A good name inspires, and a bad one brings ridicule. Sometimes the difference is determined by the power backing it.

~Ogma, God of Eloquence and Inspiration

Nin warily entered the human town of Matun. There was nothing of significance here except that it was a day’s travel from Rosdoe. The Sluagh left her and Lily in the nearby forest and pointed them in this direction. The townspeople looked nervous upon seeing her, which only made her more suspicious.

Lily hid inside Nin’s green hair and inconspicuously pointed out several people to the dragon. Every person Lily pointed out was bald. It wasn’t uncommon to see bald people, but there were a lot of them—including women. Nin’s brow furrowed, unsure what to make of it.

No one would look Nin in the eyes, and that wasn’t because she was so short.

“They people with hair are afraid,” Nin commented softly for Lily’s sake. The fae agreed with that. Outwardly, the town looked normal, but there was a festering wound beneath the surface. Nin’s sensitivity to mana also let her know that every bald person she came across so far had a Shield. These weren’t ordinary people.

Unable to determine a course of action, she entered a restaurant across the street from an inn. She chose that place because it was boisterous, and the sound of music drifted out from the open windows. A small stage was in the corner, and a bard strummed a lute while singing an upbeat song. A few people were dancing, and almost everyone was drinking. Tables were scattered around, but it looked as if someone pushed them all aside to create a dance floor. So there was no uniformity to the restaurant’s layout.

Nin laughed and clapped to the music. She rarely experienced life because her dad kept her locked away. Now that she was in the tower, she felt confident that her father or other dragons couldn’t locate her. She didn’t mind traveling in Crow’s Soulscape but preferred this kind of environment.

Smelling food, she sat at a table and ate first. She’d watch them dance and join them later. Lily flew up to a high window and rested on the sill while being a lookout for Nin.

“What can I get you?” The waitress asked.

“A platter of red meat. Enough to fill an entire platter,” Nin ordered with a toothy grin.

The waitress eyed the small dragon woman skeptically but took the order all the same. She brought the platter out, and several people followed the large dish filled with meat. The waitress put it in front of Nin but held out her hand shortly after. “Three gold.”

Nin had quite a bit of gold that Crow had given her and didn’t know prices, so she handed it over with little thought. In truth, she was overcharged, but not by a lot. Nin wasn’t dumb and knew if she continued eating food at that cost, she’d be out of money in a few weeks. It was a problem she’d think about later.

Not bothering with the utensils, she grabbed a piece of meat and bit a chunk out of it. Some juices slid down her chin, but she closed her eyes, enjoying the food. “Mmm, so good.”

“Hey tiny, love the hair,” a burly bald-headed man sat down across from her.

“Hey tiny, you should shave,” Nin replied while chewing and not caring about her appearance.

The man confusedly rubbed his bald head, and Lily silently giggled from her sill. Several people nearby understood her meaning and laughed but pretended they were laughing about something else.

“Bitch. Don’t worry. You’ll soon know how tiny I am.”

“You are really open-minded for admitting it. I guess I can give you credit for being half a man.”

The man slapped his hand down on the table, and the platter jumped, splashing the juice from the meat. Before he could angrily retort, Nin had already grabbed one of the dull knives used as cutlery and stabbed it into the man’s hand, pinning it against the table.

“Yowwww!” The man’s squeal caused even the bard to stop singing. Everyone stared wide-eyed at the knife stabbed through the bald man’s hand. Blood flowed off the side of the table and onto the ground.

“What?” Nin looked up and saw everyone staring at her while she continued to consume her meal.

No one spoke, and the bald-headed reached toward the knife.

“Don’t,” Nin said and spit some of her food out when she spoke. The man ignored her, and magically, a spoon appeared, pinning his free hand to the table. The amount of strength it took to stab a spoon through flesh and bone was terrifying, and now the silence was deafening. The only sound was the whimpering coming from the bald man. His face went from shocked to pasty and horrified. “I said no. Learn some table manners!”

“Pfft,” a few people in the crowd laughed but hid it behind coughs. The bald man was obviously someone they didn’t want to anger, but the irony of the girl’s statement was just too funny.

“Kill her,” the man growled, and five bald men and one bald woman rushed over.

“Never interrupt a hungry woman eating!” Nin roared, finally getting angry at those that would interrupt her meal. “Come any closer, and I’ll roast your bald friend and eat him.”

They ignored her.

“I warned you.” Nin spewed Dragon Fire but toned it down. She didn’t want to turn the man to ash as that’d cause too many questions. Long ago, she’d worked it out with Crow, and he found references to a fire-breathing spell called Fiery Vitriol. Nin agreed because she thought the spell’s name was funny.

The closest bald person to her received her punch, which went right through his Shield, leaving a hole in his chest. He didn’t even have time to be shocked before he died. The other four stopped dead in their tracks.

“You… we are the Bald Cohort. Are you rebelling?” The bald woman asked.

Nin stopped eating and stared at them in stunned silence. Bubbling laughter came from her as the food in her mouth was sprayed into the woman’s face. Nin was laughing so hard that tears were rolling down her face. Some people laughed with her, but only because they couldn’t stop themselves. The little dragon’s laughter sounded angelic and infectious.

“B-bald Cohort? Pfft,” Nin burst out laughing again, unable to stop herself. The four members of the cohort turned bright red.

“Are… are you really going to him?” The bald woman asked, not even daring to wipe the food off her face. Nin’s jaw dropped again before she went into another laughing fit.

“You guys are hilarious,” Nin finally said while trying to catch her breath. “Are you part of the circus? I really want to see a circus!”

Her excitement caused the crowd to laugh.

