Dragon's Mage (An Advent Mage Novel), The - Raconteur, Honor Read Online Free Page B

more perfect mount could there be for a Fire Mage ? She likes fire, like you do. She can transport you quickly to jobs —”
    “—she eats whole sheep for breakfast, is too large to fit into any stable, assuming that any inn would let her near their place,” I interrupted sarcastically, “not to mention the general panic she’s going to cause when people see her! Oh yes, a perfect mount indeed.”
    “ Once people get used to her, you’ll be fine. Besides, dragons do their own hunting. You won’t have to bear the expense of feeding her .”
    “No, I just have to make sure she doesn’t raid some farmer’s herd,” I retorted with a roll of the eyes.
    “ If dragons are really as intelligent as a dragoo, it shouldn’t be difficult to train her .”
    “You’re only encouraging this because you think it’s hilarious,” I accused her grumpily.
    “ It is !” she said, finally laughing outright. “ You’ll go down in legend. I can see it now. ‘The Fire Mage that a dragon fell in love with.’ Doesn’t that have a nice ring ?”
    “I thought we were leaving the legend making up to Garth.”
    “ Naw, we can’t let him have all the glory. Besides, he doesn’t want it .”
    That was true. I’d always been bemused that a man who didn’t want any recognition was so universally famous. I looked at the now awake dragon, feeling a sort of inevitability to all of this.
    “Cora…are you really saying I don’t have any chance of getting rid of her?”
    “ From the signs, I’d say that being adopted by a dragon is like being adopted by a meuritta. Once they like you, you’re stuck with them .”
    Great. That was just great. “I need to think about this,” I sighed.
    “ All right ,” she agreed, semi-sympathetic now. “ Call me if something else comes up .”
    “Right.” I put the mirror down and then shifted to look straight at the dragon, trying to think of the pros and cons of this.
    As I’d told Cora, there were some pretty hefty cons. Dragons had fierce reputations among the general populace. I’d have to do some pretty fast talking to convince anyone to let her near their towns. Although, come to think of it, that might not be as hard as it sounded. A lot of people thought that mages could do anything. If they knew she was my mount, would I really have that much trouble?
    Cora had said they did their own hunting, so I wouldn’t have to worry about feeding her. I might have a few rough first weeks though, until she understood where she could hunt.
    Staying at inns would be nearly impossible, though, I was certain about that. If she was this protective of me, I doubt she’d let me out of her sight easily. She might be as bad as Night. Garth had told me stories about how awful Night was at first. Would she get better over time like Night did? Or stay possessive?
    Still…what would it be like to be able to fly? Some Fire Mages could fly, using extreme and concentrated heat to propel them through the skies. I could only manage short distances without accidentally crashing into something. I’d never gotten the hang of it. If she were my mount, I could fly anywhere I wished for long distances. Would that ability be worth the rest of the hassle?
    I wasn’t sure.
     

Chapter Two: Words
    Without knowing what else to do, I started walking south, back toward Sol. I’m a pretty active thinker—I like to pace when I’m mulling something over. It was a good three days walk back to the Sol border, so it gave me plenty of time to think.
    I wasn’t in the least surprised when my dragon companion trailed after me. She kept her distance—about five feet, more or less—but she didn’t try to hide or pretend she wasn’t following me.
    Great.
    One of the problems that kept me from deciding one way or another was that I wasn’t sure how intelligent she was. If she was as intelligent as a dragoo, then all was good. I could train her well enough to be around people. If not…it was sure to be as disastrous as