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Because you’d obviously flee if I didn’t.

“Well, you won’t be keeping me for long seeing as how I’ll die of starvation on this ledge,” Griff snapped.

You were placed there to avoid my having to confront your friends. Most likely you would have whined if I’d had to kill them. Now that the others are gone, I shall move you.

Before Griff could ask how and where, the dragon’s claws reached for him.

Griff tried to dodge, but the ledge didn’t have room to maneuver.

The scaly paw, almost handlike in how each talon bent, wrapped around him more gently than expected, but at the same time firmly.

A good thing, since the dragon threw itself backwards from the wall and Griff felt his stomach hit his throat as they plummeted towards the lava.

At what seemed like the last possible moment, the dragon unfurled its wings, snapping them to catch the heated updraft. Riding those air currents, it climbed up and up, until it emerged from the volcano into the late afternoon sky.

Griff might have cheered the escape from the ledge if he didn’t have a sudden fear of falling to his death. He’d never seen the ground from such a height. He didn’t like it one bit.

The dragon soared for a bit before landing in the courtyard of Griff’s childhood home. The claws opened setting him down on wobbly legs.

You will live here, it announced. And don’t think you can avoid me by hiding inside. If I call and you don’t answer I will tear this place apart and once I pluck you out, I will put you somewhere you can’t ignore me.

“I already have a home somewhere else.”

Are you going to be stubborn about this? Perhaps I should have left you on the ledge for longer.

Annoyed Griff growled, “Did you treat my father like this?

Of course not. He was reasonable and embraced being my companion. It is considered an honor, you know.

“You can’t force people to be your friend.”

If I don’t, you’ll leave.

True. Griff didn’t think it a good idea to lie and say otherwise. “It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but I’m worried about my friends. You said Avera went away on a ship. What of those who were travelling with her? Were they with her?”

You speak of your vassals. They also boarded a ship, but a different one from the blooded female.

“Wait, you’re saying there were two ships?” Griff cursed their foul luck. Koonis must have returned.

So slow. Yes, there were two. The one with your vassals is anchored just past the fog.

“My ship is still there?” He’d assumed they would have left once they thought him dead. Perhaps the repairs after the kraken battle were still taking time.

You’ll be glad to know I did not sink it because one shouldn’t destroy a blooded’s hoard.

“What of the ship with Avera?”

It left.

Griff’s blood turned cold. “I don’t suppose you saw the boat’s name,” he asked, though he already assumed the answer.

Why yes, I did. The Emperor’s Folly .

“Bloody fucking bastard,” Griff ranted.

Is there a problem?

“Avera was taken by Captain Koonis. That fucker.”

Are you saying I should have eaten him?

“Yesss,” Griff huffed. “Eaten, roasted, dismembered. He’s scum.”

If he returns, so long as the blood female isn’t aboard, then I shall destroy him and the vermin he commands.

“You and me both.” As for Griff, he was stuck with a needy dragon. “If you wanted a companion so badly, why didn’t you hatch some of the other eggs?”

Why would I do that? This island isn’t big enough for two dragons. It has barely enough food to sustain me.

“Maybe if you’d not killed everyone and everything, that wouldn’t be a problem,” Griff reminded.

I was hungry.

“And you got rid of those who would have ensured you had a steady diet. If you’d let them live, they could have tended flocks for you to enjoy.”

What an intriguing idea. Perhaps I’ll keep the next thieves so they might serve as chefs.

Was it worth correcting the dragon that he meant farmers and not cooks? Would the dragon understand the difference? “If you want them to shepherd then you’ll need livestock imported and then you’ll have to temper your appetite so they can reproduce or else you’ll run out again.”

That sounds like a lengthy process. What if I’m hungry while waiting?

“Find another kraken.”

That was quite delicious. Salty but tender. Also very rare. I’ve only eaten five since my birth. Can the humans bring more?

“Ships usually avoid them.”

Pity.

“You’re awfully well-spoken. Did my father teach you our language?”

Dragons hatch with all their past memories, meaning I knew how to speak, although in the beginning, I didn’t use my words much. I was a tad angry.

“Wait, you remember your past life?”

Lives, it corrected. Dragons aren’t like humans, who spawn helpless beings that must be taught everything. We hatch with all the memories we acquired while in our past shape.

“Are you saying your mind doesn’t technically die?”

When a body expires, the egg within, which accumulates everything, retains that knowledge.

The very idea had Griff gaping. “So you remember everything you’ve ever experienced?”

Yes.

“How many times have you been regenerated?”

One hundred and seventy-three. Although, some of those lives were longer than others. And each one comes with a new name.

“Isn’t that confusing?”

No.

“If you recall your past lives, then you must have heard of Zhos.”

The dragon audibly hissed and launched itself into the air, flapping off into the descending dusk, leaving Griff alone.

Must have been something he said.