A Dragon's Treasure

4. The Investigation Begins

LUKE

Almost immediately, the air in Luke's home had twisted into something strange. He tried keeping mostly to his room, but that room was for a teenager with a twin sized bed and scuffed furniture. With light footing, Luke only left for food and water.

He noticed another difference with the number of creatures living on the grounds. The pixies stretched themselves from every edge of the yard surrounding the house, which Luke appreciated, despite losing a few socks, a couple of coins, some snacks from the pantry, and probably more that Luke wasn't ever aware of missing.

One rare morning while he was pouring coffee, Cassian was in the same room with him outside Iris's office. No talking. Like usual. They just danced around the kitchen, the coffee pot exchanging hands as Luke watched in awe as Cassian poured an insane amount of sugar and creamer into his perfectly good coffee.

Lord Cassian Alwyn was all height, all muscle, and a voice deeper than a wishing well.

Luke assumed dragons enjoyed everything in excess.

Through the window, Luke heard the trill of pixie giggles. He glanced up. "What?"

A few blue little pixies were hovering by the frame, their marble black eyes flittering between Luke and the woods. "The Sasquatch never left," the pixie, Starla whispered, teasingly like Luke was back in middle school and she just found out a dirty little secret. "He's been leaving dead animals at your porch."

"That's been him?" Luke asked, setting his coffee down before he spilt it. Leaning up on his toes, Luke tried to peer past the pixies for the line of trees. He didn't see the giant harry creatures and hasn't for a while, but that didn't inspire comfort. "What does he want?"

Not just the pixies giggled, Cassian did too.

Snapping a withering look at the dragon, Luke asked, "What's so funny?"

A little smirk pinched Cassian's lip as he leaned against the counter like he didn't have a care in the world. He was all confidence, acting as if he knew everything and Luke understood nothing. Cassian said, "It means he's trying to provide for you.'

Luke's grimace deepened, waiting for Cassian to get on with it. The giggling pixies weren't helping.

Shaking his head, Cassian just laughed at Luke and Luke's response was to blush and frown more. Cassian finally shed some light while also calling Luke an idiot. "The Sasquatch is courting you..." Cassian raised from the counter. "He has a crush."

That sent the Pixies over the edge and in a cartoon-like chorus, they sang, "Sasquatch and Luke sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, next comes a hairy baby in a baby carriage—"

Luke shut the window and locked it, waving harshly at them to get lost. He snapped at a chuckling Cassian who was slipping out of the room. "Yeah, okay, laugh it up. Thank you for that. They're going to be so annoying now."

Cassian didn't respond, but the pixies sang at him for a full week after that. Luke also noticed more than dead animals left for him, but small pretty rocks, flowers pulled out by the full root, and Sasquatch sized handfuls of berries.

That was when Astrid started teasing him too. "Bet he's great at opening pickle jars."

"Alright, alright," Luke sighed and cleaned up the animals, the berries, but Luke admittedly kept the rocks and flowers. They were sweet gestures and tossing them felt too cruel. It was a while before Luke saw the Sasquatch hiding in the trees... which was really like a grizzly bear hiding behind a lamppost.