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The completed work! Lots of people seem to like having a fic all in one place rather than in parts, so here it is all together for you all! 😊

summary: when a dragon's life is threatened, he seeks protection from the wizard pendergast, a wizard well known for her work rescuing and rehabilitating magical creatures. he finds sanctuary, new friends, and a headcold.

14k words, Rated PG, CW: mild fantasy violence. Cold sneezes, Smoke sensitivity, Dragon!sneeze, Clumsy!sneeze, Wizard!sneeze, Magic!sneeze, Sneezing while hiding, Trying not to sneeze, Blessing sneezes, Light caretaking, Handkerchief use

pt i

pt ii

pt iii

pt iv

pt v

Completed Work

It was a peaceful summer's day in Sue Pendergast's little corner of Westerly, in her magic shop in her small town nestled comfortably in the Northeast of the continent. Outside, insects chirped and trilled, and a cool breeze blew through from the East, lifting some of the clinging heat that hummed about everything on clearish days like this one. The breeze ruffled at Sue's hair when it managed to slip through the open window, and she sighed in relief as she stood at her shop counter and sorted and organized some sprigs of lavender to candy and enchant for any children who might wander into her shop with their adventurously inclined family members. A nice treat, and it kept them quiet and contented, and not touching anything.

The humming calm of the early afternoon was interrupted when the door burst open, bells clattering and jingling with the speed of it, and a beautiful man flew in, in a panic, rushing directly for her. He grasped Sue by both shoulders.

“Are you the wizard Pendergast?” he asked hurriedly.

“Why yes, I—”

“Oh thank goodness,” said the man, letting out a breath of relief and then swinging around to place himself on the other side of her with regards to the door. “I've heard great things about you. Amazing things, incredible things. Like how you save poor beasties like me who are in danger. Please, you've got to help me,” he begged.

Sue looked around, alarmed and confused.

“Are you being pursued?” she said, trying to take in the situation unfolding before her while simultaneously trying to puzzle out what manner of self-proclaimed ‘beastie’ this frightened stranger was. It would’ve had to have been one with shape changing abilities, to take the appearance and form of a human, and a powerful one to hold it so well under stress...

“Yes! Yes, they're pursuing me, they're—” the man paused here as if halted, stared into the middle distance, and thought. “Well, it will probably take them some time to catch up over the ocean. Unless they're real good swimmers. Or friends with a whole lot of fish.”

Snapping out of his realization, he turned his attention back to Sue, slightly less panicked but with no less an air of frenzy about him.

“I flew straight here, didn't want to waste any time to let them hunt me, and slay me, and roast me over a spit—Is that what adventurers do with their kills? Oh god, I don't even know,” he blurted, his explanation turned panicked ramble midway through. One hand came to rake through his straight, shoulder length black hair, fingers grasping at and through the streak of white that framed the left side of his face as he panted, wide-eyed, horrified and overwhelmed.

“Easy now,” Sue said, placing a hand steadyingly on this strange, panicked individual's shoulder. “No one's going to hurt you in here. I won't have violence in my shop, it simply wouldn't do.”

The man nodded, taking a few deep breaths and trying to calm down, bracing his hands against his knees and trembling.

Sue cooed over him.

“You poor thing, you're shaking! It's alright...” she said, switching to rubbing his back in a reassuring manner.

“There now... You're alright!” she continued, “Why don't you take a nice deep breath and tell me all about it, and we'll just see what we can do. I'll close up the store for a while.”

She left his side, and went to the door, flipping the sign around and locking it as she continued to ponder over things. A beast that could take human form... and fly... There weren't many of those indeed. Especially not ones who could fly particularly long distances like that without rest...

Sue finished locking up and tilted her head to one side, considering the strange man who'd entered her shop. He was tall, taller than most, and all limbs. His hair was disheveled, likely from more of his frantic worrying at it. He was pale, with even paler splotches here and there, and lightish blue-green eyes. A few of his teeth were a bit more pointed and a bit larger than most people's, though it could have just been the poor thing was having a hard time holding onto them, distressed as he was.

“There now,” Sue said, replacing a large key onto her person. “All locked up and safe. Now, why don't we start fresh. I am the wizard Pendergast. What may I call you?”

“Raizenauld,” the man offered freely.“Or Rez, Rezzy, Zi, Zi-Zi, Zizzy, Raizen, Raiz... I'll answer to pretty much anything.”

Sue chuckled, amused by his candor and easiness.

“Very nice to meet you, Raizenauld. And you may call me Sue,” she said. Raizenauld offered her a feeble smile.

“Hi Sue,” he said, with a half-hearted attempt at a wave. She smiled back, warm and welcoming.

“Are you a dragon, Raizenauld?” she asked gently. Raizenauld nodded, fidgeting at one sleeve.

“I am,” he said, then gave a nervous chuckle as he continued, “I never used to be scared of telling anyone that. Most people are really nice about it! They just smile, and say ‘of course you are!’ like they've known all along, and then they never bother you about it, and it's really fine! But... Oh man... Now I don't know...”

Sue pressed her lips together, took a deep breath through her nose, and let it out with a gentle sigh. This poor beast. He really had no idea those people were just humoring him, did he?

“And there are some adventurers after you?” she prompted, trying to make sense of the full picture. Raizen nodded emphatically.

“They kept talking about how impressed the guild master would be once they—”

He cut himself off to shudder, curling a bit in on himself and grimacing.

“Once they brought him m-my head,” he all but whispered, fearfully.

Sue's brow furrowed, and she frowned deeply.

“Now that's very troubling indeed,” she mused aloud. “How far did you say you flew to get here?”

“All the way from Praglyn. I don't know, it took me three days... or was it four...” Raizenauld stopped to think again, seemingly lost his train of thought and then shook his head. “I don't know, I lost track of time. I didn't sleep.”

The poor thing hadn't even slept... Now, Sue knew that dragons, technically speaking, didn't strictly need sleep every night in order to function like humans did, but she knew too that sleeping regularly would still see one at his best.

“That is very far, indeed. I think you have some time to rest and catch your breath, if you'd like,” she offered. Raizenauld nodded, still sweating and breathing hard. He swallowed and blinked, taking another deep breath before finally seeming to stop and take in his surroundings.

“Thanks. This is a nice shop. Very cozy,” he said, looking around at the various magic items on display and the general decor. Sue smiled, proud of her little business.

“Thank you. I've had my own time adventuring, and it felt only right to supply others with magical means to have their own, and stay safe on them,” she explained, as Raizenauld fiddled with a turning display of magic gemstones, and peered through a display case of other enchanted odds and ends. He stopped still and stared at one such item while Sue carried on talking to him.

“Of course I do miss fieldwork sometimes... but at my age, you can't be off having that much excitement all the time. It's exhausting! I do take the odd case here or there, when I get bored, but—”

“Is that a flute?” Raizen blurted, cutting her off mid-sentence. Sue didn't mind, she was mostly just making conversation, anyway.

“Oh yes, an enchanted one,” she said, approaching the case and removing the instrument from its pillow, handing it to Raizenauld to look at.

“It's perfectly ordinary, except when you play the tune written on that card, there,” she explained, indicating a small cardstock tag dangling by a bit of thread from one end, “then it puts all who hear it to sleep, aside from the flute player themself, of course.”

Cares seemingly forgotten, Raizenauld smiled giddily at the object, turning it over in his hands, examining the little tag on the end, and chattering all the while.

“I love flutes. You can just pick them up and play. Other woodwinds, you have to wait and assemble them and soak the reeds—because a dry reed won't play very well, of course—but a flute! Pan flute, concert flute, even a piccolo... Pretty much all flutes, you can just play right away,” he said.

He kept going, seemingly without pausing for breath.

“Not to say there's anything wrong with the rest of your woodwind instruments, oh I love a clarinet or an oboe, you can't really imitate the sound—even if you're playing the same notes, the harmonics are going to be different, honestly even from one instrument of the same type to the next but especially between them,” he went on. Sue took the sentence break as an opportunity to speak up.

“You like woodwinds, then?” she asked. Raizenauld stopped examining the flute and held it to his chest, actually turning his attention to her.

“Oh yes. All instruments, really. I love music. I can't get enough of it,” he said, and his burning desire and passion for all things musical sparkled steadfast in his eyes. “May I have it? The flute?”

“For a price, yes of course. I run a shop, not a museum,” Sue said, chuckling. Raizenauld's eyes widened in excitement briefly before he hung his shoulders in regret.

“I didn't think to bring any kind of money. Oh, wait—!” he said, perking back up again, “Can you hold it for me? I can fly home– Then again those adventurers are still out there– This could help with that! Oh, but I'd need it with me in order to play that tune...”

Raizenauld stood, chewing on one of his own fingernails in thought, trying to puzzle out the conundrum. Sue took pity on him.

“I could loan it,” she said, “If you can give me something in return, for collateral.”

She looked him over, taking in his neat, white ruffled shirt and simple black trousers. He really didn't seem to have anything on him, and even if he did, besides...

