Here Be Dragons: Book 1 of the Emergence Series

Hironh paced to and fro, his spines flattened against his neck as he ruminated over the accident.

Intentionally or not, he had very clearly broken his promise. That alone would have been bad enough, but to have destroyed such a precious item, something Pryce seemed to value above all else…

He had expected Pryce to be furious, but the human didn't seem angry at all…at least, as far as Hironh could tell. Human skin seemed to darken and grow moist when stressed, and sometimes their eyes even produced saltwater, oddly enough, but Pryce didn't exhibit any of these behaviors. Even his heartbeat didn't seem especially elevated. Instead he only seemed…vacant, for lack of a better word, like a shell of his usual self.

In a way, that was worse.

Hironh shook his head as he spread his wings. It didn't really matter in the end; a broken promise required compensation, and that was all there was to it.

Hironh landed on the deck of the ship cautiously; it was the first time he had done so without Pryce to greet him. The circumstances made him feel like he was intruding, but he shook the feeling off as he waited. It took a few minutes, but Hironh could hear him moving around the ship, so he knew that Pryce was on his way.

When the human emerged, he…did not look good, even by Hironh's inexperienced judgement. The skin under his eyes was darker, his eyelids drooped, and his shoulders were hunched instead of straight-backed, giving him the impression of looking quite exhausted.

"Good morning," Pryce said, as if stating a fact.

Hironh withheld a response about how it did not seem like a 'good' morning, instead with a great effort he set a pouch down upon the deck.

The bottles inside clinked against each other as they settled on the deck, causing Pryce to stare blankly at him.

"Take," Hironh said, nudging the pouch.

"I don't want these," Pryce said, shaking his head.

"But…why?"

"I don't need them," Pryce said simply, giving a tired shrug. "If you want to say sorry about the chronometer, then…is okay. You do not need to give me things because you break chronometer."

"No," Hironh said, resolutely tossing his head. "I promise you that I be careful, and I was not careful. When dragon break promise, must do…this. Say sorry." He gestured awkwardly as he tried to get his point across.

"...Okay, thank you for saying sorry," Pryce nodded, in that same flat, monotone voice.

Hironh opened his mouth, then growled in frustration as he snapped it shut. "Why are you not mad?!" he demanded, a bit more loudly than he intended, but at least it seemed to jar Pryce out of his stupor.

"What?" Pryce asked, jumping in surprise.

"I break your things, you are not mad, you are not sad, you are…like this?" Hironh hissed, gesturing incredulously at Pryce.

The human was silent for a moment, then raised his head. "You…did not know how smooth metals are. I know you did not know this, so I make more mistake than you-"

"No, this is stupid!" Hironh hissed.

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Pryce blinked, a little alarmed by the hostile display. "Er…what?"

"People get sick and die, you think is your mistake, I break chronometer, break promise, you say is your mistake! You make no sense!" Hironh growled, causing Pryce to take an involuntary step back – surprised, but not afraid, if Hironh wasn't mistaken.

The human opened his mouth, then closed it again as he seemed to struggle to find an answer.

"It is because I…do things," Pryce began, making an odd wringing motion with his hands. "On the Mainland many people do things I tell them to do. If I make mistake, then bad things happen. There are many things I cannot control, so I need to do everything that I can. Do you understand?"

Hironh slowly drew his head back as Pryce fumbled through his explanation. It was clear that he was struggling to convey himself through their limited vocabulary, but Hironh felt like he was beginning to understand the human, at least a little. "…I do not understand all, but…I understand some," he slowly rumbled. "I still break thing that is valuable. Is my mistake."

"It's…okay," Pryce said, gesturing weakly. "It is not very…important that you break chronometer. I have two more on ship."

Hironh narrowed his eyes. "Your chronometer is broken, yes?"

"Yes, why?"

"If broken chronometer is not important, then you give to me."

"What? No!" Pryce refused, finally showing some emotion. "Why would you-"

"If you will not give, then chronometer is important to you," Hironh said, and Pryce realized he'd been outmaneuvered. "I know this is true, but I do not understand why. Chronometer is very nice, but is not better than camera, or telescope, or ship. You always have chronometer in pocket. This is because chronometer is important to you. Why?"

The human sighed as he sat himself down. "You remember my friend James, yes? He created the chronometer. That is why it has the words 'Wright Chronometer' on it," Pryce said, looking away as he finished his sentence. "He made it for me before he died."

Hironh's spines flared wide open as the true scope of his actions began to dawn upon him. He'd known that this 'James' was important to Pryce, but the human hadn't mentioned anything about the chronometer being a gift, let alone one from his dearly departed friend.

A sinking pit of remorse formed in his core as he realized what he had done – he hadn't just broken a valuable possession; he'd destroyed a precious memento.

A broken promise.

A failed responsibility.

Those were things Hironh was far too familiar with.

"Come with me," Hironh abruptly said, picking up Pryce's backpack in one foreclaw and scooping Pryce up in the other.

"What are you-" Pryce protested, but was cut off as Hironh leapt into the sky. "Where are we going?"

"My home," Hironh simply answered. "I will explain when we land."

"Euugh," Pryce groaned, kneeling on all fours as he waited for the nausea to pass. Fathom had flown much faster than he had yesterday, though Pryce suspected he was still restraining himself for his own sake.

"Wait here," Fathom said, and marched into his home.

The request was hardly necessary, as by the time Pryce felt well enough to stand Fathom had already returned, hobbling on three limbs.

Pryce opened his mouth to ask why Fathom had become so agitated, but then the dragon set something down on the ground, and pulled away his foreclaw to reveal an iridescent ammonite.

"This is…a fossil," Pryce said, unsure of what to think. He'd seen opalized fossils before, and this was a very handsome specimen, but why was Fathom showing him this now? "It is very pretty," he said, when Fathom remained silent.

"Yes," Fathom said, bowing his head. "It is gift from Anvyr-ǂ. I break your most important thing, so I give you my most important thing."

"What?" Pryce said, shocked by the gesture. "Chronometer is not my most important thing," he said, holding his hands up in denial.

Fathom narrowed his eyes. "If chronometer is not, what is? Do not tell me lies," he added, when Pryce could only stammer a response.

"Okay, you are right," Pryce was forced to admit. "But I-"

Fathom bowed his head low, interrupting Pryce mid-sentence."I am sorry," he solemnly rumbled.

"Okay, I accept your apology," Pryce said, a little awkwardly. "That is thing you say when someone says sorry."

"Good," Fathom said, raising his head.

"I'm still not going to take it."

"You – Why?" Fathom demanded, but Pryce never got the chance to reply – before he could so much as utter a single word, a great roar rang throughout the sky.