She of Many Dragons Book 2 Chapter 1: Through The Woods (Patreon)

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Alice’s grand adventure through the wilderness did not start on an auspicious note.

She had been a creature of the city all her life and quickly found that she hadn’t truly appreciated the comforts that society had provided her.

It was one thing to take a stroll through the woods or journey to a different town.

It was quite another thing entirely to live in the woods.

Yes, she did have supplies, but those ran out after three days. And yes, Natura helped a bit with her Environmental Manipulation skills. However, the little dragon was new to the group, not having been hatched out through Alice’s class. Alice felt like she didn’t have as deep of a connection to her yet.

Prim, Numi, and Iggy had become a solid team, with Numi and Iggy’s sub-aspects helping to carry the additional load.

Now Fixie was back at the shop. She was more of a creature of the city than Alice and there would be no help in the woods. Spark, at least, was with them and always on high alert for trouble… only there was no trouble. Just endless forest with only deer paths to follow, craggy hills to wind around or climb, endless trees in every shade of green.

And thorns. So many thorns.

Alice was always digging burrs out of her socks and quickly learned how to identify and avoid nests of nettles.

Natura was politely confused as to why Alice hated them so much. Her thick, bark-like scales kept them away quite handily. She did promise to warn Alice whenever they appeared… but the dragon was young and often forgot.

Then, on the third night of their expedition, it rained. And rained. And rained.

Alice had an extra sweater, but it became soaked through before long. The forest did not provide much cover. Big fat drops rolled off leaves and overhead branches to splatter on her head and down her neck.

“You are soaked through,” Prim said upon evening. “And you are shivering. Iggy, help Alice stay warm.”

“He n-need to look for d-danger,” Alice said through chattering teeth.

“There is no threat out there,” Prim replied. “The only danger is you growing too cold.”

Iggy flew back from his scouting and twined his long body around her neck like a scarf. His scales felt hot against her cold skin, and only then did she realize how chilled she had become.

“Do not worry, Alice,” Iggy said, in his deep rumbly voice. “Spark will continue scouting for us. Oh, and he is searching for a cave to shelter in for the night.”

“His search will be for nothing,” Natura asked softly. “There are no caves around here—the rock is all wrong for that.”

Alice closed her eyes, feeling her moment of hope to be dry gutter out. “It’s okay.”

“It is not,” Prim said. “Alice must have some kind of shelter for the night.”

“She doesn’t need a cave for that,” Natura said. “We have everything right here.”

Everyone turned to look at her.

“What does that mean?” Prim asked.

Instead of answering, Natura looked up at the dripping canopy and then half-closed her eyes. Wood creaked as the high branches pulled in together. Their leaves turned slightly to shunt the falling raindrops so they didn’t land directly on them, but off to the sides. More branches came together, the leaves stacking one over another and the dark, wet clouds vanished to be replaced by a shield of green.

Then Natura dragged her long, rock-colored talons through the soil. The ground parted before her so that it, too, diverted any running water away from the group.

The soil was already wet, but no longer sopping, and all the shallow puddles vanished within moments.

“See? The forest already provides all we need,” Natura said simply.

“Yes, if you can manipulate it properly,” Iggy muttered under his breath.

Prim snapped into action. “Then we shall make this our shelter from the storm. Numi, go collect anything dry you can find in the underbrush.”

The little green dragon with the slightly bulging eyes nodded. “Yes!” Then she turned to scuttle off into the underbrush.

Alice sat with her back up against a thick tree trunk. She felt a little embarrassed her dragons were going to so much effort for her, but the moment she was resting she realized how very weary she had become. They had been on the move for days.

Numi returned several times with branches in her mouth as wells as scatterings of dried leaves and pine needles. She arranged it all in a bundle and Iggy removed himself from around Alice’s neck to breathe fire onto it.

Natura recoiled the moment the flames leapt up.

“What’s wrong?” Alice asked.

“I do not like the fire,” she replied, watching it like someone would watch a snake. “I know it is not unnatural to the forest, but it certainly is a danger to it.”

“With everything around us this wet, there is little chance of a spark jumping,” Iggy said matter-of-factly.

The dragon stared distrustfully at the fire for a moment before she spoke grudgingly. “Perhaps the ashes will be good for the soil.”

Her distaste aside, it was quickly becoming warm under their leafy shelter. “Thank you for your help, Natura.”

“It is her job,” Prim said repressively, though she softened when Alice gave her a look. “But… yes, she was quite helpful.” She flipped her wings to her back.

Natura still seemed to perk up a bit at that, and Alice realized her newest dragon might be feeling a bit like an outsider. Certainly, there was much that set her apart from the others: Her size, as she was as tall as a horse in the shoulders and seemed to be growing larger all the time. The fact that she did not hatch out as one of Alice’s aspects. And that she was so new to the group and they were all getting to know one another.

Alice made a note to spend more time talking with Natura. She wanted to know what made the dragon tick, and if the others saw her being overtly friendly they would take her cue.

