Chapter Text
Satya stayed on the grass for a few minutes after Angela left, but Angela had given her something quite interesting to consider and flying was far more conducive to thinking. She stood up from the grass, spread her wings, and prepared her updraft spell, creating and catching a light updraft in her wings. She allowed it to pull her into the sky effortlessly until she was soaring far above the castle. She began her usual routine, practicing complex maneuvers, spinning and tumbling through the sky before catching the wind again, and rising back into the sky periodically.
Humans feared dragons. Humans feared Satya. These two facts had, more or less, been constants for her entire life. With her decision to isolate herself from her own kind Satya had found a place for herself among humans but at the cost of living a double life. As a dragon she was a respected ruler and protector of all those who pledged their loyalty to herself and her city. As a human she had built relationships with a number of people throughout her life, seeking comfort and companionship. Between these two existences she was able to fill all her needs. Even so, these lives could be less than entirely fulfilling. The word, perhaps, was shallow.
The dragon didn’t have relationships in any real sense. Her place was always that of an outsider. She was respected, admired even, but there was always a barrier of fear and intimidation between her and those she worked with on behalf of the city. Ultimately she had her position only because humans regarded her kind as so dangerous and threatening that nothing could harm them under her protection. She was a respected ruler but not a respected leader. She had learned long ago that the humans responded far better to a largely hands off approach focusing on larger issues she found especially important. A push here, a suggestion there, perhaps investing some amount of her horde in some worthy project.
The human had relationships but deep relationships were challenging at the best of times. Being mysterious, beautiful, and eccentric could only get you so far. Eventually people start to wonder why they don’t know a single fact about your life. Eventually they won't let it go, and that was typically the point where Satya realized that she had allowed things to go on too long.
She had attempted to blend these lives together before. It never turned out well. When a human discovered you were a dragon it changed how they thought about you. They became afraid. Even Fareeha, Satya's literal knight in shining armor, had shown intimidation after she discovered Satya's true nature. Maybe it wasn't fair to expect anything else. She had clearly done her best to hide her discomfort. That didn't make it easier to see Fareeha recoil when Satya looked at her. Whatever happened between them from now on the nature of their relationship had changed and there would be no going back.
But Angela, despite the short time they had known each other, seemed to be genuinely comfortable with Satya's draconic nature, or at least comfortable enough to actually let her guard down. It was a novel experience, opening up the possibility of a friendship where Satya did not have to choose between the different aspects of her life. It was a possibility worth exploring.
After some time mulling over the developing situation she flew back down to her castle, landing and perching on the outer wall, looking over the castle grounds.
A garden. There were plenty of suitable spots Satya could set aside for Angela, but it wouldn't be long before winter rolled in and she wouldn't be able to grow anything. Maybe something could be done about that. There was a good spot right over near Angela's room...
“Satya!”
Satya snapped out of her pondering. She had barely heard it, but she could have sworn Angela had called for her.
<Angela, did you call?> Satya said, projecting her telepathy over the whole of the castle and straining to hear any response.
“I’m in my room, I need help!” Angela yelled.
<I'll be right there.> Satya said, jumping down from the wall and landing in front of the castle entrance and transformed into her half dragon form, wasting no time as she rushed to Angela's room. She slammed open the door, ready to tear apart whatever was threatening her Angela.
Angela was in the corner near her brewing station, sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall. Satya did a quick sweep of the room, found nothing obviously dangerous, and turned her attention back to Angela. She was holding her hands awkwardly away from her body, positioned to avoid touching anything. They were covered in blood.
Satya mind ground to a halt as she processed just how much blood there was. Her hands were not just covered in blood, they were dripping blood. It was running down Angela's arms, staining her clothes, and the floor under her was already wet with blood as well.
“You’re here.” Angela said, looking up at Satya with relief. There was some dried blood smeared across one side of her face. There was a trail partially washed away where tears have been running down her face.
“What happened?” Satya said, trying to figure out what she should do.
“I was brewing, the potion shattered the bottle and burned my hands. Don't touch it.” Angela said, gesturing with her head towards her brewing station. On closer inspection Satya saw a puddle of some unknown red tinged liquid on the floor with a broken glass bottle in the middle of the puddle.
“Is it just your hands? Did it get anywhere else?” Satya asked, taking a couple hesitant steps towards Angela.
“Just my hands.” Angela said. “But they are really bad and there is glass in my left hand.” Angela said, leaning back against the wall and grimacing through the pain.
“I need to stop the bleeding.” Satya said. “I'm going to get some bandages.”
“No, the bleeding is not as bad as it looks.” Angela said. “You need to clean my hands with neutralizing solution first.” Angela said. “In my medicine chest, it's a large bottle. You will need a lot.”
