For the Heart of Dragons

by Julie Wetzel

  A confused feeling came from the dragon. “Kara’s upset?” Byrd rolled to his stomach and looked over to where Kara had disappeared upstairs. Curiosity rolled through him, and he stood up to go see why she was unhappy.

  “No, Byrd.” Noah reached for the dragon, trying to stop him. They both were surprised when they stopped after a few steps.

  “Why not?”

  “Kara’s upset that we tore up her couch. If we go up now, it would make her more upset,” Noah explained.

  Byrd sat down on his haunches. “Why?”

  Letting out a sigh, Noah tried to think of a way to explain it. “Do you remember a time someone destroyed something of yours?”

  Turning his thoughts inwards, Byrd thought about it.

  Noah tracked the dragon’s thoughts as he searched through Raven’s memories. “There!” Noah stopped him at the memory of someone breaking something important to Raven. “Do you remember how that made Raven feel?” Anger filled Noah as Byrd relived the experience. He breathed through the feeling, soothing Byrd as he went.

  “Mad,” Byrd finally answered.

  “And we just tore up something that was important to Kara,” Noah pointed out gently. “How do you think that made her feel?”

  Byrd’s wings dropped as he envisioned Kara feeling the way Raven had. He whimpered in regret.

  “It’s all right, Byrd,” Noah calmed the dragon. “Kara’s going to be mad at us for a while, but there is something we can do to help.”

  “Fix couch?” Byrd said hopefully, perking up.

  Noah chuckled to himself. “No, we can’t fix the couch.”

  Byrd’s wings drooped again.

  “But if we clean up the mess, Kara might forgive us for tearing up the cushions.”

  Byrd nodded his agreement.

  “Come on,” Noah coaxed the dragon. “Let’s see if we can find some trash bags from the kitchen and pick this up before she comes back down.”

  ***

  Dusting on the last of her makeup, Kara stood back from the bathroom mirror and considered herself. The silvery tank top and smoky shadow she’d picked brought out the subtle gray tones in her eyes, making them darker than her normal hazel. They suited her dark mood. Her original plan for the day was to start by pulling out some of her pans and making breakfast, but coming down to find that Byrd had destroyed her couch had changed that. The hot steam from the shower had helped ease her anger, but she’d taken much longer than she’d originally intended. Now it was going to have to be fast food before going into the office for a while.

  Heading out to her bedroom, she grabbed her cardigan and pulled the thin, black material into place. Normally she would have coupled this set with a wispy, black skirt and heels, but today she chose to go with some dark slacks and low pumps. Despite the fact she was still upset with Byrd, Kara had decided to follow through with her plans to take Byrd flying. For that, she would need something a little less formal. These clothes would be easier for her to change out of when they got to the park.

  Kara shivered as her dragon stretched in anticipation. She smiled as she checked herself one last time in the mirror. The whole purpose in going out today was to get Byrd to relax, but she was looking forward to the outing, too. It’d been a long time since she had been out in scales, and after these last two days, she could really use the time to unwind. There was nothing like wind across your scales to ease your troubles away. Taking a deep breath, Kara prepared herself for the mess in the living room. I will not be mad. I will not be mad. I will not be mad.

  The sound of ripping plastic broke into Kara’s calming chant. Anger filled her as she rushed downstairs to see what that blasted dragon was destroying this time. She prayed it wasn’t something irreplaceable. As she turned the corner into the living room, she stopped. Her brain froze as she tried to make sense of the scene in front of her. The living room was a disaster. The nest Byrd made had exploded, spewing bits of foam and fluff everywhere. And Byrd was in the middle of it all with a mouthful of foam, trying desperately to get the top of a garbage bag open.

  Gasping in surprise, Kara raised her hand to her mouth as emotions rolled over her. She was both pissed that he’d made more of a mess and elated that he had thought enough to attempt cleaning up what he’d done. Her dragon stirred, adding another emotion to the mix, but she pushed it away as fast as she could and refocused on the fact that he was her patient. She was supposed to be helping him get his act together, not starting to care for him… no matter how cute he looked with bits of stuffing stuck to the ridges on his back.

