I am Dragon (Dragon Fires Rising Book 2) Marc Secchia (most read books .TXT) 📖

his head. This drew a number of very strange looks from the Dragons who were still about. When she fished a great glob of brown wax out of his previously infected ear with a wooden spoon, Dragon teased her that she would shortly have Dragons lining up for the full treatment.

Much better. He could hear all of her complaints at his awful jokes now.

True enough, Flare the Bonfire shortly wandered over to inquire if a Princess could not be persuaded to check his ear canals, since he had not been hearing well on the left side for seven years.

“Oh, sister dearest?” Azania called sweetly.

“What is it?”

“Could you help honoured Flare here, please? It’s a medical issue – a hearing problem.”

Twenty minutes later, having gathered an audience of fifteen increasingly voluble and amused Dragons who were nothing if not keen to offer the best advice, she deftly employed a blacksmith’s pair of pliers to extract the offending object from his ear.

“A blue diamond!” she gasped.

“Too much rolling about in your hoard, honoured Flare?” Warpaw the Wrecker chortled.

“Seems so, seems so.”

He shook his head, completely forgetting he had a Princess aboard. Chalice snaffled her up before she fell too badly.

“Mmm, nice catch,” Juggernaut approved. “Starting with your own Princess, Chalice?”

“I’d prefer a Prince – with respect, Inzashu,” she said shyly, squeezing her eyes shut before the quivering became too pronounced.

Azania said, “You could start a whole new tradition of kidnapping pretty Princes for sport and holding them ransom, until their Dragon-riding Princesses come to the rescue.”

“A modern twist on the old ways,” Dragon agreed heartily.

Flare passed the diamond to Inzashu. “It’s yours, with my thanks.”

“Honoured Dragon, I could not possibly … I am grateful, of course,” she spluttered. “A king’s jewels should be proud to showcase such a gemstone. It’s huge!”

“Better out than in, I’ve always said,” he replied testily. He ambled off as if that comment settled the matter for good.

Inzashu asked, “What do I do with this?”

“Well, don’t get it stuck in your earhole,” Dragon advised.

* * * *

A bright and fair dawn greeted the travellers. Down in Juggernaut’s warm sinkhole, energetic birdsong was the order of the day, along with the raucous honking of a group of blue-necked mallards somewhere down near the hot springs. Loud feather-brains! Was there time for roast duck times ten? Probably not, unless he tried to flash-barbecue them with his new skills?

Juggernaut stumped over to greet the team loading Dragon. “Chalice will fly with you.”

“How come?” Azania asked.

“When Yardi recruits my armourers and blacksmiths, I’ll want them to travel here. There’s a viable ground route into the mountains from near Dorline, especially in the summer, but it’ll require an escort from someone who knows the territory,” he explained. “Chalice can bring them safely through.”

“That’s a good idea,” Dragon agreed.

“I’m full of good ideas,” came the baleful reply, but he flicked wingtips with the pretty yellow Dragoness, making her jump. “Hope to see you back here soon, Chalice? Don’t tarry.”

The Dragoness shook her head as if she had received a robust wallop.

Juggernaut flexed his muscles, and then shoulder-thumped Dragon on the way past. Low of voice, but at a volume he suspected was perfectly calculated to carry, he said, You look after her for me, alright?

Of course, Master.

His snigger turned into a stifled cough. Juggernaut needed a few lessons in tact, in his estimation, but the results appeared inarguable. By the time they were airborne, Chalice still did act as if she knew what she was doing with her wings. No need to flap, indeed. She floated in a bubble of happiness.

Sly old reptile. Juggernaut had not waited long to make his move on the Dragoness, had he?

Light white cumulous clouds drifted from the East, catching Ignis’ crimson blaze around their edges. The Princesses played at spotting different cloud animals as the two Dragons winged up out of the lair and down a long, slight slope toward the wall of a distant mountain range. Mighty peaks! Several were over thirty-one thousand feet in height, well beyond the height even a Dragon might fly with impunity – so tall, indeed, that their purple heads stood disrobed of the snow that blanketed their lower reaches.

They flew for forty-five miles along a snowbound valley that wound back upon itself like a constrictor, climbing steadily. At Chalice’s pace, this flight took the whole morning; selecting a spot where the dark ground and a couple of green bushes proclaimed the presence of a fumarole, Dragon brought them in for a landing. The Humans needed a break.

So did he, before they tackled that high pass.

Once the Humans had all dismounted and wandered off to hide behind bushes and stones, to Chalice’s amusement, she said to him, So, you spoke with Juggernaut?

Me?

Liar.

He chuckled gruffly. We had a Dragon-to-Dragon chat, aye. Why, did he say something to you?

Only that he had mistaken my intentions and wronged me, and would appreciate the chance to work together more closely in the future. The yellow Dragoness cracked her jaw open in a shy smile. Was it very hard work, convincing him?

No. I did no pleading or begging, and as you can see, I even avoided being beaten to a pulp for my temerity.

How?

He said, ‘Work closely together’ – in just that way?

She sucked in a sharp breath. Aye …

Well, it appears you must have made quite the impression, Chalice. I’ll tell you, dozens of other Dragonesses have tried and failed, but you – ouch!

The Dragoness snorted, Don’t even pretend that little tap hurt you. Dragon – the truth, please.

I told him to give himself a chance.

That brought Chalice up short! What? What do you mean?

I don’t know either. Juggernaut has always been a famously private Dragon. He’s told