Cinnamon Bun

Chapter Three Hundred and Eighty-One - Beauty and the Dragon

Chapter Three Hundred and Eighty-One - Beauty and the Dragon

Chapter Three Hundred and Eighty-One - Beauty and the Dragon

Wait, really? Amaryllis asked.

Whos Booksie? Caprica asked as well.

I took a second to calm my pitter-pattering heart. Shes a bun friend of mine! We helped her on her first, uh, sorta dates! I think it must be her wedding that's being targeted! It has to be! And Rainnewt would know about it because its happening in Port Royal!

Wait, back up a moment, Amaryllis said. Where did you learn about this wedding?

The receptionist. Oh shoot, the food.

Nevermind that, Amaryllis said. You heard that Booksie is getting married? To Rhawrexdee? Whens the wedding?

Well, not exactly that, but I think thats whats happening. It makes sense. Well, some sense. Its a bit fast for a wedding, if you ask me. But yeah! We need to go to Port Royal.

Amaryllis huffed a calm your horses huff. That hardly sounds like a confirmation to me, more like a suspicion at best.

Well, yeah, but if its real, then I wanna be there. I bet shed allow us to attend. I gasped. We could be bridesmaids!

Youre getting about twenty steps ahead of yourself, Amaryllis said. First we need to confirm if theres really a wedding going on, and if it actually is Booksies, then... Well, Port Royal isnt next door.

Awen and Calamity stumbled into the room behind me. What? he asked.

You think Rainnewt will go after this Booksie friend of yours? Caprica asked.

Maybe, I said. It would make sense.

Is she important? Caprica asked.

She owns a nice little bookstore, I said.

She didnt look impressed.

But her boyfriend is Rhawrexdee, and hes a whole entire dragon, I added.

A dragon, Caprica said, her tone seemingly completely dead. A dragon. As in a large, fire-breathing, magic wielding, apex predator, Sylph-snacking dragon?

Yeah, I said.

And hes marrying... a bun?

I nodded. I think theyre very cute together.

No, we dont know how they make... things work, Amaryllis said, without actually enlightening anyone about what she actually meant. She patted down her feathers and shook her head. In any case... I dont know what to think about this. If youre correct, Broccoli, then it might mean some serious trouble.

I dont know, if Rainnewt is trying to kill a dragon, I say let him, Caprica said.

Caprica! I gasped. How could you say that?

The princess just seemed entirely confused. What do you mean? What part of that was so controversial? Either Rainnewt succeeds, in which case one less dragon will terrorise the skies, or he fails and is turned into dragon chow.

Hmm, Tharval grunted. Wouldnt want to fight a dragon myself. Though... I might be able to think of a way or two to make the fight a little more fair.

Yes, you keep thinking about those things, as long as they stay thoughts, Willowbud said.

I ignored the two of them for a moment. Caprica, Rhawrexdee is a friend. So is his sister Cholondee, and even their mom, though I dont know her as well.

Theyre dragons, Broccoli, Caprica said. Do you know how most interactions between a sylph and a dragon ends?

Uh, no? I asked.

It ends in the dragons stomach. She crossed her arms. Dragons have their own language, you know. And in their tongue, were known only as snacks.

I recoiled. I didn't know that. My autotranslate let me speak and understand Dragon perfectly, but it didn't provide any kind of explanation for the words. While speaking it, I could easily call a sylph a snack and not even realise it. But ... yeah, that kind of etymology might make sense for a dragon. When Id met Rhwarexdee way back in Rosenbell, he was planning on burning down the town and eating the townspeople, which are objectively mean things to do. Still... I... I dont know, I admitted. But I think that maybe even dragons can grow past their own instincts for princess-kidnapping and town-burning. It might not come naturally to them, but I think that dragons can become friends too, you just need to try.

Well, we have a history of trying with dragons, Caprica said. Goldenalden is dragon-free, and has been for two generations now. Whenever a lizard so much as looks at one of our peaks, we teach them a valuable lesson about the strength of sylphs. It took centuries to rid ourselves of the last dragons who wanted to make our mountains their home. Unlike the harpy, we never settled for appeasing them.

So, youve never met a dragon yourself? I asked.

Of course not, she said.

Well, maybe you should? Im sure theyre not as bad as you think. They might be... a little bad, sometimes, but they can be reasoned with. I winced. My argument wasnt very convincing when the other side was basically but they ate us.

Capricas cultural hang-ups aside, we do need to address this, Amaryllis said. If Rainnewt crashes that wedding in particular, then it might start exactly the kind of war weve been trying to avoid all this time. I can picture it now already. He hires some mercenaries. Sylph, cervid, harpy, whatever, arms them with the best Snowlander crossbows they can afford, and they make a mess of the wedding which, if it does occur in Port Royal, will be attended by dignitaries from all over. Then the dragons will retaliate, and they might not be as ... precise with their retaliation as we would hope.

Precise? Calamity asked.

