Two days of careful search through the skies later, with Waver donning a newly-bought set of riding leathers, Waver and Benet finally caught a glimpse of their target.

A dragon that looked like a sea monster imposed its shadow over the sun. It had fins instead of wings, and looked almost invisible from directly beneath.

What followed was a harrowing chase through the skies that Waver would never want to repeat. Benet was a talented flier, but despite its size, the skylight was both fast and agile. It glistened in the light as if soaking wet, which occasionally inflicted Waver with a terrible glare that broke his concentration. While they had spotted it over a wooded area, it took them on a chase through a winding valley, and then circled the foothills of a nearby mountain range several times.

Finally, by some freak happenstance of an accident, the skylight was struck by a piece of debris dislodged from one of the peaks. It must have hit something vital, because Waver watched as the dragon slowly lost altitude back over the forest, crashing somewhere out of sight.

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At Waver’s urging, Benet charged through the woods only a few meters off the ground, dodging trees and brush. Waver felt his heart sink deeper and deeper into his chest as he recalled the sight of the falling dragon. It confused him. What had gone wrong?

I really should have done more research on skylights. I’m not even sure whether or not they can survive if they stop moving. Sure, I would never have gotten this commission if that man thought that were true, but I should have checked... Well. I was too hasty. I can’t be blinded by a reward like that again.

Gradually, more and more damaged and broken trees came into view, until finally Waver found the dragon’s crash site. Several trees had been split directly in half, and two had fallen over. Lying placidly on top of the trees, and matching them in length, was the skylight.

From a closer viewpoint, her majesty was much more apparent. The scales on her back, legs, and on the top of her head were a deep matte navy, while under her chin and belly her scales were a brilliant light blue with white splotches. Her four legs were frail and barely supported could have supported her weight, but the four talons at the end of each looked dextrous. Her dorsal, pectoral, and caudal fins, from closer up, clearly had an elegant ridging and an iridescent finish. She had a ruffle of blue and white flesh behind her head like an ostentatious collar or a mane, and four long whiskers, bent slightly, protruding from her snout. Two magnificent black ox horns stuck out from her head. Her entire body shined as if covered in water or some sort of slime. Her eyes were the size of Waver’s head, grey, and catlike. She blinked at him as he came in closer.

she growled, her voice deep and smooth.

Waver quickly leapt off of the libel he’d ridden through on, and ran up closer to the huge dragon, but the libel answered first, with an amiable rumble.

Waver said in the dragon’s tongue, panting between guttural cries. Her eyes widened slightly as he continued.

In the center of the giant dragon’s throat, a crimson stain marred the blue and white scales. The wound was still bubbling, and it wept more every few seconds with the dragon’s heartbeat. As Waver drew close, he could smell something salty.

the skylight said, narrowing her eyes again. She sounded amused, if still surprised.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Waver stopped.

she continued.

Waver knelt on the ground.

Ah. “Insolent” slipped out. It’s hard to be polite with dragon words.

The dragon paused, and then gestured to her almost-pristine throat.

Waver cried.

Ishcal nodded.

<...No.> Waver admitted. He thought he heard his libel companion snort in the background, but ignored it.

Iscal gave him a thoughtful look, her head bent down to better make eye contact.

Waver winced. Benet looked at him with wide eyes. However, the skylight continued.

<...but, you are not wrong to resist that, dragon who is human. Our body cannot carry weight. Even if our strength would carry your client’s needs for one trip or five, our scales would dry out in very little time, and we would become sluggish. We could heal from this, but it would take weeks We could carry things by eating them, for our bodies remove the weight from everything under a certain layer, but it would ruin whatever we carried. That is our answer. Now, will you hear our request?>

Waver’s mind spun with all of the new information. Her scales would dry out? What exactly is a skylight, anyway? But he nodded without hesitation.

Waver was no stranger to wound care, and had seen plenty of blood before -- much of it his own. But he shuddered, imagining the pain of a tiny creature reaching into his skin to pull a splinter out.

Waver breathed in and out slowly, to calm his upset stomach, and nodded. The skylight made a snort of gratitude, and rolled over onto her side. The fallen trees rolled, but she seemed to weigh very little, so she almost bounced slightly as she exposed her massive belly to the boy.

He gathered his courage, and walked up to her. Her throat was as wide as he was tall, and each one of her thick ventral scales was as large as one of his hands. From close up, he could see that her body wasn’t only covered in a film of water, but that the film seemed to be flowing, forming little rivulets over the spaces where the scales overlapped.

He removed his shirt and pressed his body flat against her throat scales. From so close, he could feel the thrum of her breathing as the air vibrated against her flesh. He shuddered as some of her blood entered his mouth.

It’s salty. Is this how ocean water tastes?

As Benet gawked from afar, he closed his eyes and plunged his hand in.