  The small noise she’d made drew Byrd’s attention away from the bag. He looked up and found her standing there. Dropping the mouthful of padding, he squeaked loudly and rushed over to her.

  Kara dropped down to catch the small dragon before he plowed into her legs and bowled her over.

  “I sorry,” he whined as he rubbed his face into Kara.

  Wrapping her hands around the distressed dragon, she caught him before she fell. That emotion she had pushed away plowed back into her. Biting it back, she set a firm look on her face. She held him for a moment before grabbing the edges of his frill and pulling him back. His dark eyes shone with remorse, softening the anger inside her and strengthening that other emotion she didn’t want to face. After a minute of searching his face, she spoke. “I’m still irritated with you.”

  Byrd whined and tried to lower his head, but she held him in place.

  “But the fact that you tried to clean up helps.”

  Hope glimmered in his eyes.

  “Do you promise not to do this again?”

  Byrd emphatically nodded his head. “We be good!”

  A smile softened the stern look on Kara’s face. “Then I’ll forgive you.”

  Squeaking with joy, Byrd plowed into her, knocking her over as he nuzzled her.

  The sincere emotions rolling off the dragons were overwhelming and infectious. Kara laughed as she landed on her back. After a moment of catching her breath, she reached up and patted him on the shoulder. “Enough.” She pushed him back so she could get up.

  Byrd backed up but didn’t go far.

  “Come on,” she said as she got up from the floor. “We have stuff to do today.”

  Prancing in place, Byrd looked back at the mess he’d made.

  “We’ll clean that up later,” she reassured him. “Right now, we have to go.” She slipped the strap of her purse over her shoulder and opened the door.

  Byrd waffled for a moment longer before heading out the door.

  Kara watched him go to the car before turning and locking up. She wasn’t sure what to make of him. Responsibility was not an instinctual thing. The fact that he had shown it proved that he was somehow in touch with Noah, but she hadn’t seen any personality of the human half coming through. Well, not unless Noah acted like a three-year-old child. And she couldn’t see anyone making it very far in Eternity with that type of attitude. It was a start, but they still had a long way to go.

  ***

  The joy and excitement flowing from Byrd was hard for Noah to get past. It washed out his thoughts, leaving him in a strange state of euphoria. He had never experienced the world quite the way Byrd saw it. The pure, undiluted emotions of the dragon overwhelmed Noah. And to make it even harder to handle, Byrd’s emotions could jump from one extreme to the other in a heartbeat.

  When Noah had laid into him for destroying Kara’s couch, an overwhelming anxiety had filled Byrd. It was enough to make Noah want to bawl his eyes out. He had managed to get Byrd together enough to try to clean up the mess, but the negative emotions were almost crippling.

  When Kara had come down and forgiven them, Byrd’s emotions jumped the other way—so much so that, had Noah been in control, he wouldn’t have been able to breathe. Now that Byrd was happy again, whatever was driving his emotions was settling down.

  Noah drew a cleansing breath and considered Byrd as the little dragon got into the car and waited for Kara to take them wh
erever she wanted to go. Noah was astounded by the range of emotion Byrd felt. The fact that his emotions had jumped from highs to lows and back again in no time at all reminded Noah of a woman with a bad case of PMS. Any little thing could drive her to either end of the emotional spectrum. That’s exactly the way Noah felt at that moment.

  He followed Byrd’s mind as the dragon looked out the window, watching the world rush by. There weren’t any real thoughts, just feelings and impressions. It gave him a lot more insight into the inner workings of dragons. If he ever wanted to regain some control over his life, he was going to have to find a way to control Byrd, and the best way to do that was through his emotions. But Noah couldn’t just lead the dragon around. He was going to have to find a way to coexist with him.

  “Are you hungry?”

  Kara’s words broke into both Noah’s and Byrd’s thoughts.

  Byrd jumped up and turned circles on the seat. “Yes!” he chirped excitedly.

  Kara giggled and laid her hand on Byrd’s shoulder, pushing him back down. “Settle down before you make us wreck.”

  Byrd gave under her gentle touch and sank to the seat.

