[[Spoilers: For the whole anime.

Set: After Episode 23 of the anime.]]

Dependence

Lindel was not expecting two extra passengers to return with Merituuli and the dragons. Merituuli was meant to pick up the rescued dragonlings from Elias's garden. A simple task for a mischievous selkie.

The gwee Merituuli was riding (the one Lindel called 'Torpea') glided into the aerie and landed on the grass beside the lake. A second gwee followed, making the resident dragons scatter. Lindel had already seen her through his mirror after she was rescued from the auction. He still wasn't prepared.

All dragons grew up in unique ways, but this one had been tortured beyond recognition, so different from the shy young gwee Lindel remembered. He had named her 'Karul' a week before she was captured. Since then, she had gained killer spikes, knife-like claws, grubby black feathers, an armoured skull and wild eyes. She rather resembled Elias in his animalistic form. Was that a cruel joke from Cartaphilus?

She looked like a different species next to Torpea.

As for the the young beana... Lindel had called him 'Urho' for his courageous nature. It was that same nature that had led him to venture beyond the aerie.

Urho tumbled off Torpea's saddle and dashed behind her. Before they were taken, Karul would have been able to perch on his back. Now, she could easily crush him.

It seemed Karul's body had suffered more physical transformation, but Urho had been trapped for longer in that hellish laboratory. Who knew what experiments they had undergone?

Lindel tried not to stare at the dragons. Instead, he smiled at the figures climbing off her back— Chise and Ruth.

"Surprise!" Merituuli sang as he slid off Torpea's neck. "I kept my thoughts hidden so you wouldn't see them coming!"

"Very clever," Lindel said. "How are you, Chise?" She looked a bit windswept, but her cheeks were filled with colour and her eyes were bright. Her arms were hidden beneath her poncho...

She showed him her left arm. It was still black, but it had returned to its normal size and shape.

Elias had given him a brief account of Chise's battle with Cartaphilus. Now, Cartaphilus coincided inside Chise with the dragon's curse, keeping it at bay.

Lindel wanted to learn more— to apologise for the umpteenth time— but he couldn't discuss the curse with the dragons nearby. Karul would feel especially guilty...

Cautiously, Lindel held his hand out to Karul. She regarded him in stone cold silence. Chise cleared her throat and Karul looked at her.

"This is Lindel, the dragon caretaker—"

"Also known as Echoes and the mother of dragons," Merituuli added.

"—You remember Lindel, don't you?"

"Lin...del," Karul repeated, as if she was testing a piece of food.

"That's right." Chise patted her snout. She nodded to Lindel and he placed his hand over hers. Then she removed her hand, so he was the one touching Karul. The gwee gazed at him with piercing yellow eyes.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, stroking her snout. You've been through so much, but I couldn't even save you myself. All that matters now is that you're home.

There was a growl and he was head-butted to the ground. Not by Karul— it was Urho.

Torpea roared and Chise called out in concern, but Lindel halted them, keeping eye contact with Urho. He had Lindel pinned with one foot on his chest (a human would have struggled to breathe from the pressure) and he was snarling down at him.

In his eyes, Lindel saw jealousy, anger and hurt. He was the second to be saved. And, as if to throw salt in his wounds, strangers from the university had come to collect him. Where was Lindel through all of this?

That pain was still roiling inside him. He needed to escape from it.

"Curse me if it will ease your suffering," Lindel gasped. He had survived curses in the past, but surely none of them would compare to the agony Urho has faced.

Urho narrowed his eyes, as if he was considering the idea.

"Don't!" he heard Chise cry. Lindel broke gazes with the dragon to glare at her. She wouldn't dare offer to absorb the curse in his place...

"You can't curse him," Karul growled, stepping towards Urho. "It doesn't help—"

"Stay back," Lindel ordered through gritted teeth. The last thing they needed was a fight to break out.

Merituuli yelped, "Lindel!"

His gaze darted back to Urho as the dragon went for his throat.

At some point, he had squeezed his eyes shut. He opened them when he felt Urho nuzzle his neck.

"Sorry, Lindel," he keened. "Sorry— it still hurts... I'm scared!"

"I... I know." Lindel cradled his head. "But I promise I'm going to heal you." Even if it took an eternity, he would remain with the dragons.

Urho sniffed and stepped off his chest, letting Lindel to sit up.

After a few minutes, Chise edged towards them. Ruth looked ready to strike if any dragon so much as breathed in her direction.

"Ok?" Chise whispered.

Lindel wasn't sure if she was referring to him or Urho, but he nodded.

"Can you sing?" Urho begged.

Lindel opened his mouth, when Karul added, "Please, Chise?"

"They missed your singing," Chise explained hurriedly as Lindel blinked at her, "so I sang them a lullaby—"

"Sing the lullaby," Karul pleaded.

Lindel chuckled. "I'd like to hear it." He crossed his legs and leaned forward, smiling at the hesitant Chise.

Karul gave Chise an encouraging nudge with her snout. Chise glanced at Ruth and he said, "You might as well."

Chise couldn't resist. She took a deep breath and began to sing softly in Japanese. Something about counting, flowers and sleeping children.

With a roaring yawn, Karul curled up next to Chise.

Urho tucked his arms and legs beneath him on the grass and rested against Lindel. Smoothing the fur on his back, Lindel hummed along with the lullaby. He felt his own eyes drooping, but he pinched himself awake— a tactic Rehab had employed whenever he slacked off during his training. Sleep wasn't as vital for magi as it was for humans. However, an injured or overworked magic-user needed time to recharge, especially in poor Adolf's case...

When Chise had finished and the dragons were sound asleep, Lindel muttered, "I wonder if your lullaby would affect a sorcerer?"

"I... I put Elias to sleep once," Chise admitted, hiding behind her hair.

Lindel had to stifle his laughter so he wouldn't disturb the dragons. Chise grinned, but then she glanced away. "And Joseph..."

He hissed, "Cartaphilus?"

"Joseph's staying in Elias's— our back garden."

"Elias neglected to mention that."

"He's at peace now," Chise said, somewhat defensively. "He won't wake up for a long time."

Still, Lindel wanted to ensure Joseph would remain comatose so he would never touch the dragons, Chise or Elias ever again. The staff from the university would have to check on him, since Lindel couldn't abandon the aerie...

"You're doing it again!"

He side-eyed Merituuli. "I thought you were asleep—"

"He's mothering you," Merituuli told Chise, "like a dragon hatchling!"

Lindel huffed. He was startled when, for the first time in millennia, a human hugged him.

"I don't mind..." Chise whispered. "It's nice to be mothered."