“Are you sure he can’t fry yours?” Spike asked, putting his arms around me from behind.
I rested my hands on his tattooed forearms, loving his solid presence at my back. “Dragon fire has never hurt me before. And I have this now.” I held up my hand, glad to see it didn’t have an eyeball in it. That little episode was weird, and probably something I should have let Tony and Jared analyze, but it was a little late for that now. I’d get to the bottom of it later, hopefully with all my body hair still attached to me and unsinged.
Footsteps interrupted our conversation and Ish appeared from among some trees. When he stopped in front of Jared, I stepped between the guys to face him.
“Othello has agreed to meet with one of you.” He looked down at me. “The one who bears the mark of the dragon.”
I held my hand up. “That’s me.” I tried to put on my brave face, but I wasn’t feeling particularly courageous at that moment. I just wanted all of this to be over so I could move on with my life. Do my duty to the fae and continue my training as their elemental Mother. I wanted to earn that moniker and do them proud. That goal was the thing that put one foot in front of the other and got me next to Ish when everything in my head was telling me to run the other direction.
“I don’t like that she’s going alone,” Spike said.
“She is not going alone. She is going with me.” Ish’s chin lifted. “I will keep her secure.”
“No offense, but you ain’t no match for a dragon,” Finn said.
Ish glared at him. “How that is not meant to offend, I am not certain. But I assure you, I know Othello well, and he is loyal to me. If I ask him not to hurt this girl, he will not hurt this girl.”
“Unless he’s hungry enough,” Finn said.
I turned to glare at him. “Would you relax? I can handle this.”
Finn shrugged. “Fine. I’m just sayin’…”
I nodded. “I hear you and I get it. But I have to do this, and you know it. So watch my back and if anything happens, get the girls to the portal, wherever it is.”
“You got it, Mother.” He put his fist to his heart and bowed.
For once I didn’t feel like punching him after hearing that.
I put my hand on Ish’s arm. “Come on, let’s go. Take me to your dragon.” I turned my head to look at my friends over my shoulder as I started walking, trying to tell them with my eyes that I was going to do the best I could and try not to piss the dragon off. All of them looked like they were saying goodbye forever. It didn’t kick up the confidence any, that was for sure. I sighed, facing front again.
Ish led me through the trees, speaking softly as we went. “When you approach, do not stare the dragon in the eye. He will take that as a sign of disrespect. Wait until you feel his acceptance before you do that.”
“Okay.” Whatever the hell that means.
“Watch out for his talons. He knows where they are and he has precise control, but he also has a sense of humor that most people would call wicked. He is not above taking a pound of flesh in jest.”
My footsteps slowed. “A pound?”
“It’s just an expression. He wouldn’t take a whole pound. Not in one slice.”
I hurried to catch up to my guide. “Nice. He sounds like a laugh riot.”
“He can be.” The softness in Ish’s voice was hard to miss. “He has been my closest companion for a long time.”
“Anyone ever tell you you need to get out more?”
He smiled. “My cousin Dalys. He says I am too dragon-centric. But I don’t know any other way to be.”
“What about a girlfriend? Don’t you want one of those?”
“I cannot have one. Not until Othello finds his mate.”
“That doesn’t seem fair. Why can’t you have one first?”
“Because. For now, I am his companion. He needs my constant attention. When he doesn’t have it, he becomes …”
“Cranky?” I offered.
“Yes.” He smiled down at me. “That is exactly what he becomes. Moods take him places sometimes that I do not understand.”
For the first time ever, I felt lucky to be Biad’s companion. She only needed me twice a year. How lucky is that? Guilt niggled the back of my mind as I compared my situation to Ish’s. Is that true? Does she only need me twice a year or would she want me to be there more often if I could be? I quickly shrugged off that line of thinking. No way in hell was I going to turn this thing into a full time gig.
The stink of sulfur got stronger as we continued on. “How did you find Othello?” I asked. “How did you know you were going to be a dragon-rider?”
“I was a very small child of five cycles the first time I saw a dragon and flew through the air.”
“Wow. That’s young. Your mother was okay with that?”
“No, she was not. But when a dragon picks you up by the short pants and takes you away, there is not much a mother can do to stop it.”
“Did he take you forever? Have you been with Othello that long?”
“No, he brought me back. But over the years I saw him more and more. Eventually I went with him and didn’t go back for a long time.”
“You ran away?”
“You could say that.” He sighed. “I did not fit in with others my age very well.”
“Huh.” I thought about that for a few seconds, hopping over some fallen branches in my way. “I guess it sucks being a teenager no matter what realm you live in.”
“It is not easy, our life here in Kenrack. There are wars, famine, promises that are not fulfilled. Sacrifice is expected of everyone. I am one of the lucky ones.”
“You said you’re a dying breed, right?”
“Yes. Dragon-riders used to be plentiful. But so many of them have been killed due to warriors killing their dragons or by their own stupidity.”
“What do you mean, their own stupidity?”
“There is much to know about being a companion to a dragon. I learned the hard way, but I survived the process. Many do not.”
My heart skipped a couple beats as I realized he could be talking about me. I had zero training. Why had I assumed it would be easy? Am I insane?
