“You see Edith, I told you I could find him!” I heard my Cassia’s voice through the fog of sleep.

  “I didn’t doubt that ye could lass,” Edith responded. “I doubted that I’d not run into every wall down here. I couldn’t see a bloody thing, til we got here!”

  “Well you can see alright now, right?” Cassia prodded back. “I can see you poking at those crystals in the wall.”

  “Well- well I can see you over there staring at me when ye need to wake the beasty up!” Edith sounded only a little bit irritated. Awe featured more prominently in her tone.

  “And how am I to wake him, pray tell, my wise Queen? I’m liable to get dragged into his nap if I get too close. Just look at what happened to Visk!”

  “Aye, I was a little worried we’d need to dig another hole, when they both went missing for so long. It’s a wee bit adorable, actually.”

  What had happened to Visk? Dragging myself up from the depths of sleep was proving to be difficult. I could hear my companions close by, but my eyelids were weighed down. My whole body felt like it had been draped in a lead blanket. As I concentrated, I could vaguely make out a lump that was tucked under my wing. My tail was wrapped around it.

  That was probably Visk, but I remembered them sitting nearby counting coins when I fell asleep. Further examination of my body revealed that I’d grown again. I was just a bit bigger than Bronston now. The most notable change was internal. I was certain that if I tried, speaking would come much easier.

  I also became increasingly certain that my slumber was no accident. My instincts had been quiet for a while lately. Now that I had finally chosen a spot for a den and settled down, the unspoken voice in my gut had a lot of opinions to express. Prime amongst them was that I needed to go back to sleep.

  A recollection crossed my mind of the sudden bouts of exhaustion I’d experienced riding the wagon. They had come each time I’d gorged myself on food. Perhaps settling into a den was another trigger for my development. The small pile of treasure Visk had assembled for me might also have played a role. I’d not even known how badly I wanted something like that until I’d seen the shining coins laid out in front of me.

  “Play parchment, stone, shears for it?” Cassia said in close proximity to me.

  As she got closer, I felt a sudden strong urge to add her to my new hoard. Tucking her in under my wing seemed like a great idea. All the better if I could lure in Edith. Then all the things precious to me would be kept safe while I slept.

  “Lass this is Serious,” Edith protested. “The bloody goblins aren’t going to wait forever. If we take too long they’ll come in after us.”

  That immediately got my attention. My eyes snapped open and a deep growl rolled out of my chest. It was followed by a puff of flame erupting out of my nostrils. I heard Visk squawk as they were suddenly upended from being tucked under my wing. Both of my wings had fanned out towards the cavern roof, buffeting everyone gathered with a gust of wind.

  I was ready to charge out of the cave and lay waste to anything that dared touch what was mine. Before I could get moving, Cassia jumped up from the floor and latched onto the horn nubs along my jaw. She used the handholds to pull herself up into my line of sight.

  “Sanguine!” she said loudly. “Calm down! It’s okay! I promise!” My amber eye focused on her, the pupil narrowing to a razor thin slit. She continued to hang onto me when I didn’t immediately respond.

  Going from nearly full asleep to furious in under a second was hard to calm down from. I tried to focus, but the pounding in my heart refused to calm down. One of my forelimbs came up and my claws tried to grab onto Cassia. Instead of letting herself be hoisted, she threw her weight upwards and managed to pull herself up behind my horns. Her legs locked around my neck and she held on tight to each horn with her hands.

  “Bloody hell!” She cried out testily. “I shouldn’t have mentioned the goblins! Sanguine! It’s FINE! No one is here to hurt us!” Despite my attempts to dislodge her from my head, she continued holding onto me until I’d finally calmed down.

  I panted hotly, my wings drooped by my side as Cassia slumped against my neck. Edith judged that she could safely approach and looked at the both of us with a squint.

  “If I try and wake ye up beasty, am I goin’ to need a bloody ten foot pole?” she asked me sternly. “If so, I’m goin to be rather cross. I like my dragon cuddling.”

  My head shook slowly, jostling Cassia a bit on top of it. She swatted the crest along my forehead.

  “Let me down, my grumpy dragon,” she scolded me softly. “We have guests that you should meet.”

