Chapter 22: Dragons Are People, Too

Pepin was, above all, an efficient and outstanding servant. Kai had no idea it would take so little for him to be back into his pants, shirt, and boots, and out of the room, with a fully dressed and dutiful servant on his heels.

“Your Majesty, your sword!” Pepin hurried to keep up with him.

“Right, give it here,” Kai said quickly. “Say, Pepin, do you believe we could make this dragon cry like the last one? I don’t feel like fighting one for real. They’re kind of cute, don’t you think?”

“I don’t believe that Your Majesty would still find them cute once you see half of your castle on fire.”

That was a good point, and Pepin was entirely correct, but Kai still had his hopes that he would strike a friendship with a dragon or two.

They hurried out on the external wall and up to the tower. The good news was that no sign of smoke could be sensed in the air, but everyone was in a frenzy, and armed guards were aligned along the walls, armed and ready to shoot from their bows, ballistae, and whatnot. Galien and Conrad joined them shortly.

“Where is the dragon?” Kai asked impatiently.

Just as if his words had the power to summon the mythical creature, a loud flapping of wings announced that they would soon see the dragon. Kai stared in fascination as the impressive creature soared from the ground and hovered in midair, at a height enough to allow him to stare into the golden eyes from up close.

“Hey, hold your fire, everyone!” Kai shouted at the top of his lungs. “Actually, put all your weapons away! It’s the mother dragon! We’re friends!”

Maybe all dragons looked pretty much the same, but Kai was sure enough he recognized those eyes from before.

“My name is Adhe,” the mother dragon spoke. “I thought you’d like to meet my little whelp, Iri.”

“Oh, he hatched?” Kai asked with excitement. “I totally want to see him. Hey, everyone, it’s all fine!” he shouted and leaned over the wall to gesture at the troops gathered and ready to fight.

What his voice, as loud as it was, couldn’t carry to everyone, was just passed from one soldier to another, and the weapons were being lowered, although Kai could tell everyone was prey to a lot of confusion. Well, they had to get used to it because he did things differently around here.

“Where is the baby?” he asked and opened his arms, ready to hold a baby dragon for the first time in his life.

“Your Majesty,” Conrad said in a tense voice, “how are you friends with this dragon?”

“The same I’m friends with you,” Kai said promptly, “completely by accident, but you know, it was a happy accident.”

“A prince making friends among dragons,” Galien commented. “Who would have thought?”

Kai could tell his cousin was amused by the entire scene without even turning to look at him. Adhe turned her head and nudged at something hiding behind her right wing. A small creature emerged, whining softly. His mother cooed and encouraged him while Kai stretched his arms as far as he could.

The whelp was darker than his mother, and his eyes were a lighter color. But most of all, he was so pretty with his tiny scales and clumsy little feet on which he could barely stand. Kai wrapped his arms slowly around the small body and lifted the baby dragon to hold him close to his chest. “Guys, look!” he exclaimed and turned to show the little wonder to the rest of the group. “His name is Iri, you said?” he asked the mother.

“Yes.”

“It’s such a beautiful name for such a beautiful baby. Look, Iri, this is Pepin who managed to repair your egg when it was cracked. He’s a cool guy. And this is Conrad, who has eyes just like yours. He’s a big shot warrior. And a heartbreaker,” he added in a conspiratorial voice. “And this is my cousin, Galien. Don’t believe everything they say about him being a rake and all that. He’s a good guy, too.”

The baby dragon was examining everyone with curious eyes, but when he turned his attention on Galien, Kai felt him tense. “Hey, little buddy, what is it?”

Iri suddenly sneezed, sending a wave of flames directly into Galien’s face, much to Kai’s horror.

“Oh my God, Galien, are you all right?”

But instead of witnessing something horrible like a charred face, he only stared into his cousin’s eyes that looked quite amused. Galien took out his handkerchief with a fancy gesture and wiped his face of a bit of soot. “I’m fire resistant, Sebastian, don’t worry. Just a little gift from my mother’s lineage.”

“Cool gift.” Kai breathed out in relief. “Iri, I think I should return you to your mother before you sneeze into other people’s faces, people who aren’t as lucky as Galien to having been born from a fire goddess.”

“I’m so sorry about that,” Adhe said and leaned over her wing so that Kai could deposit the baby dragon behind it safely. “He has yet to understand how powerful he is.”

“He’s a strong baby,” Kai agreed.

“I wanted to thank you for saving my child,” Adhe added. “Do you think there’s a way for me to repay your kindness?”

“You didn’t tell me how you got the cure for me,” Conrad said accusingly. “I assumed you destroyed the dragon.”

“Really, Conrad? Just what kind of guy do you think I am?” Kai turned to face the other. “We solved the quest by wits. I mean, it was mostly Pepin, but I was around so it counts.”

That made Conrad look at Pepin with new eyes. Kai could tell the captive prince was pretty impressed with that revelation. Most probably, he hadn’t expected that his rival in love would do such a thing to save him.

Pepin looked down with modesty and was saying nothing.

“Yeah,” Kai insisted, “Pepin totally saved your ass. So you two should hug and be friends or something.”

Although the two didn’t move to do any of what he was so strongly recommending, he knew everyone would be fine, and that was all that mattered. Then, an idea struck him. He turned toward the mother dragon. “Adhe, do you think we could like ride on your back a little? Unless you find that insulting and you’ll only wait to get high enough to drop us and turn us into dust.”