“I don't suppose anything you're wearing is real... I couldn't have you give over your shoe without it disappearing the moment you go to fly home...” she said, thinking. Raizenauld shook his head pitifully.

“Hm... Welllll...” Sue said, considering. “I suppose I could make a trade... One enchanted item for, possibly, some spell components...”

Raizen shook his head again, apologetic.

“I don't have any spell components,” he said.

Sue smiled.

“Of course you do. Plenty of spells rely on various draconic elements. If it's not too personal, Raizenauld, what type elements would you have to offer?” she asked.

Raizenauld blinked, surprised.

“Electricity,” he said. “That almost feels too easy. I just have to shoot some lightning bolts and I get to keep this?”

Sue nodded, and grinned.

“Just so. Let me just get something to capture it in, and we'd best do this away from any magical items, I don't want any cross-reactivity,” she said. Raizen, who was already halfway to complying, let out a deep breath and shut his mouth.

“Right! That makes sense. Erm. Where are you going?” he asked, watching Sue walk through a door at the back of the shop. She paused, beckoning him to follow her.

“We are going to a little passageway that you're to tell absolutely no one about, just behind my shop here,” she explained.

Raizenauld followed her through a crowded store room, where she paused to collect a few particular bottles and their stoppers, gathering them into one of the large sleeves of her robe for easy access. She then led him through another back door, which opened onto a stairway that descended down and down into a long, bare, clean stone hallway. More of a tunnel, really, the floor and walls were a smooth expanse of stone, but the ceiling was curved, rough, and unfinished, as if burrowed out by a large worm.

“Where does this place lead?” asked Raizenauld warily, looking about the imposing interior. Sue smirked.

“I can't give everything away, can I?” she answered him. Clearing her throat, she took one bottle from her sleeve and held it out in Raizenauld's direction, so that the mouth of the bottle was pointed towards his own.

“How's your aim?” she asked him. He redirected his attention to her.

“My? Oh, it's fine. Has to be for playing instruments. But oh, do you have to hold it or can I? It's harder to judge distances when I'm not touching anything,” he said, fidgeting nervously.

Sue considered this question with a frown.

“Well, I need to be holding the bottle, it takes a bit of magic to capture lightning you know...” she said, working over the situation in her mind to try and find a good solution.

“You can hold my wrist, if that would help?” she offered.

“Okay,” said Raizenauld, nervously and awkwardly approaching the bottle, and holding it in place by placing one hand over Sue's wrist, and one a little bit farther up her arm. He glanced to her for reassurance.

“Is that okay?” he asked. Sue nodded.

“That's just fine,” she said. “Now, I'm going to be focused on maintaining an enhancement on this bottle here, and all I need you to do is breathe some lightning into it once I say ‘go,’ alright?”

“Okay,” Raizen said, glancing nervously from Sue to the bottle and back again.

The operation went surprisingly smoothly, despite Raizen's nerves. Sue would prepare the bottle, and say ‘go,’ and Raizenauld would take a deep breath, tighten his grip on her wrist, and blow a neat, bright, sparklingly white lightning bolt into the bottle's mouth, whereupon Sue would pull away and stopper the thing before it could escape or fizzle out. All told, by the end, she had five bottles of dragon's lightning, and Raizenauld, made very happy, got to keep his new flute.

“I'd like to see them try to kill me now that I have this thing. Can't behead anything if you're asleep, can you! HA!” he exclaimed, triumphant.

“That's very good, dear. Now you just come back to me if you have any trouble with them again, alright?” Sue replied, patting Raizenauld's arm as she led him from the tunnel, back up into her shop.

She wasn't sure what Raizenauld meant to do with the adventurers after they were asleep, and she was half questioning whether he'd thought that far ahead, himself, but surely he would figure something out, wouldn't he? Dragons are usually quite an intelligent species, after all.

It was only a little over two weeks before she saw him again. This time on a blustery, overcast day, the prickling heat run off by an oncoming storm.

Once again Raizenauld burst through her door, nearly tripping over himself in the process, winded and panting as he raced to her and all but collapsed in her arms.

“It didn't work,” he exclaimed, hanging from her and panting, shaking, near tears. “And I think they've figured out ocean travel. They could be here any minute.”

Sue glanced up, alarmed, and scanned through the windows and doors as she held him close and kept him standing. Nothing so far...

“What do you mean, it didn't work? The enchantment was faulty?” she asked, dismayed. She'd feel just terrible if her work had failed someone.

Raizenauld shook his head, still clinging to her and trembling.

“No, the enchantment was wonderful! Is wonderful. It's still functional...I think,” Raizenauld said, “It put them to sleep straight away! But they came back with ear plugs, and it- it– h'ohh no...”

Raiz gasped and stepped back, clumsily shoving off of Sue, nearly tripping over his own ankles.

“What's wrong? Have you heard them approach?” Sue asked, checking the windows again and seeing no one still, as Raizenauld pivoted to try and regain his balance, stumbled, and over-corrected, teetering on his heels. He shook his head, wiggling his nose furiously and pulling all kinds of faces as he responded, or tried to.

“No, I haaa... hh! ha– aave to— sn'hH! hh-Hh!! heihh!! HATSCH'YUWhe!!”

The sneeze flew from him in a burst of electrical sparks, and unbalanced as he was, landed him right on the floor on his behind.

Sue blinked, startled.

“My goodness, bless you! Are you alright?” she said, reaching to help him up again. Raizen was too busy sniffling and rubbing furiously at the sides of his nose to accept.

“I'm fhiiii... –hihh! Fhhhiihhne... I juhh– uuhhst– hihh! snfh!! hh-hehh!! hatSCHhyuwh!! snrfkh!! ...... ‘tchSHYWh!! hohh... snrgkfl! whew... snfgh! ...I just have a cold. snfghk!”

Smoke puffed out from behind his hands and through the cracks between his fingers with each sneeze, and drifted lazily from his lips and nostrils now as he patted himself down to find his handkerchief. A simple one, white with a black musical staff and notes as a border. Sue kept a weather eye outside the shop as Raizenauld sat and blew his nose.

“Bless you,” she said again, frowning in sympathy. Getting a better look at him now, as she once again reached down, this time succeeding in helping him to his feet, the poor thing did look unwell. He was paler than the last time they'd met, save for the edges of his nostrils which had already been rubbed pink. Dark shadows hung under his eyes, which themselves were a bit reddened as if he'd been crying.

Raizenauld sniffled miserably.

“Thanks,” he said, collecting himself. He, like Sue, kept glancing out the windows, scanning to see if his pursuers were nearby.

“Rotten luck, getting a cold at a time like this,” Sue said. Raizenauld sniffled again and agreed, nodding his head.

“I've been so stressed, and I haven't really slept. It was... snffh! hheeh? ...snffkh! hhhff... it was bound to happen,” he replied, sniffling at the edges of another sneeze and losing it in the middle of his sentence. Sue rubbed at his arm sympathetically, trying to give some small comfort.

“It's all going to be okay. Nothing we can't figure out and take care of,” she assured him. Raizenauld sniffled again and nodded.

“Thank you, I— Oh no. That's them, they're here,” he said, eyes widening as he caught sight of the group of adventurers wandering the street outside. He turned his attention to Sue as he scrambled to put her between himself and the door. Sue in turn looked to where he directed, making note of the band of troublemakers wandering the streets of her little town.

“What do I do? What do I do?” Raizenauld rambled, starting to panic, and shake, that frenzied terror that Sue had already grown too familiar with entering his eyes.

Right. Time to take charge of the situation for this poor gentle beast. She turned and put a hand on his shoulder, looking him confidently in the eye.

“Get into my store room, close the door, and stay there. I'll take care of this,” she said, ushering poor Raizenauld along.

“Okay! Okay, I can do that. I can do that. Just, stay in the store room. Stay in the store room and keep the door shut, I can do that. Just stay in the store room,” he started babbling fearfully to himself.

“And stay quiet,” Sue added, seeing this. Raizen shut himself up mid-sentence and gave a sharp nod as Sue closed the door behind him, returning to her place at the counter and pretending at managing her ledger while she kept an eye on the door.

It wasn't long before the miscreants in question wandered in, four rough looking young men, the leader of whom couldn't have been older than twenty-five. He had short, dirty blond hair and mean eyes. He approached the counter and tapped on it to get Sue's attention when she didn't appear to notice them coming in. She glanced up at them.

“Yes, hello. And how may I help you boys today?” she said, politely.

The young man gave her a vague nod with his chin, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he talked.

“We're looking for someone. Maybe you've seen him,” he said. “Tall guy, real thin. He's got this streak of white in his hair, he's hard to miss. Shop owner down the way said he saw him come in this way.”

Sue tilted her head, her lips pressing into a line. She'd have to have a word with Mr. Preston regarding not chatting about the people he sees coming in and out of her shop, some of her clients are very private individuals.

