by Scott King
"We aren't going on a quest," Doug said. "What's a pierogies?"
"Pierogi, singular. And the only true way of knowing what it is, is by experiencing it yourself." Carter sucked in his nonexistent gut and squeezed between the backs of two chairs, shuffling to an empty round table in the middle of the dining room. He set down his bags and then looked back to Doug. "Watch the table. I'll grab us the grub."
Doug didn't see a route to the table that would allow him to get there without bumping or slamming into one of the other patrons. Drops of water formed on his temples, and his palms felt equally moist. It was unnerving how much he sweated as a human. Sometimes it had nothing to do with how hot he was and had everything to do with how he felt. He missed many things about being a dragon, and of the utmost was the lack of sweat glands.
Taking in a deep breath, he pushed past a half-full table. His stomach, rubbed against it, scooting it into a tired-looking man. Turning to apologize, his butt bumped into a waitress who carried two mugs of hot cider.
The woman lost her balance.
Doug grabbed her by the waist to keep her from falling over, and a bit of cider splashed onto the already damp floor.
With every step, more sweat ran down Doug's cheek, and his heart didn't slow until he took a seat at the table Carter had chosen. He felt like all eyes were on him, and he never wanted to get up again. There was a mother with two teenage sons, and he was sure both kids were ogling him. A woman with curly, grey hair sipped from a wooden bowl and narrowed her eyes at him, and a round-faced girl sitting with a big brute of a man was definitely staring.
The brute was older. Not ancient like Owen, but not as young as Doug's human form appeared to be. Streaks of grey peppered the large man's dreadlocks, and the way he held himself reminded Doug of the dragon assassins he had come across. The tan, laced vest he wore did nothing to hide his gargantuan biceps, and strapped across his back was a long sword.
The girl looked as rough as the man, and her eyes were puffy, as if she hadn't slept or had been crying. Her rich, golden skin was smooth with no wrinkles around her eyes or the corners of her mouth, making her age easier to pinpoint. She was in her late teens or early twenties, somewhere near Carter's age. Strawberry highlights coursed through her braided hair that hung over her right shoulder. Narrowing the scents in the room, he locked on to hers, and strangely enough, it had a musty smell like Owen's house, but also a sweetness like honey.
"It's rude to stare." Carter returned and placed two wooden trays on the table, both packed with saucers. He followed Doug's gaze and saw the girl. "She's cute."
"Her?"
"No, the beefy guy with her." Carter rolled his eyes. "Yes the girl."
"She looks squishy to me."
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"It's true. I don't really understand human attraction and what is desirable or not."
"It mostly comes down to curves. Guys like when a woman has curves, and women don't like when a guy has curves. Those aren't set in stone, but those are the basics."
Doug ran his hands along his chunky belly. "Then it's a good thing I'm more into dragon women than human women."
"There is more to it. Sometimes a guy will like a guy and a woman will like a woman. Plus personality counts for a lot too. Like the girl may look pretty, but if she's not a nice person, it would make her ugly. It's a balance thing."
"And what do the human women think of you?" Carter had a lankiness about him. That must be what humans saw as a first impression. But what else might they notice? Carter's nose was short. He had thin, light-colored eyebrows that matched his short hair and steel-blue eyes. His face was a tad long and ended with a not-so-square jaw.
"Like I told you, in your cave, I'm a great magician. Women are into that kind of thing."
"Hubris. It's a word you should learn if you do not already know it."
"I know what hubris means. There is a difference between pride in your skills and excessive pride. I simply have the former." Carter took a handful of something mushy off his tray and shoved it into his mouth. "So good. I could eat these all day. I normally never get the garlic sauce 'cause Dale and Allison say it makes my breath smell, but they aren't here."
The tray in front of Doug had five plates on it, and each had multiple bulging dough things on them, which he assumed were pierogies.
