[YANS] (aka Yet Another New Story!) NaNoWriMo 2017 (COMPLETE)

Day 18.3 - I'd Like to Phone a Friend

The next morning they gathered in the room right outside the scrying room, all of them reluctant to get near the pools again. At most the creature should only have noticed someone scrying it, not where or when they were. But there was a slim chance that their interference might have pushed it to track them down.

"If it knew where we were, it would have already come," the dragon said, attempting to convince itself. "And it tried to attack us through the vision, which is impossible, so it can't be very smart or it would have realized that we weren't actually there."

"It did make you burn your paw," pointed out Jashn, "but you're right, it would already be here if it was coming." But he made no move to head into the rooms.

"Is there any way to learn more about this than asking the pools?" asked Khany. "Are there any other dragons nearby that we don't know about?"

"We could always ask my mentor," said the dragon after a moment. "He's spend millennium wandering the world and there's a good chance he'll know more. Or at least he'll be better at thinking up solutions. We have time to get there and back, if we hurry."

Jashn was looking at him suspiciously. As far as he knew dragons only took on heirs when they were about to die and then the heir always replaced the dragon. There was no reason to train a heir if you didn't need one.

Dragon caught his expression and sighed. "I don't know what your dragon has taught you, but for now assume everything you know is true only in your city."

Jashn muttered things under his breath, but shrugged.

"Then we fly."

~*~*~*~*~

"Do you even have wings?" Jashn frowned at Dragon who was snuggled into his beanbag bed and not paying any attention to the story in progress.

To be fair, the dragon was still a little fuzzy around the edges, having never been described properly.

"Why would I need wings?" Came a grumble of leaves from the depth of the nest. "I'm magic."

"He does have a point," said the Writer. Who couldn't remember if he had wings previously or not and was much too lazy to try and look it up. "So no wings for you! You're earth-themed anyway, so it fits."

"Am I really the only dragon with wings? Seriously?" Jashn looked offended.

"You are literally an imaginary creatures based off your own personalities. Calling any of you 'dragons' is probably overkill." The Muse sniffed. "Now get back to work!"

~*~*~*~*~

The dragon lead them back out of the caves and paused to stretch like a cat. Then he knelt down and let Kahny and Jashn climb aboard. There was a spot slightly behind his shoulders where there was enough room to sit without interfering with his movement.

Khany was a little tense, having only ridden horses a small handful of times. She was much more used to riding or driving carts and there was no saddle to hold on to. But the dragon was not a horse and she was pretty sure she could count on him to catch them if they fell. Probably.

For a few heartbeats Jashn was terrified that they dragon would be able to sense the truth about him when they were this close, but the dragon said nothing and he relaxed.

Once they were settled, the dragon leapt into the sky. He had no wings, but a powerful breath of magic kept him aloft. He rose in the air until the trees were tiny toothpicks and then moved northward. On his back the riders were held safe with magic, protected from the wind and steadied against moment. It was a smooth almost dreamlike movement as the dragon undulated through the sky as if he was swimming.