“So … this dragon know-how. Do you think you could train someone? Like, teach them everything you know?”
He shrugged. “I suppose I could. Most dragons are similar in behavior and nature. They all have their individual personalities, of course, but a dragon is a dragon.”
“I have to go be a companion to a dragon I’ve only met once. I could probably use some of that training.”
He smiled. “But you are leaving my realm.”
“Yeah, but not right away. I mean, we probably have a day or two here before we find the portal.”
He looked like he was thinking about it. The smell of sulfur started to burn my nostrils. I amped up the Earth element just a tad to keep it from getting worse. I didn’t want to block everything out, just anything wanting to hurt me. I wasn’t sure that sulfur qualified, but I wanted to have a clear head when I dealt with this beast who could take a pound of flesh out of me as some kind of sadistic joke.
“I think I would enjoy teaching you the things I have learned. You seem relatively intelligent and I can see you are eager to learn.”
I frowned. “Thanks. I think.”
He stopped walking and held out his arm to keep me from passing. “One last thing.” He turned to face me, looking down to stare into my eyes.
I looked up at him, waiting for him to continue.
“Othello is very … possessive of me. Try not to get too close, or to let him see that you admire me.”
A bigger smile than I allowed tried to sneak out. “Okaaaay. I’ll try to resist your charms as best I can.”
He seemed like he wanted to say something else too, but instead, he turned and left me standing there in the trees. I hopped up and jogged after him, not wanting to be caught out alone where a random dragon talon could snag me from above. As I rounded the corner of a pile
of boulders, a big blast of hot, egg-stinky air hit me in the face and warmed me to the core. At first, I saw nothing but smoke and steam, but then it started to dissipate and everything came into focus.
“Holyyyy shiiiiit,” I said in a panicked whisper.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I KNEW HE WAS GOING to be greenish-blue in color because I’d seen the scale in Ishmail’s hand. But seeing one scale was a lot different than seeing an entire dragon body covered in them. He reminded me of a sea monster from the bottom of a sparkling ocean in an exotic locale. The armor on his face was smaller, the scales more tightly packed together. The ones shielding his belly and sides were bigger, thicker looking. A double row of blackish-green spikes ran down his spine and finished at the end of his tail. His eyes were swirls of black and gold, the pupils vertical slits that were focused on me. Two sets of eyelids, one of the bottom and one on the top, moved toward one another, meeting in the middle slowly before opening again. His nostrils were huuuge. He could have fit two of me standing up inside those suckers.
Othello huffed a smallish puff of smoke out of both of those nostrils, and I took it as a greeting.
I held up my hand with the scale in it facing him. “Hello, there, Othello. Nice to meet you.”
He was so big, I expected his movements to be slow and deliberate; they were anything but. One second he was lounging on his elbows and knees, reminding me of a horse resting out in a pasture, and the next he was leaning in my face, his eyes narrowed and his mouth open, rows of razor-sharp teeth gaping out at me.
I am not ashamed to say that I did pee a little.
“Heeeerrrrrreeehhhh!!” The sound of a really loud train whistle exploded around my head at the same time a giant wall of flames came out to engulf me. Othello was trying to barbecue me, or possibly even cremate me. The fire coming from his mouth was green and blue like his scales, the kind of heat you see at the bottom of a fireplace — the hottest part.
The faint sound of Ish yelling his dragon’s name in a blind panic came through with the other sounds of a pissed off dragon, but I ignored it. I should have been dead, but I wasn’t. Not even close. In fact, after standing in the cool mountain air and suffering the temperature drop of the sun setting, the warmth from this fire bath was pretty nice. I smiled and rubbed my arms a little, glad to feel my circulation going back to normal.
The fire stopped all of a sudden and I was surrounded by smoke. It stunk.
“Thanks, Othello. That was nice. Except for the rotten egg finish. That I could have lived without.” I coughed to rid my lungs of the acrid smell.
His head backed up and he stared at me. I stared right back, until a movement out of the corner of my eye distracted me. Ish was crunched up into ball small enough that I considered it almost magic for his large and lanky frame; a shield made of dragon scales was over him. He was peeking out at me and whispering loudly, sounding a lot like an old lady.
“What you doing?! How are you still alive and unscathed?! Do not stare him in the eye!”
I shook my head. Now I wasn’t so sure he was the best trainer for me. He functioned under fear mode. I, on the other hand, functioned under the you-ain’t-as-tough-as-you-think-you-are mode.
I went back to staring at Othello, in the eye of course. “So … that the best you got?” I folded my arms over my chest, tapping my toe on the ground. Just to be safe, I ramped up my Earth element bubble. Please don’t let him cut me or eat me. I knew anyone watching would have considered me totally off the range, but somewhere deep inside me, something was telling me this dragon needed to see what I was made of.
Othello tipped his head back and let out a stream of fire into the sky about twenty stories high, lighting the place up like it was the middle of the day. His head swayed a little, causing the fire spout to curve to and fro, tangling around itself. I had to admit, it was pretty damn impressive. Maybe a little too impressive. My friends were going to poop their britches and then probably come running to save me. I had to stop this nonsense now.
