Heatwave

Part 3

Darpik likes to push the limits; he drove just a tad bit faster than the speed limit allowed and held his arm out the window as the wind whipped past. Kip cowered in my lap, her coal colored scales vibrating against each other as she shook.

"What are you afraid of?" I asked her, petting her downy head.

"Kip's in training. She doesn't fly, so I offered to take her under my wing and teacher her, so to speak." Darpik rolled his eyes as the cowardly creature and kept driving.

We raced to a first row spot and stopped abruptly, putting the silver vehicle into park and getting out. We shared a cheese fry at a skating arena with Kip pacing around our feet, waiting for drips and crumbs.

The setting sun turned the sky a vivid pink, the cotton-candy clouds sat stationary overhead. Cool, damp air plastered my light-colored hair to my forehead and made the fries soggy and limp under the steaming cheese.

"Can I?" I asked, holding a cheese covered fry over the leaping Kip.

Darpik nodded, mumbling through a mouth full of fries.

Kip caught the treat before it fell even a foot, her leathery wings spreading as she reached, her back legs lifting from the ground about an inch.

Darpik started laughing, wiping his mouth and pushing the empty paper bowl to the far side of the sticky table. "I guess she'll fly when she wants something."

Kip tugged at the frayed bottom of Darpik's navy pants with her pointed teeth, as she had obviously done before.

"No more," Darpik held up his empty hands, "the last thing you need is more, you fatty."

I looked at him questioningly.

"Well, you try carrying her around on your shoulders all day long."

"I wish," I sighed.

"Oh Eamon, you would love it at the academy." Darpik cooed, "There is a special teacher for each different species of dragon, and every once and a while they even bring us a Skull-dragon." He pushed Kip around with the toe of his right foot absentmindedly while she pounced on it repeatedly.

"I'll go there," I assured him, checking over my shoulder curiously as I felt eyes on my back.

He laughed again, he big brown eyes wrinkling at the corners.

"Let's go do something." He announced, standing and brushing fry fragments off his pants, which Kip dove after ravenously.

"Like what?"

"We're at a go kart arena," Darpik offered, holding his arms out to show off our surroundings.

I smiled brightly and nodded vigorously.

Darpik laughed and leaning over, he let Kip climb up his arm and back onto his shoulders.

She sat, cowering, between Darpik's legs as the attendant strapped him into the gleaming yellow kart beside mine. I bounced my knees and couldn't stop smiling until the three, hovering lights over our heads turned from red to green and we were off, and then I was shouting and whooping.

Darpik and I are the same, we have a need for speed. I felt the wind all the way in my chest, my hair blown back all the way and my eyes watering in the sharp breeze. The sky was now a matching color to Darpik's pants, the newly wispy clouds a deep black below the straining stars, reaching down to me.

I whooped and hollered, laughing uncontrollably as Darpik and I raced. First me in front, then him, then me, Kip clawing wildly at his left leg. Darpik tried shouting something at me over the growling kart motors and howling wind. I shook my head, motioning misunderstanding as we raced.

After they stopped the ride, Darpik was struggling to get the cowering Kip off of his legs and arms to which she stuck almost statically.

"What did you say?" I asked, my ears feeling fuzzy after the roar of the wind.

"Pyrodermoid," Darpik explained, still fighting the frightened Kip. "she started feeling really warm. Most fire-dragons are pyrodermoids; they have the ability to set themselves on fire. I think she actually might have started my pants on fire." Darpik laughed and finally managed to get hold of the settling Kip and he held her protectively in his arms as if he were comforting a cat.

"For defense or offence?" I wondered, fascinated.

"Mostly defense, but I'm sure she could do it whenever she wanted if she'd try."

"That's so awesome." I muttered, watching the heated beast googly-eyed but still oddly feeling eyes on me from a distance.