Chapter 13: Changes

A strong pain followed the return of the flood of sensations in Little Flames new body as the raging, hot swirls of dark gray energy dissipated. The hounds blood, coupled with the various wounds that were riddling the body of the former dragon, formed crimson liquid rivers that were dripping to the ground where they were forming red stains on the grass.

Moving away from the dogs carcass beneath her, she made her way to the heavily wounded elf who had suffered much more than her.

Is that you Little Flame? Youve done enough now.

Another tide ran down Little Fames small nose, and she cried for the first time in her life, even though she had no idea what shedding tears represented. Using what was formerly her front paws, she clutched the remains of the sky blue robe in her hands, tearing through the fabric with the mix of claws and nails at the tip of her fingers, and despaired over the elf caught in deaths fangs.

Dont cry! Youre a good girl.

The distraught creature collapsed on top of the elf and the bitter sobbing turned into loud screams of sadness and anguish. She was covering herself and the mortally-injured elf with her now smaller wings and coiled her tail around the both of them. She knew that his end was her fault, her friend had warned her about the greed of humans for dragons, and the conversation between him and the human party before the fight had shed some more light on their motives.

The boiling and revolving energy from before or the intensity of the pain were nothing compared to the feeling of misery she felt confronted with the loss of a dear companion, and she wished for nothing but the elf coming back to life, to her.

Given the chance, she would offer everything for his restoration.

Eldrin had never asked about her circumstances, or treated her badly and even the Nibbles nickname he had used to tease her didnt feel too bad anymore. Whatever question Little Flame asked, he had always been willing to indulge in her selfishness and explained everything until she understood. Teaching her all sorts of things and helping her comprehend her own powers better, although he had to treat the unconscious maids.

Unfortunately her power had vanished after the transformation, and only a slight shimmering shade flowed over the ghastly lacerations on Eldrins waist.

As she was about to pass out, a soft voice reached her ears and someone laid a palm on her back.

Dont be so sad, little one. Tell me, what happened here?

Her sense of smell had also failed her, but the panic that was crushing her as she looked at Eldrin made her unable to think things through and she just cried to the sudden presence, blurting some unintelligible words in the adventurers tongue.

They attacked us injured my friend! All because of me! Help him please, I dont know what to do to save him!

The sheer sorrow contained in that sentence must have moved the mysterious stranger, since she leaned over Little Flame and hugged the tearful girl, gently rocking her back and forth while patting her head.

With a tender voice the unknown woman announced the presence of yet another individual Little Flame was unable to perceive, however that one phrase was enough to ignite a little flame of hope in her chest, a chance to save Eldrin!

You know the rules, Gabriel. You cant just interfere like this. If you must do it, I will have to think of a request for her.

Sorry, little one. I do want to save him for you, but my sister will ask you for something rather important from you. We dont want to hurt you either, but the request will have to match the extent of the reward. Do you still want me to heal him?

Yes ! Please do! Whatever it takes do it, I beg you!

Logically speaking, she shouldnt feel such a strong sense of loss at the prospect of being deprived of Eldrin, a person she had known for no more than a little over a week, and that she had only seen one or two times before; or agree with a suspicious offer from two strangers she had no way to identify or estimate their strength.

The destroyed eyeball was another thing the crying girl should worry about, yet the only thing that mattered to her was to redeem Eldrin from his demise, he couldnt pass away yet and leave her behind.

Considering Little Flames immediate decisions, the woman who was confining the tiny disheveled creature in her bountiful chest answered with a sad smile and reached past her to touch Eldrins upper body.

You really like him, dont you? Alright, youve made your choice.

Without a visible shred of mana or aura light, the elfs soon-to-be-corpse began to pull itself together and heal. The blood on the ground slowly faded as the bleeding stopped, although his figure was still almost bisected at the waist line.

Putting a hand on his heart, she felt its beat, and almost broke down out of relief, but Little Flame steeled herself and turned around to closely inspect the two superior beings and managed to stop sobbing.

Nevertheless, she had promised to offer them something for restoring Eldrins life, so it didnt matter if they truly were the two maids who had been resting in the house so far, nor was it her place to ask why their aura and mana had vanished.

You said you can heal him, what do you need from me in return?

