By Fairy Means or Foul: A Starfig Investigations Novel(61)

With our bellies full, I shifted back into my dragon and we took off again. It was amazing to see the Wiffleweather Mountains from the air as we approached. What started off as indistinct spots in the distance slowly grew larger and more impressive. The peaks rose from the ground like giant spires and disappeared into the clouds above. I’m sure from the ground they were impressive, but from the air they were magnificent. The range seemed to go on forever.

“Any idea where Nyx is holed up?” Quinn asked. “I didn’t realize there were so many ranges to search.”

My father said The Huge Hill. Shouldn’t be long now. At least I hoped that was the case. I was tired. Quinn ran a hand along my neck in a soothing gesture. He must have felt my exertion. Understanding what the other thought and felt took some getting used to and I suspected I’d feel weirded out for a long time.

Approaching The Huge Hill, we saw a proto-typical villain’s castle carved in the side of the mountain. It had to be built by magic since a monstrosity like that would take years to construct otherwise. I must say, Nyx had really rotten taste in castles. Dark, forbidding, with a single turret up the center of the structure and two smaller outcroppings flanking it on either side. It strongly resembled a giant erect penis surrounded by a pair of balls. Like I said, my runty half-brother suffered from a never-ending Naphaeleon complex.

I was pretty sure a blind stone mason decided to make this their revenge piece because yuck. I wouldn’t be caught dead living in such an unsightly building.

“Double yuck,” Quinn agreed.

And this was saying something, because I’d always held an affinity for castles. After all, it was an awesome place to get a bite to eat, and arrogant knights, virginal princesses, and vain princes were mighty tasty . . . so I’d heard.

“Stereotype much?” Quinn swatted my neck.

What? Even in my thoughts my voice didn’t sound innocent. I snickered as best I could in this form.

“I thought you didn’t mind humans?” Quinn’s voice vibrated with his uncertainty.

I don’t. But you have to admit royalty and that whole knight thing is kind of annoying. Besides, I’d much rather hang out with brave wizards. I didn’t have to look back to know he was blushing. He hugged my neck a little tighter as I circled around, looking for a good place to land. I spun back the way we came.

“Where are we going?”

I want to set down out of sight of the castle. Darkness is coming on quick so we’ll need to approach Nyx tomorrow—too many things can go wrong in the dark. I wasn’t about to let something happen to Quinn.

He squeezed me tight again. I sensed he thought I was being ridiculous, but one thing I’d learned about Nyx was to face him in the light. Creatures of dark—and he definitely met that qualification these days—didn’t do so well in the light. They needed the confusion of night, the power they drew from the absence of light. And since I suspected my dear half-brother was mixing it up with demons, we needed to be smart about our timing.

I flew over another rise and settled down on a large outcropping of rock. Full dark was falling and we needed to set up camp quickly. I stayed in my dragon form as Quinn unpacked our meager rations. Even if I shifted, there wouldn’t be enough food to hold us over. I was simply too hungry. The energy it took to fly was immense. Fortunately, I saw a lazy river at the bottom of a ravine, just a hop, skip, and flight away.

I launched myself from the outcropping and soared through the skies, then wove through the ravine. An obstacle course made for a dragon. I wanted to roar my happiness, but it wasn't smart to let other predators know we were in the area. Plus, I didn’t like leaving Quinn on his own. I wasn’t sure how close he needed to be to harness our magic. I could be leaving him with only his dagger as defense.

I’m okay, he thought, startling me. Go eat. I’ll be fine.

I flew low to the water and saw another advantage to having fairy wings—hovering. As ridiculous as they looked, my wings weren’t all bad.

A large school of Goldfin Triggerfish swam by and I dove into the water, scooping up a mouthful of the little wiggly critters. I’d never been fond of them in my other form, but they were mighty tasty like this. It only took me a couple dives before I had enough to eat, though I managed to piss off a resident mermaid as she gave me a middle finger salute.

My belly pleasantly full, I returned to Quinn. He’d obviously finished his meal too and was curled up in a blanket. The mountains were much cooler at night than Hammershore Outpost. I could see him shiver. Well, I’d take care of that. I landed on the outcropping and flopped down, causing him to bounce.

“Hey, watch it.”

I ignored him and settled down around him. Using my front teeth, I snagged the back of his tunic and lifted him off his feet.

“Twig, stop it!” He scrambled to hang on to his blanket. I dropped him by my side and before he could complain, curled around him, making sure my tail boxed him in nice and cozy. I groaned in pleasure. I liked having him touch me. As often as possible. Turns out my dragon was really tactile. At least with our wizard.

Quinn slapped my side, shooting me a dirty look, but I sensed his pleasure. It only took him a moment to settle down, snug as a wizard in a dragon hug.

“You sure you don’t want to shift back?” he asked. “We could keep each other warm in other ways.”

My ears swiveled. Hmmm. I licked my chops, and I’m sure my eyes gleamed.