Really, really happy to see me, right?
“I’m gonna…”
Better not pass out. My wings are super tired, and I’m not up to being dropped on my head right now.
“You can talk to me inside my head?”
Sure. You can do it, too. Are we really going to the hot springs? Violet told me I will like them. I am so tired. You would not believe what I did today. I can fly! Turns out I can also crash, but that only happened twice. And I’ve grown some more. Did you see that the rest of the fuzz fell off my face? Lord Violet said I’m gonna have spikes eventually but, man, do these bristles on my head itch! Pretty freaky, huh? What’s so funny?
Elaina caught her breath from her slightly hysterical laughter, smiling at the feeling of euphoria that came over her.
Rainger was all right, Odie was all right, Flappy was all right, and he could communicate telepathically with her. “I was just imagining how Angel and Caresse would react to all this…this…”
Whole mess of freaky shit? Can you show them to me?
“How?”
Imagine them in your mind and then bring them forward, like you were showing me a picture on your camera.
Angel, with her red hair tied back and wearing her plaid flannel shirt, and Caresse, looking around nervously in the cave as she braided her long blonde hair came to mind, and Flappy trilled. They’re so pretty! But not as pretty as my Elaina.
He emphasized the syllables of her name in a way that made her smile. If he was in her head, then she was in his, and the devotion he felt toward her rang in his every word.
Okay, so…Rainger and Basile kissed you. What’s up with that?
“Flapster, we’re going to talk about boundaries someday soon. Rainger and Basile are…well, I’m not sure what they are yet,” she whispered as she re-lit the lantern they’d left on the cavern ledge.
You like them, a lot, I can tell. I think they like you, too. Are you planning to procreate with them? Because your babies would be so pretty!
“Flappy!”
What? Lord Violet began teaching me about the world today, and procreation is certainly part of it. Even though I couldn’t yet communicate with you last night, I could still tell how much you enjoy their company. They are kind to you and very protective. You should’ve heard the words in Rainger’s head when he thought you might be hurt by my healing energy. Basile would rather have died than allow the tangere to hurt you. And poor Fermin. He didn’t want to hurt you or reveal any of your presences to Draconia. She forced him to do it and tried to use him to kill you. He likes the nickname that you gave him, and he thinks Tiggi is a goddess.
He didn’t stop chattering the whole way down the cavern tunnel to the hot springs.
“Wow, that’s an awful lot to take in.”
I can tell you more. Basile thinks he’s falling in—
“Stop right there, Flapster.”
What? Did I do something wrong? Violet told me that I should listen twice as much as I talk because I have two ears and only one mouth. Did you know that I’m gonna be able to breathe fire soon? Me? Fiyah! Whapow! He sneezed, and a cloud of ash and a tiny flame shot out before he hiccupped. I am so sorry. Violet warned me that might happen and that I should aim my sneezes away from you or risk singeing all your pretty hair off. That would so not be cool. What? Why are you laughing again?
“You. I bet you threw poor Violet for a loop with all the slang I taught you. He’s way too serious anyway. Back up for just a second—”
I can’t. You’re holding on to me, remember? Heh-heh, who’s the smartass now? This dragon! Uh-huh! He bobbed his head and then settled down to look at her. I’m listening. All ears, here. Lay it on me.
“You’re a total trip.”
I know! It’s so awesome, and you should—
“Flappy, whenever you overhear someone’s feelings for someone else, it’s impolite to reveal them, even if they’re welcome, very welcome in fact.”
Ah, so you do like him enough to procreate with him…and Rainger.
“That’s beside the point,” she said before he could chatter on some more. “People don’t like for others to give away personal secrets like that.”
Violet told me I’d get really good at keeping secrets. Sorry if I embarrassed you back there. Did you bring your music player?
“Yes, yes,” she murmured as they entered the hot springs chamber.
Remembering he was sore from training, and evidently the strain from healing Rainger and Odie, she placed him gently on the bench and then pulled her swimsuit from her backpack. “Wait for me here. I’m going to change behind that little wall over there.”
