It had been several months since the weirdness with the dead cities, and Dragon had mostly pushed it out of his mind.

Within hours of leaving, he had twice turned around to go back, holding himself in the air for a heartbeat by magic alone. He had hovered there, listening to the call of their magics, before changing his mind and carrying on with his job. Over the next few months, he had thought about it a lot, but as time went on the event was fading from his thoughts.

He still had the scent of their magics locked in his heart, so he knew where they were, but what was he expecting to do. They were fine, and either way, he had work to get on with. They didn't need him to bail them out.

He had some idea of schedules, he had been doing this job for many, many years after all, and he had flown faster to catch up on the days lost to the mission, and to distance himself from that place. It hadn't been difficult, this route had been set up when he was younger and hadn't been adjusted to compensate for his new speed, which he appreciated.

With careful sweeps, he came in to land. The child clinging onto his neck this time was a quiet one, and he had almost forgotten they were there. This was the first they had sent with him since the mission, and while he had missed the company, they weren't very talkative, and Dragon had still felt lonely.

Above him the rivers called, he would have friends there, they whispered, but he tuned them out, as he always had.

Empty the bags, fill up the bags, grab the goat and go, no passenger this time, a shame. Back into the air and onwards.

-

The bird had flown with him for a time, after the mission, and her company had been welcome but brief. She had wanted to stay in that general area and he had rapidly left her behind once he got going, besides, that had been months ago now.

For several days after the latest pickup, he flew higher than he normally would, a long, peaceful flight above the clouds, before finally dropping down as he came closer to his next destination.

This city was different every time he visited, especially over the past few years, and the storm seemed to have inspired a fresh burst of growth. Whole streets were missing from just a few trips ago, others were reconfigured and changed, and the farmland around the outer walls was starting to become urban sprawl, the new farmland spreading out and encroaching into what had, a decade previous, been thick forest. It was always interesting to come back here and see it from the air, to see what was different this time, how the smells had changed.

There had always been one constant to this place though, and that was the smell emanating from a big steaming building to the south end of the city, and today was no exception. He had no way to describe the taste of it, but he always swept past and carried it with him his nose for hours after his visits. Most places smelt of dirt and fire, but this was a clean smell, something warm and comforting, and he enjoyed it.

There was no goat waiting for him when he landed, but there was a box full of rabbits, and he eyed it with distaste. Such a lot of work for such a small amount of meat, and their bones were brittle and frail, liable to catch in his teeth.

He settled down as the humans emptied and refilled his bags, and then took off the moment they were done, leaving the rabbits behind. Instead, he circled twice around and through the steam of the factory, enjoying how it condensed briefly on his scales and settled into his nose. He would find something to eat on the way.

Seriously, rabbits? Why did they even bother, what a waste of meat.

-

Sometime later he came down hard upon a herd of large cow-like animals. The forest was behind him now, and below were plains of tall yellow grass and small, scrubby trees. It rained less here and burnt down almost yearly, so the forest never took off, and it was always a good spot to grab a bite to eat. The tall grass, which would hide prey at ground level, was their undoing when being hunted from the air, and Dragon easily took down two of the cows, laying in the grass to eat his kill and listening to the thunder of hooves as the others fled. Around him, the grass grew tall and lush, and he savoured the meal.

Rabbits? Really?

Still irritated, he headed on towards his next destination.

In the centre of the great plains stood what he considered one of the Big cities, bigger than anywhere else he knew, but he had never been directed to land there, never been told to deliver mail or collect or even to drop off children, and he had dropped off children in some strange places.

As he circled it, he wondered. His bags only felt half-full, and it was rare that they were packed more than halfway at this point on his journey. Maybe he should set down and see if they had anything that needed moving on? He didn't understand why this place was crossed off his route.

Unlike most of the other cities he serviced, this one had been built in and around a great tree. It was a huge thing, the tree, reaching up past the clouds, with even the upper branches big enough for even him to land on without issue. From the branches hung vines and flowers and little homes which swung in the wind, and the first time he had passed here, many decades before, he had thought that they were fruits. Other dwellings were carved into the trunk, and he could see myriads of stairs and windows and faces peeking out at him as he circled, glimpses of a whole city hidden in the bark of the tree.

It reminded him of the volcano in the ocean, and he felt a certain nostalgic fondness as he looked at it, searching for somewhere to land.

He circled once more, eyeing it up. In most cities, there was an area set aside for him, somewhere he could see from the air, but here there were only branches and leaves and little nests. The branch-roads could have easily supported his weight, but they were narrow and crowded and he didn't want to damage anything with his downdraught.

Was that was why he'd never been told to land here, there was no circle for him? He thought about it as he did another pass, gradually working his way upwards. Possibly, but he didn't need fancy landing places. There, on one of the highest inhabited branches, he spotted a wide-open space, surrounded by grown wooden walls. It looked like several of the giant branches had been fused together there to create a platform, and somebody had made themselves a home upon it.

