"This feels terribly familiar."
Izuku's uninjured arm covered his face as completely as he could manage and tried to be as still as possible against the inspecting touches or rough hands against the side of his stomach and the newly sealed gash running up his arm. He was grateful, without doubt, that Ochako and Nana had rushed so quickly to help him, that they had used the sparing remains of their magic to seal the fractured pieces of his ribs back together and stop the bleeding from killing him. But his last adventure in Ochako's care had already caused more than enough unintended exposure in front of her and it was unhelpful that there was a second pair of eyes on him now.
"I'm so sorry, Apprentice," Ochako whispered, "If it's worth anything, I thought you acted very bravely…"
Izuku breathed deep and hissed in the still tender feeling in his flesh. He clenched up more and shook his head when he felt the two women tense over him, reassuring them they hadn't caused it.
"I'm fine… Just can't breathe too deeply."
"That's not, 'fine', young Mage," Nana set his arm down next to him and patted his shoulder, "I wish I could do more, but I've spent too much of our journey so far as a burden to my companions and I can't give anymore energy to healing you else I trade places with you."
Izuku dropped his arm from his face and blinked up at her serious frown through the dim shadows cast by the bit of sunlight streaming through the Outpost's rubble. The area was mostly closed off save for a bit of crumbled wall where a door had once been. Kyouka was watching outside and keeping the soldiers away, but it didn't completely abate their nervous looks to the opening as the two used their Magic, expecting constantly that someone would slip past her and catch a Renegade Mage casting spells over a Synod Mage.
"You've done more than enough, I already owe you my life," Izuku smiled at Nana and it softened her face in an instant, "Thank you."
She returned it with a head tilt. "You are a lot like Shoto said. Not so much like the other Synod Mages."
"Shoto talked about me?" The very idea seemed like a breach of reality.
"Ridiculous, right?" Nana chuckled, "I can never quite tell if he's fond of you or hates you, but I see he respects you. Which I suppose is not dissimilar to how he treats the Captain… or anyone else for that matter. The Synod produces serious social issues with the lot of you, doesn't it? Although, I don't see that in you as much. Not that I've known you for very long. But then again I've never needed that much time."
Ochako's inspecting hands came away from Izuku and the Mage swiftly rewrapped his robes over himself. The girl gave him a brief eye roll, but was more interested in marveling at Nana than admonishing his embarrassment at least.
"That must be an amazing skill to have, to know whether you can trust someone so shortly after meeting them… I wish I could be so certain or so perceptive."
"Well my intuition is not flawless, but I've spent nearly twenty-five years hiding, running, and gathering forbidden knowledge all without being caught by the Synod. I wouldn't be here if I hadn't developed some instincts about people. It helps that all of you are so young and lively. You've had less time to become sour and conniving. You are not so set in your conceptions of the world as the old folk."
She winked lightheartedly and Izuku stopped the light laugh that almost sent him back into a fit of crying and holding himself in stinging pain.
"So you already know whether or not to trust us?" Ochako asked.
Her fascination with the older Mage had been clear from the start and Izuku couldn't help concur it. That interest seemed to manifest in different ways, though.
As a Renegade, it was heartening for Ochako to see another like her having survived so long in a world that wished to destroy her while remaining so cheerful and free spirited. Izuku did find her attitude and skill of self preservation intriguing as well, but he was not going to ignore what he'd witnessed her do during the battle, the stains on her hands, or the things she was teaching Shoto. It was against everything he'd ever been taught and everything he stood for as an Apprentice of the High Circle, but he didn't hate her for using Blood Magic any more than he hated Shoto for using it. He saw a lot of Ochako in her; he saw that she was not the type of Mage that used magic to benefit herself alone. He could see that the Blood Magic was a sacrifice for her, not a pleasure.
"I'll show you," Nana settled back on her haunches and narrowed her eyes at each of them in turn.
