carl@fire

"One sec," Carl said, seeming to be in the process of invoking some sort of magic with a sequence of complex hand gestures.

"That was somewhat fast," Ir'alith said. He believed this sufficient to be entertaining? Surely not… Unless this was a simple test to determine whether I could endure what he considers entertainment? She felt again bashful and indignant at the idea of her savior's continued protectiveness of her. I must prove to him that I am not so weak as he believes me to be.

{Being protected is not always something to disdain, Alith. Your mother, though she was far stronger, confessed that she first grew enamored of me when I challenged a human hero to combat in her place that she might engage forces in another location and save our kin. And she rescued me from certain death more times than I can recall.}

"Can you see okay?" Carl interrupted.

"I can," she replied to the odd question. For what reason would I become unable to see? A quick glance down revealed that he was holding a bottle which glowed with a dark, purple light. He knows the ways of alchemy? Intriguing. He does not know of our magics, yet he has skill in such a useless matter. What purpose could it serve for one so powerful? He is ever a mystery to me. "Is the car functioning as you expect?" she asked, intending to verify that she had not inadvertently disturbed some unknown component with her glyph repairs.

"Yup, better than ever," Carl said, seeming to acknowledge her efforts. "Thanks." He drank the alchemical potion from its bottle, then carelessly tossed the empty container to the side where it vanished, likely returning to the same hidden pocket dimension in which he stored his mighty spear.

She felt understanding from her father. {His use of alchemy is in order that he might continue to conceal himself, Alith. If his magics are as powerful as we suspect, then even the most simple use could alert one of those twisted goddesses—if they still live after his battle with them—or their human servants.}

When did you gain such knowledge of magic, Papa?

{A simple warrior I may be, but I still learned what I could from your mother over time.}

His words sent another dagger of grief piercing into her chest, triggering a memory.

"Mama, why must I learn magic now?" she asked, pouting up at her mother as her tail lashed from side to side in overt annoyance. "Jungrathol claims to have found tracks of an unknown beast, and he plans a hunt!"

Ira'unne, the protector of all demonfolk who was called the "Demon Queen" by the humans she slaughtered, smiled gently down at her only daughter. "There will be time enough for hunting, Alith," she said, stroking her daughter's tail with her own in a soothing way. "You have already seen five years pass. Are you eager to be like your father, unable to even defend against the simplest of magics?"

"No simple magic would defeat me!" her father shouted from the next room in their chambers within the Great Tree, where he was deliberating over the plans for the weapon he would forge for his daughter in the coming years, as his ancestors had always done for their children.

"S'tith," Ira'unne called back, using the short name she referred to her beloved with, "defense and endurance are not the same."

"Yes," Seth'tith quipped in a quiet, strained voice, "I endure much as your husband."

Ir'alith giggled at her father's jest.

Her mother's tail flicked back and forth energetically, belying her true thoughts despite the scowl on her face, just as the pink glow of her eyes did. "What was that?" she asked, feigning hostility.

"I said nothing!" Ir'alith's father protested. "Alith, your mother hears strange voices once more!"

Ir'alith grinned, feeling blissfully happy as her parents continued to banter back and forth. She would miss a hunt with her friend, true, but magics had always been her mother's passion, and she would—

"Alright, this is the real thing," Carl called, tearing her away from a familiar memory when he simultaneously began driving once more.

Ir'alith let her tail droop and rest behind her, as she did when she thought of things which deeply saddened her. If only the humans—

She was jerked out of her thoughts as the car's speed grew ever faster, far outstripping the fastest pace she was capable of running at and approaching her flying speed. The bland, reddish-brown lands fell behind them nearly as quickly as they came into view, and she found herself having to put some concentration into remaining upright as the car bounced and jostled beneath her.

She grinned. "This is fast!" she called down to Carl as the wind roared around them. The melancholy of her previous thoughts was already fading away, as were her other, darker thoughts.

Then the car grew even faster somehow.

Ir'alith could not possibly fly so fast! Her flight from the Cliff of Sacrifice to Khir Turuhm earlier that day had taken significant time, quick even as it was to traverse the vast distance in only an eighth of a day, but she imagined that at such a speed, she could travel the same distance in half the time.

He drives this car for his amusement? She was staggered by the thought, but it was short-lived.

The car bounced especially high off a small rock, tilting wildly to the side for a moment as they flew precariously just over the rough terrain.

