Page 7

CHAPTER 7

R iding a dragon was a completely foreign sensation and I still wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. Perched on Pollox’s snake-like neck, bracing my feet against his shoulder joints and holding onto his horns for support failed to provide the security I needed while swooping through the skies at breakneck speeds. With every twist and turn, my stomach plummeted with a sickening sensation, but then it would soar again when Pollox climbed to breathtaking heights as he returned to his cave.

I expected that Pollox’s wings would cause me to rise and fall several feet every time they beat, but it wasn’t so. The anterior, boned edge of his wings cut smoothly through the rushing wind that screamed in my ears, then propelled the dragon forward with even greater swiftness.

Other than the breathtaking speed and fear of sliding off, flying was exhilarating. The adrenaline rush was better than kissing any man, better even than outwitting the greatest scholars in chess. The wind howled as the cottages below shrank to the size of dollhouses, and the people became mere dots scurrying about like a disturbed anthill. When they saw Pollox winding his way through the skies, they gaped and pointed. Small children often waved before darting inside, as if the straw-thatched roofs would shield them from the fire-breathing, winged monster overhead.

Finally, Pollox slowed and came to a stop in front of his cave. I meant to slide gracefully off his neck, but my dress’s hem caught on one of his shoulder spikes so I was flipped upside down and a second later, found myself sprawled across a shrub and staring up at the sky. So much for trying to convince my new partner in crime that I was well-coordinated.

“I know humans eat several times a day, so come on,” Pollox said. “If you liked the wardrobe, you’ll love this.”

Grateful for his foresight, I followed him inside. Once again, I was struck by how bare and empty it was. The lone table and chair were located near the hot spring, not far from the wardrobe I’d stepped into before. I examined the wardrobe more closely. It didn’t match the red-and-gold one in my new bedroom, so did that mean there was simply a passageway between them, rather than the wardrobe itself changed location? Then how could that be, if I had been inside?

“Did you hear me?” Pollox asked.

I pulled my mind out of my musings. “Sorry, no.”

“I asked if you’re hungry.” Pollox inclined his head to the table, and my mouth fell open.

The table that had been bare seconds before was now groaning under dishes upon dishes of my favorite foods, which all smelled delicious. “Wow, you really do take care of your hoard, don’t you?”

“I told you I would.”

Everything was perfect. Each food stayed at the ideal temperature and texture, the flavors were flawless, and I almost swooned as I dug in. I’d never had such a good meal. After a few minutes, I looked up to see Pollox watching me. “I’m so sorry, do you want some?”

Pollox snorted in disgust and I leapt out of my seat to avoid the descending sparks. “No. Human food comes in much too small of quantities for me, and dragons don’t have taste buds anyway, so your finest delicacy and raw meat would all taste the same to me. But if you can spare a moment in between bites, I would like to discuss a few things before we make this a full partnership.”

“Of course,” I said, inspecting my seat to make sure it was free of any embers before I gingerly sat back down again. Even though I’d only known Pollox for less than a day, I already felt comfortable with him. Did all humans feel this way around dragons?

“If I’m to work with you, I’d like to see an example of your skill set,” Pollox told me. “Do you have an idea of how you plan to procure these riches you boasted about?”

“Would I have come here if I didn’t?”

Pollox rustled his wings. Unable to determine if that was a good sign or not, I waited patiently. “You’re human,” he finally said. “Some humans are very stupid.”

“Some dragons are too, I’m sure.”

“No, we’re not. We’re very intelligent.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Really? You’ve never met a single other dragon that you found obnoxiously dense?”

Pollox’s upper lip curled back to reveal his fang-like teeth. “I suppose I have a time or two. But you’ve evaded the question. What’s your plan?”

I straightened and set down my knife and fork, hoping he liked my plan and didn’t find me to be one of the stupid humans . “I’m going to act like I escaped and tell them you’re coming after me. I’ll tell them that you have a weakness?—”

“I don’t have any weaknesses.”

“I will lie and give them a fake weakness,” I resolutely went on. “Then we’ll see if they believe my story. I’ll tell them you’re vulnerable at your wing joint or whatever you want.”

Pollox flicked the end of his tail, listening intently.

“Then,” I continued, “you come swooping down and do some huge, dramatic battle, pretend to get injured, but grab me and fly away. That way, everyone will think that you’re wounded and will start sending knights and all sorts of people to rescue me. My father already offered my hand in marriage to anyone who can slay you, so there will be many men coming to try.”

“I fail to see how such a plan will gain me any riches.”