“Hmm, I'm quite sure I don't know who you mean,” she said, lacing a bit of magic into her words as she continued on. “You're not going to find him here, so why don't you all go on your way and leave this fellow alone?”

One of the group, he looked to be the youngest of them, sighed impatiently and turned as if to go, but the others held him back, unconvinced.

“Are you sure you don't remember anyone of that description coming in here?” the leader said, sliding a few silver and a gold piece across the counter as if to entice her.

Sue glanced down at the coins in a flash of thinly veiled disgust, leaving them untouched. She glanced back up to them.

“I'm sure, you'll find there's no one of that description here, just me in my little old magic shop,” she said.

A breathy “hhuh!” sounded from her store room just then, and she did her best to cover the sound by clearing her throat loudly. It did not fool the keen ears of the adventuring troupe's leader, his eyes darting to the back of the shop. Sue interposed herself between them, blocking his line of sight to the store room door.

“And if there was, I'm sure you would find him under my protection,” she asserted, staring daggers into the adventurer's eyes.

“h’aAHGDZZZZZTs!!”

The most strangled, electrically buzzing sneeze sounded from her store room all in a rush, a bright white light flashing beneath the door followed by the clattering crashing sound of someone falling into a very full shelving unit.

The lead adventurer glanced Sue up and down, sizing her up, then attempted to push past her.

“The protection of a little old witch? I'll take my chances. What are you going to do, turn me into a frog?” he said with a sneer.

Sue's eyes closed, one of her brows giving an irritated twitch, and when she opened them again something violent and impatient flashed in them.

Raising one hand in a sweeping motion, she snapped her fingers and the atmosphere in the shop went cold and dark, the sound like a thunderclap, wind whipping through the storefront as a length of dazzling lightning materialized from thin air and snaked around all four party members. It tightened, sweeping the brazen young team leader from his feet and binding all four of them together at the center of the floor as it singed through their clothes. The adventurers squirmed and whimpered as the spell raised them into the air.

“The four of you have a lot of nerve, you know, hunting down peaceful creatures for your own material gain,” Sue said, starting in on them as she held them aloft. The same mortal fear she'd seen so recently and so often in Raizenauld now reflected in all of their eyes, their whimpering turning to begging.

“Please, please don't! We'll go, we'll go!” pled the youngest. Sue's eyes narrowed.

“Not yet, you won't,” she said. “You're going to stay right there, and you're going to listen.”

The young man sniffled and nodded, closing his eyes.

“I bet you boys think you're really tough going after a big magical creature don't you? Isn't that what you want? To go and appear big and strong in front of this guild leader of yours?” she said, staring them down and holding them aloft within the crackling, snapping lightning chains all the while.

“There is nothing more childish, hateful, and weak than hunting a peaceful magical creature. I know your type—prideful, cowardly, seeking out anything you think won't fight back to make yourselves feel powerful and good about yourselves,” she spat, “Pathetic. Of all the things you could be doing with your time, you choose wanton violence and destruction.”

Another strangled, electrically charged sneeze sounded riotously from the store room, and another, and then another still. A few legs of lightning sprayed off in that direction, missing Sue herself by inches. She stood unflinching, unwavering.

“Now. You boys are going to let this go. You're going to go home, and you're going to spend the rest of your lives doing something productive with yourselves. And if I hear that you've been hunting friendly dragons or any peaceable creature for sport or conquest ever again, there will be hell to pay. And I will know,” she threatened, tightening the bindings until they sparked against the young men's skin. They let out a chorus of yelps and agreements.

Sue stepped close, electricity arcing and sparking off her hair and robes as she drew them all towards her, getting close to the party leader's face.

“And that's little old wizard to you,” she spat.

With a flick of her wrist, the lightning crackled and faded, the lights coming back up in the room, leaving the adventuring party to drop to the floor of the shop in a heap. Upon regaining control of their own mobility, most of the troupe scrambled up and made for the door. Even the group's leader, despite giving Sue a petulant glare in his defeat, relented and made a retreat, exiting the shop with fists clenched and shaking.

Sue waited until the entire group was far out of sight, seemingly making for one of the town's taverns to lick their wounds and presumably reevaluate their life's choices, before speaking up.

“You can come out, now. They're gone,” she called sweetly to Raizenauld, still hiding in her shop's store room. Opening the door, she found him sat on the floor with his hands clasped tightly around his nose and mouth, his hair smoking and his back pressed against a shelving unit upon which several items were scattered and overturned. A few of them bore scorch marks.

Sue's eyes widened in surprise at the state of him, and Raizenauld sniffled, staring up at her pitifully, a hint of that fear lingering in his gaze.

“I'm sorry,” he said. “I trhhieehd to hold it ih- ihhn but– I c–Hh! ghHhk! hhHgh!! h'AHGDZZZZZTs-shiewh!!”

As he became overtaken by another sneeze, smothering it into the tight clench of his hands, electricity arced and cracked over his entire form, shocking him and making bits of his hair stand on end. A few more scorches burned into the shelf at his back.

“...I couldn't.” he finished, then sniffling and rubbing at his nose.

Sue tsk'd in sympathy and made to help the poor thing up, again, neverminding the shock she took taking his hand. Taking stock of the damages... Well, it was nothing that couldn't be replaced, and it was well worth the cost to keep this nice creature safe.

“Bless you. Now that's alright, you tried your best, and I know you didn't mean any harm,” she said, dusting him off and barely flinching when a few stray sparks of electricity continued to shock her fingertips in doing so. Raizen sniffled again, fishing his handkerchief back out and blowing his nose ferociously, then giving quite the shiver before blowing it again.

“Are they really gone for good?” he asked, still nervously peering out the windows as if they would return for him at any moment. Sue nodded reassuringly, putting a hand on his arm.

“They are, and they won't be bothering you again,” she said. “Or anybody else for that matter, I'm going to make sure of it. A wizard's very good at keeping tabs on people, you know. If I get wind of any nonsense they're going to regret it.”

Raizenauld grabbed her in a tight, grateful hug.

“Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can't thank you enough. You're just like people say,” he said, pressing his cheek against the top of her head.

The tight hug was interrupted by his sniffling sharply and taking a few unsteady steps back, wobbling as his nose performed acrobatics at the center of his face.

“Ss-hohhrry I uhh– hahh– hh! haAHh—! HAA'TSSHHHOOhie!!”

A spray of lightning bolts showered forth and crackled out in the air, and Raizenauld, overbalancing again as one knee came up with the force of it, once again sneezed himself to the floor. Sue began to wonder if this was a regular occurrence for him.

“Bless you,” she said, offering her hand down to him once more.

“Thank you,” he said, pulling himself up and swiping the back of a wrist at his nose.

Sue considered him again. Rhuemy-eyed, clammy, pale, and sniffling near constantly. He didn't look in any shape to be up and about, much less flying long distances over the sea.

“You are sick, aren't you?” she cooed quietly, frowning at him sympathetically. Raizenauld nodded, submitting to her fussing easily.

“I know you probably have a lovely collection to return to someplace, but could I convince you to stay for a while and take some tea first? A bit of rest would do you a lot of good before the long journey home...” she continued.

“Okay,” Raizen said, readily persuaded. Sue couldn't tell if he was just pliable with gratitude or if the poor beast was really feeling that poorly, but she was glad he decided to stay. After all this excitement now she really was very curious about him, and she really would have worried about him making it home safe all that way without a chance to regroup. There's nowhere to land and catch your breath out over the ocean, after all.

It wouldn't, or at least shouldn't, have been an issue for a dragon who was well, dragons being such powerful beasts after all, but for one who was sick and exhausted... It was no wonder Raizenauld was collapsing against her and panting when he arrived, the poor thing must've run himself ragged trying to escape those brutes. It's a wonder the poor thing had made it here at all under those conditions, and another trip back like this would have just been asking for trouble.

After giving the coins those ne'er do wells left on her countertop a quick check over for funny business—one can never be too careful—and finding them normal, Sue swept them into the shop's register, and then locked it up for the rest of the day.

“Come along, I think it's about time you had the chance to relax,” she then said, leading Raizenauld out of the shop and locking the door behind.

The wind was picking up outside, and the air was damp with a will to rain. Sue frowned up at the weather, considering.

Between the impending storm, and the very probable lingering presence of those ruffians here in town, she made her mind up fairly quickly. Shaking her head, she unlocked the door and led Raizenauld back inside.

“Did you forget something? I'm always doing that,” he said, amiably.

“No, I haven't,” she said, smirking as she relocked the door. Raizenauld nodded.

“Oh, okay. That's good,” he said. After pausing a moment, speaking up again as he followed her through the shop, he said, “Wait, if you didn't forget anything then why are we coming back inside?”

Sue grinned up at him then with a twinkle in her eye.

“Because you get to find out where that secret passage leads to, today,” she said, opening back up the door to her store room and leading Raizenauld through it, stepping around a few overturned items that had fallen to the floor during his brief yet eventful stay there.

