“Fear? What? No. I’m not scared.” It is a well known fact that dragons can smell fear… probably. 

This really is a LOT of blood. Is Amy sure it all came from one person? She subtly checks herself over. Nope. Still an intact Amy. 

"You can have the drug that makes you calmer even if you aren't scared, that's fine too." ...And she'll offer a hose, produced from some mysterious place under a wing. And maybe turn so that they're not facing the body.

Uh… does Amy want to know where that water is expected to come from? 

“I’m fine,” Amariah will insist. “I’ll just… find a convenient stream, then take you to the branch. I’d just… you know, rather not wear my mentor…” 

It could be magic! You don't know! (it's not magic, it's secret body water. but the speaker is a secret body speaker and you don't see Tore complaining)

Verdigris will not interrupt Amariah from finding a stream.

No secret body water for Amy! She will look for a convenient stream. Is this wise? Probably not. Will the dragons do something horrible in her absence? Present evidence points to yes. But… call her squeamish, she really cannot bear to wear her mentor a moment longer. 

In the meantime, Verdigris will present Tore with a metal bug that can talk loudly in something resembling his mental voice.

Ooh very cool metal bug! He spends a couple minutes examining it before turning to Verdigris and speaking through it. "Thank you very much Verdigris. A few questions if you do not mind; first, how advanced of a construct is this? In that, does it have a mind or a will of its own? Secondly, does it have a name? And thirdly, though just curiosity, is it some form of creation magic that you use? Or incredibly advanced technology?"

"Oh gods why are you so full of endless questions!?" Kirveneren groans, tail thrashing in annoyance. "You're like a little gnat, always buzzing." She stomps off to go find something of interest while she waits for the decision to leave this gods-forsaken place. 

He stares after her for a moment, wondering how anyone in their position wouldn't be full of curiosity and questions about the incredible world they seem to find themselves in and the others brought from their own worlds. Shaking his head, he turns back to Verdigris.

"It is as intelligent as an insect, roughly speaking. Just more specialized. This is generally rounded off to 'not having a mind or will', but in order to fly it does have to set destinations and reach them. Its identifier is random and would take about a minute to speak out loud, so if you'd like it to have a name I recommend assigning one yourself. It was assembled by similar smaller devices out of raw materials. What would you regard as advanced technology?"

Seems safer not to specify whether she has magic quite yet. Some of these people have concerning abilities! Hopefully guns still work.

"Hmm, well that depends. A lot of modern technology in my world is intrinsically tied to magic, either to power it or in its operation. If you include things that utilize magic some of the more recent inventions include automated carts for transporting people and goods in some of the larger cities, automated rigging and sometimes paddles to augment the sails on some larger ships, and some experiments using magic to heat water into steam to power equipment like a waterwheel would. As for things that do not use magic at all though..." He thinks for a moment. "The most recent thing that comes to mind is a new repeating crossbow design that's recently gained some popularity. I don't know if that really answers your question or not. If it helps, tiny metal insects that can build something as intricate as this out of iron, copper, and stone without any magic at all is definitely something I would regard as advanced technology."

"Then it's surprising that you draw the distinction! Do your physicists not study magic? The principles of my body and tools are unintuitive to many, but I wouldn't regard any as a fundamentally different study than the others. I could build a repeating crossbow with these principles, but I could also build a stove that produces steam without fire, or a paddle that rows itself, and I could build each with the same materials and underlying causes."

"I'm not exactly sure what you mean by physicists. If that is a term for a specialized type of scholar then the answer would be yes. Many humans and quite a few dragons in my world have made it their life's purpose to study magic. Some dive into the more arcane principles of how and why and what all magic can actually do, some are more inventors and dreamers and come up with new ways to tie magic and technology together, while most are some combination of the two.