“The riches come later. This trial is to prove we can trust each other, and it will make it so princes and knights and any others will come flocking to rescue me more quickly, assuming you are weakened.”

“You want me to pretend to be weak enough for a human to kill me?” The disgust was evident in his voice.

“We have to do something to make sure my rescuers know where I am. Which do you care more about, your pride or amassing more wealth?”

“My pride.”

“Well, swallow your pride then. We’ll be filthy rich this way.”

“I’m already filthy rich, as were you, before you ran away.”

I frowned, annoyed. “If you don’t care about riches, why would you agree to my proposal in the first place? You could have said no.”

Pollox tapped one of his talons on the cave’s stone floor so a soft tink tink echoed through the cavern. “I have my reasons. I get to bring you back here to stay after I pretend to be wounded?”

“Naturally. I live here now, remember?”

His forked tongue shot out like a lizard’s. “Then I’m willing to try it.”

A wave of relief relaxed my shoulders. If he had refused, I wasn’t sure how else I could persuade Pollox to keep me around. Was he simply lonely and wanted company?

“Aren’t you worried about the knights?” I asked. “They’ll start coming soon. Do we need to think of a defense strategy?”

Pollox threw his head back in laughter. “It never fails to entertain me that humans assume they can best a dragon when it takes them days to travel a distance that I can traverse within an hour and their arrows and spears bounce off my hide, so no, I’m not at all worried. Would you fear for your life around an ant?”

“What, so humans are like ants to you?”

“No…more like pets that occasionally amuse me.”

“That feels offensive.”

“Good. It was intended to be.”

Once again, I wasn’t sure if it was his sense of humor or a threat. Deciding that a sense of humor was the safer option, I laughed and stood from the table, full to bursting. Instantly, everything at the table vanished, leaving it perfectly clean once more.

“Shall we do this trial swindle tonight, then?” I asked.

Pollox cast a critical eye over me. “You need to look like you escaped.” With that, he blew out a blast of air so hot that the ends of my hair began to curl up, singed beyond repair.

“Hey!” I protested, darting away. “I don’t actually want to be roasted alive, you giant, fire-breathing lizard!” I pulled my hair over my shoulder to examine the scorched ends. “See what you did!” I scolded.

“The comb in your wardrobe can fix it,” Pollox said, wholly unconcerned that he’d nearly torched my head.

I sighed in resignation. He was right. If I was going to sell the story that I’d escaped from a dragon, I needed to look the part. “All right then, roast me a little more, but not my face, okay? You might need to shred my dress a little too.”

For the next fifteen minutes, Pollox took great delight in destroying my gown, sometimes charring it and other times using his razor-sharp talons to rip the fabric, but never once scratching me.

“As admirable as your precision is, shouldn’t I be bleeding?” I asked, inspecting the damage in the full-length mirror.

“Dragons don’t maim their prey.”

“What would you do to prey, then?”

He grinned wickedly. “Swallow them whole. Don’t you think it would be fun to feel your food wriggle all the way down your throat to your stomach? It makes up for the lack of taste buds.”

I gagged. “That’s disgusting.”

Pollox’s grating laughter rang through the cavern. “Just think of it as a massage from the inside.”

“Bleh. You’re joking.”

“I am not.”

I shuddered. “Well, I need to believe you are joking, otherwise I’ll be disturbed. I’ll get nightmares.”

“What’s that?”

“You know, a bad dream.” Did dragons never have nightmares? Then again, what would they have to fear?

His head cocked to the side, and his tongue flicked out like a snake tasting the air. “What do humans dream about?”

“Well, a lot of things. Like escaping or falling sometimes. I get chased in my dreams, but some dreams are good.”

“Describe one.”

“Uh…” I hadn’t expected to describe my most secret dreams to a dragon within a few hours of meeting one. A vision of Griffin sweeping me into his arms burst to mind, but I wasn’t eager to share that private of a thought with Pollox, not yet anyway. “It’s…a-a?—”

“Got an ox in your throat?” Pollox quipped.

I burst out laughing, relieved I didn’t have to continue. “The phrase is got a frog in your throat? ”

“An ox sounds better.”

“Maybe to a dragon.”

Pollox stared down at his body and let his lower jaw drop so his razor-sharp fangs were all exposed, but this time, the effect was comical. “Look at that. I’m a dragon.”

I couldn’t hide my smile. “You’re funny. I like you.”

Pollox let out a snort of sparks. “And I suppose I can tolerate you. Now let’s go stage an escape.”