Your Dragon, chapter 1

 At first, I thought a truck had hit my apartment building.

In my defense, it had happened before. A particularly sleep-deprived driver heading to restock the local Qwik-Mart missed a turn and took out the two front units. I hadn't been living in either of those units, thankfully, but had still been hell on my insurance premiums.

So when the feeling of some massive impact against the building jerked me out of a sound sleep, my first thought was that I'd have to fill out another stupid insurance report. My second thought was that I should probably check and make sure no one was bleeding, since there were people actually living in those units now. That was enough to get me out of bed, grabbing my glasses and phone and pulling on a robe before hurrying out into the hallway.

A few steps out, however, I stopped short. I must have been wrong about the truck, because there was none of the destruction and general chaos I'd been expecting. There wasn't even a hallway full of confused residents wondering what the crash had been, just old Mr. Perkins at the end of the hallway who grumbled something about teenagers and went back to bed.

Hesitant now, I moved toward the front door of the building. I didn't think I'd had a nightmare, but if outside was as quiet as the hallway I could probably convince myself that was what had happened. I had stress dreams sometimes where huge piles of rocks fell on me and I couldn't get out, and even though I didn't remember having it tonight it made just enough sense to hopefully let me get back to sleep.

Slowly, I opened the door. For a few seconds, the view outside was just as calm and normal-looking as it was supposed to be. I felt a little ridiculous, like I'd made up all this drama for nothing, but since no one else had heard me do it I could probably forgive myself. I stepped back, ready to shut the door and go back to bed.
A huge, distinctly scaly head swung down from the roof, blocking out the streetlights. "It is you! I was hoping you'd have the situational awareness to come out."

I am, admittedly, not proud of the next few seconds.

At the extremely unexpected appearance, I made a sound that was definitely not a shriek ("Possibly it was a squeal. Would you prefer I describe it like that?) and stepped backwards. Unfortunately, that step was onto the treacherous entryway mat, which caught the mud but even wrinkled if someone breathed on it wrong. My foot caught a wrinkle, I lost balance, and immediately fell backwards down the stairs.

The head immediately poked its way through the doorway, revealing itself to be a beautiful green dragon that absolutely wasn't supposed to exist. "Are you alright?" It frowned. "I was hoping for a little more grace and coordination from my rider, but perhaps we can work on that."

All I could do was stare. It was like something off the cover of one of the fantasy novels that once filled my bookshelves, with sleek, graceful lines, a narrow snout, and eyes that were more intelligent than most people I knew. I had a sudden, wild desire to see its wings, spread out wide in the daylight so I could see every inch of them.

Which was insane, because there was no possible way this was actually happening.

I squeezed my eyes shut, pinching my arm hard. I felt it, which supposedly meant I wasn't dreaming, but who had ever actually proven you couldn't feel things in dreams anyway? It made more sense than a dragon showing up on her front lawn. 

"I'm still asleep." I tested the words to see if I could convince myself, not risking opening my eyes. "I'm still asleep, and this whole thing has been a dream."

The dragon gave an exasperated sigh. "If you really think that's true, come closer and test it."
I cracked one eye open, even though I shouldn't have. "If this was a story, you'd lick me or blow snot on me as soon as I moved closer."

I hadn't known a dragon could look disgusted, but this one managed it alarmingly well. "First, ew. Blowing snot is something hatchlings do, not mature, responsible dragons who have been flying their routes for decades now." Then its eyes narrowed, head moving in a little closer. "But other than that, anyone with sense would do something unfortunate after such a ridiculous comment."

"Ridiculous?" Both eyes were open now as I threw my hands up in the air. "You're not supposed to exist!"

Now it looked offended. "Well, I certainty didn't decide that! I can hardly be blamed for this dimension's ignorance!"

So the dragon was from another dimension. What a suspiciously convenient touch for my brain to add. "So if I knocked on one of my neighbor's doors and asked them to come out because there was a dragon blocking the front door, they'd definitely be able to see and touch you?"

The dragon's affronted dignity faded rapidly, replaced by an almost apologetic look. "Dragons carry their own magical field, designed to sustain them when they travel within low-magic dimensions such as this one. Unless your neighbors carry the blood of someone born in a dimension with its own magical field, it's likely they won't be able to see anything at all."

I jabbed a finger at it, vindicated. "That is exactly the sort of thing a hallucination would say!" Then my brain snagged on something it said. "Wait, what do you mean 'carry the blood of someone born in a dimension with its own magical field?' I was born right here, and I can see you just fine." Which, honestly, was only more proof I was dreaming or having a mental breakdown of some kind. I should probably prepare myself for the inevitability.

The dragon gave me a disbelieving look, then stretched in a little further and gave a firm sniff in my general direction. "No, it's definitely you. All of the species from my dimension are capable of traveling through the Veils, so it's likely that one of your ancestors is a human from my dimension."

"No it isn't!" I scowled at the dragon. "All of my ancestors are deeply boring people. I've heard the stories." Unless that was the cover story, and they'd made themselves sound especially boring to distract from the fact that they were magical and from another dimension.

No, that was the sort of thoughts that the protagonists of YA novels had. That wasn't how the real world worked.

Wait a second. "You're not about to tell me I'm some kind of long-lost magical princess, are you?" Because then I wasn't just hallucinating, I would also have to deeply judge my subconscious for its poor taste. Yes, I literally spent my days rewriting AI copy, but hopefully I hadn't lost all sense of subtlety.

