Dragon Goddess’s chosen

It didn't take long to set the wagon back upright and return the cargo onto it, even with the injury to my leg, due to the help of the kobolds. The small reptilian humanoids even helped remove the tree they dropped before they set back out into the woods (at my insistence that I did not want a bunch of followers). The work couldn't get done fast enough though, I was worrying about Max the entire time. As soon as I was done, I cuddled him against me as much as I could without hurting him, even though Nicolas was able to heal him just as good as a potion. Based on how flustered he got and his body's reaction, Max definitely didn't mind my wet clothes and was very much into being held on my lap as we let my rage run out on its own time.

While we waited for the merchant to decide to return for his wares, Kat took the time to tell Eris everything, us being chosen, her clairvoyance, me being a full dragon. She didn't seem to believe my girlfriend at first, but once we convinced her, she seemed to be more entertained by the concepts than hurt that a secret was kept from her. She was especially amused at me being a full dragon and doubled down on her teasing about catching Kat and I at the bathhouse.

Thankfully, I returned to my smaller 1/8th dragon form by the time the merchant returned over an hour later. I was exhausted from both the fight and sustaining the form for half the time we waited. He was cautious about me then and didn't seem to fully buy that what he saw was just me being a dragon bloodrager but didn't seem to want to argue with the bloodshed around us and his goods were still intact in the cart.

“There it is!” Max yipped excitedly as he hopped up, waking me from one of my many naps over the past couple days of traveling.

“Nngh?” I groaned and stretched as I looked over to see what got my boyfriend so excited. Ahead, I saw an expanse of grain fields on either side of the main road that led up to a stone gatehouse flanked by towers and city walls.

“Guess it's true about dragons sleeping all the time~” Eris snickered softly. 

“Heard that” I grumbled and shot the fighter a look but paused when I noticed Nicolas smiling a little at the joke, the first time in a while since the bandits, so I let it slide. “So… first time to a city, Max?”

“Yeah! The ocean, too! I can already smell it!”

“Cute…” Kat laughed softly as she leaned against me.  “The rest of the city is neat too, lots of shops, restaurants, a few guild halls, a big temple, a colosseum and so many different taverns… though we can't go back to one of those…”

“...why?” I asked, glancing over to her.

“Somebody had a bar fight at the Whispering Selkie,” my girlfriend answered, looking pointedly at our fighter. “We were lucky to just be banned instead of arrested.”

“What? I didn't start the fight,” Eris laughed.

“But you joined it! And hit somebody else that wasn't in it.”

“That sailor deserved it!” 

“Sure he did, princess” I chuckled as Max sat back down next to me.

“... I-I'm glad you're calmer than her…”He mumbled softly. I smiled a bit and playfully kissed his cheek.

“What? Not like a stereotypical redhead?” I joked softly.

“W-what? No, I didn't mean it like that!”

“Mhmm~” I laughed and nudged him a bit. He only whined in embarrassment and hid his face against me, making me laugh more as I hugged him against me.

“Sounds like a couple of ya been here before” the merchant called back to us. “Is there an inn ya plannin to stay at? I could bring ya there and settle our accounts there instead of at the guild”

“Oh, thank you. Eris, what was the place we stayed at?” Kat responded cheerfully 

“Nesting Roc?” our fighter answered with a shrug.

“Ah, I know the place, just off the main road, I can drop ya off close.” the dwarf chuckled.

“Thank you” I said and he waved his hand dismissively as he kept driving us toward the gate.

“It's nothing, I'm still alive thanks to you lot and I still have my delivery. I'll even put in good word for ya at the guild.”

“... I appreciate it but-”

“We all do” Eris butted in, cutting me off. “Won't hurt getting some minor fame, right, Ms. Dragoness?”

“I guess…” I sighed. ‘Kind of want to avoid getting well known, kind of the point of being able to stay small but if her goal is to be famous it would be unfair to her.’

“It'll be fine, Alex, if we get our name out we might get requested for quests instead of having to pick them out ourselves~” Kat assured me with a playful kiss that helped get rid of the uneasiness I had at the thought of fame.

