Quest for a Name

by Jia Maebashi

    Rsssh hated her name. 

    She picked her way carefully through the cultivated fields surrounding yet another small farming village. Instinctively she knew that this was a potentially dangerous situation to be in, and past experience had confirmed her gut feeling; but there was something irresistible, almost magnetic, about groups of creatures working together. Communities seemed to attract Rsssh as helplessly as a candle attracted moths.

    After observing this settlement for three weeks, Rsssh had established an excellent vantagepoint. She slithered through the last row of standing grape vines, her six-foot length glinting firelike in the hazy sun, quickly crossed the open yard and clambered up the oak tree in the center. Three quick hops and a stretch brought her to the outreaching limb that she used as her observation deck. Slowly, creating no excess movement that couldn't be explained by the light breeze, she parted the leaves around her muzzle and stared down into the village. 

    It was Sheafday, Market Day; Rsssh had been looking forward to it all week. Most of the peasants were assembled along Main Row, which crossed directly in front of Rsssh's hiding place, selling their wares, buying necessities, or gazing longingly at luxuries just out of reach. Children raced through the crowds, squealing and sucking on honey candies, while their mothers haggled loudly for dried fish and cheese. Some minor nobility had come down from the keep; lords in crimson waistcoats and ladies in pale blue silk all sweated and jostled, elbow to elbow with the commoners. There were several races mixed in the pot; four wood elves stalked suspiciously through the crowd, searching for some item they could not make on their own. One hobbit family ran a wood carving booth; another trailed through the market, the patriarch calling cheerful greetings to passerby; a lone smallfellow slipped behind an unwary farmhand who was gawping at a gypsy's baubles, and cut the strings on his purse, deftly making his escape with the prize while Rsssh grinned with appreciation. Smells of vegetables, fruit, and meat, all dried, roasted, or fresh, drifted up to her perch, carrying subtler odors of spices and perfumes like tiny gifts. 

    Rsssh settled in comfortably, and began her little game; she would listen to a particular conversation, picking it out of the background roar, and mimic the sounds that were made. After nearly two years of spying on humanoids, Rsssh had essentially taught herself basic proficiency in four languages, and would have picked up a fifth if those dratted centaurs hadn't spotted her so quickly. 

    "Have you heard the news about Heathric, then?" she whispered to herself, watching a pair of kitchen maids on a leisurely stroll to pick up supplies. "No, not 'cept that he's been gone a fair number of Shrivedays," she added, impersonating the second girl's Meadows accent rather badly. 

    "He's gone off on an adventure." 

    "Naw, he hasn't," scoffed the second girl, who couldn't keep the envy out of her voice. "He prolly went to wandering up 'pon those hills of his, an fell down in a ditch an broke's leg." This last was spoken with a rather vicious relish. 

    "I tell you, fool girl, he's adventuring!" the first one said, then giggled. Rsssh didn't impersonate that sound; she hadn't had much reason to laugh so far in her life, and wasn't really sure how to go about it. "He sent a purse back to his mum, it was all full of gold and jewels, and his mum showed one of the rubies to Arrie, who told me it were as big as my thumb." The girl, who was almost level with Rsssh's tree, held up her thumb for demonstration; the second girl gasped appreciatively. "And his mum went and got herself a nice new wardrobe, and she's going to buy Kelly Knock-Leg's inn, and clean it up and turn it into a right proper establishment for traveling adventurers, so when Heathric comes home he won't have to stay in his old attic room and there'll be a place for his friends, too." 

    The second girl said something that Rsssh didn't quite catch, making the observer shake her ears in irritation. The first girl responded, "Well, his letter said he guarded a caravan for a while, then he fell in with a band and they went to some caves, and killed all manner of creatures, and at the very end they killed a dragon!" 

    After pronouncing the word "dragon," Rsssh's jaw closed with a snap, and her eyes unfocused as she lost the thread of the girls' receding conversation. Her good mood evaporated quickly. She glanced at the crowd, suddenly seeing them as a pack of potential deadly enemies, instead of a gathering of curious creatures. She withdrew her muzzle and curled up on the tree limb, lost in thought. 

    "Are you a dragon?" piped a curious voice below her. 

