Dance of the Dragon Sorceress

by Heather Rainier

  “I shouldn’t have let you have that late night dance party. Mama needs her rest.” And then a really strong cup of coffee.

  Mama needs to get up and check out the Flapster.

  She chuckled and rolled over—and screamed. “Ohmygawd, enough with the changes already!”

  I know, right? I’m getting huger! It’s a good thing this is a sturdy bed.

  Flappy perched on the end of the rather large bed, dwarfing it. There was a tidy pile of little green scales swept over by the door. As he moved to sit beside her, he wiggled his snout and caught another scale in his palm as it popped loose.

  She sat up, groaning at the stiffness in her muscles—recalling why those muscles were sore. She slapped a lid on those thoughts before they got R-rated and smiled at Flappy.

  “I appreciate that you swept up after yourself. How are you feeling this morning?” she asked, giggling as he caught another scale, this time from his cheek.

  Violet told me it would be like this while I’m growing so fast. It should slow down in another day or so until the next growth spurt. Until then, I’m pretty flaky, I guess.

  “How do you feel after healing Rainger and Odie?”

  I’m a little tired still, but it’s nothing to worry about. I was wondering…

  “About what?”

  He blew one of his floppy spikes out of his eyes. Lord Violet said these will eventually stand up and look terrifying. But for now they get in my eyes. It’ll be even worse if it’s windy outside. And the ones on my chin tickle me something fierce. Can you help me with them? He blew the spike out of his face again, and she giggled. Please?

  “Of course! I notice you have more of them than last night.”

  Yeah, the molting itches, and it woke me up during the night. Check these out. He turned his back so she could see that the spikes now formed a row that extended all the way down his tail.

  “I should start calling you Flapzilla, dude. Those are pretty impressive.”

  Why, thank you very much, he said, imitating her impersonation of Elvis.

  Picking up the ponytail holders from the night before, she looked at him from a couple of different angles and said, “I have a better idea.”

  Oh yeah?

  “Oh yeah. You’re training to be a warrior and a king someday, right?”

  Yeeeah?

  “Then let’s give you a warrior beard.” Standing on the bed so she could easily reach him, she split the chin spikes into two sections. She plaited the somewhat flexible lengths into two braids “Very regal, Your Highness.”

  Pffft! Regal Schmegal.

  “You’ll see.” She fetched a headband from her backpack and stretched it over his head so it wrapped around his forehead. Then she split the sections on top and gave him two upright braids that wound up resembling horns. She used the headband, which was adorned with silk flowers, to hold the remaining shorter spikes back from his face. It might help as they grew out.

  “Have a look,” she suggested, pointing to the mirror hanging on the wall. As he moved toward it, she noted the way he kept his wings tightly folded back, out of the way so they didn’t hamper his significantly more graceful movements. The wings themselves had lost their translucency, and the leathery surface possessed the same shimmery green quality as his scales.

  His gorgeous amber eyes popped wide when he got a look at himself. Holy crap!

  She groaned. “I’m sorry I ever used that language around you. It’s unbecoming a gentleman and a king such as yourself.

  Okay, but holy crap I look awesome! Fierce, like…

  “Like a warrior. When they grow in, you’ll really be fierce, but for now, you look like you have awesome horns, and dig those warrior braids on that chin of yours.”

  Thanks, Elaina. You’re the best. I accidentally poked Violet in the eye with one of the spikes last night. If he’s gonna train me I don’t want that to happen again.

  “I’m sure he’s probably used to such things. If the flowers seem silly, I don’t mind if you pull them off. I just thought it would help with the shorter spikes.”

  He turned to look at himself again, and his chest puffed up. I like it just the way it is. The flowers…it’s almost like you’re letting me wear your colors, like I have your blessing. Violet said stuff like that is meaningful.

  She blinked away the sting in her eyes as she used his forearm to climb down from the bed. “You’re getting so tall you’ll have to crouch down to get through the door. Oh—”

  What?

