The Consumption of Magic (Tales From Verania 3)

“Are you going to eat me?” I asked the larger feathered dragon, trying to get us back on track.

She snorted. “No.”

“You sure acted like you were.”

“That’s because I’m ferocious.”

“She’s actually a softy once you get to know her,” her mate said. “It’s really rather sweet.”

“Holy lesbians,” Gary breathed. “Sam! Be an adorable twink! They will love you!”

“Thanks, buddy,” I said. “Tried that already. Arm feels like it’s going to fall off.”

“If you try and eat him,” Ryan said, taking a step forward, brandishing his sword, “I will spill your blood upon the earth and the snow will run red with my wrath.”

“I have never been turned-on by alliteration before,” I whispered to no one in particular. “Until now. It has to be the beard. What sorcery is this?”

“I told him not to shave,” Gary said quietly as he leaned over. “Thought you’d like it. You’re welcome.”

“You give me the best presents,” I said.

“Imagine how it’d feel on your thighs.”

I drooled a little on accident.

“I will not harm him,” the dragon said to Ryan. “You have my word.”

“I would know your name,” Ryan said. “Names carry weight. Your honor as a dragon means much, but your name would mean more.”

“Oh my gods,” I said excitedly. “This is going to be amazing. Finally I get to hear a real dragon name!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kevin asked, frowning down at me. “You already know my name. And Zero’s. You know dragon names.”

“Uh,” I said, eyes shifting side to side. “Riiiiight. Because… you two… have real… dragon names.”

“Exactly,” Kevin said. “Do you know how long it took me to decide on my name?”

“As long as it took to come up with the perfection that is Kevin?”

He looked pleased at that. “Precisely.”

“Yeah. That… good job with that.”

The larger dragon reared up, sitting on her hind legs. It was a sign of trust, exposing her soft underbelly to Ryan, who stood before her with a sword. Her mate did the same beside her, feathers twitching on top of her head. They were remarkably smaller than Kevin, maybe half his size, which meant that they were also smaller than Zero. But I thought they made up for it with speed. Zero could move quickly along the ground and through the earth. Kevin was intimidating given his largeness. But these two seemed agile and quick in ways that Zero and Kevin could not be.

And it chilled me a little that I was already thinking of them in terms of their usefulness in an upcoming battle. They were thoughts that I wished I didn’t have to have.

I pushed them away. For now.

Now I would hear the names of the fabled mated dragons of the Northern Mountains.

My hopes were sky-high.

The larger one would be called something like Queen Mystic Feather of the Snowy Mountains. Her mate would be Queen Snow Storm of the Ice Caves. I just knew it.

“My name is Pat,” the dragon said, voice rumbling and eyes flashing. “And this is my mate, Leslie.”

“How do you do,” Leslie said primly as she bowed her head, wings fluttering.