One enormous blue eye opened.
It was larger than my entire body.
“Why do you disturb my sleep, child of air?” The dragon’s voice shook the cave with its power.
“Honestly?” I said.
The dragon blinked once.
“I’m here because someone I care about might die if I don’t take that book.”
The dragon’s great eye shifted to the volume resting beside him.
“And who commands this theft?”
“Sy,” I said, gesturing to the mouth of the cave. “He waits for me outside.”
At the name, the dragon’s spines shifted slightly.
“So… the black one wakes,” the dragon rumbled. “The balance is in peril once again.”
“I don’t know anything about balance,” I admitted. “But I do know I need that book. So… would it be okay if I take it?”
For a moment the cavern was silent.
Then the Dragon King stirred.
Stone groaned beneath its weight as the enormous creature lifted itself from its coil. The cavern ceiling seemed barely high enough to contain him. His massive head rose above me, spines scraping faintly against the rock as he unfolded to his full height.
I suddenly felt very small.
Very mortal.
The dragon lowered its head toward me, one enormous eye fixing me in place.
“You are not a dragon.”
“Nope.”
“Nor are you guardian of this knowledge.”
“Also correct.”
The dragon’s eye narrowed slightly.
“Then why should I permit you to take it?”
I shrugged weakly.
“Because he asked me nicely?”
The dragon was silent.
For a moment I thought I had completely blown it.
Then a deep, rumbling sound rolled through the cave.
It took me a second to realise the dragon king was laughing.
