet—something was wrong.
Before infinite glory and power, before a treasure worth mountains of gold, the man said nothing at all. "..." He merely regarded the stone with a flat, level gaze, as one looks upon a rock. Even that look did not linger; soon his eyes returned to her. Eyes black as pitch. Without a trace of desire in them, the Central Officer slowly opened his mouth.
"I must decline."
And Mnatsil understood. She had chosen rightly.
"I must decline."
That was the only thing I could say. 'Am I insane? Why on earth would I accept an ultra-ultra-ultra-ultra-special-class dangerous item like this?'
A dragon's egg. Startling, sure—but what loomed far larger was the sheer gravity of it. This wasn't written in the immigration regulations or the prohibited-imports list; it was, for all intents and purposes, the single most dangerous thing in existence. 'Compared to this, the Blood Diamond and the unlicensed artifact were just toys.'
Which was exactly why I could not accept it. No justification, no prior acquaintance, no stated purpose—taking something like this under those conditions meant catastrophe. At a national border, doubly so. 'Besides, what kind of mother hands her own egg to a total stranger?' It defied common sense. And might I add—you broke through our defensive magic to get here. This is illegal entry. Before anything else, as an Immigration Officer, this was a situation I could never permit. 'If I accept this here, an exception is born at the border.' That, above all, could never be allowed to exist.
Forcing my trembling legs to hold, I glared straight at the dragon.
"I know not what circumstances brought you here, but this officer cannot grant your request—an appeal to abandon custody of your offspring, surrendered by force after you subdued your own homeland's golem."
Dying here, or accepting illegal entry and being executed later—it made no difference. If death was coming either way, I would die standing. But when I looked at the dragon's face after the refusal, I nearly jumped out of my skin. The master of the volcano was smiling.
"Yes... that is the most perfect answer."
"Excuse me!?"
That's not— I said no!
"This officer cannot accept it! I refuse!"
"And that is why... you are the one worthy..."
The creature's voice was fraying apart, growing thinner by the word. Like a puppet with cut strings, its colossal body slowly sagged downward.
"W-wait a moment! Great Dragon!"
— Kuuung.
At last, its head came to rest upon the ground.
"I beg... of you... Central Officer... keep the egg safe..."
With those final words, the dragon closed its eyes. Behind me, the fire spirits, unable to hold out any longer, collapsed in exhaustion and dwindled back into tiny embers that flickered out with a flick.
"..."
And that was it.
An ominous, gloomy stillness settled heavily over the front of the house.
"Um, hello? Mr. Dragon?" "..." Silence. The dragon did not answer. Its closed eyes did not open.
"What in the world is..." What was even happening? Why? Why? Nothing but questions remained.
I looked with hollow eyes at the dying master of the volcano. I had no idea what it meant for a dragon to entrust its egg to someone—almost all knowledge of dragons had been lost from this world ages ago. 'I don't even know what made you choose me.' But I did know what it meant when a mother entrusted her child to another's hands. There was one thing, at least, that I could read from the expression this being wore in its final moments: desperation. And earnestness, and one fragile thread of hope. The exact same face Erzena and Elaine had once turned toward me.
"..." Why me? Why would the dragon of the west—the very being who brought down a volcano—come to me of all people and set all this in motion? I had no idea. All that remained was the lone, abandoned egg, slowly cooling in the chill night air. "...Goddammit!"
I grit my teeth. Then I kicked the door of my own house open and bellowed.
— Bang! CRAAASH!
"Erzena! ERZENA!!"
"Wh-what is it!?"
"I need your help—right this instant!" Since when did anyone get to leave their kid with me and walk away? No one was dying in front of my eyes. Not ever again.
"Good... heavens..."
Erzena stood speechless before the dragon sprawled where it had fallen.
"Nathan, what exactly is your history with this dragon? What on earth did you do to make a dragon hand you its egg? Did you sell your soul or something?" How should I know? I'm the victim here.
