Celia almost laughed, but she didn't want Darian to see that he could make her laugh, so she didn't.“How utterly unimaginative.Sod it is,” she said.
“What?”he asked defensively.“Want me to name him something we would name a human, like Harold or Arnold?”
Despite herself, Celia did laugh at that.“I don't think that's necessary,” she said.“Sod is fine.”
“I don't think you think it's fine,” Darian said, but his words sounded as if he was teasing her.
“It really is,” she said.After all, she had named the fire dragons Spark, Sizzle, and Flame.It wasn't as if her names were original, either.
As they walked through the golden, sun-drenched meadow and intersected with her trail, Celia could begin to make out the roof of her home.She had paid a farmer and his sons to help her build it when she'd arrived two summers ago, and it had served her well.
Sometimes she wished she were a little closer to town, but most of the time she was quite content to be here, far away from everyone else.
“Is that your home?”Darian asked when he finally noticed it.
Celia said, “No, it's the pixies who live next door to me.”
Darian grinned.“You're funny.”
Celia only glared at him.
“I think she's trying to make me laugh, don't you, Sod?”Darian asked.
Celia simply shook her head and walked faster.Darian lagged behind, which was well enough, because as Celia opened the front door, she was greeted by the sight of three fire dragons chasing each other around her kitchen.
“How did you get out?”she exclaimed.
Spark, seeing the open door, flew through it as fast as he could, while Sizzle chased after him on her feet.Celia reached down to try to grab Sizzle but missed, falling to the floor and coming face to face with Flame, who waddled over and sniffed her dark brown hair.
At least she didn’t singe it.
Celia sighed and looked toward the enclosure she’d put them in, where the charred edges of the top plank could be found on the ground.
“You burned a hole in the middle of it,” she muttered under her breath as Darian appeared in the doorway, his blue eyes wide.
Blazing fire dragons.
“Are those fire dragons?”he asked, looking between the two chasing each other and the one on the floor next to Celia.
What did he think they were, orange kittens?
“They are,” she grumbled, gathering Flame up and setting her on the bed.It was a good thing she'd made her bed this morning before she left.It was almost as if she'd known she was bringing someone home.“And those two out there are in big trouble.”
“I can help you catch them,” he offered, setting down the knapsack and putting Sod back in the basket, which Celia had discarded.
“That would be very helpful,” Celia said through gritted teeth.
Darian caught Sizzle and Spark much faster than she would have, even if she could barely admit it to herself.
“You two are in trouble,” she said with a glare.
Darian looked around the room, running his hand through his short blond hair, and Celia tried to see it through his eyes.What did he see when he saw her home?Did he see the way she had carefully built it, built most of it herself?Did he see the quilt she had made on her own, the stairs and the stools she had constructed herself?Or did he see the singes, the burned areas, and the way her mattress had straw coming out of the middle of it, where Sizzle had been scrabbling to climb onto the bed and had slashed it open with her hind claw?
Well, he couldn’t see that part.She’d made the bed, and despite the mess the dragons had made, the bed was still mostly the way she’d left it.
She chewed on her bottom lip as she looked around the room, wondering what it looked like to someone else.
Probably very messy.
