Chapter Fifteen

*****

Chapter Fifteen

*****

“Alright, Mirelle. You can do this. Just…climb on his back. Strap in. It’s perfectly safe. Be brave. Be strong. Just think about-”

“Are you about done babbling to yourself?”

Mirelle straightened. “You’re not supposed to be listening!”

“I can’t help it that dragons have excellent hearing.” Revaramek pawed at the ground, shredding the sod. “Now stop muttering and mount me! Wait, I don’t like that way that sounds.” The dragon snorted. “Just climb on my back already! Ah, damn it, that’s not much better. Umm…let’s see…”

Mirelle whirled on him, grinding grass beneath her new boot heel. “Will you shut up?”

“Will you get on me so we can get this over with?” The dragon tossed his head, then tugged at the dark leather straps crisscrossing his chest plates. “This thing is itchy.”

Chapter Fourteen

*****

Chapter Fourteen

*****

Revaramek touched his hind paws down upon the cobbled plaza he hoped was Mirelle’s intended destination. The only directions she’d given him on their short flight were a series of screams, shouts, and half-intelligible squeals. Something about a square and the other side of something or other, and then a whole lot of shrieking whenever he banked. After landing, he clutched her to his chest with one foreleg so he wouldn’t have rear up this time. No sense leaving himself wide open again.

“Now Mirelle.” Revaramak eased the trembling woman down from his chest.  “Remember, you promised.”

Mirelle waggled her boots, feeling for the ground. “You tricked me into that promise!”

“Yes, I did!” Revaramek smiled, lifting his frills. “But that makes it no less valid. Surely an important councilwoman such as herself wouldn’t want to be known for breaking her word.”

Chapter Thirteen

*****

Chapter Thirteen

*****

Revaramek watched Mirelle approach through slitted eyes. He’d been awake for a little while now, but remained sprawled in the grass, savoring the warm sun. Just as he was contemplating where best to go and hunt his breakfast, the girl came around the wall of trees separating The Cathedral from the rest of the grounds. He watched her long enough to know she was coming towards him, rather than heading to her home. No doubt she meant to startle him awake and yell at him for sleeping on her favorite flowers or some other such horrific crime.

As soon as she drew near, Revaramek jumped to his paws, greeting her in a loud, brassy voice. “Good morning, Subject!”

Chapter Twelve

*****

Chapter Twelve

*****

Mirelle slept deeply through the night, and woke feeling refreshed. It was unusual for her to sleep so well, though she certainly wasn’t going to complain. Images from vivid dreams lingered in her mind as she lay in bed. Vivid dreams were unusual, as well. She tried to recall them, but the harder she grasped the images the faster they dissipated. She may as well have been trying grasp gossamer spider webs without damaging them.

Mirelle pushed herself up onto her elbows, thinking about her dreams. Something about Revaramek, dancing on a sand dune in a desert. She chuckled as she pulled back her quilted purple bedspread, and swung her feet out of the bed. Dreams were odd.

Chapter Eleven

*****

Chapter Eleven

*****

In the gloomy light beneath churning clouds, and dark canopies, the tiny dragon stalked his prey. It slithered and scuttled over mossy rocks. Its tiny scales, green like his, blended into the moss but its shiny black legs gave it away. It paused, flicked out its pink tongue, and clacked mandibles beyond its angular head. The little dragon froze, one paw hanging in the air.

When the creature moved again, he moved with it, creeping ever closer across the battered stones. Soon he drew almost near enough to snatch its tail in his jaws, and yet he waited. This was the third time that day he’d hunted a spider-snake. Welts on his paws reminded him why he had to be patient. He crept a few paces closer, ignoring the way the creature’s tail flicked back and forth, as if daring him to pounce. That was what got him bitten earlier. This time he was patient. This time he was ready.

Chapter Ten

*****

Chapter Ten

*****

By the time Mirelle left the Chamber of Law, the sun hung low enough to paint the village in the burnt golden shades of early evening. She fumed as she passed through the gateway in the palisade that surrounded the summit plaza. Things had spiraled from annoying into catastrophic so quickly her head was still spinning. All she’d wanted to do was enforce the old truce to make the damn dragon do his job, and keep their village safe. Now she was stuck with him.

Chapter Nine

*****

Chapter Nine

*****

Revaramek took a few steps back as Tavaat and Beka opened the doors to the pub. Given that this was his first time being allowed indoors, he wanted to make a grand entrance. As soon as he had enough room, he bound forward, cackling in glee.

“I get to go inside!”

The dragon burst through the entryway, and Tavaat and Beka scrambled out his way. Revaramek’s cackle stopped as soon as he saw all the tables and chairs littering the floor within the building. He tried to stop himself, and skidded a few paces. His unsheathed claws gouged the smooth wooden floor before he stumbled, tripped, and flopped onto one of the tables. It shattered beneath him, blowing table legs out to his sides. Chairs toppled across the floor, upending other chairs.