“So, you can tell me the real story.”
Gunter smiled as he placed his glasses on his face and settled back in his seat, looking as if he was preparing to tell a tale. A little shaft of guilt cut through Sora. He hated to deceive the dragon, but he truly was interested in the story. And King Alric was right to worry if Gunter wasn’t getting proper exercise for his dragon.
The guilt was forgotten when Gunter started weaving his tale of a festive celebration to commemorate the bonding anniversary of the king and queen—who also happened to be King Alric’s parents. The dragon was a natural-born storyteller, and he created an artful tapestry of the time. The castle had been full of mages and dragons, and it was well before the start of the Dragon War. Laughter echoed off the stone walls, and the world was still filled with hope and wonder.
A determined chef, who wished to see the dragon races but couldn’t step away from his kitchen, devised a plan with a mage who still needed a great deal more training.
“While the journals don’t explicitly describe the spell that was used, it seems poor Otto used a little too much sunlight in the spell. While he slipped away from the castle with the rest of the clan to see the races, the spell was supposed to make sure the queen’s special stew kept cooking and the spoon kept stirring at a steady pace so nothing was burned or scorched.”
“Oh no,” Sora groaned. He was vaguely aware that at least three other dragons had wandered over and were now listening to Gunter’s story.
“Exactly. The fire, the stew, and the spell’s ingredients all combined to cause a catastrophic explosion that destroyed most of the castle. Stones were blown out across the valley and caused a rockslide. The only good thing about this explosion was that it happened at the height of the main race. As a result, everyone was out of the castle, watching the race.”
“No one was hurt?” Sora demanded in shock. When Gunter had first spoken of an explosion, he’d been sure that many of the clan had been killed.
“No one was hurt,” Gunter confirmed. “Don’t get me wrong—plenty were devastated over the loss of their home. The chef and the spellcaster were punished over the affair.”
He paused and scratched his chin as if he were searching through the databank in his mind.
“I think they were forced to dig all the new temporary lavatories for the clan while the new castle was being built.”
“They weren’t kicked out of the clan?”
Gunter shook his head quickly. “While incredibly unfortunate, the explosion was an accident, and no one was hurt. The chef and mage were extremely sorry about the entire thing.”
“That would also be due to the lovely Queen Johanna’s influence,” interjected a new voice.
They both looked up to see Dieter standing beside their chairs, a soft smile on his wrinkled face.
“If I recall correctly, King Griswold wanted to string them both up by their toes from the old castle walls, but Johanna interceded on their behalf.”
“You were there?”
Dieter nodded. “I was, though I’m sure Gunter knows the story better than I do at this point. I wasn’t there for the entire mess of it. I was in the middle of kicking his majesty’s ass in a race we never got to finish.”
Laughter rang out through the dining hall, and Gunter smiled up at the advisor, looking quite pleased. At least, until Dieter turned his attention to the royal researcher.
“I thought you would like to know that I just saw Ravi, Cassie, and Cameron sneaking off to the library, looking quite guilty.”
Gunter snarled and was out of his chair in a flash. Sora blinked, pressing back in his own chair. He would never have guessed that the dragon could move so fast. More laughter followed Gunter out of the hall as the dragon swore under his breath about troublemakers.
Sora pulled out his cellphone and started to text Ravi a warning that Gunter was on his way. It hadn’t quite been thirty minutes, but it was pretty darn close. However, before he pressed the send button, the phone was pulled out of his fingers. His head snapped up and he saw Dieter raising one eyebrow at him while turning the phone’s screen to view it.
“Did Alric or Ravi enlist your help on this little task?” Dieter inquired, not sounding at all surprised.
“Ravi, actually.” Sora struggled to read the strange expression on Dieter’s face. The king’s advisor didn’t exactly look censorious, but Sora didn’t want to get on the king’s bad side, and a word from Dieter could so easily put him there.
At the same time, he was hyperaware that seconds were steadily ticking by and the others had no idea Gunter was coming for them. He needed to warn them before it was too late.
With a smirk, Dieter motioned for Sora to follow him. “Come along.”
“It was just a little practical joke,” Sora hedged as he followed Dieter, feeling too much like a student caught by his teacher as he placed a tack on her chair.
“It certainly looked less damaging than some of Ravi’s other jokes. I thought I saw Cassie carrying bubble wrap and Cameron trying to pop it as they walked along.”
Sora huffed a laugh at the mental image. “Ravi is shrink-wrapping the shelves, and Cameron and Cassie are bubble wrapping the chairs.”
“Ah. Much less damaging than some of their other antics.”
As they turned down the hall, Dieter handed Sora’s phone back.
Sora looked at the screen to find that Dieter had sent the warning he’d typed out, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Part of the fun is Ravi getting caught by Gunter,” Dieter said with a smile.
He led Sora over to a pair of double doors and opened them. They stepped out onto a small balcony. In the distance, they could hear some muffled shouts followed by the pounding of feet. Sora looked around, trying to gauge where they were coming from.
Behind them! He twisted around in time to see Cameron and Cassie run through the door, out of breath and laughing. They took one look at Dieter and shouted.
“You gave us away!” Cameron accused, poking the older dragon in the shoulder.
“You told on us!” Cassie said, though she was still laughing.
“I did,” Dieter admitted with a shrug. “It’s part of the fun.”
Before Sora could ask if this was a habit among them, Ravi’s laugh echoed through the air. Sora whipped back around to see the smaller man jump off a lower balcony and instantly change into a slate blue dragon. His outstretched wings caught the wind and lifted his lithe body higher into the air. A few seconds later, they all watched Gunter jump off the same balcony and shift into a dark red dragon. The massive beast sent a flare of fire after the wind dragon, but he deftly dodged it, still laughing.
The two continued to chase after each other, cutting through the air and weaving around castle towers with practiced ease. The two dragons seemed as different as night and day. Ravi’s blue body was long and lean, all speed and grace, where Gunter’s red form was pure power, more of a flying T-Rex than Ravi’s swan. Together they were a breathtaking sight.
“I will never get tired of watching that,” Cameron murmured.
Sora looked up to find Cassie leaning against her brother. Cameron had an arm wrapped around her slender shoulders.
“I will never get tired of seeing Gunter’s expression when he discovers Ravi has touched his books,” Cassie added. “If you exclude all the Sasha parts of my week, this is the thing I look forward to the most.”