Page 9 of The Infirmary for Dragon Burns and Midair Mishaps

It didn’t matter how stealthy we were, he always seemed to know when I’d brought her for a dip. “Min!” I called, signaling her as a serpentine head poked above the water. Two tiny ears twitched. “Time to go.”

“You’re bloody right it’s time to go!” Cyrus snarled. “As if you and that beast were invited in the first place.”

Min inched out of the water, head cocked. She made a sound of disappointment. I wanted to indulge her longer. Really, I did. The water took the stress of flight off her joints and eased the workload on her heart. I’d let her swim here every day if I could, but Cyrus had very different opinions about all that.

“I will not have that wretched dragon infecting the lake where I water my cattle!” he continued, marching right up to me. “How many times do I have to tell you?”

“She’s not infected with anything.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. It really wouldn’t help my case. But dragons and humans had been coexisting in these mountainous areas for hundreds of years. If there was some sort of dragon lurgy, it would have been a problem long before now.

Cyrus clearly disliked that answer as he attempted to jab me with the butt of the scythe. I jerked back, out of reach. He was an old man, sturdy from years of working the land, but almost three times my age. If I needed to protect myself, I could have. But I didn’t want to hurt the grumpy farmer. I just wanted him to sell me his damn lake.

Min reacted to the threat against me, launching out of the water with a menacing growl. Water sluiced off her silver scales, each one glittering like bits of starlight. They jutted upright like hackles on a dog. She curled her lips back over her teeth, the pearly spears as long as my forearm.

It was a fearsome display, and Cyrus stumbled back at the sight.

I bit down on my grin. I knew he wasn’t actually stupid enough to incite the wrath of a fully grown dragon, but he clearly wanted us gone, and I’d respect his wishes.

“Minnow,” I said, cocking my head.

Her ears twitched in response to her full name. She knew I meant business and slumped toward me, still growling at Cyrus. I rubbed at one of her scales, drying off a handhold to help me scramble up her back. Min rolled the muscles in her side, the motion carrying me to the most secure position at the base of her neck.

“I mean it, Frixsar!” Cyrus called up to me. “Don’t let me catch you here again.”

“She means no harm, and you know it.”

“I know nothing of the sort.” He brandished the scythe at me. “Keep to the sky, or I’ll have that beast dragged away in chains.”

I waved the old man off. I knew a bluff when I heard one.

Probably.

The last thing Ember Ridge needed was to lose a dragon wrangler because her dragon got carted off at the insistence of some put-out farmer. Especially during the migration, when the risk of encounters with wild dragons was at an all-time high.

I gave Min a pat. Her muscles coiled tight, then she shot straight into the sky. I tightened my hold on her scales, watching over my shoulder as Cyrus became a tiny speck on the ground. I didn’t know what he needed an entire lake for, but I knew better than to push him any farther today. Of course, Min had all the required permits to be allowed in town.

But if a person complained about a dragon enough…

Well, the last thing I needed was an unintended visit from the kingsguard. Some of them had a bad habit of striking first and asking questions later.

The trouble was, without access to Cyrus’s lake, the next closest swimming hole big enough to accommodate Min was high in the mountains. I didn’t want her exerting the energy needed to reach those altitudes. Her heart would have to work twice as hard to reach those heights, a kind of stress her body didn’t need.

Dragons might look invincible, but they were far from it.

Min and I knew that better than anyone. I ran my hands over her scales as the wind whipped past me, tears gathering in the corners of my eyes from the sheer acceleration. Min was a Starshot—a class of dragon known for their intense speed and reduced lifespans. At her fastest, catching her in flight would be like catching a shooting star zooming across the sky.

Bonding a Starshot was rare, simply because they were rare.

But as incredible as she was, knowing that her heart beat too fast for its own good haunted me. So every morning, I thanked the stars for giving us one more beautiful day in the clouds together. I knew the time was coming when she’d no longer be able to lift us into the sky.

My grip on her tightened.

One day, like all the Starshots that had come before, her heart would fail. I wasn’t ready to face that reality yet, and my thoughts returned to Cyrus. Somehow, I needed to convince the grumpy bugger to sell me his lake. He didn’t need the damn thing for his cattle. There were plenty of streams around here to water them. But having undisturbed access to the lake could make a world of difference for Min.

Sure, I didn’t have all the money right now, but I had some savings. We could work out a deal—maybe a rent-to-own situation. If only the man would be reasonable. I didn’t know which dragon had crapped in his garden as a boy, but his hatred for the creatures ran deep.

And I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to change his mind.

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