That was very good, she remarked afterward as she sat back on her haunches, licking her lips. From her belly, a soft gurgling sound could clearly be heard, and she burped.
Oh! she said, looking suddenly to Aeron.
They all laughed.
“Never you mind about that,” Aeron told her, still smiling. “Was it enough food?”
I think so. I am not hungry anymore.
“Perfect!” Aeron said. He grabbed the end of the towel and carried it to the passage. As he walked, he looked over his shoulder and said, “Willem, can you bring a lantern?”
“Oh, sure,” Willem replied and ran over with one.
Anaya and Sharrah followed.
Scrubbing a towel clean was a lot harder than Aeron thought it would be. He worked the towel in the water, trying to rinse out as much of the blood and remaining small pieces of meat as he could. Several little fish swam around snapping up the smaller bits as they floated away. He watched them for a few seconds.
Everywhere, he realized, things found a niche they could survive in. Even in a slow, underground creek, tiny little fish squeezed out a life on what they could. What would Aeron’s niche be? And how could he fit Anaya into it? He still had no ideas as of yet.
Anaya walked up from behind him and had a drink. He watched her lapping up water, a soft smile on his lips. He wasn’t sure how, but he was going to find a way. He returned to working on the towel.
He used some of the course sand at the edge of the water to help scrub the towel, hoping it would help. And it did, a little. Squatting at the edge of the water was making his legs start to cramp, however, and one foot was falling asleep.
“I will never again dismiss out of hand the work the people at the laundry do,” Aeron said, standing up and stretching.
“Not so easy after all?” Sharrah asked, only a slight smirk on her face.
“Not easy at all,” Aeron agreed. He pulled the towel out of the water and, leaning over so as not to splash himself too badly, wrung it out. “I think this is as good as I am going to be able to get it.”
Can we play in the water?
Aeron looked at Anaya and smiled, I wish I could, but we can’t get wet. We’re going back to the fair.
Fair?
It’s a gathering of people to buy and sell things and to eat and drink and see performances and maybe dance and sing.
That sounds fun, she said, glumly.
The sadness in her voice pierced his heart. He reached over and hugged her. I wish you could come, I truly do.
“What’s wrong?” Willem asked.
“She wanted us to play in the water with her. I told her we couldn’t because we were going to go back to the fair. When I told her what a fair is, she said it sounded fun and was sad she couldn’t go with us.”
“Even though we can’t get wet,” Sharrah began, “we can watch you play in the water, Anaya.”
“Sure,” Willem said. “Show us what you do when you are playing in the water. Do you have any tricks you do?”
Anaya looked at them and then, questioningly, at Aeron.
“Go ahead,” he said, patting her side. “Have some fun!”
She rumbled her happy, not-quite-purring noise and rubbed her head and side against Aeron as she headed out into the water. Aeron raised the lantern up high so they could see her.
I think I am far enough away, she told Aeron. She then glanced back at them, raised her wings up a bit, and plunged through the water toward the other end of the passage with a great deal of speed. A rather large amount of water splashed up from her and they could hear her happy rumbling sounds as she tore down the passage. Suddenly she jumped up into the air, rolled over and landed in the water on her back and wings, sending an enormous splash of water along the walls and up into the ceiling.
Aeron was impressed and laughed and cheered loudly. Willem and Sharrah joined in, cheering and clapping for her.
Anaya spent quite a few minutes wreaking enthusiastic havoc on the water hallway. Soon enough, however, she grew tired and returned to them, panting, but clearly pleased with herself.
“That was amazing!” Willem crowed, a large smile on his face.
“Yes it was,” Aeron agreed. He reached out and gave Anaya’s neck a loving stroke.
“I was quite impressed with her power. She can jump pretty high,” Sharrah said.
I can jump higher, Anaya boasted to Aeron. But I do not have much room in the passageway, and I want to stay clear of the ceiling with my wings.
“She says she can probably jump even higher, she’s just worried about her wings and the ceiling,” Aeron said.
