Whispers of Dragons

Chapter 5

I walked over to the black couch and sat down. "You know, you really have a thing for black don't you?" I raised my eyebrow. Will blushed and looked down.

"Yeah, I guess I do." He said, embarrassed. I sighed loudly and leaned my head back to stare up at the ceiling. I felt his gaze on me but refused to acknowledge it. I started rubbing my forehead as I felt the beginnings of a headache coming on. "What's your favorite color?" Will asked. Still staring at the roof, I laughed humorlessly.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked.

"Why don't you want me to know?" He challenged. I glanced towards him to see his eyebrow raised in question before looking back at the roof and sighing.

"Purple." I responded. He was silent for a moment. After he didn't respond, I looked over at him again, only to find him doubled over in silent laughter, tears running down his face. "What?" I demanded, irritated that he had the nerve to laugh at me. He stopped laughing and tried to put on a serious face but when he met my glare, he burst out laughing again. I crossed my arms and stared until he was finished laughing. When he finally caught his breath, he started apologizing.

"I'm sorry," he said, laughter still in his eyes. "It's just, you don't strike me as the 'purple' kind of girl." I gave him a questioning look. "Well, I mean, you know, just, look at you!" Will exclaimed. I looked down at that moment. I looked down at my black pants with my black tank top. My gray jacket was still tied around my waist and the tip of the knife I had put in my belt poked me slightly, reminding me that I was still armed. I could see his point; I didn't exactly look like a girl who loved the color purple.

I sighed in resignation and smiled slightly at him. He smiled back and looked slightly apologetic. "Sorry, it's just there's not much to laugh about nowadays so I figured I might as well take advantage while I can." His face fell as he finished the sentence. I looked at him suspiciously.

"What do you mean 'while you can'?" I questioned. He looked resigned as he answered.

"Look Clara," he started, "I think we both know that the council won't stand for having two dragon whisperers on the council-"

"Did you just call us dragon whisperers?" I demanded. He looked taken aback.

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing," I tried to backtrack. "It's just I've never heard anyone give a name to what we do before. Everyone always just referred to me as the 'special' mage." I mocked. Will looked down.

"It's just what the council called me when they came to take me away. Probably because I'm not actually a mage." I could see Will getting lost in his memories again and felt guilty at bringing them back.

"What were you saying?" I prompted as an attempt to take his mind off his memories. He collected himself.

"You know the council wants complete control so they can try to take out the entire dragon species." I nodded in agreement. "So far we've been safe in the knowledge that they can't harm us without giving up their own souls since that's what the law says, but that insurance policy won't last for long." I stared at him, uncomprehending. "Clara," Will sighed. "The council has found a way to break the law."