Here was a little face the White Dragon had not seen in some time. Time, though, was a word for the little one. For her, it was space. Distance. She was close enough to see him again, and that delighted her.
He sat hunched, almost prayerlike, over something gilded and scattered like large seeds. Its light was how she found him here. He did not notice her until she nuzzled his back with her steel-plated cheek.
Dear one.
It startled him, and he dropped the glittering things he'd been holding. But his eyes shone with sweet and open trust. He leaned into her face, a face at least as big as he was.
"You scared me!" he said.
What is that? She swung the tip of her tail to tap, with feather-lightness, one of the golden fragments.
"A puzzle."
Where did you get it?
"Hm…" He perused the pieces, taking up where he left off, selecting one and then the other. "I dunno."
How long have you been here?
"Um, I dunno." Her questions visibly confused him. He tugged on the hem of his shirt. "Can I keep working on it?"
Yes. There was nothing else here—nothing else he could do, or that she could give him.
"Look," he said, thrusting a hand into her face. "I got two pieces to fit."
I see.
"Just now."
Very good.
He smiled with unstudied pride. "I'm smart," he told her, turning back to the puzzle.
Yes, you are.
The White Dragon sat with the boy while he worked. His focus was itself a beacon in this dark space, more vibrant than her ocean of blue scales, and he didn't look up for a long span.
At length, he grew frustrated—he couldn't find another fit. He flopped down, arms and legs pointing in all directions like a starfish. "This puzzle is hard," he huffed. He blew a tuft of tawny hair out of his eyes. "Usually I'm really good at puzzles and stuff."
The White Dragon hummed her acknowledgement. A tiny puff of smoke rolled out. She gasped.
Dear one—look!
"Hm?" He propped himself up on his forearms. The dragon hummed again. Her breath, born on the wind of that airless space, passed over the two put-together pieces and sure enough caused one of them to glow.
"Whoa!" The boy sprung up and scrambled to collect the piece, just as its light dimmed. "How did you do that?!"
She wondered. Part of me could be inside your puzzle. That could be how I found you.
"But you're real." He spread a hand over hers. It was miniscule against her iron talon. "I can touch you. You're alive. Right?" He thought hard. "So how could part of you be in a puzzle?"
I am a spirit. I am not bound to one place. Just like you. Don't you know?
The boy hesitated. He cradled the tiny section of puzzle he had completed, cupped in his slender hands as though he held a baby bird, so very gently. "So are you...in this piece?"
The dragon breathed out, a slow and rolling fog that warmed them both—a suggestion of the fire within her. It bathed the two pieces and set one ablaze with golden light. They beheld it together in wonder.
I am.
"That's so cool." The boy's mouth hung open. It didn't take long for his train of thought to reach the next stop. "But then...what about the other piece?" he asked her, craning his neck to look in her eyes.
She nudged his chest. You try.
He nodded, satisfied with this empirical approach, and drew in a deep gulp of air. For many moments he held it—perhaps afraid it wouldn't work—but he had nothing to fear. His breath cascaded over the piece, and lit it up like the sun.
"Wow!"
Reverently, he scooped the remaining pieces toward himself. "I put two together, and there are fifteen left," he murmured, sliding them into categories of his own invention, inscrutable to the dragon. "One is you and one is me. What are the rest of them? Fifteen dragons, maybe!"
Do you know other dragons? She felt herself bristle.
He gave her a knowing, affectionate smile. "No, of course not!" he assured her. "But we'll never know until I figure this out!" And he hunched over the puzzle once more, wired with newfound purpose.
The White Dragon curled herself around her dear one and his puzzle, barricading him against the darkness. She was glad she found him, or that he found her, or that they found each other. He had seemed so small and alone. He would solve this puzzle; and while he worked, she would keep him safe.
PIECE #2: THE WHITE DRAGON
Doctor's Note: How long has he been there?
I made the puzzle gold in keeping with the style of a certain other puzzle!
Thank you for reading! - Dr. MP