Call quietly crept out of his room and into the dark hallway. He'd been hearing a whining sound all night, and Havoc had been pawing at the door for the last hour to be let out.
"Alright, I'm going! Why did you have to wait until this hour?!" He threw a jacket over his pajamas and put on his boots. Havoc rushed out the door into the dark hallway and barked. "Shh! Don't wake anybody up." He shuffled slowly after the wolf, still groggy from being woken up. Havoc led him out into the main corridors towards the mission gate. "I don't understand why you need to use the tree at this hour. You're supposed to finish before bed -time," Call scolded. Havoc whined and pawed at the gate. It swung open and he rushed out.
'Huh,' Call thought. 'I thought they usually lock it at night.'
It was completely dark outside. The Magisterium had no electrical lighting, so the stars were vivid in the night sky and Call struggled to see beyond his own feet. Havoc sniffed around and found a tree he liked enough to use.
Suddenly a bright flash lit up the night sky. Call shielded his aching eyes, who else could be up at this hour? He left his watch by his bed, but it had to be after midnight. He heard shouts that sounded far off and a couple loud booms. Havoc barked loudly and ran in the direction of the noise.
"Havoc, wait!" Call stumbled after him tripping over roots and rocks. He summoned a ball of fire in his hand and sent it hovering over his head. Everything was bathed in blue light, making the forest seem even eerier, Havoc was a few feet away on the hill.
The voices grew louder and Call dropped to the ground. The grass was wet and cold, and soaked through his pajama bottoms. Putting an arm around the large chaos wolf, Call pulled magic from the earth around him and set up a shield so hopefully if anyone got too close their eyes would slide right by them. At least eight mages had surrounded the open glade. Several spheres of bright fire were hovering overhead, flickering and lighting up the area, making shadows dance everywhere. Three of them were holding large spheres of water overhead; some others were forming large quantities of ice. In the middle of it all was a dragon. Huge, red, and scaly, it was at least twice as big as a wyvern, dwarfing the mages and occasionally knocking over a tall tree.
It dripped fire from its mouth and its growl was strong enough to make Call's teeth rattle. The dragon let out a hideous screech, like a piece of rusty machinery in bad need of an oiling. Havoc disliked the noise and whined, struggling in Call's arms. One of the mages threw a chain made of ice around its neck. The dragon roared even louder, making Call's ears throb. He had to do something fast, he wasn't sure if the mages just wanted to capture the dragon or wanted to kill it, but Call didn't want either. Dragons were too awesome to be locked up in a cage. Concentrating on the links of ice, he drew on the element of fire and gradually melted them enough to make them snap. The mages holding the chains abruptly tumbled backwards and started screaming. More ice chains were thrown around the dragon and it struggled to throw them off, occasionally dragging a mage towards a large tree who was then forced to let go.
One got too close to the enraged dragon's mouth and was enveloped in fire, another was snapped up and tossed into the trees. The dragon sat back on its legs and let out a piercing roar, shooting a jet of flame into the night sky. The dragon fire lit up the entire glade, even more and Call could see the various people better. Some of them were young, in their twenties, and some older, with grey hair and wrinkled hands. One of the older mages had a sword in her hand and raced towards the dragon.
Reaching into the earth Call made a small dip in the ground, catching the woman's foot and sending her sprawling. She got up again, but before Call think of more things to stop her the dragon thrashed violently to the side, spread its wings, and flapped. The cushion of air pushed the mage with the sword back, making her stumble again, and the dragon rose into the sky dragging the chains with it. The mages holding it were forced to let go again. Their precious prize was gone. Angry voices regretting the loss of the dragon spread throughout the air and someone rushed to the woman with the sword. Call was afraid they might attack one another, but they only argued.
Eventually the mages dispersed, leaving Call and Havoc alone in the dark forest.
Soon all he could hear was the wind and the crickets chirping. And a tiny squeal. It was coming from nearby and didn't sound like any of the animals that were normally around the forest. Havoc went over to the bushes and sniffed, barking softly. Inside the leaves and thin branches was a baby dragon. Distressed it cried again, its legs all tangled up and tiny horns caught in the thorns.