    Rsssh was so startled she nearly fell out of the tree. When she did recover, she glanced around, making sure the human child was alone. Finally she focused on the youngster. "No, I'm a squirrel," she said, wondering if she could explain herself away as an overactive imagination. 

    The girl laughed at Rsssh's reply, and hung from a branch, dangling her legs. "My gran'pa says that dragons are big and mean and fierce and they eat little girls like me all up, but you're not big. You don't look very fierce, either," she added critically. 

    "Appearances can be deceiving," Rsssh said, showing a lot of teeth, but the child only looked puzzled. Rsssh sighed and added, "You're right, I'm not very big." 

    "That's okay," the child said, swinging forward to crouch on a limb. "Mama says that I'll grow up to be really big one day, and you probably will too." Rsssh didn't have much time to ponder this bit of wisdom before the girl added, "My name's Brijid. It means Warrior Woman. I'm gonna be a fighter like my gran'ma when I get big." She broke off a branch and began leaping around the tree, boldly fighting off an invisible host. "I'm gonna go even farther east than gran'ma did, I'm gonna go all the way to the end of the world! What's your name?" 

    "Rsssh." 

    Brijid looked frightened for a minute, then scowled. "It's not nice to hiss at somebody who hasn't even pulled your tail or taken your food away or anything," she said indignantly. 

    "No, no, that's my name," the dragon said, waving a foreleg. "Rsssh. It's not a very good one," she added sadly. 

    "What does it mean?" Brijid asked suspiciously. 

    Rsssh sighed. "It means 'Little Weak One,'" she said quietly, staring at her claws. "My nestmates called me that because I was the littlest, and I don't know anything else to call myself." 

    The child thought about that for several minutes, while Rsssh clung to the tree branch, feeling ashamed. "I don't like that name," Brijid said suddenly, startling Rsssh out of her reverie. "How about Redwing?" 

    Rsssh grinned, and flapped a wing experimentally. "They're red, sure enough, but I don't know if I want to be named after my wing color. It would be kind of like naming you Brownhead." 

    Brijid looked surprised, then nodded. "Okay," she said happily, "I've got an idea! Let's go on a quest, and find a name for you! We hafta go to my house first, so I can pack a lunch, and I'll get the sword gran'ma gave me for Solstice, and we can have an adventure!" Brijid was so taken with this idea that she was already clambering down the tree as she made her plans. 

    "No, wait!" Rsssh said hurriedly, scrambling down after the child. Brijid stopped, looking at the dragon in surprise. "I can't let your parents or anybody besides you see me, or they'll chase me away and try to kill me. They will," she added, seeing the girl open her mouth to protest. "They do it every time. Most people just don't react well to dragons, I guess." 

    The two young creatures sat glumly in the tree for several minutes. Then Brijid grinned. "If I brought one of my cloaks, and put it on you and you walked on your back legs, I could get you to my house and then I could hide you in my room, nobody will find you! Is that good?" 

    Rsssh nodded, grinning in reply. "I think it's good. It might even work! Go get the cloak and we'll try it." 

    Brijid resumed climbing down the tree, then stopped and fixed Rsssh with a glare. "You will be here when I get back, right? You won't be an imaginary friend?" 

    Rsssh found herself chuckling quietly. "I'm pretty convinced that I'm real, and I'll definitely wait for you! A quest to find me a real name is too good to miss!" The child seemed to accept this assurance, and moments later she was running away through the market crowd. Rsssh watched her go, then settled down to wait. 

    Dressed in Brijid's robe, walking awkwardly on her hind legs, Rsssh was about the same height as the human child, but entirely the wrong shape. She curled her tail around her waist and folded her wings as flat as they would go, but even with the rain hood up her red snout poked out of the opening. Even if Brijid had thought to bring boots, it was doubtful that Rsssh could wear them; the black claws on her feet and "hands" glinted dully in the sunlight. Brijid looked at the strange figure wavering on two feet under the oak tree, and sighed. "We'll have to take back alleys all the way 'cross town, and hope no grownups look too close," she said doubtfully. "It would help a lot if we could hide your nose. Oh, wait!" The child darted over to a flowerbed in full bloom and scrambled around in it industriously, while Rsssh practiced walking on two legs. "Here," she said, thrusting out a large and sloppy bouquet tied with one of her hair ribbons. "If you see anybody stare at you, hold this in front of your face. Do it now, I wanna see how it looks." Rsssh obligingly buried her muzzle in the flowers, her eyes watering a bit at the overpowering smell. "Okay," Brijid decided, and shook her head. "Nobody better look too hard. C'mon!" With that, she trotted off, and Rsssh stumbled after. 

