Fight or Flight

Chapter 8

Simon

One week later...

Dragon teeth are very sharp. They can bite through bone. Do not get bit by them.

Fortunately, unlike with my last letters, this time I am not speaking with experience. I have finally gotten through to Enola, and this past week has seen a much more cordial reception from her. As of the time I am writing this letter I have shared three meals with the dragon, each three days apart, and it has now been one week since I first had a meal with her. I have not been able to conclusively answer any of the questions we have about Katerina's letters, but I have been able to learn more about dragons in general, and of Enola in particular.

So far I have learned that dragons have large families. Enola has seven siblings, and mentioned that it is not unusual for other dragon families to have twenty or thirty children. When I attempt to discuss any potential family Enola might be interested in starting, she becomes immediately hostile. From our conversations I suspect she has feelings for the blue dragon I saw when I first arrived, though of course I cannot confirm that, and suspect that for some reason she feels she cannot pursue those feelings. It seems to have led to some resentment and bitterness on her part, though I still do not understand why.

I have not managed to find an opening to discuss riders in any of our conversations. I was hoping to approach the topic from the subject of family, to then ask if any of her family have riders, but Enola's unwillingness to discuss that further seems to have put an end to that plan. I will see if another opportunity comes up – however, I am extremely hesitant to bring the topic up directly. Enola is still incredibly suspicious of me and believes I am trying to get something from her, and I fear that talking about riders will lead her to conclude I am seeking to become a rider. This will likely offend her and cause her to stop talking to me altogether – or, even worse, lead to her trying to make me a rider. Since neither of those are outcomes I want, I am being careful about the subject for now.

Enola's suspicion and hostility has also kept me from convincing her to accept my help in regards to the threat of the king, or really anything at all beyond cooked meals – and even then, she always demands to catch the food for the meal. She is adamantly against taking anything from me that she does not contribute to in some way, though I cannot tell if this is because Katerina was telling the truth regarding the magedebt, or if Enola simply has a great deal of personal pride.

However, it is my personal opinion that Enola would not be talking to me at all if she did not feel she owed me for the effort I put into cooking the meal. This is not anything concrete that she has said, but given her attitude towards me in general, I highly doubt she would talk to me unless something was pressuring her to. Thus, I suspect that Katerina was telling us the truth in regards to the dragons owing a magedebt for favors.

I looked up from the letter, then put a rock on top of it to keep it from curling up. I had drawn more attention than I was comfortable with in Lakeshire, so on my last visit I had just purchased a small vial of ink to take back to camp with me. I would still have to go to the village to mail the letters – or take Smokey to Yellowseed a few days' ride away, which would probably get them delivered faster – but that would attract far less attention than lurking in the tavern while I wrote the letters.

Though with how my own attempts at making coffee were failing miserably, it was almost worth drawing attention to have a decent cup in the morning. I held my nose as I picked up the steaming cup on the tree stump I was using as a desk, and bravely swallowed as much of it as I could stomach before the taste got to me. Yuck.

Despite how much Enola seemed to enjoy our meals, I didn't think I was meant to be a cook. It had been easy enough to boil the water over the campfire, but nothing I did after that step could be considered drinkable. I was pretty sure the coffee beans I had bartered for were good ones, but I hadn't had a decent cup of coffee in over a week now. And I wasn't likely to have one any time soon, as long as I was trying to make it over a campfire out in the wilderness. If I could get Enola to give me a decent heating spell, then I might have more luck cooking the beans evenly... but Enola was still paranoid that I was trying to get something from her. Asking her for a spell at this point would be a bad idea. I shook my head and emptied the rest of the coffee out over the small campfire I had going.