The tunnel behind the shop was as it had been. Long, bare, and roughly hewn along the ceiling. Closing the door up into the shop shrouded the entirety of it in a velvety darkness, but as Sue raised and waved a hand, several torches flared to life along the walls, lighting the way a good several yards ahead of them.

The passageway stretched on and on, the torches lighting as the two of them neared and made their way through. They walked mostly in silence, aside from the gentle tap of their footsteps resonating through the hall, and the sound of Raizenauld's voice echoing off the walls whenever he sneezed, which was often, and frequent.

Seeing that he did often trip over himself and lose his balance when he felt a sneeze coming on, Sue took to steadying him by the arm whenever she heard him sniffling too intently or heard his breath beginning to catch.

The only conversation really made in this place was the exchange of bless yous and thank yous until they reached the end of the hall.

The tunnel came to an abrupt halt, blocked off by a wall of solid stone, most of which was covered by the large woven tapestry adorning it. There-depicted was a great big jackal, its teeth bared and fangsome, with great arcing wings sprouting from its back. Sue held an arm out, stopping Raizenauld from approaching any further, while she herself took a few steps forward.

He blinked around at his surroundings a little nervously.

“So is this just... a really long empty hallway? I don't mean to be rude, it's a very nice hallway, but I thought there would be a place to rest... Not that I can't rest here, no no! It just sounded like you were offering something... different, is all,” he rambled.

Sue shook her head, turning back to face him.

“We're only stopping here for a moment, you don't need to worry,” she said. “Just stay right there, alright?”

Raizen nodded, folding his hands politely in front of himself to wait.

Taking another step towards the tapestry, Sue waved one of her hands through the air, and a much larger, spectral facsimile of the same appeared in the space before her, glittering and cobalt blue. It moved with her own motions, reaching out and scritching at the jackal's image beneath the chin. The picture came to life, then, climbing up its tapestry until it was out of sight, the heavy cloth rolling up behind it to reveal the stone beneath, smooth and uniform like the rest, save for a large square etching right at the center.

Raizenauld tilted his head at the things Sue was doing, obviously confused and not following along. He stayed put, as he was bid, but spoke up at last.

“Wizard Pendergast?” he called, getting her attention as she stepped forward to place her hand at the center of the shape.

“Yes?” she said, glancing at him back over her shoulder.

“Um. I don't get it. What is all this?” he said, looking around at the cavernous hallway and the rolled up tapestry and the large mysterious square marking.

“You'll see soon enough,” she assured him, smiling and nodding at him. “Just give me one more moment to focus, alright dear?”

“If you say so,” he replied, looking nervously back the way they'd came.

Sue returned her focus to the stone before her with one hand outstretched, placing her palm flat against it, closing her eyes, and taking a deep breath. A light wind materialized around her, swirling as she focused her magic into the stone. The simple square etching it bore began to glow a bright, cherry red, the color slowly shifting, first closer to vermillion, now closer to orange.

“Wizard Pendergast?” came Raizenauld's voice again. The glow flickered before Sue caught it faltering, pouring more magic in to correct it. One brow furrowed in concentration. Raizenauld quickly kept talking.

“I know I'm supposed to be sngffh! snff! giving you a minute to focus, and I appreciate that, but I... ...snffh! I th-houghht I should tehh-hell you I'm uhh–! snfgk! aah- haah– ahhbouht to– hihh! hAHh—! hrRAHZZ'SHUuie!!”

Raizenauld once again, in trying to turn away, stumbled off-kilter and landed himself on his rear. Several bolts of lightning showered through the air and dissipated on welcoming stone. Sue dropped the spell she was casting in favor of waiting for the poor beast to stop. Raizen drew another deep breath.

“hHAATSCHJSHH!! aeeahh– hh'hh-heHh– haAHh—! h'ADZZSCHhiew!!! hahh... hEHHZZSHiew! snfk! ugh... Oh god it won't... why wh-hon't it– ih– ehAHh! HAZSCHYIEUWHhe!!”

Sue stood back as a small storm of sparks, lightning, and smoke swirled around him and flashed in bursts from his nose and mouth while Raizenauld sneezed himself dizzy, eventually lying back on the cold stone ground to catch his breath and rub at his nose when he was finally done. His first handkerchief was quite spent by now and he found himself partway through his spare, a cloth of the same design but featuring the addition of a peach colored border around the outer edge.

“Bless you! My goodness, you poor thing! Are you alright?” Sue said, standing over him. Raizenauld, a bit dazed, took a moment to answer.

“Oh yes, I'm fine. Just going to lie here a moment while the room stops spinning,” he said, not even removing his handkerchief from his nostrils. Sue tsk’d.

“It is a good thing you're not out over the ocean like this. You lie there, we're almost through,” she said, returning to her spellwork.

Raizenauld interrupted her by sneezing again three times before she finally gave up and went to crouch by him.

“Are you sure you're alright?” she asked, brushing back his hair from his face with one hand. Raizenauld's features relaxed and he smiled at the touch.

“I can't stop sneezing,” he said.

“Yes, I'd noticed,” Sue said, continuing to stroke his hair since he seemed to like it. “Are you too cold?”

He shook his head.

“No, not really,” Raizen said, “My nose just tickles and it keeps– snffh! keepsmakingme sneeze— yhh-! you should stahndbahhck—! hhHHHh!! hehHTSHHhue!! oh... at least that one wasn't so bad...”

A burst of electrical smoke surged forth around his handkerchief as Raizenauld gave another exhausted sneeze, the cloud dissipating against the tunnel's high ceiling with the rest of it.

“You poor thing...” Sue said, resuming petting at Raizenauld's head as he laid there sniffling.

There was no way she was getting this spell cast until he was finished.

“Would you like me to stay here next to you until it stops?” she offered. Raizenauld gave another sniffle.

“Alright. Might be a while, though,” he said.

“That's just fine,” Sue responded, settling down to sit by him and keep petting his hair.

True to his prediction, it took maybe half an hour for the sneezes to die down to a point that didn't leave Raizenauld sneezing every minute or so.

“Are you feeling a little better?” Sue asked, once five whole minutes had gone by in relative peace and quiet.

Raizenauld snuffled, wiggling his nose testingly.

“I think so,” he said. “But I'm tired. That was a lot.”

Sue nodded, and gave his head another pet before going to stand and lending him a hand as well.

“I know. Come on, let's get you up and someplace more comfortable. Take my hand,” she said, helping him to his feet. He swayed slightly, and she wrapped an arm around his waist. Raizenauld sniffled and leaned against her for support. The poor thing must have really been exhausted.

“It's okay, I've got you,” Sue said, leading him back towards the wall with the square marking on it. Finally she was properly able to cast her spell, laying her hand on the center of the stone and funneling magic into it, a light wind rushing around them both as the etchings lit up red, then gold, then bright blue, finally giving way with a loud CRACK! before the entire square crumbled to rubble, leaving an opening about the size of a large doorway.

“Come now, we have to step through quickly,” she said, beckoning Raizenauld forward with her arm still around him. He nodded, and followed along.

They found themselves, then, in a closet-sized stone chamber, where the only feature other than the hole they'd stepped through was a thick wooden door, with a keyhole and a brass knob. Shortly after stepping into the chamber, the tapestry unfolded back over the hole behind them with a sharp THWUMPFH, and the stone wall began clattering and crackling as it knit itself back together.

Raizenauld looked back at these workings with some alarm, sniffling and trembling, eyes wide as he addressed Sue.

“Wizard Pendergast—”

“Please, call me Sue,” she said, letting go of him to take a gold key with a red gem in the handle out from her sleeve and insert it into the lock by touch. Raizen nodded.

“Sue,” he said. “What is all this? Where are we?”

Sue smiled, and turned the key in the latch, taking Raizenauld by the hand and leading him through to the other side.

“Home security system,” she said lightly, smirking up at him. “And we're now in my cellar, or one of them. This is where I store dry goods, liquids are in the next room down.”

Raizenauld blinked around the room. It was a decent size, and true to Sue's word it seemed to be full of mostly root vegetables. He could easily see some onions and potatoes from where they stood, as well as some vegetables he just didn't recognize. The place was dry and dim and smelled mostly of dirt.

“This is your home?” he asked, touched to have been brought in by her. Sue nodded.

“Part of it. Come along now, it's a lot more comfortable on the higher floors,” she said, leading him through to another door. She hesitated before moving ahead, turning to consider her companion.

“Er, Raizenauld,” she started. He smiled at her amiably, despite the state of him.

“Yes,” he answered. Sue pursed her lips thoughtfully.

“The next couple of rooms... well they do have reactive substances within. If you have any sneezes left in you, you'd best get them out in here, if you can,” she said. Raizenauld tilted his head.

“What's that? Reactive... Reactive substances...” he said, repeating the words and squinting as if their structure would reveal something to him. It did not.

“Meaning, if they got hit with lightning they could be dangerous, or start a fire,” she explained. Raizenauld nodded.

