In Part 2 (Ch. 6-17), Emilie found out what it means to be a true dragon, at least physically and magically. Keeping this a secret from her friends and society is something of a challenge, but she’s doing her best.
Jess was relieved when I finally sat next to her on the bus again, and to be honest, it was nice for me, too. Sitting next to random people means being uncomfortable for the ride. I couldn’t bring myself to sit next to Al. I love and trust him but I think he’d be a little embarrassed. It was still a quiet ride home that day, but not awkward.
And then on Thursday, Shannon gave me a real surprise.
“I learned the spell yesterday,” Shannon whispered to me before our shared Social Studies class began.
I tried not to show my surprise. I knew she’d said she was working on it, but actually finishing was something else entirely. “Which one?” I asked.
“The shopkeeper called it ‘Durable Clothes.’ I don’t think it’s a complicated spell. I can explain on Saturday?”
“Uh, sure.” Concentrating during class was hard. We had rain and a dusting of snow earlier this week, so I’m still using Chén’s Safe Path on the road just in case.
“How do you sneak out?” Shannon asks before the ride. “You’re coming through the garage; that would take you through most of your house.”
“I don’t sneak,” I respond. “I told my brother where I’m going and when I plan to return, and that I’m going with you. Not anything else, but it’s enough that my parents let me go.”
“Lucky. What do they think about the timing of the Dragon’s flights?”
“I’m pretty sure my dad thinks I’m meeting with the Dragon,” I respond.
“And he lets you out anyway?”
I think about it for a moment. “I couldn’t tell you why. I told him that not all Dragons are bad, and I keep coming home safely, so maybe that’s it?” I shrug as I answer.
“Lucky.” She follows as I start moving. “I don’t think my parents know how I keep sneaking out.”
“Magic?”
“Invisibility and silence wands.” Stopping briefly at the gate, I note that I can’t see her normally anymore. She’s obviously still there—it’s not like her body heat vanished. But my eyes look right through where she should be.
I nod. “Neat. But, uh, just know that won’t work against Dragons.”
“You can see me?” She holds up her hand near her face. Wait, can she not see herself? Maybe that’s why her bike is invisible, too.
“You’re holding up your hand in front of your face. I can’t actually see you, but you’re still warm.”
“Oh, right.” And now I can see her again. “No one can sneak up on you, can they?”
“I can still be distracted.” And if this conversation was with Alex, I’m sure she’d be plotting something immediately to test my limits.
Good weather: no problem for biking, can take off from park, and Shannon isn’t soaking wet. But also, I’m not really hidden from town if anyone’s looking. The park is already above some clouds if they’re present, and it’s not a lot of effort to fly a bit higher. But I’ve only had that advantage once so far.
And also, I think beasts are starting to get more comfortable near me. Gryphons aren’t dumb enough to attack me, but they seem a little closer today.
“Emilie?” Shannon squeezes my neck a little, which is the signal for me to slow down. I don’t think she could hurt me that way if she tried, but I need to slow to hear her. “I think someone’s watching us.”
«I was on the news.» If they had a recording, someone had to be watching us.
“Closer than that. Do you see the bird over there?” She points, and I follow the line mentally.
«Yes, I see it.»
“It’s using magic.” And based on what Wizards can do, that means the bird is either transformed or a monster. I can’t get the exact size of it while the bird is moving, and it’s kinda too dark now to see colors well, but the heat signature is about two feet long, which is rather small for most monsters.
I give the bird a rapid pass—I’m flying a lot faster than it is—and the smell is unmistakable. «That’s a Mage.»
“Then it’s probably Jess.”
I drop a few feet before I remember to flap. «What’s she doing out here!?»
“She’s probably just curious about the Dragon. You can ask her, can’t you?”
«My voice is the same as normal! You figured it out in like a minute!»
“More like a few hours, but it was possible you were just hiding. At the start, anyway.” She’s quiet for a bit. “If you slow down, I can talk to her.”
«How is that any better? She knows you, too.»
“Emilie, you said you knew you’d be discovered eventually. And that the Mymoir is full of history. How have other Dragons dealt with that?”
I… spent a lot of time reading this. And considering my course of action. I didn’t expect it this soon, though. Or happening this way.
