It was the perfect time for flying.
The sun was setting. The sky was almost cloudless. There was no airship in sight. When Prince Justin had returned to his kingdom, the war ended as quickly as it started. There was no need to worry about being bombed from above any longer.
Calcifer aimlessly flew the castle high above Howl's garden. Even though he was no longer bound to the hearth by a contract, he decided to stay there, under the circumstance that he could come and go as he pleased. It only took a few minutes after he was free to realize he would miss the dramatic wizard and the 'cleaning lady'.
Prince Justin had sent an invitation to Howl and Sophie to join him for a celebratory feast in his kingdom. Sophie had originally decided to refuse, but Howl had convinced her to go with him by charming her with a promise that they would go out the ocean the next day.
Markl wasn't inside the castle, either. He had gone off to visit Sophie's youngest sister, Martha. Markl was awfully fond of her. Everyone in the castle noticed that Markl had a childish crush on Martha. He would blush whenever Martha complimented him, and he would try to think of an excuse to stay around her, even for only a minute longer. The only one who didn't notice Markl's attraction was Martha herself.
The Witch of the Waste wandered off to a bar in Porthaven. She stopped pretending to be a mindless old woman and continued trying to make advances on younger men, though they would become severely disturbed once they figured out what she was doing and would immediately try to get as far away from her as possible.
Hein the dog was often found following the Witch or Markl around during the day. At night, he would wander off into the Market Chipping and beg for food. People usually fed Hein because they felt sorry for such an old dog they thought was living on the streets.
The castle flew silently through the sky. It was so quiet outside. Calcifer briefly wondered why Howl and Sophie wanted to go into town on such a great night, then soon decided that he didn't care. The fire demon was grateful for the silence.
Calcifer felt slightly drowsy. Sophie was nervous about the invitation from the prince and decided to take her frustration out on the occupants of the moving castle. She got up earlier than usual that morning and threatened Calcifer into cooking enough food for an entire village. Howl and Markl had approved. They ate almost all of it when Sophie wasn't looking.
Sophie forced them to clean all of the dishes and then kicked them out of the castle for an hour. After that Sophie welcomed them back with open arms, though she still told them that if they wanted lunch they had to make it themselves.
Later, both Howl and Sophie took a bath and they repeatedly refilled the tub with hot water. Calcifer complained that they made him drain a lake so they could make their bodies wrinkle up like raisins, which ended up with him getting surrounded by buckets of water and a blocked chimney so he couldn't escape.
Before they left, Howl removed the water and the blockage so Calcifer could leave if he wanted to. Calcifer decided to fly the castle instead of flying on his own. He almost immediately found out that people were not comfortable seeing a ball of fire floating and talking. Whenever Calcifer wanted to go somewhere with one of the members of the castle, he went inside of a glass lamp and had them carry him along.
Calcifer was about to doze off when he heard a loud bang and the castle shook from impact with something outside. The fire demon snapped to attention and checked the sky for any trace of magic. There was nothing. Calcifer, embarrassed, concluded that he had hit a bird. A very large bird.
"I'm not going to cook breakfast tomorrow." Calcifer grumbled, crackling in the hearth. "Sophie can start another fire and do it herself."
The fire demon decided to land the castle. It was dangerous to fly when he was asleep. The castle would still move in the direction it was going before, but if there was something in its way it would end up crashing into it. Calcifer landed back in the Waste. The castle creaked in protest as it settled down onto the ground.
Calcifer yawned. He reached outside of the hearth and grabbed another log. Calcifer settled down under the logs and tried to fall asleep.
The sound of something scraping against the door of the castle roused the fire demon enough for him to come out from under the logs. Calcifer groggily mumbled something about Howl never getting a warm bath ever again if that was him. Calcifer paused for a moment to see if whatever was at the door would continue bothering him.
After a few seconds of silence, Calcifer decided to try to sleep again. Before he could even get under the logs, whatever was as the door started scraping at it again. Calcifer sensed that the noise was coming from the door to the Waste. He quickly checked if there was a rouge witch or wizard bent on revenge against Howl trying to get inside, but he couldn't detect any magic.