    To be in the thick of the crowd, disguised and unnoticed, was thrilling and terrifying for the young dragon. Adults simply seemed to look over or through her; the one other child they saw pointed and tugged her mother's sleeve, filling Rsssh with panic until the woman jerked her child's collar sharply and marched him away. Fortunately, they had just gained the safety of the first alley when the wood elves returned, carrying several paper-wrapped bundles. The leader stared at Rsssh intently, nostrils twitching, then shrugged and gestured for her companions to follow. Rsssh breathed a sigh of relief as they turned the corner. 

    The rest of the journey was uneventful, except for a tense moment at the very end. They were crossing the street in front of a tavern; an early drunk, sitting unsteadily on the horse-hitch out front, stared at Rsssh blearily. She quickly shoved the flowers into her face and hurried past. The drunkard blinked, shook his head, and staggered purposefully back into the bar–which was fortunate, since just before they entered the last alley Rsssh was overcome by the mass of flower scent and sneezed, blackening a corner of the stone building opposite their path. 

    When they reached the house, Brijid and Rsssh crouched resting under an overhanging shrub. It was a modestly wealthy home, close enough to the town to almost be in the merchant's district, but far enough apart for several small fields to surround and separate it. Horses and sheep grazed in one paddock, chickens pecked in the small courtyard before the outbuildings, and a flotilla of ducks, geese, and two swans glided serenely around the small pond in the entrance courtyard. It was easy to clamber over the short stone marker fence surrounding the house, and the pair made their way quickly to a large lilac bush flowering next to the house. Brijid ducked into the bush, Rsssh close on her heels, and stood up in a little hollowed-out space in the center of the bush. There was room for both of them to stand up comfortably, protected from view on all sides by the sheltering plant. In the middle of the open space a spruce tree was growing, climbing straight up to shade half the house and providing a perfect ladder up the side of the wall. "Come on," Brijid instructed, already shimmying up to the first branch. 

    Rsssh looked longingly around at the little clearing. "Can't I stay down here?" she asked plaintively. 

    "Don't be silly," Brijid said brusquely. "The dogs can get in there, and if they smell you they'll try to attack you for sure. Up here they at least can't follow, and if they sniff around the bottom of the tree papa will think they're after the cat again. I can hide you in the attic space right above my room, there's even a little window there that I think you can climb out of. But you have to follow me!" Rsssh sighed and clambered up the tree after the child. 

    Over the next several weeks, the two young creatures became fast friends, as well as secret allies. Rsssh slept in the attic, flying out the small window under cover of nighttime when she needed food, and played freely with Brijid when the child was home. Frequently they would meet outside the house and explore the surrounding countryside; they splashed through creek beds, chased each other through the woods, played at mock battles in the tall standing fields of corn. Rsssh began to assemble a practice hoard with Brijid's help, and the two spent hours sorting and playing with their small pile of baubles. The young dragon learned a lot about cooperation, human interaction, and playing fair from her human friend, while Brijid easily picked up fighting and stalking skills from their wrestling matches. The girl didn't seem to miss her human counterparts, and explained to Rsssh one day that the other children thought she was too strange to associate with. Brijid's parents didn't seem to notice any difference in their child's behavior, and neither did her nanny, who had several other duties and was apparently used to her young charge slipping away at every opportunity. Both Brijid's parents were scholars, which in this rustic town meant they read for pleasure and owned over twenty books, and Brijid had already picked up a strong interest in reading. She brought one of her books to share with Rsssh, and helped her learn the basics of reading. They occasionally discussed the quest for a new name for Rsssh, but they were so happy and busy in those long summer days they couldn't bear the thought of leaving Brijid's home for the uncertainties of a wandering life, especially after the dragon related some of her stories of travel. 