“I can do that.” Satya said. “I'll be back in a moment.”
Satya moved to the chest she had provided to Angela to store her various medicines. Angela had previously shown her the various medicines stored in a large collection of mismatched bottles Angela had accumulated over the years. After examining several of the larger bottles Satya found what she was looking for in what appeared to be a large wine bottle.
Neutralizing Solution
For use on magically tainted injuries
Dilute at 9:1 with cleansed water
Satua quickly found an even larger bottle labeled 'cleansed water’. She quickly conjured up a large bowl and mixed the diluted solution.
“What do I do with this?” She asked Angela, bringing the bowl over to Angela.
“Pour some over my hand, then gently clean it with a cloth, and pour more over it.” Angela said. “We will need to soak bandages in it later, so make sure to leave some.” Angela instructed.
Cleaning Angela's hands was a long, arduous process. She tried to hide it, but Satya could tell the solution was causing Angela pain every time it touched her injury, and scrubbing her hands was agonizing enough that she had started crying again before Satya had even finished her left hand.
Her left hand was a sickening sight. The potion seemed to have gotten over most of her hand, back and front, and the damage seemed quite severe. There were also several shards of glass embedded in her palm and fingers. Satya was no stranger to blood; she often did her own hunting and ate most of her hunted food raw. It could be a gruesome affair but the unnatural nature of this injury turned Satya's stomach.
Fortunately the damage to her right hand was much less serious. The potion had only gotten on her palm and the insides of her fingers and it did not seem to have caused major damage.
“Alright, now what?” Satya asked after she had finished with Angela's right hand.
“Pain medication. Um, type 2. It’s small.” Angela said. Satya was moving toward the chest before Angela had finished.
“You didn’t want that first?” Satya asked as she rummaged through the chest, looking for the correct bottle.
“Magic injuries can react poorly to magic medicine. It had to be neutralized first.” Angela said.
“Fair enough.” Satya said, finally locating the correct bottle. “There aren't any instructions on this one.” She said, looking closely at the label.
“Two caps full mixed with some water. I'll need to drink it.” Angela said. Satya quickly found a cup and measured out two caps of the medication, mixing it with some water.
“After the medicine takes effect I won't be able to think clearly. You need to wrap my hands in bandages that have been soaked in neutralizing solution. Heavily but loosely wrapped. That will keep the bleeding under control so I wont go into shock. Then you need to get a surgeon to remove the glass and properly handle the injury.”
“I don’t know a lot of doctors.” Satya admitted, kneeling down next to Angela. Satya wasn’t sure where to find a doctor on short notice, she had never needed one before.
“Ana can handle this.” Angela said.
“Alright, I’ll get her. Here…” Satya said, holding the cup up to Angela’s mouth, helping her drink the medicine.
“It will be a few minutes before it takes full effect, we can wait to wrap the bandages until then.” Angela said.
Unsure of what she should do but feeling like she had to do something Satya sat down next to Angela. After a moment of hesitation she put an arm around Angela’s shoulders, hoping to provide some comfort. Angela seemed grateful and leaned into Satya.
“I hope you were not too mad about my… petting you earlier.” Angela said after a few seconds.
It was such an unexpected thing to hear that it took Satya several seconds to form a response.
“I was never angry. How are you even worrying about something so unimportant right now?” Satya asked.
“I thought you might be angry.” Angela said.
“It was unexpected, I was not sure how to react.” Satya said. She was silent for a few seconds before adding “I was glad. I am happy you are not afraid of me.”
“What is there to be afraid of?” Angela said.
“Big teeth? Claws?” Satya suggested. “Being burned to ash by dragon fire?”
“You could hurt me if you wanted to.” Angela conceded. “But lots of people could hurt me if they wanted to. It’s not worth being afraid of the ones who don’t want to. Pitchforks and torches are scarier than claws.”
And being burned at the stake is worse than being turned to ash in an instant. Satya thought.
They sat in silence for a few minutes longer. Satya wanted to ask about Angela’s condition, but bombarding Angela with questions would do more harm than good. It was better to just wait and trust that Angela knew what needed to be done.
“The medicine is starting to work.” Angela said. “It doesn’t hurt as much.”
“Are you going to be ok?” Satya said, unable to hold back the question.
“Mm-hmm.” Angela hummed, nodding her head, then snuggling up closer to Satya.
Satya wanted to know more. What exactly was going to happen? Would everything heal right? How long it would take? She was reasonably sure that the immediate danger to Angela was dealt with but humans were such fragile creatures it was hard not to worry.
With nothing else to occupy her mind Satya started planning out the most efficient way to locate Ana.