That would do.

-

He came to a careful and controlled descent in the garden, making sure not to disturb anything with the wind of his wings. Once he was on the ground, if you could call it that, the wood felt strange beneath his claws, and he realised that he had only ever stood on either earth or stone before, this was a new experience! He could feel the magic thrumming through it, responding to his presence, and he had to make an almost physical effort to hold himself back.

With a sigh, he settled down into a crouch, and waited for the inhabitants of this place to get their act together.

-

He would have to teach them about goats, Dragon mused, as he watched a head peek around a gap in the wall. These humans were different from those he normally saw, more in tune with themselves than he was used to. They had skin and clothing the colours of trees, all greens and browns, and they seemed smaller and more nervous than the ones he normally interacted with. There were no blue uniforms here, but he didn't mind, the ritual wasn't as important to him as it had been when he was young.

The head disappeared again, and he waited with quiet patience.

A moment later and another face peered around the wall, alongside the first, and the two of them seemed to be discussing something. What they were saying, he had no idea, but it was probably something along the lines of "why is there a dragon in our garden?".

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

He had been focusing on his language skills lately, but the sounds of their voices were different, words similar but warped and in the wrong places.

Did humans have… Wait. Hold up. Did humans have more than one language?

Dragon reeled back in revelation. Was that the problem?! It couldn't be, surely. That would be insanity, how did they communicate! He would have to think about this another time, when he was in the air with nothing else to do.

The heads disappeared back behind the wall, and he waited almost twenty minutes before there was any further sign of movement. He spent that time considering the words he had heard over the years and how they had differed between places. His name was a constant, but otherwise? It might be a possibility. It would explain so much…

He was still mulling it over when a third head appeared, and then they were pushed through the gate and towards him by unseen arms. This human seemed to be a child, and they were carrying what looked like a piglet in their arms, holding it beneath the armpits, so that the legs dangled down, its head under their chin. The animal was quiet and unsure, but obviously used to being carried, and the child had tears running down their face.

Dragon watched in silence as they walked over, gently placing the piglet on the floor in front of him, instructing it to stay with tear-stained words. Was this their version of a goat?

He sniffed at the air above it in curiosity but made no other move. For some reason, he'd never been allowed to eat pig when he was young, and he had never acquired the taste for it. The child didn't seem very happy about giving it up either, maybe it was some sort of friend?

He snuffled at it, and the animal squealed and fled as he moved, dashing out through the gateway and away. Dragon watched it go, and then turned his gaze back to the child, who was standing in front of him now with their eyes squeezed shut, their hands clasped behind their back.

He didn't like the implications of that, but it was ok, he knew how to talk to children!

With a huff of breath, he bumped his nose into their chest, knocking them onto their butt. Then, job done, he half-closed his eyes, rested his chin on his feet, and pretended to sleep.

After a few moments, the child climbed slowly to their feet but seemed confused about what to do next. They stood in place for a time, and then looked back at the gate, as if waiting for instructions.

He took this time to admire the architecture of his surroundings. The grounds were filled with little ponds and pools and small plants, and he enjoyed the way some of the plants were rooted in dirt, but others were leeching directly off the tree below. If he hadn't known, by the fact he had flown here and the density of the air, then he never would have suspected that he was almost at cloud level. It was all very neatly put together. He had looked at this place from a distance many times over the years, and to finally land and get to check it all out was quite nice!

If he had been smaller then he would have liked to explore the lower areas, but he had long come to terms with the fact that the human world was not built for a creature of his size. It was fine.

The child had left while he was thinking, hesitating before walking away with shuffling steps, back out through the gate, and all was silent once more, only the sounds of the birds and the rustle of leaves. If he focused, then he could feel the branches beneath him moving in the wind, a strange sensation.

He would have to fly hard to catch up after this, but it wasn't an important part of his route, and he often stopped around this point to eat or sleep anyway.

Carefully, making sure there was nobody nearby that he could upset, Dragon stood and walked over to one of the pools, inspecting it while he waited.

The water was clear down to the bottom, and it was deeper than he had thought it would be, filled with fish of all different colours and patterns. He dipped his nose into the water and they all flocked to him, nibbling at his scales and begging for food.

Did people keep fish as pets? These ones certainly seemed tame, and he could sense that they were old, with one near the back of the pool almost as old as he was.

Huh. He knelt down and nosed at the oldest fish. It was unhappy with the water somehow, the pool which had been fine for it in its youth was now small and cloying. There were too many of her children around and the little plants she liked to nibble on were eaten up before she could drag herself towards them. She griped at him and nibbled at his nose, and he commiserated.

There was a shout from behind him, but he ignored it for the moment, too busy talking to the fish. Against his belly, the tree thrummed with magic. It had become used to being moved and shaped over its centuries of life, and was happy to do as he asked, as long as he was polite.