 

The rest of the ride to the gates went by quickly and uneventfully, passed through a couple blocks of residences, farmhouses, and a few toxic-smelling businesses that smelled like dissection lab days back in schools before even making it to the walls. Once we were in the city proper, I noticed the architecture change from just medieval European to a mix of European and Roman like Vinewood was like, especially the huge colosseum that towered in the middle of the city and blocked the view of everything beyond it. It was also a lot more populated than the towns I had been in so far, mostly humans, dwarves and the occasional elf and beastfolk (notably very few reptilian beastfolk still…), but it was still no where close to feeling as crowded as cities back on Earth. As we were brought towards our destination, Kat and Eris briefly pointed out points of interest, the lord's keep on a hill in the distance, the way down to the docks, good restaurants and shops to go to, and the like. Max was adorably enthralled by all the sights and smells, so much so Kat and I practically had to drag him off the wagon when we stopped near the inn our “guides” told our employer.

 

“Thanks again for fixing my stuff” I told Nicolas as he and Eris hopped down after us. “It would've sucked having to be barefoot trying to find a place for new shoes here”

“Oh… um no problem…, guess I'm going to have to use Mending a lot…” He responded softly. His tone made me pause while retrieving my belongings from the ground, including the great ax from the minotaur. 

‘I don't blame him if he's still hung up on what happened… honestly surprised I'm not scarred from it too’

“Probably mostly on Alex's stuff, she doesn't avoid getting hit and breaks her stuff on her own” Eris laughed, playfully nudging the cleric, and a slight smile returned to his face. 

“There's so much everywhere, y-you think we can take Alex on a date somewhere…?” I overheard Max excitedly ask Kat, distracting me from the other two and making me look towards them.

“Oh~ I was hoping for a date alone with her but if you want to work together~” my girlfriend laughed as she accepted the payment from the merchant and he signed off on the quest paper. 

“I-I mean we're b-both with her… a-and after that k-ki-” I smiled a little and playfully snuck up behind him as the cart started to move away. 

“After that what, Maxie?” Kat started to tease then smiled at me right before I hugged Max from behind.

“You're being braver than normal, pup~” I laughed and kissed his cheek. “Basically asking her out on a date too~?”

“W-what?” he yelped as his ears folded back.

“That's what I was getting too~” Kat added.

“...” he looked away shyly, inadvertently proving that we were right about his intention. 

“I'm sure it's just all the excitement from all the new stuff and we're just jumping to conclusions~” I suggested with a laugh and kept hugging him. He gave an adorable little nod. “We can go to one of the taverns after we get our stuff in a room if you guys want~”

“Sounds good to me~ What about you Maxie, go on a date with us~?” my girlfriend giggled.

“...y-yes…” he answered softly. I happily gave him a squeeze before grabbing his hand. I then paused and glanced to where the other two were, thinking it would be good to check in on Nicolas, but I found that they were walking in the opposite direction of the inn.

“Where are you guys going? We need to get rooms?” I called out to them and Eris waved me off.

“Just going to show him around, we can get rooms later!” She responded, practically dragging Nicolas behind her.

“...is it a good idea to leave him in her hands?” I asked, looking back at Kat. “He didn't seem to be doing the greatest…”

“He'll be fine.” my girlfriend laughed before grabbing my hand and leading Max and I along. “It'll be their fault if there's not enough rooms for them later~”

“S-shouldn’t we tell them?” Max pointed out and she just smiled back at him.

“She made her decision and it's going to be fun finding out what happens~”

‘Love her but she's so mischievous’ I thought as I let her drag us toward the inn. 

“I think there's a good place nearby we can go to~” she continued happily. “It had a lot of different foods and drinks last time I went~”

“I-I imagine there's stuff from all over…” Max said, excitement from before coming back into his voice.  “Oh! I-I wonder if there's stuff from Mom's homeland that I can finally try…”

“I'm sure we can find something~” 

 

---

“What happened to all that excitement from earlier, pup?” I teased as I playfully put my hand over Max's while we sat at a table at the tavern Kat eventually brought us to, Prancing Pegasus. 

“I-it's a lot more crowded here…”he mumbled, barely audible over the lively surroundings.

“It's a tavern in the city, Maxie~ it's going to be busy~” Kat laughed.

“I-I know, I-it's just… outside didn't feel this crowded…” 

“Definitely” I agreed, glancing at the nearly full tavern around us, most of the patrons in commoner clothing, like what we changed into back at the room, the remainder in adventurers' gear and armor. “Honestly not bad though, there's some open tables…” 

“This isn't bad?”

“Seen busier places back where we're from, bigger too” I shrugged and he gave me an incredulous look.

“You really need to charge my phone, I'd love to show him pictures of when we went to Vegas” Kat giggled.

“Still think I'd end up frying it.”

“Nicolas has Mending.”

“We have no way of knowing that would recover data too.” Max's ears folded back shyly as he looked back and forth between us, confused. “Sorry, probably a whole other language to you, huh?”