“Hey!” I yelled, nudging him with my element to get his attention. “Othello! Knock it off!”
Apparently my Here and Now language expressions were understandable by this bad boy because the fire fountain stopped in an instant and his head swung down to face me. Slowly, slowly he lowered his head until it was even with mine. His body shifted as he turned to face me fully.
“I’m sorry, Jayne,” Ishmail said, his voice trembling. “I said I would keep you safe, but you have provoked him and now he will not be reasonable. Please accept my apologies.”
I waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got this.” I held my hand up, palm out, so Othello could see my dragon scale. “Othello, I am the companion to Biad. Flame me again, and you’re going to be sorry.”
One of his giant, scaled eyebrow bones went up and a huff of smoke came out to surround me. I waited for it to rise up and away before continuing. “And if you could keep your nostril smoke to yourself, I’d appreciate that too.”
He huffed me again.
“Or not. Whatever.” I waved my hand in front of my face a bunch of times to make it go away faster. “Anyway, I need you to tell me if you know where the portal to the Underworld is.”
His entire body lifted up as he flexed his front legs and shifted, moving so that his head was faced the other way and I was looking at the side of his neck. I looked over at Ish for guidance.
“He’s pouting,” Ish whispered.
I sighed, hanging my head. Just what I needed. A brat dragon.
I spoke louder so he’d hear me. “I hear you’re looking for a mate, Othello.”
His tale stopped swishing, so I figured I had his attention.
“I know some dragons. Chick ones. Cute chick ones.” I held up my hand. “This scale comes from one of them.” I wasn’t going to include the fact that she already had a companion in the Underworld with her; he was dead, after all. Maybe Othello didn’t know he existed. Maybe dragons could have more than one mate, like a dead one and a not dead one. I figured it was worth a shot.
His head tilted in my direction.
“I could put a good word in for ya.”
His wings opened up, surprising the crap out of me. I ducked, my arms flying up to cover my face, which was silly. Either the Green bubble was going to help me or it wasn’t; no amount of duck and cover was going to change the effect.
Othello was there, and then he wasn’t, his giant, muscled legs launching him up into the sky with one leap. I watched him follow a flight path up to the top of his mountain until he became a speck in the night sky, the tiny flames from his mouth making him easy to track until some clouds got in the way.
Slowly, Ish stood, his dragon scale shield dropping to his side. He was staring at me with the weirdest expression on his face.
“So … that went well.” I tried to smile.
When he started to talk, the words didn’t exactly come out. He had to clear his throat a couple times before his voice would work properly. “You … you … errhh … you consider that to have gone well?”
I shrugged. “I’m still alive, right? I consider that a win, sure.”
“Is it okay to come over?” came Tim’s voice from somewhere behind me.
“Yeah!” I yelled. “Othello’s gone!”
First I heard Tim’s wings, and then the rest of my friends traipsing through the dried leaves and pinecones on the ground.
“We saw a lot of fire and smoke,” Scrum said. “You look okay, though.”
I patted him on the back. “Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.”
Scrum was confused. “Thank you?”
Something about facing down a dragon and surviving it put me in a good mood. I slapped my hands together and rubbed them. “So, what’s next?”
“Did you find anything out from the dragon that could help us?” Jared asked.
I shook my head. “Nope. Not a thing, other than he definitely does not like being looked in the eye.”
/>
“I tried to tell her that before she arrived, but she didn’t listen.”
“Welcome to our world,” Finn said, grinning. “The one where the girl supposed to be the Mother of the entire race don’t listen to a dang thing she’s told.” I reached out to punch him but he jumped out of reach. “Keeps life interesting, that’s for sure.” He ran over to stand behind Becky.
I shook my head. “Nice. Hiding behind a water sprite. New lows, Finn. New lows.”
He shrugged. “Hey, I ain’t low. I’m smart. I know very well you won’t touch her.”
I zapped him in the butt from behind with a spark of New Green power, getting the distinct impression the element enjoyed being used for that purpose. Finn yelped, leaped a foot in the air, and then spun around. “Who’s there?” he hissed.
Becky started giggling and then she fell into snorting, shaking her head.
Finn turned back toward me, his gaze narrowing. “You did that? From over there?”
I shrugged. “Maybe it was a fae with powers of invisibility biting your butt.”
Finn looked over his shoulder suspiciously, but I left him alone after that. Let him wonder what snapped his ass, stupid green elf. It would give his brain something to be occupied with rather than focusing on advertising my failings to our new friend.
Ish was still staring at me, and it was starting to get uncomfortable. “So where’d he go?” I asked, trying to distract him from whatever was going through his mind.
“He … he is going to his cave.”
“Does that mean he’s done talking to me?”
Ish shook his head slowly. “I do not know. He could be shunning you, he could be merely resting in the place he finds most comfortable. There is no way for me to know.”
“Don’t you talk to your dragon?”
“Not in the way you and I speak, but we communicate, yes.”
“But Othello doesn’t speak English.”
“What is English?”
Oh boy. “English is the language you’re speaking right now.”
“No, it is not. I am speaking Futhark.”
I looked over at Tony. “Sound familiar?”