“Ohh, yeah, better not have any of that flying around then,” he said, nodding in agreement until the rest of Sue's statements caught up with him, his eyes going wide in realization.

“Oh, me! I do that when I sneeze,” he said, putting two and two together at last. Sue nodded.

“Exactly, which is why if you feel you need to sneeze we really ought to stay in here for a moment until you don't feel that way anymore,” she said.

“Oh, okay that makes sense,” Raizen said, sniffling.

“Do you?” Sue asked. Raizenauld blinked back.

“Do I what?” he asked.

“Do you feel like you need to sneeze?” she clarified for him.

“Oh... I don't know, let me check... snfffh? ..... snfffffffhhh? hm... No,” Raizenauld said, taking a few deep, appraising sniffs to determine the quality of his sinuses.

Sue looked at him uncertainly.

“And you're sure about that...” she asked.

Raizen nodded, sniffling again and smiling at her good naturedly.

“I am. I'm good now,” he assured her. She nodded, and led ahead.

“Alright then. We should still try to make this quick,” she said as they made their way through a room filled with various kegs and barrels. “Regardless of if your nose has settled for now, you do still have a cold.”

Raizen nodded, giving a hefty sniffle.

“Yeah. I do, ” he agreed.

The next room was the apothecary, and it was much bigger than the other two, and it was longer and full of more interesting things. A large black cauldron dominated its main corner, which itself was recessed and circular. Bottles and jars of mysterious components lined tables and shelves, and the room grew narrower and more bare the farther it got down towards the door on the right.

They were about halfway through it when Raizenauld stopped, the suddenness of his halting catching Sue's attention. She turned to find him leaning heavily on his back foot and wobbling slightly, scrunching and wiggling his nose feverishly.

“Oh no, don't– Just– Hang on!” she said.

Thinking quickly, she spun the unsteady dragon around by the hips and gave him a rough shove into the corner of the room, just as the tips of his teeth began to show in a sneezy snarl and his breath caught in a heady gasp.

Raizen's hands, halfway to his face in what was sure to be an awful attempt to contain himself, instead flew out to catch himself against the edge of the cauldron as he stumbled and fell, letting out a massive—

“hAAHHTSCHYUUe!!”

—that sent lightning bolts skittering around and through the bowl of the cauldron itself. He sniffled, his shoulders shaking into another sneeze.

“heehTSCHHyiewh!! snffh! Whew... that was a close one. Good thing this pot was here,” he said, drooping over the side of the cauldron now that his frame wasn't rigid with ticklishness.

“I thought you said you didn't need to sneeze!” Sue said, heart still racing from such a close call.

Raizenauld sniffled.

“I didn't! ...well, until I did. Then I really had to... Sorry. It surprised me, too, if that's worth anything,” he said. He scrubbed a wrist under his nose and retrieved his handkerchief, leaning back against the cauldron to blow it again.

Sue sighed, and collected herself.

“That's alright. We managed to avoid any harm being done,” she said. “Do you think you can make it through the rest of the way without that nose going off again?”

Raizenauld nodded.

“I think so. I'll try for it anyways,” he said.

Lo and behold they actually made it through the entire room, the next room, and up the stairs out of the basement before Raizen had to sneeze again.

“h’AATSHYOOie!!”

A shower of sparks crackled and fizzled out in midair as Raizenauld swivelled and landed flat against a wall. He slowly slid to the floor to catch his breath.

“Bless you,” Sue said, closing up the door to the basement and looking down at him softly.

“Thank you,” he sighed into his handkerchief. Sue gave him a minute to recover, then helped him to his feet and led him down the hall. She began leading him up a grand staircase to the second floor, keeping a hand at his back all the while to keep him steady on his feet. The exhaustion seemed to be hitting him pretty fast.

“There now, we've finally made it in, properly. I'll get you settled into my day room, and I'll put up some tea. How does that sound?” she asked.

“ihh–hH! h’ATSHHYUUe!!”

Raizenauld opened his mouth to reply, but a sneeze came out instead, sneaking up on him and nearly taking both of them for a tumble in a shower of sparks, if not for Sue's readiness and strength in supporting him.

“Good catch... Thanks,” Raizenauld panted as he recovered yet again.

“I've got you,” Sue assured him, patting him on the back and getting him steady on his feet.

Sue's day room was quite sunny and airy, with many windows and an extremely high ceiling, and it was just off the stairs’ landing, to the right. Ushering Raizenauld along to it, she put her hands on her hips, considering the place.

“I'd like to offer you a chance to get more comfortable, but I'm not sure of your actual size... Can you tell if you would fit in here?” she asked.

The room wasn't enormous, but perhaps if she moved the coffee table to the side, and shoved the sofas against the walls... depending on how large Raizenauld was it might work...

Raizen looked around curiously, taking in the place, but shook his head, taking a seat and opting to remain human shaped.

“I'm alright. I don't like tight spaces,” he explained.

“Very well, then you just remain as you are. I'll be back in a moment with tea. Can I get you anything else?” she offered. Raizen smiled at her.

“No, you're already being very kind. Thank you,” he said.

As Sue went about her kitchen, she spent some time puzzling over the situation.

The poor beast in her sitting room almost definitely needed sleep, that much was true. He'd as much as admitted he was tired, and he'd been practically dropping with exhaustion by the time she got him sitting down. With the time of things he'd been having recently, Sue could hardly blame him. Being chased by a marauding band of murderous adventurers was bound to cause an adrenaline crash, and flying the span of the ocean three times all told can't have been easy. And the poor dear had a cold on top of it all. That sneezing fit earlier had seemed particularly punishing, too...

But he wouldn't be able to get any sleep if he didn't feel safe to transform. Even some of the oldest and most powerful dragons aren't able to hold their shape if they're truly sleeping, and Sue wasn't quite sure she had any space large enough to house a dragon who doesn't like to be enclosed...

As she pondered over this, making tea, she heard the poor thing sneezing again. At least he wouldn't need to worry about toppling over now that he was sitting down.

Sue was just about ready to bring everything back into the day room when a familiar, friendly voice popped into her head.

‘Hello, Sue, good evening,’ came the voice. ‘Are you free? I was just thinking of popping around to show you what I've been working on lately for the shop. I think you're going to like it.’

Sue's features softened. There's always something so comforting about hearing from your best friend. Smiling, she set down the tea tray on the kitchen counter so that she could respond, taking hold of the little green stone that hung from a thin chain on her neck and running her thumb over it.

‘I have a guest over right now, but I'm sure it would be fine. Just let me tell him you'll be joining us,’ she thought. ‘Actually, it might be for the best you do come, he may be a bit in need of a way home.’

‘Oh, really? Well that does work out well, then. Is he a friend of yours?’ came the reply.

‘In a sense. I'll explain all once you've been properly introduced,’ she thought back.

Taking back up the tea tray, Sue joined Raizenauld again in the sitting room, passing him a teacup and filling it for him.

“I hope you like earl grey. I always find it useful in chasing off a cold,” she said, before pouring herself a cup and having a seat.

Raizen sipped at his tea, sighing at its warmth and sniffling as the steam made his nose run.

“I don't know him. This is very nice though, thank you for the tea. And for having me over, your house is really nice,” he said.

“You don't...? Oh, no you misunderstand. Earl grey is what the tea is called. I'm not sure why, really, I never thought of it. Perhaps someone named Earl Grey discovered it. It's just the flavor of it, is all,” Sue explained.

“Oh, I see,” Raizen said, sipping his tea again quietly.

“Now, I hope you won't mind but I've just heard from a dear friend of mine who'd like to stop by and show me something he's been working on. Would you be alright with that?” she asked, “I know you aren't feeling well, and you've just been through quite the ordeal.”

Raizenauld looked up from his tea and tilted his head in thought.

“Is he nice?” he asked, giving a sniffle.

Sue's face lit up with a warm smile.

“He is, Eduin's the nicest person I know. And he's very accepting of others, you wouldn't have anything to worry about with him where your nature is concerned,” she said.

Raizenauld tilted his head farther.

“My... nature? Oh, because I'm a dragon? Is that what you mean?” he asked. Sue gave him a nod.

“I know for a fact he's alright with dragons. One of my housemates—he must be off somewhere right now—but he's a dragon as well and they've only ever gotten along nicely,” she explained.

Raizenauld smiled, relaxing back a bit in his seat with his tea.

“That's nice. I think that should be fine, then. I won't mind,” he said. Sue smiled back, glad to have things coming together smoothly and pleased for the opportunity to see her friend.

“I'll just let him know, then,” she said, reaching for the telepathy stone around her neck.

Raizenauld sat straight as another realization hit him.

“Wait, you're housemates with a dragon?” he exclaimed nervously, “He won't mind me being here, will he? I don't want to encroach on his space. I should go. I should probably— eihh– oh no...”

Raizenauld cut himself off mid-panic, wiggling his nose and sniffling as another sneeze started coming on.

