The Pocket Dragon: The Pocket Dragon: Book 1

by Tesha Geddes

  Tanya snickered. “You spent the evening with a handsome young man, just the two of you, alone in a forest, and you want to claim it wasn’t a date?”

  “I… um… didn’t… that is… I mean...” Kaida stammered incoherently. She hadn’t really thought about what it would look like to others.

  “Don’t mind them,” Erica chided. “They’re just glad you had fun.”

  “Yeah,” Tanya said, “but don’t forget, you can always invite one of us when you want to get out.”

  “It was nice to get out and stretch my wings,” Kaida said quietly. “It’s not something I got to do frequently.”

  Her friends smiled at her –– they knew she’d had limited freedom in the past and were happy that she was able to trust someone enough to share her secret.

  “Mind if I tag along next time?” Erica asked. “My boar could use a good run.”

  “Me too,” Tanya said. “I need to spend time connecting with nature again.”

  “And I could come… for moral support,” Sophie added, clearly not wanting to be left out.

  Kaida laughed. “Why don’t we just make it a girls’ day on Saturday and have a picnic?”

  Her roommates eagerly agreed, and the rest of the conversation revolved around planning the picnic.

  ❀

  Kaida pushed the door to the small shop open and stepped into her second-favorite place in town (the first being Mathis’s workshop). Joan and Celicia greeted her warmly and Joan led her into the back and showed her to her office, which was really just a desk in the corner piled with paperwork instead of plants. Joan seemed nervous, but Kaida wasn’t sure about what.

  “I received the report on the Sunstar flowers,” Joan said, then paused.

  Kaida nodded, still wondering why that necessitated her coming in.

  “Your flowers are inordinately powerful,” Joan finally continued. “They scored high in all areas, and there are… well, there are indications that they could even be used to cure cancer.”

  Kaida inhaled sharply. Could this be true? If it was, it could change countless lives. Current cancer treatments were miserable for the patients and failed all too frequently.

  “You don’t happen to have healing powers yourself, do you?” Joan asked.

  Kaida nodded. “Yes, but I never really thought much of them.”

  Joan made a slightly strangled noise and said, “Regardless, the Sunstars must have absorbed some of your healing ability.”

  “Okay,” Kaida said, “but I still don’t understand why I’m here.”

  Joan took a deep breath before saying, “Once testing on a batch of Sunstars is complete, the testing facility sends out a notification to several medical research labs to see which of them are interested in purchasing the Sunstars. Your Sunstars generated a significant amount of interest –– especially in particular labs working to develop a cure for cancer. I asked you to come in today to help decide which labs to sell the Sunstars to, we’ll split the proceeds of course, and see if you can do it again. If your Sunstars can truly cure cancer, your flowers could save many lives.”

  Kaida sat in stunned silence as Joan showed her the list of research labs interested in buying the Sunstars. Her jaw dropped when she saw how much they were offering. Joan was being unnecessarily generous by offering to split the proceeds –– she’d already repaid Kaida by giving her a Sunstar tree for free. It was a staggering amount of money Joan was offering her –– Kaida didn’t know any dragons that would willingly part with that much treasure.

  “I don’t really care which labs we sell the flowers to,” Kaida said slowly, “but we should sell to a few different ones. I don’t want any one lab to have a corner on the market and charge exorbitant prices for necessary treatments. And I’d like to make sure at least one of those labs focuses pimarily on cures for childhood cancer.”

  “Good thinking,” Joan said with a nod. “We have twenty flowers. If we limit each lab to two flowers, we can sell to ten labs.”

  Kaida nodded in agreement, but something was still bothering her. “How many cures do you think they can get from each flower?”

  “I’m not sure,” Joan said, “it depends on how the cure is developed, how potent it needs to be, and how powerful the flower is, but I’ve heard of anywhere from two hundred to four hundred from a single flower. Of course, since they’re developing an entirely new piece of medicine, it’s really up in the air.”

  Kaida nodded and then asked Joan for a pen and paper so she could make note of the labs which she thought were the best. The pair spent the next several minutes deciding which ones to sell the flowers to. After they had drawn up their final list, Joan led her to the far side of the backroom where she had a row of Sunstar trees waiting.

  “I can’t believe these guys are already mature,” Joan said, shaking her head. “It can take decades, or even centuries, for a Sunstar to mature. Go ahead and touch the first one when you’re ready.”

  Kaida noticed that Joan already had the supplies to harvest the flowers ready on the table next to the trees. She doubted she’d be able to pull off making the tree bloom a second time, but she reached out and gently brushed the tree anyway. She needn’t have doubted. The moment her fingers brushed the leaves, she felt a tug on her magic and buds began to form on the tree. The six-petaled golden flowers were just as beautiful as she remembered.

  “Amazing,” Joan whispered almost reverently. “I wasn’t sure this would work.”

  She moved to help Joan harvest the flowers, but Joan stopped her, saying, “If you accidentally touch the tree, you could make it bloom again, which would make our jobs a lot harder, and severely deplete the nutrients in the soil. You can prep the containers though.”

