The Adventures of Rose Hood

Chapter 3: The Naming of Rose Hood

We returned to the village with the news that the Wilder was killed, and the dragon fled. Sir Royce, luckily, was aware of the chaos that would occur if I was revealed as a dragon, so he agreed to keep my secret on the condition that I come with him to the capital. Granny was sad, but she agreed that it would be the best course of action.

The story we are going with is that, when the dragon attacked, I returned and managed to trick it into attacking the Whilder. When the dragon finished off the Whilder, I managed to get a lot of dragonsbane around the beast, it fled in fear of the poison. Against anyone with moderate intellect, the story would have trouble holding up. Luckily, the village lacks that particular trait.

I finished packing a little bit ago.

"Hood, I'll miss you."

"Hey, I can still visit occasionally."

"You better."

When I met with Royce and his men, he said,

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yes."

And with that we set out. Darsen was in a cage near us, and he and I chattered for most of the trip.

"We're here."

A beautiful city was displayed below us, it had a look of power and prestige. Royce stopped and sat down with me.

"Before we enter there, Hood. I think we should give you an actual name."

"An actual name?"

"Yes, nameless ones draw attention, and someone may try to enslave you, even if you are with me."

"Ok. Why not Hood?"

"That also draws attention, hmm. What would work?"

A guy walked in,

"Well, what type of dragon is Hood?"

"I'm a red arcane dragon."

"Then what about Rose. Hood could be the surname."

"Rose Hood."

Royce clapped,

"I like that. I name you, Rose Hood."

I began glowing. Scales appeared around me and spiraled in a spherical formation. They shot back into my body as Royce and his soldier looked at me in shock.

"What was that?"

"I was named. Do you not know the cost of naming a dragon?"

"No!"

"Oh, I thought it was common knowledge that naming a dragon takes a lot of mana and empowers the dragon."

"WHO WOULD KNOW THAT?!"

"A lot of people."

Royce sighed and held his head in his hands.

"Here, a letter of recommendation. Since we don't want to give you attention, I'm trusting you to remain calm."

"What's the letter for?"

"The guild master's an old friend of mine. Normally, you'd have to sustain a physical test, but since you want to keep a low profile, this will get you in... Hey, can draconic shift keep people from seeing your skills in the first place?"

"Yes, but wouldn't that be more suspicious?"

"Appraisal isn't a common skill, and relics that do that exist. You still have Mrs. Roger's bracelet, right?"