As for why I make a distinction; my world is in something of a renaissance at the moment. Only a handful of decades ago the number of humans who could harness magic was minuscule and mainly consisted of the healers and Gothi of the more well off clans. Then a few of those learned humans got together and decided to use the great hall of their town as a place to teach others the ways of magic. Since then, that place of learning and the town around it have multiplied in size and prestige, with hundreds learning the finer aspects of magic within its walls. some other towns got in on it early as well and have grown into impressive cities in their own right.

Even a number of dragons have been helping the humans teach and learn magic, and I wouldn't be surprised if in another few decades every young human was taught the basics of magic as a matter of course. And given how I learned how to harness my own magic to a certain extent to make up for my shortcomings, I would be very surprised indeed if more dragons didn't follow in my footsteps eventually.

My this is a lovely, if somewhat algae-infested, stream. Doot doot. Bath time. What a truly unfortunate day to have worn white. 

The princess, thankfully, has enough cultivation as not to be at risk of infection. She still ends up slimy.

Verdigris is happy to chat with Tore about why magic might or might not be considered the same thing as technology until Amariah returns.

This was NOT the right day to wear a white shirt. Red does NOT want to come out of white.  

Amy sighs. The white will never be white again, and she should just accept that. The dragons will be waiting on her, and she does feel vaguely human again. 

Amy will dry off as best she’s able, and return to the clearing where she had last seen the dragons. 

The dragons look... not all that much less like they're about to kill each other, not that Amariah can easily read the body languages of non-humans from four different universes.

"We are ready to depart. Do you need time to visit your home?"

“No, I’m ready.” All she leaves behind is a few changes of clothing and some kitchenware. Nothing valuable, and too heavy to bother carrying. Of course Amy is not presumptuous enough to ask a notoriously proud dragon to carry her belongings like a pack animal. She isn’t TRYING to get eaten. 

"Not even a couple changes of clothes? Or are you planning on buying supplies in town? It would seem a poor plan to present yourself to the Emperor in dirty, travel worn clothes, even if he is your father."

“I have a few changes of clothing in my hovel, but they are not meaningfully better than what I’m wearing, and I would like to get out of here before the other shepherds try to avenge their leader. Either way, I’m going to have to find new clothes, and I would like to leave before the shepherds attack you and you all feel the need to slaughter my friends.” 

"Yeah... that's a fair point." He says, glancing at the boulder hiding the body of said shepherd leader. Crouching down, he turns back to Amariah. "Well hop on then, let's get going."

The dragon… wants Amy to… ride it? Like a horse? Amy has so many questions. 

Is it big enough to carry her? 

Where would she grab?

Will it try to eat her? 

Will any of the pokey-bits poke? That seems like a… sensitive area to get poked… 

Amy will not voice these concerns, but nor will she be blindly climbing onto a dragon that so recently vaporized a daemon lord and also a sheep brain. 

Seeing Amariah's hesitation and mild confusion he sighs quietly. "Okay Basics of Bareback Nightfury Riding: sit yourself just in front of the wing shoulders, a bit in front of where the spine ridges start. Let your arms and legs fall on either side and make like you're giving me a full body hug. Don't worry about squeezing too tight, you won't hurt me. It won't be as secure as it would if we had a saddle handy, but I shouldn't need to do any fancy flying between here and town, and if you do happen to fall I'll catch you."

This still seems unwise, but… perhaps refusing would be more dangerous? Amariah nods with all the bravery she can muster, and clambers aboard as directed. 

Sure, the dragon said it would catch her, but… WITH WHAT? It’s mouth full of very sharp teeth, or it’s legs full of very sharp claws? Either way, Amariah does NOT want to find out. Don’t worry about squeezing too tight? Can do! Tightest squeeze she can manage, coming up. She is NOT going to fall off this dragon. 

Oof! Okay. Very tight. How in...? Oh right, that Cultivation thing. Definitely something to look into more closely...

"Huh, okay, you don't have to hold on that tight. I forgot that your Cultivation thing makes you stronger."

"You don't have to loosen up if you're afraid, but I would prefer to get to town without bruises all over my chest." He says somewhat jokingly.