Page 5 of Connor and the Dragons

Sky was fine.

There was magic, and there were dragons, and my brother had fallen through a mirror into all of it. But Sky was fine. He hadn’t been mugged in an alley or drowned in the bay. He was fine, and he was in love, apparently, with a troll.

“Tell me about the troll,” I said.

“His name is Moerrven Mossren.” Lord Frost pronounced every syllable of the name. “An author. Quite celebrated. Your brother is, by every account, devoted to him.”

“Sky. My brother is devoted to an author?”

“Yes.”

“He does love to read. Does the guy write smut?”

“I could not speak to that,” Lord Frost said. “I can tell you that when they left, your brother was well, and well accompanied.”

“Left for where?”

“Across the sea. They are seeking a reliable way to open a passage back to your San Jose. Because Sky doesn’t want you or your mother to worry.”

“When do they get back?”

“That is not known. The mission they are on requires a considerable amount of spycraft.”

“Spycraft? You sent Sky to spy for you? My brother can’t keep his damn mouth shut.”

“He volunteered for the mission and he fits the profile we required.”

“What profile? Exotic dancer?”

“No. Human.” He inclined his head a fraction, and I wondered what he was if not human. He certainly looked human, if you ignored the ears, though perhaps a bit too pretty and a bit too pale.

“Right.”

“He is expected back.”

“So my brother fell into a magic kingdom, got adopted by a famous troll, and is currently at sea on a quest to build a door back to our world. And if he’s looking, that must mean I can’t get back the way I came?”

“No.” He said it without apology and without cushioning, and I found I preferred it that way. “The Grey Guard has kept a detachment on that field since the first crossing, and they have tried every method anyone has been able to suggest, including several I would not have authorized. A man may walk through that spot all day. It is grass.”

“Then what’s the difference? Why does it only work the one way?”

“A crossing requires an object at each end, and there is no object at ours. That is the whole of it, and it is why your brother is at sea.” He folded his hands. “You are not the first to arrive, Mr. Liang, and you are not the first to ask. There have been rather more of you than you would care to know about.”

“Explain the time thing again,” I said. “Slower.”

“An hour of your world’s time is roughly two of our days.”

So Sky had arrived here six or seven weeks ahead of me, and that was enough time for Sky to fall in love and make a whole host of friends. And back home, nothing had happened. My mom wasn’t worried yet.

“All right,” I said. “What’s next? Do I just wait for him to come back, or could we catch up to him?”

Lord Frost folded his hands. “I would like to ask whether you would be willing to attempt to reach the dragon.”

The dragon’s head lifted off the flagstones just a little. The way you sit up a little when your order’s called.

“Reach him?”

“As I said before, your brother carries a rare gift. His touch wakes this creature’s human form. There is a man inside the dragon, and he has been locked in there a long while.” Lord Frost paused. “It is possible you carry the gift as well. It is possible you do not.”