So Many Books, So Little Time

•Chapter Six•

When Aleah arrived at Inkland Adventures, Phoenix was already waiting for her. He was lounging on one of the beanbags and flipping through an old, tattered-looking brown book. A pen was gripped in his hand as he pressed it against his cheek in thought, but his head rose when he heard the bell chime.

"Aleah!" he yelped, shoving the book under his seat. "Hey! Oh, uh, where's your sister?"

What's he hiding? she wondered with a spark of curiosity. Hmm. I hope some secrets will be uncovered soon.

"She's not coming today," she explained. "Raylee doesn't like reading much, and she definitely wasn't a fan of the handbook you gave her. Sorry. I'll read it, though, when I'm done with the stuff you gave me."

"I guess she won't help you out, then," he sighed. "Darn it! I was hoping she'd be along for the ride, maybe dish out some moral support. Twins and siblings, you know? That's okay, you'll have me."

Aleah blinked, her mind unable to follow his train of thought. I have no idea what the heck he just said. It must be part of this magical scheme! Uh, if there is one, anyway.

"So, anything interesting to report about the magic ink?" Phoenix asked casually, crossing his legs and leaning back to make himself more comfortable. He made it sound like he was inquiring about the book itself, but she was pretty sure he was really talking about the actual magic ink.

Which must mean it really is an actual thing! she thought excitedly, hope beginning to build inside her. She had been planning on a subtle approach to it, but what burst out of her mouth was, "Is magic real?! Do dragons really exist?!"

The bookshop's owner looked surprised for a moment before pride replaced it.

"I knew you were smart!" he beamed. "The answer is yes!"

Wait, he admitted it? Just like that? That's a little anticlimactic.

"Can I meet a dragon?" she pleaded, now a bit skeptical, despite her own beliefs.

"You already have," he chuckled with a wink, his bright green eyes starting to glow even brighter. The luminescence lasted only seconds, disappearing as quickly as it came, but it had effectively convinced Aleah. You couldn't do something like that without it being magic!

"Whoa," she breathed, awe shining in her face. "If you're a dragon, how can you look so... human? Is it your magic?! Sweet!"

"It's the magic ink, of course," he confided. "We dragons can warp it sometimes, yes, but usually we need to actively write something down for it to become reality. I think that if you read the last entry in the book you're reading you'll find what I did. Care to sneak a peek?"

She nodded enthusiastically, quickly sliding her backpack into her arms to unzip it and fumble inside frantically. With a grin, she grabbed the book and lifted it out, exposing the beautiful title that only seemed even more interesting now that she knew it contained only the truth.

"What kind of dragon are you?" she asked conversationally as she flipped through the pages.

"A fireflare, of course!" he replied proudly, patting the beanbag beside his. "Come over here and sit. Have you read about those, yet? Page 378."

She complied readily, still scanning through the magic ink and now searching for the section on fireflare dragons. At last, she spotted the right number, and proceeded to read it aloud.

"Fireflare dragons are masters of fire. Their scales range in colors such as different shades of red, orange, and occasionally yellow. Their eyes are normally bright blue or green, and pointy spikes resembling flames adorn their spine, head, and tail, along with short, thick horns atop their skull. Their scales are able to flare with fire, and when they become agitated, flames begin to spurt from their nostrils.

"Males and females are generally the same size, but are distinguished by their colors: males are darker, while females sport lighter shades. Mates are for life and are chosen very carefully, and so this species of dragon is usually single for most of their life. They can live up to three hundred and fifty years, and mature around five. Dragonets begin flying around six months of age, and mates have up to five eggs in one clutch.

"Cool! So how old are you, Phoenix? Do you have a mate yet?"

"I'm still pretty young," he admitted. "I'm roughly fifty years old. I look like a twenty-year-old human, don't I? And no, I don't have a mate. It's hard to find that special someone when you hang out with humans all the time. But that's fine, I'm not really looking to settle down at the moment. So, which dragon is your favorite so far?"

Aleah nodded at his answers, and then flipped to her favorite section (which she'd marked). Once she found it, she spun Magic Ink around and pointed so he could read it.

Wormek dragons are the bookworms of dragonkind. They are the masters of books and knowledge, and many of them have worked hard to put this book together. They, along with mythicae dragons, were the creators of magic ink. Their scales are a creamy hue with black speckles splattered all over their body, and they are the proud owners of fully usable tails, which act almost as a forth talon. Their eyes are a beautiful shade of sky blue.

Mates are rare among this species, due to their thirst for knowledge and the long hours they spend reading, researching, and writing. But if they choose to mate, it usually doesn't last long. Some mates manage to survive a lifetime together, but conflicting interests on their research topics lead to unresolved arguments. Males have longer bodies than females.

Dragonets mature remarkably quickly at the age of six months, and clutches can have up to twelve eggs. This seemingly excessive amount of younglings is due to their tendency to reject the idea of mates, so the mates that actually stay together must make up for the rest of their kind. Lifespan usually reaches to one thousand years.

"Good choice," Phoenix approved. "Huh. You know what? You'd actually make a pretty good wormek."