It wasn’t long before the smell of roasting meat permeated the community, as a large animal was being cooked above bright orange coals. The entire village had come alive with preparations for the feast. I helped in setting up long trestle tables and benches. It was surprising to see so much hewn wood so far down, but it turned out there were more than a couple of entrances they used to hunt and gather resources above ground.

  A group of musically inclined kobolds set up an area for them to play and were joined by Jerseil. He still didn’t look like his usual cheerful self but had an air of excitement. We were not done yet with our disagreement. But for now, it was not the focus, and we could enjoy the hospitality of the village.

  I overheard him teaching them a few songs from home, so I knew it was going to be a pretty chill night. My brother would love this, as he listens to hardcore bard music. Or was it bardcore? Whatever it was, I knew this was the kind of thing that he would like. Truth be told, I’m pretty sure that the two of us could chill to this together when I got home. If I got home.

  Before long, the musicians had drinks and were playing an AC/DC song along with Jerseil. They were really getting into it, as were the rest of the kobolds. From those still setting up the buffet-style tables of food, to the kobolds finished with the impromptu decorations and seating. The area in front of the band was left open for dancing, and several villagers moved in to show their moves, getting in sync with each other and the beat.

  Not feeling like dancing myself, I grabbed a plate of food with extra for my hungry passenger. I grabbed a mug and filled it from the tapped barrels. The barrels looked like something you would see in an uppity microbrewery that held the really expensive small-batch stuff. The hatchling on my shoulder was eyeing the various foods on my plate as we walked over to a table.

  “Don’t worry, little one; some of this is for you! Just let me get settled,” I chided. As soon as I set my plate down, she leaped onto the table and snatched a large piece of meat, settling back on her haunches to take dainty bites out of it. She closed her eyes, and a sound of satisfaction emanated from deep within her chest. “Hey!” I exclaimed.

  She opened her eyes and glanced at me with a ‘what are you going to do about it’ look. I sat down with a sigh. “Look, little one, it would have been more polite to wait for me to sit down and then point out what I got for you. Maybe I should have just made plates for both of us.”

  She chirped and nodded in agreement. Harper sat down across from us with a plate and a drink of her own. “Well, you’re looking a lot more energetic,” she said to the hatchling, still eating the large piece of meat. “What are we going to name you? Cause you need a name.”

  The female hatchling gave a little growl and shook her head before taking another bite.

  “I think she may already have a name,” I said. Harper gave me a look, and I added, “Okay, yeah, that was kind of obvious, but it just seems like I almost know it. Like it is on the tip of my tongue. I just don’t have it yet.”

  “What do you mean, Finn? Oh, I remember you saying you had a mind-reading spell. Did you try to read her mind?” she asked.

  “No, I haven’t. Maybe I should,” I said thoughtfully, looking at the hatchling. She stopped chewing and looked me in the eye. Her head slowly turned right and then left, and I got the feeling that she was very nervous about the possibility of my doing that.

  “On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t,” I said slowly.

  Harper smiled at the clear relief in the baby dragon’s sigh. “She doesn’t want you to, like, really doesn’t,” she said with a chuckle. She reached out and rubbed the hatchling’s head, and the young dragon leaned into her hand and made a purring sound.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  I looked at the strange creature that had basically adopted us. Maybe it’s because she is already connected to me. “Harper, I think she is already in my head. I can feel her in the back of my mind,” I said.

  She paused in her petting of the baby dragon. “That’s… I don’t know what that is. I doubt Juan ever heard of anything like that. We’ll need to talk with Eric.”

  “The wizard with the—”

  “Yes, the lazy eye. Ugh.”

  The hatchling looked regretfully at Harper’s withdrawing hand and turned her focus back to the cut of meat in her forepaws. She followed our conversation attentively with a small amount of confusion, nibbling on another slice of meat. It reminded me of nothing more than a squirrel watching some woodland drama. Or a tennis match.

  I noticed the music switched to another classic, this one by Green Day. It was a little slower, but everyone loved it. A sad smile crossed my lips as I listened. Dad liked this song. I didn’t know if this version would have worked for him, but it was working for me. In fact, I really like this type of music, I thought as I sipped a very decent, bitter beer. It was the first time since coming to this world that I felt like I was drinking an IPA. I wonder if I can fit a barrel or two of this beer into my backpack.

  The little dragon was accepting pieces of meat from Harper and some kobolds that sat with us. She ate them happily, to the delight of the kobolds. I was starting to see that the relationship between the kobolds and dragons was not one of master and slave, but one of community. With some odd religious overtones, but it wasn’t that they worshiped the dragons as gods, but that they truly loved them. I couldn’t really think of a parallel in human history, and I couldn’t see how it could exist, as it would have to rely on some sort of reciprocal love and respect. It was hard to understand as anything other than a fantasy of utopia, one that couldn’t exist in my world.

  And though the speech patterns of the kobolds suggest a simple intelligence, they were clearly more than that. They were just, well, different. I would bet that if I tried to read the minds of the surrounding kobolds, their thought patterns would be alien to me. More so than when I read my lost horse, GB’s mind. How much more alien would the mind of a dragon be? Enough to damage my brain? Or worse?

  It didn’t really matter in the long run. She was adorable and friendly, and she was somehow involved in getting me and my people home. A lump formed in my throat. I wish Juan were still here. He’d have some answers to all of this. I finished my beer, looking over the crowd, and noted that Jerseil was still with the band, jamming out.

  “Harper, I’m going to grab another,” I said, getting up. “Stay with Harper, little one.” The hatchling meeped at me uncertainly and shuffled closer to the rogue. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right back!”

  There was a line to get beer, and I kept one eye on the table. The other was for Jerseil. I didn’t really think he would try something again, but he was on my list. His attempted dragoncide had seemed so out of character for him. I’d really thought I had a bead on the guy. Jerseil was leading the kobold musicians through a song that sounded extremely familiar, though I couldn’t put a finger on it.

  The surrounding kobolds talked animatedly about the baby dragon and what it meant for the future of the kobold tribes. The positivity was frightening, considering how close they came to not having a new dragon. And how the tribes had been on a war footing. One of them grabbed my mug and filled it for me before handing it back. I thanked them and headed back to my charge. The hatchling was so relieved that she leaped onto my chest, knocking me back a step. I caught her with my free arm, laughing.

  “She was really anxious, even though she could see you over by the barrels,” Harper said archly.

  I cradled the hatchling in my arms against my chest. “Guess you’re not ready for that, are you, little one?” I said with resigned amusement. “Suppose I can’t leave her behind just yet.”

  Druzzik approached the table in new clothes, wearing a small crown-like hat similar to his uncle’s. “Friend Finn! Story requested. How find Hatchling, Friend Finn,” he stated.

  “I guess I could do that. But wouldn’t you rather Jerseil did it? I mean, he is a bard,” I replied.

  “Finn tell! Finn tell!” encouraged the enthusiastic, and somewhat drunk, crowd of kobolds.

  “Okay, okay! I’ll tell you!” I said nervously. Having so much rapt attention directed at me was intimidating. Oh well.

  “We came upon these massive footprints in the stone—”