Harper (NaNoWriMo 2014)

Chapter 6: He's Not Stupid...Right?

As Cirrus stared at the prone body of the man who was supposed to be her world’s savior, she couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps there had been a mistake somewhere down the line.

He certainly doesn’t look like a hero, she thought to herself as she examined him with her eyes for what felt like the millionth time. He wasn’t very tall, for one…only about a hand or two taller than her. His clothes weren’t impressive, even among his own people. His hair was a mess of loose, mahogany curls, not the clean-cut style with perhaps one loose curl in front that she had envisioned. When they had turned him over onto his back after he’d fallen through the portal, Cirrus had felt muscles, but nothing to be in awe at. It wasn’t that he looked terrible or anything.

He just…wasn’t very…hero-like.

Underwhelming, she decided, He's very underwhelming. 

For months she’d had a very specific sort of person in mind. After discovering the prophesy, it was near the only thing she could think of. Many nights had been spent crafting the perfect hero. Older than her but still young, strong chin, chiseled jaw, piercing eyes and fierce eyebrows, yet still holding a smile that proved he was good. She’d switched back and forth between whether he would be a man of brawn or of brain, until deciding she would be fine with either. And tall. Tall, tall, tall. Unsure at first, perhaps, but after she’d tell of her world’s plight, he would leap at the chance to save their worlds in a heartbeat.

Yes. That had been the scenario she’d prepared for. The conditions she’d thought she’d be working with. To say that what had actually happened was unexpected would be so deep an understatement, it would rest amongst even the oldest tunnel dragons, who lived many hundred arms below the deepest roots of the First Tree, and whom many believed didn’t even exist.

But what did the many know anyways?

“You’re sure it’s him?” Cirrus asked her compadre for the fifteenth time, speaking in the airy tones of the cloud dragons, “Absolutely sure?”

Agile side-eyed her. She could tell he was close to annoyed with this same question. Yet still he reassured her, albeit with disappointment dripping in his voice. “Yes. The dragon eye doesn’t lie.”

She knew that. And Agile was not the type to lie about something like this. Especially not when they had dragged this man to their side. Yet it was still frustrating that she couldn’t check for herself. Even in dragon form, it evaded her, and she was sticking seeing with her usual, grey eyes. Which, granted, were still more powerful than the eyes of a regular human. But still. It was in the dragon form that it became evident what her parentage was. Or rather, what it lacked.

She sighed, then righted herself, stretching her arms forward. “All right then. We should get him somewhere less exposed.” Portal-hiking wasn’t uncomfortable for those who traveled regularly, or knew what to expect, but for a first-timer with no experience, like Harper, it could be extremely disorienting. Not to mention he literally fell through. Couple that with his lack of exposure to magic, raw or otherwise. His unconciousness was probably the one thing Cirrus had expected.

Agile didn’t move, instead staring at her with a non-plussed look. Since their return, he’d reverted to his natural form, finding the young human body cramped, which Cirrus found ironic considering he was a small dragon to start with. Hands on hips, Cirrus motioned at their knocked-out savior. “Well?”

A staring contest ensued, a silent game of chicken, until finally Agile stirred from his lounging position and stood up, growing and growing and changing until he towered over her and she had to tilt her head back almost all the way to see his face. She frowned, forehead wrinkling. “A bit excessive, don’t you think?” she asked with a huff.