Doug poked a pierogi. The outside was tender and crusty as if it had been sautéed. Leaning down, he sniffed it, catching a hint of sage and a smoky savory essence. He smelled each of the five plates and distinctly caught whiffs of boar, lamb, and crenzel. Grimacing, he pushed the tray away. "I won't eat that."
"What's your problem?"
"I don't eat meat."
Carter leaned forward, glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one else was listening, and then gave Doug a blank stare. "You are a dragon."
"So? You are an obnoxious little boy. It doesn't change the fact that I don't eat things with faces."
"You threatened to eat me!"
"We've been over this. I was trying to scare you off."
"What about last night when Owen roasted the–"
"I only ate the vegetables."
"But..."
"I don't eat meat. End of story." Doug slammed a fist on the table, cracking the wood. Startling himself, Doug jumped backward and rammed his chair into the chair of a bleach blonde woman sitting behind him. The woman flopped forward, smacking her head on the table and knocking over a bowl of pierogies.
"God dammit Kenzie, you are a worthless piece of crap!" The man seated across from the woman yelled. He was tall, dressed in furs, and an unkempt beard clung to his face. A wooden club hung from his belt. "Bad enough you waste my money on food, but then you spill the food all over the floor."
"It's not her fault," Doug said. "We will reimburse you."
The man stood, looking dead into Doug's eyes. "And who do you think you are? Do you see me? Do I look like someone who needs the charity of a fat slob? Get out of my sight before–"
"Jack don't." Kenzie put herself between Doug and Jack. She was almost as tall as Doug, and her blonde hair was cut shorter than Carter's. "I'll pay you back, Jack, I swear."
"No you won't," Jack said. "But you will eat every morsel of food you dropped."
A pierogi flew over Doug's shoulder and smacked Jack in the forehead. The gooey onion sauce oozed down Jack's cheeks, dripping into his fur clothing.
"Back off the lady," Carter said. He stood on the cracked table with a handful of pierogies.
"Get down," Doug said between clenched teeth.
"There are two ways this can go." Carter ignored Doug. "Let us pay you back and treat you to a nice meal or end up walking out of here with your tail between your legs."
Jack unhooked his club from his belt.
"Have it your way." Carter moved his hands in a strange pattern. A trail of light followed his fingertips, and when he was done, a ball of fire hovered in the air above the boy. He quickly drew another pattern, and a gust of wind hurled the fire at Jack. The ball struck Jack in the chest, and his fluffy shirt caught on fire.
"You should've minded your own business." Jack drew his own symbol in the air. The trial of light flashed, and water fell upon him, dousing his clothing. "If you had, you could have left this alive, but now I'm going to kill you, and I'm going to enjoy it."
"Prösenta." Carter pointed an open palm at Jack.
A loud crashing sound ripped through the restaurant. Mugs and dishes flew off the tables.
A solid wall of air collied with Jack. It lifted him off the ground and threw him into one of the booths along the back of the restaurant.
People screamed, fleeing in all directions. The big man with dreadlocks drew his sword. He and the round-faced girl were the only ones not running.
"See." Carter nodded to Doug and tapped his chest. "Great magician."
Doug slapped a hand to his forehead and groaned.
A wooden chair exploded against Cart
er's chest, knocking him from the table. He spun, landing face first. Jack kicked a table out of his way, and brought down a foot on the small of Carter's back, pinning him to the floor. "The problem with magicians is they are all fluff and peacocking. There isn't much you can do in a situation like this."
"Let him go, Jack." Kenzie kept her head tilted so her hair hid her face. "If you do, I'll not give you anymore trouble. I swear."
"I think it's time we further your education." Jack gripped his club with two hands. "That way in the future, you can think back to this moment and understand what exactly will happen to you."
Doug didn't see any option. He had to step in. Carter being taught a lesson or two was fine, but Carter's brains being reduced to sludge was a deal breaker. He potentially needed the boy alive.
"Jack..." Doug tried to sound threatening, adding a low rumble-like growl to his voice. "I get it. I've wanted to kill him several times in the past few days."
