Chapter 9
Viol
I didn’t see Poppy for a week.
The days dragged by. Once in a while, an oblivious animal crossed my path and became an easy meal.
Other than eating and watching the clouds roll across the unfamiliar sky, I slept.
In the seven days that passed, my injuries began to heal.
The stiff aches and pains left my body until only my wings remained a problem.
Soon I was strong enough to stand up and walk around without issue.
One afternoon, I finally had enough dicking around. I stood and stretched with a content groan, then started exploring. I didn’t stray too far from my original spot in the snow, but Poppy had my scent memorized, anyway. I had faith he’d find me even if I went for a stroll.
I walked in the direction he’d run off a week ago and climbed the slope. The hills here weren’t quite mountains like the ones back home, but they offered me a better vantage point than a flat field.
As I wandered, my mind drifted to Poppy.
I hoped he was okay. A lot of the things he said made me suspicious, but I didn’t understand why.
It wasn’t that he was untrustworthy—I believed everything that came out of his sweet little mouth—but he was dodgy about answering certain questions, and acted like a ghost was about to pop out and scare the shit out of him at all times.
He was a wolf. Wolves were supposed to be brave, noble, and strong. So, what was scaring my wolf?
I shook my head and snorted. He wasn’t my wolf. The closest thing I had to a wolf of my own was Wolfy, tucked safely away in my satchel.
A fluttering of wings caught my attention. I watched a snowy owl land gracefully in a shadowed crag. I grinned when I saw the nest full of eggs. Soon the owl would be coughing up half-digested lemmings for her babies.
So gross. But so cute, I thought.
I was grateful that dragonets were quick to eat real food. Not that I’d have to deal with that until I found my mate. My heart swirled excitedly at the idea. I wasn’t ready now, but one day.
Smiling, I turned away, ready to continue up the slope, when I suddenly heard a choked sob.
I froze.
That voice didn’t belong to an owl.
My gaze swivelled towards the owl’s nest. As my eyes adjusted to the shadows, I saw it—a large pale shape clustered in the furthest depths of the crag. As my brain made sense of it, my jaw dropped.
“Poppy?” I blurted.
He gasped, then silenced his crying.
A strange panic washed over me. I padded closer, hurrying towards him, but I didn’t want to frighten the owl, either. I flattened my large body to the ground and tried not to look threatening.
“Hey, uh, I don’t want to hurt you,” I mumbled, as if the bird could understand me. “I just want to see that... wolf behind your nest.”
The words sounded deranged when I spoke them out loud. Thankfully, the owl didn’t seem to care. She blinked at me with yellow eyes, then settled peacefully on top of her eggs. They disappeared into her chest fluff and she fell asleep.
I took her acceptance as an invitation to crawl closer. Careful not to bump her, I pushed my head into the crag. The crawlspace was too small for me, but Poppy had somehow squeezed all the way inside.
His beautiful white fur was an unkempt mess. It was scruffy and smeared with dirt from the walls. It obviously hadn’t been groomed in days. He looked scrawnier than normal, with ribs poking out his sides, and his face was drawn and haggard. He looked terrified and exhausted.
“Poppy?” I cried. “What the hell happened?”
Tears streamed down Poppy’s cheeks. He hiccupped as he saw me, and his eyes widened in disbelief. “Violet...?”
I didn’t know what to ask first. There was so much going on.
“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” I demanded.
He sniffled as he angled his ears towards the owl. “She’s... she’s such a good mother!” he bawled, voice breaking halfway through.
I stared, agape and confused. I didn’t understand why he was crying.
“Yeah, she is,” I agreed. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
He nodded miserably. “It’s the best. It’s the best thing ever...” His forehead slumped against the hard ground. “I wish I was an owl...”
I blinked in total confusion. He wasn’t making sense, but he was obviously suffering. It hurt to see him like this.
“Poppy, come here,” I urged. “Let’s get you out of this crag. We can talk outside in the fresh air.”
“I can’t,” he whimpered.
“Why?”
His voice snapped like a twig. “I can’t leave! I can’t go back. Please, don’t make me. Just leave me here. I promise I won’t cause any more trouble...”
My stomach flipped. I’d never witnessed somebody in such raw despair. Whatever was bothering him, it was worse than I imagined. Something was deeply wrong.
“Poppy, you’re safe with me,” I promised. “I won’t make you go back, but I won’t leave you here to rot.”
He raised his head enough for me to see his tear-stained, bloodshot eyes. “I don’t want you to hate me, too...”