    It was a balmy summer morning as the two raced across the far sheep pasture towards their favorite playing grove. Rsssh ran with an odd galloping motion, more like a weasel than a lizard, which kept her speed up nearly even to Brijid's. They ran almost side by side until they entered the first strand of trees, when the girl tripped on a root and went sprawling on the ground. Rsssh immediately doubled back to where her friend lay. 

    "Are you all right?" she said anxiously. She had seen her human companion fall and injure herself several times, but had never really become accustomed to her casual attitude about her fragile pink skin. With Rsssh's protective coat of scales, it was nearly impossible for her to be injured by a mere fall or collision. 

    Brijid grimaced as she stood up. "My knee is all skinned," she said, looking ruefully down her leg. "It'll have a nasty bruise, all right. And I think I got a pebble in my hand." She fiddled with her palm for a minute, while Rsssh watched with interest, until she grinned and flicked a small stone away. "There, I've fixed that," she said happily, and trotted forward with a slight limp. "C'mon, I'm okay," she said cheerfully as Rsssh bounded after her. "Let's go see if we can find the beholder caverns today! I bet there's hundreds of them in there, with piles and piles of treasure!" Rsssh couldn't help but wriggle with happiness at the thought of huge mounds of gold, even though she knew that the "Beholder caverns" were the same mud-tunnels on the riverbank they had been playing in nearly every day for the last month. She also knew from experience that Brijid was likely to have collected a little pile of pretty rocks and bones from the stream while the dragon was napping yesterday afternoon, and that this would be the "treasure." But it was great fun, this imagining and pretending, and it wasn't hard for her to get interested in the games very quickly. 

    First they had to stop by Redtalon Castle, where they had stored Brijid's sword and the fruits of their earlier quests. While Rsssh crawled into the hollow in the old oak to check on her hoard, Brijid climbed to the fork of two massive branches, where her sword, spears, and other armaments were carefully leaned against the nearby foliage. She picked up her sword and gave it a couple of practice swings. "Hey, Rsssh," she called out from the branches. 

    Rsssh flattened her ears involuntarily at the sound of her name. She poked her head out of the hollow. "What?" 

    "My sword grip is still kinda wonky," Brijid said, holding the sword and examining it with a critical eye. "I brought my wood knife, d'ya think we should stay here while I even it up some?" 

    The young dragon thought for a minute, then shook her head, a gesture she had picked up from her human friend. "I don't want to wait," she said frankly. "Let's go get those beholders–you can carve the sword handle when you get back." 

    "Okay," Brijid said cheerfully, and tossed the sword down to the ground so she could climb out of the tree unhindered. 

    When they were together on the ground, the two marched off along the path to the river. Rsssh went first, sniffing the undergrowth carefully–a precaution she had insisted on. Even though Brijid was a very brave girl, who would give as good as she got in any conflict, Rsssh didn't want to come up unexpectedly on a bear or some other forest critter that could hurt them both very badly before being dealt with. It was better to know what lay ahead, she reasoned. Besides, if there were a human in their path, Rsssh would want to know so she could avoid it entirely. Let Brijid talk to the grownups; Rsssh preferred to leave them strictly alone. 

    As they came to the last bend before the river, Rsssh suddenly stopped, stiffening. Her ears folded flat and she sniffed carefully. "Brijid!" she hissed over her shoulder. "There's something up here! Stay where you are–I've never smelled this before, it could be really dangerous!" 

    The girl crouched in the underbrush beside the dragon. "Is it a bear, or a wolf?" she whispered, curious and apprehensive. 

    "I don't think so," Rsssh muttered, looking carefully through the screen of bushes that separated her from the water. "It doesn't smell natural. There's a sniff of magic, which means it could be really nasty." 

    Brijid suddenly whimpered. "I forgot, my mama told me that there were sheep going missing in the village, and they've been found all torn up and half-eaten. That was why it took me so long to get out today, Nanny was keeping a really good lookout for me." The girl glanced around at the underbrush waving gently in the cool breeze. "I don't think I want to meet whatever has been eating those sheep. They'll probably like little girl, too." 

    Rsssh nodded silently, thinking to herself that whatever it was likely also had a taste for young dragons. She gestured back along the path with one claw, and then turned to follow Brijid away from the river. 