"Izuku, you wear your emotions on your sleeves and have seen a lot of scorn from your fellow Mages for it, that includes Shoto," Nana smiled sympathetically at him, "It makes you stand out, either for good or for bad to them, but you have more friendships because of it than most Synod Mages could ever hope to gain in a lifetime. You are open to the idea of being wrong, you see intention, not action. You have a trusting heart and you want everyone to be good even if they try their damndest to show you that they aren't."
"Ochako. You are incredibly strong and I don't speak of your magic, though it's not as weak as the Synod may make you think it will be without their training. It is no small thing for someone in our position to trust a Synod Mage especially when your magic lends more to support than attack. You're brave, but headstrong, possibly even foolishly so. You cling to your loyalties like a lifeline and throw yourself in danger that you have no need to for it. For all the years you have hidden what you are, you are not good at hiding your intentions. You care about your family over everything, that includes Eijiro and Izuku and you will always be motivated by that above all else. I can trust you because our goals are the same. Simply to live, love, and be free."
Izuku and Ochako smiled wide at the lavished words, Ochako not even taking offense at being called headstrong or foolish. She basked in the attention. But then Nana's voice keyed down when she looked back at Izuku, a twinge of sorrow falling over the smile lines in her skin.
"I can trust Izuku because he believes the best in us all, because he doesn't give up on those he loves," she hesitated, "And he will do everything he can to protect Shoto if I fail him."
Izuku bit his inner cheek. "What do you mean-?"
Distant shouts followed clamoring footsteps, fumbling over rubble. Nana was on her feet, but only the wide blown eyes and dark black hair of the bard appeared.
"Are you seeing this?" Kyouka shouted, bursting into the secluded space and rushing right back to an opening in the fallen structure to look up at the still cloud covered canopy overhead.
"Seeing what?" Nana raised an eyebrow.
"In the sky!" she gasped in excitement, "A dragon was just seen flying overhead! It was as big as a mountain and red as a ruby! Someone said they saw a whole person in its hand...paw...whatever!"
"Red!" Ochako gasped, scrambling to where Kyoka stood and propping herself on her tiptoes to see out of the opening, searching the sky.
Izuku and Nana matched wide stares.
"Where did he go?" Izuku asked.
"It was going East," Kyouka shook her head and stepped away from the crack, "Damn, it's gone. You should have seen it, it was like something out of a legend!"
"Apprentice…" Ochako's tone held a warning, "Where did your friend send Red?"
Izuku couldn't help feeling that he was being accused, but he had no such information to give her.
"I don't know, I saw less than you did," he pushed himself to his elbows in his anxiety and groaned, gripping his ribs, but keeping himself in his seat.
"Izuku, be still."
Nana was promptly ignored. His position made it hard to breathe, but he wasn't going to just lie there.
"What are you three on about?" Kyouka asked, her hands already busy in her notebook, scratching out what she had seen with graphite to sing songs of later.
"He's supposed to be staying out of sight," Ochako's face was getting redder by the minute, "He needs to- I need to-"
"Ochako, calm down," Izuku pleaded, "What are you so worried about? He obviously got away."
"But I need to get to him soon and I can't help him if he's flying off to Dalem!" Ochako was pacing, breath coming short, "Damn it all! I didn't finish healing him! I couldn't. He'll only be okay for a short time and that's only if he doesn't get himself wounded again! I only had time to fix the surface level problems… He's- He's-"
Kyouka's pencil had stopped on the paper and her mouth hung open in unasked questions that stalled in her confusion while Izuku's fears mounted with every second of witnessing hers.
"He's what?"
"He's going to die if I get to him in time!" Ochako yelled.
Izuku grimaced, not just on his dread but also on the sharp sting of his quick inhale.
The notebook snapped shut.
"You're telling me you know that majestic beast soaring through these, our mortal skies?" Kyouka waved the book above her head, "And not only that, it's in danger of dying before I even have the chance to meet it?"
"It would appear so," Nana nodded confirmation.
"Well then we have to go right away."
Kyouka pocketed the notebook and cinched the strap on her lute before anyone had even responded.
"What…? Why would you help us find Red?" Ochako shook her head like she'd been slapped awake.