If they think Rainnewt is in a particular city, they might just burn the whole thing down then wait for him to come out of the ashes, she said. For a creature of their scale ... that might make a crude sort of sense. Theyre not sized for the cities of most civilised people. They can either ask the authorities to work with them, which has a small chance of success, or they can burn everything and wait to see if that worked.

Thats... not good, I said. It was something of a massive understatement.

Very not good, yes, Amaryllis agreed.

Caprica nodded. My point stands then, dragons are no good.

I pouted. But Rhawrexdee let us fly on him. Did you ever fly while riding a dragon before? Its really cool!

Id rather fly with my own wings, thank you very much, Caprica rebutted.

I think we should go, Awen said. We should be there. To stop Rainnewt if he tries something, and to be there for Booksie if not.

Im down for a dragon wedding, Calamity said. Bet theyve got great food.

Caprica gave him a very stern look, and Calamity winced out an apology.

Amaryllis rubbed at the bridge of her nose. Fine. Yes. We should try to be there, even if Im not sure what we could do to help. Well have to cross through the Harpy Mountains to get to Port Royal in any case. So we might be able to toss the baron out to some proper authorities as well. Or... no, thats not clever. Lets inform the authorities of in the Harpy Mountains, then let them come pick him up. Id rather not have to keep him onboard the Beaver if we can avoid it.

We can keep him here, Willowbud said. It wouldnt be a big imposition, and Im certain that after a few days of commoner food our dear baron will crack. But I dont know if you have a few days to wait.

Adventure doesnt wait for you, Tharval complained. Best you kids get going. Youve got half a continent to cross to get to Port Royal. Hmm... is that place still filled with frogs?

You mean grenoil? I asked. Yeah, its mostly them. I dont think its very nice to call them frogs.

Bah, one of my best friends was a frog, he dismissed. But Willowbuds right. Youve brought enough excitement around here. About time you scamper off to the next spot of trouble. And get that weird ship of yours out of my docks while youre at it.

I didnt let Tharval dismiss us so easily. He got his share of hugs, and then I glomped onto Willowbud too.

We might have been in something of a sudden hurry, but there was no point in rushing out the door and not saying our goodbyes properly.

Stay safe out there, Willowbud said. Its a long flight from here to Port Royal, and theres plenty of room for things to go sour along the way.

Theyll be fine, you worrywart. Theyve got each other to rely on, dont they? Tharval said.

I nodded along. The dwarf was right. As long as we had each other, wed figure things out.

With a final few hugs (to spread Huggism) we left the Exploration Guild and headed back onto the confusing streets of the Storm Tower.

Were going to have to come back here, Amaryllis said.

Hmm? Whys that? I asked.

Because we havent seen half of what this place has to show. Its not fair that we have to leave so soon.

I laughed. I didnt think that youd get so caught up in the spirit of adventure, I said.

I did join the Exploration Guild for a reason beyond the pragmatic, Ill have you know, Amaryllis said. Now that I think about it though, were rather terrible members.

We are? I asked.

Broccoli, we havent taken a mission in months, Amaryllis said.

I blinked. That was true. We were busy with other things, I guess. Maybe some of the stuff we did could, ah, retroactively count as exploration?

I could draw up a sloppy map of the plains, and maybe of that pirate tower, Calamity said.

See, I said. That could count, right?

Amaryllis rolled her eyes. Well, whatever. We have been doing important work, so I doubt anyone would actually begrudge us the time spent outside of exploring. Plenty of people treat guild membership as a sort of privilege instead of as a career.

Ah, I think what were doing is a lot like what uncle did, Awen said. He just went around and found things. At least, thats how a lot of his stories started. With him hearing strange rumours and then heading out with an expedition to find out what they were about.

Well, I want to go around and find people that need friends, and see cool things, and meet cool people, I said.

Hmph, Amaryllis said. I suppose I want to discover new magics and make a name for myself.

Ah, I guess... I just want to become strong, Awen said. And maybe see a bit of the world, the way Uncle did.

Are we doing mission statements? Caprica asked. Is this some kind of rousing speech?

Just play along! I said as I bumped hips with her. Its fun!

Fine then. I suppose I want to see the world a little as well. Away from the obligations and restrictions of my lineage. And... I wouldnt mind growing stronger either, to impress a certain someone.

Well, nyall have got some fancy wants and such, Calamity said. But Im just along to eat new foods, see new sights, and beat the stuffing out of new stuff. Oh, and make it rich. That too.

Amaryllis huffed, unimpressed. The least complicated of us, arent you?

Nyup!

I laughed, then bounced ahead of my friends, ears and beard flopping with every step. I had a lot of fun in the Storm Tower, and in the Snowlands overall, but yeah, I was ready to keep moving.

I wondered, for a moment, if I was getting some sort of wanderlust addiction. That would make it hard to settle down in the future.

But then, I could just live the rest of my life aboard the Beaver Cleaver, surrounded by friends and always on the hunt for the next adventure.

That sounded like a blast, actually.

Broccoli, wipe that smile off your face, your face will get stuck that way, Amaryllis said.

Hah! I dont care! I proclaimed. Come on, you could stand to smile some more too, you big grump!

Ah, this is nice, Awen said.

And it was!

***