“That makes sense,” Sharrah replied. “And speaking of wings, I’m curious when she will be able to fly.”
“Yeah,” Aeron said. “This morning I told her we could start practicing soon.”
“Ah, yes, out on top,” Sharrah said, nodding. “The sinkhole is far enough away that I don’t see how anyone from the Caer would be able to see her learning to fly out there. It’s perfect.”
“I definitely want to join you for some of that,” Willem said. “To see a dragon flying close up? Yeah, I’ll be there.”
Aeron laughed. “Sure, I’ll let you guys know when.”
“Can we do another checkup on Anaya?” Sharrah asked.
“You want to do that daily?” Aeron looked at her, brows raised.
“Good data is important,” she replied. “Especially when Anaya is young. Like I said before, I think there will be more changes now, and there will eventually come a time where there won’t be much growth anymore. I’d like to capture as much of the rapid growth data as I can.”
“Well, okay,” Aeron said. We’re going to do the measuring again, he said to Anaya.
Measuring!
Aeron grabbed the towel, still wet and considerably grimy, and began walking back to the cavern, holding it a bit away from himself. “I wish I knew the cleaning spell,” Aeron muttered aloud. “Cleaning this would have been a snap.”
“Perhaps you can ask Master Doronal about it?” Willem suggested, walking beside him.
“I think I just might,” Aeron remarked.
They used their three lanterns, along with the others they had earlier left in the cavern for the purpose, to form a circle again, and Sharrah grabbed her notebook and measure tape from her satchel. The next several minutes were spent repeating the measurements from before, Sharrah dutifully jotting them all down along with her notes.
Anaya opened her mouth in a long yawn.
Are we done? I would like to go back to my bed now, she said, turning to Aeron.
“Ah, she’s getting sleepy,” Sharrah said, having seen the rather big yawn. “Luckily, we are done.” She gave Anaya a pat on her shoulder. “Thank you for letting me record these measurements, I really appreciate it.”
Sharrah is welcome, Anaya told Aeron.
“She says you’re welcome,” he relayed, a crooked smile on his face. “Alright,” he told Anaya, squatting beside the young dragon, “I’ll see you in the morning. Have a good night,” and he hugged her.
Good night. Anaya headed into the passage and was gone.
Aeron stared at the empty passage entrance and sighed. He hated leaving her in the caverns, alone. Soon, though, maybe she could be in the Caer with him. He stood and turned around.
Willem and Sharrah were closing the shields on the extra lanterns they had gathered up. Aeron collected his things, slung his satchel over his shoulder and grabbed the rather grubby towel by a corner. “I guess I will leave this by the narrows so I can use it again in the morning.”
“That towel is so disgusting,” Sharrah said as she gathered her own items.
“If Aeron can get the cleaning spell, it won’t be bad at all,” Willem noted as they headed back.
When they got to the narrow section, Aeron left the towel a few feet into the narrows so it could be retrieved easily, but not be seen from the walkway. “There,” he said. “Perfect.”
“You should wash your hands and the bowl now,” Sharrah said, eyeing them with a faint look of disgust.
“Hmm,” Aeron replied. “You’re probably right.”
So, after a quick stop at the magic hall water closet, Aeron dropped the bowl off at his room and they headed back to the fairgrounds. It was now near sunset, and the sunlight had taken on a reddish hue. The street lamp crews were rotating all the lamps to their night setting. Each of them created a diffuse circle of light on the street below, which would seem to get brighter as night approached.
The streets were filled once again with people making their way out to the fair. Being the first night, there would be dancing in the central courtyard between the tents and booths. It wasn’t a formal dance, those were usually held in the main hall of The Residence, but it was dancing, and many a couple, old and young, were making their way to the fair precisely for that. None of the three friends were dating anyone, however, so other accommodations would be made.
“I’ll have a dance with you, if you want,” Aeron said to Sharrah as he watched a couple walking ahead of them. Aeron secretly enjoyed dancing, but he didn’t want anyone to know that he enjoyed it.
