Page 57 of The Pushy Pixies Are Going Down
Winter said, “Ace says it’s a fossil.” He finished typing something on his phone, pocketed it, and looked up at the pixie nest. “It’s kinda strange that they’d become so protective of a random old egg—one that doesn’t even have a living dragon inside.”
“Agreed. I’ve never seen them do this with any other kind of eggs.”
“Me either.”
I pursed my lips. “Maybe because it’s a dragon egg specifically? I mean, we don’t really have those around here, at least not anywhere in the city, so I highly doubt we’d really know if this is normal behavior.”
“Fair.”
Lyric asked, “Do pixies like dragons? Like… do they have any kind of relationship with them? Dragons are supposed to be very nature-y, so maybe the pixies just like them since they’re the same?”
I shrugged because I had no idea, and Winter pulled his phone out again, typing vigorously.
Lyric stared at him. “What are you doing?”
“Looking up whether this is a pixie thing or not. Might give us clues on how to deal with it if it’s common in other dragon-heavy areas.”
“And if it’s not, we’ll know we have weird pixies on our hands.”
He snorted, and since he wasn’t even looking at his surroundings, I grabbed his arm and tugged him and Lyric back a few steps. Better to be safe than sorry.
Win didn’t ask, just going along with it, but I still said, “That one pixie looks ready to kick our asses, so I figured we should give them some room while you’re doing that.”
“Good plan.” He shoulder-bumped me, his eyes still on his phone.
Lyric released Winter’s arm, making us both glance at them. They scanned the entire large room, then focused on the nest and egg. I could tell they were using their magical senses rather than their actual eyes, just from the look on their face.
After several long seconds, they moved back to Win’s side, grabbed his arm, and said, “I don’t sense any cursed objects on this floor at all. There might be something on one of the lower levels, but its magic isn’t far-reaching enough to be causing this.” They pointed at the pixie nest.
I frowned. “Then I wonder why they’re doing all of this.”
They shrugged. “I’m not sure, but they definitely love that egg. It’s covered in their magic and dust. There’s only the slightest sense of dragon magic there, but most of it is all pixie.”
“Huh.” I stared at the nest again.
I was really relieved to hear that we weren’t dealing with another cursed item, but at the same time, we now had a mystery on our hands. But I was grateful for Lyric’s quick assessment of the area. I’d have to keep them in mind for the future if we came across other weird scenarios—which I was sure we would.
“Thank you, Lyric.”
They beamed at me and gave me another wink.
Win said, “That’s good to know. Thanks, Lyr.” He shoulder-bumped them, making them smile at him. “I’m gonna see if I can find anything on dragon-pixie relationships.” He went back to his phone.
Since he was busy with that, I decided to move over to the area devoted to different types of dragons, a smile pulling up on my face at the models of the smaller breeds of dragons. The models were low to the ground so kids could touch them, and it said the fake skin on them was as close to the feel of a real dragon as they could get, only these weren’t as soft.
Apparently, dragon scales were tough as nails, especially the scales in the most vulnerable parts of a dragon, but if they were petted, they felt like silk.
I’d never touched a dragon before, so I didn’t know for sure, but the models sure felt soft.
The closest I’d come to touching a dragon was petting Clucky since she was half-dragon, half-chicken. But I hadn’t really petted her scales much since most of them were on her lower half, and who wanted to pet a cockatrice’s butt?
I moved to the pygmy dragon model, and my bottom lip popped out of its own accord due to the cuteness. The little guywas about as long as my pointer finger from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail. It was the most adorable thing in the world, and I really wished I could see one in real life.
Sola leaned down from my shoulder to get a better look, almost falling off and making me chuckle as I pushed her back into place. “You’re gonna fall, goofball.”
She let out a little chirp, leaning down again.
“Dude, you’re gonna get hurt.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s not a real dragon. It’s pretend.”
