Lazy Scales by D. M. Gilmore

Author:D. M. Gilmore [Gilmore, D. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-09-06T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Lewis trotted up the mountainside, with both Becca and Jeremy on his back. They weren’t particularly heavy. It reminded him of wearing a backpack full of school books. Jeremy weighed next to nothing, and Becca was only heavy because she was still soaking wet. Lasthope floated nearby, keeping an eye out for anything that might serve as a suitable den for a young dragon.

They stumbled across a bear's den dug into the hillside, not too far into the journey. Lewis could immediately tell it would never work. At present, the hole was occupied by an angry-looking grizzly and her cub, who bellowed at them as they got close. Lewis bared his fangs and roared back at them, making them dive for cover into the tiny hole.

Even if Lewis had the heart to evict them from their home, there was no way he could make their den his own. The hole was so small that he could barely fit his snout into it, let alone the rest of him. He shook his head and moved on up the mountain until they couldn’t hear the bear cub crying anymore.

He contemplated building some kind of shelter out of wood by knocking down trees and bending them to make a fort. It wouldn’t be too hard. He was strong enough now that he could knock down trees with barely any effort and strip them into logs in minutes. Lasthope recommended against it, as a dragon living in a wooden structure was typically an awful idea.

“Dragons live in mountain caves,” he explained, “what you should search for is the smell of bats. They typically inhabit caves that would make for a decent home.”

When pressed for what bats smell like, Lasthope could only shrug and tell Lewis to search for the smell of poop, and bats will not be far behind.

It wasn’t until they got near the edge of the foothills that Lewis spotted something he could acceptably call a home. A cave yawned into the mountainside. The mouth was enormous enough that Lewis could stand in the entrance and spread his wings and only just barely brush their tips against the sides. He could stand on his hind legs and not bonk his head on the ceiling. He took a quick sniff of the air, and the smell of poop permeated his nostrils. He recoiled in disgust but then took another deep breath. If he had to live here, he’d have to force himself to get used to the smell.

“I think this is it,” he said, crouching down to let Becca and Jeremy off his back. “I think this is my new bachelor pad.”

“It’s a cave,” Jeremy said.

“It stinks,” Becca added.

“It’s a bachelor pad,” Lewis corrected, turning up his nose haughtily. “All the fashionable young dragons have to have one.”

Becca and Jeremy shared a confused glance, and Lasthope gave Lewis a disgusted sneer from over their shoulders.

“You guys are no fun,” Lewis scoffed and trotted a few steps into the cave.

It was damp and cold and lacked anything that made it feel even remotely homey, but it also felt right.

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