“Please, climb on my back,” Adhe said and hovered close to the wall from one side.

“Guys, we’re going on a road trip on the back of a dragon!” Kai announced with enthusiasm. “Is it too much to take the four of us?” he asked the mother dragon.

“No, not at all,” Adhe assured him. “I will barely feel you. But you should hold Iri in front so that he doesn’t get scared with so many people around.”

“Sure. Pepin, you first, and hold Iri. He must love you the most since you’re the guy who saved him,” Kai began organizing them. “Then, I’m next, and Galien, you can sit behind me, with Conrad the last because he’s the biggest guy in our group.”

If there were any adjustments the guys wanted to make to the plan, they seemed to prefer to keep them to themselves. Nonetheless, Kai could tell that everyone was pretty excited about the prospect of riding on the back of a dragon. He offered Pepin his hand and helped him climb between Adhe’s shoulder blades, and then he took little Iri and placed him in Pepin’s lap. The baby dragon seemed quite excited, too, if one could take his cooing as a sign of that.

When he sat behind Pepin and trapped the other between his thighs, he sighed contently. He was on the back of a frigging dragon! If it was all a dream, it was one hell of a dream. Galien placed his hands on Kai’s shoulders as he took his place, and Conrad followed right away. He was a bit sandwiched between Pepin, who leaned against him and tickled his nose with his hair, and Galien, who playfully wrapped his arms around him, only to be pulled back abruptly, probably by a jealous Conrad.

Well, it wasn’t flying first class, but who the hell needed a boring plane ticket when they could ride a dragon?

Adhe soared into the air, and Kai began waving at the people below who were staring at them in utter disbelief. However, as soon as Adhe started flapping her wings to depart, the gathered troops broke into cheers.

Kai felt it was an important moment in the history of Ifigia, so it was a good moment for a short and unforgettable speech. “My peeps,” he yelled from the top of his lungs, “this is a great day for our kingdom.” Adhe was gaining speed, so he needed to make it even shorter. “Don’t forget. Dragons are people, too!”

He had no idea if the last of his words had been carried by the wind or not, but it didn’t matter. He was riding a dragon!

“I had no idea Ifigia was so beautiful from above,” Kai commented as Adhe took them over the rich golden fields and green rolling hills.

“None of us had, I assure you, Your Majesty,” Pepin said. “I’ve never been so high up in the air!”

It was so easy to pick on Pepin’s excitement. Kai leaned forward and pressed his cheek against the other’s, enjoying how warm and smooth it felt. He caressed Iri’s head, and the baby dragon tilted his head to stare at him with his humid eyes.

He looked definitely happy in Pepin’s arms.

“Pepin, I think you have a knack for holding babies,” Kai said.

“You believe so, Sebastian?” Pepin’s voice was low and quiet, almost hard to hear, as, at that height, the wind blew with a vengeance.

“Totally. You’re a natural. I barely held him for a minute, and he almost melted Galien’s face.”

“He did nothing to me, but your hair is killing me, Sebastian,” Galien protested.

Kai turned to see all of his hair smacking Galien in the face while the guy was trying in vain to brush it away while still holding on with one hand. That was really funny, so Kai laughed in his face. “Sorry, sorry.” He grabbed his hair, as well as he could manage, and pulled it on one side. “Do you think you can braid this thing?” he asked Pepin.

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Pepin said dutifully and got to work while still somehow managing to keep the baby dragon close.

“See, Galien? Don’t ever say that I don’t care about my cousin dearest,” Kai threw over his shoulder.

“Indeed,” Galien agreed. “You’re surprisingly accommodating, Sebastian. I’m starting to wonder just how much you changed during these years we haven’t seen each other. All those stories I kept hearing about you must have been exaggerations.”

“Yeah, totally. I’m a good guy,” Kai said with emphasis. Not a modest one, for sure, but still, compared to Sebastian, who could probably make the entire kingdom tremble with a flick of his wrist or a frown, he had to be the salt of the earth.

“Oh, Conrad, yes, hold me tightly like this,” Galien suddenly moaned, taking Kai by surprise.

Too bad he couldn’t turn completely to see what was going on.

“What on earth are you spewing, you rake?” Conrad asked, obviously scandalized. “I’m barely holding my arms around you.”

Galien laughed. “You’re so easy, Sir Conrad. I’m loving you more and more.”

“And, with all due respect, I’m hating you more and more, Sir Galien,” Conrad hissed back his reply.

Kai snickered. “Are you hearing these guys, Pepin? They’re a total riot. I think we might be hearing wedding bells soon.”

“Do you wish that Conrad would marry your cousin?” Pepin asked.

“You know how they say, couples that fight a lot love a lot, or something like that.”

“And I’ll be marrying you?”

Pepin’s question sobered him up in an instant. Could he be convinced that Sebastian would agree to that once they switched back? Because if it were after him, he would say ‘yes’ to Pepin in an instant.

His eyes wandered at the horizon. Black tendrils of smoke rose in the distance, ominous and frightening. “What’s that?” Kai asked.

Galien and Conrad stopped their bickering.

“Oh, no,” Galien whispered. “But how is it possible? You destroyed the House of Uxilan, did you not, Sebastian?”