Beyond of the Scale

#22 - An unstable mind

〔Niro pov〕

I look back at Lilia who is standing outside the healing circle with a sad expression and suddenly a huge scream starts to come from Shindora.

{!!!NNNNNIIIIIIIAAAAAANNNNNN!!!}

[Niro]: What happened?!

[Vezin]: I don't know, sir!

[Wizard 1]: It looks like he's in terrible pain!

[Wizard 3]: Exactly! It's the scales! We are forcing their growth!

[Vezin]: We're curing the flesh, not the scales!

[Mage 3]: That's the downside! It's the side effect! This magic extends to the whole body, it won't just be the flesh that will be healed!

[Wizard 2]: Why are you worried about him? We shouldn't help a demon! WHY do we have to cure him?!

[Niro]: Beron! Don't question my decision! He was the only one able and courageous to fight and hold back the purges!

[Beron]: We could very well take care of these things!

[Niro]: At what expense? Dozens of lives and homes? It would be like this if he had not intervened! We would know too late and they would already be scattered around the village!

{!!!WWWWWIIIIIIIAAAAAAANNNNNN!!!}

I return my attention to Shīndora who started to cry in pain again.

{!!!NNNNNIIIIIIIAAAAAANNNNNNKKKK!!!}

Out of nowhere, he leaps to his feet and glares at me with wild, snarling eyes, wings raised to show intimidation and superiority as if instincts are getting the better of him. All mages remain in his positions.

{!!!GGGRRRRHHHAAAAANNNNNN!!!}

With incessant furious roars and groans of agonizing pain, Shīndora opens his mouth and starts breathing fire at me, but I protect myself with my shield.

[Wizard 3]: That's bad!

[Beron]: I know, Nindra! I warned! Undo

[Nindra]: That's not it! He's out of his mind, he's not doing it on purpose! He is lost in pain! To bring him back to coherence, someone must enter the healing circle to keep him company and soothe him! At least, a person dear to him!

[Lilia]: I will! I care about him, I won't let him suffer!

With the fire still pouring out of Shindora's mouth, I start to slowly approach with my shield getting hotter and hotter.

[Niro]: I... am going too! I caused this and I will... fix it!

Once again Shindora starts to scream and the fire ceases, so I reach out to Lilia.

{!!!NNNNNIIIIIIIAAAAAANNNNNN!!!}

[Niro]: Come quickly!

She takes my hand and I pull it behind the shield, in an instant, Shindora is back breathing fire. We keep moving forward until we enter the circle and Shindora stops breathing fire and prepares to charge, but is interrupted by more pain.

{!!!NNNNNIIIIIIIAAAAAANNNNNN!!!}

After that scream, Lilia comes out from behind me and screams for him.

[Lilia]: Shindora!

Soon with his head lowered by the pain, he rolls his eyes towards Lilia.

[Lilia]: Please, Shindora! Don't fight back... It'll be fine... no one is hurting him! Please calm down!

As a reaction, Shīndora turns around, but his impulses make him turn his head towards Lilia and growls once more with wings raised, but she continues and approaches very slowly.

{!!!GGGRRRRHHHH!!!}

[Lilia]: It's okay, Shindora! I'm here and I'm sorry for what you're going through...

Another reaction appears and his body falls to the ground holding his own head as if he had a killer migraine.

{!!!GGGRRRRHHHH!!!}
{!!!NNNNNIIIIIIIAAAAAANNNNNN!!!}

[Lilia]: I'm here...

{!!!GGGRRRRHHHH!!!}

[Lilia]: Shhh... I'm here...

She gets close enough to touch him, hug him and pet him, he reacts once again wildly unsteady so I reach over to help and start petting. He tries to bite me, but I don't give up.

{!!!NNNNIIIIIAAAAUUUGGGGHHH!!!}

[Niro]: It's okay, Shīndora... You called us and we came, we finished off the rest of the purges and now it only remains to heal you, you are extremely injured, but it will result in a lot of pain because of the forced growth of your scales and we can't help you if you don't calm down... please... let... us... help.

With a significant impact on his expression, forcibly, he licks me and goes back to roaring in pain lying on our legs, shaking his head up, down, showing his teeth and almost biting us, but he resists well for more than an hour of pure ache. The ritual ends and tears begin to fall like waterfalls over the white scales of Shindora's face.

[Niro]: I didn't know dragons cried.

Still tearing up a lot, he starts talking with the effects of crying.

[Shindora]: Please forgive me for all this... forgive me for attacking you... forgive me for wanting to bite you...! Buaaaaaaaaaa!

Tears from him are renewed and once again they fall much more.

[Lilia]: It's okay, Shīndora... we know you didn't mean to hurt us... you were suffering, you didn't have room to reason and you had just woken up from a faint...

[Shindora]: But that doesn't erase what I did...! Booaaaaa!

More renewed tears rain down his face for several minutes until he falls asleep and calms down.

[Niro]: I really saw something impossible... the tears of a dragon...

[Netty]: Yes. The first dragon to express true feelings!

[Cane]: I'm with Netty!

[Niro]: This is very valuable! But what happened to make his scales so worn out? This battle wouldn't be enough for that!

[Lilia]: A knight who doesn't accept Shīndora, made a knife cross his body twice in the heart area. When we first met and when I registered him in the guild as my familiar, a third time was serious...

[Niro]: I noticed... it totally destroyed his scales... but I don't understand... how did he get that? You would have to have a high level of knife-throwing skill, a lot of strength and a lot of magic power... conventional people are not capable of this feat...

[Lilia]: Believe it! He is unconventional.

[Cane]: Let's put him to bed to rest.