‘Kay!
A few minutes later, after she had her suit on and had pulled up her hair into a ponytail holder, she carried him into one of the smaller, warmer pools.
As the water surrounded him, cradled in her arms, he tilted his head back. Ohhh-Emmm-Geee, this feels so good!
“Flappy?”
Yup?
“What should I call you? Zayrgrud the Terrifying is your real name, but it’s quite a mouthful. And to be honest, dude, if you’re king of the dragons, I feel like I’m being disrespectful by calling you Flappy, Flapster, or Flappy-Doo.”
I don’t care what you call me, Elaina, as long as you call me. And speaking of Flappy-Doo…you got any Flappy snacks for me in that backpack? And by Flappy snacks you know I mean Peeps, right? I could so do with a whole package of those squishy delights right now.
“Nope. It’ll spoil your appetite for supper.”
Oh, well in that case, you can call me His Highness Who Gets Whatever He Wants.
“Nice try, Your Highness. No dice. You can have one Peep after supper.”
Well…poop! How about some music? Can you put on “Three Little Birds” again?
Chapter Eleven
An hour later, she sat with the knights at the table, trying to catch her breath from laughing as she explained Flappy’s adornments.
“And what is this thing called?” Lord Violet asked as he held a neon green loop up, eyeing it as if he expected it to explode.
“A ponytail holder. It’s elastic. They have a great number of uses,” she said, pulling another one out of her backpack and demonstrating how stretchy it was. Unfortunately, it slipped from her grasp and flew across the table, hitting him square in the chest before falling into his lap.
Flappy’s laughter was audible to Elaina in their mental link, and audible to everyone else as high-pitched nurking squeaks. Stereo laughter was something that would take some time to get used to.
Sorry, Elaina. I will get better at not just barging into your head. I was just remembering what happened earlier and couldn’t help myself.
It’s okay. We’ll both get used to it. Just remember boundaries.
Gotcha. Outta hear—I mean here!
The only clue that he was no longer present was the sudden dimming of a twinkle in the back of her mind that had appeared there when he’d first begun speaking to her. It wasn’t painful or even distracting, just…there.
She looked up, and everyone was staring at her. Lord Violet wasn’t smiling, but she thought she caught the hint of a grin in the slight curl of his lips. There was also understanding in his eyes. “Adjusting well? I imagine the telepathic communication must’ve come as a surprise to you.”
“Yes, just gonna take time, I suppose. It’s nice to be able to communicate directly with him now.”
Lord Violet gestured to the dragon sitting next to him, her concession to the fact that Flappy was growing up and clearly looked upon Lord Violet as a mentor, and said, “How did all of this…festoonment…come about?”
“We were in the big pool, and I was teaching him how to hold his breath and swim underwater. He can hold his breath for a long time, by the way. When he came up, he said his head and his face was really itching. I thought maybe the minerals in the water were irritating his…” She gestured to her face. “He had a lot…going on in that area, so I though
t I’d just blot his face off a little bit. That only made the flaking, scaling, molting, thingy situation worse.”
Several of the knights chuckled at her description, but it was true. His face had gotten all freaky looking and then a whole layer of something…skin? Scales? Bristles? Thankfully, he’d thought her reaction was funny, and when he began laughing, spikes had started showing through the layers of detritus as they came away.
“He jumped back in the water, and when he came up for air—” She pointed at Flappy’s rather handsome dragon face. “Voila!”
Violet looked as amused at the rest at her description of Flappy’s antics. “I’m well versed in the molting process and told him what to expect, but the elastics?”
“Well, here’s the thing. All those spikes kept flopping down in his eyes, so I used ponytail holders to pull them up on top of his head.”
“I see. And his chin?”
“Oh, that was just for looks. He liked the neon green one, so I used one to gather all the spikes on his chin into a tail.”
Flappy sat up, all proud of himself. His spikes gathered into a bundle on top, sticking straight up from his head, and another spiky ponytailed bunch sprouting from his chin balanced the whole look out.
