Mimic [ON HOLD]

Chapter Seven: Arrive

I must have dozed off during the flight at some point, because I awoke to Amayralas shaking my shoulder.

"We're here, honey," she told me. Readjusting in my seat, I felt a pit in my stomach and realized we were going down. Straight down. The dragon had stopped using its wings to keep us in the air, and was now using them as a parachute. I held onto my seat and silently hoped that I didn't throw up now: not after such a smooth ride. There was a thump as the dragon's feet made contact with the ground, and all the passengers lurched forward.

"Dragon 0284 has landed, for the 1:48 direct flight from Ohio," a man, likely a gate agent, intoned. "Passengers may disembark at this time."

I stood and gathered up my shopping bag and backpack. A gate agent pushed a staircase on wheels to the end of each row to allow the riders to walk down. I met Felix in the exit queue, watching with curiosity as he slipped a gold coin into a jar labelled "tips".

"You tip your dragon?" I asked. Felix stared at me as if it was common etiquette I should have known.

"She just flew us halfway across the world. Of course I tipped her."

I didn't question it. It seemed like I'd just have to soak in all the ways of these people; these people who weren't strangers. As hard as it was to believe, mere months ago I must have been one of them. The people on the plane may well have recognized me. I only wished I had a gold coin to tip the dragon.

"Where are we going now?"

"Well..." Felix said, checking the clock on the wall of the Casimir Dragon take-off point (which was about triple the size of the Ohio airport). "It's almost four in the morning. I'm sure you'd want to sleep before your first day."

Felix yawned, and I smiled. I had slept on the plane: I had a feeling that he needed more sleep than me. Nevertheless I nodded.

"There's a place nearby. The Eafon Inn. I stayed there on vacation last year," Felix told me, ushering us out of the airport.

The Eafon Inn was a building with a style of architecture I couldn't quite place. It was a blend between the Victorian farmhouses in the countryside and the stone fortresses of medieval times. The inn was entirely built from plated rock, but turrets and dormer windows randomly punctuated the steep roof.

At the front desk, a plump bald man greeted us warmly. The room was surprisely cozy considering it was stone-walled, with a thick carpet, sunken couches, and a blazing fireplace. Overhead, a few stray white doves flew with their talons clutching rolled up papers, which they deposited in a basket marked "Reservations".

"Welcome! For two?" the man asked, eyeballing us. "Where are your parents?"

I started to speak, but Felix cut me off. "We aren't siblings. And our parents aren't here."

I looked down at myself, and saw that my hair had become wavy and reddish-brown. Cursing this unintended Mimicry, I stepped away from Felix. The man looked at us even more strangely.

"Indeed. For one night?"

Felix nodded. I guess

"One room or two?"

"Two," we replied automatically. Felix handed over a few coins, and the bald man gave us each a key.

"Rooms 40 and 42. Third floor, west wing. Complementary breakfast is at eight, but I'd suggest you get yourselves some more rest. Lunch is pay-as-you-go, but since you'll skip breakfast, it's on me."

"Thank you," I began to say. Suddenly I felt a tickle on my shoulder. Looking down, I saw wisps of reddish hair falling to the floor and disintegrating, like feathers being shed. I stifled a gasp.