  I carefully dipped my neck until Cassia was able to slip off of me on wobbly legs. She grabbed onto Edith’s shoulder to steady herself.

  “You okay over there Visk?” she called towards the elf. Somewhere between waking up and the struggle after, Visk had been tossed onto my new treasure hoard. When I looked over, they were climbing back off of it while carefully sweeping its contents back into the pile.

  “You can have all the dragon cuddles, Edith,” Visk said groggily. “I’ve had enough.”

  “And how exactly did that happen?” Edith asked sternly. “Ye were supposed to nip off to find a good spot for yon beasty’s loot and then be back. It’s been hours!”

  “Blame the harking dragon,” Visk muttered. “I showed him this spot and sat down to count coins. He told me he was having a quick nap and next thing I know I’m hauled in like a fish on a line!” Visk padded over to Edith as they talked, tugging at their attire to adjust its position.

  “Have something to tell us, Sanguine?” Edith asked me, narrowing her eyes. “Handed out another broach, have we?” Something in her tone suggested that I was in deep trouble, but that she’d let me dig myself deeper.

  “No, my Edith,” I grumbled. I started using my claws and my tongue to groom some of the new scales along my head and neck. “But my instincts demand I make a nest. I need to sleep. It will be… a long sleep. I do not know how long.”

  Even while we were having this conversation, the need to go back to sleep was hard to resist.

  “... Did ye learn how to speak properly when I wasn’t looking?” Edith asked with a puzzled tone.

  “Yes, while I was asleep,” I confirmed.

  “Well that’s good bloody timing,” Edith muttered to herself before looking back at me. “Sanguine, there’s a whole bushel of goblins waiting outside the cave. They want to talk to you.”

  I stared down at Edith for a solid minute before responding. Instinctual irritation from being woken up was still fresh in my mind. Incinerating a bunch of goblins sounded like a good way to burn that off, somewhat literally speaking. Ultimately, I decided to go speak to them and burn them alive if they did something stupid like attack me.

  Cassia hauled herself up onto my back behind my wings as I started walking towards the cave entrance. I was still feeling protective enough that I didn’t bother to protest.

  Late afternoon sunlight spilled in from the mouth of the cave as I approached it. Cassia had to lay down flat on my back to not bump into the ceiling near the entrance. Edith and Visk were following a short distance behind, trying to avoid being knocked over by my tail.

  I squinted before I exited the cave to let my eyes adjust to the afternoon sun. The gorge and bandit camp looked only a bit different than how I’d left it. Edith and Cassia had disassembled some of the remaining shelters. Some tools left lying around suggested they’d been in the middle of working when the goblins showed up.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  The ‘bushel’ of goblins numbered around forty in total. While I didn’t know much about goblin anatomy, I could make some guesses. If they were anything like humans, I would judge those gathered in front of me to be a collection of females, the elderly, and the very young.

  Only a couple of those gathered looked like warriors. They stood out from the others by their more scarred physiques and red markings that covered their bodies. I was pretty sure it was paint made from the natural pigments of the Redstone Hills.

  I also recognized ‘Sings-with-Sparrows’. She still smelled faintly like my Edith due to the waterskin she carried at her side. She was standing out in front of the others. As far as I could tell by a goblin’s expression, she was looking extremely nervous. That anxiety only ramped up as I loomed out of the cave entrance.

  A wave of gasps and chattering spread through the gaggle of goblins. One of the ‘warriors’ turned to look at Sparrows and barked at her in what I thought was goblin speech. The warrior was making large gestures with his arms, a spear in his hand, and spreading his hands in my direction. From the tone of his voice, he sounded angry.

  Cassia popped her head up from my back as she cleared the entrance to the cave. She waved over at the goblin girl with one hand.

  “Hey Sparrows! I got him to come talk to you!”

  Sparrows seemed to be regretting her life choices as she turned to see Cassia riding on my back. Another wave of consternation rippled through the gathering goblins. When I got within a dozen meters, they collectively began to back up. Cassia slid off of my back and walked closer. In the meantime, I sat back on my haunches to observe.

  “You told Edith you needed to talk to Sanguine urgently, right?” my Cassia asked sweetly as she leaned down to speak to Sparrows.

