Love and Other Magical Adventures

three

Next morning she climbed up and sat just behind me throughout the day. If she was scared of flying she didn't let on, other than to tighten her slim arms around my midsection when Grimmer dipped or swerved, and at such times I could feel her heart pounding against my back.

If she noticed how mine did much the same, I hoped she thought it due to the flight as well.

It had been almost two years since I'd been that close to another person for so long, other than Grim, and it was strange, especially with pieces of her bright red hair flying from her braid at times. 

I was so intrigued by her. I found it nearly impossible not to ask questions.

That night we had finished eating and she was sitting, running dirt through her fingers. It was a thing she did often. Feebur purred in her lap joyfully. He spent a lot of his time asleep, probably because he expended so much energy while awake.

I cleansed myself with a little magic rather than face the cold water of the nearby stream and began making hot chocolate, feeling Sylvie's gaze on me like the sun. I could have done it with a spell but I enjoyed the simple routine.

When the cocoa was finished heating, I poured it into two cups and decorated it with chunks of marshmallow. Grimmer didn't like chocolate but I tried not to hold it against him. I put the remainder in Feebur's dish and he gave a trill of joy, leaping from her lap and rolling to the edge to slurp it up.

Sylvie nodded her thanks as I handed her one, immediately sipping it and closing her eyes in bliss for a few moments. It had likely been some time since she'd tasted the sweet, and I was pleased to provide it.

She glanced at Grimmer. "I've never met a dragon, or a human."

"Nor have we a Jundi warrior," Grimmer spoke in the gravelly voice he always had, whatever his form.

She raised the cup to her lips again before answering. "Normally our people do not gain warrior status until we have seen eighteen summers and passed the trials. Yet you are correct, for though I am but seventeen, few have passed greater trials than I since my tenth birthday." Her voice was passive, with nary a hint of either bitterness or pride, but I felt a wave of sadness for her. "I am incontestably a Jundi warrior now."

I tucked away my emotions. "I'm eighteen, Grimmer's twenty one. We're sorry for all you've endured." I allowed some magic to infuse my words so she would feel the truth and empathy in them.

She lowered her head in acknowledgment and changed the subject. "I was told only males were Questers."

I puffed up a bit. "My mother was the first female Quester. When I was born Grim bypassed all the other infants and found me in the nursery, refusing to leave my side." Though I had no recollection of it, he did, and had shared the memory often enough that it was one of my own. The clumsy toddler dragon hissing flame at anyone who tried to remove him from under my cradle warmed both of us to remember.

"She was the human for me," he said cheerfully. We were two halves of a whole, for all intents and purposes. Completely platonic soulmates.

"I was," I agreed, sending him a mental hug. Questers didn't form romantic relationships with their dragons; the bond was much deeper, magical and unbreakable. "And since then we've had Questers of all genders."

She appraised me, and I caught a hint of admiration from her, which only served to inflate my ridiculous sense of hubris. Feebur trilled in his sleep and she smiled down at him. "This is a foolish and delightful creature."

"Feebur is a Floff. They're native to the Wereforest, though not Were beasts themselves. A peddler had him on the cart and he clearly wanted to be with us. Grimmer convinced the peddler of this, and thus we acquired Feebur." The ball of fluff rolled over and whistled a bit.

She looked at Grim. "It is true then, that dragons have the power of persuasion?"

His mouth quirked. "We do."

"But he only uses it for good," I added, because it was true. "And he would never use it on you."

He produced his ukulele and put his fingers to the strings. "Lorali speaks the truth."

A loud flapping of wings brought our attention up to a thick branch above us, though Grim and I already knew what we would see. A bird similar to a raven landed clumsily. He was black all over on top but his feathers underneath and long, pheasant-like tail contained all the colors. He grasped the branch and threw himself forward so he spun in a full circle. "Ruffles have ridges! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go!"

"Hi, Quincy, welcome back." This ridiculous bird had been saved by us a year and a half earlier and afterward decided we were family. No matter where we went, Quincy showed up eventually. Quorks were capable of inter-dimensional and other-world travel, not to mention superb mimickers, and retained phrases and sounds they heard from many different worlds. We were as often perplexed as entertained by the strange things Quincy said.

"It's a joke, sis. Spill the tea, bestie." He landed on the ground and gulped down the jerky I tossed him. We hadn't seen him in four days. "It's not that deep."

Sylvie smiled a little at him. It changed her whole face. "You do travel with curious beasts."

"They just find us," I told her, amused as well. I tossed Quincy some more meat and he swallowed it, drank from the bowl of water I had out for Feebur, and flew back to the perch to preen his feathers.

"Somewheeeere over the rainbooow," he crooned before doing one last swing around the branch.

"You are a nut," I said.

"Part of this nutritious breakfast," he replied agreeably. He tucked his head under his silky plumage, treating us to a brief ruffled rainbow, and was nearly done for the night. "Aflak!" came a muffled last word.

The corner of Slyvie's mouth raised, and I felt thankful for the bird, for it was that smile I sought.

The evening was much cooler than the previous ones, so we were probably nearing the glaciers. I took half an hour to do my meditation, which was boring but helped me learn to control my magic. Then I popped up my tent, a clear, igloo-shaped inflatable bubble made from a material that could withstand most damage. It was cozy, easy to see out of, and fun because it was bouncy inside.

"We have another if you'd like," I offered as I set rice to cook on the fire.

She shuddered visibly. "I do not like to be contained. It would take much worse weather than this." She had her alarmingly red hair wrapped in a knot with a stick holding it there. "This is ample." She gestured to my warm hooded shirt she wore. It was violet and looked better on her, especially as it matched her eyes.

"Well, when that weather comes, the other tent's here." I didn't blame her. "I can enlarge them too, or leave a side off; however it suits you." I left the front off of mine so she wouldn't feel isolated.

"I could just touch the ground forever," she confessed, with her usual handful of dirt. Feebur snuffled at it and then dove back into her lap, rolling around under her hand and making soft happy booping sounds.

"The ground is all yours for the touching," I said, because sometimes I just say something dumb instead of staying silent. 

But she looked up at me, her face softening. "Because of you," she said, the faintest trace of magenta infusing the words, and my foolish heart skipped a beat or two. It was the color of friendship.

Yes, I just stood by and watched you fight all seven of those men by yourself, Grim quipped. I remember it as if it was yesterday. Or the day before.

I ignored him, which was sometimes best, and waited for my heart to recover.