An unsettling silence filled Laz’s lab. Bird calls and the wind rustling were all that could be heard, along with the faint snoring of the gem snatching beast. Neither the wizard nor the knight had any clue what to say. The page seemed sure and they had no reason to doubt it.
The creature coiled around Calder’s leg was a dragon.
“A dragon,” Calder said in a soft voice. His words trailed into nothing, as if his mouth had just caught up with what his mind had realized and didn’t know what to do next. “I thought they were extinct. That’s what we learned in the capital, at least. They were a parasite on the land of Kradall and King Abol and his descendants eradicated them all centuries ago.”
“Maybe it’s a mistake.” Laz flipped the page over to see if there was any other information on the creature. It was blank. “Eighty years ago, they must have just guessed that it was a dragon. Or it’s a joke! Back then, humor was different. It’s probably some rare type of… rock serpent?”
Calder shook his head, not taking his eyes off the sleeping dragon. “I’ve never heard of a rock serpent.”
“Dammit, neither have I.” Laz let out a sharp exhale.
“I don’t think it’s a mistake.” Calder knelt down and examined the creature closer. “The castle is full of tapestry and statues depicting warriors defeating dragons. It resulted in Kradall’s rise to power as a kingdom! They don’t let us forget that the Abol bloodline are dragon hunters, even if it’s been forever since that’s been relevant.”
A short, restrained laugh – that ended up being more of an unflattering snort – came from Laz. “Sorry, but is that some annoyance with the kingdom I hear in your voice? And I thought you were a model knight. Obedient to Garen until the very end.”
“Oh, relax. It was one minor complaint, and every knight makes fun of the dragon-slaying exaggeration at one point or another.”
“Well, either way, do the grand tapestries and heroic statues of all those dead old royals show our new friend here?” Laz sat on the floor, his legs folded under him so he could look at the dragon up close with Calder.
“Not exactly.” He set his hand on the dragon’s back, gentle as to not wake it up. “This little guy is a lot smaller. And he doesn’t have legs. Or wings. But the head has the same shape, with the pointy mouth and round, bulging eyes. I think he’s a baby.”
“She!” Laz blurted out.
“Huh?” Calder looked at him with a smile – the first one he had on his face since learning they had their hands on a dragon – that faded into a look of interest. “Is there some way you can tell? Or is that just the feeling you’re getting from it?”
Laz wasn’t sure why the fact came to him at that moment, but the memory of his mentor delivering him random bits of trivia on rare or mythical creatures was fresh in his mind. Every few months, a new bit of information would be dropped on him. Through that system, he had learned that their world was a giant rock that revolved around an even bigger orb of fire, that dire foxes only hunt in packs when desperate, and that not every species of animal was split into male and female.
“Master–” Laz coughed. “My mentor, Edre. He once told me dragons were all female. Every single one of them. And they reproduced in some special way underground.”
“Ah, well.” Calder laughed down at the dragon. “Sorry about the confusion, madame.”
Laz tried to hide the grin on his face, but suppressing it made it worse, and he ended up laughing alongside the knight. When the laughter died off, Calder turned to Laz with a serious look in his eye. The same kind he had when he was with the other knights in the barracks that morning.
“Do you know what you’re gonna do with her?” He pointed to the shimmering white dragon wrapped around his leg. “It’s an ancient law, but it’s still illegal to harbor a dragon.”
The heat returned. It had been slowly building its way back since Laz read the book. All it took was Calder to address just how much of a problem it was for it to crash back into him. He broke out in a sweat as he leapt to his feet and ran to the front door. He closed it tight, fastening a rusty bolt that he had to use all of his strength to lock.
I don’t know what I’m going to do. How could I?! Master never prepared me for this! I was supposed to learn spells and help the town, how does this slot into any of that? Laz’s thoughts continued to spiral as he ran to close the curtains on every window in the lab. It would be against the law to keep her here. And a knight already knows about it! There’s no feasible way to keep it a secret. I’ll have to give her over to the king.