“It makes it easier for him to eat, at least,” Rainger said, covering a grin with his hand as he sat beside her.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Lord Violet commented. The knights all nodded in agreement.
Vert caught Flappy’s eye and lobbed a piece of steak in the air, and Flappy leaned out and caught it and gulped it down then grinned in thanks. “Nurk!”
“Could you imagine his cousins doing that just a few years ago?” Indigo asked as he eased another hunk of salmon onto Flappy’s platter in front of him. Flappy wagged his eyebrows, which made the spiky tail dance a bit, and then selected a piece of fish with his fingers and ate it. “I recall his cousin, Xyyr the Bold, nearly taking off Bleu’s fingers once when he stole a bite of food he was about to eat.”
“Phnew!” Bleu ground out. “The ungrateful turd left teeth marks on my favorite wooden fork.”
“Made by your mother, no doubt?” Indigo asked with humor sparkling in his eyes.
“Esshoole,” Bleu muttered, before throwing a chunk of bread at him, which Flappy neatly caught in mid-air, looking quite proud of himself as he chewed loudly.
With your mouth closed, Flappy. Manners are important.
Yes, Meemee, he replied, sitting up straight and looking around for the next willing thrower of foodstuffs. Jaune obliged, but instead of throwing the chunk of braised beef, he offered it at the end of a wooden spoon. Flappy took the spoon, ate the bite, and then licked it clean before offering it back, handle first.
“His table manners are extraordinary,” Jaune said.
Violet pointed at her. “It’s Elaina. He bonded with her first, and her influence, the things she’s taught him, have had a profound impact. We accepted the dragonlings and hatchlings that the dragons brought us and kept them safe and taught them the skills they needed. But we never allowed the women near enough that they might have offered true nurture.”
“Why not?” Elaina asked, thinking that was a sad and slightly sexist.
Lord Violet shrugged. “Within a day, they start breathing fire, but it comes in fits and starts. We wear dragon scale armor and accept the risks of working with the dragons, but we didn’t want to risk a caregiver getting caught in an unintentional blast.”
Flappy gave her guilty look and glanced away quickly.
“Ah, I see you know what I’m talking about.” Lord Violet didn’t miss a thing.
“Yeah, we had a brief flare, but he directed it away from me. It was all right.”
“For now,” Bleu said before taking a drink from his goblet. “But wait until tomorrow when he’s larger and his flaming ability grows along with him. Long hair, long skirts, aprons, all these things catch fire too easily.”
“But as I said,” Lord Violet continued, “clearly, Elaina’s nurture has enabled Flappy to have a care with his dragon talents. His use of slang is going to take some getting used to, though.”
Elaina giggled and said, “I take full responsibility for that. Sorry. But in my defense, I had no idea he was picking so much up from me. I was just trying to be entertaining.”
“Speaking of entertaining,” Basile said. “What was that you two were doing when I came to get you from the hot springs?”
“We were dancing.”
“Dancing?”
“Yes. I can show you after supper.” Flappy sat up and grinned when she reached for her backpack and pulled out the crinkly package of marshmallowy awesomeness.
“Nurk!”
Lord Violet nodded at her when she held up a Marshmallow Peep. Giggling, she took one and passed the package around the table for the others to try.
His mouth full of marshmallow, Rouge the Inquisitive said, “What in the devil is this? It’s—”
Bleu the Irascible grimaced as he took a bright yellow Peep and squeezed it experimentally. “It’s like bubble mold from the swamp on the southern border. It cracks and then…squishes. Blech.”
“Looks tasty,” Orange said as he swiped it from Bleu’s fingers and popped it into his mouth. “Oh my…” He chewed and chewed some more as he watched Rouge finally swallow. “Does it stop?”
“Stop what?”
“Stop being squishy. I expect to swallow at some point.”
Lord Violet passed on the offer to try one and then handed the last one in the package to Flappy, who wolfed it down and moaned with delight.
Indigo braced his hands on the table, chewing and chewing until finally he swallowed. “My mother always told me to try new things.” He made funny faces as he twisted his lips around, trying to dislodge all the bits stuck to his teeth and gums.
