Fourteen minutes later, I asked Mage Henrietta to get one of the spare uniforms I had stashed on my boat. She knew right where to look, because it was the same spot that the wooden coins had been, and she came back to me just as the healers finished. Apparently, a lot more than my skin had been eaten away and I hadn't even realized it.

I put on the underwear first and then Mage Henrietta handed me two socks. I raised my eyebrows at her and she smiled as she slid the sock onto my stump and all the way up to my knee. She put the other one on my good foot, then handed me my pants. I slid my legs into them and pulled them on, then she helped me stand up to put my shirt on. I would need to visit the PX to buy new private decorations, too.

The bodies and their effects that were recoverable were gathered up, as well as the supplies, and everything was loaded into the boats while the wounded were loaded into the main boats. This was the first time I had seen Donna and she was bandaged on her head, her arm, and her leg. She was right beside Alex and held his remaining hand. I didn't bother trying to listen to what she was saying to him.

I sighed and discovered that I had nowhere to put my knife, so I kept it in my hand and let Mage Henrietta support my weight on my right side. She hugged me close with her arm and I had my free arm over her shoulder to help me walk.

We all climbed into the boats, now that they were hooked back together, and Mage Henrietta had to leave me in mine to take over powering the other tandem boat. I powered the weight enchantment for her and she only had to use the movement one, since she couldn't use both at the same time. The weight mages went into the backup boat for her to power the weight enchantment there. Since one didn't have an arm anymore, only one of them was fit to do it.

I didn't have anyone left for either of my boats as backups, since the skeptical guy and Mage Larson had both died in the dragon's acid attack on the hidden area. Mage Henrietta hadn't been forthcoming in her version of the story, either. She let the others be the only ones to speak about seeing her stand in the wreckage and in defiance of the dragon.

I powered the weight enchantment and we started our journey back to the garrison. It seemed to take a lot longer, even though I was going at the agreed upon speed and Mage Henrietta didn't seem to have any trouble keeping up. Everyone was in a somber mood as we travelled all the way back to the garrison.

Not surprisingly, no one was on the village dock to wave or cheer at us when we passed it. We were back much earlier than planned and only a few civilians were there to see us as I led us around to the waterway to take us to Diane's place and the dock there. I hopped on one foot to tie the boat up and didn't bother trying to secure it any more than that, then I sat down on the dock and held the boat steady with the movement enchantment for everyone to disembark safely.

A crewman unhooked the tandem boat and I moved it over to the dock for him to secure it. He ran to get one of the large hand carts and the sick and injured were loaded onto it at the direction of the two healers. Mage Henrietta stopped on the other side of the dock and did the same thing I did with her tandem boat, which surprised the combat mages, because she hadn't moved a boat without touching it before.

It didn't take long for the healers to call for me to be added to the cart and I hopped over to it and climbed on. The strike teams and mobile members loaded a second cart with the remaining damaged supplies and the deceased they had recovered, then followed behind the first cart as we were taken up the small road to Diane's place, across her property, and out to the main road.

There were several shouts from the guards in front of the garrison and the gate was opened and two squads rushed out to check everything over. We were allowed to enter and told where to go, mainly the medical building, and I hopped off.

“You're not going anywhere without a foot.” One of the healers said, angrily.

“I need to report.” I said and looked at Mage Henrietta. She came over to me and became my brace once more. “Thank you.”

Mage Henrietta only nodded and we left the irate healer by the cart as we headed to the main building and the CO's office. We didn't have to wait as the secretary waved us through and she stared at my missing boot.

I wasn't surprised to see the Colonel sitting behind the desk and the CO standing beside her. “Private Drake reporting, Ma'am.” I said and saluted with my real hand. I had lost the petrified hand somewhere inside the dragon's stomach. It had dissolved the cord that hung around my neck and I lost the key to my house, too.

The Colonel frowned and briefly returned the salute. “Where are my officers, Private Drake?” She asked in a deeper voice than normal.

“Alex and Donna are in the medical building being treated for severe injuries.”

Her eyes dropped to my missing foot for a second. “Why aren't you?”

“I had to report, Ma'am.” I said and Sandra the CO nodded slightly.

“Then report.” The Colonel said, anger on her face.

“The initial mission is a complete success.” I said and explained about the different situation, what Mage Lukas, the construction crew, and I did to resolve the deficiency in our forces, then about what happened, right up until I was swallowed by the dragon.

“WHAT happened to YOU?!?” The Colonel yelled and shot to her feet.

“The dragon ate me in one gulp.” I said and looked down at my missing foot. “Mostly, anyway.”

“I've never...” The CO beside her whispered. “A dragon. You were eaten by a dragon... and lived.”

“So far.” I said and they both looked at me with surprise. “I need a proper healing and probably have to get the stump cut off for that. I burned it to stop the bleeding. My back and hands were severely burned with acid as well and they said a field healing might come undone if not treated properly.”

Both women winced and Mage Henrietta didn't react at all, probably because she had heard the story already. The Colonel sat down and the CO beside her braced an arm on the back of the chair.

“Continue the report.” The Colonel said.

I recalled the second hand information told to me by witnesses about the battle while I was inside the stomach and interspersed where I thought my own experiences inside the dragon correlated. I finished with the teams coming back, everyone cleaning up the battlefield, and bringing back what we could.

Everyone stayed silent when I finished talking and the Colonel sat there as she stared at me with a mix of hatred and something I couldn't figure out.