"For the opportunity to meet a creature of legends, of course!" Kyouka laughed, "I'd be lucky to get a glimpse of one in Dracos and not get my head bitten off let alone meet a friendly one that I could study! The songs I could write...the manifestos. The novellas!"
"What about Izuku?" Nana tried to ground the bard, "And Shoto, the Captain, Denki and Mina?"
"If anyone can fend for themselves it's them," Kyouka shrugged, "And if Katsuki's not a half-wit he'll be getting as far away from here as possible as soon as he can anyhow."
"Why?" Izuku hissed through his teeth.
"Todorokis," she huffed, "Can't trust 'em. There's no telling what will turn them on us. It's amazing Katsuki and Shoto convinced them we weren't a threat in the first place."
Izuku was taken aback by the harsh statement. "That's very cynical."
"Practical, my dear Mage," Kyouka winked, "I've got the respect of the Tarls in this Outpost, but once their Commanders ride back it may not be such a happy story. We need to leave anyway and what better destination than to a real life Dragon!"
Ochako was not in any state to argue or find a flaw. She was gathering herself up and taking Izuku's arm to help lift him back to his feet
"But won't that separate us from the others?" Izuku complained, "Won't -Ah! Sh- damn." The act of standing shifted his inside how he hadn't expected and Kyouka rushed in to keep him from collapsing before Nana had a chance.
"Denki and Mina will find us wherever we go," Kyouka said as she caught him, unconcerned, "He's not the boy you left in Solen anymore. He knows what he's doing."
"Kyouka," Nana sounded almost parental, "Is this really about getting everyone to safety or something else?"
She slipped Izuku's arm around her neck while Ochako took his other side and propped him up straight, ready to walk out were it not for Nana standing in their way. Everything about the position was terribly painful and his legs were like jelly, still weak from what Shoto had done to him.
"Of course! I have things I want, but I care that all of you get out alive too. I can be selfless and selfish at once, can't I?"
Nana didn't seem convinced. "Look at Izuku, he's in no state to chase off after Dragons!"
Kyouka looked at Izuku closely and frowned. "Maybe you're right. We could leave him here. He's Synod after all. The Tarls wouldn't have any authority to do anything to him and the Synod healers could take better care of him than you could."
"No!" Izuku tensed, fisting the fabric of her vest before she could slip out from under his arm, "No, I have to see this through. If I go back I'll be stuck there and I won't be able to help Shoto or Eijiro."
"I don't want you to go back to the Synod either, but there's only so far we can drag you without killing you." Nana didn't seem happy about her own argument, "We've used what strength we have to stabilize you, but even that won't help you if you're being jostled about on the back of a horse."
"What if… what if I…" Ochako swallowed hard, chewing her cheek desperately, "What if I tried to use Blood Magic, like you? Just to heal him."
"Ochako, no!" Izuku snapped like she had blasphemed blatantly.
"But we have to do something and-"
"He's right," Nana said just as harshly, "I will not allow anyone else to fall to that corruption."
Her hands fisted tightly at her sides and she winced, hiding the black on her skin as best she could behind her sleeves.
"Then you do it!" Ochako bounced on her heels, impatient.
"With what?" Nana swept out her arm, "I will not take from the unwilling, the dead around us have been dead too long for their blood to do much more than tickle my spells, and none of the three of us have the strength to offer our blood for it."
"Ugh, fine," Kyouka shook her head and jutted out her arm, "Take only what you need."
Nana startled and Izuku choked.
"Kyouka, you don't want that. It's not-"
"I don't care," she insisted, "I came along for the story and I won't get one sitting around here. I'm not afraid."
"I don't like this…" Nana frowned.
Izuku had to agree that it was brash, the decision of one in a hurry, but every second he stood here was agony and breathing was getting steadily harder. He didn't have the ability to argue any further nor the wherewithal to beg them to do something about it.
"Nana, please!" Ochako pleaded in his stead, brown eyes getting bigger by the second.
