“Yes. You’ll deal with—whatever that is?”
“If I need help, I’ll call you back in. I think we can still contain it.”
That was her assessment as well, but Mei Li didn’t have much in the way of practical experience. Most of her knowledge was from books. She carefully scooped the egg up and cradled it against her stomach before stepping back as far as the room would allow. As she moved, she felt something liquid draining out against her hand and swore. “I feel the crack.”
Dolan paused in reaching for the objects and looked sharply over his shoulder. “How bad?”
Running her fingers exploratorily along the bottom, she prodded at it. Her stomach twisted into a knot and sank. “It runs almost the length of the egg, and large enough to stick fingers inside.”
“Rot their hides.” Dolan ran a hand through his brown hair.
Mei Li popped her head back out the door, still cradling the egg, and asked the two dragons waiting, “What can we do?”
“We need a warm space to let the baby hatch,” Rone answered, stretching her neck out enough that she could get a good look. “She’s very close as it is. I’ll find us an inn. Here, let me change, then give her to me.”
Rone would know far better than she on what to do. Mei Li waited until Rone assumed human form, and then gratefully handed the egg over. Embryotic liquid covered Mei Li’s hands and skirts now but she didn’t let it bother her. She still had the other problem to deal with.
As she turned to go back inside, Mei Li passed a glance over the three prostrate men. Shunlei still glared down at them like he was tempted to smite them then and there. Technically, he would be within his rights to do so. Human law allowed dragons to punish anyone stupid enough to steal dragon children. It spoke of Shunlei’s restraint that he would choose to speak with human authorities first.
“Mei Li?”
That didn’t sound good. She quickly ducked back inside. Dolan stood in the center of the room with a carved quartz dagger displayed in both hands. It was beautifully done, the craftsmanship sharp and exquisite. It also reeked of dark magic so much it churned her stomach.
Dolan stared at it with a perfectly blank expression. “What is this?”
Mei Li racked her brain but couldn’t think of a single record that spoke of a quartz dagger. “Nothing comes to mind,” she answered slowly, a budding thought occurring. “But isn’t there a range of mining in the Summer Wind Mountains? Quartz comes from there.”
“They make talismans and such from it,” Dolan answered, also looking down at it with new eyes. “The temple up there carves and sells them. It’s one of their services to protect people from ghosts and the like. You think this was meant to be an exorcism dagger?”
“Perhaps? If so, the craftsmanship wasn’t completed. The dagger shape is right, but the necessary seals and wardings aren’t carved into the blade.”
“So it just sucked in whatever energy it was exposed to. Lovely.” Dolan audibly ground his teeth together. “I hate people some days. I’ll bet you anything these idiots snuck in and grabbed an unfinished product. Explains why there’s two of them. The other one’s thankfully clean, though; I did check.”
At least there was that. “How do you want to proceed?”
“Can’t do a proper cleansing, not here. I need fire for that. Seal it until I can get to the inn, then borrow a brazier and their back yard?”
“It’s as sound a plan as any. Alright, let me seal it. I’ve got the talismans, after all.”
Mei Li pulled the correct one out and smacked it against the dagger’s hilt, her other hand lifted in a two-finger manner. Calling on her magic, she felt the burst of warmth deep in her chest and zing down her arm as she directed its flow. With a sharp gesture, she touched the talisman with her magic, strengthening the magic already in the talisman. It snapped into place with an audible hum, wrapping around the dagger in a light glow. The waves of black magic flowing out of the dagger immediately ceased and the stench died down to something her nose could ignore.
If her nose were still operational. It had stopped working some minutes ago in self-preservation.
Dolan slapped his own magic onto it, calling upon fire, to lay another coating onto the seal. “Just in case. I don’t want it affecting the people around us.”
Nodding in understanding, she led the way back out and stared at the three thieves in disgust. Really, there should be a cap on stupidity. Stealing from temples and dragons? Were they suicidal?
“Where did the egg come from?” Shunlei’s voice rumbled with menace.
