“Welp, time to do that ol’ teleportation spell.” You say to yourself, clasping your hands together. Anything for a break from studying for finals. Claddagh has probably been missing you, never mind that she has other dragons to play with. You’re just her special pet Magic-User, you guess. Shutting off and closing your laptop, you walk down to the basement, the wooden boards creaking with each step.
The strung-up bottle lamps flicker on from above, tinting your workshop with greens, whites, blues, and golds. The sound of your boots echo as you trudge across the cement floor, over to a rolled up carpet leaning between the wall and altar-desk. Dragging it to just off center of the room, you unroll it, revealing its intricate star-shape patterns, the biggest one stretching five golden points to the circular edges. Now for the spell. You grab a seashell off your desk, the fist-sized conch being a good visualizer for where you want to go.
But first, a purification and void spells. You take out the feather from your ponytail and hold it up. Focusing hard, glimmering, dusty traces of old and negative energies stick onto your feather, like flies to paper. You step up to the window halfway up the staircase, open the latches, and flick the energy off your feather three times.
“1… 2… 3! The magic number~.” Smiling to yourself, you shut the window and put the feather back in your ponytail. For the void spell, all you had to do now was visualize a black sheet covering yourself and the room. You know it works when the light from the window is replaced by void. It’s hard to imagine you ever had trouble with it a year ago. It’s pretty important, considering you’re about to break a law.
“Of course, it’s only trouble if I get caught.” You mumble. That’s all this society’s taught you: don’t get fucking caught! The law has never deterred you, but merely inspires your sneakiness. Like using a teleportation spell to get into a protected area to visit your little Claddy Dragon! The only downside is that it takes like, fifteen seconds to be teleported, with a slow, corny powerpoint-style transition for entertainment. With you, it’s star shapes.
As the shapes finally finish their little dance across your vision, a breeze and the smell of sea salt welcomes you to a bay. Oh, and a baby dragon as well!
“Hello, there.” You squat down to… His level, but kept your distance; the mother was lying on the rusted rocks a few yards away. The little one stumbled towards you, sniffing the air with his puppy snout. Real dragons in this area hardly look like the ones people use to picture, with overgrown lizards fanning out majestic wings. Most looked like two or more separate species had a wild one-night stand and conceived a giant mutant afterwards.
This puppy-lizard took a deep breath and blew out smoke when it got close enough.
“Aww~.” He’s trying to look intimidating! you couldn’t help it, his big eyes and long tongue between sharp teeth gave him that typical ugly-cute look most little dragons possessed. “Sorry, Matey, but I have to meet someone.” You take a few, slow steps back before turning away and walking down the beach, then decide to take a shortcut through the forest and avoid the rocks.
~
“Gah!” You leap away just in time to dodge the young Dragon’s surprise sneeze, or better say, the flames that shot out from their nose. Quickly, you stomp out the flaming shrub. Jeez, that’s young dragons during allergy season for you! Maybe that’s why Claddagh isn’t out today, because the children are sneezing!
You huff at the fun-size Snake-Wolf reptile, who just apathetically toddles back to their bigger Snake-Wolf mother once the flames died out.
Kids these days. Not even Claddagh was like that.
“Take the short-cut, I said.” Your fingernails burn your scalp as they comb through your curls. “I’d be EASY, I said!” Ignoring the pain, you redo your ponytail, placing your feather securely in the rubber band. Well, you made it to the ancient pine tree. So tall, the smaller trees block its branches when you look up, because those branches don’t start until a hundred feet up the trunk. But they don’t matter. It’s the giant roots, some covered in smelly dragon dung that you need to keep your eyes on – and your nose plugged!
To think, you’re doing all this just to shave off a few minutes. At least you’re only wearing a casual, plain t-shirt, and not some fancy dress.
The smell, well, STINKS as you jump over and under the massive roots, but it brings back those memories of when you and your dragon still lived under the same roof. At first, Claddagh was a slow learner at the whole potty training business, leaving you little ‘gifts’ wherever her furry rump went. But she eventually learned to go outside when you started taking up camping. Of course, you then had to deal with those big cat eyes watching you do your business, rain or shine. If that guy who met with you two during that one Fall trip wasn’t in with that Dragon Protection Group, you two would still be roughing it today.
“Cheeee~” A cracked chirping takes you out of memory lane and into the gaze of a… Humanoid looking thing. He’s naked – seriously!? The first thing you notice about him is that!? – and adorned with brown and white-speckled feathers and wings. His hands are large and clawed with wings for arms and sharp talons for feet.
Oh god, it’s a siren. They’re not supposed to be around here! Your muscles tense up and you back away as he steps closer, sniffing the air around you. Sirens: Usually they stay in more secluded places, away from dragon-rich areas. The only time they’ll leave their nesting grounds is to find a mate – and it’s not uncommon to take a human as one!
“Get back.” You cross your hands, which emit a purple glow. The siren’s eyes show surprise, but flicker back to desire and he rears his wings to fly. Just as he shoots off of the ground, however, a grey form hisses from behind you and tackles him.
Claddagh!
He backs off after recovering, but the siren’s piercing gaze promises you that he’ll see you again.
Great. Disgusting.
Later on, you and Claddagh are resting in her cave, looking out at the water. As you stroke her fur, you’re again brought back to your chair and balcony. It is sunset and the stars and city’s light are getting brighter every minute. The bugs calm down and other critters can be heard, but it’s like you two are the only beings in the universe.
Three years later and you still miss those days.
When you get back, you’ll have to search up the news about anything siren-related. Hopefully no one has been kidnapped yet, you certainly don’t want to be.
For now, however, you’ll forget about laws that have been broken, the feet that are still sore, and the siren that has appeared.
For now, it’s just you, you’re Claddy, and the sunset.
ns 15.158.61.23da2