Now it just looked confused. "I assume you would know that better than I would. I certainly don't know of any notably missing princesses in the immediate area of my tower."

That was a relief, but it brought up another problem. "Then what on Earth made you decide to cross dimensions to come find me? I am an average person in a sea of average people. I am not young, I am not special, and far more importantly I was in a completely different dimension. There is no reason for you to come find me, which is proof that you're a hallucination of some kind!"

My voice absolutely hadn't shaken on that last sentence. I was just proud of my incisive logical reasoning. Really.

The dragon's confusion had taken on a distinctly sympathetic edge, which suggested that my argument wasn't quite as solid as I'd hoped. "I cannot explain it. Our magic is like an extra sense, one that we have learned to rely on." Its expression gentled. "It guided me to you."

I swallowed. "But why?"

There was a movement that seemed like a shrug I couldn't see. "As I said. I cannot explain it."

I squeezed my eyes shut, pressing the heels of my hands against them. "Because you're not real, and the only reason none of my neighbors are outside wondering why I'm talking to an empty doorway is that it's 3:00 in the morning."

It made an exasperated sound. "Come touch me, then. It's easy enough to prove to yourself that I'm real."

I absolutely couldn't do that, because then... then...

A thought hit, making my eyes fly open. "My sister." I pulled my phone out of my robe pocket, hoping like hell she wasn't camping somewhere in the jungle right then. Yes, I'd be waking her up – South America had the same time zones we did – but when your big sister was having an extended hallucination there were certain sacrifices that had to be made. "If I've got the right blood, then she does too. So when I put her on a video call and she only sees an empty hallway, I'll have irrefutable proof that you're a hallucination."

The dragon sighed, pulling back slightly and laying its head down on the floor. "Fine. Take your time."

Valiantly pretending my hands weren't shaking a little, I opened video call and dialed my sister's number. When it rang several times and went to voicemail I dialed it again, and on the second time through she finally picked up. "Kayla?" She peered at the screen, then put on her glasses and focused on my face. Her short dark hair was wilder than mine, with a half grown-out faded orange streak instead of my gray ones, but our round faces still marked us irrefutably as sisters. "What's going on? Did someone die?" Her eyes widened. "Did another truck hit your building?"

I swallowed. "Wren, I'm going to show you something, and you need to tell me what you see."

Now she looked even more concerned. "Terrifying opening, but sure."

Slowly, I turned the screen around. There was only silence for a moment, and I braced myself for Wren trying to ask why she was staring at an empty doorway. I took a deep breath. "Just say—"

"Shhh!" she hissed furiously. Shocked, I turned the screen around to see her looking somewhere between determined and panicked. "I have no idea what a freakishly large komodo dragon is doing in your neighborhood, but you need to get up and start backing away from it right now."

My brain scrambled to try and catch up. "What? Wren, you think that's—"

"Dangerous? I know they are." She leaned forward slightly, getting closer to the screen. "They bite, those bites are venomous, and that one is freakishly large. If it's escaped from a nearby zoo or university it's probably completely panicking right—"

"I'm quite calm, I assure you," the dragon cut in, lifting its head in interest. "And I am indeed dangerous, but know that I would never harm your sister or anyone she cared for. If this other dragon species you speak of is anywhere in the vicinity, I will defend her easily." It paused. "Which I will continue to do, no matter how frustrating she can be."

Wren had frozen so still I wasn't sure she was even breathing. "Kayla," she said slowly. "Tell me that was one of your neighbors who decided to be funny."

My heart was starting to pound too hard for me to trust my voice, so I just turned back around. The dragon, recognizing its cue, inclined its head. "Pleased to meet you. My name is not translatable in human tongue, but you may call me Strongwing."

Wren didn't say anything. When I turned the screen back, she was still staring wide-eyed. When she still didn't respond, I swallowed. "Wren?"

Suddenly, she snapped into action. "I'm getting on a plane right now," she said urgently, getting up before remembering to grab her phone and going on what appeared to a frentic search through the pile of things she kept in her room at the research center. "I will be on the first flight I can get – where the hell is my laptop – but you have to promise me you won't let it take you anywhere until I get there. I love you dearly, but if you go off into a magical world without me I'm going to be really pissed at you."

Now I was the one having trouble breathing. "It's not—"

"Yes, I am," Strongwing corrected. "You could hardly serve as my rider if I left you here when I returned home, which I hope to do shortly." It inclined its head again. "But I will wait on your sister. It's possible one of my fellow dragons would appreciate her as a rider."

Wren gave a delighted little shriek, which I could hear even though she wasn't visible onscreen anymore. She leaned back into view, expression a little bit crazed. "Remember. Don't go without me."

She hung up at that, leaving me in the quiet hallway with the very large dragon. I carefully slid the phone back into my pocket, then met its eyes. "You're real." My voice cracked, and I blinked hard against suddenly stinging eyes. "You're really real."

Its expression was gentle. "Yes," it said quietly. "I'm really real."

Slowly, I got to my feet, not bothering to tuck my robe around me as I moved toward it. My heart was so loud I could hear it in my ears by the time I reached out and rubbed a hand along the long slope of its snout. The scales under my fingers were smooth and dry, just like the snakes Wren had had me pet over the years.

It nudged my hand encouragingly. "Any chance I could get a bit of a scratch under the chin? It's so hard for anything but human fingers to do it right."

I obliged, something huge and hot filling my chest. I wondered if it was joy.