Blood, Dust, and Silver - Chapter 3

Tanson walked out of the Alchemist's with a swing in his, now wider, hips and a smile on his, now fuller, lips. He spent three bars worth of gold, but his body now felt right to him and that's worth more than all the gold in the Wastes.

Dorian plodded up and took a sniff of him, then tilted his head. His amber eyes shone with curiosity. Tanson scratched him behind the ears. “We'll talk later.”

Tanson finished restocking, and left town just before sundown. Once they were suitably far away from town, Dorian shifted back to his human form. They walked together in silence for a while, before Tanson rounded on him. “You obviously wanted to talk about something earlier, what is it!?”

Dorian sighed, he hated talking about awkward things while nude. “It's not really my business to intrude, but don't you think you're taking this a bit too far?”

Tanson shifted, unconsciously crossing his arms over his breasts. “I... Don't know what you're talking about.” Dorian frowned. “Listen, if you want to be a woman that's fine. I can accept that, but you are lying to me.”

The ground under Tanson's feet was churning as he walked. “I'm a man! I don't want to be a woman, that's crazy talk!” Even as he said it, he knew it was as far from the truth as possible.

Dorian laughed. “Tell me that again once you've stopped ovulating. The smell is rather distracting.” Tanson blushed and turned away. “I just... It's the soul of a woman thing, I just felt uncomfortable having a... Well, you know. Though I didn't think the Alchemist's potion would be quite so thorough.”

Tanson sighed, and shook her head. “No, I... Am a woman, at least for now. I guess I just-” Dorian spun around and whacked Tanson in the face, as Tanson fell she saw a jet of flames roaring past her.

The torrent of fire hit Dorian straight on, but he managed to put his arms over his eyes and most of his hair before it hit him. The entire front of his body was covered in charred flesh and rapidly healing burns. They had stumbled into the nest of a drake.

Tanson took a moment to check their surroundings, they apparently crossed the border into the Gale Waste while they were talking. She reached into her bag and threw Dorian his guns and his bullet pouch.

Dorian caught them and he quickly hung the pouch around his neck. He scanned the skies and slowly spun around as he loaded his pistols. The drake was circling them, and Dorian never took his eyes off it. It was huge, spiny, and gangly.

Tanson tied her hair back and got into a low stance. The drake swooped down toward her and she stomped the ground. A pillar of earth shot up and the drake slammed into it, one of its wings tore off and it thrashed about in pain when it hit the ground.

The drake righted itself and swung its tail at Tanson and she took a solid hit from it. Dorian shot at the drake to get its attention. The drake roared at him and sent flames his way. Dorian rolled out of the way of the flames, but got a bit singed.
Dorian shot the drake many times, but his bullets did nothing. Tanson had some broken ribs, but was pretty much alright. She took a deep breath and focused on controlling her emotions. She tapped in to the winds around her, this place wasn't called the Gale Waste for nothing.

The drake began to inhale for another round of fire breathing, and Tanson forced the wind down its throat as hard as she could. The drake was stunned and Dorian took the opportunity to shoot it in the eye. The drake reared up and rampaged with pain and anger.

The effort caused Tanson to pass out. Dorian cursed, and started shooting at the drake's other eye. He stopped when he was down to one bullet in either gun. He looked up at the extremely angry drake. “Crap.”

Dorian rolled over toward Tanson and grabbed her, he hefted her over his shoulder and ran. The drake chased after him, and let loose a burst of smoky fire. Dorian shifted Tanson so that he took most of the fire damage but she got some burns just from being so close to the fire.

Dorian was making a beeline to a cave he spotted in the distance, the drake's injuries were such that it couldn't run, fly, or breathe fire too well so he actually made it. Luckily the cave was too small for the drake to enter, but Dorian was worried nonetheless. If the drake was smart enough, or if he was unlucky enough, it could decide to breathe fire into the cave.

For the moment it seemed content to lick its wounds and stand guard outside the cave. It was cold in the cave, and dark, but Dorian stayed in his human form until he was far away from the entrance. Once he felt they were suitably safe, he shifted to wolf form and curled up next to Tanson.

Several hours passed before Tanson woke up. She lit her hand up so she could see, and checked on Dorian. He didn't look good, he regenerated more than his body could handle. He would need food soon, or he wouldn't make it.

Tanson looked left, then looked right. She couldn't tell which way they went in by looking, so she picked the way that seemed right and began her journey deeper into the cave.

To be continued...