The eldest Mage was displeased in every sense of the word, glaring at the two sets of anxious eyes and then softened on the labored breaths of Izuku. His obvious discomfort must have gotten through where their petulance had not.
"Alright," she said, "But I'm doing this for Izuku, not for you."
"Thank you," Ochako's breath was a shudder, "Please hurry. Red can fly a great distance in a short time. I swear if he dies because he flew too far and couldn't get back in time I'll kill him!"
Nana snagged Kyouka's arm and pushed back her sleeve, hushing Ochako's anxious rattling. She looked the bard dead in the eye as light came alive in her hand over the upper forearm. It was sharp like the magic Shoto had used to split open Izuku's skin and he felt his stomach turn to look at it.
"It's going to hurt," she warned, "a lot."
Kyouka wrinkled the corner of her mouth in a smile. "Do your worst."
The tense quiet that had surrounded the Mage and Dragon was disrupted suddenly by the griping complaints of a weathered voice and the shuffling pace of feet.
"You owe me big time for this, I hope you know. It's dangerous just being outside of our homes these days let alone traipsing about in forests. This better be serious, young lady."
"You'll get paid, Chiyo, don't worry about that."
This clearing, a bit of hilly earth semi-circled by trees with deeper forestation at it's back, was as far as they'd been able to take Eijiro before his condition had become too concerning to continue. The Magic Shoto had used to spark life and awareness back into him was not affecting him the same and Shoto was getting weaker the longer he tried to keep him alert. So now, in a big enough space for the Eijiro to change forms and far enough away not to be seen by anyone in the town, it was decided that Shoto would wait here with him and keep him conscious while the rest went into Talistone to find the healer.
And they had returned not a moment too soon.
Excitably, Shoto turned on his approachers to find that it was only Mina and an old woman equipped with a leather bag. He looked past them and found no one else following behind.
"Mina, where are the others?" Shoto ignored the old lady.
The elf girl groaned as she tugged the old woman to move faster. "Getting beds and food. You didn't think the proper lady you people call a royal was going to be content with sleeping under the stars and scavenging for forest critters, did you?"
Truthfully, he hadn't thought of her at all. It was hard to consider anything beyond Eijiro's immediate crisis. Which was also serving to distract him from the myriad of other concerns that he'd been presented with since leaving the Keep last night. If anything he hadn't expected the Queen would be staying among them any longer than necessary and would return to the Capitol promptly, but they were all in great need of rest so perhaps they thought it an issue for a later time.
The old woman meandered past Shoto, barely acknowledging him and lowering slowly to her knees beside Eijiro who was blinking blearily from his very still place on the ground. She opened the robes that were wrapped loosely around Eijiro and the boy barely moved in response, until the prodding touch of her fingers against his torso made him winge and cough.
Shoto eyed Mina questioningly, asking without asking whether the old lady could be trusted or not. Mina just shrugged.
"I filled her in on everything, she won't say anything as long as we don't," Mina assured, "She has her own secrets to protect and she's in no position to judge ours."
It was not comforting, but for the sake of their desperation, it was acceptable.
"He looks half dead, but I don't see an injury," she looked back to Mina, "I can't heal him in this form. Ask him to change."
Shoto knelt next to Eijiro and shook his shoulder. Red eyes squeezed tight and then opened up at him as he groaned.
"You need to change back so she can heal you," Shoto told him, "Can you do that?"
"Yes… Just tired…" The voice in his head was slow, soft and Shoto's guilt cut him like a whip.
"You can rest after you shift back, just stay awake until then."
"...You think I'll live?"
Shoto buried his nails as hard and as deep as he could into his thigh.
"I know you will, just do what I tell you."
Eijiro's head tipped forward a bit and then rolled back, as close to an acknowledgement as he was going to get.
"Step back," Shoto ordered, "He's going to need space."
Shoto helped Eijiro sit up and remove the Master robes, saving them from being entirely destroyed in the transition. He and the healer returned to Mina's side and watched with bated breath for the weary Dragon to either change his scales or pass out completely.