  The angry warrior started to say something loudly in goblin speech. Sparrows whipped around and caught him in the face with her fist. The warrior gave a screech as his nose was flattened and sprawled back into the dirt. Before he could rise and retaliate, the only other warrior in the group planted his own spear in the dirt next to ‘Angry-Gob’s’ head.

  Edith walked around me at that point and spoke to Sparrows in the strange bird-call voice that she’d used last time. Visk huddled against my leg, peaking out at our new ‘guests’. I curled my tail around Visk’s back protectively. It was the natural thing to do, but I’d need to examine that change when we had more time.

  The ‘bird talk’ went back and forth for a bit before Edith looked back at me.

  “So the sum of it is that Sparrows’s tribe is probably done for, Sanguine,” Edith said to me. “They were already a bit low on… hunters and warriors after the winter. Accidents happen, fights break out. That kind of thing. The young’ins were supposed to… learn to be hunters this spring, but then the bandits showed up.”

  “They lost a lot more people in the fire. The bandits killed their leader and the-” Edith spoke to Sparrows to clarify something. “-lets call them a shaman, along with more of the warriors. There was no one left after the fire who knew how to heal the injured or burn victims. Most of those have passed away, unfortunately.”

  “Then when they attacked our cart, you… killed most of the warriors that remained. Sparrows and the two over there are pretty much the only ones left. They might be able to scratch along for a little while, but by the time the next winter rolls around…” Edith rubbed the back of her neck.

  “They don’t really understand why you let Sparrows go. Even she is pretty confused about it, which is my fault… probably.” I tilted my head at Edith, trying to be patient and wait for her to finish speaking. It was a struggle to concentrate. I could already feel my den calling for me.

  “I suppose by goblin rules, if you defeat someone in battle and take their weapons, that makes them your… property?” Edith glanced over at Sparrows, who was fidgeting around nervously. “So you sending her back is a bit like saying… uh… that she’s such a bad fighter that you don’t want her. Or… that she’s… trash.” By the end of her explanation, Edith was staring at the ground. I was able to see her ears reddening.

  “That probably was confusing, but how did they end up here?” I asked testily. The goblin’s tale was a sad one, but frankly it sounded like a problem for them and not me. Edith hissed through her teeth, bringing her fingers to her broach and rubbing it gently.

  “I’m really trying my best here, beasty. There just ain’t a lotta ‘bird talk’ words for this king o’ thing,” she grumbled. I lowered my head down and nuzzled against her affectionately. She smiled softly and scritched my snout, which seemed to only confuse the goblins worse than before. Sparrows asked something in bird speech, which took Edith a few moments to respond to.

  “Rights so best as I can gather, Sparrows was supposed to be exiled,” Edith continued. “I told Sparrows that ye were gonnae make a nest here in the Hills. I meant that to warn ‘em off of bothering us again… but Sparrows seems to have taken it that you were claiming ALL of the Hills as yours…” Edith coughed, her blush deepening. “The goblins consider themselves part an’ parcel with the hills so…”

  “You told Sparrows I was declaring the entire Redstone Hills as Mine, and they interpreted that as me claiming their tribe?” I summarized.

  “Yeah that’s about the shape of it,” Edith confirmed for me.

  “Edith, I don’t want to ‘own’ a goblin tribe,” I said in a neutral tone. She rubbed at her eyes with her fingers.

  “Aye beasty, I know,” Edith said, sounding tired again. “But… Ugh.” Edith planted her face into the side of my neck. “Am I allowed to be selfish, Sanguine?”

  “You do not need to ask me, my Edith,” I rumbled back. “I’ve been waiting until… I could tell you properly, but I would do… almost anything you ask of me.”

  “All this suffering… Can’t we do something to help?” Edith asked me anyway. “They’re goblins, but they’re just People, Sanguine. Some of them made a mistake and attacked us, but I don’t think the rest of them deserve to die because of it.”

  I glanced at Cassia and Visk. They were still hovering nearby. A little finger wave from Cassia indicated I should focus on Edith.

