Origin (Scales N' Spells #1) - A.J. Sherwood Page 0,14

was built late 1300 and finished in early 1400. So, some time.”

“The upkeep on this thing must be insane.”

“Oh, I have a little help on that. Fortunately.” Alric’s mouth grew in a smile that suggested he’d just told a joke, something Cameron didn’t know enough to get. “But there’s something up here that I want to show you—oh Scheiße.”

Cameron’s head snapped around to see what had caused Alric to swear. For a split second, he didn’t see anything and was confused. Then he saw it, soaring through the clear blue sky, angling down and toward their direction.

A dragon. In full flight.

“I told him not to do that,” Alric sighed, already sounding resigned.

Cameron wanted to say words. Many words. They garbled together, unable to release a single syllable; his eyes threatened to pop out of his head altogether. “Ashohjokjsdfronheeeeee—”

“Sorry, that’s Ravi. As I’m sure you’ve discovered, he’s impulsive.”

Not the question Cameron meant to ask, but crap on a stick, that was the same guy who’d glommed onto him yesterday?! But the guy yesterday had dark hair and a sort of Middle-Eastern look, and the dragon above his head was a slate blue, and those colors didn’t really match up, and why was Cameron thinking about colors of all things when he had a dragon literally flying overhead, and wow, brain, can we focus a little here on the important things?

Not good, Cameron was now babbling to himself in his own head.

Ravi the dragon landed behind them on the road and chased the car with a sort of joyful bound, like a puppy who’d been promised a walk. The ground seemed to tremble and bounce under the wheel each time Ravi’s large feet landed. Cameron twisted to watch him, jaw still dangling. My god, but look at him move, so fluidly like that. He completely missed it when they cleared the front gates of the castle and into the inner courtyard. He only knew they had suddenly parked, and that meant getting out, and Cameron had absolutely no intention of getting out while a dragon hovered nearby.

“Cameron?” Alric’s voice was gentle, a hand on his arm with the lightest pressure. “Cameron, would you like to get out?”

Speaking around a dry mouth, he croaked, “You know, I think my knees left for a different continent, so if it’s all the same to you, how about I just sit here for a while? Say, the rest of the year.”

“If you need a minute, certainly. I’ll be back for you once I’ve dealt with a certain creature who doesn’t know how to behave.” Alric opened the door and got out, immediately commanding in a firm voice, “Ravi. Down.”

Ravi obediently plopped down in front of the car, wings tucked in. Sitting like that, he was roughly the size of a cargo van, sans the tail swishing back and forth. “Hoheit, why are you treating me like a dog?” he asked, voice a little louder than a human voice could comfortably maintain.

“You are worse than a dog. A dog, at least, would obey me. You’ve alarmed him so thoroughly he doesn’t want to leave the car right now.”

Ravi’s large head ducked low, sinking toward his massive shoulders as if he was ashamed or embarrassed. “Oh. That’s my bad. I thought show was better than tell and it would convince him faster.” Tilting his head, Ravi addressed Cameron directly. “Sorry, Cameron. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

Cameron found his knees. Or his courage, or whatever it was. When Cameron was very young, maybe five, he’d been so excited about dragons. Everything he owned was dragons. When he’d finally learned at eight they didn’t exist any longer, he’d been so disappointed, he’d cried about it for days. Watching the blue dragon move, actually seeing the proof of it with his own eyes, he felt that giddy wonder of his five-year-old self spring up with a vengeance. No way could he sit still when a living, breathing dragon stood right there in front of him. He got out, his motions on autopilot, all of his attention on Ravi.

Dragons were real.

He nearly shook with the need to touch, wanting that tactile sense. His eyes roved over Ravi’s sleek form, taking in every detail. Ravi had his head canted invitingly, encouraging Cameron closer to touch.

Ravi was very much the western style, four-legged dragon, his body covered in a sleek hide-like tough leather with the slate blue of his skin darker in places, like near the juncture of his legs and under his chin.