Hesitant at first, Eijiro began the transition in earnest. It was unsettling as it had been before, only this time the sounds he made were all the more horrifying as they shifted from his human voice to the roaring wake of a Dragon's.
Even the old woman who had been so unaffected before was tapping her lip with interest as the human boy she had inspected a moment ago filled the entire clearing with the muscular, red scaled body of a Dragon. His head was lifted high as the frills behind his skull flared and his wings opened, but it lasted only a moment before he collapsed in a waning groan, head smashing to the earth with a world waking thud and wings dropping heavy to the ground. The wounds they had stalled before began to bleed anew, the gashes as fresh as when the Blood Magic had ripped him open the first time.
The healer grabbed her bag and moved in. Her hand waved in the air, alight with a Magical glow. It formed a glyph and the hefty wing rose and fell back on the other side of Eijiro's body as the Magic pulled him more fully on his side to expose the extent of his mangled underbelly.
It was sickening to look at and worse to remember how it had happened; to remember the clawing tendrils of Blood Magic Touya had lashed at him, how easily they had cut through the soft scales beneath him.
"He's a little one, isn't he?" the woman spoke to herself, "A little runt if I've ever seen one."
The idea of a beast as big as a building being called a runt was the most ridiculous thing Shoto had ever heard, but she was already getting started before he could question it.
The new spells that formed in her hand burst quickly out over the Dragon's open wound and the initial, gory sounds of pulling flesh were suddenly overwhelmed by the powerful, whining groan that seemed to shock the Dragon fully awake. Eijiro's legs were tensed to the claws and his breathing turned distressed and labored, the air leaving his nostrils in wafting smoke.
It cringed Shoto to the core to watch the gruesome process, but he couldn't tear his eyes away. He'd gotten Eijiro into this and it was his responsibility to stick with him through the consequences.
"That looks really awful," Mina whispered, "How did that even happen?"
Shoto's cheek flinched. "A Blood Mage. The one we thought was the Summoner."
"Shit," she said, "And all of you together failed to stop him?"
"Yes," Shoto admitted, "I'm starting to think maybe Nana was wrong about me."
"How?"
Shoto squeezed the blood soaked robes in his hands.
"I don't think I'm as powerful as she believes. He was using Blood Magic just like we were and he beat us soundly."
"Of course, he did," Mina crossed her arms.
Shoto frowned at her.
"You and Nana are good humans, you won't do what's necessary to beat a real Fallen Mage."
"What are you saying?" he turned on her, fists twisting harder.
"I'm saying he's willing to do worse things than you are," she elaborated confidently, "Nana was given the perfect situation at Demon's Rise. Everyone was already dead, but they were freshly dead. Not enough time for their blood to lose its potency, but she didn't have to take from the living either. No hard decision had to be made. Your enemy will always win when you have so many conditions restricting you. They won't care who they hurt to reach their goal like you do."
"Are you trying to tell me that I should take my power from the living and unwilling like the Summoner?" Shoto felt disgust rise up his throat like bile.
Mina shrugged and grit her teeth at the Dragon's loud groan and the sound of bones snapping back into place.
"I think you shouldn't limit your options," she blinked away from the Dragon, "If conventional means don't work, then think unconventionally. Denki and I aren't going anywhere, so this isn't a threat or anything, but you need to think this through and decide what you're actually willing to sacrifice before we rush back into another situation where some of us almost die because you and Nana aren't prepared. It's obvious that you aren't ready to take on the real Summoner or the Archdemon yet, so whatever you need to do to be ready, just do it and worry about the consequences later."
Her straightforward demand was unnerving to Shoto; he had to worry about every consequence. If he didn't he would be no better than the Summoner, no better than Touya…
"We will be ready next time," Shoto said firmly, though the words didn't match his thoughts, "Do not doubt it."
The Fallen Mage was correct about part of his mad ramblings; Shoto was trying to prove something. He was strong enough to do this and he could do it without losing himself entirely to the corruption of Fallen Magic. He didn't need to be saved by some fraudulent family or long lost brother. When he and Nana regrouped they would find the answer and the next time they faced the Summoner or thay Fallen Mage they wouldn't stand a chance.