  A wave of emotion hit Noah, leaving him reeling. Trying to put a name to the emotion was hard. Respect, loyalty, and devotion were as close as he could come. A second epiphany struck Noah. Byrd would do anything for Kara.

  “We likes her.”

  Byrd’s thought echoed through Noah as the dragon stretched his neck across the gap between the seats and settled his chin on Kara’s lap.

  Her hand came down and patted him before going back to the steering wheel.

  Noah chuckled softly. He agreed with the dragon, but he was reluctant to say so. Intellectually, Noah knew Kara was only there because Daniel had ordered her to help them. This was her job. When it was over, she would leave them for her next patient. But the instincts pushing at him insisted she cared and wouldn’t leave him. The opposing concepts left him conflicted about where he stood in the situation. It was hard to deal with the irrational attachment he was starting to feel for the woman. Warmth washed over him from Byrd, calming the distressing thoughts.

  Noah smiled. “Yes, we do.” Making that announcement to Byrd didn’t change the conflict he felt, but it gave strength to the side he wasn’t sure was good for his heart.

  “So, what do you want?” Kara asked.

  Noah looked up. Through the window, he could see the menu board of the drive thru.

  “Food!” Byrd chirped and wiggled around, trying to get into her lap and out the window.

  Kara grabbed his collar and held him back from jumping out the window.

  “Settle down, Byrd,” Noah scolded as he tried to make them look at the menu. It was impossible to focus on the words while Byrd danced around in excitement.

  “Sit!” Noah snapped out loud, startling them all.

  Byrd froze in Kara’s arms.

  Kara’s eyes widened in surprise.

  “Sorry,” Noah chirped. He glanced over the menu. “One of those egg sandwich things, some hash browns, and…” he paused, debating. He really wanted a cup of coffee, but he wasn’t sure how it would affect Byrd’s already-hyper mentality. “Some juice,” he finished before crawling out of Kara’s lap and curling onto the seat.

  A hint of fear brushed against his mind. He drew in a deep breath and soothed the scared dragon. “I’m sorry.”

  The fear in Byrd uncurled a little, but he was still wary of Noah.

  Noah sighed again. “I know you’re happy and excited about getting food, but we can’t jump around like that in the car.”

  Byrd cocked his head in question.

  “We can cause Kara to wreck, or hurt her.”

  “No hurt Kara!” Byrd growled at him.

  “I know you wouldn’t intentionally hurt her, but you could do it accidently.”

  Byrd thought about it for a moment. “Be calm in car.”

  “Yes,” Noah agreed. “Be calm in the car.”

  Byrd nodded his head. He tilted it and paused in thought. “You mad?”

  Noah chuckled. “No, Byrd. I’m a little frustrated, but I’m not mad.”

  “I sorry.” Byrd wiggled in despair.

  Noah drew in another calming breath. “It’s all right, Byrd. We’ll get through this. Together.”

  “Together!” Byrd’s thought echoed through Noah as if the little dragon had screamed it in this head.

  The smell of impending breakfast drew Byrd’s attention away from Noah. Uncurling from the seat, he wiggled in anticipation.

  “Byrd!” Noah called, grabbing the dragon’s attention.

  Byrd froze. “Yes?”

  “Remember what we talked about?”

  The dragon thought about it for a second. “Be calm in car?”

  “Yes,” Noah said, pleased that he remembered. “It’s time to be calm and wait.”

  Byrd eyed the bags coming into the car and whined, sniffing at the savory smells filling the car. “Hungry.”

  “I know you’re hungry, but we have to wait for Kara to give us the food,” Noah explained. “Not all of that is ours.”

  Byrd watched the bags as Kara set them down on the floorboard in front of him. She said something to him in a warning tone, but he was too busy contemplating Noah’s words to hear them. “Not ours?” he asked, confused.

  “No,” Noah continued. “Part of that food is Kara’s.”

  At the mention of her name, Byrd looked up to the woman next to him. Her attention was focused on the traffic around them. “Kara’s?”

  “Yes, and if we eat it all, she won’t get any.”

  A range of emotion rolled through Byrd.

  Noah tried to track them, but it was hard to understand what the dragon was thinking. It knew what it wanted, but the fact that Noah had pointed out the needs of another set things in motion that Noah didn’t understand.