"Not helping!" Carter said.
"But we are at odds because, as much as you want to kill Carter," Doug said, "I need him alive."
Jack's eyes narrowed as if measuring up Doug, and then he laughed. "Unless you are a 'great magician' too, I see very little you can do to stop me."
Dragons don't punch. Dragons claw and bite, which left Doug unsure about the mechanics of making a fist. He knew he didn't have time to figure it out, so he slapped Jack in the jaw with an open palm.
Jack crashed into a wooden table. He rebounded by swinging his club at Doug's head. Doug caught the club with his right hand. It snapped in two.
"How...?" Jack looked from the splinters embedded in his palms to Doug's bloodless hands.
"It's a vegetarian thing." Doug slapped Jack again. A muffled wheezing slipped from Jack's lips. He collapsed and didn't get up.
"Bloody apples!" Carter snatched Doug's hands, flipping them over and inspecting them. "Did you see how fast you moved, and there's not a single scratch."
"My hand stings." Doug flexed his fingers. His whole hand ached as if he had shoved it into a pile of snow and left it there for a long time.
"No gorph." Carter let go of Doug's fat fingers. "Every bone in your hand should be–"
Sobbing from somewhere in the room interrupted Carter.
Kenzie sat on Jack's chest. With tears pouring down her face, she repeatedly punched him over and over again. His lip was swollen, and blood covered Kenzie's knuckles.
"Ma'am, you don't need to cry." Carter caught her wrist and helped her to her feet. "We won't ever let him hurt you again."
Carter paid the Square Boulder's owner several wheels. Doug had no idea how much it was, but based on Carter's reaction, Doug estimated it was a fair amount of money to cover the broken furniture and loss of business. Carter insisted they still had more than enough to cover traveling to Compitum and back, but they would have to be careful about how much they spent on food. That didn't stop him from buying a whole new bowl of pierogies for all three of them.
To prevent the risk of another incident, the three of them were led to a private room that had no windows. An agyl lamp hung in the corner, and when a serving man brought their food, they ate it in silence.
Doug didn't admit it to Carter, but he enjoyed the radish filled pierogies. The texture was nothing like the food he could prepare as a dragon, and the creamy red filling must have been made from at least two kinds of cheeses.
Kenzie killed her bowl, and Carter bought her a second round. She had stopped crying, but her eyes remained bloodshot, and she had a funky smell to her. It was outdoorsy but not grimy the way Carter smelled. It was more like a hare or other forest creature mixed with damp leaves and something he couldn't recognize.
He wasn't sure what they were supposed to do with the girl. In many ways, she was like a kitten in need of protection, and Carter seemed too confused by her fair skin and sky-colored eyes.
"It happened so fast," Kenzie said to Carter. "My father warned me about him, but Jack had a soft side no one else but me could see. We ran away together, but as soon as we got out of Compitum, things changed. He became a different person."
"It's not your fault," Carter said. "You didn't know."
"I should've," she said.
"It doesn't matter now." Carter pointed at Doug and then back to himself. "We are going to Compitum, and it's not a problem for you to come with us."
"She can't come with us." Doug realized he must have missed that part of the conversation earlier. Otherwise, he would have put an end to the idea sooner.
"Why not?" Carter said. "We can afford one more fare."
"And my father will be sure to pay you back when we get to the city!" Kenzie finished off her second bowl of pierogies by slurping down the buttery juices left behind.
"I don't like it," Doug said. "You can barely watch out for yourself."
"It doesn't matter if you like it or not. It's what's happening." Carter held Doug's gaze as if daring him to say something different.
"I don't want to be trouble, and I don't want to cause any discourse between the two of you." Kenzie stood moving away from the table. "I'm grateful for the food, but I'll go and won't be a bother."
"Don't listen to Doug. He's a jerk."
"Yes, I'm a jerk," Doug said. "That does not change the fact that she can't come."
"You are not in charge of me," Carter said.
