The next morning, Jacinth and Theo brought Xander to Damon’s place. Xander’s energy seemed to have returned. He explored as they went, lifting up rocks to watch the spiders scatter out from under them and rustling bushes to see if any animals would come out. He started to shuffle up a tree to examine a bird’s nest, but Jacinth asked him to keep up.
When they reached their destination and Damon set eyes on Theo, he looked as though something was wrong.
“What?” Theo asked him.
“You’ve accepted the firesap,” he uttered with a calculating look on his face.
“Yes…” she said, cocking her head. “How did you know?”
Damon shook his head. “Never mind that,” he replied. “Why did you do it?”
Theo laughed. “Why not do it? Besides, I’ve been a dragon this long…Thought I might as well breathe fire like them.” As she said this, the drowned hatchling again flashed before her eyes, making her question her decision.
Damon gave no response but looked perturbed, which bothered Theo somewhat, knowing that he was more educated on the matter than she.
Pushing her doubts aside, she stood by as Jacinth led Xander forward.
“Wizard,” Jacinth greeted. “This is Xander.”
“I’ve heard about him,” Damon replied carelessly.
Xander stared around at Damon’s abode. “You actually live here?” he asked, excited. Peering in through the doorway, he let out an exclamation and welcomed himself in. “Whoa!” he laughed from inside. “You really are a wizard! You’ve got a cauldron and…whatever this thing is…And this!”
He eagerly began rummaging through Damon’s belongings. Jacinth didn’t seem to know that Xander was being rude, because she didn’t call him back out. Damon didn’t seem to mind, anyway.
“Did you tell the Wizard how you actually cooked meat for Xander?” Jacinth asked Theo.
Damon gave Theo a disapproving look. “Roasting what the boy consumes with your fire could cause multiple magics to fuse, resulting in an end product unknown to you,” he lectured. “An unfamiliar magical compound could have any effect on him for all you know, perhaps of little or no harm, but in the most severe cases it could be fatal.”
Theo stared at him like he was insane. Then, seeing that he was by all means serious, she looked away. “He looks fine to me,” she grumbled.
“It would appear he’s alright, this time,” Damon confirmed. “Still, I would advise you to not prepare his meals again. Instead, let him come to me. I’m not opposed to sharing with another human, and that way you wouldn’t have to worry about his well-being concerning what he should and should not eat.”
Theo sighed. His offer was reasonable, she had to admit. In fact, it solved all their problems. “Fine,” she gave in and abruptly left.
“Thank you, Wizard,” Jacinth said to him and went to join Theo, summoning Xander.
“Now, Xander,” Jacinth said, as the boy raced to catch up. “The Wizard is kind enough to share his meals with you, so when you get hungry, feel free to come here.”
“Oh!” Xander obviously liked the idea. “Maybe then I could see him do- You know. Whatever he does that makes him a wizard.”
“He makes potions,” Theo clarified for him.
“Oh right, I saw his cauldron,” Xander remembered. Then, looking disappointed, he said, “But I didn’t see any newt eyes or crow hearts…”
Theo smiled. I’ve found quite a few fairy tales to be false, myself.
“Hey,” Xander breathed, eyes widening as though something had just dawned on him. “Is the princess here? Did she run away to be Princess of the Dragons, or something?”
“Uh…” Jacinth looked to Theo.
Theo tried not to laugh as she said, “Yeah, she’s here alright.”
Xander’s eyes fluttered with amazement. “Am I going to meet her?” he asked.
Theo’s heart was warmed to see the child full of awe at the thought of meeting her. “We’ll see,” she answered.
Just then, Aspen hailed them, coming out of the trees. “Hello, Friends!”
She crouched playfully in front of Xander. “You must be Xander. You’re the talk of the whole forest- did you know that?”
“Um,” Xander scratched his head. “No, I didn’t know the trees talked here, too.”
Aspen laughed loudly at Xander’s joke and he grinned.
“Xander, this is Aspen,” Jacinth introduced her. “You’ll probably be seeing her quite frequently at Damon’s place.”
“Isn’t ‘aspen’ the name of a tree?” he asked.
“It is!” Aspen was eager to answer. “I named myself that because, when I was a hatchling, I picked an aspen tree to climb. I could show you it if you want.”
“Sounds good,” Xander agreed. “Maybe I can climb it, too.”
Aspen grinned. “I’ll bet you can’t.”
“Challenge accepted!” Xander shot back, looking hopefully to Jacinth. “Can I?”
“Yes, you may,” Jacinth said. Looking to Aspen she added, “Just let me know when he tires you out.”
Aspen laughed. “Not a problem!” Then she dared Xander to a race and they disappeared, crashing into the forest.
Jacinth shook her head. “A total frisk.”
Chapter 16