For now, though, her eyes were starting to fall shut. Soon, she was asleep.

****

When Alice woke the next morning, the storm had passed. Natura’s shelter had held all through the night.

The forest was still a bit drippy, but the sun was out.

And Alice was very, very hungry.

She and the other dragons had eaten the last meal she’d taken from town for breakfast yesterday.

Perhaps I should turn back, she thought.

Though she had been hungry many times in her life before, she had never been so with the prospect of no meals in front of her whatsoever.

More importantly, her dragons were hungry too.

She had hoped to come across something in her travels – some sort of civilization. Or maybe a cabin with people in it. But there was nothing but more forest ahead of them.

Iggy was the one to ask first. He looked at Alice with big, yellow eyes. “Alice, what is there to eat?”

Her heart clenched. He had been the one to use his very energy to light the fire to keep them warm all night long, and now she had nothing for him.

“I don’t have anything else—nothing prepared, at least. But…” She looked around and saw only thick vegetation. Perhaps it was because they usually made a lot of noise crashing through the forest, but she hadn’t seen so much as a deer over the last few days. “Perhaps we can find something along the way?”

“Oh, there are roots everywhere,” Natura said.

“Yes, but can Alice eat any of them?” Prim asked pointedly.

Natura just blinked at her. “Why shouldn’t she be able to eat roots. See?” She used her long claws to tear up a hank of grass, then turned it so the dirty white roots were visible. To Alice, it looked like a nest of pinworms.

"I have coins to eat," Numi said, clearly trying to be helpful. She reached deep into her own mouth and pulled out a copper coin from the storage space she kept in her stomach. Then she popped it back into her mouth and chewed it. Alice assumed it was going into her real stomach this time. 

"I will eat neither roots nor coins," Iggy said with pride. "Instead, I shall chase down rats. There were plenty in the city, and with all of this foliage around, I don't see why there would not be many more in the forest."

Prim turned to give Alice a look, silently begging not to make her eat rats.

Iggy must have caught her expression because he bristled. "Well, cows are not exactly beautiful, and you do enjoy beef, do you not?" 

"I don't see why we should hunt at all," Natura said. "Plants give us everything we need already," she added, grumbling, “And the impact on nature is much reduced when you harvest them instead of killing off an animal."

Alice could sense a full-on argument brewing up between her dragons. She moved to cut them off. 

"Perhaps there are places in the forest where the rodents could be," she said to Natura. "Or... even better, a place where we could fish? Some trout would be acceptable?" she asked to Prim, who nodded. 

Natura hesitated in thought. "Water rats often congregate by the banks of streams, but they dig into the soil and nibble at the plants. And if they are not thinned out, they could damage the entire area."

"Then it would be good for the forest if a few of those were taken out," Alice said. 

"I… suppose," Natura agreed, though without any conviction. 

Iggy perked up. "I do enjoy water rats. They are much bigger than regular rats, I think because they don't eat nearly as much garbage."

Numi turned her head and stuck out her tongue, disgusted. 

"It's decided, then." Alice rose to her feet and brushed off her knees. She had chosen to wear trousers for this expedition and was glad of it because even with the shelter Natura had pulled together, wet leaves had fallen on her during the night. 

"Natura, can you lead us to the closest stream? There may be rats there, and I'm sure we could use a drink."

Natura agreed and led them down a series of twisting wildlife paths. She did not seem lost for a moment and completely at home in the forest, though they had never been there before. Alice envied her for her ease.

They arrived at the banks of a small stream rather quickly. To Alice, it didn't look like a likely fishing spot. The water was high and muddy from the rains the night before, and the banks were choked with thorny berry bushes that, according to Natura, would have berries have their own season. 

Prim arched her graceful neck to look at the water. "I don't see any fish.” 

"I smell stagnant water up ahead," Natura replied, then made a leap across the stream, not bothering to flap her wings. Alice followed, picking her way carefully by stepping on stones. 

"What does stagnant water have to do with anything?" Prim grumbled in her ear. 

Following her ankles, Numi shrugged. Alice didn't know either, but Natura seemed quite determined. They went across a field and saw that the stream looped around in that direction as well.

What was more, the stream had crested its banks overnight but receded again after the rain stopped. This had created a sizable pond that was now cut off from the rest of the waterway. 

In it were wiggling tadpoles, which Iggy and Spark set upon greedily.

Even Prim looked a little wistful, though she shook her head when Alice asked if she wanted any. 

"There are a few trout in the shallow pond, too," Natura said with a sigh. "I suppose we better harvest those, though I insist whatever tadpoles you two don't gobble up, we return to the stream."

That seemed like a fine compromise to Alice.

It took almost no time at all for Iggy and Spark to fish out several trout for their morning meal. Numi once again went to gather dry kindling, and Iggy set the fire. Alice took care of scaling and then roasted the trout for herself and for her dragons. Meanwhile, Natura went and gathered vegetables for her own breakfast. 