The question seemed to amuse the two sisters according to their giggles, and the one with the purple hair stopped to keep her distance and sat down besides Little Flame and the other person.

Or why we look so similar to humans you know?

If you dont have any questions at all, how about you tell me the full story about todays events?

Unsure on what to make of this, Little Flame responded in a cautious tone, telling her story, starting with departing from the [Dragons Den] to clarify some of the tales points, and ended with her fight against the hound in front of her new acquaintances mansion, where they found her. After finishing her narrative, she addressed the two strange persons once again.

You agreed to fulfill my wish, so please tell me now what you need me to give you to fix my friend.

Arent you a charming little girl

You see, I do need to take something from you, but I also want to explain you why.

Im the goddess of death, Bael, and I watch over this land together with my sister Gabriel, the goddess of life.

Every god is allowed to create a quest every once in awhile and reward the mortal who fulfills it with a prize proportional to the difficulty of the task.

Do you understand?

The short speech of the one calling herself goddess of death dumbfounded Little Flame for a second, and even though she was still contemplating on some of the words meaning, the gist of the offer was clear. A trade for Eldrins life because of a rule. However there was still a question open, and since they encouraged her to ask about the things she didnt understand, she helped herself.

Faced with the defenseless and perplex expression on the little girls face, Bael only held her tighter and Gabriel answered.

When we left the house, the last remaining traces of this energy evaporated from your body and we approached you.

Sadly I cant just do it for free, so Bael will need to take something as a compensation from you.

The flood of information was a bit hard to comprehend at once for Little Flame, but she did her best to keep it all in mind, and didnt even question their identities as goddesses as she would have wished to do; they had kept their word and paused Eldrins death, so they could be anything, they would stay gods in her heart forever.

Alright, I understand. Now tell me what you need from me, Im ready.

The purple-haired beauty looked her up and down, evaluating her new shape.

A short stature, slender limbs with hands and legs clad in a mix of red and black scales in a chaotic way.

Wiping away the last trails of tears on her cheek, Little Flame sat cross legged in Gabriels lap after being released from Baels hug, seemingly extremely adorable to the two of them.

Ive thought of something entertaining, Ill have you make your choice now.

Shh, let me finish.

The second option is more to your liking, I think.

Your task will be to stay with him, youre not allowed to leave anymore. Ill seal away your remaining eye with a spell of mine, and if you leave this place and Eldrin, the seal will break and you can use your eye again. However he will then die.

What will you chose, your eyesight or your freedom?

Isnt that a bit harsh Bael? I mean, she told us she has siblings back at her home. Cant we reward her for protecting someone else from a monster way above her own rank?

Having expected that reply somewhat, Bael smiled wryly as Gabriel tightened her embrace once again, which filled Little Flame with her warmth, and looked at her sister a bit unhappily. After several seconds of staring contest, Gabriel sighed.

Placing her hand on the little girls empty eye socket, a pleasant sensation spread from the palm of the goddess, slowly reducing the awful wound. Unable to see it otherwise than from her own perspective, Little Flame obediently sat still while Gabriel was casting the spell. Invisible to her, a white raven appeared briefly on the restored closed eyelid.

The mild feeling was still lingering when the cold touch of the other goddess shook her up, but Little Flame didnt shrink back or try to evade the hand that was going to claim her eye and rob her of her vision, although she was shaking from fear.

Once again, Little Flame was unable to see the black raven appear on top of her closed eye, sealing it and plunging her into a world of darkness.

When the world turned pitch black, the little girl tried her best to remain impassive, but the terrifying blindness struck her harder than she expected. She clasped her new hands around herself so tight that the nails dug into her flanks, small lines of blood snaked down her skin, as Little Flame wasnt used to the absence of scales and couldnt regulate her strength.

The terror she felt was showing through her voice, shaking slightly and giving off a panicked feeling, as she was trying to convince herself that this had been the right choice, for her friend Eldrins sake.

Yes little one, its alright now. You can rest now and recover from your unpleasant experiences. When you wake up, hell be completely fine and you will be able to talk to him again.

So different from the cruel action of taking her sight away, the gentle voice of Bael seemed to have a strange nuance at the moment, dissipating all of the girls doubts, and Little Flame suddenly felt safe enough to do as Bael suggested, and drifted off in a deep sleep in Gabriels grasp.