Black pooled like ink throughout the tight room, shaming the ebony nest on Káel's head as he leaned out of his covers with a stiff groan. Puff wasn't in his usual corner, the brilliant ball of white shirking his gaze completely, along with his nosy cat that had likely found it easier to slink through the blackened room with his charcoal coat.
His throat wasn't as dry, but still smacked and rubbed with every swallow. He moved his tongue around, feeling the calcy stick lacing it with a sour tang and scrunching his nose as he cooked up the best place to find a cold glass of water.
Truvius would probably know.
His heart flattened when his eyes rested on the empty bed. Perfectly made and void of its typically snoring occupant.
Káel slid out of the bed and parted the curtains left of his bedside. It was late, the only thing to light the sky being the massive brush stroked planet.
Where's Truvius? Káel thought, looking around the empty room. He was nowhere to be found, and it had to be past curfew. Káel felt a twang of stupidity gnawing at his mind when he checked under the beds, but it quickly turned to worry when along with his strange roommate, Puff and Jeremiah weren't hiding under the mattresses. Even Phantom had disappeared, and he'd gotten so used to his company that the entire situation felt wrong now.
He approached the door, and jumped when something snapped beneath his foot. A dry and bumpy stick with roughened scales of azure bark, now cracked in two to expose a pearly heart that seemed to carry its own glow. He lifted the mysterious object into the dim blue washing through his pulled curtain. It was definitely a stick, silver teardrop leaves and all.
But then again, Phantom's pocket sized home had definitely been a rock.
A breeze shifted his hair, caressing the nape of his neck with a cold and dried touch. It was nearly gentle enough to count for a playful stroke, the thought of which sent chills down his spine. Káel slowly turned in dumb silence, the pieces falling hard on his gaze when he found the source of the mysterious breeze.
The window was wide open, the faintest blur of fur slipping down its pane.
"Puff?" Káel whispered, his heart pounding as he neared the bulging white curtains.
Would he be held accountable if the injured drake escaped and landed itself with another pack of sporting unicorns?
The chill of Lumi's frigid nights sank into his hands, now curled over the polished wood while he leaned out to scan the roof. He knew he'd blame himself if Puff disappeared in his state. Knowing he could have left the dragon to freedom at its best, had he not been stupid enough to check if the window was unlocked.
Káel frowned.
Had he not been stupid enough to think dragons couldn't open windows without thumbs would have landed more logically in his argument.
"Puff?" he breathed, his whisper nearly drawn long enough to produce a rising song.
With a couple seconds of silence to follow, something small and furry skittered by in his peripheral.
"Come on Puff, get back here, I'm not in the mood for this," Káel whispered, his voice hardening as he tried the forceful route. But his eyes were glowing with worry, banking on empty hope for a fluffy white dragon to come bounding back.
YOU ARE READING
COBALT: The Red Phantom (Book One)
Fantasy[Featured: EDITOR'S CHOICE] Káel didn't think his life could get worse after being abducted by an alien posing as a Russian exchange student. Until that 'one day' turned into three months, and he was forced to get cozy on a post-war planet fresh out...
