I wanted to rush past her, but Holly was a stubborn bull when it came to staying in people’s business. “Brie and I are going on a date, and I need him to stop the rain.”
Her stare was deafening. “Let me get this straight. You’re going to ask a dragon. An actual titan creature, to stop the rain so you can go on a date.”
Impatience twitched at the edge of my soaked tail. “What else does he have going on today? It’s not like we’re out robbing ships.”
For a moment, the women just stared in silence. Holly shook her head. “I have to see this. Doll, hop on.” She turned to help Priscilla on her back, then gestured to the direction of the cove. “Lead the way, dead man.” She chuckled.
Ignoring her, I made my way down the beach. The sound of the bustling docks faded away against the rumbling thunder of the storm. A small trail was nestled in between massive rock formations. Once through, it led us to the cove and dragon in question. Dante had shed his human form, and was snoring peacefully amidst the thrashing waves beating against the coast. His long, serpent-like body was sprawled out amongst the jagged rocks surrounding the cove. Silver scales glittered against the pouring rain, giving the ancient creature an ethereal glow.
The clop of Holly’s hooves came to a stop behind me. “Felix, do not wake him up.”
“I have to wake him up. I need the rain to stop.”
Fear dripped onto the edge of her voice as she moved in front of me, blocking my path. “Forget the damn rain. Do not wake him up.”
If I was a less desperate man, I might have heeded her warning. Under the normal rules of Volsog, you just didn’t bother a titan level creature. Well, unless you were suicidal. Krakens, giants, and dragons were in a league all their own. But this was Boohail, not Volsog. Dante wasn’t some lord defending his territory, he was another crew member of the Banshee.
Even after Cinnamon and Fallon left the ship for their ridiculously long honeymoon, Dante stuck around and became part of our raiding party. Sailing the high seas and stealing from royal fleets was easy work when you had a creature who could control the weather. That and the fact that every ship we’d come across wanted nothing to do with a fight against a ship full of demons. As far as pirating went, it was rather boring. Why he continued to stick around, I wasn’t sure. A dragon that old surely had a hoard somewhere he could draw on if he ever needed gold or money. If I was a betting man, I’d say the storm bringer just liked the company. Not that he’d ever admit that.
Priscilla furrowed her brow and looked between the dragon and I. “Why can’t he wake him up?”
Holly sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Dragons are proud, unpredictable creatures. You don’t just go around asking them for favors and you sure as shit don’t wake them up.” She glared down at me and stopped her hoof. “Do you remember the damage that red dragon caused eight years ago? He scorched so much land we had to redraw the maps!”
“Just because someone woke him up?” Priscilla asked.
I tried taking a step around the centaur, but she blocked me. “We don’t know why he did that.” I growled. “For all we know, there could have been a perfectly good reason. Besides, Dante is one of us. He’s not going to burn the world over a nap. Now move!”
“I might.”Came an impossibly deep voice. Holly tensed and turned around to see dark purple eyes glowing through the mist around the dragon’s face. Dante stretched and yawned, showing rows of sword length fangs.“Let’s hear it then. You must have a good reason for disturbing me.”
Holly kept her eyes trained on the dragon and retreated behind the rocks. “I do,” I said, lifting my chin. “My wife and I are going on a date.”
Thunder shook the ground beneath my feet before a strike of lightning hit a nearby tree. The tree snapped in half and fell uselessly into the sand.“And you’ve come to rub your good fortune in my face?”
Sensitive little bugger.“No. I need you to stop the rain. We can’t go row boating like this.”
He rested his head along a boulder, his eyes drooped with the effort of staying conscious.“What did you bring to trade?”
“I’ll give ya a heartfelt ‘thanks,’ friend.”
He snorted.“Try again.”
“Alright fine, what do you want?” I asked.
His lips quirked around jagged teeth. The familiar sinister glint in his eyes had my fur standing on ends.“Let’s just agree that you’ll owe me a favor in the future.”
“Absolutely not.” I barked out. Gods only knew what nefarious schemes he wanted to pull. “You owe me for that stunt you pulled with the barren rune, anyway. Just cut off this one storm for me and we’ll call it even.”
Behind me, Holly and her companion broke out into giggles. I guess it was easy to laugh at agonizing birth control when you never had to worry about pregnancy scares with your own partner.
“Nice try,”Dante began.“I did that at your request, out of the kindness of my heart.”
I bared my fangs at him. “You did it because you’re a sadistic bastard. Pick something else.”
He rolled his eyes.“Fine. Three lemon meringue pies.”
“…pies?” I asked. Of all the things I thought a dragon would ask for, sweets weren’t one of them. “You eat pies?”
“No, I shove them up my ass.”He growled.“Yes, I eat them. There’s a shop on Main Street called Sonia’s Sweet Treats. I want three of her lemon meringue pies.”