“Oh, good!” she said. “And don’t think you’re getting out of a dance,” she told Willem. “Or three. Both of you are going to dance with me tonight.”
Willem sighed. “Fine, fine.” He shot Aeron a crooked grin.
In the distance, they could hear music that the band was playing. Sharrah picked up the pace. She wanted to get there before all the tables near the dance area were taken.
They arrived just in time. The table they sat at only had four open chairs, and there were only two more tables with open chairs at them, neither of which had more than two chairs available.
“Perfect!” Sharrah exclaimed as she sat down.
“Hey, guys!” Cheddar was making his way over.
“Hey, Cheddar,” Aeron said.
“Cheddar,” Willem nodded at him, smiling.
“Hi,” Sharrah said, smiling. “Are you here with anyone?”
“Nah,” he replied. “I just saw you, uh, the three of you, and thought I would say hello.”
“Well,” she said, “there’s another chair here. Want to join us?”
“Sure!” he replied, smiling at her as he sat down with them.
“She didn’t warn you,” Aeron intoned, his voice filled with dread, “but . . . there will be dancing required of you.”
They all chuckled, and Cheddar said, “Not a problem.”
“I’ll get the first round,” Willem announced, standing. “What’ll you all have? And yes, Aeron, I know. Coconut.” He smiled at Aeron.
Aeron laughed.
“Cherry for me,” Sharrah said.
“Are you sure?” Cheddar asked Willem.
“They’re only fifty mill. And besides, we’re all going to be getting rounds eventually, I’m sure.”
“Golden,” Cheddar said. “Then I shall have Sarsapa root.”
“Nice,” Willem said. “I’ll be right back.” He hooked his satchel over the back of his chair and headed off to a drink booth, several of which lined the courtyard. Some sold alcoholic beverages, and some, like the one Willem was in line for, sold non-alcoholic drinks.
Above the courtyard, suspended quite beautifully on ropes or lines of some sort, were many large lightglobes. Hanging at multiple levels and in somewhat of a spiral pattern, not only did they provide light for the courtyard and dance floor, they also added a nice dramatic element as well. Aeron looked around the plaza and the tables surrounding it and smiled. He really enjoyed this part of the fairs and, it seemed, so did many others. He could see several excited faces around the tables laughing and talking animatedly, everyone waiting for the first dance to start.
“So,”Aeron said, turning to Cheddar, “heard anything interesting lately?” Cheddar always seemed to have bits of news to tell.
“Actually,” and he leaned in a little closer, “I hear someone from your craft hall,” and he nodded to Aeron, “just returned from an investigation.”
“Oh?” Aeron said. “Who?”
“Adept Millinith.”
“I’ve heard of her but never met her.”
“I’m not surprised. She always seems to be in and out of the Caer on various assignments. Well,” and he leaned in even closer, “I heard she is investigating nahual!”
Aeron raised his brows and paled slightly.
“Really?” Sharrah asked. “Why would they send someone from the Magic Craft Hall?”
“My, this must be interesting. You’re all just about bumping heads.” Willem placed their drinks on the table and sat down, smiling. “What’s going on?” he whispered.
Cheddar quickly caught him up. “And,” the apprentice archivist said, “she stopped by at Cotter’s Grove earlier this month. More recently, she went to Summer Creek.”
“Where’s Summer Creek?” Sharrah asked.
“It’s near Caer Delcimaar,” Cheddar replied. “Apparently there was a nahual attack at Summer Creek two weeks ago. She went there to investigate.”
“That’s two in one month,” Aeron said, a worried look on his face.
“Well, we wouldn’t have known about it if Cheddar wasn’t so good at finding things out,” Sharrah said with a quick smile for the archive apprentice. “Who’s to say that’s not normal?”
“Still,” Willem said, also somewhat worried.
“At any rate, she got back here this afternoon,” Cheddar said. “And along with Master Doronal and Master Canneth, she had a long meeting with Lord Baronel.”
“Well,” Aeron said, “it’s good to know that something is being done about nahual.”