Ir'alith roared her approval to the sky, reveling in the total freedom she felt at that moment. Her cares, her worries, her fears—all of them were dashed from her mind as she focused entirely on the sensations of their lightning-fast journey. The wind howled as they sliced through it, the rocky lands seemed somehow playful as they provided endless space for the car to roam about, and even the scents she took in seemed more alive.

The car raced suddenly up an incline and off a ledge, leaving them airborne and traveling at a speed which she could not possibly manage on her own.

This was fun.

She had not felt so genuinely entertained in decades.

Fire surged within her, reacting to her excitement, and she raised her face to the sky once more, exhaling a joy-filled blast of dragonflame. "This is fast!" she shouted in exhilaration. She let loose her inhibitions in that moment of glee, stroking with her tail the beard on Carl's face and finding it to be both softer and scratchier than she had expected.

He seemed to enjoy the attention, which heightened her enthusiasm. "Hang on!" he shouted.

The car began to move sinuously from side to side, as though challenging her to remain standing at the incredible speed.

She rose to the challenge, spewing another gout of excitement-produced dragonflame towards the sky, heedless of any who might see.

Even when she had mastered her ability to fly in her youth, she still remained unable to travel for any great distance, forced as she was to remain within the barrier of her homeland or risk falling prey to the humans' continued schemes—or worse, fail to respond in time to one of their deity-backed incursions. She had instead flown low in the sky, entertaining herself with the ability to enter a freefall and plunge towards the ground before returning to her previous height.

Now she traveled far faster and with no control over her course.

The uneven landscape flashed past in a blur under the dim light of one of Eden's three small moons.

Ir'alith felt that her previous state of mind had been so small! The world was so large, so exciting, and she had convinced herself that she could not overcome some minor obstacle? That she was weak and would remain as such?

Weak?

She was Ir'alith, daughter of Seth'tith and Ira'unne!

She was the strongest!

"Oh shit!" Carl shouted suddenly as the car bounced again and pitched hard to one side. Another impact rocked the car, causing it to continue tipping onto its side in a manner she recognized from the times she had attacked human war carriers.

Ir'alith loosed the mental tethers on her feet which had bound her to the car, then partially arrested her motion by dispelling the spell of weightlessness that she had held onto. She created a series of cushions from condensed wind energy, ricocheting off them with a sense of enjoyment as she followed after Carl and his car, which had now rolled entirely upside down and was flying like an inverted sailboat.

She chuckled at the idea. Then the realization struck her that the car might be damaged from such an impact with the ground, and she grasped it firmly with her will, halting its progress while she finally landed with a heavy impact, planting the butt of her axe into the ground to bring herself to a full stop.

She strode forward towards the car she continued to hold aloft with her mind, marveling that such a seemingly-purposeless device had brought her such joy. When she reached the side of it, she lifted the car higher into the air, the effort causing only a minor strain while she maintained the three tethers for the objects she had anchored to it.

Ir'alith grinned at Carl, who naturally seemed unaffected by his head's impending collision with the ground, a collision she expected would harm the ground far more than it would him. "Carl, that was awesome," she said, still holding onto the exuberance she had felt from the drive atop the car of which she had once been so skeptical.

She rotated the car and set it on the ground, taking extra care not to damage it despite the durability glyphs she had fixed. "We must go for a drive again in the future," she declared. At last she relaxed her mind completely, removing the force which had anchored Carl, the body, and her helmet to the car.

"Definitely," Carl said, smiling more widely than she had seen from him previously.

Ir'alith stared at the car. I had thought this Mina elf to be a simpleton from the crudeness of her magic. She seems instead to be a genius to have crafted such a device despite her obvious lack of skill. I thank you for your work, Mina. Would that we could have met before your life was taken. Your creation has done more for the world than you imagined. "You were correct. My spirits are raised," she said, confirming the accuracy of his earlier prediction.

{Mine as well. This car is the work of a true master. It was an honor to be allowed such an experience.}

"Glad I could help," Carl said in his typical casual manner. He looked down at Mina's body, no doubt offering up a similar prayer. "Thanks again for your, uh, magical improvements. It didn't go nearly that fast before."

It did not travel with such speed previously? Ir'alith frowned. "What would be the benefit of such a slow method of travel?"

Carl pondered the question for a moment. "Mostly for fun?"

"Fun," Ir'alith said. It must be a passion of his to drive about slowly. Perhaps he has a place he travels to near his home where he and other like-minded dragons sit in cars and similar devices moving at very slow speeds. This 'coffee' drink he craves could be related.