  “How do you know what would happen to the soil?” Kaida asked as she prepared the containers.

  “I checked the soil of the original tree,” Joan explained. “Making the tree blossom caused it to absorb most of the nutrients in the soil. I’ve had to add a lot of fertilizer and other amendments to the soil to bring it back to where it needs to be. Even so, I wouldn’t try making that one bloom for at least another month, possibly two.”

  “So, the trees need two to three months to recover from one blossom cycle?” Kaida clarified, suddenly glad she’d taken extreme care not to touch her own Sunstar tree when she watered it.

  Joan nodded. “As long as the proper care is given to the tree and soil. If not, it could be a lot longer.”

  “What happens if we make the tree bloom too soon?” Kaida asked.

  Joan thought for a minute before replying, “Best case scenario, nothing happens, and the tree just doesn’t bloom. Worst case, it could kill the tree.”

  Kaida looked at the Sunstar tree sadly –- she definitely did not want that to happen. “What about my tree?” she asked. “It’s basically four trees in one.”

  “Don’t let it bloom more than once a year,” Joan said. “There, that’s the last one,” she declared as she placed the final flower in its container and sealed the lid. Then, she stuck a piece of pink tape on each of the containers, explaining, “I want to see if there’s a difference between the flowers on each tree, so I’m marking them so the labs know they’re from different batches.”

  Chapter 18

  “Sophie!” Tanya yelled into the apartment. “You don’t need to curl your hair for a picnic in the forest! No one’s going to see you except the squirrels!”

  Tanya, Kaida, and Erica had already packed Tanya’s car for the picnic, and Kaida was eager to get underway. Tanya and Erica shared in her eagerness. As a tree nymph, Tanya held a deep connection with nature and frequently needed to return to the natural world to replenish that connection. Normally she used one of the many nature nooks on campus, but a trip to the forest was even better. Erica was also very enthusiastic about the trip –– she hadn’t let her boar roam free since school started, and she was getting cranky. Sophie, on the other hand, wasn’t too keen on the idea of dirt.

  “Maybe I w
ant to impress the squirrels!” Sophie retorted.

  “Girl, if you’re not down in the car in five minutes, we’re leaving without you!” Tanya shouted, then eyed Kaida and Erica and said, “I hope you two aren’t planning on curling your hair too.”

  Kaida shook her head. “I don’t need to impress the squirrels.”

  “That’s because you already have a wolf shifter tripping over his feet whenever he sees you,” Erica said with a snicker. “Poor Sophie, she has no one, so she’s desperate enough to settle for a squirrel.”

  Kaida blushed and Tanya laughed as Sophie shouted from the bathroom, “I heard that! And I don’t see your knight in shining armor knocking on our door.”

  “That’s because he’s riding a turtle,” Erica deadpanned. “He’s slow, but he’ll get here… eventually.”

  Kaida and Tanya were laughing too hard to say anything. Sophie came out of the bathroom with her perfectly curled hair bouncing around her shoulders, and the four roommates traipsed down the stairs and piled into Tanya’s car.

  ❀

  Kaida pulled the grapes and bananas out of the mesh grocery bag while Erica unwrapped the sandwiches, Tanya pulled out the drinks, and Sophie spread out the blanket. It had been a long hike to get there, and since they needed to help carry supplies, Kaida and Erica hadn’t shifted yet.

  “This is pretty,” Sophie said, looking around.

  “Pretty doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Tanya said, taking a deep breath. “This place is lousy with ambient nature magic.”

  Kaida had picked a picturesque spot beneath a redwood tree near a large pond. There was only a slight breeze, but the pond rippled with life. A small outcropping of rocks jutted over one side of the pond, and Kaida looked forward to diving off the rock in her dragon form –– after they ate, of course. Erica passed around the sandwiches, and they tucked in –– the hike had left them all ravenous.

  As soon as she finished, Erica jumped to her feet, dusted her hands off, and dashed off behind a tree. She trotted out a few seconds later as a large, brown boar. She snorted and shook her head before taking off and running around the pond. Kaida finished her meal at a slightly more sedate pace, but soon, a small purple dragon and a large brown boar were cavorting around the pond, splashing each other and having a grand time.

  Tanya scooted off the picnic blanket and sat against the redwood tree with her fingers digging into the rich soil. Sophie stretched out on the picnic blanket and pulled out a book.

  Erica beat Kaida to the rock outcropping and with a squeal of delight, launched herself off it and landed with a giant splash. Kaida waited just long enough for her friend to move out of the way before following her in. Kaida’s dive barely disturbed the water.

  Most dragons, especially fire drakes, hated water. Of course, Kaida wasn’t most dragons, and this was just one more thing that separated her from the others in her species. She swam in the pond, enjoying the feel of the cool water against her scales. She dove to the bottom and nosed around, wondering if she’d find anything interesting, but only succeeded in stirring up the normal muck that lay at the bottom of every pond. She rose to the surface and snorted out the water that had managed to get into her nose when she suddenly found herself rising out of the water. She looked down at the large boar’s head under her and grinned at her friend before using her snout as a diving board.