    Suddenly something lunged out of the underbrush between them. Brijid screamed, a high shriek of terror, while Rsssh was too startled to do anything but flinch. In a flash, the dark appendage had latched onto Brijid's leg and pulled, felling her with a hard thump on the ground. With the wind knocked out of her, the girl couldn't do anything but gasp and scrabble at the ground as she was dragged into the underbrush. 

    Rsssh sucked in a breath, intending to flame the creature, but realized just in time that with Brijid between her and whatever it was, she wouldn't be able to hurt it without burning her. The dragon snarled a hissing curse and leaped forward after the struggling girl. 

    As she tried to keep pace with the monster, Rsssh glimpsed bits of it through the underbrush. It seemed entirely comprised of black tentacles and tiny red eyes. It moved awkwardly, by grabbing things with its limbs and hauling itself along, but in spite of its clumsy method of travel it was frighteningly swift. Brijid was being pulled along behind it, slowing its progress as much as she could by clinging to roots, trees, branches, whatever she could grab; but the girl's strength was waning, her yells growing weaker as her head was knocked against the ground repeatedly in the creature's wild travel. Rsssh knew, near panic, that if she didn't stop the tentacle-thing soon, it would kill her friend simply by beating her senseless on the ground; if it paused long enough, the dragon felt sure that it would snake a tentacle around the human's neck and squeeze the life out of her. 

    Rsssh struggled to think. If she could just get out into the open, ahead of the creature, she could blast it with her fire in front and not endanger her friend. As far as she could tell, the monster was leading them along a spur of woodland that stuck out into the grasslands that made up most of the countryside. If the creature wasn't intelligent, as it didn't seem to be, it probably would head out into the grass on its own, where Rsssh could kill it. On the other hand, if it wasn't intelligent it might also decide it wanted to stay in the forest out of whatever strange instincts it felt. Taking a calculated risk, the red dragon shot a small flare of fire into the monster's side, trying to drive it sideways out onto the fields. 

    The creature made a horrible squealing sound as the flames brushed it. The tentacles on that side began curling furiously, and it appeared to stagger, as if its rhythm of pulling itself along had been broken. Unexpectedly, it swerved towards Rsssh and charged straight at her, its tentacles reaching for the dragon. Rsssh jumped with a startled hiss and flew up, into the trees, where the creature began to follow, slowly but steadily. 

    Rsssh realized what she was doing, and where she was leading the monster, and forced herself to slow down and head for the grove's edge. A quick glance back confirmed that the creature was still following her, keeping to the lower branches. Rsssh couldn't tell through the lashing tentacles if it was still carrying Brijid, but she had to assume that it still had a hold on the girl's leg. 

    Finally, the dragon saw grassland before her, and let out a sigh of relief as she lunged towards an opening between branches. Her leap was stopped short when a tentacle wrapped around her tail, burning like fire between her scale. Rsssh gave an angry roar, which while not as terrifying as a full-grown dragon's was still impressive. She turned back to blast the creature, and stopped herself again. Instead she dragged herself forward, trying to get into the open. She still couldn't tell if Brijid was being pulled along behind her. 

    At the very edge of the open fields, the creature managed to get another tentacle around Rsssh's back leg. The dragon struggled furiously, clawing at the snaky mass, but for every appendage she clawed away another swerved around to take its place. The side that had been flamed earlier was easy to spot, since all the limbs in that area hung blackened and still. Finally, Rsssh knew she had no choice but to breathe her fire on the creature. With one desperate wish, that Brijid was safely out of the way, Rsssh let loose a gout of flames hot enough to melt metal straight into the center of the tentacled mass. 

    The creature screeched, a high-pitched noise like an ungreased hinge, and released the dragon, pulling its limbs back into a solid ball. It sat there in the open, writhing wildly. The monster didn't burn, as an animal covered with fur would, but its body was covered with a slime that seemed to capture the fire like thick oil; blue flames began to dance along its body. Rsssh wondered briefly if it would set the grasslands on fire, then righted herself and ran to the other side of the struggling mound. She was both relieved and worried to see that her human friend was nowhere in sight. Without a second glance back to the dying creature, she bounded back through the forest, retracing their flight. 

