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The chimeling looked at me for a moment and I felt his tiny, fragile body trembling in my hands as his sharp little clawed feet—very like a bird’s—dug into my knees. Then he nodded his arching neck, almost in a gesture of agreement, and settled down.
I felt a little thrill—could it be that he had actually understood me? It seemed possible, since he was sitting quietly on my knees now, allowing me to remove the long, sticky strands of web from his lovely golden wings.
“I think he understands you,” Ari murmured, echoing my thought. There was still awe in his eyes when I looked at him—as though I had done something extraordinary.
“Well, he’s behaving better now, anyway,” I remarked, as I removed the last piece of sticky webbing. “There you go, Mr. Seahorse,” I told him, taking my hands away and leaving him perched on my lap with no obstructions around him. “You can go now—it’s all right.”
The chimeling opened his tiny mouth and chimed at me again before flapping his wings experimentally. They seemed to be in working order because he rose into the air, fluttering them so quickly they were nothing but a golden blur before he darted away from me.
But the very next minute he was back with a shiny green beetle clutched in his pointed little mouth. The beetle—which was almost the same size as the bumble-cricket had been—struggled sluggishly in his grip, its legs waving slowly, as though it was swimming in midair.
“Oh, what’s that you have?” I asked the chimeling. But almost before I could get the question out, he had darted right at me and was trying to shove the slow-moving beetle into my mouth.
“Hey! No!” I gasped, moving my face away a split second before the green beetle would have gone right between my lips.
It fell onto my lap instead and I brushed it away with a quick, jerky movement of disgust. It might not be as scary as the spider but it was still a really big bug. Ugh!
“Why did you do that?” I demanded, looking up at the chimeling who was hovering in mid-air and chiming angrily at me. “I don’t eat bugs!”
Ari seemed to be trying not to laugh.
“I think he’s trying to pay you back for saving his life,” he said, smothering a grin with one hand. “They’re supposed to be smart, you know. In fact some legends say they’re related to our Drakes—though the Drakes themselves deny it.”
“Well, if he really is smart, he’ll stop trying to feed me bugs,” I said, frowning. Looking at the chimeling, I spoke as sternly as I could. “No more of that,” I told him. “You don’t owe me anything—just fly away and live your life and watch out for giant, head-sized spiders in the future.”
The chimeling chimed in apparent frustration. He flew away again and came back a moment later, this time with a bright pink insect struggling in his tiny jaws.
“No!” I pointed a finger at him and frowned. “No, I mean it! I don’t eat bugs!”
The chimeling ignored my stern tone. But this time, instead of trying to feed me the insect, he perched on my outstretched finger and ate the bug himself—after breathing some fire on it, of course.
I watched in fascination as he gulped it down and then let out a tiny, squeaky belch. Then he flew from my finger to my right shoulder and settled there, as though I was his regular perch.
“What’s going on?” I asked Ari. “What is he doing?”
“Apparently he likes you.” He smiled at me. “There are stories in our literature, you know—tales of maidens who can tame the chimelings. It’s supposed to be very good luck. It denotes a female who will be well-matched with a Drake—though no one has actually heard of anyone doing it for as long as I can remember.”
“Um, okay…” I craned my neck to see the little creature sitting contentedly on my shoulder. “But what do I do with him? How do I feed him?”
“I think he just proved he can feed himself,” Ari remarked. “Don’t worry, Kaitlyn,” he added, clearly seeing my consternation. “He’ll probably fly away once you get aboard my Drake and we start flying.”
“Well…all right.” I supposed it wouldn’t hurt to have the little guy sit on my shoulder until we were ready to go. “You hear that, Mr. Seahorse?” I asked him. “We’re about to fly off so enjoy your new seat while you can.”
Mr. Seahorse chimed at me and then began to groom his wings like a cat licking its whiskers. It seemed I had gained a new companion—for at least a little while.
71
Kaitlyn
Despite Ari’s prediction, the chimeling didn’t fly off once the Drake’s wings began to beat and we rose into the sky. He nestled closer to my neck and chimed a bit anxiously, I thought—I was beginning to understand the different tones and notes he used—but he stuck close and didn’t try to fly away.