«The—the older Dragons just told everybody. A big announcement and a celebration, because it used to be an honor to be a Dragon. And it meant that the town would be honored, too, and would be a lot safer.»
“And the new ones?”
«They move a very long way away from home, so the new place won’t have anyone who knows them as a human. And they live with another Dragon.»
Shannon takes a moment before responding, but her voice is strong when she does. “You didn’t do either. If you’ve already accepted that you’ll be found out, can you at least trust your friends to support you?”
I take a few deep breaths—as deep as I can while flying anyway—then angle my body to approach the flying probably-Jess. «You’re still talking for me.»
“I can do that.”
Having Shannon next to me while we’re on the ground does give me a sense of scale since we’re almost the same size while I’m small, but this bird is tiny. If I could eat in this form, I could probably swallow it whole. Its entire head is smaller than one of my eyes. So to keep from knocking it out of the sky, I approach from below, a few dozen feet down.
I know the bird’s a person. It smells like a Mage. But there’s no real way to tell at this point whether the bird is Jess or some other Mage entirely, so until I at least know if it’s a boy or a girl, the bird remains “it.”
“Come over here!” Shannon calls to it. The bird doesn’t respond, so she calls again. “Bird, I’m talking to you! Don’t worry! She doesn’t bite!”
«I’m not your dog,» I remark.
“It’s a phrase I know, alright?” But I can feel her laugh as she leans against my neck.
It seems the bird heard Shannon the second time; it’s coming in to land, which is probably really hard considering I’m a moving target. I slow enough that the bird won’t immediately be blown off by the wind, and Shannon holds out her arm as a perch. I’ve done that before with Jess. She scratched my arm all up the first time we tried. But Shannon is wearing a coat and has that Durable Clothes spell, so she’ll probably be fine.
The bird lands on Shannon’s arm and she tucks it between herself and my neck to shield it from the wind. I resign to a slower pace so that Shannon doesn’t need to grip my neck all that firmly. “Can you tell us who you are?” Shannon asks the bird.
I can’t hear the response very well. I guess Shannon’s just learned to talk loud.
“I was right!” Shannon confirms.
I can speak to anyone in my range, but it’s directed: for now, only Shannon can hear me. «That’s better than it being someone else, I guess.»
Jess isn’t speaking up enough for me to hear, so I mostly concentrate on just flying and making sure that my passenger count stays at two. I can still hear Shannon, at least.
“She’s my friend.” Pause. “I don’t know how, and besides, I think you need spells to do that.”
I think I can guess the question. «Nobody knows how to make a monster like a Dragon. The books I read said that Dragons break too many rules or something. Too big, for starters.»
“Really?” Shannon asks. “Makes sense.” Pause. “She can talk with people if she wants. Right now, that’s just me.” Long pause. “I don’t think you’re speaking loud enough. She can hear fine, but wind is loud.”
I wouldn’t say the wind is deafening—I think my head shape actually makes it pretty quiet—but it’s definitely difficult to hear Jess. Even Shannon sounds like she’s farther away than I know her to be. And maybe it’s difficult to yell as a bird. «You’re right; I can’t hear her.»
Pause. “I don’t need to ask her that. That’s waaay beyond her comfort zone. Letting you land took some convincing.”
«What did she want to know?»
“If you would let her mom chat with us.”
Yep, Shannon got my answer right. «Not today. Definitely not today. If I did that, I bet the southern orange dragon would attack tomorrow.» I don’t know how fast news travels, but I bet the “fight” between us would be less “territorial conflict” and more “brutal slaughter.”
But even if I don’t chat with the DF, he’s still really likely to come here eventually. And I have zero combat training. Not even at the level of what Al offered, which assumed I had no magic at all. I’m still not comfortable with talking to more people today, but… I probably should find a way to learn to fight soon. I just—I don’t know how.
While I was lost in thought, Jess took off again. She’s still well within my range, but there’s no reason to talk to her or give chase.
“You okay, Emilie?”
«I need to learn how to fight.»
“That sounds a little harder than learning a spell.” She pulls in close, hugging my neck. And not just to hold on. “I’ll watch the sky. You just relax, okay?”
She might not be as aware of our surroundings as I am, but her words comfort me anyway.
«Thanks.»