  “Nothing.”

  No, you were about to say something. What is it?

  “At the rate you’re growing, you may not be sleeping in my room anymore. You might not be able to fit through the door.”

  His shoulders slumped a little. Lord Violet told me that yesterday. I think he was concerned that it might upset you.

  “That big ol’ softie.”

  He told me that I could have my choice, of bedding down in the great hall near the fireplace, for the time being, or I could take the cavern on the other side of the abbey. It will be big enough for when I’m grown, and it has a ledge that I can land and take flight from. It’s actually one of the reasons they chose the abbey as their stronghold, so that the dragons can have easy access. The others that they’ve trained have used it, too, so it’s not like it’s never been lived in before. It just seems…

  “What?”

  Far from you. I’m not being a baby or anything like that. I just wanted to stay close to you while time allowed…to make sure you’re safe and happy…and stuff.

  “I love you, too, Flappy. Flapzilla,” she said in a wobbly voice, her chin quivering as she tried to wrap her arms around his shoulders, a largely unsuccessful endeavor since this latest growth spurt.

  She retrieved her camera from her backpack and snapped a couple of pictures of him, including a close up with him smiling for the camera. Anyone who didn’t know him would be terrified by the toothy sight.

  A knock sounded at the door, and Lord Violet called out, “Time for training.”

  She sighed and smiled up at him as she tugged at his braided chin spikes. “It seems like only yesterday you were a baby. Wait, it was only yesterday.”

  I will try checking in with you during the morning. We’ll see how far we can stretch this connection.

  She swiped a hand under her eye and nodded, still feeling a little choked up.

  He stood tall and looked down at her, and his amber eyes reflected understanding as he lifted her hand and put it on his chest. His heart beat strong and sure beneath her palm. I love you, too, Meemee.

  He didn’t linger. Simply patted her hand once with his big scaly paw and backed away to open the door.

  Flappy poked his head out, and Lord Violet chuckled and said, “Well, Highness, looks like you won’t be a runt after all. You ready to stretch those wings?” Evidently he received an affirmative response from Flappy on a different mental “channel” because he continued on as Flappy eased through the door. “Nice adornment and looks effective, too. Is she all right?”

  The door eased closed, and the mental spark that indicated his presence in their link winked out. Just in time for her to indulge in a heartfelt sob.

  It’d only been two days since she’d met him and the others, but it seemed so much longer. Soon Flappy wouldn’t need her at all, and it wasn’t because he’d progress to preschool. It would be because he would be an adult among his species.

  Another knock came at her door, and she opened it to reveal Basile and Rainger standing there, concern transforming their features as they got a good look at the weepy state she was in.

  “Sorceress,” Rainger said, immediately reaching for her. “What troubles you?”

  Basile shut them into the room together. “What is it, Elaina?”

  So easily, as if they’d always done so, they closed in around her, one in front and one behind. Rainger kissed her forehead while Basile gathered her hair aside and rubbed her shoulders as he kissed beneath h
er ear.

  She missed Angel and Caresse and her life back home. She really did. But this world had become just as meaningful to her.

  Like a total wuss, she burst into tears.

  Chapter Twelve

  Rainger hated the sensation boring into his chest. Elaina had been clearly upset as she’d opened the door. She’d let them in, and then started crying. They’d comforted her quietly until it had passed and then they’d watched as she’d carefully transferred all of the discarded dragon shells into what she called a Ziploc and then placed it by her bed, as if they were precious instead of just cast-off scales.

  Now she walked alongside them, talking about adjusting to changes and that, in theory, she understood it was necessary.

  “But damn it, where I come from, when you bond with another person, it’s hard to think you’ll lose them!”

  Basile caught his eye over her head and raised his eyebrows. Was she talking about them? About Zayrgrud? He wasn’t sure, and she was talking at a rapid pace. Intuition told him to let her talk on, for clearly something was troubling her and she was trying to reason it out.