"Wanna walk back to the cottage and see what Owen says about it?" Doug let a smirk crawl across his face.
"Don't bring Master Owen into this," Carter said. "You need me. You want me to go to Compitum, and I'm not going unless Kenzie comes with us."
Doug glared at Carter. He was tempted to smack the boy. Not hard enough to do permanent damage, but enough to knock him out. He could throw Carter over his shoulder and carry him to Compitum if he had to.
"I have no idea what is happening right now," Kenzie said. "But again, thank you for all your help. I never thought I'd get away from Jack, and you made it happen. I can find my way to Compitum on my own."
Kenzie stood as if to leave, and Doug noticed a shift in her scent. There was a sourness, like her sweat glands kicking in. Was she nervous or scared? Something caused her body to react to the idea of leaving them. "Wait. How old are you?"
"Twenty-one," she said.
"Do you have any siblings?" Doug asked.
"Two younger sisters," Kenzie said."Both from my father's second marriage. They are eight and six."
Her scent shifted again. Her nervousness fading.
"How about we strike a deal?" Doug gestured to Carter. "You help me keep him out of trouble. As long as you do that, I'll count it as your payment for traveling with us. Sound fair?"
"Really?" Kenzie said in a whisper.
Doug nodded.
Kenzie's rigid stance went loose, and she visibly let out a long sigh. Before Doug could stop her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. Her body, pressed against his, felt warm. Her lips brushed his cheek, and goosebumps sprung awake on his arms and legs.
Like hitting a lever, the beads of sweat returned to Doug's temples.
"Thank you." Kenzie let go and sat next to Carter. "You going to finish your pierogies?"
Carter passed Kenzie his half-finished bowl and gave Doug a cocky smile.
7
Companions
Ulesday, 7th of Hearfest, 1162.111
Carrying their travel bags, Carter, Doug, and Kenzie climbed a three-story staircase. At its peak was a walkway that extended to the back of an ollip. The beast was four times bigger than a dragon, and that was not counting its long neck that stretched past the tree tops. It had a tan, furry underside and a hard, blocky shell on its back. Attached to the shell was a platform with railings and an octagonal hut in its center.
A rope bridge ran along the left side of the platform, spanning the ollips both in front of and behind this one so the caravan formed a string of more than a dozen of the behemoths. It didn't seem safe to Doug, but with no ground to arg
ue, he followed Carter and Kenzie into their private hut.
The room inside wasn't too big, but it had enough space for them to lay down without having to rub elbows. Benches lined the walls, and leather straps protruded from the floorboards. Kenzie explained the caravan could get bumpy and by strapping in an arm or leg you could make sure you didn't slosh around and get hurt.
It took over an hour for the caravan to load all the passengers, but finally, they were on their way. Doug sat by one of the three windows. The rolling hills and mountains were pretty with the vibrant reds and yellows of fall, but they didn't compare to what the same sight looked like while flying.
"She's out cold." Carter sat down next to Doug and pointed to Kenzie who lay curled on the floor with a leg tucked into one of the leather safety straps. "We should talk about what happened."
"I think it's a mistake to let her come, but if–"
"No, I mean about what you did in the fight with Jack. A human couldn't have done it."
"I'm not human."
Carter stared at him without blinking.
"Ok, technically I'm human," Doug said. "But you get what I mean."
"You must have some of your dragon strength or something. It's the only way you could have stopped the club."
"I have but a fraction of the strength I used to have." Doug flexed his arm and mimed lifting something heavy then dropped his hands to his sides. "If I do have some sort of altered strength, then I can't imagine how weak and fragile you must be."
"I took you down, and I totally would have had Jack if you hadn't stepped in!"
"You need to understand, when you do things like that, you not only put yourself at risk, but me too. What if something had happened to you and then I got to the Oracle and learned only you can turn me back into a dragon? You need to not be selfish."
"I wasn't being selfish. I was looking out for Kenzie."
"It's the pretty thing you mentioned before, isn't it? You helped her because she is pretty?"