"Hey little guy, did your mama leave you behind?" The dragon squealed revealing two rows of tiny, needle like teeth. Call picked it up and gave the dragon a good look over. "Little girl," he amended. Her red skin wasn't very tough, the scales hadn't formed yet and the skin was pebbly and smooth. Several cuts were along her back and one on her leg. She mewled in distress and shivered in the cold. Call unzipped his jacket and stuffed the tiny dragon inside. "I'm getting into a habit of smuggling small animals," Call admitted to Havoc. "Do you think there's a career path for me in magical animal smuggling?" Havoc didn't respond.
While walking back to the gate Call wondered what baby dragons ate. 'Is she big enough to eat meat? Or does she need milk? Can she have cow milk? Or does some magician have a bottle of dragon milk lying around? Should I tell Master Rufus about them? I'm pretty sure the Magisterium doesn't want people on the property trying to capture dragons.' While pondering more dragon thoughts, Call failed to notice the shadow trailing him.
Closing the mission gate behind him Call and Havoc silently made their way towards their room. Just then the baby dragon began to cry, Call put his hand down his hoodie to calm her. He could feel her tiny claws, which were sharper than Havoc's, scraping at his chest. Wincing, he tried to calm her.
"Shh!" Call trying to quiet the squealing baby. "You have to be quiet, I've got a nice fireplace that you can sleep in, okay? Just hang on." He rounded a corner and a dark figure moved into his path. Call squeaked and fell on his butt. The baby dragon protested loudly. Master Rufus stood over them, arms folded and looking very imposing. Call coughed to cover the dragon noise. "Oh...uh hi. So, what brings you out of bed at this hour?"
Master Rufus raised an eyebrow, "It is after one o'clock in the morning, and to answer your question Callum I am out of bed because a certain student of mine seems to be suddenly fond of midnight escapades."
"Oh, that!" Call stammered. "I was just... out walking Havoc. Y'know, so he could do dog stuff. He never does it just before bed, he has to wait until late at night." Havoc looked up at him happily, panting.
"Is that so?"
Call watched as he tried to suppress a smile, clearly not believing a word. "Hand it over, Callum."
"Hand over what?" The baby dragon mewled and poked her head out of Call's hoodie just under his chin. Call looked down sadly at the tiny head. "You just couldn't keep quiet could you?" Grudgingly, he put the dragonlet into Master Rufus' hands. She flapped her tiny wings and perched on his arm.
"Now, let's get this creature somewhere warm and then you can tell me all about how you've been breaking curfew to fight off dragon poachers."
Call kicked his feet against the sofa as the little dragon curled up on the rekindled fire in his room. Master Rufus was off talking to some of the other mages, trying to arrange someone to come and take the dragon away to a more permanent place. He had hoped Rufus would let him keep the dragon, but then decided between a baby dragon and a growing chaos-ridden wolf it would begin to feel a bit crowded in here. Besides, he didn't know what baby dragons ate or how to keep them constantly warm since hatching. He had planned to look up books on dragons in the library before he had been caught.
Havoc lay on the floor watching the dragon settle down on top of the ashes.
Tamara's door cracked open. "Call?" she called sleepily. "What have you done now?"
"I found a baby dragon!" She opened her door all the way and walked to the fireplace.
"Did you name him yet?" The dragon was curled up into a ball on top of the glowing logs.
"Her name's Smog."
"Smaug The Golden? She asked. Like from The Hobbit?" The baby yawned and coughed up a puff of dark smoke.
"No, smog as in smoggy smog. The polluting kind." They both giggled and took turns scratching the dragon under the chin or on her red, scaly head. "Can we keep her at least for the night?" Tamara asked.
"I don't know, it sounds like there's someone to come and take her away."
Aaron was finally awake. "Why is everyone up?"
"Call found a baby dragon," Tamara informed.
"Seriously?"Baby dragons?! You brought back a dragon?"" he stumbled out. "Where is it?"
"She's here, sleeping on top of the fire," Tamara said, reaching through the flames, unburnt. "Baby dragons need to keep constantly warm."
"I found her in the woods while walking Havoc, her mother flew off and left her after some mages tried to capture her."
Master Rufus came back in, "So can we keep her?" Call asked.
"No, you are not keeping a dragon in your room."
All three of them groaned. "You can, however, over break, visit the mages in charge of keeping and raising it."
"Why can't we raise her?" Call protested.
"Because you have classes to attend and missions to complete, and you can't do them while raising a dragon. I'll let you keep it for tonight, but I will come by early in the morning to pick it up. Now back to bed with you!"
He waved them off to bed, but Call waited until he had gone, then came back out to sleep by the fire. The tiny dragon was still asleep in the fire, glowing steadily in the heat.
