Sixty-Nine: Down the Mountain
Even with Lilith clinging to her, Nidhogg still found a way to cool the Little White Dragon’s fever.
As a Black Dragon, she didn’t wield ice or snow magic, couldn’t conjure ice for her now.
Luckily, the Astrology Academy sat on a mountaintop, the air knife-cold even at noon; the tap water hovered in single digits.
She borrowed that chill from the bathroom, soaked a towel, and set the frost-soft cloth on Lilith’s brow.
At the first touch of the cool towel, the Little White Dragon flinched like a startled kitten, arching back to dodge Nidhogg’s hand.
Then relief seeped in like spring rain; realizing the cloth soothed her, Lilith settled, pressing the chill to her brow.
She lay meekly beside her, a soft hum like a drowsy bee slipping out.
Her tiny fist loosened from Nidhogg’s shirt, that tether easing like a knot unpicked.
Once she felt the Black Dragon wouldn’t stray, Lilith’s anxiety ebbed like tide.
She hadn’t felt this sick in ages; after that brief fuss, exhaustion drained her, leaving her limp as a wilted leaf.
She lay quietly by Nidhogg, her hand that had clutched his shirt falling to the mattress.
Only the slim tail behind her stayed stubborn, wrapping his waist like ivy that refused to let go.
“How did you end up like this?” Nidhogg’s fingers smoothed the tight knot of Lilith’s brows, his sigh drifting like mist.
Last time she’d only been a mess, but lively; five days gone, and the Little White Dragon had worked herself into an invalid.
Now she could only lie there and whimper, and he had no lantern to see what she’d weathered in that span.
The Little White Dragon didn’t answer.
Half-drifting, Lilith leaned closer to the Black Dragon, instinct leading like a moth to warm flame, a rough purr rasping from her throat like a chin-scratched cat.
“Mm…” Lilith nuzzled in, and the towel slipped free like a falling leaf.
The cool on her forehead vanished; woozy, she tried to sit up, but her White Dragon waist was too weak, lifting only half her small body.
Her eyes opened, glassy and wandering over the room like fog over stones, adorably dazed and lost.
“I’m right here. Lie still.” Nidhogg picked up the towel Lilith had flicked off, dipped it in cold again, and steadied the White Dragon’s waist, easing her back onto the bed.
She set the folded chill on Lilith’s brow and murmured, “Rest a bit. The doctor will come, you’ll take medicine, then sleep. I’ll stay right beside you—don’t be afraid.”
As she spoke, the Black Dragon gave Lilith’s palm a gentle squeeze, like pressing a charm into her hand.
Lilith stared blankly into Nidhogg’s eyes, then nodded after the words fell, unsure if any of it had truly reached her.
The Black Dragon sighed, feeling like she was minding a child in a storm.
The Astrology Academy’s medical team arrived swiftly, the warm-hearted elf lady moving like a sharp wind.
Nidhogg had barely soothed Lilith’s frayed spirit when she showed up with several white coats, knocking at the door like a quick drum.
After much coaxing, the Black Dragon calmed the Little White Dragon, who didn’t want her to leave, like a cub clinging to its den.
She went to the door, opened it, and let the medical team stream in like a small river.
The Star Canvas Academy’s medical team was easy to trust; their skill was steady as bedrock.
Nidhogg chatted a moment with the kindly elf at the doorway, then turned to find the white coats already stepping back out like birds dispersing.
“It seems her internal balance slipped. Luckily, her self-regulation is strong.
This will suppress her immune overreaction; just have her drink it.
But afterward she’ll be prone to illness for a while. Prepare well—sterilize everything she uses.”
The doctor handed several jars to Nidhogg.
The Black Dragon nodded, accepted the lot, and slid them into Lilith’s dorm cabinet like storing winter provisions.
She saw the doctor and the elf lady out, then returned to the Little White Dragon’s side.
She found a kettle, drew a heating magic crystal from the cabinet, set it beneath, and called a trickle of power to bring the water to a boil, steam rising like winter breath.
The water bubbled and hissed, then poured into a glass.
Nidhogg twisted open Lilith’s jar, tipping out a viscous brown syrup.
The Black Dragon let it fall into the hot water and stirred gently, the stick tracing slow circles like a calm moon.
The medicine thinned quickly, no longer clumping, becoming a cup of warm water stained light brown, like tea the color of dry leaves.
Nidhogg brought the cup to her nose.
A dense herbal scent rose, a bitterness you could feel down in the heart, like bark steeped in rain.
She knew that if Lilith were awake, she’d rather fight the sky than swallow this.
But Lilith drifted on the edge of sleep now; with the mind fogged like a cloudy pond, she couldn’t resist even a cup of hard-bitter brew.
Nidhogg brought the herbal drink to Lilith’s lips.
The half-conscious girl sniffed, her keen nose wrinkling; the bitterness hit, and her face tightened into a little bitter-melon.
She frowned and wobbled her head, trying to drift away from the cup like a leaf in a current.
Nidhogg wasn’t about to let her escape the medicine.
The Black Dragon, a touch mischievous, waved the cup by Lilith’s nose, watching with quiet delight as the Little White Dragon’s face scrunched and slipped away from the bitter scent like a kitten dodging a bath.
Nidhogg seldom saw Lilith show such plain disgust.
She let the playfulness spin a moment more, circling near her nose, then withdrew just as the Little White Dragon snapped her mouth open to bite.
She pinched open that stubborn mouth and poured the brew in, the liquid sliding like a dark stream.
Lilith was a thousand times unwilling, yet she swallowed it all, obedient as a moonlit ripple.
Only after did she poke out half her little tongue in sulky protest, like a sparrow scolding between sips.
Nidhogg tapped the little dragon’s nose, a gentle scrape, and let a soft laugh fall like bells.
The smile faded like a tide.
The Black Dragon readied herself to find Joseph; with the Little White Dragon’s research complete, it was time to take Lilith back.
Time to head down the mountain.