Swallowing my indignation, I answered. "That is precisely why I need your help—urgently." The master of the volcano had no time. Left as things were, it might be gone leaving nothing behind but a cold egg and no answers. "Please help, Erzena. No one but you can do this."
"I never thought I'd live to see the day I treat a dragon..." She walked slowly forward. "I... I'll give it a try."
With trembling hands laid upon the dragon's body, Erzena closed her eyes. — Fwoooosh.
Golden holy power blossomed over the dragon's form. And then... nothing.
"Huh? Wh-what?" Not a single wound had healed—every injury that should have mended neatly remained untouched.
"It seems the dragon's scales actively repel holy power."
"Then is it impossible?"
"No, not impossible. Probably... if I do it like this..." Erzena furrowed her brow and concentrated once more—this time, twice as hard. — Fwoooosh.
Only then did the cracked scales begin, slowly, to knit back together.
"It's—it's working!"
She herself looked astonished, eyes gone round.
"Excellent work!"
I let out a breath of relief. 'Of course—this is Erzena's holy power.' She could heal even a dragon. Ordinary recovery magic would have bounced straight off; holy power belonged to a different order than mana, which was why it could force a healing through regardless. But the relief did not last.
— Kra-jjeok!
The scales and wounds tore open again, and at the same instant the holy power sputtered and died.
"Wh-what? That can't be right? It was healing just now!" Erzena's eyes snapped open; she examined the dragon's body in alarm—then froze at what she saw, and cried out.
"Mithril!?"
An arrowhead of purest silver-white metal was buried deep in the dragon's chest. "That's what's blocking the healing! The holy power is being sucked right into it!"
Mithril—hailed as one of the three great semi-magical substances, the strongest metal in existence. Dragon scales alone made healing efficiency disastrous; now mithril was interfering on top of that. It was out of the frying pan and into the fire.
"I'll pull it out right now!" I reached for the arrowhead at once. The instant my fingers touched it— — PSHHH!
Blood erupted in a violent spurt. I spat out a curse.
"Damn it! Is it lodged straight in the heart...!?" Between a rock and a hard place.
"If we don't remove it," Erzena said grimly, "then no matter how much we heal... it'll all go right back to square one." To heal with holy power, the thing had to come out. But pulling it might tear the wound wider—might even drive it deeper toward the heart. "Then what are we supposed to—"
That was when it happened.
["I will do it."]
A familiar mumble came from behind me.
"Elaine!" The princess, who had evidently been given the same rundown, approached us slowly. ["A real dragon... I can't believe it..."] She couldn't hide her astonishment either. But she quickly collected herself and turned her gaze to the dragon.
"Euh-ea." At Elaine's call, Erzena looked up. Three word cards floated gently up before her.
Telekinesis. Arrowhead. Remove.
"Your Highness... you're going to do it?" The princess answered by raising a single hand. At the sight, Erzena straightened herself and knelt down before the dragon's head. "...Very well. Let's try it. Give me the signal, and I'll begin at once."
"Euu."
For the first time, the two women were of one mind.
"Hoooo..." Elaine steadied her breathing. Slowly—ever so slowly—she touched the arrow with her telekinesis. — Rustle.
The arrowhead began to shift. Everyone held their breath. Gently. More precisely. Careful not to tear the wound wider.
— Pshhk.
But she must have applied a touch too much force—blood welled up from just beneath the arrowhead.
"Ngh...!" Elaine snatched her hand back, flustered. Watching her, I spoke quietly.
"Elaine... I believe you will have to remove it in one motion."
A single attempt. Misjudge it, and the barb would pierce the heart. Waste time, and the dragon would die. Hesitate now, and everything could be ruined.
["Just once..."] A long, deep breath. "Hooooo..." She watched me for a moment—then turned her head aside. ["I will... think of good memories."]
Elaine extended one hand gently forward. The field of telekinetic force, spread wide, began to narrow. From a finger's width to a fingernail, to a needle, to something thinner than a hair. Then that pinpoint of power coiled around the arrowhead itself. And— ["All at once...!"]
