Chapter Seventeen Ivan #3
Suddenly the space grew dark except for the light from the sky.
Loud music blared around us, hushing the crowd.
A spotlight appeared, lighting the center.
The square outline in the center shifted, the wood moving upward.
Slowly the head of a black scaled dragon began to appear under the rising wood.
Her yellow eyes opened up, and soon we were graced with a massive dragon.
She had to be around 75 feet tall, which was on the smaller size.
This made it likely she was a shifter like me.
Most dragons over 100 feet tall were not shifters or hybrids and could not shift to human or fae.
I was slightly under that at 90 feet tall in my full form.
Ridges spiked around her face and over her massive wings, which I assumed, when fully flexed, might take the length of the space.
Flashes from the various camera phone contraptions I’d come to learn about went off around the tent, emitting tiny sparks of light in the dark space.
The dragon seemed to preen under the attention, and she blew out tiny balls of fire that had the crowd oohing and aahing.
The temperature in the space grew warmer from the heat, and I wondered if anyone was concerned at all at the possible danger they were in if this dragon decided to lose her mind and kill us all.
It would be all so easy. I also wondered if there were any precautions I did not see that were in place.
I didn’t understand being in dragon form when not needed.
There were two times I would do so, when in battle or resting alone.
If left in dragon form outside of those options, it was possible to forget oneself and go into defense mode.
Intergenerational trauma from humans and fae being the cause.
If the unseelie fae hated humans, dragons absolutely despised them ten times more.
I wasn’t sure there would be enough coin in the world to get me to dance like some performance animal for this smelly horde.
I suppose they were lucky she was likely a shifter.
More self-control. There was no world where a non-shifter dragon would do this willingly.
Daria leaned toward Jalisa. “Inappropriate question, but is this dragon a male or female and how can you tell? I was expecting to see a giant peen or vag in my face, but I see neither.”
Jalisa cackled. “It’s hidden in a slit.”
Daria cocked a brow. “Like a pocket?”
Jalisa wrinkled her brow. “Sort of?” She elbowed me in the ribs, and I tried to ignore her. “I know you hear us. Answer her question.”
I ran a hand over my face. The things you do for friends you barely know. “Yes, like a pocket. When I’m in dragon form, I just snap it off and put it in my built in pocket.”
Daria’s eyes widened and Marcus snorted yet again, eyes still wearily on the dragon, probably plotting how he could get his fiancée out of this death trap if things went south. “Really?” she questioned.
Jalisa shook her head. “No. Stop lying to our new friends, Ivy. We need less enemies, not more.”
I raised my hands in surrender. “It stays inside, and then when it’s ready to be used, it comes out.”
Daria squinted her eyes, head tilted. “So, there’s nothing down there?” She made a waving motion with her hand over her lap.
I looked at Jalisa, who quickly turned her head from me.
That didn’t stop me from glaring at the back of her head as if she would be able to feel the heat of my stare.
This uncomfortable line of questioning felt like her fault.
“That is not how it is when I’m in fae form.
I don’t walk around like some neutered puppet. ”
Daria raised her hand, adjusting in her seat. “One more question-”
Marcus put her hand down. “How about we stop talking about giant dragon dick and just watch this death trap of a show that I paid for?”
I gave a curt nod, thankful he was finally being of use. “Thank you, mate, for calling it giant.”
“Never again,” Marcus muttered, shaking his head in disgust.
Daria remained quiet for all of two seconds. “But how do you know the gender if you can’t see the goods?”
If I had a drink, I’d have spit it out. The goods? This human was hilarious. I decided that she would be added to my extremely tiny list of humans I would not devour if given the chance. “I can scent it.”
She gave me a toothy smile and two thumbs up before returning to watching the show.
Jalisa rubbed my back affectionately, saying nothing.
She didn’t have to. I understood that she appreciated me trying to be nice and making the effort.
Despite her grumpy nature, I never questioned how much she loved me.
I returned my attention to the show just in time to see the dragon jump in the air and expand her wings above the head of the audience.
She then took flight in the air, soaring around the large space, higher and higher until she flew through the opening in the ceiling.
Seconds later, she flew back down, drawing excited cries from the crowd.
She paused before landing, those large eyes locking on mine.
She’d sensed me. We weren’t the same kind of dragon.
Would my presence anger her as intruding on her territory, or would she welcome seeing someone remotely of her kind?
She did a few more tricks and then the show was over with the announcer telling people to line up if they wanted a photo with the dragon for an extra cost. I grabbed Jalisa by the hand and pushed through the crowd to try to quickly get to the dragon.
Ignoring the angry cries of the humans I made my way through, I managed to get to the start of the line behind only a few other people.
Marcus and Daria eventually joined us, and several minutes later, I was face to face with another dragon.
Only I couldn’t talk to her in his form.