Bleu made a gagging sound. “Your mother never made Marshmallow Peeps. Those are from the devil.”
“Oh!” Elaina said, rolling her eyes. “I had devil’s food cupcakes, but they are all gone. So yummy.”
Bleu looked at her with a pinched face. “I knew it. You are of the devil. You say things just to terrify us like this.”
“Oh, cheezy, come on. I’m just teasing you.”
“Cheezy? First I am this Grumpy Cat you call me,” he said, raising his fingers into air quotes, “and now I am this cheezy?”
“You know, like Bleu Cheese. You’re so grumpy all the time.”
“It is my personality. That is why I am called Bleu the Irascible. Irascible is me!”
“Buh-loney! You’re a big softy, and I bet your mother called you something like Bleu the Cheerful or Bleu the Caring or—” She gasped, enjoying herself immensely. “Bleu the Huggable!”
“Do not call me this huggable thing!”
“Huggles!” Vert crooned from across the table, laughing at him.
“Grrrr! I do not even know what this is!”
“Oh, come on! You know what being huggable is. People love getting hugs. Even you. Scientific studies show that being hugged can give you a happier outlook.”
“Oh, he is not the happy one in our group,” Orange the Amiable said. “That is me.”
Bleu stuck his tongue out. “Oh, like when you so happily beg for chocolates from Elaina the Interloper, you mean?”
“Exactly!” Sir Orange said with a courtly bow of his head to Elaina. “Do you?”
“Do I what?”
“Have more chocolates, Mistress? Not that we aren’t grateful that you shared your Peeps with us, but we need something to remove the aftertaste of that squish from our throats.”
“It wasn’t that bad! They’re good. Okay, maybe those ones were a little stale since the package was open, but like you said, it’s good to try new things. And yes, I have a few more Reese’s and a Peppermint Pattie.”
She offered the Peppermint Pattie to Lord Violet, and he seemed to enjoy it while the others had their nightly ration of chocolate. If she was careful
, she had enough to last another few days, but that was it.
After taking the time to enjoy his Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in peace, Basile said, “Do you think healing Rainger and Fermin, or Odie or whatever we are now calling him, will hamper Zayrgrud’s development?”
Lord Violet chuckled, a twinkle coming into his eyes. “If he can withstand Marshmallow Peeps and chocolate, which I’m relatively certain are not part of a healthy dragon’s diet, I think he can handle it. Although, Your Highness,” he said, turning to the dragon, “I would strongly urge you to not endeavor to heal anyone else again until your strength has built up and you’ve grown larger. Your parents would not be happy if I return a runt to them.”
“Nurk,” Flappy replied, tucking his chin in as if he hadn’t thought of that.
“How is it possible for him to counteract the queen’s magic?” Elaina asked, shuddering at the memory of that scream when Flappy had saved Odie. It gave her chills to think of the woman it belonged to and made her want to stab a bitch for trying to kill Rainger. She very likely would’ve succeeded if it hadn’t been for Flappy.
“Draconia’s magic is derived from consuming the hearts of baby dragons, so a dragon, especially one with a gift like Flappy has, could undo her spell. And like Flappy, it requires a great amount of energy for her to cast a spell, so she will need to recuperate for a time before she tries again.”
“You don’t think she will give up?”
The knights all gazed at her, and with compassion in his tone, Basile said, “She won’t give up until we’re all dead.”
“Or until she is,” Elaina said, wondering what she’d gotten herself into.
* * * *
Elaina awoke the following morning when the bed shook beneath her. Must’ve been a big truck driving by on the street outside. Or maybe a little earthquake.
Basement apartment. Earthquake? Get up and investigate. At least get in a doorway.
Elaina? Elaina? Are you awake? Wakey, wakey, wakey!
Okay, that’s a little weird. She really wanted to go back to sleep.
Why are you thinking about earthquakes? What’s an earthquake? The bed shook again, and she remembered where she was.
Dance of the Dragon Sorceress Page 13