Whatever was outside whined and scratched at the door again. Calcifer blinked. He wondered if Hein came back. Calcifer was too tired to wonder why Hein would come to the door in the Waste instead of the Market Chipping door. With an annoyed growl, Calcifer opened the door to let the dog in. The fire demon's eyes widened considerably and he let out a small yelp.
A large black creature wandered on all fours into the castle, leaving a trail of mud behind it. It had a long tail that was a few feet off of the ground. Its eyes were green and reflected the light Calcifer gave off. It had large wings, revealing that it could fly. Calcifer realized that the creature in front of him was probably what the castle had hit.
The creature walked into the living room and stared at Calcifer intently. The fire demon backed away slightly. Calcifer could tell that the creature in front of him was not a demon. He had seen a creature like that a few million years ago. Calcifer thought that they were all hibernating in the ocean. The creature was a legendary dragon species called a Night Fury.
The dragon was the first to make a move. It slowly stepped towards the fire demon. Calcifer backed away again. "No, no, go away. No, dragon, stop it!"
The Night Fury tilted its head as the fire spoke. Calcifer ducked behind a log as the dragon continued to approach him. The Night Fury leaned into the hearth and sniffed at the fire demon. After a second the dragon turned its head and sneezed from the smoke.
The Night Fury's eyes widened slightly and it sniffed at the air. It slowly turned towards the kitchen and started walking towards it. Once inside, the dragon put its paw onto the counter and snatched a piece of bacon on one of the plates that Howl didn't wash. It gobbled the meat down before gently taking another piece with its teeth and eating it as well.
Calcifer watched the dragon accidently nudge a plate onto the floor, shattering it. Calcifer knew that he was going to get into a lot of trouble with Sophie and Howl once they got back to the castle. He would probably get surrounded by cups of water again.
The fire demon looked at the dragon's tail. One of its tail fins was missing. In its place, there was a large red fabric that was shaped almost exactly like a tail fin. The fabric had what seemed to be a skull design sewn on. It looked ancient.
Once the dragon ate its fill of bacon, it went to the other side of the counter and started on some leftover eggs. It knocked over another plate as it continued eating. All of the eggs were quickly finished.
The Night Fury looked around the kitchen, curiously. It pawed at the faucet, apparently trying to get a drink. Calcifer decided to give the Night Fury some water, hoping that once it was full it would leave the castle and go back where it came from.
Calcifer started the faucet, briefly startling the dragon. It sniffed at the water before purring and lapping at it gratefully. Some water spilt into the floor. Calcifer groaned. "Sophie is going to extinguish me because of you, dragon."
One of the Night Fury's ears perked up at the sound of someone's voice and it turned around to face Calcifer again. The fire demon shut off the faucet as the dragon walked back over to the hearth. It faced Calcifer and started making odd sounds.
Calcifer thought the dragon was choking until it regurgitated a half-eaten piece of bacon. It was wet from the dragon's saliva. Calcifer jumped backwards. "Hey, hey! You're going to put me out!"
The dragon took a couple steps away from the fire demon. It slowly spun around in a circle a few time before laying down in front of the fire demon. The dragon watched Calcifer again, seemingly waiting for something.
Calcifer stared at the Night Fury for a moment. He glanced at the meat in front of him before looking back at the dragon, skeptically. Calcifer spoke in a way that sounded more like a statement than a question. "You want me to eat this?"
The dragon nodded and yawned. Calcifer knew that what the Night Fury was doing was a way to try and repay him for giving it food and water. Calcifer poked at the meat to see if his heat had dried it. The food seemed to have been cooked again from being so close to the fire. Calcifer picked up the bacon and started to chew on it. After a few seconds, Calcifer finished his meal.
The dragon appeared satisfied. It yawned again and rested its head on its paws. It wrapped its tail around its body to curl up into a ball. It peered at Calcifer tiredly before closing its eyes.
Calcifer watched the dragon as its breathing slowed to an even pace. The fire demon looked over the mess the Night Fury made throughout the castle. Calcifer knew he was going to get yelled at once everyone got back home, but he was too tired to care.
The fire demon placed another log into the hearth. He settled himself on top of the logs instead of going under them. Calcifer yawned and began to drift of again.
When Howl returned to the castle, he was decidedly not pleased.