“heiHh! snffh! hhHHhhEIHHhhh—!! hAHHTSSHHYUE!!”

Sue collected his teacup at the last minute to help keep it from spilling, and now she laid a hand on Raizenauld's shoulder, a reassurance that he should stay right where he was, collapsed into her couch cushions and not off running himself ragged someplace else.

“It's alright. Montie isn't going to mind if I have a friend over. Even another dragon,” Sue said, adding this last as Raizenauld seemed to want to protest. “He understands that this is a space we share, and he's very friendly and curious besides that. If he gets back while you're still here I suspect I'll have to warn him off you with your cold.”

“Oh,” Raizenauld said, taking this in. “Is he very young?”

Sue passed Raizenauld back his tea and settled back down into her seat, now that he didn't seem on the verge of fleeing.

“No, I don't think so. He is very small and he doesn't talk, and I've never seen him take another shape, so I can't ask him his age, but he's also very bright and clever, and he seems to be fully grown,” she said. “At least in all the time I've known him he hasn't grown an inch. I'm given to understand that young dragons grow very quickly, so I don't believe him to be a youth. I think he's just very quiet.”

Raizenauld nodded and sipped his tea, once again relaxing a little.

“Some dragons are like that,” he said. Another thought struck him and he tilted his head at her then, considering her. “Are you... his? Does he keep you?” he asked.

Sue laughed, the sound like an old crow who'd just played a joke on someone.

“No, no. We're friends, companions that's all. Montie doesn't keep humans, no. We just share a space,” she said.

Raizenauld smiled and nodded his understanding, sipping some more of his tea. He looked around at the sitting room, then, searching it, peering curiously at everything in a new light.

“Does he keep a collection?” he asked, sniffling.

Sue nodded.

“He does, yes, down next to his den. You don't need to worry about disturbing it here,” she said.

Raizenauld let his breath out in a sigh. He nodded and settled back into the couch more comfortably again. Sue patted him on the knee.

“You're safe here, I promise you,” she said. “You can relax. Now, I'm just going to let my friend know it's alright to come over, this will only take a moment.”

Once again she took up her necklace, running her thumb over the stone pendant.

‘Alright, now you're free to visit. I've let my guest know you'll be over. We're in the sitting room, but perhaps it would be best if you arrived into the entryway... He's been through quite a lot and he's a bit jumpy from it I think,’ she thought.

‘I might be a moment,’ came the response, a few moments later. ‘The last person into my shop was ... ... ... Pardon me. They ... ... They were wearing this strong perfume, and it–oh again ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... I'm going to need a minute.’

Sue sighed, still smiling fondly. That was her Eduin. Always something with that man.

‘Take your time, dear. We're just having some tea, there's no rush,’ she responded.

Dropping the stone, aloud she said, “I'm afraid he's been held up, but he'll be joining us for tea in a little while.”

Raizenauld was looking at her curiously, or more accurately he was looking at her pendant.

“Does your friend live in that rock?” he said, and then, “He must be small if he does.”

Sue couldn't help but chuckle at the notion.

“You have the most creative ideas. No, dear, this is a telepathy stone,” she explained. “Basically, it lets me communicate with him no matter where he is, using our minds. It's very convenient for someone who travels as much as he does. I enchanted the set, myself, a very long time ago.”

“Oh, that must be nice,” Raizen responded. Sue nodded her agreement.

“Very nice, indeed. More tea?” she offered, seeing Raizenauld's cup nearly empty.

He smiled back at her, obviously pleased by the attentiveness and care.

“Yes, please,” he said, holding his cup out for her to refill.

With the opportunity at last for Raizen to rest someplace comfortable, and without sneezing every minute or so, Sue had the chance to get to know him a little better.

Ordinarily, he taught choir, band, and orchestra at a university near his home in Praglyn, and when not in this role he mostly acted as a conductor for the local heritage theater. Raizenauld, as it turned out, was actually quite skilled and talented when it came to matters of music and instruments, and had quite the collection of his own instruments in his home on the large hill that overlooked the city.

“I love it up there,” he said. “You can— hh- hhuh! hATSSCHhue!! snf! ‘Scuse me. You can play anything to your heart's content and the neighbors never come knocking. Mostly because there aren't any neighbors. Or at least no one close enough to come and knock.”

“Bless you,” Sue said. “So is that what you keep, then? Musical instruments?”

Raizen tilted his head thoughtfully.

“Partly. I mean I definitely do, but they're only part of my collection,” he said. “I keep music, really. Musical instruments, yes, but also musical experiences. I just love going to concerts, snffh! ballets, musical theatre, oh and pubs have some wonderful musical guests at times too! Oh and records, I love records, and record players, phonographs—Anything that makes music really, I just can't get enough of it.”

Even sniffling and exhausted, his eyes lit up talking about the subject. It was clear that music was this dragon's lifeblood. It made sense, then, why he'd been so drawn to the enchanted flute she'd sold him, even in the middle of what must have been a very frightening situation for him.

“What a wonderful thing to collect,” Sue said, offering him a warm smile.

“It really is wonderful,” Raizen said, practically aglow thinking of his hoard. “I'm usually humming something, too, but with how full my sinuses are it just wouldn't sound right. Notes get all nasally when I have a cold, it's terrible.”

Sue was distracted from his last few sentences by Ed's voice floating back into her head.

‘That's better. Ready for me to come by?’

She smiled and raised a finger to Raizenauld asking him to pause, then picking back up the stone around her neck.

‘Yes, dear, come on over. I'll—

“hAAHHTSCHHYUe!!”

‘—meet you by the door,’ she thought back.

“Bless you, dear,” she then offered aloud to Raizenauld as,

‘Oh dear, is he quite well himself?’ floated into her mind, Raizenauld's sneeze having interrupted her thoughts sufficiently enough to have come through over the stone.

‘The poor thing's picked up a bit of a stress cold, but everything's been taken care of now so it should clear up well enough soon. I'll fill you in on everything when you arrive,’ she replied.

Then, turning back to Raizen, who was truly eking the last scraps of usability out of his handkerchief, “I'll just be back in a moment, I'm going to meet my friend at the door. Do you need anything?”

Raizen shook his head.

“Alright, then I'll be right back,” she reaffirmed, making her way from the room.

It was good to see Eduin again. Of course he'd arrived before she’d even gotten downstairs, such was the nature of his magic, but he of course had waited for her in the agreed upon spot. She threw her arms around him upon reaching him.

“How have you been? It's been too long, you really must come by more often!” she said, hugging him close.

Ed chuckled, patting her back and giving her a squeeze in return.

“Truly, I should. I've just been so busy as late,” he said. “But what of this guest of yours? I'm terribly curious.”

Sue nodded, and let him go.

“Yes, I suppose I'd better tell you all about it,” she said then. They stood there in the entryway while she filled him in.

“Now I can't tell you everything, some of it is at his discretion to divulge, but what I can tell you is in recent weeks I've met a lovely individual named Raizenauld. He came to me for help, having heard of me by reputation, when a troop of would-be poachers wanted after him for their adventuring guild. I took care of them, naturally,” she explained.

Ed's brow furrowed as he took in rather a lot of details at once.

“Poachers? So he's not human, then?” he asked. Sue nodded.

“Correct,” she said.

“And you can't tell me what he is...” Ed went on, to another nod, “But you can tell me that he's... something?”

“Exactly. Really, it wouldn't be my business to tell you that either, but you were bound to find out soon enough anyway and I thought I'd save you the bother,” she explained.

Ed nodded thoughtfully, sure he'd find out what Sue meant momentarily.

“And these poachers, are they all in one piece?” he teased.

“They're lucky they are,” she said, “if they were any older I wouldn't have gone so easy on them, but they were easy enough to scare off and with any luck they'll rethink their choice of career path.”

Ed raised a single brow.

“I don't doubt you're going to see to that,” he said. Sue nodded.

“You know me well,” she said. “But let's not linger in the hall. There's tea upstairs, and Raizenauld's waiting for me to return. I've already told him you'll be joining us.”

“You know I'll never say no to tea, anyway,” Ed replied, following Sue up to the second floor.

As they reached the day room, before Sue could so much as introduce anyone, Raizenauld sneezed again, sending electrical sparks and smoke flying.

“h’AESHHYOOie!!”

‘Oh, I see what you mean,’ Ed thought, fingering the matching stone he held in his pocket at all times.

“Bless you,” Sue said, aloud. “Raizenauld, I'd like you to meet my dearest friend, Eduin Ambrose, or you may have heard of him as the wizard Ambrose. Ed, this is Raizenauld, that new friend I was just telling you about.”

“Bless you, and a pleasure to meet you,” Ed said, giving Raizenauld a friendly smile. “I'd offer to shake your hand, but Sue mentioned you might have a bit of a cold at the moment. Terribly sorry to hear that, I do hope you're feeling well again soon.”

Raizen smiled at Ed as he took a seat.