Mina shrugged. "I'll take your word for it, just don't expect me to be overwhelmed with faith."
By then the biggest of the gashes on Eijiro's underbelly was sealed and it had obviously taken its toll. His head was back on the ground and his eyes were glazed, half closed, exhausted. He'd been incredibly quiet inside Shoto's head, which had worried him more than the roaring. He hadn't known him long, but he certainly didn't know him to be speechless.
"Is he going to pull through?" Shoto couldn't help asking the healer.
She wiped sweat from her brow despite the weather that was growing gradually colder by the day and wiped her hands on a towel she'd carried in her case.
"He will be perfectly fine," she sighed, "But he will be healed sooner if I'm not interrupted."
Shoto's lips tensed, but he held any further questions, turning them to Mina instead.
"Who is this woman?" he muttered.
"Chiyo," Mina answered, "She lives in the Undercity in Talistone. Takes care of the ragamuffins and low lives down there. She's surprisingly good with children if you can believe it."
Shoto didn't quite, but he also didn't care.
"No, I mean what is she?" he clarified, "How does a Renegade know this much about Healing Magic?"
Mina lowered her voice to a whisper. "First of all, the Synod is not the only source of knowledge in the fucking known world, Shoto, expand your damn horizons for once. But as a matter of fact, she was trained by the Synod. She used to lead creature research and wrote a few of those spells you and your friends study up there in your little Mage towers."
"That's impossible," Shoto scowled, "Once Synod, always Synod."
"Unless they believe you are dead," Chiyo tossed back an annoyed look at them, a glowing hand hovering over an open wound.
Both Mina and Shoto blanched sheepishly, believing they had been quiet enough not to be heard until she had interrupted.
Mina chewed her cheek and pulled Shoto back a few steps, hoping to get out of earshot so that the Healer could get back to her work.
"I'm an elf, I don't get your whole system of oppression here," Mina shook her head, "All I know is she was Synod, she faked her death, now she's here, healing people in secret."
"Why didn't you mention that before?"
"It's her secret to keep, not mine," Mina opened her hands, "Besides I didn't really want to bring up her past in front of Eijiro…"
"Why?"
The elf darted her eyes between the dazed face of the Dragon and the old woman.
"She did study Dragons too," Mina grit her teeth, "but in the way that you cut them open and look at their insides and jar their eyeballs and such."
A week ago a thought like that would have been fairly normal. The Synod Researchers were never afraid to get their hands very dirty in the pursuit of knowledge and until Landsleave a Dragon was just an animal to him. A corrupted animal even.
Now he looked at Eijiro's face and his gut dropped at the thought of someone killing him and cutting him up for the sake of research. Especially research into finding better ways to kill those like him.
"I see," he watched the ground.
"Look, I'm as fascinated by Dragons as the next elf and I'd never want something bad to happen to Eijiro," Mina shifted back and forth, "But we can't guilt ourselves over our peoples having killed them before. Eijiro is a sweet kid, but his kind ravaged lands for centuries. Hard to blame our ancestors for not wanting to live on scorched earth."
"I thought Moondancers were accepting of all Magic," Shoto said, "It's hard to think you wouldn't worship Dragons."
"Do you worship the bear that attacks your children in the woods?" Mina frowned.
"No… I suppose not."
"They've killed us just like they've killed humans. Even we agreed that they should be driven to Dracos. And even if they have always had sentience and even if we have a particular interest in their species, they are not meant to coexist with creatures like us. It's not wrong to want to learn how best to defend against them; they are incredibly dangerous after all. Do you really think your own people would be better off with Dragons still infesting Gaetha?"
"Of course not," Shoto chewed his cheek, "There has just been a lot to consider since meeting him… There was a time in the Synod where slaying a Dragon was akin to conquering a Major Demon… At the birth of the Synod it was customary to paint the doors of any new Magesterium or Seat with Dragon's Blood. To this day it's tradition that a Dragon Skull is displayed in any hall where Synod Mage's officially gather."