  Her hand clasped his, and she stopped their progress in the corridor and looked up at them. “Can we spend some time outside today? I think I need—” Her breathing huffed a couple of times. “I need some fresh air. I think it just hit me all at once.”

  He still had no clue what “it” was.

  “Of course, Elaina,” Basile said, leading her to the staircase.

  “Why are we going up instead of out?” she asked as she followed along.

  Basile grinned at her and patted the hand he still held in his. “You didn’t finish exploring the other day?”

  “No, I didn’t. After we found Odie the way he was, we came back inside and Tiggi and I took care of him.”

  Rainger chuckled. “I think Tiggi plans to make ‘Odie’ a part of the work staff here so she can keep him for herself.”

  “Can he stay?”

  “That’s up to Lord Violet,” Basile replied as they followed the stairs to the topmost landing.

  “I didn’t realize how high up these went.”

  “We’re going to show you something you’ll never forget.”

  “Wait, don’t you have things to do for the Order? Especially under the circumstances, shouldn’t you be guarding or hunting…or something? I mean, you said it yourself. Draconia is out there. Once she’s recovered, she’ll come at you again.”

  Rainger didn’t want to scare her by telling her that Lord Violet had given them specific instructions to guard her because he didn’t want to scare her. Judging by what Fermin Guggant had told them, Elaina was now Draconia’s primary target.

  “We were on night watch duty so we could have some time during the day with you,” Basile replied easily as he led her through a door and into the uppermost chamber in the abbey.

  Rainger smiled when she looked up at the inner concavity of the abbey’s dome.

  “It’s painted! Oh my gosh, how beautiful.”

  Rainger watched her beautiful face transform from awe to surprise as she turned in circles taking it all in. He said, “Isn’t it? One of the original inhabitants of the abbey painted it a long time ago. Our modern relationship with the dragons isn’t the only time there was an alliance with them, and the painting reflects that. There’s a book in the loft library that gives details if you’re interested in arcane history.”

  “Oh, absolutely. I want to explore the library now that I know it’s up there, if the knights don’t mind.”

  “You could coerce them with chocolate, I think,” Basile said with a chuckle. “You should see the paintings at dawn. When the sun rises, the light makes it seem as though the paintings come to life.”

  “Really?” she said, her eyes glowing with interest and excitement. “I would love that. There is so much to see. I could just lie down on the floor and stare for hours.”

  I feel the same way about you, beautiful sorceress.

  She caught them both gazing at her and said, “What?”

  “Come,” Basile murmured, leading her by the hand to one of the arched openings.

  “Oh…oh my…”

  Rainger took her other hand. Noticing it was a little chilled, he closed it between his, and she smiled and surprised him by lifting up on her tiptoes to kiss him. She tasted minty, in addition to her own unique flavor, and he smiled. She was full of mysteries and surprises. One of the greatest mysteries was the fact that he could watch with ease as she turned to Basile and did the same thing.

  His father and uncle had grown up in a home with two fathers, who shared the role with ease. Though Erramun Galterrium had gone on to marry Rainger’s mother and had never welcomed another man into the family, he’d often mentioned his upbringing to his own family.

  In the back of his mind, Rainger had always pictured himself incapable of such an arrangement. He’d thought that because he’d always been a bit possessive, but now he was coming to discover that he had doubted himself because he’d never known a woman like Elaina and never trusted a man like he did Basile. If his father had still been alive today, he would’ve been proud that Rainger had come to that realization, but his father had died in the attack on Coeur du Ciel.

  She smiled up at him. “Thank you. This…” She looked around at the verdant panorama, thick with bright green forested hills and craggy mountains. “This is…”

  “Are there no mountains where you come from?” Basile asked as he gazed out over the wilderness of the Western Kingdom.

