“All right. Our job is simple. We just have to mix the black stuff there with the orange stuff here.” I look at the black stuff all down the long table.
“What are we making?” I ask, even as I wonder if in this case, ignorance is bliss.
“Oh.” He turns towards me with a wide grin. “Dragon loam.”
“Dragon loam?”
“Yes. We let the scorchmuck dry out in here. The high heat helps with that. Then we crush it and mix it with emberroot, and that makes dragonloam.”
“What do you do with it?” I ask, even as my eyes water. I’m trying to focus on anything but the awful smell.
“Oh, dragonloam is our secret to growing things this far North,” he says with a grin.
“Okay.” I take a deep breath and regret it instantly. “Put me to work.”
“You’re going to use the shovel to fill that bowl all the way to the top with scorchmuck. Grind it with that there.” He points out what looks like a huge pestle. “Once it’s all ground, add one bowl of emberroot. The emberroot is here in this large basket. Here’s the bowl.”
“Okay. Sounds easy enough.” I walk over to the table and try not to gag. I lift a shovel load of the dark black stuff and drop it into the huge bowl on the ground. “What is scorchmuck, anyway?” I ask.
“Oh. Dragon poop.”
I squeeze my shovel handle tightly.I'm going to kill him.I take in the table once again.How does one dragon produce so much?!
Hours later, I close the door behind me and wonder if I’ll ever not smell that smell again. I’m also pretty sure I never want to see Noxlyn again. I try not to think about the fact that Henley was excited because, in his words, “Now that Redara is here, maybe we can double the output.” I shiver. There are just some things you can’t recover from.Ever. I shiver in the cold and start towards Rauk’s palace. I don’t get very far when I see two men walking towards me from the other direction. I take in the eye patch and remember him from yesterday. I wonder if he’s on his way to meet with Rauk. An idea suddenly hits me, and I walk towards the two of them. I shiver again and try to hide it. “Hi,” I call out when I get close. Both men slow and then stop in front of me. I address the guy with the eye patch and try to make myselfnotsound like I’m trying to find Rauk so I can murder him. “Do you know where I could find Rauk right now?”
The guy with the patch stays quiet, but the guy next to himanswers. “He’s in a meeting right now.”
“Great.” I force a happy smile; well, at least I hope it looks happy and not deranged. “If you could just point the way.” They both just stare at me like I’ve suddenly grown two heads. “Is it this way?” I point behind me, since that’s the direction they were both heading. When neither of them say anything, I try a little harder. “Okay, Guys. The silent treatment is really not polite. Would one of you like to tell me where I can find Rauk?”
“TheKingis busy right now,” eye patch guy says.
“Yes, we established his most supreme excellence is in a meeting. Where is the meeting?” The guy on the right looks at eye patch guy, and I know then that he’s the leader or maybe higher ranking or something. “You know what? I’ll just find him myself. I’ll get Redara to find out from Nox where he is.”
“Nox?” the guy on the right asks.
“Yeah. His dragon.” I wonder if this one’s not so bright.
“It’s Noxlyn,” eye patch guy says in a tight voice.
“You have a thing for titles and names, don’t you? Overcompensating for something, I wonder? Lack of personality maybe?”
The guy on the right coughs, drawing my attention back to him. “I can take you to where he is,” he finally caves.
“Oh good. Finally, somebody useful.” I say the words while looking at eye patch guy.
“This way.” He starts forward, and I follow behind, crunching snow and ice with every step. I’m having a hard time keeping my teeth from chattering. The guy I’m following hasn’t said a word since we left Eye Patch behind. When we stop in front of a large building, he faces me with a frown. “Why aren’t youdressed warmer?”
“I love the cold.” A shiver races through me, belying my words.
“Really?” he asks skeptically.
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “Is this where he is?”
“Yes.” I put my hand on the door.
“Wait, you can’t just go in there.”
“Sure, I can. Our dragons are mates.” I’m not really sure what that makes us officially, but it’s something...enough to get me inside.