"That's disgusting," Mina turned venomously on him.
"There are no remains to gather by killing Demons," Shoto cringed back from her, "Their bodies in this world disintegrate upon death. Dragons have always been considered the closest living creature to the ether...something I can't rightly dispute even now."
"So you were desperate to show off trophies of your conquests against the ether?" Mina's tone got only harsher, even as it quieted lower and lower.
"No," Shoto snipped, "We don't have trophies. It's meant as a symbol, a reminder of our purpose. Our purpose to defeat the stain of the ether in ourselves, to rise above it and to quell the ether that comes to our world. The Dragon Skull has always been a symbol of the ether in Gaetha and we use it in humility."
"Well it's a sign of bad fucking luck where I'm from," Mina huffed, "How stupid are the lot of you that you need reminders of your damn job all over where you live?"
Shoto's jaw hurt. He hadn't realized he'd been clenching it so tightly. He was starting to get an idea of why Katsuki found her so irritating.
"I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand," Shoto said, curtly.
Mina cocked her head at him, "I really can't take you seriously, talking all Synod and mighty when your hands look like that."
His heart clenched and he looked. He didn't want to give her the satisfaction, but ever since he'd faced Touya he'd stayed on emotionally rocky ground and Mina's was becoming talented at making her words to cut to the center each time.
"But that's a discussion for another time…" she added.
He was about to come back biting and angry at her, but before he could she'd dropped a hand on his shoulder and pointed back to Eijiro, drawing his attention back to the reason they were both here.
The Healer had fallen back on her hands and was panting, arms unstable and weak beneath her. But in front of her were only faint scars where open wounds and gushing blood had once been. There was still plenty staining the ground beneath him, but Eijiro's wounds were clean and his breathing had come to a calm pattern, no longer labored and rough. His eyes were closed, but the groaning and upset noises were gone. He looked peacefully at rest.
Shoto gasped relief at the sight and stumbled forward, pushing away from Mina's hand, their argument forgotten in an instant.
Chiyo scrambled in her bag while Shoto looked over the work she'd done, wide eyes searching over the tight, dull pink scars freshly stitched across red scales. He touched it lightly and then spread his palm open against the largest one. He quickly understood why the injury had been so devastating. The scales on Eijiro's back were harder than armor, but these on his belly were soft, malleable, radiating heat. There was very little protection to be found against any attack whether it was a sword or the full force of Blood Magic.
Shoto called out through his mind, "Eijiro? Can you hear me?"
It was deeply quiet for the longest moment of his life, before there was a sleepy hum in his head, resonating in the comfortingly familiar, youthful tone.
"Guess I lived…"
Shoto thanked the Fates and eternal powers, closing his eyes in an instant to gather himself and feel the relief of hearing how normal, if not incredibly tired, he sounded.
"Looks that way," Shoto dropped his hand and stepped back, but the Dragon didn't move yet, "How do you feel?"
"Like I fought four Major Demons, got my ass handed to me by a Blood Mage, and almost died."
A loud, heavy snort burst from the unmoving Dragon's nose and Shoto startled.
"I mostly just feel hungry," Eijiro sighed in his head, "Healing Magic takes it out of you…"
Shoto looked to where Chiyo was sitting and found her taking large bites from a piece of dried meat she had wrapped up inside the bag. It reminded him of his own lack of energy from the magic he had used that day, but his appetite was not nearly ready to make any appearance of its own.
"I don't suppose there are any grazing cows wandering nearby or anything…?"
"I'm afraid not," Shoto said out loud.
"What's he saying?" Mina was circling the Dragon with a fascinated glimmer in her eye.
"That he's hungry."
"What do Dragons eat?" Mina tapped a scale and Eijiro shifted, making her jump back.
"People," Chiyo threw up an eyebrow.
"No, thank you," the Dragon flicked his tongue in distaste.
"He's civilized, Chiyo," Mina scolded the old woman, "He doesn't eat human or elves… I think…"
"No, he doesn't," Shoto confirmed.
