8. Dragons Don’t Belong on Subways
Isaac spent an embarrassingly long time crouched in front of the subway station pillar trying to get his heart rate back to normal. He did not puke, however, thank you very much. He just felt like he had to.
After dragging Isaac with him and effectively falling down the Inferno cavern only to open his wings and shoot up at the last second, Casimir had dropped him off at the subway station and left with a cheery wave, zipping down the subway tunnels and dodging incoming trains in his angelic, light bulb glowing glory. Isaac was sincerely grateful that the Underside’s atmosphere and physics and what not weren’t the same as Earth’s, because he was fairly certain the air pressure from the fall would’ve killed him otherwise.
He wasn’t sure how long it took him before he felt confident enough to stand up straight without tipping over. His legs were still a bit wobbly, and he still felt rather lightheaded, but at this point he just wanted to get these last few jobs over with and go home.
The Inferno’s station didn’t directly connect to the green line; he’d have to ride the orange line first, then make a transfer. Thankfully Casimir had either intentionally or unintentionally dropped him at the right platform, so all he had to do was wait for the train to arrive.
Within a minute, he heard the familiar sound of the oncoming train rumbling gently over the rails. He straightened, stepping forward towards the edge of the platform as it began to slow, ready to enter. He paused.
As the doors of the train car slid open, a large golden eye blinked at him from within. The eye was surrounded with metallic green scales that shimmered in the soft red glow of the Inferno. The scales also looked rather squashed, considering that the entire train car was taken up by what appeared to be a very compressed dragon. It was a bit difficult to tell, given how thoroughly the creature was plastered against the windows in a desperate attempt to fit. The wings, in particular, were uncomfortably bent. A puff of smoke escaped from where its nostrils probably were.
For a moment Isaac just stared at the one visible eye, which blinked at him again. He turned and began walking towards the next train car. “Nevermind,” he said.
—
The dragon was still visible from Isaac’s seat, a block of green and yellow through the doors connecting the swaying subway cars. Isaac was trying to figure out what realm it had traveled to when his tablet began to glow. He sighed, deciding to speak before the person on the other end could.
“What?”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Come now, don’t be so irritable! I was simply checking up on you. It’s been rather long, hm? Slow jobs?”
Isaac blinked down at the device. “Ran into Casimir,” he said by way of explanation. “Had to recover.” He’d also walked about an eighth of the stairs winding around the Inferno, which had probably also eaten up a significant amount of time, but Lilith didn’t need to know that. Isaac paused, narrowing his eyes. “You’re not about to tell me there’s another job on the list, are you?”
“No no. Goodness, you have absolutely no faith in me! Can’t I just be worried?”
“Being worried doesn’t mean you can’t add more work.”
“True. I am quite an excellent multitasker, if I do say so myself.”
Isaac snorted, shifting on the hard plastic seat to move into a more comfortable position as the subway train swayed rhythmically below him. “I’m on the orange line, about to transfer to the green line for the next request. Shouldn’t be long.”
“Excellent. Where are you heading after you’re done?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Home.”
“You should stop by the Golden Lands for a cup of tea! My treat, I promise.”
“I have eight cake orders I need to get done.” They were eight rather complicated ones too. Four were tiered cakes and two others involved carving. He’d baked all the cake layers at the beginning of the week in advance—speaking of which, he’d have to remember to add simple syrup to them when he got back. They were no doubt beginning to dry out by now, and extra job in a parallel dimension or not, he had a reputation for moist cakes to uphold.
“Eight? That’s more than usual.”
“Gotta earn a living,” he said flippantly.
“Hm. Well, you should still stop by! It won’t be more than a few seconds.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Oh, well that’s certainly unfortunate. You see, I do have some more jobs I was graciously holding back since I know how great my tea is, and obviously no one would ever turn down a free cup. It would be such a shame if you ended up with a few more requests on your list, why, some of those might even be—“
“Oh my god fine, I’ll go.”
He could practically feel Lilith beaming through the tablet. “Wonderful! I’ll see you soon then. Tata!”
The tablet returned to its normal, non-glowy state. Isaac sighed and hit his head against the subway window behind him. The motion resulted in a satisfying thump. His eyes drifted off to the side, where, through the door glass, he could see the yellow eyes of the dragon staring at him judgingly. He scowled and turned away from the door, adamantly avoiding looking at the creature. Once the subway pulled up to the next platform, he exited and transferred over to the green line, leaving the squashed, nosy dragon woefully behind.
The next train car he got in was empty, devoid of any judgmental monsters. Exactly as it should be. With a sigh, Isaac settled back, leaned his head against the blurry glass, and fell asleep.
By the time he woke up, the words, [CURRENT LOCATION: THE WOODLANDS] were lighting up the tablet screen. Rubbing the lingering drowsiness from his eyes, Isaac got up and stepped out the door.