~ 29 ~

What Defines a Home

I burst forward from my slumber, feeling my back leave the cavern wall, an onset of heavy breathing thundering from me. I was sweating as I looked around. We were in a cave, a smaller one, this time. Moonlight fell from the entrance of the cave.

And something tickled the side of my thigh.

"W-Whuh..." I looked at the ground to see the princess against the outside of my leg, her back sunk against it. She wiggled in place, twisting, before stretching her arms into the air. "Nyaaah! Oh, man. Ah. Whuh is it? We... attack... attacked... m-mhmm... words... something..."

She fell back against my thigh. "Mhm. Nearly forgot how to speak for a second there." Astria twisted in place, looking up my colossal frame. "Are you all good? Did something happen?"

I blinked and internally fought to cover myself. "N-No. Just... used to waking up in a panic. You develop it living in the wilderness." I nudged my chin toward the outside world. Astria looked to see it was nightfall. "But we need to move."

The princess stared at me quizzically. "You're in that much of a rush to leave home?"

"Last thing we need is more surprise problems," I somewhat lied. "The Ancasters could pull some shit. Some other monstrous dickhead could drop from the sky itself. I don't want to take any chances. I just want... ah, to get you safe."

The princess leaned off from my thigh, bouncing to her feet, planting her hands on her hips. "I'm still capable of taking care of myself, Cole."

"I know," I said without a break in my sincerity. "I'm not helping you because your ability is lacking."

Astria's hands fell from her sides. "No, I'm sorry. I've got a chip on my shoulder because—well, you can easily guess." She looked aside for the moment. "I just need to get used to someone being there for me. The last person who did that was my uncle. Everyone else who tried after that, well..."

"We've all got baggage," I answered while pushing off from the wall, feeling a little tumble pass through it from the contact. "And I know that you're handling it as well as you can. Don't fear making mistakes around me. And I'll... try to do the same around you."

The princess chuckled. "I take it you're not used to having someone for you there, either."

"Not in this world."

"Amen to that."

I fell forward onto my front claws, feeling dust kick out from the impacts, a rumble that quaked the ground and rung in the air. Taking to my 'impressive' height, I looked to the princess, winding my tail downward, laying the spade tip down flat for her to step on. "Where do you want to ride this time?"

"It's a short flight to the village, right? Still touching down in the woods east of it?" I nodded while she stepped onto the end of my tail, which was somewhat flat at parts, bringing it to the side of my face. She looked up at the left side of my face. "Then I'll take your shoulder."

I blinked. "You're not worried about slipping off?"

She shook her head. "Nah." She raised a foot to reveal a heel and, with a shake, a dagger dabbed outward. "See? Remember these?"

"Unfortunately," I replied. "In fact, I was going to ask you more about those fucking things. Like, what's the deal with them? Does every Laleen guard walk around with a dagger in their shoes?"

Astria squeezed her right eye tightly. "You kidding? That would be beyond awkward. Their boots would always need to be at an incline to accommodate them. Most troops have standard gear."

Now I squeezed my eye closed. "So why the fuck do you and that other dickhead have them?"

"My pair were stolen from him, actually." Astria lowered her boot onto my tail with the dagger, thankfully, retracted. "He was a nut trying to craft every possible way to take down monsters and beasts alike. He was pretty weak with magic, so in case the dragon ever took flight, he needed a way to both climb and keep aboard."

I shook my head with a sigh. "Y'know, I gave hunters and adventures shit all the time for buying fake, enchanted weapons, or steel sharpened enough to cut through scales. But then your bastard buddy actually invented something that could."

Astria shrugged. "His madness led him well sometimes, I guess."

"But seriously," —I winced— "daggers at the bottom of your boots? How does that work?"

"Magical assistance," Astria answered simply. "Even those with only an inkling of magic can operate them. You use magical force to work the mechanism inside the boot itself. That stabs the dagger or latch downward. Once fully extended, it hooks to whatever it's inside, until you retract it."

"With magic?"

"With magic."

I sighed and shook my head. "It's always magic when it comes to covering bullshit."

Astria pushed her lips to the side, clasping her hands behind her back, and swinging back and forth like she was nothing more than a dainty girl. "So... I take it you don't like my new boots?"

"They make your toes look ugly," I sarcastically replied. "The first moment we can, we're either finding or buying something better on the Mainland." I glanced back at what little remained of my hoard. "Speaking of which, you grabbed enough gold to cover everything, right?"

"Yup!" Astria patted the few pouches tied to her waist, with a brown cloak covering the bulk of her frame. "Enough to cover us well for the initial part of our trip. Though it might be hard checking you into an inn." She twisted in place, tapping a finger on her chin. "I wonder if they'll charge a pet fee for you."

"You're the smaller one," I said. "If anyone were to be a pet in this: it would be you."

"Mmhmm." Astria looked out the top-right corner of her eyes. "Elephants are bigger than their owners, but they're still classified as a pet. Plus, we're going to human-owned places, so I get the special treatment right from the start."

"You keep that up," I followed through on our game, "and I'll bring you as a pet to the dragon lands."

"Careful about that." Astria faced me fully. "Care for me too much, and you might have to stomp me."

"Wow." My eyelids bunched upward. "Taking it that far, are ya?"

Astria shrugged. "Sometimes, a girl has to go a little dark to win."

"Victory at any costs, eh? Good thing you're on my side."

"For now."

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I'll gladly fight to the death for your sake," she answered while motioning for my tail to come closer, and I fulfilled her request, bringing the spade to my shoulder. "But when it comes to these little games of ours, I'm not going to let you win."

I chuckled and lowered the platform, feeling Astria jump onto my shoulder, landing with a couple of steps onboard. She found a good posting close to my neck, shielded from above by my claw. Turning away from the cave, I began my slow walk outward, slinking more than I usually did, feeling like I'd become an amusement ride.

I stepped out of the cave and into the night, holding the position for a moment, staring out over the vast spread of treetops. The middle forest composed more of the island, with beaches situated far to the east and west, the tiny kingdom of Laleen to my right.

Far in the distance loomed the other mountain, rising higher and consuming more width, with a cave far bigger than my own. I wondered, for a moment, if mountains and caves, and the comparison between the two, were the closest that dragons ever came to flexing whatever apartment they were able to score.

"So this is a farewell to home, huh?" the princess shouted from my neck. "I have to say that you get a better view than we humans do."

"True," I replied over the light winds, "but you humans also get more out of the view when you finally see it."

Astria had spoken of this place being her home. It must have been for her. Exploring that forest, hunting in the woods. The camps set with the family. The times they had on the beach. She made a life here. This place was her home—and those activities, as well as the people she shared it with, made it so.

But this island had only felt like two places to me.

Either my grave.

Or my training grounds.

And seeing as how it turned out to be the latter.

It felt like now I was heading out into the real world.

"Are you fully ready to leave?" I asked.

"Someday, I might be," the princess answered. "But I have to go and live out in the world before I can feel that way for sure."

I nodded, and together, we took flight into the night.