I snorted, but inside, I worried he wouldn’t exit the crag. He was too scared to be dragged out by force. And if I did that, he’d lose all trust in me. He needed to make the choice on his own.
“Why the hell would I hate you? Stop making shit up and come here,” I said gently. An idea popped into my mind. “Actually, I have a surprise. But I can only show it to you outside.”
He lifted his head higher. “A surprise...?”
I grinned. “I haven’t shown him to anybody except my family. You’ll be the first person in the world to meet him, okay?”
Poppy hesitated. A curious light danced in his sorrowful eyes, but he didn’t leap to his paws. I didn’t think he could. His body seemed stiff from disuse, like he’d been motionless in this crag for days.
What was he so afraid of? The outside world wasn’t scary. There were no predators around to harm him. The weather was beautiful, and the air was crisp and refreshing. It was much nicer on the open field than in the stuffy, dark pit.
As my initial shock fizzled out, I grew puzzled. Poppy had his head on straight. He was too down-to-earth to overreact. He wouldn’t crawl into a hole for no reason.
Then... what happened to him? Judging from his words, it was so awful he didn’t want to return home.
Sinking fear dropped my stomach like a stone. Like how I felt in the midst of the storm, but far worse.
“Poppy,” I called, soft and pleading. “Whatever happened, I’m here for you, okay? I’m not going to hurt you. You’re my friend.”
Poppy inhaled in a sharp hiccup. He trembled as if about to burst into tears again. “Friend...?”
“That’s right. You’re the first friend I’ve ever made who wasn’t related to me,” I added with a grin.
Gaius interrupted my tale with an offended gasp and a stupid dramatic pout. “Oh, I’m wounded. What about me?”
His sudden disturbance jolted me out of my memory trance.
“Huh?” I barked.
“We’re not related,” Gaius pointed out, still jutting out his lip like a fucking idiot. “You don’t consider us friends?”
I gawked at him, then snarled, “That’s what you cut me off to say?”
He laughed airily, waving his hands and sloshing his drink around. “Sorry! It was just a joke.”
I felt cartoonish waves of anger sizzling above my head.
“You’re not my friend,” I ground out through my teeth. “You’re part of the family.”
Gaius was taken aback. His eyes widened in genuine surprise. “Really?”
“Yeah, you’re like, our weird uncle,” I grumbled.
His face lit up as he flashed a heartfelt, dazzlingly white smile. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, Viol. I apologize for interrupting. Please continue.”
Grinding my teeth, I muttered, “Where was I...”
Poppy’s gaze wavered with emotion. His glistening tears caught the dim light of the crag, making his eyes shine like diamonds.
“I... I’ve never made a friend outside my clan,” Poppy said weakly.
His confidence built at a snail’s pace, but I was happy to see it at all. Any progress was better than nothing.
“Well, now you have,” I stated. “And if you come out here, maybe you’ll make another.”
His ears flicked forward inquisitively. “Who?” he asked, voice hoarse.
I grinned. “Told you, it’s a surprise.”
Poppy went still, weighing his options. With every passing second, anticipation squeezed my heart. I wanted Poppy to exit this hellhole more than anything. If he gave up now...
No, I didn’t even want to think about it. I would get him out.
“Do you trust me, Poppy?” I asked.
Poppy stilled. His unkempt fur lay flat as he stared directly back at me. When he spoke, his words were barely above a whisper. “I... I think—no, I... I do.”
My chest tingled.
“I trust you, too,” I said. “The surprise I want to show you is really special to me. We dragons have something called ‘hoards’. It’s anything we feel intensely passionate about, and possessive over.
” Pulling my satchel forward, I patted the leather siding.
“A piece of my hoard is inside this bag. The one you found when I lost it. I don’t know what I would’ve done without it. So, I owe you, Poppy. Big time.”
The tip of Poppy’s tail wagged. Seeing that lifted my heart and wrapped it with a fuzzy blanket. I didn’t know why I found that so adorable. Maybe it was his uninhibited animal honesty, unable to be stopped.
He dropped his gaze to the dirt, but said, “I’ll... I’ll come out.”
Excitement coursed through me. I nodded quickly, then backed out to give him space.
A wave of relief crashed into me as Poppy emerged from beneath the overhang.
In the sunlight, his fur was even dirtier, his sides scrawnier, and he reeked of unwashed dog and stale earth—but I didn’t care about any of that. I was elated beyond measure.
Without thinking, I rushed forward to embrace him. He felt small and fragile against my chest. Breakable as a valuable porcelain doll walled up behind locked glass.