“Yeah…”

“Speaking of…” Kat said, looking at me “You can talk to Kobolds?”

“It… happens on its own…” I sighed. “I don't even try and it just comes out when I talk to them.”

“You think we're going to run into them again…?” Max asked and I shrugged.

“With our luck? Probably, it's a miracle we ran into them twice, might as well make it three times”

“Sorry, I know you guys have been waiting for a bit” a tired but still cheerful human barmaid  said suddenly, making Max and I flinch a little in surprise. “What can I get you all?”

“It's ok, you're busy. Can I get a-” I started to say, wanting to just have mead like I've been getting, but I caught sight of another barmaid bringing a glass mug full of a brilliant blue liquid to a table of dwarves. “What's that blue drink? Is it any good?”

“Sapphire ale? It's popular for our dwarf guests… if you want something similar we have a local ale made with wild berries…?”

“Why can't I order the Sapphire one…?”

“It's an import… from the Capital of the Dwarven Collective… it's… not, um, recommended for non-dwarves to drink with how strong it is.”

“Well I definitely want to try it now.”

“Alex…” Kat half-sighed, half laughed. 

“What? It's hard for me to feel most drinks”

“You will definitely feel this one, miss, but if you're sure I can bring one out to you" our waitress said, still unsure, and she looked at my partners. “Anything for you two?”

“I'll do that wild berry ale you were talking about” Kat answered.

“Um… j-just a sweet mead please…” Max mumbled.

“Ok, I'll get those out for you… and, um, be ready for some attention when you get yours…” she said, looking at me. 

“What? wh-” I started to ask but she already turned and moved out of earshot without yelling at her.

“You and your blue drinks” Kat giggled.

“What? it looked like a drink with blue curaçao…” I shrugged.

“What's that?” Max asked, his head cutely cocking a little.

“A blue alcohol um kind of has a citrus taste?” 

“...I've only had oranges a couple times… I don't know how I'd like it in a drink…”

“You've only had them a couple times…?” I glanced at Kat and she shrugged. 

“I'm sure your farm boy probably hasn't gotten a lot of stuff too far away from home” she teased then smiled at him. “Let's go to the market tomorrow~ should be fun showing you all the fruits and stuff there.”

“Y-yeah… sounds like fun” he mumbled, his tail wagging a little. We kept chatting like this, trying to figure out what he hadn't tried yet so we could put together a list of what to look out for. Eventually our waitress came back with our drinks and took our food orders. Like she said, our table got quite a few looks when she dropped off my drink in front of me, especially amused ones from the table of dwarves nearby.

“Definitely weird for an ale to look like this” I mused as the barmaid left with our orders, lifting the large mug to try it. The taste was odd, a really sweet version of raspberry, almost like the fake candy flavors of fruit, but also kind of like vanilla too. Then there was the slight alcoholic burn that followed the sweetness, definitely much stronger than the meads I had tried up to that point. Strangely, a feeling of heat seemed to linger in my chest afterwards but I didn't think much of it.

“How is it…?” Max asked when I set the mug back down.

“It's good, really sweet… don't know if it'll go with the fish I ordered though.”

“Probably should have asked to try it first ~” Kat giggled, taking a sip of her drink.

“...can I try it…?” My boyfriend asked shyly and I happily passed my cup over.

“Careful, it's stronger than the other drinks I've had here…” I warned but he was already taking a drink. Almost immediately, he made a face and set it back down.

“Blegh i-it burns!” He whined and bellows of laughter erupted from the other table as I took my cup back.

“Warned you, pup~” I giggled, going to take another drink but Kat playfully stole it from me first. “Hey!” 

“That is strong… You like this?” she asked when she set it back down and I snatched it back, sticking my tongue out at her.

“It's good.” 

“Your father one of us, lass?” One of the observing dwarves bellowed. “Or we gonna see ya sloshed in an hour?”

“We're going to see!” I laughed and happily took another drink, starting to enjoy the odd warmth it leaves behind in my chest. 'Wonder if other 'fantasy' alcohol has this feeling too, so different than the normal stuff'

“Making friends already?” Kat giggled softly as I felt her nudge me. 

“Not really, think they just want to see how drunk I get.” I mused quietly so that only my partners can hear. “Jokes on them, I think my dragon weight is what makes it so hard for me feel these”

“You might see a drunk Alex tonight” She giggled, looking over at Max “Don't drink too much, I'm not babysitting both of you.” 

“O-ok…” He replied and just leaned against me as he only sipped at the mead he got.