“Thanks. Sorry about the sparks and stuff, that just happens when I sneeze,” he said.

“Sometimes it's lightning bolts, as well, but Raizen here is most dedicated to facing away, you shouldn't need to worry,” Sue said, filling Ed in on the rest.

“Duly noted,” Ed replied with a nod as he took a seat beside her. She poured him some tea, which he took with thanks, and then she refilled Raizenauld's cup as well which was nearly empty once more, before settling back in and turning her attention to Ed.

“So Ed, my dear, what is it you'd wanted to show me? You said you were working on something for your shop?” she asked.

Ed finished his sip of tea and placed the cup back down on the coffee table, shifting to face her.

“Oh, yes. Here,” he said, taking a small metal contraption out from a pocket in his coat.It was a small box, easily held in the palm of the hand, in beautiful brushed bronze and copper, atop which sat a butterfly so delicately crafted it looked as if it might truly take to life and fly away.

Sue gasped in delight, one hand going to her heart as she looked between the little item and her best friend.

“Oh Ed, it's gorgeous!” she exclaimed. He gave a very proud smile indeed.

“Just wait,” he said, and he twisted a small windup key at the box's side.

The box gave a couple of clinks as it was wound just a few times, which immediately got Raizenauld's attention. When the key was released, the butterfly atop it began to lightly flutter and flap its wings as if it was enjoying itself in a nice sunny spot, and a beautiful little tune began to chime from the box itself.

“Vivaldi's Spring?” Raizen said, sitting forward and peering at the little music box curiously as it played.

“That's right. Do you like the piece?” Ed asked.

“Oh, there isn't a piece of music I don't love,” Raizenauld responded. He nodded along thoughtfully to the sound as the box continued to play.

“It's on... gold...? No... brass. Oh, marvelous choice, brass sounds so nice in these. And the keys are set up so well, you get that lovely echoing quality with no buzzing or squeaking. And the tempo is consistent, too! That's rare in a music box,” he said, absolutely grinning at the quality of the thing. “You do excellent work!”

Ed was quite taken aback by the depth and volume of this Raizenauld's praise. He spluttered for a moment before finding his words.

“Why thank you!” he said at last. “You like music boxes, then? Do you enjoy other mechanical contraptions as well?”

“I like music,” Raizenauld clarified simply.

“Fair enough!” Ed said, still glowing with pride and flushed with praise.

“Can we hear all of it?” Raizenauld asked, as the tinkling and chiming wound down and quieted.

Ed raised his eyebrows and blinked.

“I suppose I don't see why not,” he said, winding the key to completion before setting the box down on Sue's coffee table to let it flutter and play.

“There we are. Of course it does just play the same excerpt on loop, I haven't yet been able to work out how to play the entire piece, but I think I'm getting somewhere with an idea I've had involving a sheet of brass rather than a drum... I'll just have to figure out how to get it to reliably transfer from one spool to another when wound, without breaking or misaligning if it's only wound partway. An on-going project of mine,” he continued.

“I would be delighted to hear about it if you do work that out,” Raizenauld said, then paused to think a moment. “Although I'm not from around here. I bet you could send a message to the theater, though! I'm there almost every day.”

“Er, which theater?” Ed asked, a bit lost for context.

“Oh, the heritage theater, that's in Praglyn. That's where I live,” Raizenauld said, smiling.

Ed smiled back at him warmly.

“I'll be sure to get word to you there, then, if you're interested,” he said.

Raizenauld lit up at this.

“Really? You're not joking?” he asked. Ed nodded.

“Oh boy, thank you! This is very exciting,” Raizen said, looking between Eduin and Sue, who herself had been just taking this all in with delight. It's always so nice when people get along right from the start. Of course Eduin was rather easy to get along with regardless, but she'd hardly expected the two of them to hit it off so immediately and so well.

Her two guests sat and chattered away about music boxes, Raizenauld wanting to know how Eduin chose which piece to put to what design, and Ed more than happy to humor him in explaining his thought process, until eventually Raizenauld had to sneeze again.

Seeing him struggling to find one last usable patch of his handkerchief, Ed offered him one of his own spares; just a simple white thing with no obvious decoration on it.

“Oh. Thank you. You're really nice. You both are. Such nice people...” he said, trailing off to blow his nose viciously, having gone so long without adequate cloth to do so in. He sighed lengthily with relief once he was finished, “Oh. That is so much better!” —and settled back heavily against Sue's couch cushions.

Truly he looked nothing but ill and exhausted, albeit between the music and the various small comforts he was at least looking to be having a peaceful bit of rest at last. He sniffled sharply and sighed again, then gave a big yawn and repeated the process.

“Are you tired, dear? Do you think you'd like to get some rest?” Sue asked him.

Raizenauld didn't even raise his head from her couch cushions as he responded.

“I'd love to, but I can't hold my form while I'm asleep. I can just sit here. I may just rest my eyes for a time,” he said.

Sue tilted her head and looked him over, considering. That was definitely a dragon who was not long for wakefulness, no matter how he tried to convince himself he was only going to close his eyes, and she didn't think her couch would withstand suddenly having an indeterminately weighted dragon sprawled upon it when he went out. She cleared her throat lightly to get his attention again.

“I was thinking, Ed might be able to help you in getting home, if you'd like. He's quite a skilled translocationist,” she offered.

Raizenauld snuffled and sat up once more, a by-now familiar look of utter puzzlement on his face. He shook his head.

“I don't know what that is,” he admitted.

Ed offered him a warm smile.

“Basically, it means I'm very good at taking people from one place—” he said, disappearing from the space beside Sue in an instant, leaving behind nothing but a faint whoosh of air filling the space where he'd been. In the space of a blink, he materialized again, in a quickly dissipating cloud of mist on the opposite side of the room “—to another. Just so.”

Raizenauld looked back and forth in awe between the space Ed had been and the one he occupied now.

“How'd you do that?” he asked. Ed shrugged one shoulder as he walked back to the couch.

“Practice,” he said. “And study, but mostly practice. I could indeed take you home if you'd like.”

Raizenauld sniffled, yawned again, then shivered. He sniffled again, and nodded.

“If it's safe,” he said. Ed gave him a nod and a reassuring smile.

“Perfectly safe, I promise you,” he said. Raizen sniffled again and rubbed at his nose with his borrowed handkerchief.

“I really couldn't thank you enough, you're doing so much for me,” he said, looking between Ed and Sue.

“It's only my pleasure dear, it's been lovely meeting you! I will have to come by the theater and see one of your shows some time,” Sue said, patting Raizenauld on the arm and then turning to Ed. “Did you know he's a conductor at that heritage theater he mentioned? Isn't that wonderful?”

“Really? How impressive!” Ed exclaimed, “We shall indeed have to come and attend.”

Raizenauld grinned, practically glowing with pride.

“I'd be very excited to have you. We're doing a concert of various arias next month, you ought to come! It'll be real fun” he promised.

“It's a date. We'll be there,” Sue said, giving him a friendly squeeze on the shoulder.

Ed smiled, and gave a nod of agreement.

“Right, then. Shall we be off? Get you home and comfortable so you can take a nap or so?” he offered.

Raizenauld nodded, and sniffled.

“Thank you. How do I... Uh... What do you need me to... do....?” he asked, puzzled again. Ed came to sit beside him.

“Not a thing, but allow me to take your arm,” he said, linking elbows with him and placing a hand over his forearm for good measure. “Do you have everything you came with?”

Raizenauld nodded.

“I dihhdn’t ehh'hah.... snfghk!! hehhh... hh! hUHh— snffhk! snrgkkhh! ... ... ... hATSHOOh!! snfgh! hhfffff.... ‘Scuse me. sng'tkh!! I meant to say I didn't bring anything with me. Snnfgh!” he managed, sneezing out a great cloud of electrical sparks and grey smoke midway through his response.

While none of the sparks managed to find purchase, neither on Ed nor any of the surrounding surfaces, Ed did get caught in some of the smoke before it dissipated, which was enough to cause trouble on its own.

He coughed, quickly disentangling himself from Raizenauld and taking a few steps away as it burned at his nose and the back of his throat.

“Kh'hhf–khf! A-apologies I'll kh'f! I'll be rihhght– hh! hahh—! HAATSHH—!”

With the forceful first half of a sneeze, he disappeared from the room, just as he'd done moments before, but unlike previously did not immediately reappear someplace else within it.

Raizenauld blinked after him, puzzled.

“Where did he go?” he asked.

“Hard to say, really,” Sue replied. “Poor dear is sensitive to smoke... He'll be back soon enough, it may just take him a little while before his nose settles down.”

Raizenauld tilted his head, looking back and forth between the space Ed had disappeared from and Sue herself, obviously still lost for context. Sue sighed, and decided to save Ed the embarrassment of making a full explanation when he got back.

“We wizards often experience an involuntary burst of familiar magic when we sneeze,” she said. “Since Eduin is so well versed in travel magics, he usually finds himself on rather an unplanned trip whenever his poor nose goes off.”