Call reached through the flames, unhurt, to gently stroke her head.
"I wish I could keep you."
The next morning Call discovered that Smog had been taken away sometime earlier. The trio finished breakfast quickly and went over to Master Rufus, who was reading over a bowl of porridge. He looked annoyed at being interrupted, "What?"
They put on their best begging faces. "Can we go see the dragon before class?" Call asked.
"You only have half an hour."
Call stuck out his lower lip in what he hoped was an irresistible pouting expression, Tamara clasped her hands and hooked a leg behind the other, Aaron did his best to look like he was about to cry. Master Rufus rolled his eyes, "alright, it's being kept in one of the kennels next to the lab, don't be late."
Smog was crouched in a large round pit with glowing embers that was partially covered. She was chirping happily and started crying when the three of them entered the room.
"Hello little Smog!" Aaron said cheerfully and knelt by the fire to scratch her.
"You were lucky to find her," the mage caring for Smog said. "Baby dragons require constant warmth to stay alive when they're newly born. Normally they don't stray from the nest, the mother must have picked it up and carried it with her. Poachers have been a nuisance for many years to dragons; there aren't as many dragons left as there used to be despite efforts to keep them safe."
Rufus walked in.
"We've got at least twenty minutes left!' Tamara exclaimed.
"I know, I decided that since I was going to lecture mainly on the different uses of fire magic, I may as well start with the dragon. This way I at least have a fighting chance of keeping your attention."
Call cradled Smog in his lap while Rufus lectured about the history of dragons. How since the beginning magicians had both admired and feared them as a source of power. The fact that the subject was so fascinating helped Call pay attention. Not that lessons were ever extremely boring, but having a real live dragon in your lap certainly added importance to the topic.
"Many mages, like the ones you encountered last night," Rufus continued. "Would hunt down the adult dragons and sell their meat on the market for exorbitant prices."
"They eat the dragons?!" Call exclaimed, cradling Smog closely.
Rufus raised his hands in a shrug, "Some magicians think because dragons are fire type creatures, that by consuming them they will enhance their own ability with fire magic. Which is of course absurd, but that doesn't stop people from hunting them. I personally have never understood it."
"Don't worry, I won't let anyone turn you into dragon steak," Call promised Smog.
She squeaked in affection.
Rufus showed them how to keep themselves warm by drawing on sources of fire.
"If you are ever in a situation where you are dealing with extreme cold this technique could potentially save your life, let it get out of control, however and you could burn yourself up from the inside out."
Call practiced breathing in the warmth, then letting out tiny jets of flame. Smog seemed to like this and cooed every time Call breathed fire over her tiny scales, he figured it was like what a dragon mother would do to keep her baby warm.
They played with the dragon some more while Rufus droned on about the history of dragons and how they might be used or avoided.
Call didn't pay much attention to Master Rufus, who paced as he lectured them. Smog, with her small, wet tongue as rough as sandpaper, was licking away the remnants of beef jerky from his fingers that he had fed her earlier. Too soon their morning lesson was over. When Call looked up from playing with the dragon, there were several mages, not wearing any uniforms, who were standing around talking to Rufus. A woman with a blond braid came over to him. "This must be little Smog," she tickled the dragon under the chin. Smog cried and happily nipped at her finger, excited for more attention.
"So are you going to keep her here or...?" Call had hoped they'd have a special dragon pen at the Magisterium. She shook her head, "no, we have a separate place for studying dragons. This isn't the first time we've raised a little one. Don't worry, she'll be going to a good home." One of the other mages brought over a large kennel. Reluctantly Call put her in, Smog mewled as the door was latched and poked her claws out.
"Bye-bye little Smog," Tamara touched one of her claws. They watched sadly as she was taken away.
For the rest of the day the three of them were unable to focus on their lessons and half-heartedly attempted the new technique Rufus was trying to teach them. Over the next few weeks they returned to their routine, the excitement of seeing a baby dragon was wearing off.
One afternoon while they were outside eating lunch, Master Rufus walked up to them. "Once you're done, I have a surprise for you that I'm sure you'll enjoy."
Surprises, especially good ones weren't a common thing with Rufus. Intrigued the three of them followed him to an open glade where a croaky, screeching noise could be heard.
A medium sized dragon, with shining red scales was flapping about and bobbing her head excitedly. Call grinned, "Smog!"