“Damn you! What fucking circus? We told you, we are the Bald—”

Nin cut the man short as she belched fire and turned him into a cinder.

“No cursing! I got sensitive ears,” Nin commanded.

“But…”

“Just take these people away already. They are stinking up the place. Next time, make sure you bring clowns that are actually funny and don’t ruin my appetite. You’ll regret it if you interrupt my meal again.”

The baldies took away the corpses and left the building. But no one dared move.

Sighing, Nin looked up from her food. “Carry on. I won’t bother those that don’t bother me. If they come back later, you can just blame me.”

“Thank you, lady,” the waitress said and brought Nin another chunk of mutton and put it on her platter. “From the owner. The Bald Cohort has been extorting us for protection fees.”

“That’s really their name?” Nin’s face fell, and then she thought about it some more and realized this was a great thing. “Tell the owner I have a proposition for him. If he keeps me fed, I’ll protect his restaurant. I have to stay around town for a while, and it’s not convenient for me to run around.”

The waitresses’ eyes grew round, and she quickly nodded while running into the back. During that time, the bard began singing again. The crowd continued their carousing, and they no longer had that oppressed feeling anymore. Without the Bald Cohort present, everyone was more relaxed. Even if it was quieter than before, it was more relaxed.

A portly man came out of the back and approached Nin. He saw she had practically already polished off the platter, including the chunk of mutton. Thinking about what this little girl had asked for previously, he wondered if he was really making a good deal. Seeing where the man’s eyes landed, Nin grinned.

“I only need two platters of meat a day. It can be any red meat. And anything additional I’ll pay for. Or you can treat me to more meat if you need me to perform additional duties.”

“Deal.” The owner said immediately. Once hearing Nin’s request, he quickly did the math, and the cost was a tenth of what those bald bastards were asking him for. And it didn’t sound like he had to provide prime cuts of meat—not that he’d cheat her. This little girl was way too intimidating. The owner saw everything that had happened and wasn’t willing to get on her bad side.

They shook on it, and the portly man also owned the inn across the street, so he offered her lodging in one of the servant rooms. He didn’t charge her extra for the room since he felt it was convenient to have her nearby. It only took a week of roasting baldies before the whole town claimed Nin to be the fiercest bouncer in the history of Matun.

A month later, most of the businesses in town were paying Nin to protect them. She never demanded or asked for a price for her services, but they all paid her in gold or meat. Everyone treated her as Matun’s little queen, but if any of them realized she was a dragon, they might have fled in terror.

Lily helped too and became Nin’s eyes-in-the-sky. It wasn’t hard to spot the Bald Cohort. She just had to keep an eye out for shiny pates. Once spotted, she’d lead Nin toward them. It took two months before she ran the Bald Cohort out of town, but there were a few mishaps. Not all the baldies were part of the cohort, so Nin had to apologize after beating up a few innocents.

It was somewhere between the first and second months that Nin started experiencing the yearning, making her irritable. Some days were worse than others, and on those days, she was practically hibernating. Dragons rarely parted from their mates once chosen. The inseparable bond required nourishment from their partner, and without it, the dragon essentially weakened. Nin wouldn’t die unless her mate was dead, but she’d suffer until she was near him once more.

Lily flew in and started slapping Nin on the face, knowing that even a full lightning blast wouldn’t hurt the irritable dragon. Lily lacked the power to do anything but irritate Nin, so she didn’t hold back when it came to physical violence. The fae even enjoyed it to an extent, as it allowed her to vent some of her own frustrations. It was exhilarating, slapping a giant lizard in the face.

“Knock it off!” Nin growled, and smoke billowed out from her nose. Lily pointed at her heart and then off toward the north. Nin had been with Lily for so long that a few gestures were enough for them to communicate.

The little dragon girl jumped out of bed and faced northwest. A toothy grin spread across her face, and all her irritation and stress dropped away once she felt her bonded. She didn’t even realize when her bond had turned so serious. However, once reconnected, it overwhelmed Nin with emotions, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

Lily pumped her fist in the air, waiting for this moment. She took out a little vial and scooped up the tear before Nin could even react. The vial was sealed and stowed away. A Dragon’s Tear was a scarce alchemical component, and Lily shamelessly stole it.

Nin looked over angrily. “Give it back!”

Plttt! Lily stuck out her tongue and gave Nin some raspberries.

“You think I won’t eat you?”

The fae shook her head and smiled. She pointed off to the north, drew a heart in the air, and then pointed at herself.

“This isn’t over,” Nin growled and stamped her feet in anger. In reality, Nin didn’t care all that much, but Lily had really started embracing her mischievous nature. Nin wanted to curb it but realized she liked this version of Lily—she was a lot more fun. “Do we go after him?”

Lily shook her head and pointed toward Rosdoe.

“Why?”

Her small hands moved in a series of gestures, some pointing back west toward Sunstar. The gist was that they needed to head to Rosdoe to scout out the area and potentially set up a temporary place for everyone to live. At the same time, they needed to wait for everyone to arrive.

“But…” Nin sighed, feeling the yearning return. Lily wasn’t wrong, but dragon impulses were terrifying. If she wasn’t in human form, she would have rushed headlong toward her bonded. “Fine, let’s get moving.”

The town of Matun knew Nin would not stay indefinitely, but they didn’t want to see her go, either. They didn’t burn any bridges and instead wanted to build more karma. They gave Nin an enormous pack filled with supplies, namely meat.

There was something that Nin hadn’t realized. The Bald Cohort had spread word of a terrifying, fire-breathing, diminutive woman living in the area. Most of the gang shifted their operations to the outskirts of Rosdoe, which was a burgeoning city. The difference was Rosdoe had a king, guards, and laws.