It was cloudy, the setting sun peeking through the gray veil every now and then and filtered in through the cracks between the dark curtains. A cauldron was on the fire in the corner of the large room, a deep red liquid bubbling as Felix stirred it gently. His brows were furrowed in concentration as he reached for some basil leaves, tossing them into the mix. He would have to strain the potion later either way.
He jumped in surprise, almost knocking over the glass bottles beside him, as a loud roar suddenly echoed over the forest and he snapped his head up. He could almost feel the forest holding its breath before something impacted. Trees snapped in loud, deafening cracks and the ground shook from the impact.
Felix quickly abandoned his potion, rushing to the door. He looked up to the sky, for any sign of what had happened. He could see smoke rising from the forest and his heart leaped. Was the forest on fire? A million questions rushed through his mind, all at once as he went back into the house to grab his bag. He threw it over his shoulder and ran.
As he ran through the woods, he was met with animals fleeing the scene and his heart sped up even more. He didn't know what was going on or what to expect as he ran. The smell of sulfur was heavy in the air but Felix could also pick up the faint, metallic smell of blood. As he got closer, both the smell of blood and sulfur intensified and he could feel heat radiating from something. It wasn't like the heat of fire, but close enough. He continued to run, fear twisting in his gut and his heart loud in his ears.
Then he stopped, whole body locking up and he stared at the sight in front of him.
In front of him was a clearing, forcefully made by a large, black dragon. Heat was rolling off it in waves, its scales torn and blood was soaking the forest floor as it was breathing heavily. Its mouth was slightly open, black smoke rising towards the sky as it continued breathing in deep huffs.
Felix swallowed hard. He was aware of the war between the humans and the dragons, but he knew it took place far away from this forest. The dragon must have been injured in the battle and tried to get home.
"Hey," he called out carefully, taking a deep breath before approaching. He glanced around the area, trying to see if there was any fire around. There was a few trees, snapped in half because of the dragon, that were charred, but no fire.
The dragon inhaled, making an attempt to get up but it let out a pained cry and it dropped its head down again. It looked like it wanted to leave, wings twitching and a low growl rumbling in its chest.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Felix said, as soothingly as he could. He bit his lip, holding up both his hands as the dragon turned its head to look at him. "Please," he murmured as the dragon stared at him, yellow eyes seemingly piercing his soul. "I-I just want to help," he continued, breathing a sigh of relief when the dragon laid its head down again, the twitching of its muscles ceasing.
He looked the dragon over, quickly assessing what wound he needed to attend to first. There was a large piercing wound in its gut, blood still seeping out from it and he swallowed hard. He needed to get the dragon to shift back to humanoid if he wanted to stitch it up. As he approached the dragon, he held up his hands to show the dragon he didn't intend any harm.
The dragon was large and as it laid on its side, Felix just barely reached up to the wound that had ripped scales and torn the flesh. He placed his hand on the warm scales, blood soaking them immediately. He didn't have a lot of magic but he should have enough to at least get the dragon away from death's door.
Felix closed his eyes, murmuring the incantation under his breath and he felt his hands growing even warmer. The dragon let out a pained hiss and Felix bit his tongue. As he looked at the wound, it didn't look like the healing magic had helped any but the blood flow had slowed down. Hopefully he had managed to save some of the damaged organs.
"I n-need you to shift," Felix said, stumbling over his words. He wasn't sure what the dragon was going to do. He had never met a dragon before, only heard of them and from what he had heard, they were quick to anger and could easily lash out. He really wanted to avoid that.
The dragon raised its head, turning to look at Felix. Felix exhaled shakily, his heart hammering in his chest as the dragon looked at him with sharp, yellow eyes. His whole body was trembling as he stood there, frozen and face to face with a dragon. The smell of blood and sulfur was so strong in the air Felix almost felt dizzy as his blood rushed in his ears. The dragon exhaled, a puff of warm air hitting Felix's face.
Then suddenly, the dragon was gone. Felix blinked and suddenly there was a man on the forest floor, laying in the pool of blood that the dragon had left and panting heavily. He was handsome, underneath all the blood that stained his neck and half of his face. He had a strong, angular chin, a straight nose and thick lips parted as he struggled to breath. His face was tense and he let out a small, pained groan.
"Can you hear me?" Felix asked, crouching down beside the man. He nodded, eyelids heavy and yellow eyes glossed over as he grimaced. He looked to be in terrible pain and Felix quickly opened his bag, looking for anything to help.
"I can," the man confirmed, groaning in pain again. His voice was gruff, low and his breaths were short. Felix stomach churned as he pulled out the dried rose petals. He crushed them in his hands, whispering a small incantation before opening his hands.
"Breathe this in," he instructed, holding out his hand towards the man. There was a very small and faint cloud of smoke rising from the crushed petals in his palm. The man did as told and Felix watched as his eyelids grew even heavier before eventually closing. As he closed his eyes, Felix let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. He could feel sweat breaking out on his forehead and his limbs felt heavy. He had used way too much magic. Felix looked around the forest then down at the man again, his shoulders slumping.
He took a deep breath before starting to remove the black leather Armor. The wound would probably need to be stitched up and he needed to do that back in his cottage, to minimize the risk of an infection. As he moved the stiff leather, he nodded a bit to himself. The wound was large and definitely needed to be stitched up. Felix sighed, looking around the forest again. He needed to get the man out of here, before the humans arrived.
