There's a node upriver a little bit and a couple more farther away but still in range. 

His Othersenses are reading a lot of things off this dragon but most of them are really hard to interpret! It definitely has several different layers and kinds of shields. It looks like it is kind of throwing levinbolts in circles around itself constantly!

It looks startled and irritated about some of the people suddenly being shielded and turns its neck to breathe levinbolts at the shield in case this makes it go away. 

Vanyel yanks energy from the nearer node and reinforces the shield just in case; he's pretty sure it can hold off the attack, if it's comparable to levinbolts as he knows them. 

:'Fandes, can you Broadsend to them to stay put under my shield or run to it: 

:Of course: She does so, Mindspeaking at all the humans within range; it'll tire her eventually to keep doing this, but she can do it more easily than Vanyel, and also isn't busy fighting a dragon. 

The dragon breathes electricity substantially more powerfully than human mages throwing it around do, apparently, but not so much the shield can't take it. The dragon raises its head again and looks around to try to figure out who is inconveniencing it. Having figured this out it flies on towards Vanyel and Yfandes, slapping the shield very hard with its tail on the way out.

Vanyel throws a last burst of power into his shield when he sees the tail-strike on its downswing, then switches to shielding himself. And probably he should try some offensive magic before it actually reaches him. 

He's not sure levinbolts will even hurt it, given that it's surrounded by a constant bath of them, but how does it feel about a large fireball to the face? 

Singed, and apparently quite irritated about it, which it will express now that it's in range by snarling and breathing lightning at him and then swooping in to try to bite and claw at him. And at Yfandes. And at bystanders if it can find any. 

Shields, shieldhieldshield, and he also tries shoving it back with raw magical force - if he boxes it in with a barrier from above too, can it get through that...? 

It cannot, at least not immediately, though it can try to make that really inconvenient to hold by battering at it with enormous claws and wings and a tail, and it can try breathing lots more electricity, and it can snarl at him something which is definitely language but which he cannot understand, it being a local one.

Interesting. 

He tries Mindspeaking it, since Yfandes is busy. :What do you want here: 

:There is fighting going on in the lands where I usually travel. I thought I'd get something to eat and explore for somewhere new. 

You are supposed to flee screaming.:

:I would rather you not eat any of us, actually!: Wow this is not going the direction he expected. :What sorts of things can you eat? I could try to help you find livestock: 

He feels bad throwing a dragon at some poor farmer's livestock too, but it's better than having it eat people, and he's feeling a lot less in favour of killing an intelligent being who can talk to him. 

:...I can eat most human livestock: it says, baffled. :That horse looks very tasty.:

:Sorry, I'm a person and I'm his Companion, I'd rather not be eaten. Maybe my Chosen can Farsee for you and find something else for you to eat?: 

Privately: :Van, I'm going to see if the cleric-lady is done with her scroll and relay this to her: 

:Yes, of course: He focuses on the dragon. :I have a Gift that lets me see places very far away, and since I can Mindspeak with you - can all dragons Mindspeak - I could Send it to you too: 

Yfandes checks if the cleric is interruptible now. 

The cleric is interruptible and in fact interrupted just as Yfandes steps in by the sudden teleportation of three heavily armed men. 

"Dragon's out there," she says to them.

:We're talking to the dragon and negotiating if it can go elsewhere: Yfandes sends. :Van's holding it off in the meantime although if it keeps trying to get at him, he can't shield everyone forever. He'd prefer not to kill it since it's clearly an intelligent being. He wanted to try to head off the attack by sending it to eat livestock instead but he realized that's something we ought to run by the locals. And sorry I didn't talk to you sooner, we're not really supposed to but this is a situation that calls for bending some rules: 

:He - can't shield everyone forever? Can he shield everyone pretty much forever? Who is this guy?:

:If you two would like to buy peoples' livestock at a fair price to feed to the dragon I guess you can do that: says the priest, looking a little bit faint. 

:Are there injured people out there -:

:There are some sprains and maybe a few broken bones from general scuffle, they're all under the shield: Yfandes sends. :What do you accept for money here? We just landed from another world and we have some coin but it might not be the same as yours: 

Vanyel focuses on the dragon. :We're negotiating to buy you some livestock to eat. Think you could lay off my shields a bit in the meantime?: 

:I will loan dragonguy a couple thousand gold because from what I have heard so far I like him a lot.:

The dragon snorts at Vanyel and ceases trying to batter his shields down. 

Yfandes can do the negotiating while Vanyel relays to the dragon and keeps the shields very solidly in place just in case it gets impatient. 

:Thank you: she tells the man, then Broadsends to the crowd again. :Anyone want to sell us some of your livestock for a reasonable price, so we can send this dragon off?: