With a curious glance and full of confusion, Rorie turned to the familiar and noted that his skin was pale. “An attack of your heart? Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know…maybe because you could’ve been thrown from Orlami and died?”
Rorie’s response was a chuckle. “Orlami would not allow me to be hurt.”
“Yeah, sure. Okay.”
“Perhaps you would allow me to see your dragon form again?”
Renny’s expression changed to delighted surprise, and he smiled. “Sure.”
With a clap, Rorie settled himself on the blanket Renny had set out while he’d been enjoying his time with Orlami. To his surprise, Renny switched into his magical dragon without the need to strip out of his clothing like the shifters on his planet. A moment later, he plummeted to the ground. Rorie shot to his feet in shock and rushed to Renny’s side as his beast morphed from a Draconis form into one that was a miniature of Orlami, baring his mating marks.
“Are you hurt?” Rorie whispered, reaching out a hand and gingerly petting the gleaming scales.
Renny flew a few feet, then switched to his human form. “What the fuck happened? One second I was fine and the next it was as if my body was being torn apart.”
“You changed. Your dragon now resembles Orlami.”
Emotions raced across Renny’s face so fast, Rorie had no hope of cataloguing them, despite his intense study of his v’airsell nioll. “That’s crazy! Not in a bad way, I guess. Dra’Kaedan’s and Dre’Kariston’s dragon forms are duplicates of their mates, so it was weird that I had this random one when you clearly have a Faedrekan. Strange that I didn’t always have a Faedrekan, though. I was summoned after you were born, but perhaps I had to come to your realm for it to make sense enough that it didn’t freak people out? Crazy weird.”
“Are you upset to have Orlami’s form?”
“Not at all. It’s actually awesome now that it’s settling in.”
Taking a seat on the blanket again, Rorie patted the spot next to him. “I think it is splendid as well. Would you care to join me now for a feast?”
“Yeah,” Renny answered. To Rorie’s displeasure, he took a seat at least a foot away instead of where he’d suggested, but he would cozy up to Renny once they’d devoured the cheeses, breads, fruit, and wine inside their basket. Seconds later, he was frowning as Renny took over setting the edibles out.
“Will you tell your family of your new drekan?”
“Nope, I’m going to show them,” Renny enthused, pleasing Rorie with his excitement.
“They will be suitably impressed.”
“Probably jealous as hell.”
“What do you think of my realm so far?”
“It’s definitely as beautiful as you said. I can’t get over how different it looks from our planet. Does the weather ever change?”
“The weather?”
“Yes, you know, does it rain or snow? The temperature hasn’t changed since we arrived.”
“I do not know what snow is,” Rorie answered after swallowing his bite of food. “We have rain, but rarely and light. The temperature is stable. It is always pleasant to be out of doors.”
“How do you never run out of water?”
“Magic. We use it for everything.”
“I think the main thing I’ve learned so far is that we don’t take enough advantage of our sorcery at home. We try to find unique and helpful ways to solve problems, but we don’t think of using it often for mundane things. I don’t even use mine every day.”
“I cannot understand why you let it languish. We would not be able to see in the dark without magic. Our food is prepared with it. How else could we count on it to be perfect? Our clothing and linens are cleansed with it, and it is our only method of travel.”
“If you’re trained as a chef or practice at it enough, then you can make food that tastes delicious. We have machines to clean clothes and inventions to illuminate rooms.”
Rorie was not interested in a world where he had to hold all that made him who he was inside, although he would not dare utter such a statement since he refused to displease Renny nor did he want him to think he did not enjoy his home. There was much about the place the D’Vaires called theirs to recommend it, but he hoped Renny comprehended the merits of using more spells in his daily life. “It is far easier for me to think it into being.”