One of the men might have wet himself. The other pressed his nose further into the icy ground. Only the man in the middle dared to answer, and he was shaking like a leaf in the wind. “W-we saw it o-on the temple gr-grounds. W-we don’t know where it came from before that.”
Mei Li looked to Shunlei for an answer but he seemed perplexed as well. If a dragon child was missing, he’d surely have heard about it. Dragons rarely gave birth—only once or twice in their lifetime. Children were infinitely precious and closely safeguarded. To have one just missing was unfathomable. Had a young couple gotten into some sort of trouble and stopped at the temple for aid? It was the only plausible explanation she could think of for a dragon’s egg to be that far south. Summer Wind Temple was on the far end of the continent, the opposite side of Dragon’s Peak.
It was a question for later.
Dolan announced, “I’ll call for the guard and escort them back here. I’ll find some place to deal with this, if I can’t immediately figure out where Rone went,” Dolan added, already moving out of the pen. “I’ll send word if I need you, Mei Li.”
“I’ll handle things here,” she promised, also moving out of the pen. She needed the materials out of her bag to make talismans to deal with this mess. The logistics of dealing with this new problem ran through her head as she walked, and she mentally groaned.
A lost baby dragon was exactly an issue they didn’t need.
It took a good hour to sort things out and make it to the inn. Dolan went for the city guard to handle their thieves. The three imbeciles were easy enough to turn over, but someone who was magically knowledgeable had to sort through their inventory just in case they’d stolen other things they shouldn’t have—which, in fact, they had: three exorcism seals, two other quartz daggers, and a sealed malevolent spirit with a leaking container. Which explained where the dark magic had come from.
Mei Li sealed the lot of it, then packed it up so it could be moved safely. Anything that had the Temple’s seal she arranged to have shipped back to them. The malevolent spirit she sent to the local temple with strict instructions on how to completely exorcise it.
Rone sent word to the city guards’ building where she was to be found. Tired, dirty, and covered in things she didn’t want to think about, Mei Li was grateful to finally go to the inn. Shunlei diverted from her side long enough to collect their luggage, then they both walked to Flower Inn.
“Well. Today did not go as planned.” Shunlei’s tone was a study in deadpanned understatement.
Mei Li rolled her eyes and sighed a year of sighs. “I don’t think a kidnapped baby dragon in need of a rescue was anywhere on our schedule, no. But we can’t drag the poor thing out in the cold the same day it’s hatched. Although I do worry about the Sea Walls. They’re in bad shape already.”
“A day either way won’t make much difference,” he reassured her. “And I want to secure supplies and check the hatchling over at the very least before we try to move on. I hope Dolan had the sense to try sending word to Summer Wind Temple, see if they do indeed know who the parents are.”
Mei Li shot him a look from the corner of her eye. He didn’t openly fidget, but his mouth was compressed in an unhappy line. He looked perturbed, the wheels spinning in his mind. “It disturbs you, that you didn’t hear about a child lost.”
“I know Dragon’s Peak is somewhat removed from the world, but�
�.” He trailed off with a dissatisfied grunt. “I thought my intelligence relayed information better than this. A child especially should have been of the highest priority news.”
“Weather delaying it?” Mei Li offered. “We’ve had some wicked bad storms recently.”
“It might well be that. I’ll look into it. You were alright sharing space with Dolan?”
“We managed fine. It was kind of nice, actually, he helped keep the space warmer.” Mei Li decided to keep the bit about her and Dolan’s skulls almost meeting on several occasions to herself.
Shunlei looked both relieved and disgruntled. It was an interesting reaction she couldn’t quite decipher. She honestly had no idea what he was disgruntled about—she’d been the one cramped in with a relative stranger. Not to say Dolan hadn’t been a perfect gentleman and a good travel companion. He’d been quite easy-going, really. It had just been a little awkward squished in with him.