  “Come on, Byrd.”

  Kara’s voice broke into whatever was running through the dragon’s mind. He looked up at her.

  “Let’s go eat.” Reaching down, she pulled the bags of food into her lap and balanced them as she got out of the car.

  Byrd sat and stared at her.

  “Go on,” Noah urged.

  Byrd followed her out of the car. He paused to look around. The small parking lot bordered a grassy area with a few picnic tables. He glanced up to find Kara already on her way to one of the tables with her load. A few loping strides had him up and on the bench of the table she’d chosen.

  Noah was surprised as Byrd watched Kara separate out the food. The dragon wiggled in anticipation but made no move to take anything until Kara had everything unwrapped.

  “There you go, sweetheart,” Kara said as she tucked the paper under the sandwich Noah had ordered. “All yours.”

  Byrd stared at her as she sat down and started eating.

  The steam rising from the eggs made Noah’s mouth water. He waited for the hungry dragon to attack the meal with the same gusto he’d had with the pizza last night, but Byrd held his ground, watching Kara eat her food. “Byrd?” Noah prompted. “We can eat now.”

  Byrd’s eyes remained on Kara. “Kara eat.”

  “Kara is eating,” Noah pointed out.

  “Kara’s food,” Byrd argued.

  “No,” Noah tried to reason with the dragon, “Kara has her food. This is our food.”

  Byrd looked over the meal laid out before him. “Our food?”

  “Yes. Our food.” Noah looked up at Kara. “Kara has plenty of food. In fact, she’s almost done. If we don’t hurry, she’ll be done before we are.”

  Byrd looked over the dwindling meal on the other side of the table. Tentatively, he moved to take one of the hash browns Noah had ordered. When Kara didn’t stop him, he chomped it down.

  “See? She isn’t going to keep you from your food. She has enough.” Noah coaxed him into taking more of the meal.

  Giving in to his grumbling belly, Byrd scarfed down the rest of his fare without
complaint.

  Noah mentally shook his head and relaxed, thinking about the dragon. Last night, there had been no stopping Byrd from taking what he wanted, but today it took coaxing to get him to eat. Something had changed in the dragon, but Noah wasn’t sure what.

  ***

  It was a beautiful morning for a picnic. The sky was clear with just enough of a breeze to keep the bugs at bay. The shade of the tall pine trees made the table Kara had picked the perfect place to eat. She loved to come out here and watch the ducks in the distant pond float around, but today, she didn’t notice them. Her mind was trained on the small dragon following her to the picnic table.

  The heavy traffic had kept her from more than a quick glance at him while she drove, but she couldn’t help but feel something significant had happened in the car. His sudden outburst had startled her. It also seemed to have startled him. And the order he’d given hadn’t seemed like the same excited dragon she was getting used to. It had been serious and almost surly.

  Was Noah a surly person? Kara didn’t know much about Noah, only that he was a high-level mage with Eternity, and that he had been human before joining with Byrd. Images of an elderly man with white hair, siting in some dank vault and pouring over ancient tomes of magic, filled her mind.

  She shook the thought away as preposterous. Eternity would never allow such valuable books to rot away in some damp dungeon. If anything, they were kept in a state-of-the-art facility with climate-controlled rooms and special lighting to keep them safe and whole. But the possibility of Noah being an aged man with white hair was more than slim. Noah wasn’t a very common name in younger generations, and the most powerful mages had spent the better part of their lives perfecting their arts. Plus, the magic would have bleached the pigment from him. Why it bleached the color from humans but not dragons still puzzled scientists and mages alike.

  Pushing that line of thought away, she peeled the paper around Byrd’s sandwich back and laid it on the table. “There you go, sweetheart. All yours.” Looking back, she checked the bench before sitting down and starting in on her own food.

  Picking up her sandwich, she bit into it. The sweetness of the croissant was the perfect contrast to the sharpness of the Swiss cheese and ham inside. It was one of her favorite breakfast foods. She closed her eyes and savored that first bite before getting down to the business of really eating. With the ravenous appetite Byrd had shown last night, she was going to have to hurry if she had any hope of keeping up with him.