Once the windows were covered, Laz grabbed his sweat rag off his desk and tried to clear his face. Calder hadn’t said anything as he secured his home, but watched him the whole time with a worried expression. Laz wanted to yell at him. To tell him to stop acting like he cared about his well-being. He had the words ready to go but couldn’t bring himself to do it. With a deep breath, he walked back to Calder’s side.
“I suppose there’s no choice.” He knew the royals would have the dragon killed, like they did with all the others hundreds of years ago. She was a parasite. The land was already in awful shape, the last thing they needed was a beast running around eating more of the metals they already had such a short supply of. “We’ll report her to the captain and the capital will send someone to come deal with her.”
Calder nodded, slow and unfocused as if he was still contemplating. “Yes, that’s for the best.”
The decision sat in Laz’s chest like a poisoned bur, leaving his breaths painful and his mind frantic. Master always treated life with the utmost respect. He wouldn’t let me squash a bug, let alone a rare beast like this. If he finds out I had a dragon, a living myth, and gave it up to the king of all people, he’d never forgive me.
Laz knew one way he could get out of the situation. And it involved persuading a knight that was already far too attached to him. Damn it all, this better not come back to bite me.
“Although,” Laz looked down at the peaceful animal – content and asleep with zero fear of them – and spoke without thinking. “There could be a lot to learn from her. And as harmful as a species may be, driving them to extinction feels…”
“Barbaric,” Calder finished.
“Yes, barbaric.” Laz placed a hand on Calder’s shoulder. “I’m surprised you even know the meaning of the word.” Laz immediately scolded himself for losing sight of his goal and mocking him.
Calder put his own hand on Laz’s, though instead of pushing it away, he held it in place. “Just because I don’t agree with the king’s decisions doesn’t mean I’ll go against them.”
He leaned into his target, upset at how naturally he was going along with his touch. “I know, you’re a very noble knight, I get it. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed at how you kept yesterday’s secret. Most men would have threatened me and taken all the gems for themselves. You must have a very strong sense of honor.”
“I know what you’re doing, and it’s a little alarming.” Calder – still kneeling and petting the dragon – looked up at Laz in amusement.
Laz slipped his hand away and stepped back with a huff. His face felt flush and warm in a way he wasn’t used to. “Shut up! Just–” Laz turned away to prevent Calder from seeing his face. “If you want to turn her in then fine, be my guest, but I’ll never speak to you again. And I’ll use Climate Control to make your bedroom cold in the winter, and–”
“Listen, Laz.” From the sounds behind Laz, he presumed Calder was standing up. “I don’t want any harm to come to this creature either, but this is a serious law. Back in the day, harboring a dragon was punishable by death! We aren’t just talking about a light slap on the wrist. At best I would be stripped of knighthood. At worst…”
Again, Laz could tell there was a sincerity in Calder’s voice. He wasn’t being overly confident or trying to deceive him. He had real fear inside of him that crept over and scared Laz as well. Could we really end up in prison for this? Or beheaded?
He turned back to face Calder and did his best to push the fears away. It’s what Master would do if he were here. I’ll make sure I don’t disappoint him when I tell him about all this.
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“I’ll go on that date with you.” Laz’s eyes were squinted, hoping to avoid a glimpse of a potential cocky grin. “We can get to know each other better, like you wanted. And in return, you don’t tell a soul about this. Deal?”
Calder – who had in fact stood up, with the dragon still motionless at his feet – laughed. “Wow, you really must want this bad if you’re willing to date, what was it you called me? The worst knight in the whole kingdom?”
“Do you accept or not?!” Laz could still feel the smugness radiating from him. “It’s much more than you deserve. I’m the one who will be looking after her. It’s not like she’ll sleep in the barracks with you. There’s no reason any blame should be put on you in the first place. You’re worried over nothing.”
“Alright, I won’t say a word about any of it. The gem elixir, the dragon. I’ll even keep it a secret that you practically begged me for our date.” There was that annoying smile. Thankfully Laz didn’t have to see it for long as Calder bent back over to lift up the dragon.
She was still groggy, her eyes sunken into her head halfway and a small purple tongue hanging out. Calder set around his neck like a scarf, which didn’t appear to bother her in the slightest.