"Unless I have to," Eijiro clarified, one of his eyes rolling slowly open on Shoto.
"I'm not translating that."
"I wouldn't eat a Mage anyway. Your blood is basically poison."
"What about elves or regular humans?"
"It's not my first choice and your species are mostly bone anyway…"
"I really don't want to know any of this."
"It's sort of a funny story actually-"
"Eijiro, stop."
"What's he saying now?" Mina watched the shifting expressions dance over Shoto's face during their mental conversation.
"Nothing you want to hear." he answered.
"A dear would be wonderful right now, though."
"You should likely feed him," Chiyo stood, "Healing Magic drains strength equally for the healer and the one it heals."
"So we need to go hunting?" Shoto looked around himself and frowned, "I'm a Mage, not a hunter."
Mina rolled her eyes. "Not that I expected you to be, but this is a new level of useless for you, human."
"If you can do something than do it, don't waste breath berating me for what I can't do," he hissed at her, "It's not a necessary skill for a Synod Mage."
"It most certainly is," Chiyo wagged a finger, "In my day it was required learning for any apprentice and imperative to any Mage that might see battle with the ether. Did your Master teach you nothing, boy?"
"Yes, my Master taught me practically nothing," Shoto said with severe finality, not looking to continue talking to the old woman when Mina was the one frustrating him.
But then the elf girl snorted a full laugh.
Shoto blinked and startled, as she leaned over, gripping her gut and grabbing onto the leg of the Dragon for support while she cackled.
"Damn it, Shoto, you are practically dense," she continued laughing, "I'm not berating you. I'm just teasing you."
"That's hardly different," He felt his skin get warm across his cheeks and nose.
"Stop taking everything so personally," Mina straightened and smiled lightly, "I hate the Synod, not you. But you make it so easy to pick on you. You and the Captain are like brick walls, but at least you can get Katsuki excited for something and make him understand a joke."
That heat was running through his ears and neck now and he was certain he was turning pink.
But Mina wasn't paying any attention to his obvious signs of embarrassment. She was fishing in her satchel and already walking past Shoto.
She dropped a few silvers in Chiyo's open palm and then slipped a small, throwing knife from her belt as she set out towards the forest.
"Keep him company, I'll be back with food," she chuckled as she walked away, "But tell him if he wants anything afterwards he'll have to hunt it himself."
Shoto moved to argue, chase after, anything, but she was already out of sight, disappearing into the forest at their backs with the stealth he could only expect of a Moondancer. It didn't abate his irritation, but at least Eijiro would be able to eat.
"I understand her fine like this," Eijiro said, "You don't have to translate."
"I wasn't planning to."
"She's right, though, you should relax a little…"
Shoto glared at the ground, holding down his annoyance by threads. He chose not to address the comment.
"Rest while you can, Eijiro. As soon as you can fly or shapeshift we need to get inside the city or find a better place to hunker down until the others get here."
"It's not safe here?"
"We aren't safe as long as we're in Tarlson."
He looked around himself, at the pines and the sloping landscape and the etchings of a city that could be discerned through breaks in the treeline. They were near the border of Tarlson and Dalem, but not quite out of the reach of those they were running from. Not that Dalem would be safe, but at least the Tarls would have less authority if they planned to chase them there.
"This area in particular is pretty open. They may not be able to see us easily from Talistone, but if the Tarls come marching through, they'll pass close enough that you'll be impossible to disguise. Your size and color are not... stealthy."
The large red eye turned away from him and a loud breath huffed out from Eijiro's maw.
"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be a pain in the ass."
"Try not to worry about it," Shoto sighed.
Eijiro was, in fact, a terrible inconvenience at the moment, but the benefits of having a Dragon on their side outweighed the negatives. And after saving all of their lives today, the boy deserved better than to beat himself up for being almost killed in the process.
Shoto patted the scales near his shoulder and looked back out to the forest and the quiet that came from it.
"Just rest, Eijiro. We will all have plenty of time to tear ourselves apart over our failings when this is over.
