Lupi 08 - Death Magic

stone, nor were the boulders arrayed with the tidy geometrics humans favored; it was thicker here, thinner there, with the occasional jut of a boulder clearly not native to this soil. An artistic choice, perhaps. At its foot was bare earth—Mika’s landing pad and sun porch. Beyond that, the half dome where orchestras had played was partly obscured by hard-packed dirt built up to create a lip. The dome’s roof was obscured by yet more heaped dirt. For a startled moment it made Lily think of an enormous sand crab burrowing down to safety.
    Dragons always lair in earth and rock. They blocked the mental cacophony. “Hello, Mika,” Lily said—and nearly jumped when a small, gray streak arrowed past her feet. A cat.
    I named her Beelzebub , Mika said. His mental voice was different from Sam’s—cool and precise, yes, but without the razorlike clarity, and with a whiff of flavor. It was like the difference between Arctic ice and a snow cone dribbled with a few drops of Bahama Mama. She wanted more syllables at first, but I don’t think her name should be longer than she is. Beelzebub is a use-name, of course.
    “Ah—do cats have real names?” Lily eyed the rocky jumble. This was going to be harder than the other side had been. Her bad arm twinged as if already protesting its role in the descent.
    Your question is silly. I don’t know all cats.
    “I suppose not. Look, do I have to come down there for my lesson? Maybe we could do it with me up here.”
    No. Thirty feet below and twice that far horizontally, the shiny coils disposed on the sun porch began unwinding. Mika wasn’t as large as Sam—no longer than a house, she thought, tail included, and dragons were eighty percent tail, neck, and wings. But he was ohmygod beautiful.
    His scales were red. All shades of red, from ruby to magenta to crimson, shading into eye-popping orange on the wings currently folded along his back. He glistened and gleamed in the sunlight like every jewel men had ever coveted.
    Sam said you had sustained damage to your limb. I perceive it has not healed. Humans heal poorly. This impedes you? Hold still. I’ll fetch you.
    “No, that’s not necessary, I can—” But dragons can move fast when they want. Before Lily could finish telling him not to, Mika’s bunched haunches had launched him into the air. He jumped most of the ninety feet between them to land in a blaze of brilliance, wings outstretched for balance. Landed lightly, too, his rear talons gripping a couple of those outthrust boulders.
    His front talons gripped her . She made a deeply undignified noise more squeak than scream.
    You are very loud , Mika told her disapprovingly. And shoved himself backward off the stone-strewn embankment.
    The trip down was scary and uncomfortable—his talons were rough and gripped too tightly—but blessedly brief. They hit with a small jolt and a flurry of dust from his wings. He set her down and folded those wings back in place.
    Lily’s legs tried to buckle. She stiffened them. I did not scream.
    You think loudly. Or you were. Your mindspeech isn’t that bad. It’s bad, just not as bad as I thought it would be.
    Oh. She’d done it again—used mindspeech without meaning to. That had happened three times in the past month. Well, four now. The other three had all been with Rule, which was just as well. Some people would get upset if they found her thoughts in their heads all of a sudden.
    You didn’t intend to? Headshaking was not a dragon gesture, but Mika flavored his reply with something very like a disgusted headshake.
    “Sam doesn’t want me to practice on my own.”
    Of course not. At this stage, you would only acquire bad habits. Sit down and we will start.
    She obeyed. “I know why Sam is teaching me. Why did you agree to do it, too?”
    You know very little. It is not surprising you ask a great many questions. Mika’s head darted to the right and swung back with a small branch in his mouth. He dropped it in front of her. It burst into flame. Find me there.
    Great. She’d hoped a different teacher meant different methods. With a sigh, Lily looked at the small fire.
    Her left ankle itched. The flames were too bright, making her squint. Why had she been determined to do this? Because Rule didn’t want her to? Surely she had a better reason.
    Oh, yeah. Because Sam told her to. But that reminded her . . . I promised Rule I’d tell you about my headache.
    That was pathetic. You sent perhaps one word in three. If I