Once they were fully cooked, the trout were very large and fine indeed. Everyone was so hungry that they ate them to the bones. 

"Let's bury the remains to help the plants," Natura said, once they were all fed. Then she pressed on their promise with the tadpoles and went to dig a channel that led from the pond back to the stream. 

Under her Environmental Manipulation skill, the sand and mud parted. It was as if Natura instinctively knew where underground stones would be and avoided them.

Alice watched with a bit of awe. Natura’s parents had been powerful beasts, but they'd also been wood dragons with direct control over only vegetation. Natura was a nature-based dragon. Her powers extended not only over plants, but water and earth as well. 

As soon as she felt the trough was deep enough, Natura broke the last wall between it and the pond. The pond water, along with hundreds of tadpoles, washed back out to the stream. 

"Why couldn't we just leave them where they were?" Numi asked with a cocked head. "They did seem quite happy, aside from when some of them were being eaten."

"No, many are not old enough to turn to frogs by the time the last of the water evaporated,” Natura replied, watching the tadpoles rejoin the stream in satisfaction.

In any case, their task was done and now the dragons, as usual, looked to Alice for direction.

Alice paused in thought. “I would very much like to continue on, but if we do, we will be hunting along the way. And if there's every chance we won't be successful all the time… and if we continue to be unsuccessful, then we will starve.”

“I will not starve,” Numi said, padding her stomach where her coin storage space was hidden.

“There will always be animals to hunt,” Iggy added.

Spark peeped with approval, though he tended to do that in answer to anything that Iggy said.

Natura looked wholly unconcerned, too.

The only one who seemed slightly worried was Prim, and only because she was regarding Alice. 

“I think we should be okay, as long as we stick together,” Prim said. “But what is it that we are looking for, Alice?”

“More dragons,” Alice said. “Or more towns with people. I just needed to get away from the Protectorate.” 

“Yes, but the Protectorate has said they will find you when they need you.” 

“I certainly don't intend to sit around waiting for that. But there are other places to explore, though...” she shrugged and looked around. “I'm a little surprised we have not found any other wild dragons yet.”

“It is possible for dragons to hide from me within the forest,” Natura said, “especially if they are older and more experienced with their skills.” She looked down at her muddy claws. “I'm afraid I'm still learning, so another dragon's power might override mine.”

“You are young, yet,” Alice said. “And if it ever comes to a confrontation, remember that you have a wider range of powers than most.” 

In any case, it seemed that none of her dragons wanted to turn back. “Let's continue to walk. Surely it cannot only be just forest out here.”

****

They continued on, choosing one wildlife path after another and crossing meadows whenever they came to them. The sky cleared up, and the sun warmed their backs. It was a quite lovely day.

They had just come to an unusually large and flat meadow, covered with thin grass. Alice appreciated walking anywhere without bushes and sticks grabbing at her hair and clothes. 

Suddenly, Natura let out a sound of disgust. Alice stopped and looked around. “What is it?”

Natura did not answer Alice and started sniffing at the thin grass, which, even having just rained, was already yellow as if they were in midsummer.

Iggy and Spark, who were flying ahead to look out for danger, looped back to see what was causing the holdup.

Alice only shrugged at Iggy. She didn't know, but this meadow was different in a way she could not put her finger on.

Numi suddenly said, "Ooh," and rushed forward to also sniff through the grass. Then, abruptly, she began to dig, throwing clods of dirt into the air.

"Not near the goldenrod!" Natura cried and quickly went over to dig alongside Numi. Only she came back up with a plant, roots and all. Carefully balancing ungainly on three legs, she moved the goldenrod about ten feet to the right. "Here you go," she all but cooed at it. "This has much better soil for you. Not like that other spot with the big ugly stone right under it."

"It's not a stone," Numi called, her head stuck in the hole she was making. "It's an old, old road. And people drop things alongside the roads all the time. Aha!" She came up then, with something clenched in her claws.

"A road?" Alice repeated, stunned. "Here?"

She looked around. Now that she was seeing it with new eyes, she realized that the meadow was unnaturally flat, and certainly longer than it was wide. And... now that she was looking for it, she recognized a gap in the trees ahead that was about the right width for a wagon.

"What did you find?" she asked Numi, who was scuttling up to her again.

"A coin." Numi held it up in triumph. It was rather dirty with bits of green showing through. Seeing it, Numi deflated. "It's only a copper and much worn away. It's not worth much."

"Let me see it."

Alice took a closer look. One side was completely green and ruined by the elements, but the other must have been lying face down and on it, and it still held the imprint on it.

"Is that what I think it is?" Prim asked from her spot on Alice's shoulder.

"It is," Alice said. "It's the head of a dragon."

There were no other markings, no words she could read, but this was quite interesting.

Her hand formed into a fist around the old coin.

"Let's follow this road," she said, "and see where it leads us."