“But don’t assume I won’t help you out at all,” Calder said, standing straight up and walking over to Laz. His brown eyes were hard to look away from, despite their repulsive cockiness. “I imagine you’ll have your hands full raising an animal thought to be extinct. Maybe I can build you a fence out back so she has a place to slither around.”
Laz was torn on whether he should be upset at how easily Calder agreed to keep quiet after he offered the date, or to count his blessings and start worrying about his next problem. He chose the latter.
Lord, what do I feed it? At the edge of the lab, he could see the ingredient cabinet was empty of anything resembling a gem or mineral. All he had left was the silver ore and whatever iron utensils and fasteners that made up his home. I can’t just let it eat every metal bit it sees! My house will fall apart. I won’t be able to cut a tomato!
Wait. The elixir! That’s it, I can use Exchange Elixir and have as many gems as I’d ever need. Then it can eat to its hearts content.
Laz was satisfied with how perfect the solution seemed until he looked at his desk. “Oh no…”
“What’s wrong?” Calder asked while rubbing the dragon’s chin.
“The focus. It wasn’t stolen!” Laz rushed from drawer to drawer, checking behind the desk, under it, under stray tarps and stacks of paper. “The focus wasn’t stolen! The thief was the dragon and she ate the gems and that means… She ate the focus.” He sat on the floor, defeated.
The shame from having the one item his mentor told him to protect being stolen was bad enough. But now he had to deal with the fact it no longer existed. The “fortified focus” that could repair itself. The only type of focus that would never decay and could handle the powerful, long-lasting spells Laz had grown used to casting.
To make the situation sting further, it was supposed to guide him after he mastered Exchange Elixir. He felt the warmth inside of it after he succeeded. He could tell it was helping him weave his spells. If I had it for just a few more days, maybe I could have gotten some answers! A stronger Magic Message perhaps, to reveal further kept secrets. Or an easier time learning the rest of Master’s book.
“Oh that big ol crystal ball you had?” Calder said, bringing Laz back to the present dilemma. “Was it that important? I mean, can’t you just make the elixir still?”
Laz couldn’t help but laugh at the idiotic statement, despite the distress of his failure boiling inside of him. “As if! This is what I meant by you being a dumb knight. Did you not learn a thing about magic at the capital? Don’t they have wizards there?’
Calder didn’t look hurt by his comments. “ A few, yeah. They mostly stay to themselves, though. King Garen has them busy in the castle.”
“Well, an elixir on its own is worthless without it!” He was on the verge of tears, no longer trying to dampen his frustration. “All an elixir is good for is being the target of a spell. The focus is what lets me actually perform it. I need it to weave my magic into something useful, otherwise it’s barely more than a light breeze.”
“Oh? Is that what that was back at the barracks? I’d call that a bit stronger than just a breeze.”
Laz couldn’t think of a retort. He knew it was embarrassing for him and no amount of insults he could hurl at the knight would change that. Not to mention he had tears in his eyes, now. “It was, yes. And I’m sorry. That I shoved you over, I mean. It’s normally not that strong, but when emotions run high, magic follows.”
Calder – seemingly thrown off by the unexpected, teary apology – didn't poke fun, and instead inquired further. “So casting a spell when you’re mad would make it more powerful?”
“No, not at all.” Laz took the chance to collect his thoughts as he explained a subject he had studied his whole life. “Emotions are the material you weave a spell from, but if you don’t have a firm handle on them when you cast, then they’ll be hard to control and you’ll end up with a weaker, sloppier spell than intended.”
“Ah, I see. And I assume that when you say you, you’re referring to a wizard, correct?”
“A wizard is just a person who dedicates their life to the study of magic.” Laz walked to his desk and opened his mentor’s book. He flipped to a page in the front half that depicted a large circle with an array of intertwining lines inside. “Everyone has emotions, right? So everyone has magic. The only two things you need after that are willpower and practice. Then you could cast a spell.”
Calder tilted his head. “Seriously? You mean I could do that shove you did earlier?” He held his hand out and pointed it toward a window. For a few moments he strained his face, legs, arms, everything, but the curtains didn’t budge.
