Serial Saturday: Tea With a Dragon

Episode 3

Previously…

Turning my back on it wasn’t an option. I might have been a sword-for-hire before, but I wasn’t heartless. The likelihood was slim of the youngster finding their Dam without help.

“I need to think about this. But there’s no point in you staying out here.” I rose from the ground stiffly and awkwardly, then stooped to pick up the baby dragon. “I’ll take care of you until I figure something out.”

---

And now, the continuation…

---

I cradled the little dragon carefully as I stepped through the threshold of my cottage, nudging the door closed behind me with my elbow. The scent of dried herbs and cooling tea wrapped around us, familiar and steadying. The creature in my arms shifted, adjusting its weight, and a small, warm puff of breath tickled my wrist.

‘Warm.’

I glanced down, startled by the quiet thought pressing against my mind. Not a word, exactly, but something close—an impression, a feeling given shape. The way the dragon was communicating with me was almost unbelievable. But it was very clearly a presence in my mind.

“You can think-talk?” I asked, setting the youngster gently onto my worn wooden table. Their wings trembled slightly. The iridescent green scales shimmered in the low light coming through my single window.

‘Some.’

The thoughts were unformed, childlike, but clear enough. I ran a hand through the hair on my scalp. “Alright then, little one. Do you have a name? Are you male?”

The green head lifted proudly, and those unusual white-blue eyes swirled again. ‘Dam said…Tarragon. I am like her.’

Like the Dam…so female. Tarragon.

A slow exhale left my lips as I touched my fingers to the center of my chest. “I am called Rye. Well, Tarragon, I suppose that makes us proper acquaintances now.”

She chirped, then stretched her neck toward the clay mug on my table, sniffing at the lingering dregs of my morning tea. I nudged it away before she could dunk her snout inside. “Not for you,” I said lightly. “You’ll have to tell me what you eat.”

She blinked, tilting her head. ‘Eat?’ Tarragon’s tail curled around her tiny frame as she regarded me, her whirling eyes bright and inquisitive. ‘Find Dam?

I hesitated. The directness of her thoughts was impossible to ignore. I settled into my chair so we were at eye level, and to take the weight off my bad knee. “Where is your Dam?”

She trilled softly, then the words came, tentative but certain. ‘Big water. Near big water.’

That narrowed things down. Somewhat. The nearest large body of water was over a week’s journey away. Rough terrain, unpredictable weather, and a route I hadn’t traveled in years. I rubbed my hand along the scar on my knee. It would be a hard journey. Nearly impossible, if I tried to do it alone.

The dragonling’s eyes searched mine as if she could sense the storm of thoughts running through my head. ‘Find?’

“I don’t know yet,” I admitted. “It’s a long way. Dangerous.”

Tarragon crept forward, pressing her small, warm body against my hand. ‘Alone. Cold.’

I closed my eyes for a moment. I’d been alone before. I knew what it was to be lost, to feel the absence of something you couldn’t name.

I wasn’t the sort to take on hopeless causes, but I also wasn’t about to leave a little one abandoned when I could do something about it. If there was a chance—any chance—that I could reunite her with her kin, I had to at least try.

Not alone, though. Not with this knee, and not with the dangers out there. I’d need help. Friends, allies. People I hadn’t spoken to in far too long.

“Well,” I sighed, running a finger gently along the ridge of Tarragon’s head. She leaned into the touch, a pleased hum vibrating through her tiny frame. “If we do this, we’ll need a plan. And some supplies. And I’m going to need to call in a few favors.”

‘Find Dam?’

I exhaled, my decision made.

“We’ll try.”

To be continued!