  Kaida and Erica were having fun splashing each other in the shallows when the air around them changed, suddenly feeling like it was charged with electricity. Kaida’s scales itched, and Erica’s bristles stood on end. A strong wind gusted across the pond and through the small clearing. Kaida looked up and grinned when she recognized the thunderbird coming in for a landing.

  “Greetings, little dragon,” Storm Thunderfeather said, dipping his head in greeting.

  “Storm!” Kaida said warmly. “It’s good to see you! How are you doing? You’re not here because of another basilisk, are you?”

  Storm chuckled and replied, “Thankfully not. I am doing well, thanks to you. In fact, I’m here to see you.”

  “Me?” Kaida asked, a knot of worry blossoming in her stomach. “Is something wrong?”

  “Not at all,” Storm reassured her. “I simply wanted to invite you to visit the aerie at your convenience. Everyone is eager to meet you.”

  “Oh,” Kaida said, the knot of worry growing larger. “That’s a generous invitation, but I’m not sure when I’d be able to visit.”

  Storm chuckled. “The aerie isn’t far away. Any weekend you want to come, just focus on the feather I gave you, and think of the message you wish to send me. If I am not available to come get you, another of my aerie will.”

  Storm spread his wings and with an almost impossible grace, took off. The four roommates watched until they could no longer see him.

  “What was that about?” Tanya asked as she walked over to where Kaida and Erica stood.

  “Storm just invited me to visit his aerie,” Kaida replied.

  Tanya let out a low whistle and said, “You lucky dragon. You know, they don’t usually let outsiders visit their aeries.”

  “We’ve got a break coming up,” Sophie said. “Are you going to go then?”

  Kaida shook her head. “No, I’m visiting Howling Mountain Pack then,” she replied.

  “Since when?” Erica demanded.

  With a flash of guilt, Kaida realized she’d forgotten to tell her roommates of her plans for the break.

  “Mathis invited me to meet the pack over the break,” Kaida replied. “And since I plan on changing my ID to my new name and listing the Howling Mountain Pack as my home address, Mathis thought it’d be a good idea if I met everyone.”

  “Wait. What?” Tanya said, holding her hand up. “Girl, there’s a lot to unpack there.”

  “And here I thought your dreamy wolf shifter was inviting you home to meet his parents,” Sophie said with a pout.

  Kaida rolled her eyes –– Sophie was far too boy-crazy.

  “More importantly,” Erica said with an eye-roll of her own, “when did you decide to change your name and home address?”

  “Well,” Kaida said thoughtfully, “when Storm gave me a new family name, it got me thinking. If I changed my last name, it would make it harder for other dragons to find me, and a home address in Drake City is a dead giveaway. But, if I’m part of a wolf pack, people will probably think I’m some sort of bird shifter. After all, ‘Gracewing’ isn’t exactly a dragon shifter name.”

  “Makes sense,” Erica said with a nod.

  “It does,” Tanya agreed, “but, girl, you should have told us when you first decided.”

  Kaida ducked her head in guilt –– she hadn’t thought it would be important to her roommates.

  Sophie, on the other hand, shrugged and said, “She doesn’t need to tell us anything. If she wants to tell us something, she can tell us when she’s ready.” She then turned to Kaida and added, “But Kaida, we want to know these things because those are important decisions to you, and you’re important to us, so those decisions are important to us as well. We want to know when something big is happening in your life so we can be there to support you.”

  Kaida looked around and saw the truth of Sophie’s words written on all of their faces. Her heart swelled with gratitude, and she blinked back tears as her eyes began to water. Tiny, crystalline amethyst tears began to drip out of her eyes, solidifying as soon as they fell. Soon, a steady stream of tears fell, each crystal tear landing with a soft plink.

  “I didn’t know dragons could cry,” Sophie whispered to Tanya.

  “That’s what’s important to you?” Tanya hissed as she reached for a tear. “Her tears are turning into jewels, and you’re wondering about biology?”

  “Careful,” Kaida warned her, “they dissolve when they touch skin.”

  But it was too late –– Tanya had already picked up a tear. She inhaled sharply as the crystal tear dissolved and she absorbed the magic in it.

  “Dang
, girl,” Tanya said, “that is some potent healing magic.”

  “We definitely shouldn’t leave them here,” Erica said, looking down at the amethyst tears, “but how do we get them home without touching them?”

  “Anybody have tweezers and a small pouch?” Tanya asked.

  Sophie laughed and pulled an empty vial out of seemingly nowhere and said, “I’m a witch, remember?”

  She pulled the stopper out of the vial and wove a quick spell. The crystal tears lifted off the ground and floated into the little bottle. She replaced the stopper and said, “I’ll put this in your purse for you, Kaida.”

  Kaida quietly expressed her gratitude. In her human form, her tears were normal, but as a dragon, her tears turned into tiny healing crystals. There had been many times growing up that she’d needed those healing tears, so she was loath to leave any behind. However, this was the first time she’d cried these tears in happiness.