The smallest footsteps were heard.
The Footsteps Below
Ivo had nearly reached the old storehouse when the dragon told him to stop.
He froze with one foot raised above the marble floor.
“Put it down,” the dragon said, “but not there.”
Ivo looked up. The dragon sat among the broken columns above him, its great wings spread against the evening sky. Its pale scales resembled carved stone, and one claw rested on the remains of an arch.
“Where, then?” Ivo asked.
“Back where it was.”
Ivo returned his foot to the previous stone.
A faint crack sounded beneath him.
The dragon lowered its head.
“There,” it said. “Did you hear that?”
Ivo had heard it. He had also heard the dragon speak, which seemed more urgent.
“I’m not here to disturb you,” he said. “There’s a small box in the storehouse. I only want to take it and leave.”
“I would prefer you to leave the floor where it is.”
What the Dragon Heard
The storehouse had belonged to Ivo’s family long ago. Before they left the valley, his grandmother had hidden a box of seeds there. Now that the land below was being planted again, Ivo had come to retrieve it.
He could see the box beneath the far wall, where a fallen beam had sheltered it. Between him and the box, a long crack ran across the floor.
“The stones have been shifting,” the dragon said. “The floor is also the roof of a chamber below.”
“What’s in it?”
“My nest.”
Ivo looked up at the enormous creature.
“And if the floor falls?”
“The entrance may be buried.”
He glanced towards the box. “Could I run across and come straight back?”
The dragon regarded him.
“You have been walking carefully. The floor has already complained twice.”
Ivo put his walking stick down gently. “I wasn’t sure you could hear me from up there.”
“I can hear the stones after you.”
They studied the floor. A broad beam of stone extended from the solid ground near Ivo towards the far wall. Its ends were supported by the old walls, though a gap remained between its far end and the box.
“Could you walk along that?” the dragon asked.
“I think so.”
“I can’t come closer. I would bring the whole floor down.”
“That would make the box easier to reach,” Ivo said.
The dragon looked at him.
“Afterwards,” Ivo added. “If we could find it.”
Across the Broken Floor
Ivo stepped onto the beam. It was wide enough for both his feet, but dust made the surface slippery. He moved slowly, keeping his walking stick across his body for balance.
At the far end, he crouched and reached for the box. His fingers missed it.
He turned the stick around and hooked its curved handle beneath the box’s strap.
The box shifted towards him, then caught against a broken piece of stone.
“I have it,” he said.
“Does it know?”
“Not yet.”
Ivo pulled again. The box moved an inch. Beneath him, the beam scraped against its support.
“Stop,” the dragon said.
A long, pale tail descended beside the ruined wall. The dragon lowered it carefully until its tip pressed against the side of the beam.
“Will that hold it?” Ivo asked.
“For a short while.”
Ivo eased the stick out from under the strap. He used its tip to move the loose stone away, then hooked the strap again.
This time the box slid free.
He caught it against his chest and stood. The dragon kept its tail in place while he crossed back along the beam.
When both his feet reached solid ground, Ivo turned.
“You can let go.”
The dragon lifted its tail. A section of floor dropped into the chamber below with a crash. Dust rose between the broken columns.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then the dragon hurried around the outside of the ruins.
Something Worth Guarding
Ivo followed as far as the fallen wall. Several stones had slipped in front of a low opening beneath the old storehouse.
“Is your nest in there?” he called.
“Yes.”
The dragon lifted a large slab with one claw and set it aside. Ivo put down the box and moved the smaller stones from the edge of the opening.
“Can you see inside?” he asked.
“Not yet.”
They cleared enough of the entrance for the dragon to lower its head. It paused, listening.
A small scraping sound came from the darkness.
Then a young dragon peered out.
Its horns were barely longer than Ivo’s fingers. It climbed over a loose stone, stopped at the sight of him, and retreated halfway into the chamber.
Ivo sat back on his heels.
“I thought you might be guarding treasure.”
“I am,” the dragon said.
Ivo looked at the little creature again. “I was imagining gold.”
“Gold is less likely to wander towards a broken floor.”
The young dragon emerged once more and sniffed the box beside Ivo. He opened the lid. Inside were several paper packets, dry beneath their wrapping.
The larger dragon lowered its head.
“What will you do with those?”
“Plant them, if they still grow.”
The dragon examined the tiny seeds in Ivo’s palm.
“You would need very small claws.”
“Or a friend with hands,” Ivo said.
The young dragon stretched its neck towards him. Its feet made a faint tapping sound on the stone.
Its mother heard at once.
“Not too close to the edge,” she said.
Ivo moved the box aside, and the little dragon came to inspect his empty hand instead.
Livora Gracely ♥
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