“I can’t speak as to whether anything’s actually being done,” Cheddar admitted, “because I don’t know what the meeting was about. But it does seem as if they are at least investigating them.”
“You have to know your enemy to fight him,” Willem said.
“Or her,” Sharrah agreed.
Aeron took a swallow of his drink. “Thanks for this.”
Willem nodded absently in reply, still thinking about nahual.
Their contemplation of the news was interrupted as a man ran up from behind the band and addressed the crowd.
“Alright ladies and gentlemen,” the man paused and raised his eyebrows dramatically, “and those of you who aren’t ladies, or gentlemen.” The crowd laughed and he grinned. “The first dance of the night begins now!” And with that announcement, the band started playing.
“Yes!” Sharrah quickly took off her coat, grabbed Aeron by the arm, and ran for the floor. Aeron had to quickly remove his coat and toss it to Willem, who caught it, laughing.
Aeron recognized the song, and thus knew which dance went with it, so he placed his left hand on Sharrah’s waist and his right on her shoulder, and she did the same. They listened for a second to the music to get the beat and then began.
Not all the steps in this dance were complicated, but some were and there were enough transitions to make it interesting. Before he knew it, his body was moving to the rhythm of the song almost of its own accord. He really enjoyed dancing to music, flowing along with it. It’s almost like working with magic, he thought. Sharrah was smiling at him, and he smiled back. She was a very good dancer, and it was great fun to dance with her.
Around and around the dance floor they spun, stepping in time to the music. Aeron saw Samuel and his girlfriend twirl by, and he shot them a grin and a nod. The magic adept smiled at Aeron and Sharrah, but the music and the dance quickly carried them away, which was just as well, because Aeron had to pay attention to the somewhat complicated footwork required for the next few dance steps.
Much too soon for Aeron, the song ended, though he was happy to take a breather. He and Sharrah clapped for the band along with everyone else before making their way back to the table.
“Wow,” Cheddar said, a huge smile on his face, “You two were great!”
“Aw, I wouldn’t go that far,” Aeron said, waving his hand as he sat down. “It was fun though!” He smiled and sipped on his drink.
The next song started. Sharrah turned to Willem, a challenge in her eyes. Willem laughed, took her hand and they were off for the floor. Aeron and Cheddar cheered them on good-naturedly. Willem was a little stiff at the start, Aeron noticed. After a trip around the floor, however, he loosened up and they danced quite well. They quick-stepped and whirled along with the other dancers, almost all of them moving in unison.
“Whew!” Willem said as he fell into his chair afterward. “That was some work, but fun too!” He grabbed his glass and drank half his drink.
Sharrah laughed as she sat down. “It is fun, isn’t it?” She took a sip of her drink. “I never understood why so many boys and men don’t like to dance.”
“It’s fear,” Cheddar said.
“Fear?” Sharrah furrowed her brow in confusion.
“Sure. If they aren’t confident of their dancing ability, they fear looking the fool in front of everyone.”
“Hmm. I never thought of it that way.” She scrunched her nose. “If they would just watch the dance, they could probably pick up the moves, or get their mothers or sisters or someone to show them the steps.”
“Oh, you’re talking dragons to boys,” Cheddar said. “You don’t have to convince me.”
Upon hearing the oft-quoted saying, Aeron’s head snapped around to face Cheddar. When Aeron realized the context, however, he relaxed and took a sip of his drink to cover his reaction.
Unaware of the momentary alarm he had created, Cheddar continued. “And that’s exactly what I did. After all, I like being that close to girls.” And he slipped on a wicked grin.
Sharrah laughed. “How convenient, then, yes? Because the next dance is starting now!” She grabbed Cheddar’s hand, and they headed to the dance floor.
Cheddar was quite an excellent dancer, Aeron had to admit. And the current dance was not that easy. He clapped and cheered them on as they swirled past, carried along by the song and the other dancers.
Two more times did Aeron dance with Sharrah before his bladder began to protest. He gingerly sat down to catch his breath, laughing along with Sharrah.
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