“No.She is slightly smaller.”
“How big do dragons get?Can you get larger?”
“I’ve reached my peak.”Or at least the maximum size I could reach without doing something heinous.
“And how small do you start out?Do you even remember being a baby?”
“The correct term is hatchling, and while it might have been eons ago, I recall everything from the moment I emerged from my shell, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.”
“No way.That’s tiny,” she exclaimed.“How many years does it take to get to be your size?”
“Less than you’d think.Our initial growth spurt is rapid.Hatchlings are voracious eaters, and the more they imbibe, the quicker they molt and gain in girth.”
“What did your mother feed you?Is it anything like bird mommies do, where they get worms and stuff, prechew, and spit in your mouth?”
I almost gagged.“Fuck no.For one, hatchlings don’t often meet those who had a part in creating them.Given how much a dragon consumes, having two or more in a territory is too taxing, hence the eggs are scattered to areas that should sustain them once they hatch.”
“The babies are born alone?How sad.They must be so vulnerable.”
“They are, which is why they usually quickly find a human willing to help them thrive.”I paused before adding.“Hatchlings aren’t like human babies.They are born with knowledge passed on to them by their mother.”
“So they can talk?”Davina exclaimed.
“Yes, although the language would be whatever their mother knew at the time and not necessarily the dialect for the region they hatch in.Luckily, our young learn quickly.”
“As the last male and female, have you and Nessie ever?—”
I cut her off before she even finished.“She and I will never make a clutch together.”
“But doesn’t it make you sad to know you’ll never have kids of your own?”
“No.”
“And you really have no interest in meeting the four baby dragons?”
“Why would I?”I countered.“As mentioned before, we don’t require parents or teachers because we’re born with the knowledge necessary to survive.”
“Even if they’re born knowing stuff, they could probably use a guide who understands what they’re going through.And besides, wouldn’t it be nice to not be alone?”
“I’m not alone.I have Astaria and Oliver.”
“I meant alone among your kind because Nessie sounds a little too crazy to count.”
“Dragons aren’t very social with each other unless we’re looking to make an alliance.”
“So make an alliance with them.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Or you’re making it more complicated than it has to be,” she countered.
Was I?
Before I could even think of a reply, she exclaimed, “Oh, there’s the mist the news was talking about.”
We drove into it, but not for long, as wooden sawhorses stretched across the road forced me to brake to a stop.
“Stay in the car while I handle the barrier.”I exited quickly, but some of the foul-smelling air entered the vehicle, and I saw Davina grimacing as she rummaged in her satchel.Oliver had supplied her with several medical-grade masks he had left over from when they’d been mandatory during the pandemic.
