Chapter 9 #4
Ava wiggles in my lap and coos, and I want to hug her tight and kiss her soft skin, but I don’t even know if I can do that. I’ll need to take some time and read all I can about baby dragons.
She then chirps again, but it sounds different, a little higher.
I turn and see a little gray tail fidgeting behind a potted tree.
“Is that your brother?” I ask Ava, and she chirps. “But he’s shy, right?”
Ava emits a long, lovely coo. Slowly, I walk to that tree and see the cutest gray dragon trembling, his body pressed firmly against the pot.
I crouch slowly, and say, “Hello, there.”
The gray dragon looks at me, his deep gray eyes curious, intrigued, but also examining me, judging. As small as he is, his eyes are still dragon eyes, carrying all the power and fury contained in these creatures—and the magic too.
I’m not sure what magic, but I feel a current of power, something like I felt only when hit by that force coming from the rider’s staff.
Do dragons have magic other than healing? I set the thought aside as another question I need to ask, or perhaps find the answer in books—if they have that answer.
For now, I want to calm down the gray dragon. Unlike his sister, he’s terrified of me.
“Hey there,” I murmur in the gentlest voice I can make. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
The little dragon keeps staring at me, while his sister coos. He looks from her to me, still thinking. Then he runs, faster than I could imagine such a young creature could run, and disappears behind a rock.
“Should I leave him alone?” I ask Ava.
She chirps twice, quite loudly this time.
“I’m not sure if you’re telling me to stop annoying him or to try to calm him down.”
Ava chirps again, her tone insistent—or at least it’s what I’m guessing.
I approach the rock in soft steps. “Hello, little dragon. Are you playing hide and seek?”
Ava lets out a low coo, while her brother remains silent. I crouch carefully by the rock hiding him, and he pierces me with his deep stare.
“You know, I’m a pro at staring contests. I had tons of practice with my brother, while you’ve been doing this just for one day. I think I’m going to win.”
The gray dragon doesn’t move. Doesn’t make a sound.
Ava wriggles in my arms and I put her on the floor, my eyes still locked with her brother’s.
Then he jumps on my thigh and emits a loud screech. I’m so startled that I fall on my butt, while he runs up my shirt, then screeches again, his face right in front of mine.
Had he been some five times bigger, I’m sure this would have been the most terrifying moment of my life.
But I think he’s just scared. I place a hand on his head. “Fine. You won the staring contest, except that you cheated. I wasn’t aware that screaming also counted.”
The gray dragon relaxes, and I lie back on that strange floor with a plush fabric trying to mimic grass or moss. I don’t think it does a good job, but at least it’s not as bad as lying on bare marble or wood.
Ava climbs on me again, and now I have two dragons lying on my shoulder blades.
“You need a name, you know?” I whisper to the gray hatchling, and he coos for the first time.
His voice is softer and a little higher than his sister’s. I’m not sure why I’m so certain that he’s a boy, as the private parts aren’t visible in dragons, but even if I’m wrong, it’s not the end of the world.
Vos, the word comes to me. “I’ll call you Vos.”
He screeches, as if irritated, but then makes an odd gurgling sound, then lies on the crook between my neck and my shoulder, while Ava coos. He’s no longer afraid.
When I was growing up in Sirenna, a neighbor had a cat, and he climbed on me a few times, his purr calming. The little dragons don’t purr, but their light weights on me send me a soothing, relaxing sensation. I can’t fall asleep, but I can spend a few moments like this.
A muffled and distant crack of thunder awakens me. I suppose I did fall asleep, and so did the little dragons. Ava is making a soft sound, similar to a snore, or maybe a purr, while Vos is silent, his little chest moving up and down slowly.
Meanwhile, my stomach is rumbling, starved as if I hadn’t eaten in days. The light coming from the sunholes is so minimal that I can only discern some shapes in the darkness. I have to go, even if I don’t want to wake up the cute, magical little creatures resting on me.
I would stay, if I wasn’t so hungry—and if Alayel hadn’t asked me to go out with him.
Slowly, I take each dragon with one hand and place them on a pile of straw. Ava opens her dark blue eyes, stares at me, and chirps. Her brother wakes up and runs away, I suppose to hide somewhere.
“I’ll try to come back,” I whisper.
And I truly hope I can.
I also hope I’m not late to meet Alayel. I shouldn’t want to see him, after everything, after his displays of sudden fury. At the same time, he stood up for me. He even confronted Mallor. But Alayel’s still a prince, and there’s an ocean of difference between us.
Maybe this is my chance to realize he’s an asshole and forget him once and for all. That’s it. It explains why my heart is frantic in my chest.