With a thought, the pool widened and deepened, the water sharpening and becoming a more vibrant blue, the pond filling to a level at his request. There were huge veins of water inside the branches, he was surprised to discover, he had only had to ask.

Another thought and just the smallest donation of self, and the fish shimmered and changed. She had liked his silver scales, and he gave them to her now, fixing them in place with a thought so that she might always be bright.

As a final gesture of kindness, he ate the three most annoying of her children, and then turned to see what on earth was going on behind him. There was some kind of shouting, and something was hammering against his tail.

He turned one baleful eye towards the source of irritation, but to his surprise, it didn't stop. It normally stopped when he did that! The commotion, it turned out, was being caused by an old person, a man he decided, wizened and folded over with age, held up by one hand against his tail, while the other was busy beating him with a walking stick.

Dragon squinted, the man was almost as old as the fish, and their magic was faded and dry, like last year's leaves. From behind him, the old fish spoke up. Yes, they were the one who bought food each day and made sure their water was clean. He was completely deaf, but the food was always tasty and good, and sometimes he would bring others to speak with them.

Ok, perfect. He had found an adult, now, how to get them to understand what he needed… He stared at them, and they stopped beating on his tail, choosing instead to hobble past him to inspect the pond, knocking one of his claws out of the way with their walking stick as they did so. They only seemed a little upset?

He turned to scowl at Dragon, something he hadn't experienced much lately, and then pointed at the pond, yammering something incomprehensible.

The yammering went on for almost a full minute, and then they stomped away, supporting themselves with the cane and heading back towards the gates of the complex, where a whole host of people were watching now, sheltering behind the walls as if that might save them should he suddenly decide to turn into a wild animal.

Excitement over, Dragon went back to communing with the fish. It wasn't often he met somebody as old as he was, and she had only ever spoken to humans before, so they chatted for a while.

He was in the middle of describing the ocean to her, a pond as big as the sky, endless in every direction and filled with food, when the old human returned, this time escorting a friend.

The friend was young, but not a child, and was being dragged along in a manner that suggested they wished not to be here. Dragon watched without comment as they were presented to him. A gesture of waved arms from the elder and something he assumed was a name, and then the same gesture towards him, expectantly.

He thought of the name the humans gave him, but it was long and unwieldy, and he didn't think of himself as that. He was just Dragon.

The girl in front of him cleared her throat loudly, and then gave the old woman beside her a glance. She didn't want to be here, C… Cr… Dragon? Dragon was very scary, this was her home, and she wished him to leave.

She yammered something out loud, and in the pond the fish gave a flick of her tail, showing off her new silver scales.

Dragon mulled over this as the human cooed over the new scales, at the same time breaking the news to her grandma that some of the other fish were missing. He wasn't scary, he was just doing his job. And the fish were annoying, he had been doing her a favour by removing them!

This was greeted with scepticism, but Mother of Fish reassured her that it was true, taking a tiny piece of his magic so she could speak more clearly. He didn't mind, there was plenty to go round, and she would make good use of it.

The human patted her grandma gently on the shoulder, and Dragon watched amused as the old woman slapped at the hand and grumbled something out, presumably still annoyed about the fish.

Oh, his job? Dragon frowned. He picked things up from one place and took them to others. Letters and parcels mainly, bits of writing and paper packages of who-knows-what, but also sometimes children or larger objects.

He didn't mention the adults, he didn't want to give them any ideas. That was in emergency situations only!

And they weren't stolen! He gestured to the bags, look inside if you like. He huffed, stolen! Really now. He knew his job, but he was behind schedule, and he would be back to collect their letters in… He gave an estimate of time and saw it bounce, the human in front of him staggering back a step.

Ah, try again. Take it down to night cycles, strip out all of the extra information, make it more vague- there.

She was holding her nose, which was bleeding a little, and he sent concern and apology. She sent back acceptance and endings, and he knew it was time to leave.

One last goodbye to Mother of Fish, another to Sleeps and Dreams the Voices of the Wind, and he was gone, into the open air and back en route.

As he left, he realised he had forgotten to mention the goat. Oh well! Next time.

-

In the courtyard of the High Palace, 'Sleeps and Dreams the Voices of the Wind', heir to Empire of The Great Tree and First of her Name, clutched her pounding head, ignoring the concerned questions of her aides and servants. Beside her, her grandma kept them away, using her cane to swipe at anyone who came too close. "What did it want? Is it going to fly down and eat all our children?"

"No." She grimaced, moving her hand away from her face and looking at the blood in her palm, "I think he said…" a pause to translate, "I think he said that we're now a part of the postal system?"

In the pond beside them, the fish swirled around and around, holding tightly onto the seed of magic, her silver scales glinting in the clear blue water.

She had seen beauty, and it had changed her.