Gliding down the mountain in Kearo's arms wasn't as fairy tale as I wanted to be. It was so cold that Kearo tucked Ray's cloak into every crevice between us until I looked like a fly caught in spider silk. Lexington would be thrilled. I was also not a fan of heights, and descending like a bucket to the bottom of a well had me clinging to Kearo his feet stood firmly on grass. He had to pry my fingers off, and I leaned on his arm to regrow my land legs while he unwound my cloak.
"Hey, beautiful!" Ray's voice swiveled my head toward the forest path, but he wasn't talking to me. With a wave, Ray greeted Kearo who pursed his lips as he detangled his long hair swept over a shoulder.
"You know each other?" I asked as I waited for the world to stop spinning.
"Sure," Ray answered with a combative narrowing of his eyes and a snarky smirk warping his lips. "This guy came through just before your group. Blew me off when I tried to say 'hi' and completely ignored Sven. Jerk makes Xin look welcoming."
Sven slinked over as soon as he was mentioned but hid behind Ray like a scorned child, his hands on Ray's shoulders and his eyebrows lowered. It looked like the moon trying to hide behind a dark cloud, but slivers of grey peeked out around the edges.
They glared each other down on the forest path cutting through the trees like a spaghetti western, the rustle of leaves setting the scene like a wayward tumbleweed before the quick draw that ended it all. Dragon flames likely beat anything Kearo could muster, and it was best that everyone got along with what we would soon face, so I did my best to deescalate the situation.
With my hand obscured behind my body, I slipped the spoon and fork I'd stolen from Xin out of my pocket and pressed them to Kearo's hand behind his back. I hadn't gotten them for Sven, but I could easily borrow them later. Their presence cranked Kearo's eyebrow as I hopped a foot closer to Ray.
"I'm sure Kearo was just in a hurry, Sven." My voice coaxed Sven out from behind Ray, and some of the hurt faded as he stood up straight to face me. "We brought gifts from our trip."
I nodded Sven toward Kearo, and he immediately scrutinized him like a dog that had just heard the word walk. Shifting from one foot to the other, Sven resisted accosting Kearo for all of a second before he circled in search of a promised treat. I coughed a laugh as Kearo pulled his hands in to get further from Sven but inadvertently brought the utensils into sight. Sven homed in on them, and an impatient puff of smoke seeped from his lips when Kearo did not relinquish his prize.
Kearo swiveled his head in my direction like a security camera grating against rusted gears, and a silent question burned in his blue eyes. 'Do you really expect me to hand kitchen utensils to a dragon?' I couldn't answer as Sven leaned so close to Kearo's face that they'd kiss if anyone sneezed, and Kearo gave in.
"Sorry about earlier," Kearo ground out, and as soon as he opened his hand, Sven snatched up the gifts and retreated to Ray's side. There, Sven flipped the stainless steel utensils up and down, lingering on the golden trim of the handles, and his smile progressively grew.
"Thank you, friend," Sven said, zipping back to Kearo and taking a hand in both of his. "I misjudged you." Ray slapped a hand on his face that said Kearo was far from forgiven in his book, and Sven moved on to me. "Give," Sven demanded with a growl that echoed like thunder. "Please," he added with a hiss of a smoke, the greed of a dragon over treasure showing on everything from his flared nostrils to his restlessly rolling fingers.
I deposited a little pile of gems that I'd picked from Xin's furniture in Sven's hand before he nipped at my fingers, and he scrutinized them with an excited spin that ran a ring of smoke around him.
"Sven, calm down!" Ray said as the smoke grew in volume.
A tail emerged from the plume in a swipe that almost took out my ankles, but Kearo yanked me out of the way just as a pair of wings sprouted from Sven's back. We fell on the ground together, and by the time I picked myself up, Ray was looking beyond the trees as Sven flew off with his newfound hoard. Probably to stack the little pile of trinkets up and sit on them with a contented growl.
"Who lit the forest on fire?" Lexington trudged out of the trees but kept in the shade as he dragged his feet in the daylight hours.
"Heidi just gave Sven a gift from her visit to Xin," Ray said with a chuckle of his bright teeth against his darker skin tone. They matched the silver vest he'd worn to match Sven's scales well.
"Where is Faella's gift?" Lexington braved the sunlight to stand in my face, and he steamed as Faella skipped out of the woods after him. "You wouldn't have neglected Faella if you brought that packrat something." Lexington threatened with his fangs bared, but it didn't hit very hard with how he ran his forearm over his sweat-drenched forehead and moaned from the agony of the sun.
