Part 4

He walked past the building and peered around down the street.

“Man with the dragon!” He looked up. A man with curly dark hair and an impressive navy surcoat had hailed him. Behind him was the woman who had frowned at him. She now wore a crimson surcoat over her winter jacket. “What are you doing, stealing a dragonet and parading it around?”

“I didn’t steal it,” the man said slowly. “I woke up in the snow out there,” he pointed back the way he came, “and was hoping someone could tell me what’s going on and this dragon was following me.” He became aware of how shaky his story seemed as he finished. “I did not steal this dragon,” he repeated. “I - well, I don’t remember what happened.”

The two stared at him. “That way is Sunspot’s cavern,” the man said to the woman.

She frowned, “There was no indication that Sunspot had or was expecting a nestling.”

The dragon chose that moment to wake up from its nap and blink up at him. The man looked at it. Its eyes were a deep mossy green. Its scales, which were soft and warm, started as light yellow around its eyes and deepened into a golden orange that darkened down its spine and tail. Perhaps it could have been the child of a dragon named Sunspot.