    Rsssh quickly found her friend, lying senseless on the ground. It appeared that the monster had released Brijid when the dragon had first flamed it. The girl's leg was badly burned by acid from the tentacle that had grabbed it, and her face was streaked in blood and dirt. Rsssh nuzzled her gently, then more urgently, but still Brijid did not respond. The dragon crouched next to her human friend's body and whimpered to herself, unable to think of a way to get the unconscious girl back to her village. 

    The idea hit her almost physically. Even as she realized it as the only solution to her problem, Rsssh flattened her ears and growled, knowing that even if her plan worked, it would probably mean she could never see her friend again. She looked back to where Brijid lay, still bleeding and unconcious, and her resolve was fixed. Rsssh clambered to the top of the nearest tree, flying away as quickly as she could, straight towards the village. 

    As she approached the cluster of homes, Rsssh wondered what the fastest way would be to attract the people's attention. It wasn't a market day, so there weren't the throngs that there had been when she first met Brijid. As the dragon circled low above the street, uncertain about how to proceed, a villager pointed up at her with a shout. Soon, people were spilling out into the streets, shading their eyes from the sun and yelling to each other. 

    "Well, I seem to have their attention," Rsssh muttered to herself. "Now let's see if I can get them to follow me." One of the more enterprising peasants loosed an arrow at her, which missed her by about thirty feet but upset her enough to give her a nasty idea. Quickly she swooped low, over the wood-tiled roof of a shop, and with one breath touched the leading edge of it into smoke. Another pass set the corner of a nearby stable on fire. She glided slowly, looking back to make sure that somebody was thinking clearly enough to organize bucket chains, and then flapped slowly off in the direction of the woods, followed by a dozen or so angry commoners, armed with bows, pitchforks, and knives. 

    It took some work and ingenuity to keep the crowd following her. Frequently Rsssh had to double back, setting small fires to keep the humans interested. The farther they got from the town, the more their courage failed, and they walked more and more slowly, stopping frequently to discuss whether they should go back. In desperation, Rsssh turned a trick she had seen doves use to lure predators away from their ground-based nests; she landed in the grass, and began running awkwardly away from the humans, trailing a wing sideways as if she was wounded. The mob gave a triumphant cry and gave chase with renewed vigor. As she staggered through the grass, working hard to keep up a show of helplessness, she thought bitterly that it didn't reflect well on the human race in general that they were only willing to protect themselves and their village from a small, wounded enemy. 

    Deciding quickly that going straight through the forest would cause too many problems, Rsssh laboriously led her little parade around the long, narrow stand of trees, until they were within sight of the smoking mound that had been the tentacled monster. The villagers yelled in anger, thinking that it was the carcass of a cow, and egged each other to renewed speed. Finally they entered the forest behind her, and she led them straight to where Brijid lay on the ground, slowly regaining consciousness. 

    Having been unimpressed by the villagers' reaction to her attack on their town, Rsssh was completely unprepared for their response when they noticed the injured child. Two of the villagers picked Brijid up, slinging them between them in a makeshift chair formed of their arms, while the three with bows took careful aim. Rsssh barely had time to recognize that she was in true danger before the arrows flew; one struck her in the side, bruising her badly and drawing a little blood. Now Rsssh vaulted to the top of a tree, preparing to fly away. 

    Below, her keen hearing could pick out Brijid as she tried to explain to her "rescuers" what had really happened. "No, it was that thing that attacked me," she said, pointing at the blackened mound that was all that remained of the monster. "The dragon saved me! She drove it off, and brought you here! Don't you see?" 

    The peasants shook their heads at each other. "She's taken a nasty knock to her head, sure enough," one pronounced. "Don't worry, little lass, the dragon's wounded. It can't fly, and it's at the top of this tree. We'll set the tree on fire, and when it falls out we'll take care of it proper. You won't have to worry about the dragon no more." 

    "No!" Brijid shouted, struggling weakly with the two men carrying her. "She's my friend! She saved me, you can't do this!" Rsssh wished she could reassure the child, that she was fireproof and perfectly capable of flight, but all she could do was listen helplessly as her human companion was carried away. Brijid's strength quickly failed, and she began to slip back into unconsciousness. Rsssh's keen ears picked up one last whisper from her, through the shouting of the men lighting a fire under her tree. 

