He slept on the grass for almost a full day before anyone came to bother him. It was relaxing, and around him the plants grew higher and lusher and greener, drawing in the magic from around him and using it to fuel their growth.
He didn't mind, he had lots to spare. The storm had filled him up until he was fat and lazy with it, content to nap in the sun, watching the plants grow around him.
There was a surprising amount of seeds lying dormant around here, and he watched in curiosity as several different kinds of fruiting vines made their attempts to grow up his sides, gripping into the edges of his scales with small thorns, throwing out white flowers and red and purple berries.
They were quite tasty, if a little spiky. He preferred the crunch of a cow or goat, but he could see why humans kept these things around. Little drops of sweetness, punctuated with the prickle of the thorns on his tongue.
He was pretty sure the humans didn't eat the thorny bits, but he appreciated their bite.
When the humans did finally turn up, they had to hack their way through the plants and shrubs to get to him, and he amused himself by watching them struggle for a moment, before clambering to his feet and flattening most of the whole lot with a few well-placed steps. There!
As he scrutinised them, they all seemed worn and tired. Their clothes weren't the bright blue he was used to seeing, and most of their uniforms seemed several years out of date, at best! Had he eaten the only clothes they owned? Whoops! He always thought humans had more than one set, but now that he thought about it, maybe they didn't?
They tentatively brandished the carts holding the straps and bags to him, as if he might say no, or as if he might blast them with magic again. In response, Dragon yawned, stretching out his wings and the muscles in his tail from where they'd been lying idle for a day, pulling the magic in the area back into himself, the plants around him groaning and shrinking back in protest.
As he yawned, several of the postal workers dropped what they were carrying and fled.
Whoops.
-
All kitted up and ready to go, Dragon had a sudden thought. He hadn't seen any of his passengers since he bought them back. The humans would look after their own, right?
There was a flutter of worry in the back of his mind, a half-forgotten memory of a child clinging to his back, as they flew above endless battlefields.
Right?
Maybe he should just go and check. He… He sniffed the air, sorting through the scents and traces until he found the tiny traces of magic that both Shortie and Passenger had held within themselves. He could follow it back to them relatively easily!
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Then he looked down, at the people in front of him, and out over the buildings that surrounded him. The city was lush and overgrown, everyone still and waiting to see what he would do.
He had a choice here.
He could go and find the humans, probably demolishing half the city as he went, or he could go back to doing his job.
With a sigh and a last look in the direction of his people, he took off into the air, spiralling upwards and wiggling his bulk until the packs fit snugly against his sides. Maybe he could find that smart kid again, when he was over in that area, and they could ask for him. That would probably work better.
Until then, nobody else was gonna deliver these letters!
-
People didn't used to be so afraid of him, Dragon mused as he flew, the endless empty landscape below him. When he had been small they had treated him like a pet, their hands all over him. He had played with the other kids and everything had been fine.
He beat his wings, pushing himself higher into the air, as if he could escape the thoughts by adding height.
Now, everywhere he went, they seemed scared of him. He thought back to Shadows, before the rain had pushed her into survival mode. To how she had sat as far from him as she could get. To how the people in the grass had fled when he yawned. Did humans just not understand body language?
For the first time in a while, Dragon had a real good look at himself. Metaphorically, of course.
There were his shiny silver scales, those weren't scary!
His wings, how could wings be scary. Ok, they had claws on the tips, but those were blunt things, not at all like the claws of the brambles or the spears he had seen guards brandishing now and again.
He paused for a moment, to think that last comparison over. The fact he'd thought of it probably meant that they were a little like spears.
He turned his head for a moment to look at his wings. Stretching out beside him, they were wide sails, catching the air and keeping him aloft. In the morning sun, the scales reflected the light from above like mirrors, each with a slightly different refraction, causing them to shimmer like a rainbow as he shifted slightly.
Not scary at all. But he probably shouldn't sharpen the claws at any point. Noted, what else?
Well, there was his tail! It was long and thin and didn't even have spikes on it. That one wasn't scary either.
For a moment, he considered adding some spikes. Now that would be a weapon! But he was happy with his tail as it was, and he had no need for weaponry. It helped with his flight, letting him adjust in the air without having to move anything else, a point for the air streaming over his body to exit.
He liked his tail as it was, and it wasn't scary. So that one was out.
His… His face?
The air up here was too thin, and staying aloft wasn't as easy as it could be. The world below him was hazy and far away, obscured by clouds and distance. From up here, the world looked like an endless blanket of green, and all was silent apart from the rush of air. He was above even the birds.
He swept his wings back and dove, holding them against his sides to protect the leather of the bags and to keep himself aerodynamic. It took almost a minute before he had to slow down, banking and swooping above the trees until he was back at a more reasonable height.
He remembered how Shortie had run up to him and grabbed his face, and for a moment his heart fluttered happily in memory. That meant it couldn't possibly be his face that was the problem, right?
He had his nose, noses weren't scary. His eyes with their three eyelids were, in his opinion, very nice and useful. The horns on his forehead had grown up over time, so maybe humans were scared of those for some reason? But the number of children who had stood on his head, holding onto them for balance, belied that thought.
His… Teeth?
He thought back to the weapons he had seen humans wield, all the swords and spears and guns he had seen over the years, although in his own thoughts he had no names for those things, only images.
Ah, Dragon considered, that might be it.