She intentionally left off the part where it often also lands him in different time periods, knowing well that Ed doesn't like others learning of his ability to time-travel.

Raizenauld nodded, finally following.

“Ah, I see,” he said. He watched the space that Ed had disappeared from, waiting for his return.

It wasn't more than three minutes before he did return, clearing his throat and flipping a pocket watch closed to place back on his person, a handkerchief still held in his off hand.

“Ah'hrem. Pardon me, I do apologize. Little quirk of mine,” he said, giving a light sniffle and swiping at his nose again before putting the handkerchief away too. Clearing his throat again, he stepped back over to Raizenauld and took his arm once more.

“Snfh! Shall we be off?” he asked. Raizenauld gave a nod and turned his attention back to Sue.

“I really can't thank you enough for everything. You've been so kind to me. It's a good thing that I'd heard about you, or I would've been toast!” he said. “Thank you. And I look forward to seeing you at our next concert! I think you're really gonna love it, we have some incredible performers attending.”

Sue smiled warmly.

“Any time, my dear, and yes I'll be sure to come. And you know just where to find me if you need anything else! It was very nice meeting you,” she said.

Raizenauld looked back to Eduin then.

“Okay, I'm ready now,” he said. Ed gave him a friendly smile and patted his arm.

“Alright. This may feel a bit strange, just hold onto my arm,” he said. “Here we go.”

And just like that the two of them vanished from the sitting room. There was a sensation somewhat like blinking and like missing a step coming down a staircase, and they arrived on the cobbled streets of Pragyln, just outside the heritage theater itself.

As poor as the weather was in Sue's neighborhood, it was only slightly better here. No active storm to speak of, but it was overcast and damp, the air so full of wet that when the wind blew, which it did often, it felt like a light rain.

Raizenauld shivered and sneezed immediately, and Ed, seeing it coming this time, shielded his own nose and mouth with a hand.

“h'hh-huhh!! HATZSCHHYUUIE!! snffh!”

There was no need, there was no smoke, just a spray of lightning bolts and a sneeze so powerful it almost toppled the poor man over. Ed steadied him by the arm.

“Bless you!” he said, frowning up at the weather. “Shall we get you someplace warm and dry? I don't like to think what this weather is going to do to that cold...”

Raizenauld nodded, already shuddering and gasping his way to another sneeze—

“hAEETSHHYOOh!!”

—sparking and crackling through the waterlogged air and sending him swinging from Ed's arm once more. He shivered again, and sniffled, his expression hazy and his nose wiggling ticklishly.

Ed nodded.

“Definitely someplace warm and dry,” he decided, as Raizenauld—

“heAHHTSHOOShj! hh! hATCHhjuh! hehh–! haATSSHHUUIE!! snfglh!”

—lost himself to a frantic bout of sneezing that had him smoking and sparking and sending lightning scattering over the streets.

Ed raised his own handkerchief to his face to avoid breathing it in, picked the nearest public building he knew he'd be permitted in at this hour, and translocated them inside a nice, warm, dry fast food establishment that perpetually smelled of ketchup and pickles.

There were a few gasps and murmurs as the two of them appeared from thin air, before everyone present decided they had better things to do than stand around and stare, and all got back to their own business.

Raizenauld gave another shiver and leaned heavily against Ed once they were inside, sniffling and catching his breath. He blew his nose again in the handkerchief Ed had lent him, just as Ed was putting his own away.

“Alright?” Ed asked. Raizenauld nodded.

“Thanks,” he said, giving a sniffle. “It's too wet out there.”

“Too wet indeed,” Ed agreed amiably. “Now, I can take you straight home if you like, or we can get you a bite to eat first while we're here, which do you prefer?”

Raizenauld sniffled and shivered again, looking around and considering his options. He shook his head.

“I eat here all the time. I think I'd like to go home. I'm tired,” he said. Ed gave a nod.

“Alright then. Can you tell me where you live? Or point me in the right direction?” he asked. Raizenauld laughed.

“Oh yeah, you don't know where my home is, do you? snffgh! Okay, let's see, so, from here...”

He led Ed over to a window which itself was spattered with raindrops on one side and fingerprints on the other.

“It's a little hard to see from here because of the roof, but if you look up that hill allll the way across town, just outside the city proper, right in the middle of all those trees, there's a little space, with a big big brown house with a lot of windows poking out. Well, the windows don't poke out, but the house does. Anyway, that's where I live,” he said.

Ducking and squinting through the glass, Ed was barely able to make out the blurry shape of some of the hillside, the rest disappearing above the restaurant's awning. He shook his head.

“You wait here just a moment, I think I need to step outside to get a better look,” he said. “Shan't be long.”

Raizenauld stepped aside to allow Ed room to leave, then tucked himself into a corner to wait for his return, looking around nervously as if he expected some ill-advised adventuring troupe with violent intentions to appear again at any moment.

Ed wasn't gone long. Ducking out of the establishment, he was easily able to make out the shape of a massive, forested hill in the distance, and in a space between the trees near the far left side, shrouded so heavily in mist it was nearly entirely hidden in this weather, looked to be a sprawling home in a contemporary design, round in places one wouldn't expect and with a large wall of windows at the front. Ed imagined they might provide a beautiful view of Praglyn below. He gave a nod. This must be the right home.

He returned to a skittish looking Raizenauld, whose expression brightened instantly upon spotting him coming in.

“Did you see it?” he asked. Ed gave a nod.

“Ready to go?” he asked in return, offering his arm. Raizenauld quickly took it.

“Yes, I'd like to go,” he said. Securing his hold, Ed patted Raizenauld on the hand.

“Right then. Off we go,” he said, and with the same unsteadying jolt, the two of them appeared just inside one of those windows Ed had spotted from the street. He had to steady Raizenauld, who stumbled from the trip alone even without having to sneeze upon landing.

Raizen blinked around them in surprise.

“Oh, we're inside,” he said. “Yes, I thought you might not like to bear the weather outdoors if you didn't have to,” Ed said, giving him a friendly smile. Looking around, he took in the space he'd landed them both in.

Despite clearly being a room in a house, the entire place reminded him somehow of a particularly comfortable stage. The warm browns and sweeping shapes maybe, or the lighting. There was, of course, also the matter of the enormous grand piano at one side of the room, and the various string instruments along the back wall, and the various others in cases at their feet.

“You have an impressive home,” he said.

The only seating arrangements he could espy were a few hard armless chairs, cluttered in the corner with a number of music stands, some of which still had music sheets or booklets open on them. He supposed this must be a music room of sorts.

Raizenauld looked from Eduin to his instruments, and then to the outdoors, before making up his mind.

“I'm okay with this,” he said, before actually turning his attention to Ed properly. “What did you say? I missed it.”

“Oh, just that your home is very impressive,” Ed said, smiling amiably. Raizenauld sniffled and grinned back, obviously proud of his home and his belongings.

“Thank you,” he beamed. “I'd offer to show you around, but I think it would be behh– hehh! whew ...better for both of our healths if I t-hheh–! hATSHYEOOie!! snff!! Oh... stars... whewie. If I took that nap soon snffh!”

“Bless you!” Ed exclaimed, dodging the spray of lightning bolts and steadying Raizenauld with a hand at his back to keep him from unbalancing himself. “Right, I'll leave you to your rest then. It's been absolutely lovely meeting you, and do feel better soon. I'll pop around to the theater if I do figure out that project I've been tinkering at.”

Raizenauld sniffled deeply and nodded.

“Thank you. It's been nice meeting you, too,” he said. “I'm going to go take a nap.”

“Very good, very good. Goodbye, then! See you around,” Ed said, translocating away in a rush of air.

“Bye,” Raizenauld said, to the space where he'd been. He stared blankly, zoning out for a moment, then sneezed violently, fell to his rear on the floor, and finally changed back into his true form to relax.

Raizenauld was middle-sized for a dragon. Only 30 feet long, and maybe 13 tons all told. His scales were mostly a gleaming, sparkling white, but patches here and there were a sharp, shiny black, as were his horns and the many ridges that ran from the top of his head down the length of his spine and tail.

He heaved a great sigh, finally comfortable for the first time all day, and then his great frame shuddered, his nostrils flaring as he breathed in, and in, and—

“HRAASSSHH-CHUUIE!!”

—released a lightning storm that briefly electrified the frames of his windows before dissipating into the ground.

Raizenauld snuffled, shivered, and slunk all 30 ft of himself around the corner, descending into his home's dragon den.

Every dragon's den was different, each chosen—or in some cases built—to suit the dragon's specific needs and preferences. Raizenauld's was cozy; deep, but open on one side so he would never feel closed in. All in all, it resembled the covered portion of an orchestra pit, not unlike the one he sometimes curled up and took a nap in at the heritage theater when no one was watching.

Similarly, giving a great stretch and shuddering with a chill, Raizenauld circled and curled up in his den now, determined to sleep off the rest of this miserable cold.

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