Shaking off the thought, she stepped onto the porch of a quaint inn that stood barely two stories. Shunlei paused at the porch and changed forms, shifting the carriers and bags off of himself in the process. Mei Li helped him, shivering, and cursing the straps because they were trying to freeze up again. With that sorted, she grabbed three bags and hauled them inside, wanting very much to be out of the cold and into a bath as quickly as possible.
They barely got a foot inside the main door when the master, a stout man with a greying beard, met them with a wide smile. “Master Dragon, Miss Mage, I’ve been told to look out for you. I’m Ji Lin. It’s a joyous thing, seeing a dragon born under my roof. She’s quite lovely.”
“She’s well, then? Out?” Mei Li asked anxiously.
“Oh yes, and has a good pair of lungs on her. Here, come, come, I’ll escort you. I gave you rooms on the ground floor, near the kitchens and bathing rooms. Warmer down there, better for the little one.” He chattered as he moved, taking one of the bags from Shunlei to help offset the burden, then turned, still speaking over his shoulder. “The missus found an old swaddling blanket in storage, something our own daughter used, and the hatchling seems to like that fine. She settled right down with it—that and some warmed goat’s milk. Sweet thing she is, never seen eyes so green. Like staring at a primeval forest.”
Mei Li cast a quick glance around her as she listened to him, getting her bearings. The front of the inn offered a dining space with a front counter off to the side to receive guests. Few were here, but then, most didn’t travel during the winter months. The space was clean and well-kept and that was the important part. Ji Lin seemed anxious to be a good host to three dragons, so they wouldn’t lack for service.
The back of the inn was noisy with the kitchens in full swing, and steamy because of the baths. The two rooms down here were likely meant for servants or for when the inn was chock full. Still, the room he led them into was large enough for two to comfortably sleep, and it was as clean as the rest of the place. Rone sat on the edge of one of the beds, her back against the dark wood headboard, cradling a small bundle in her arms.
Shunlei set the bags down and scooted past so he could lean over and get his own look at the newborn. “She’s healthy?”
“Smaller than she should be,” Rone replied with a grimace. “And a little weak. But perfectly formed and healthy enough, considering. I think with proper nourishment and time she’ll be fine.”
Mei Li leaned around Shunlei’s shoulder to get her own look. The hatchling was a creamy white, the normal color for newborns. She wouldn’t change in color until she was five years old, and then she’d become a bright shade of yellow. She had a narrow snout, fine bone structure flaring over her eyes, and two delicate ridges on her forehead that might be horns—eventually. She was, in fact, utterly adorable, and Mei Li just wanted to poke her.
The baby dragon blinked up at them curiously, revealing those green eyes the innkeeper had mentioned. Peridot couldn’t rival them. She’d be quite lovely when she grew up.
Rone interrupted their study by asking plaintively, “Will you take her? I want to clean up and change.”
Shunlei promptly held out his hands and Rone carefully transferred the hatchling into his arms. She stirred, her small snout poking out of the blanket and prodding at this new person. The hatchling’s creamy skin was in stark contrast to the dark ebony of Shunlei’s, a juxtaposition of colors, much like the expression on Shunlei’s face. He seemed both happy to have the child safely in hand and equally livid that she’d needed rescuing in the first place. Shunlei thrummed, low and soothing, and the hatchling immediately settled again with a content sigh and smack of the lips. Mei Li couldn’t understand the thrums—she could barely hear the tones of them—but she’d swear that one was a lullaby. Or the dragon equivalent.
The Master of All Dragons looked strangely comfortable with a hatchling in his arms. How many had he held over the years? It made Mei Li wonder. She’d read once in an account that in the early days, when Shunlei was still red, he would take in any orphaned dragon and raise it. It was more common then, to find orphaned dragons, and she understood that a good number of the dragons living today were ones he’d taken in.
Sensing her stare, Shunlei looked up with a faint smile. “I can watch her if you and Rone want to take a bath first. I’ll confer with Dolan once he’s back from the city guard, see if we can figure out where her parents are. Either Summer Wind Temple or Dragon’s Peak should know. Hopefully we’ll have an answer before you’re out.”
