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The kitten mewed, and she pressed her paw to my cheek. “Cedrick is counting how many birds you picked up, and you’ll be paid ten dollars for each one,” I told her.
Like he did with everybody, he sorted them by species. As far as I could tell, Garnet had found six different species of hummingbirds.
Cedrick pointed at a set of three bodies. “These ones will get her fifty each; they’re a rare species, and they’re in good shape for a conjuration, so we might be able to get some good information about them for preservation efforts.”
Garnet mewed, and she leaned forward for a better look at the birds.
“The titanium dragons like helping endangered species, Garnet. That’s part of why I do the bounty collecting. I prefer catching living things so they can go to a proper habitat, but this time seems to be all about the bodies.” I lifted my hand and gestured at the freeloader perched on my head. “Mostly.”
“Ninety-two,” Cedrick announced, and he returned most of the bodies to the garbage bag and took it to the back before retrieving the bodies of the rare birds and storing them in a clear plastic tub. “I’ll give you her payment in cash, Kinsley.”
“Thank you. I’ll help teach her how she can spend her earnings once we’re home.”
Cedrick chuckled before heading into the back, returning with an envelope, which he handed to me. “Do you want me to try to get your bounty?”
I regarded my parents, who continued to fight in the streets. My father had transformed back to human, and the pair had their noses pressed together while they hissed and growled at each other. I could only assume they worked out their nerves from having to hide their nature in Miami. “Do I earn street cred for trying to break that out without getting eaten by a dragon?”
“You’d be earning a hefty deal of respect to go along with your street cred. That navy dragon is old. The red dragon is also old. Their color deceives, too—they can call more than one color as they need. I’ve heard rumor that the woman can create fire so intense it can reduce any being to ash in a heartbeat. Fire is the domain of the red dragons, but such intense heat is a power of orange dragons. She does not wield that power often, though. That has earned her a great deal of respect among dragons. But she also is feared, for the wise understand what she could do if pressed.”
As I would die if I told my parents they were old to their faces, I regarded them through narrowed eyes. “Do you know them?”
“I know of them. Navy and red dragons—or orange dragons—do not normally mate. Their natures clash. Red dragons enjoy illuminating the darkness with their flame, and navy dragons enjoy their secrets and shadows. Orange dragons share many traits with red dragons. I’ve never met them, but they are formidable dragons. That they’re here is worrisome.”
I wondered what my parents had been doing prior to my birth to have gotten such a reputation in Dragon Heights. “What’s worrisome about it?”
“They only show up if there’s something interesting going on—and no matter what people say, interesting times are dangerous.”
In good news for my sanity, I had a way to distract Cedrick from my parents’ presence. I petted Garnet. “Yes, Garnet is interesting.”
Cedrick relaxed, and he chuckled. “That she is, but I doubt those two would come here just to see a carbunclo kitten. But I could see them doing such a thing if they were particularly bored.”
I huffed, faked a sniff, and headed for the doors to retrieve my bounty. Rather than engage the crazies making a fuss on the street, I hauled the bags in and left them at Cedrick’s desk, making several trips to get them all. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll go away. I don’t even know what they’re fighting about. They’re just making a bunch of throat noises.”
“They’re posturing at each other as mated dragons do when they both want the same prize.”
Right. My parents wanted to be friends with Garnet, and they wanted to be hugged, which meant they were likely arguing over which one would be shown affection first. When I had been a child, they had played such games, although I hadn’t understood the posturing when I’d been little. “Is the going rate really going to be ten per dead head?”
“The price does not change because the composition of the rains happens to be numerous and weighing little,” he assured me, hauling my first plastic bag up onto his desk and opening it up. He went to work separating the birds by species. Twenty-three species in total, with a handful of them only having one specimen each promised good compensation. While he worked, I petted Garnet, and I lifted my hand to see if the hummingbird might hop onto my finger.
To my amazement, the little bird cooperated, and it preened.
“That is a little boy,” Cedrick informed me without looking up from his counting. “I’m not precisely sure of his species, but I’ll see if there are any matches in one of our wildlife books. The conjured birds and familiars, like that fellow, are always modeled after a real species of bird. It’s something about the magic. Familiar types, like him, are pretty rare. He’ll be bagging you two hundred, and you’ll probably end up with him as your pet. Or familiar, if you’ve the right type of magic for it. You may, you may not. But the magic burst was stronger than we expected this morning, so I suspect there’s more than a few familiars out and about today. It was a multi-species rain.”
“There were multiple rains?” I asked, and I struggled to keep my eyes from widening. “These familiars aren’t true creations, are they?”
“Yes, they’re a type of true creation. The magic makes them most suitable for those requiring companionship. That little boy will be a good friend for your Garnet when you can’t take her with you.”
I could see the carbunclo and her hummingbird sidekick taking over the world, and my parents would encourage the odd pairing. Had I not met Monster, I might have found the whole thing a little distasteful, but Monster had changed my opinion.
If a kitten could be given a healthy body, why couldn’t a hummingbird be brought to life through surges of wild magic?
The bird hadn’t done anything wrong. I tested my luck and stroked the back of my finger down the bird’s tiny chest. To my delight, he leaned into my touch.
“See? You’re getting along great already.” Cedrick shoved most of the birds back into the plastic bag and delivered it to the back before retrieving the clear tub and adding the rarer samples. “That bag had over two hundred hummingbirds.”
I had six more garbage bags and my canvas bag left to go, and they were all filled roughly the same. I narrowed my eyes. “How did so many fit in that bag?”
“The feathers make them appear even larger than they are.” Cedrick grabbed the next bag and went to work counting everything.