"It doesn't look much like a castle," Gilbert grumbled as they pulled up to the curb.

It looked an awful lot like a warehouse. Grey, concrete, squat, and massive. Arthur grunted, opening the door of his car and stretching. By the way Arthur was looking up at the sky, he was wishing for rain. Gilbert kicked his door open and spilled out of the car.

"What are we here for again?" He asked, grinning at a passing man who looked like he concealed a weapon. "Hopefully something in, like, a crate or something."

Arthur let out a quick sigh of irritation. "If I tell you, will you promise not to act like an idiot?"

Gilbert scratched the back of his neck, looking at the building. It didn't have any windows, but other than that, it seemed like any other storage building by the sea. Gilbert liked the sea, like the energy the salt threw into the air. Any place this close to nature produced magic naturally.

"Depends." Arthur shot him a look, and Gilbert couldn't keep the grin off of his face. "Well, I mean, how exciting can it be? Usually you drag me out to some forest or cave. This is hardly a castle."

"A dragon."

Gilbert waited for the joke to make itself clear. When it didn't, "Holy shit, no way!" He looked at the building again. "Oh my God."

Arthur gathered his backpack, walking toward the building. Gilbert danced after him, stretching his fingers out. It had been forever since they had last gone against something that was interesting. The Council had been enforcing rules that hadn't been relevant since the Dark Ages, and Arthur had been confined to casting minor spells and curing warts.

Although Arthur hadn't commanded anything, Gilbert had set out and caused trouble. But it wasn't very fun when you knew exactly how to catch the goblins you released, or how to talk the ghost out of a possessed person.

But a dragon?

Arthur took a piece of chalk from his pocket, crouching at the building's door. Gilbert waved at the passing street life, waiting impatiently for Arthur to finish.

The door clicked open.

As soon as Gilbert stepped through the doorway, his hair turned white and his eyes red. When he looked at his hands, they were transparent and wispy. And then Gilbert looked up.

The single floor building had sprouted massive staircases that led into darkness above. The windows had been to the ceiling, but those had been bricked over. The whole place smelled of sulfur and smoke, and rats skittered at Gilbert's feet. Their footsteps echoed in the giant space.

Gilbert could see in the dark, but Arthur had to pull out a flashlight.

"Now this is a castle," Gilbert praised. His voice tumbled through the still air, disappearing into the dark. He liked stone; it made his voice sound deeper and less harsh. "And are there seriously no magic restrictions?"

Arthur shook his head, picking a corridor at random. "The dragon would rebel against any restrictions. So, the council decided to brick up its domain and leave it be. It probably wasn't happy about that."

They reached a chamber. It had probably once been something like a ballroom, but the giant, oaken tables had been smashed to bits. Tapestries hung on the wall, huge claw marks defacing whatever had been woven there. The throne, which shined like a beacon to Gilbert's eyes, had been melted down.

"Can we take some of that silver?" Gilbert asked, stepping into the hall. Wood crunched under his feet, throwing up dust.

Arthur followed. "Something isn't right. And no," he snapped, hauling Gilbert back by the shirt collar. "It belongs to the dragon. We're here as friends, not as trespassers."

"Maybe you're here as a friend," Gilbert mumbled, shrugging off Arthur's hand. "But it doesn't even look like this thing is here."

Arthur shot him a look, swinging the flashlight beam around. "You said the same thing about the pixies."

Gilbert pointed threateningly. "Don't even mention those things. And that was completely different! Those things can turn invisible, and they eat people!"

"No, they don't eat humans."

Gilbert heard the teasing tone and huffed, watching Arthur look for whatever he was looking for. Nothing had been disturbed here for at least a week, and Arthur hadn't commanded him to look for anything, so he was stuck following Arthur around.

"Well, they eat people like me," Gilbert corrected. "And I fought them off! Whenever you bring that up, you always leave off that I totally saved the day. Sort of. I remembered that they hate salt, so there's that."

"Yes, I suppose you did bring the salt."

Gilbert turned to face Arthur, wood scraping against the stones. "Are you saying that I wasn't important with the salt? What about that one time you lied to me and I still believed you about the whole 'throwing myself off a cliff' thing? Or how that troll nearly decapitated us, and I knew that familiar who helped? I'm important."

Arthur huffed. "I suppose."

"Say I'm awesome."

"Are you still on about that?"

"Gentleman's agreement."

"I—"

Gilbert slammed into him, knocking Arthur back as a shadow fell from the ceiling and crashed into the spot Arthur had just been standing. Gilbert snarled and turned, hoping Arthur could stand.

The thing before him was as large as an elephant, but built like a tiger, all sinew and claws. Two wings were strapped to the creature's sides by metal that glowed in Gilbert's vision. The dragon was magically bound, but that didn't protect them from teeth. It slunk forward, tail stretching behind it like a whip.

"Get out," it hissed.

Arthur couched, and Gilbert looked behind him for a second. The dragon lunged, flames trapped in its throat but illuminating the room. The claws passed through Gilbert's arm like he was smoke, but he danced back, grunting in pain.

"OUT!"

"Now, now," Gilbert panted, "No need for a hissy fit."

"You insult me?" The dragon tilted its head, its eyes narrowing. "A sad little artificial life? Bound to a human." Flames glowed from the thing's throat, and Gilbert had no doubt he would be a crisp under other circumstances.

Arthur couched and stood next to Gilbert. "What's been done to you is illegal."

The dragon hissed.

Arthur stood straight, shoulder back. "You are a noble creature. When people with similar mindsets to my companion and I were ruling, creatures like you were free."

"And what happened to your people?"

Arthur hesitated. Gilbert very tired, suddenly. They lost. They were sent to jail for attempting to destroy mortal life, they were told that the creatures they created were evil and were hunted down and destroyed. Their people were left to their own devices. Their creatures were trapped in bottles and were outlawed.

How long had the dragon been trapped? Had it seen their people's downfall? The way the mortals had flourished while the witches had withered, stuck to tiny apartments and sharing beds with their familiars.

The humans had thrived at the expense of their people.

"We're coming back."

But maybe they were the bad guys. After all, they had lost.