on the ground, place a piece of pyrite on one, and smack it with the other. Sparks and small yellow pieces fly.
“It also crumbles. Gold doesn’t do that. Smell it.” I lift the lower rock so he can put his nose close to the dust.
“Yes? This is what it smells like in the place where I found it.”
I hate having to burst his bubble. But Xren is not a place where you go along with someone else’s false beliefs just to save their feelings. This place forces you to be real.
I grab onto one massive forearm. “Gold doesn’t have a smell. I’m sorry, Brank’ox. This is not gold. Did you find it close to a hot spring?”
He stares at me for a moment, then looks away. “Perhaps.”
“It’s actually much better than gold,” I hurry to say. “Gold is useless. It only looks pretty. This is pyrite, and it can be used for many things.”
“But dragons only want gold,” Brank’ox rumbles darkly. “They will not be fooled by this, the way I was.”
“They will not mistake this for gold,” I agree. “But the only thing real gold will do is attract them. I’m not sure we want that.”
He kicks at the sack. “One might attract dragons with gold, gather them in one place, and then watch them fight each other to death over the treasure.”
I stroke my palms together to wipe off the pyrite dust. “Was that your plan? It’s a good one. But dangerous. At least one of the dragons would win in the end, and then the gold would become his hoard. He could Change into full dragon form and kill anyone nearby.”
“So possibly there should be a slayer present, one who could kill the dragon before then.”
“I doubt one lone slayer would survive,” I say carefully. “Dragons fight dirty. And they can breathe fire.”
“Perhaps it would be an honor for that slayer to die in that way.”
He’s so obviously disappointed, almost child-like. I like that he doesn’t conceal his emotions. It takes the guesswork out of being around him, and that’s extremely refreshing.
I put my hand on his forearm again. “Were you planning to be that one slayer?”
He shrugs heavily. “Someone had to do it. It should be one who failed the tribe. It might not be necessary to kill the last dragon. Just injuring it could be enough to make it leave Xren without more murder. But someone should at least try to finish it off.”
I take both his hands. “Hey. We’ll get rid of the dragons, and you will be a part of that. You know warriors are stronger together than alone. Actually, what you found here is better than any gold. It’s more valuable than the sap and the guano, too.”
He fixes me with those night-black eyes, a tiny smile playing in the corner of his mouth. “Really? Better than sap?”
“Really,” I state confidently, trying to think of something to use pyrite for. “And nobody has to die.”
He scratches his stubbled chin. “That does sound like a smarter way.”
I smile. “It absolutely is.”
“I suppose we should bring this to the village, then. But we are already carrying so much.”
I look back at the jungle. “How far away is the village now?”
“Not far. We still have one pot that’s empty.” He takes it out of the backpack, kneels down, and scoops some of the fool’s gold into it and closes the lid. “We will soon be there. With this fake gold.” He sends me a bright smile.
Just like that, he’s over his disappointment and back to that cheerful mood he’s been in since the dactyl swarm attacked us.
And we will soon be home.
But I don’t want to get there yet. I want more time. Here, with him.
Today, he’s kept me totally safe despite the wildlife’s many attempts to murder us. He’s just done it like it was nothing, at the same time pacing himself and making sure I could follow him without any trouble.
I already knew he had hidden depths behind that gruff bossiness. But walking behind him all morning and into the afternoon, my admiration for him has kind of gone off the charts. I think I’ve seen who he really is, and I doubt there are many who have. He’s remarkable, taking everything in stride – acute danger, alien words, weird chemicals, crazy chemistry majors drunk on alien tequila. I had no idea he was like this. And now that I know, I won’t let go of him that easily. I need more. This