“The Royal Family's mage retainer, a man I grew up with and cared deeply about, is dead.” The Colonel said, her voice hard.

“He died killing a dragon.” I said, repeating the words of the combat mages.

“Oh? Aren't you going to claim it, since you cut it up from the inside?” The Colonel asked, snidely.

“I didn't cut myself free until it had already suffered the killing blow by Mage Lukas and slumped over.” I said. “Even then, it still took a while.”

“Moments.” Mage Henrietta corrected.

“I couldn't breathe and it felt like it went on forever.” I said and her hand gripped my side tightly.

The Colonel went quiet again for a minute. “Is that all? No other incidents or anything?”

“No, ma'am.” I said.

“You didn't go on to complete the clearing out mission.”

“We had insufficient people and resources to continue on.” I said. “The plan allows for the reallocation of the strike teams to the delivery boats.”

“Which will slow down the construction.” The Colonel said.

“Only by half a day, total.” I said. “That's why it was an acceptable compromise.”

The Colonel stared at me for another full minute. “Very well. I've received your report. I'll send for the others and get their version of events to corroborate your story.” She looked at Mage Henrietta. “I'll speak to you while Private Drake goes to the medical building.”

“No.” Mage Henrietta said. “As you can clearly see, he is in no condition to get there by himself.”

“I'll take him.” The CO said and started to walk around the desk.

“No!” The Colonel snapped and the CO stopped walking. “He was eaten by a dragon. Walking to the medical building shouldn't bother him at all.”

“Ellen, don't.” Sandra said. “It wasn't his fault that Mage Lukas died.”

“I. Don't. Care.” The Colonel said. “Private Drake, report to the medical building immediately.”

“Yes, sir.” I said and performed a salute with only two fingers.

The Colonel's eyes squinted. “Just for that disrespectful salute, I'm tempted to order you to salute everyone you pass and not just officers.”

“Good luck enforcing that.” Mage Henrietta said. “He's not required to salute officers unless they are in formal dress or wearing their full decorations. Casual uniforms do not count. Having to salute the entire garrison's personnel is idiotic and petty.”

“This is my brigade and my men will follow my orders.” The Colonel said.

“Then I am glad your normal command rules don't apply to mages, if this is how you react to an honorable man that's only done his duty to the kingdom.”

“He is responsible for the deaths of nearly everyone on the mission, including your fellow mages!” The Colonel spat.

“Actually, First Lieutenant Alexander Smith is, since he is in command and knew everything that was going on. He also approved it all and set up the battlefield, because they barely consulted David at all, once they had the new weapons.” Mage Henrietta said. “Also, Mage Lukas approved the mage deployment personally. He gave his life, just as David tried to, to save the innocent people on the battlefield when things went wrong.”

The Colonel sat there and several emotions crossed her face.

“While you sit there and digest the truth of the matter, I'll be taking David to get treated.” Mage Henrietta said and turned me around.

“We aren't done here.” The Colonel said, her voice deadly.

“I am.” Mage Henrietta said. “If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with the next highest ranking mage... oh, wait. That's me, isn't it?” She said and gave a perfectly blank smile to the Colonel, then helped me out of the office.

I didn't say anything until we left the building. “Thank you.”

“I didn't do it for you.” Mage Henrietta said and I looked at her. “Well, okay. I did.” She blushed a little. “She's looking for a scapegoat and you're a prime target, since you're still conscious.”

“It was my plan.” I said.

“That was rushed and put together at the last minute.” Mage Henrietta said. “I'm actually surprised it worked at all.”

“You came along anyway.” I said.

“So did you.” She said back.

“I had to. I'm a conscript.”

“I had to, because I didn't want to let you out of my sight.” Mage Henrietta said. “I'm sorry that our protections weren't enough to keep everyone safe.”

“It would have been overkill if there had only been three dragons and one nest, which was the highest estimation we had. Instead, we had five dragons and six babies with two nests in two different spots.” I shook my head. “Alex pushed on because the Gulf Kingdom needs this offensive to work.”

“Why do you care, anyway?” Mage Henrietta asked. “Don't you just want to go back to your marsh?”

“So, you do know.” I said and she chuckled.

“I've investigated you and of course I know that's all you want.” Mage Henrietta said. “I didn't once say that I wanted to take you away from here permanently, did I?”

“You said you want to take me away from here.” I said.

“Of course I did! Look what just happened!” Mage Henrietta said. “Do you think it's going to get any better around here when the war starts?”

I closed my mouth and didn't say anything.

“You're going to have thousands of troops from both sides fighting a war on the far side of the marsh and you have to get them there. This is not a good place to be right now... or for a while to come.”

“It's my home.” I said.

“No, it's just what you're used to.” Mage Henrietta said. “People can adapt and live anywhere, David.”

I sighed and she helped me open the door of the medical building and took me inside.

“I think my offer might be looking really good right now.” Mage Henrietta said. “While they tend to you, please think about it.”

I opened my mouth to speak and a healer came over to us.

“Right this way, Private. Mage.” She said and nodded to each of us, then led us over to the bed beside Alex and Donna. They were being worked on by four healers each. “We can heal a lot quicker if we combine our magic.”

Mage Henrietta gripped my hand and held it for a few seconds when I laid down on the bed. “I'll send word to Diane to come and visit.”

I must have looked surprised, because she leaned down and gave me a brief kiss on my damaged cheek.

“Remember my words and my promise.” Mage Henrietta said and left me there to be treated.