  “I live in the city, but there are plenty of mountains where I come from. All my life we’ve camped and spent time in nature. But this…this is magical. The sky is the same, the mountains and trees are all like what I’m used to, but the light…there’s no mistaking I’m not in Washington anymore.”

  “Washington. That is your home?”

  She nodded, and the light in her eyes dimmed.

  Concern furrowed Basile’s brow, and he tilted his head at Rainger and they led her to the arched opening that led to a terrace. After a time, he said, “I’m sorry if I made you sad.”

  “Not sad, exactly. I love this adventure I’m on. You know, there for a while I thought I’d hit my head in that cave and I must be hallucinating or having heavy-duty coma dreams. But this is all real, and I’m sad because I can’t share the experience with Angel and Caresse.”

  “They sound like good friends to you,” Rainger said. He was grateful for the closeness he had with Basile and knew in his heart he’d be trying to get back to his world if it had been him who’d been uprooted from all he knew and thrown into a new world.

  “They are. And although I wouldn’t wish them to be put in danger, I know they’d love it here, too.”

  She startled Rainger when she went straight to the railing and leaned forward to look down and then crowed in delight.

  Basile gasped and reached for her as if he, too, feared she’d tumble to her death, but she just giggled at them. “I’m not afraid of heights. That is amazing! Did you know the waterfall comes right out of the abbey way down there?”

  “Yes,” Basile said with a relieved chuckle. “The waters are a little turbulent for playing in down there, but we can take you there another time and show you.”

  “I could hear water rushing from somewhere when I was making my way up the path on the other side, day before yesterday. This side of the abbey is completely hidden.”

  They led her down the stairs built into the peak, from the domed chapel to a level area that, in times past, had been used for gatherings. It had rows of seating cut out from the rock and had been used for performances and royal summits. She turned in slow circles, marveling at the nearby towers with their connected walkways, and turned to look back at the huge dome. Her smile took his breath away. Then she reached for her backpack, which Rainger carried on his shoulder for her, and removed her image-capturing device, her camera as she called it, and took several images. “I don’t ever want to forget any of
this.”

  He bit his lip to keep from replying, and Basile moved to stand in front of her, took her shoulders in a gentle clasp, and said, “You can stay for as long as you desire.

  “Thank you,” she murmured, looking down at her camera but not pulling away from his hands. “But there are people who are worried about me back home. They would send search parties, and the authorities would get involved. It’ll be a mess, but I do have to return eventually.”

  Before Rainger could think of anything to say, her eyes widened and she gasped and then turned about.

  Zayrgrud the Terrifying suddenly soared by them, giving a triumphant dragon shriek as he banked and floated on the air currents, flapping his considerably larger and stronger wings.

  “Look at you go, boy!” Elaina shrieked back as she jumped up and down and waved at him.

  “It looks as though he’s grown a bit more,” Basile said with a chuckle. “Were you prepared for how much, Elaina?”

  “I think I was in denial about it until he woke me this morning. He was as tall as Odie, I mean Fermin Guggant. It was foolish of me because you’d all warned me he would grow fast, but I still expected to carry him downstairs this morning. I doubt he’ll fit through the door of my bedchamber tonight, so…”

  “That’s why you were upset earlier,” Rainger said.

  “I know it’s silly—”

  “Not silly at all,” Basile said. “Look at what you do in your world. You’re a nurturer of small children. You’ve even gone to school to learn more about how babies and children develop. I doubt you did that because you are merely curious. You want to be of help. And look at Zayrgrud now. That must be why Selena chose to bring you to us.”

  She nodded. “Zayrgrud needed me.”

  “Look beyond that, Elaina,” Basile said. “If Zayrgrud needed you, given our current situation, then the Western Kingdom needed you even more. I could go so far as to say that the dragons of the Eastern Kingdom needed you, as well. Zayrgrud will be able to rebuild the bridge between his fellow dragons and the Western Kingdom, and ultimately all of Tangere. You are vital, don’t you see?”