Actually, come to think of it, I had no idea why they called me that. It was something Drago had told me the night he and Inigo met for the first time. He'd never explained and I'd chalked it up to being a dragon thing.
The hall was as deserted, as the courtyard had been. Fortunately I knew my way. A good sense of direction comes along with the whole Hunter thing.
I made my way down the hall, retracing the twists and turns I remembered from my previous visit. I was nearly to the wing where they were keeping Inigo when I heard a bellow, followed by a shout, and then something like nails scrabbling on stone. Baffled, I glanced around for the source of the odd noise.
Around the corner barreled a very small dragon. He, or maybe she, was about the size of a basset hound but covered in neon yellow scales. It took me a moment to register that the eye-shocking color wasn't natural. It was the result of what looked like an entire can of paint.
The little creature slid on the smooth marble floor, talons scrabbling against the slick stone, and skidded into me so hard it nearly knocked my legs out from under me. I managed to grab onto a nearby suit of armor. Two giant blue eyes blinked at me from beneath the still-wet paint, and I noticed I had matching streaks across the legs of my jeans. The dragon let out a bellow and then a stream of fire. The drapes behind me went up in flames, and the little dragon took off again down the hall. I stared after it with my mouth hanging open.
"Roland!"
The shout startled me, and I turned in time to see a woman dash around the corner coming from the same direction from which the dragon had appeared. She looked more than a little worse for wear. Her jeans and T-shirt were covered in soot, her eyebrows were singed, and her hair, haphazardly piled on top her head, was still smoking. A smear of neon yellow graced her right cheek.
"Have you seen Roland?" she demanded.
"Little dragon covered in paint?"
She nodded.
"He went that way." I pointed down the hall.
She frowned at the drape still burning merrily behind me. "Oh, dear."
"Don't worry. I'll get it. You go find Roland."
With a quick nod, she took off after the baby dragon, and I turned to the business of putting out a fire. I didn't see anything so ordinary as a fire extinguisher or a bucket of sand nearby. There was nothing for it. Heaving a sigh, I reached down inside me and hauled Water out of its prison. Temporary reprieve only.
I think it might have been upset with me, because while it agreeably sprayed itself all over the burning drapes, it also covered the hall in a good inch of water before icing over. The hall was now a skating rink.
"Do not make me unleash Fire again," I snapped. Drago would kill me if I messed up his castle.
With a pout, the water receded, ice and all. It slunk back into its metaphorical cave and sulked like a child. Frankly I didn't care. I was more interested in the baby dragon fiasco.
I took off running down the hall after the dragon and what I assumed was either his mother or his nanny. They weren't hard to find. I followed the bellowing and the shouting right into the library. If Roland spit fire again, there was no way I'd be able to save the books, some of them centuries old.
"Burn these books, and I will turn your hide into a new pair of boots," I shouted over both of them.
Two pair of eyes, one human and one dragon, turned to stare at me. The little dragon whimpered. The woman propped her fists on her ample hips. Roland scuttled behind her in an attempt to hide, nearly knocking her over.
"How dare you threaten this poor child."
I snorted. "Poor child, my ass. The kid's a holy terror. If he can't control himself, he doesn't belong in a library. Frankly, I don't think he belongs anywhere that isn't completely fireproof."
The woman gasped, affronted. "He's a little boy. He's just being…mischievous. He only started breathing fire a few days ago. Who do you think you are, anyway?"
I shrugged. "Nobody, really. But Drago seems to think I'm the Fire Bringer."
I wasn't prepared for the reaction. Her eyes widened in horror, and she dropped to her knees and folded her hands in supplication. "Please, Lady. Please forgive my impertinence and the child his lack of control. He is but a baby. Please forgive us, I beg you."
"Um, yeah, sure. Whatever. Would you please get off the floor? Geez, this is embarrassing."
The woman staggered to her feet, looking like she might be about to keel over in a dead faint. "I am truly sorry, my lady. Please…"
"Forget it. It's fine. Whatever. No harm done. Or at least not much, anyway. Drago's going to need a new pair of drapes. You're his…?"
"Nanny, my lady."
I ignored the whole "my lady" thing and knelt on the carpet. I beckoned the baby dragon. "Roland, come here."