I looked up at the dragon and raised a hand. “Can you shift?” I shouted.
A man in black knight armor and a camera walked over to me. “She can, but we’re kind of busy right now. Do you want a picture?”
I began to shake my head, but Daria pushed past me. “Yes, I do.”
Jalisa laid a hand on my shoulder. “I think we’re going to have to wait until she goes on break.”
I looked over to the dragon who eyed me as Daria posed beside her, Marcus standing very close with hands flexed, ready for action. The dragon bowed her head in greeting, and I took that as a sign that she wasn’t upset by my presence.
“When’s your break?” I shouted to the knight.
He tilted his head back to the waiting attendees. “When we finish with this line.”
“I need to talk to her, so I’ll wait.”
He shrugged and waved the next person over. “You’ll have to wait outside in front.”
An irritating long amount of time later, they finally went on break.
A tall woman, close to 6ft, with pale skin and ash blonde hair hanging to her waist walked in our direction.
There was no mistaking who she was with those topaz dragon eyes.
She stopped in front of us, but her eyes were only on me.
She offered me a hand, and I took it in greeting. “I’m Zoe.”
“Ivan. I’m a-”
She yanked me toward her, tapping our foreheads together gently in the more familiar dragon greeting. “Ice dragon.”
I cleared my throat and took a giant step back, not wanting the others, especially my love, to get the wrong idea. “Yes. And this is my wife, Jalisa. And our friends, Daria and Marcus.”
Zoe barely acknowledged them. “Rarely see other dragons nowadays, especially ice dragons. What brings you here? You aren’t from the realm.”
I didn’t question how she knew. I was certain my scent gave it away. “I’m looking for someone. Another dragon.”
She placed her hands on her hips, eyeing me in a way that felt mildly flirtatious. This wasn’t going to be easy. “I know dragons. Buy me some food and a drink, and I’ll tell you all I know.”
I looked at the others.
“Just us two,” she added.
Jalisa rolled her eyes, smiling, although I knew she was anything but happy. “Now why would you want it to be just the two of you? I’m sure you heard him say I was his wife. Talk to us both, I’ll buy you food and drink.”
Zoe narrowed her eyes at Jalisa, the first time she’d acknowledged her in our brief exchange. “You’re mates, I can smell it. The fae sure do like to spread themselves. Fine. Let’s go.”
We found a free picnic bench on a lawn designated for dining. Zoe gave her order and Marcus and Daria agreed to go get her food as we talked. Jalisa and I sat across from her. She looked bored as she occupied herself, swiping on her phone.
I rested my forearms on the table and leaned in. “Is there a dragon tribe anywhere? I’ve searched on the internet but couldn’t find anything.”
Zoe’s eyes remained on her phone. “Getting right to it, aren’t we? You don’t know anything about dragons in the human realm, huh? We don’t normally advertise ourselves, what with humans hunting us and trying to kill us in the past.”
“You seem to be advertising yourself and surviving,” Jalisa stated, crossing her arms over her chest. Her face was tight, and I was pretty sure she didn’t like her. Not that I blamed her.
Zoe shrugged and put her phone back in her jeans pocket. “A girl’s gotta make a living.”
“You could come back to the fae realm.”
She giggled. “I’ve heard about how dragons are treated there. Hard pass.”
There was no point in lying to her. “
“It’s getting better. Slowly,” I retorted.
“We’re the most powerful beings in all the worlds and yet, no matter where we go, we’re treated like work horses.”
“It’s because we’d rather be left to ourselves than dominate. Well, most of us. So how do dragons stay connected in this world?”
“Email. There’s a list serv.”
I scratched my head. It was as if she was speaking another language. Did I need a magic interpretation spell to understand her? “I don’t know any of those words.”
She smiled, balancing an elbow on the table and resting her chin on her open palm. “It basically means we can message each other through the internet. We’re invited in the group via word of mouth. If you had an email, I’d add you.”
“I got one for us,” Jalisa replied, pulling out the phone we purchased to share. “I can email you.”
They exchanged information, and I felt a tiny bit of hope that we were making some headway in at least one thing. Even when we went back to our realm, it was nice to know a network of dragons beyond our own.
I went on to tell Zoe about my family and uncle.
When I was done, she pulled out her phone and began to type again.
“Don’t know anyone like that, but I’ll send word out through the network and email you both back.
” When she was done, she looked up at us both.
“So, are you looking for a third in your relationship?”
I patted Jalisa on the thigh. “Nope. You’d never be satisfied. I only have eyes for this beauty.”
Jalisa wasn’t even worried about anyone else, dragon or not, and she never had to be. No one else had a chance as long as she was alive, and even after, I couldn’t fathom I’d remotely love like this again. And I’d fight the world to keep my memories of her for as long as I lived.