CHAPTER 71

"I see. Speaking of the queen, have you heard from her recently?"

"Should I have?" Quetzalli asked.

"Like, doesn't she have to tell you where to go or what weather to make?"

"The queen trusts me in my expertise. I have not spoken with her directly in decades, nor do I have need to." The dragon looked over its shoulder, then back at them. "I sense dark forces gathering here. It seems that you have the attention of many beings that lurk in this area, and I worry that you may fall prey to them. Do you not carry any adequate defenses?"

"Honestly, this trip was meant to be a diplomatic mission of sorts. As a result, we brought no weapons to use against the fae."

"Hmm." The dragon moved close to him and he felt an electric field form across his body. "It is true. You do not carry the iron that they fear so much. Very well, I have decided. I was going to give you directions, but you will not last the night in this place. May I offer you a ride?"

"Yes, please." Mike approached the dragon, looking for somewhere to get on. "Where may we sit?"

Quetzalli laughed, a hearty booming sound that he could feel in his chest. "I do not offer rides lightly, for you will have to ride inside my mouth. I'm afraid that the air up there is quite thin and very cold, and I rely on the lightning itself to soar across the lands. You would not survive such a trip."

He frowned, looking at the dragon. "How can I be sure I'll survive a trip in your mouth?"

"I do not eat man. I take sustenance from the sky, and occasionally some fish." Quetzalli's mouth opened to reveal that the inside was largely devoid of teeth. What few the dragon had were widely spaced and not very sharp. "Though I suppose I could accidentally swallow you. That would be tragic, and I would feel very bad."

"I think we should go for it," Beth told him. "We've got nothing to lose, and everything to gain. I get the feeling that if we stay out here, we're dead anyway."

He frowned, then pondered the implications. Quetzalli's explanation about the queen made sense, and it was entirely possible that the dragon had no idea that he was persona non grata with the queen herself. Beth was actively shivering now, clutching his coat against her skin. Strangely enough, he didn't feel very cold at all, but he figured it was because his mind was filled with other concerns right now.

"I guess we accept. Please don't eat us."

Quetzalli laughed again. "I will do my best."

When the dragon opened up its maw, he saw that there was plenty of room between teeth and tongue for him to sit. Beth climbed in across from him, and in the distance, something shrieked angrily.

The dragon closed its mouth, plunging them into darkness, and there were several disorienting seconds as Quetzalli twisted about and then took off into the sky. Outside the dragon, they could hear a steady humming noise and Mike's ears started popping.

"You good over there?" he asked.

"Yeah. Just... this has been a shitty couple of days." Beth's phone clicked on, and he could see her face above the dragon's tongue. "The best thing that has happened to us is riding inside a strange dragon's mouth. Let that sink in."

"The fact that we are so soaked to the bone and we can't tell what's water and what's saliva should bother us more."

At least the dragon's mouth was warm, though it smelled like a cross between a fish market and a locker room. Beth no longer shivered now, and her face was a mask of disgust.

"If we can help it, let's not come back," she suggested.

"I agree."

The flight was long, and he dozed off at some point, figuring that if the dragon chose to make a snack of them, there was nothing he could do. His dreams were fleeting, and the only thing he could remember about them was fantasizing about his old dagger and how much he wished he had it now. He probably would have killed the kelpie and stayed in the fishing hut, and if they ran afoul of the nuckelavee, he could have given it a run for its money.

When he woke up, it was because Beth was pushing something into his hand.

"You should eat something," she told him, handing him half of a food bar.

"Thanks," he said, then quickly devoured it. "Any idea how long we've been flying?"

"At least a few hours. My phone keeps trying to update its clock, but this place keeps screwing with it. So anywhere between ten minutes and twelve hours."

"So I take it the path was a lot longer than that gnome thought it would be."

"Hey, he just told us a direction. Maybe he was lying, maybe not. It wasn't like he could tell us how long it would be."

"Yeah, well I'm wondering how much longer we'll—" His ears popped, and he slid forward as Quetzalli descended. He reached across the tongue and grabbed Beth's hands, holding tightly to them as the dragon landed; then it opened its mouth and let them out.

It was daylight now, and they stood just outside a structure that was carved similarly to the Roman Colosseum built against the side of a mountain. All around them, the fae gawked in curiosity as he helped Beth to her feet. They were both still wet, and she handed him his jacket, which he took.

"Thanks again," he told the dragon. "If I can ever repay you, well, come find me or something."

"The sentiment is appreciated." In the light of day, Quetzalli was even more magnificent than before. Sunlight bounced off of multicolored scales and cast light on the road beneath their feet that was reminiscent of a stained-glass window. "Luck be with you, man-ling."

An aura of electricity surrounded the dragon, and feathery wings stretched wide as it jumped into the sky. Thunder rolled over the coliseum, and they watched as Quetzalli disappeared into the clouds above.