She looked down at herself—her grimy and sticky self—and grimaced. “Probably best I don’t touch her until I’m clean. Alright, let’s take the babysitting in shifts, then. Master Ji Lin, perhaps an early lunch for us?”
“Of course, of course,” the innkeeper assured her, backing out of the room to give them space. “I’ll have it started.”
“Thank you.”
Mei Li went about pulling dirty clothes out of her bags—leaving her only one clean outfit left in the bag. She’d have to ask someone to do laundry for her after lunch. They were obviously stranded here for the rest of the day until they could come up with proper arrangements to fly with the baby.
For now, warm water and soap were singing to her from across the hallway. She and Rone wasted no time in entering the room, then sighing in bliss to have hot steam waft across their skin. Hot baths in the dead of winter truly were lovely. And this room was set up with two large wooden tubs that connected in an L-shape, yuzu bobbing gently along the top of the water.
Mei Li stripped without compunction, put her clean clothes on top of the low shelf near the door, and went to the side where a bucket, soaps, and wash water waited. She got the filth off her first, then wrapped her hair up in a pin and tucked it in a high bun. Only then did she climb into the large tub and sink into it with a sigh of pure bliss. “Perfection.”
Rone mirrored her action perfectly, taking up the other side and also sighed in happiness. “I found a good inn.”
“That you did.” Mei Li propped her small hand-towel behind her head as a makeshift pillow and leaned against the side of the tub, utterly relaxing. After the stress of the morning, she deserved to lay here and do nothing for an hour.
For several minutes there was silence, then Rone stirred slightly, the water rippling around her. “Why did Shunlei say he’d contact Summer Wind Temple as well as Dragon’s Peak?”
“Hmm? Oh, right, you’d left with the hatchling before that point. The thieves said they’d found the egg at the temple and stole it along with the quartz daggers.”
Mei Li didn’t open her eyes but she could hear the other woman’s confusion. “Summer Wind Temple? Why would an egg be there?”
“My guess? A young couple got into trouble of some sort and went there for safe haven. Only thing that makes sense to me.”
“I would think the Temple Monks would do a better job at guarding an egg.”
“Well, I would too, and yet here we sit.”
“Truly. Then agai
n, you’d know personally how wrong things can go.”
Mei Li snorted darkly. “Yes, quite. In this case, it’ll be a happy-ever-after since we found the baby in time. I can’t believe those idiots didn’t at least wrap her in a fur, and they packed two quartz daggers next to her in the same crate, to boot. No wonder the shell cracked.”
“We’re lucky the energy of that dagger didn’t disrupt her. I’ve seen humans develop malformities due to dark magic.”
“Now that’s a pleasant thought.” One she didn’t want to dwell on, either. “Rone, how are we going to transport her? We can’t leave her here.”
“No, of course not, only we know how to care for her. And Shunlei won’t hand her over to anyone short of her parents, I know that for a fact. She’s so little…do you think we can strap her to your chest, or Dolan’s, and have her ride with you?”
Mei Li opened her eyes and turned her head just enough to look at Rone. “I don’t know. It’s pretty tight in there as it is. We can try it?”
“I just don’t want to put her in a separate carrier by herself. She’ll get chilled easily without another’s body heat. And it’s a long trip for a newborn to make.”
That was a good point. Mei Li supposed no matter the species, babies were babies. “Won’t we need to bring bottles along with us for her, too?”
“And nappies, we’ll need those for traveling, and an extra blanket in case she soils that one, and—” Rone groaned, a sigh mixed in. “Hatchlings require a great deal. I suppose after lunch, I should go buy a few things to tide us over.”
“Probably best. I want my clothes sent to laundry, as I’m down to one dress, but I’ll accompany you after that.”
“That’s a good idea. Might as well clean things while we have the chance.” Rone’s expression turned enigmatic and she spoke slowly, each word building a path forward. “Speaking of cleaning things….”
Mei Li eyed her warily in return. She might not like what the other said next. “Yeees?”
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