  “How are we going to feed all of them, Edith?” I asked carefully. “I can hunt for myself, but… we’ve been putting that off… while we cleaned up the camp.” Cassia, Edith, and Visk had all been eating travel rations from our cart since we’d arrived.

  “Well the goblins do have -some- hunters left,” Edith replied while she indicated Sparrows, ‘Angry’, and the older wiser warrior. “And Cassia has been… I don’t know if ye’ve noticed beasty, but she’s a lot stronger and faster than she used to be. Not everyone can ride a dragon like a bucking stallion.” I rumbled in annoyance at being reminded of that.

  “Honestly, Sanguine, we might need the help. We’ve spent days here and all we’ve got done is digging graves and cleaning up a bit. Having extra hands may well make up for the extra mouths.”

  That was a convincing argument. Dragons were mighty and noble creatures, to be feared and admired. If we had a flaw, it was that we weren’t born with opposable thumbs.

  “What if I am asleep, and they hurt you?” I retorted.

  I knew it wasn’t much to go off of. The reality was that unless I planned to keep Edith tucked under my wing day and night, there would always be the possibility of something bad happening to her. My instincts complained that was exactly what I ought to do, but they wouldn’t hold weight under my Edith’s stern glare.

  “Then ye’ll make them regret it, for the rest of their probably short lives,” Edith said sweetly. She leaned down and pressed her lips to the scales of my cheeks. It made a warm feeling bloom inside of me. The urge to nest and sleep reared its head again.

  “... They can stay, but you are in charge of them,” I rumbled, finally relenting to my Edith’s wishes. I’d never have actually told her ‘no’ once she asked, but my pride wouldn’t let me go without a struggle. “If they wake me up without good reason, they will regret it.”

  I pulled back my head from Edith, who had a complex human expression on her face. It was a mixture of irritation at being given a new job and deep satisfaction from me honoring her desire to help. Visk poked their head into my plane of view.

  “Does, uh, that mean I’m good to say too, big guy?” They reminded me. I squinted down at them.

  “Get Edith and Cassia to agree,” I rumbled deeply, restating my promise to them. “You don’t get to slack off either. Help the goblins organize the camp.” I turned my head to Cassia. “You will help them hunt. If you face the slightest bit of danger, you will use our connection to summon me.”

  With as much dignity as I could manage, I pulled myself to my feet and started marching back towards my den. The urge to snatch all three of my companions up in my claws was difficult to resist. By the time I reached the cave entrance, sleep was clawing at my awareness.

  ? ? ?

  “... Okay, seriously Visk, what the hells happened in there?” Edith asked as soon as Sanguine was out of earshot. The elf had watched the dragon go until he was out of sight and was clearly considering following after him.

  “I found out…,” Visk said softly, hesitating to put words to the experience. “Avery really is a bastard.” Visk ran a hand self consciously along one of their ears.

  “He’d stolen a lot of… personal belongings from good people I knew. I thought he’d changed after we got off the mountain… but what I saw means he… probably was that way for a long time. He lied to me for… months. Maybe longer.”

  “I don’t know how he hid all of that from me. Maybe I was just blinded by what I thought he was.” Visk looked back to Edith. “You and Cassia have been good to me. Better than I deserve. Sanguine… he might be a dragon. He might have done some terrible things, but he’s… just being himself, I think.

  “He asked me if I was telling the truth, about turning over a new leaf. After… what I saw…” Visk reached for the golden locket, which Sanguine had returned to them. They traced their fingers across the dented surface. “I am. Maybe I don’t deserve to be forgiven, but if you two will have me, I will try my best to earn it.”

  Cassia had walked over to the pair as Visk spoke. When she finished, the young woman gave a soft smile. After a moment, Edith did as well.

  “Forgiveness isn’t earned like coin, Visk,” Edith said gently. “It’s given freely, when people are ready. But I think I understand what ye mean. For what it’s worth, I’m hopin’ ye can show us that ye are on a better path.”

  “That’s great and all,” Cassia said energetically. “But you were staring at Sanguine like he’s a dashing prince here to sweep you off your feet. If that’s what you intend, we’re going to need to sort some things out.”

  Visk suddenly wanted to crawl into a hole and die from embarrassment.