    "Rasha," Brijid whispered, slurring Rsssh's name as her head drooped. "I'm sorry. Thank you." 

    Rsssh sat for a minute, thinking about her friend's last words to her. "Rasha," she said, experimentally. "Small bold one. I like that name much better." She looked down, feeling a not-unpleasant heat as the fire began to climb her tree, then sighed. "It's too bad I won't be able to tell her that she completed my quest for me." The newly-named Rasha leapt into the air, grinning in spite of herself, and just for mischief set the top of the tree she had been sitting in on fire before winging away across the open fields. Any of the villagers who might have been listening could have heard a faint cry echoing back on the wind. 

    "I'm Rasha!" 

    The party of adventurers sauntered into the dockside tavern. The leader, a tall figure in a grey hooded robe with a small bird on his shoulder, led the group to a corner table, where the strange company arranged themselves. By far, the red dragon among them gathered the most stares, though she had plenty of competition. 

    Rasha was by this time about the size of a smallish horse. The floorboards creaked under her weight, and she had to watch her tail and wingtips to make sure she didn't accidentally bump or overturn any other patrons. One fellow, a meaty human wearing a big sword and an angry scowl, earned himself a tap on the shin with the end of her tail barb that had him grimacing in pain. One look back from the glowing red eyes hidden in the cowl of the party leader made him decide to sit back down and finish his beer, grumbling unhappily. 

    Over in the opposite corner of the room, a more normal-looking adventuring party exchanged careful, appraising looks with the newcomers. Finally their apparent leader, a burly half-troll by the smell of him, nodded to the figure in grey robes and went back to his ale, signaling the rest to stop staring. His entire group followed his lead, except for a tall, muscular human female, her brown hair braided into dozens of tiny lengths with beads on the ends. 

    "Rsssh?" 

    Rasha bristled involuntarily at the sound of her hated childhood name. She scanned the taproom, searching for another dragon and half-expecting one of her nestmates. Her gaze stopped at the adventurer woman, now standing at her table. Something about her face made Rasha hesitate. 

    "Rsssh?" the human asked again, staring at the red dragon. "Is that you? I knew you when you visited the village of Twohills. I'm Brijid. Do you remember me?" 

    Rasha stared for another long minute, then broke into a huge, toothy smile, making several of the tavern patrons who had been watching gasp in fear. "Brijid!" she yelled, launching herself towards her friend, leaping over several customers and a table. "You survived! I didn't go back to that village for years and years, and when I did I heard that your family had moved somewhere else, and nobody would tell me where. They still hate red dragons there."

    The two embraced happily, Brijid scratching her arms a bit on Rasha's back spines and not seeming to care. "I'm really sorry about that," the human said apologetically. "I tried to explain what had happened, but they all thought it was a dream from when I was hit on the head. My parents suspected that I was telling the truth when I showed them our beholder cavern"–the friends exchanged a knowing smile, while Brijid's companions murmured in surprise–"which was what finally made them decide to move away. They didn't want to run the risk that you would come back and charm me into running away as your slave, or something like that." Brijid's eyes clouded for a minute, then she brightened up again. "I'm travelling to the East, just like I said I would," she declared proudly, and gestured at her companions. "We're looking for a lost temple–but I can't say too much about that," she added, lowering her voice as she looked around the room. "Let's introduce our groups to each other, and let them gossip and drink. We've got a lot to catch up on!" 

    Rasha chuckled at her old friend's chatter, and held up one claw. "There's one thing I have to tell you before we proceed," she said, trying to make herself sound stern. 

    "What's that?" Brijid asked, looking puzzled. 

    "You found a name for me–you called me Rasha, just before they carried you away," the dragon explained. "I've taken that as my name now. And you probably don't want to go calling any other dragons you happen to meet Rsssh–they're not likely to take it as well as I did!" 

    Brijid blinked, then grinned. "Now that I know what to call you, I'll never use that word again," she said. "And I'll buy you an ale to toast your new name!" The two laughed, happy to have found each other again at last, and turned towards the bar where the unnerved barkeep was already filling two large mugs. 

The end.