"Lex, what are you doing?" Faella giggled as she joined him, conjuring an umbrella with a spin of her hand to shield him. A sigh of relief slipped Lexington's lips, and his body slumped but his crimson eyes dug into mine with a demand of reverence for his queen.
"This is for you, Faella," I said as I slipped my extra bag off Kearo's shoulder.
It squirmed as I set in on the ground, which meant the cub was up from its nap, and Faella shoved the umbrella into Lex's hand and smoothed her dress hem under her knees as she settled on the ground to undo the zipper. Orange fluff poked its head out for fresh air the instant it was released, and the cub let out a tired, crackling meow that had Faella's teal eyes lighting up with adoration. The cub imprinted on Faella like a baby chick, tumbling onto her lap and rubbing its head on her arms as it wiggled on its back.
"Thank you, Heidi!" Faella's gratitude was followed by a scream of delight that had me covering an ear too late, and the cub's ears sank until the noise tapered off.
"I got you one too," I said to Lexington as Faella spun around with her new clock. "You can't have my blood, but that gets pretty close to the zest you wanted to taste."
Lexington turned a lemon I set in his hand back and forth like he'd never seen one, and I cringed as he sank his fangs into the peel without so much as doubt. My laughter started well before his eyes widened, his face scrunched, and he tossed the lemon into the bushes. Lexington's growl had Kearo joining my side to protect me, but the hostilities tapered off as I held out my real gift.
"Lifted this off a statue the moment I saw it," I said as I offered him an oblong turquoise that took up half his palm. "The color matches Faella's eyes perfectly, so I thought you might like it."
Lexington eyed Kearo as he remained shoulder to shoulder with me and stepped back while he brushed his fingers over the smooth teal surface of the stone. Black sparks suspended the turquoise in his hand, zigzagging and solidifying metal around the stone for a broach, and Lexington clipped it on his dark shirt. An appreciative smile spread his pale lips as he dabbed sweat from his brow with the hand not juggling an umbrella.
"This is lovely. Thank you, Hei—"
"Looking good, Lex," Faella said as she skipped up with the tiger in her arms, her dark curls free to pop up everywhere as the cub gnawed on her hat. "You should join us for breakfast, Heidi. We're having pancakes!" Faella barely finished her invitation before she dragged Lexington off to help her flip them, but he was happy enough to slink back into the shadows.
It left me with Kearo standing well into my personal space bubble and Ray sizing us up like we were a couple from a dime store novel. "Well, aren't you two lovebirds." Ray's downright condescending chuckle had me easing Kearo out of my space with a hand as I grabbed Ray's gift from my bag's side pocket.
"Mercy!" Ray begged as soon as I pulled the spiny fruit out, and his skin pallor dropped a few shades as he jumped back with his hands up like I had a loaded gun.
The fruit was the same as when I'd picked it, a tomato in shape with hard orange skin and spines like an angry blowfish. Part of the stem was still attached with a few leaves, and when my hand neared it, a squeak escaped Ray.
"I was a joke, Heidi. You don't have to kill me for it!"
"What are you talking about?" I asked as I settled with the fruit in my hands. "I got this as a gift because I thought you ate everything. Is it poisonous or something? Should I not be touching it?"
"Maybe... just let me have it." Ray slipped cautiously closer with his body hunched back and only his hand forward to accept the spiny fruit. Once it was in his possession, he heaved a sigh and gingerly cradled the fruit. "Thank you. For the gift," Ray twitched on the word with a lopsided smile. "This is bombegranate. Sure it's sweet and pleasant to eat, but only if you do so correctly. If you pull this stem off and chuck it, it explodes with spines and hundreds of seeds. It's quite the mess."
"You're saying Xin let me pluck a bomb from his bush and didn't know what it was?" Xin's face had twisted when I'd asked him if it was edible, but I hadn't though to ask if it was an explosive device. Who would?
"Xin definitely knows what these are," Ray said as he tucked the fruit into his side satchel. "Lobbed a few at me when I was persistent with Sven at his gates. Maybe he was hoping you'd trigger it and be out of his hair. He's a pretty messed up guy."
A cold sweat clawed a chill into my chest as I thought of what would have happened had the stem popped off while Kearo and I were airborne. If we were blown apart and he couldn't grab me in time, I would have careened to my death. That meant Xin wasn't as on board with our plans as he made himself out to be, and I couldn't help but remember his last words.
"Then you will never see me coming."
I hadn't, and I wouldn't.
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Word Count: 1877