“If you practiced, yes,” said Laz with a slight grin at the ridiculous sight in front of him. “Even drawing the energies out of you takes a trained will. You need all three parts – emotion, knowledge, and willpower – working together to cast a spell.” He held up the book, showing the diagram to Calder. “Even the simplest spells need you to weave multiple feelings into a complex knot like this. And you can’t even see the threads as you tie them together, it’s all from memory. There’s a reason most people don’t bother learning about their magic in the first place.”
Laz, finally having calmed down, noticed Calder was smiling at him. What am I doing? I told myself I wouldn’t trust him. I’m using him, that’s all. I’ll give him what he wants until I can find a better plan.
“You really know your stuff,” Calder said. “Maybe you can teach me how to do that shove thing on our date.”
Somehow, Laz stopped himself from insulting him. At least, insulting him too much. “I could try! Everyone learns at different speeds, though. And it would certainly take longer than a single evening.”
“Are you saying you want to go out more than once?”
“No,” Laz said, loud enough that the dragon twitched in her dazed state. “What I’m saying is that learning magic, even the unfocused kind, is a long process. And now I don’t have a focus to do any of my duties around town, or feed this little beast.” He pointed at the dragon, hoping if he glared at her long enough she would hack the focus back up, even if he was sure it was digested and dissolved by now.
It must have been the first thing that greedy varmint ate. I wish I could have at least seen how ridiculous it looked, trying to crawl around with a giant orb inside of her. Master better not be upset that I lost his focus, seeing as I’m saving a rare creature’s life at such a steep cost.
“I could snag another of those rubies from a sword hilt at the barracks,” Calder suggested. “There’s a few swords nobody uses, it wouldn’t even be noticed.”
Laz would have scoffed if he wasn’t trying to stay on Calder’s good side. “No, that little speck was much too small to weave a spell in. And I hate to break it to you, but I doubt that was a ruby. Probably a garnet at best.”
Calder rolled his eyes and sighed. “Then maybe you can leave Evermine and see if any nearby towns have gems for sale.”
“And travel with a dragon? Or worse, leave her here with you to look after with your idiot knight friends?” Laz peeked outside through the curtains as he spoke, his paranoia growing again. “No, we’ll have to wait for a traveling merchant to pass by and then maybe I can place an order for a new fortified focus. In the meantime, I do have a backup.”
He entered his room and grabbed his bracelet off the nightstand. Before returning, he looked in his mirror and straightened a few loose strands of hair.
“This sapphire will let me keep up my duty as town wizard. Then I can at least have an income and not get any suspicion.” He slid the bracelet on, making a mental note of how the dragon looked at it, even through tired eyes. I’ll have to keep this locked up at night.
“Why can’t you do more of that elixir stuff with it? Too small?”
“Good job, that’s right.” Laz held it up for Calder to look at the gem, but stayed his distance from the dragon. “If it was a spell I knew by heart I might be able to manage, but I need some wiggle room with an unrefined one.”
“Couldn’t you practice doing it in the sapphire for now? Maybe you would get lucky and–”
“No.” Laz’s arm fell back to his side and he went back to the window to look for any potential eavesdroppers. “A sapphire can’t handle magic in it the way the old gem could. It can only take so much before shattering, especially if it’s to learn a spell. I’ll only use it for the ones I know well and have to do to keep up appearances.”
Calder didn’t respond, which Laz was grateful for. He didn’t want to bother explaining why the bracelet and gem meant so much to him on an already stressful, emotional day. The knight walked over to him by the window and the two looked out over the town together.
“We’ll figure everything out, alright? We can feed her scrap metals in the meantime while you get a new focus.”
“You shouldn’t have her by the window,” Laz said, ignoring the reassurance offered to him. “I thought you were scared of being caught.”
“Good point.” Calder stepped back and took the dragon off of his shoulders, instead holding her up in front of him the same way a kid holds a stray cat they want their parents to let them keep. “There is one last problem to work out, though.”
Laz groaned. “And what would that be?”
Calder grinned and lifted the dragon up in the air. “What are we going to name our new daughter?”