All the time and effort she put into baby dragons, and Darian, the human version of a puppy, was the one who was able to understand them.
That was gratitude for you.
She kept wrapping the fabric around Sod's leg until she reached the bottom, tying it off in a knot.
“Ask him if he'll try to stand, since he's apparently willing to have a conversation with you,” Celia said.
Perhaps she shouldn’t be bitter, but it was hard to not be.
Darian turned to Sod.“Will you stand up?”
Sod chirped.
“He says he can understand you too,” Darian told Celia.“You just can't understand them.You don't have their language.”
“Of course, I don't have their language,” Celia said, letting her frustration leak out in sarcasm, “because I'm a human.What are you—part dragon?”
Sod chirped and stood on his splinted leg, and Celia forgot to be cranky as she smiled down at him.No matter what happened, there was nothing better than seeing one of her patients do something new.
“There you go,” she said, scratching him under his neck.
“Was that so bad?”Darian said, laughing at Sod’s response.“He says yes, he'd rather take a nap.”
Shaking her head, Celia said, “You've been napping all day.You have to walk for now.I want you to walk around for a little bit and see if you can find some insects.Take them outside,” she told Darian.“Make Sod look for some insects and try to wear those three out.”
“Yes, ma'am,” Darian said, standing and offering her a salute.
Celia rolled her eyes as Darian set Sod on the ground and ushered all four baby dragons toward the door.Flame and Sod walked slowly, chirping back and forth at each other, while Spark and Sizzle burst ahead.
“Make Spark use that leg of his,” Celia called after them as Darian closed the door.
Celia washed up from dinner before making her way outside to watch them play.
Spark and Sizzle chased each other with tiny fireballs, while Flame and Sod scurried around looking for insects.She had given Sod an egg earlier when they had come home, while Darian had gone back to town, and he seemed steadier now.If she could get him to use his leg, he should be fine.It was only a matter of time.
She watched as Darian ran and played with Spark and Sizzle, jumping back as they shot fireballs at him and laughing as they tripped over each other.He was like a baby dragon himself—only six feet taller and much less dignified.He tripped over his own feet and sprawled in the grass, and the dragons all pounced on him.Darian laughed as they rubbed their noses against him.
Celia watched in amazement.Were they trying to tickle him?How did they know how to do that?The way they played with him was entirely different than the way they played with her.
Perhaps it was better for them this way, if they had her for nurturing and him to play with.
Not that she wanted them to be here long-term.The fire hatchlings had already been with her longer than any of her previous babies.Perhaps they were becoming too domesticated—they had to grow up eventually, even if the thought made her sad.
She didn't want these ones to grow up.
That wasn’t entirely true.She wanted them to grow up and to leave and to go to the mountains and become full-fledged adult dragons in their own right.
But she had seen a couple of dragons that she recognized last year come down to lay their eggs, and none of them had come and approached her, even as she spied on them.
They must have known she was there.She knew their senses were far greater than a human's, but apparently none of them had felt their bond strongly enough to come and see her.
Perhaps Flame and Sizzle would be different.
She'd never seen a male a second time.After the males grew up and went to the mountains, they didn't come back down.It was only the females who came down to lay their eggs in the warmer meadow, far from the cold winds of the northern mountains.
And these two seemed to be bonding with her differently than others had.
She watched as Darian shot to his feet and began chasing Spark, the male dragon.He could only run so fast with his leg, and after a moment, Darian swooped down and picked him up and tumbled to the ground, purposely avoiding squishing the baby dragon.The dragon chittered rapidly and trilled joyfully before squirming out of Darian's grasp and running away again, with Darian giving chase.