She pulled with everything she had.
— Shuuuk, CLANG..!
With a sharp ring, the great silver-white arrowhead clattered and rolled across the ground.
And there it was—the dragon's heart, revealed at last. — Th-thump... th-thump...
Within it, a flame of life guttered, slowly fading.
Elaine cried out. "Euu! (= Now!)"
Erzena did not miss that fleeting instant. Eyes shut, she raised her prayer.
As if in answer to the prayer, a tremendous torrent of holy power erupted from Erzena. A golden radiance spread over the dragon like a blanket, swallowing it whole. — Vmmm...!!!
The faded scales repulsed it violently yet again. But Erzena simply answered with twice, three times the force, driving it directly into the dragon's heart. Only then did a single wound the size of a pinky finger finally close.
She ground her teeth. "Good heavens...! Just how strong is the repulsive field soaked into these scales...!?" But there was no stopping now. — FSHAAAA!!!
Blood was pouring madly from the pierced chest. Like trying to fill a leak-broken jar, she poured holy power in—more, and more again, outpacing everything that was flung away.
Erzena held on a long while, then shouted. "Your Highness! My power alone... isn't enough! Keep the wound and the scales from separating!"
"...Euu!" Elaine thrust both arms forward at once.
Erzena punched through the fierce, convulsive rejection of the dragon's faded scales, healing them a nail's breadth at a time. Elaine's telekinesis dammed up the blood forcing its way through the cracks and locked the wounds firmly shut. Two powers wrapped themselves around both the fallen dragon and the lone egg that remained—
For a full two hours.
And then, at last— — Ssssuk.
The gashed and torn wounds sealed closed. — Th-thump, th-thump.
The heart that had stopped began to beat again. And when the final puncture from the mithril arrow mended completely, no wounded dragon remained. Only a sleeping dragon, whole once more.
"Is it... is it done...?" With anxious eyes, Erzena drew her hands away, slowly. Fifteen seconds passed. The wounds did not reopen.
"We did it...! We did it...!!!"
"Uu... aaaah..." The moment both women confirmed their success, they collapsed where they stood, utterly spent. The golden and formless energies scattered in every direction, drifting away from their mistresses.
"I've used up... a whole month of holy power... no, two months' worth..." ["Dizzy... gonna throw up... so tired..."]
Throwing etiquette and decorum to the wind, the two of them sprawled flat on the ground and closed their eyes.
"Erzena! Elaine!" Alarmed, I rushed over and checked on them both. — In, out.— Mmmm...
Thankfully, steady, even breathing sounded from them both. Total exhaustion. They'd already been worn to a frazzle dealing with disaster victims and refugees all day—and then they'd had to treat a dragon at full power on top of it. No wonder they'd passed out.
I looked down at the two women sprawled starfish-fashion and smiled faintly. "...You've worked hard. Leave the rest to this officer." It took exactly two seconds to regret those words.
"Ah."
The street, utterly trashed. A dragon—larger than our own house—sleeping dead to the world. A princess of an entire nation and a former saint, likewise collapsed right there in the road. The fire spirits barely burning on as tiny embers. The guard captain, still pinned motionless by the magic array. And finally, the egg sitting neatly in its place, having witnessed all of it from start to finish.
At this dead of night, exactly one person was still conscious. "...Don't tell me I have to clean all of this up myself?"
That was when it happened.
— FWAASH!
A blinding light burst from the dragon's body. Then it was gone—vanishing as though it had never been there at all.
"Master... of the volcano?" The answer came from right beside my feet. — In... out... Steady, rhythmic breathing.
I lowered my gaze. And I saw it.
"Mmm..." A woman lay naked at my feet. Her hair fell long and burning-red as fire, and a dragon's tail trailed from her petite, slumbering frame, curled up on itself. Across her brilliantly white skin, tiny scales glinted here and there.
I didn't need anyone to tell me what that meant. Polymorph.
At the sheer absurdity of it, a hollow laugh burst out of me. "Ha... haha..." We were so, so screwed.