I stared dumbfounded at him. Again.
He grinned at me. “You won’t need this food I’m offering if you keep hanging your mouth open. You’ll catch your fill of flies.”
I shook myself out of my daze and scooted away from the man. “Are you nuts?”
Tegan took another bite of cheese. “I have been called that many times, among other things, but why do you ask?”
I pointed at his person. “Because you don’t look like a dragon to me.”
He looked down at himself. “Let’s just say I prefer this skin to my scales. It’s a little easier to move around in this dense forest.”
“Then prove it. Turn into a giant lizard.”
Tegan chuckled. “I doubt I’ll need to go that far.”
He stretched out one arm in front of him. My eyes bulged out of my head as I watched the lower half of his arm and his hand swell. Scales popped out of his skin and his fingers thickened. Two of his fingers even emerged and his fingernails lengthened into sharp claws.
He drew his transformed arm back and flexed his thick fingers. “A rather useful tool for fighting in closed spaces.” He turned his attention to me and his eyes twinkled with mischief. “Do I need to go further?”
My reply was swift and blunt. I scrambled backward across the ground until my back hit a tree. “W-what the hell?!” I exclaimed as I pointed a shaking finger at his arm. “What the fuck are you?!”
Tegan chuckled as he lowered his arm, and as he did so his limb reverted back to its human shape. “I told you. I’m a dragon. A shifter, to be precise. Now then-” He held up a piece of bread, “-did you want any food?”
Wow, was my mind full of half-shaped questions and panicked thoughts. My heart thumped so hard in my chest it threatened to bruise a rib from the inside. I gripped the earth beneath me as my eyes flitted around searching for the best avenue of escape.
“You shouldn’t run.”
The dragon man’s words made me freeze. He stood and sauntered over to the fire where he resumed his seat beside the flames. A pensive expression returned to his face as he stared into the fire. “Domhain isn’t a safe place to be, especially at night. One wrong step and you could find yourself in the Undergrowth.”
Oh great. I’d be out of the frying pan and into the fire. I swallowed the rock in my throat and gauged the man in front of me. He didn’t look like he wanted to eat a damsel in distress.
I managed to choke out a few words. “You. . .do you really eat people?”
He smiled as he held up a slice of cheese. “Only those who are weak from hunger and can’t put up a fight.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “That isn’t funny.”
“I’m sorry. I was just trying to get you to do something other than panic. Here.” He tossed the bread at me and after a little bit of juggling I managed to catch it. “And don’t worry about it being poisoned. I’m not that kind of dragon.”
I grasped the bread in both hands and studied him. “What kind of dragon are you?”
He nodded down at the fire. “The kind that can make a campfire in a pinch.”
“Then you didn’t steal me away to eat me?” I guessed.
Tegan chuckled. “I hadn’t intended to steal you away at all. I was merely trying to evade my pursuers when I saw you fall off the building, and the rest is as you see it.”
I crept a little closer to the inviting fire. “Those were witches after you?”
Tegan lifted his arm and I watched in awe as he transformed it into the strange dragon claw. He used his changed limb like a poker to prod the fire into greater life. “They were very eager to make the acquaintance of my fireproof scales for their spells. So eager, in fact, that they didn’t heed all the magic they were throwing around in that storm and the combustion caused us to breach the thin line between my world and yours.”
“And that’s how you came flying over my home,” I finished for him.
He lifted his gaze to study me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to drag you into my troubles.”
I had now reached the opposite side of the fire from him and stretched out my hands to warm them. “It’s okay. This is the most excitement I’ve ever had in my life. Now I just have to figure out how to get back to it.”
A dark cloud settled on Tegan’s brow as he pursed his lips. “You can’t do that.”
I lifted my eyes to him and frowned. “Why not? You broke through into my world once, why can’t you do it again?”
He shook his head. “That’s not the issue. The issue is that you have magic now. If you were to go back to your world you would be putting yourself in danger with the authorities. They would inevitably discover your secret and cage you for the rest of your life in order to study you.”
I frowned at him. “But I keep trying to tell you, I don’t have any magic. I’m just a plain office girl with some really bad cooking skills.”
He cocked his head to one side as he captured my eyes in his steady gaze. “Can you honestly tell me that you feel nothing inside you? Not a tingle of something new lurking beneath your normality?”
I pressed a fist against my chest and bowed my head. The heaviness I had felt on my awakening was still there. “I. . .I don’t know. What’s having magic supposed to feel like?”
Tegan stretched out his normal hand toward me. I shrank back, but he smiled at me. “I won’t hurt you. I promise.”
I gulped loudly but nodded. He scooted closer and pressed his palm against my chest. A soft warmth filled my body like being draped in a clean blanket just out of the dryer. The heat focused on my heart and seemed to wrap around the heavy weight there. I set my hand over his and my eyes widened as I felt the weight dissipate somewhat.
Tegan drew his hand away and studied me. “Did you feel something?”
I nodded. “Yeah. What was that you did? Did you give me some of your magic?”
“Not exactly,” Tegan replied as he leaned back on his scaly arm. “I merely borrowed some of yours. The sensation isn’t the same for everyone, even for those who have the same element, but there’s a general feeling of something inside that tells them they have the gift.”
“Element? Like your fire?” I guessed.
“Exactly,” he confirmed as he raised his human hand and studied his palm. “Two people may have an affinity for the same element, but one may not be able to produce a fireball while the other couldn’t spit out brimstone if their life depended on it.”
I furrowed my brow as I set my hand over my warm heart. “So how do I find out my element?”
“By using your magic.”
My face drooped and I frowned. “And how do I do that?”
“No idea.”
My mouth dropped open. “What do you mean by that?”
He laughed and sat up. “Like I said, magic is different for everyone and I’m no teacher of those arts. We’ll have to find one when we reach the capital.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “But you said something earlier about unlocking my magic and you’re supposed to take me under your wing or something, right?”
Tegan’s eyes twinkled. “My wings aren’t all that hospitable, but I can give you some advice.”
“And what’s that?”
He nodded at the piece of bread in my hand. “Eat and get some sleep. It’s a long trek to Colun.”
“Trek?” I asked him as he stretched himself down on the ground. “Why don’t we fly?”
Tegan tucked an arm under his head and patted his opposite shoulder with his other hand. “Because that crash landing injured more than just your head. I’ll be lucky if I’m flying in a week.”
I glanced at where I’d just been sitting. “Your coat-”
“Use it,” Tegan insisted as he rolled over so his back faced me. “I’m too hot-blooded for the night air to chill me.”
I scooted over to the coat and was glad to drape it over my shoulders. The night air was indeed chilly as the stars could attest and I moved back over to the fire. “Thanks.”
A muffled reply came back to me as I settled down for the night. The ground was hard and prickly and my body ached, but exhaustion allowed me to sleep into a fitful sleep.