“Yeah. That… good job with that.”
The larger dragon reared up, sitting on her hind legs. It was a sign of trust, exposing her soft underbelly to Ryan, who stood before her with a sword. Her mate did the same beside her, feathers twitching on top of her head. They were remarkably smaller than Kevin, maybe half his size, which meant that they were also smaller than Zero. But I thought they made up for it with speed. Zero could move quickly along the ground and through the earth. Kevin was intimidating given his largeness. But these two seemed agile and quick in ways that Zero and Kevin could not be.
And it chilled me a little that I was already thinking of them in terms of their usefulness in an upcoming battle. They were thoughts that I wished I didn’t have to have.
I pushed them away. For now.
Now I would hear the names of the fabled mated dragons of the Northern Mountains.
My hopes were sky-high.
The larger one would be called something like Queen Mystic Feather of the Snowy Mountains. Her mate would be Queen Snow Storm of the Ice Caves. I just knew it.
“My name is Pat,” the dragon said, voice rumbling and eyes flashing. “And this is my mate, Leslie.”
“How do you do,” Leslie said primly as she bowed her head, wings fluttering.
“Yes!” I cried. “Oh my gods, yes! I knew they would be—” Then, “Wait. What.”
“Pat and Leslie,” Ryan said as he bowed. “I am Ryan Foxheart, Knight Commander to the Good King Anthony of Verania. I am also the cornerstone to the apprentice of Morgan of Shadows, Sam of Wilds. I am joined by Grand Prince Justin of Verania.”
“No, seriously,” I said. “What are their names?”
“Pat and Leslie,” Kevin said. “How exotic.”
“I know I’ve never heard of such names before,” Gary said, sounding impressed. “How unique.”
“Are you guys for real right now?” I demanded. “Does no one see the problem here but me?”
“Your wizard acts as if he is in pain,” Pat said to Ryan. “I can help him.”
“I have your word that no harm will come to him?” Ryan asked, and I couldn’t be faulted for almost swooning at him sounding so regal. I actually might have swooned if I hadn’t been so incensed at learning about Pat and Leslie, for fuck’s sake. And because of my dislocated shoulder.
“You have my word, Knight Commander,” Pat said. “He has passed his test.”
“Pat and Leslie,” I said miserably.
“Yes, dear,” Leslie said, peering over at me. “Sorry about all the hullabaloo. It was really rather barbaric, but Pat did have a point that we would need to test your mettle.”
I sighed, giving in to the inevitable. “Whatever. I don’t even care right now. My dreams of knowing a cool dragon have been decimated. There’s four of you now, and the coolest one is a fourteen-year-old emo kid. I can’t even with all of this.”
“Oh boy,” Gary said. “Someone sounds like they need a nap.”
That actually sounded amazing.
“Or a good fucking,” Kevin said.
That sounded amazing too.
Tiggy looked uncertain. “Set you down now?”
“Yeah, big guy. You can set me down now.”
“You sad?”
“Just disappointed that no one here is named Queen Mystic Feather of the Snowy Mountains. I’ll get over it. Eventually. Probably.”
Tiggy looked over at Pat and Leslie. “You no hurt Sam. He is my Sam. I love him. Tiggy smash if you hurt him.”
The severe look on Pat’s face softened when she looked at Tiggy. “You have my word, giant. No harm will come to the wizard.”
“Apprentice,” Gary sneezed. “Gosh, I must be allergic to all this snow. I don’t even know what’s come over me today. Excuse me.”
“Okay, Sam?” Tiggy asked.
“Okay,” I agreed.
He set me down gently, my boots sinking into the snow. He brought a big finger up and rubbed it along the top of my head. I leaned into it, thankful that after everything, my friends were alive and well and we were together again. Even if apparently all the dragons of Verania had no idea what it meant to have an epic dragon name, at least I had my family back at my side again.
Tiggy took a step back by Gary, who leaned forward and pressed his nose against my forehead. “Hey.”
“Hi.”
“I like you still, in case you were wondering.”
“Oh good. I like you still too.”
“Of course you do.”
“Sassy,” I said fondly, pushing his face away.
Ryan hadn’t sheathed his sword, but he did hold his free hand out to me. I grimaced as I took a step forward, the pain bright and heavy now. I was tired and cranky and happy all at the same time. I wanted nothing more than to find the nearest bed and curl into Ryan and possibly not move for the foreseeable future. I thought that sounded like the best and most practical idea I’d ever come up with.
I took Ryan’s hand, callused and rough and oh-so familiar. I felt more settled than I had in weeks, knowing he was here. I didn’t want to let him out of my sight again.
Wizard, a voice whispered in my head.
We can feel your bonds, another voice said, smooth and sweet.
I stared up at the dragons.
They stared down at me.
They were there again in my head, but it didn’t feel as malevolent as it had before. I wondered then at their supposed plan, at their tests they felt the need to put me through. Hadn’t Zero done the same? Oh sure, he’d positioned it as playing, but in the end, hadn’t it been a test of wills? His versus my own. The dragon versus the wizard and his friends. In the end, we had all stood against him. He’d snapped and snarled, but he’d collapsed soon after and had turned back into the emo dragon.
But why.
I can hear your questions
I can hear your dreams
You are jumbled
You are confused
But then, you are human, after all
Such a conflicting mixture you all are
Even the wizards cannot escape the entrapment of human fallacies
Ryan’s hand tightened in mine, and I knew he was feeling something—as was probably Kevin—but I didn’t think he could make out their words like I could. I didn’t know if he ever would. A cornerstone was a treasured thing, but it wasn’t necessarily powerful. He was connected to the dragons through me. I didn’t think it was possible for him to do it on his own.
We have answers, though few they may be
And we will give them to you
But first
We must show you what we are
So that you may see us as we have seen you
You have such power within you
But it’s unwieldy
Unrestrained
It has the potential to consume you
Your cornerstone will help you
But he cannot do it on his own
There are great risks ahead for you
A burden unlike anything the world has ever seen
We can help you carry it
But it will cost you
“Of course it will,” I muttered. “Because everything comes with a price.”
“It must,” Pat said simply, eyes flaring blue.