that before you went out ‘bowling’ all night with Laverne.”
“I’d wish they’d stop talking for a minute, Kal,” Samantha whispered.
Kal chuckled and waved his hand. The dragons’ mouths clamped shut, and a giant stopwatch appeared in the air behind their heads. “As you wish, Samantha.”
The air suddenly got a lot clearer, in terms of dragon smoke and noise pollution. But the two dragons looked like they wanted to blast her with fire.
Samantha mentally kicked herself as the seconds ticked down. She shouldn’t have added the time stipulation. Semantics .
“Now, let’s try this again, you two.” Kal walked toward them.
“I can’t believe you did this, Kal.” Maille said when the second hand hit zero and the new muzzles disintegrated in a shower of orange dust. She flung her arms and stomped her feet. “We haven’t been in this form in, what? Five thousand years? We evolved beyond this, for gods’ sakes. All our training, all our study, and you reduce us to this?”
“All your training didn’t make you any more civilized, so I suggest you get over it. Work out your differences in this form before you destroy Izaaz more than it already is. The place is supposed to be a haven, but you two have turned it into a hellhole.”
“You can’t blame that on us,” said Maille, the fingernail she was pointing at Kal still lime green and long enough that it was starting to curl. “Have you seen the usury the leprechauns are putting out there? And the gnomes are threatening to tunnel under all the buildings and make them unstable unless they get some payola. And let’s not forget the peris . Oh, no. Everyone thinks they’re so sweet and lighthearted and beautiful, spreading happiness and good cheer wherever they go, but it’s enough to make you puke. And where’s their glitter? Their sparkle?”
A gnome popped out of a drain spout. “I’ll tell ya where it is, you bigmouthed Gila monster. It’s buried under all the rubble you and your friends keep heaping on us. Can you blame them for not wanting to waste any more of it? I wouldn’t if I were them.”
“And you, Maille,” the wyvern sneered—which would have had much more impact if he still had a beak full of pointed teeth. “Shall we count the ways you’re so blameless? Let’s start with the hatchlings. When were you going to tell me?”
The leprechauns showed up next and Samantha felt as if she were in a three-ring circus. Then a pack of furry little creatures with pointed ears and mouths full of spikes as nasty as Maille’s showed up, and it became a four-ring one. Five when the unicorns trotted back out. Six with the centaurs.
And then Samantha lost count as hundreds, if not thousands, of creatures filed into the streets, hurling insults and clumps of sand all over the place.
Kal kneaded the back of his neck and looked at her. “Anything else you want to wish for?”
Samantha straightened and rolled back her shoulders. No wonder the place looked like it did. “Yes. Let’s take care of a few things.” She rubbed her hands. “First, I wish you’d make all of them immobile and quiet.”
“Done.” He made a karate-chop move with his hand and peace reigned as the glitter settled onto the street. It was a big improvement.
“Next, I wish you’d shore up those buildings.”
“Gotcha.” He waved at the droopy buildings lining the street, making them perk up. The way his abs rippled, framed by his orange vest and highlighted by glitter, made her perk up.
Samantha shoved that image from her mind. She had a job to do. “And the trees. I wish they were orange—er, green.”
So much for the job.
“Absolutely.” Another wave of Kal’s hand, and the landscape got prettier—though more of an orangish-green than full-on green, but if she had him change the trees back, she’d have to come clean about why. Bad enough her subconscious was duking it out with her libido, she didn’t want to have to come out and admit something
“I’d wish they’d stop talking for a minute, Kal,” Samantha whispered.
Kal chuckled and waved his hand. The dragons’ mouths clamped shut, and a giant stopwatch appeared in the air behind their heads. “As you wish, Samantha.”
The air suddenly got a lot clearer, in terms of dragon smoke and noise pollution. But the two dragons looked like they wanted to blast her with fire.
Samantha mentally kicked herself as the seconds ticked down. She shouldn’t have added the time stipulation. Semantics .
“Now, let’s try this again, you two.” Kal walked toward them.
“I can’t believe you did this, Kal.” Maille said when the second hand hit zero and the new muzzles disintegrated in a shower of orange dust. She flung her arms and stomped her feet. “We haven’t been in this form in, what? Five thousand years? We evolved beyond this, for gods’ sakes. All our training, all our study, and you reduce us to this?”
“All your training didn’t make you any more civilized, so I suggest you get over it. Work out your differences in this form before you destroy Izaaz more than it already is. The place is supposed to be a haven, but you two have turned it into a hellhole.”
“You can’t blame that on us,” said Maille, the fingernail she was pointing at Kal still lime green and long enough that it was starting to curl. “Have you seen the usury the leprechauns are putting out there? And the gnomes are threatening to tunnel under all the buildings and make them unstable unless they get some payola. And let’s not forget the peris . Oh, no. Everyone thinks they’re so sweet and lighthearted and beautiful, spreading happiness and good cheer wherever they go, but it’s enough to make you puke. And where’s their glitter? Their sparkle?”
A gnome popped out of a drain spout. “I’ll tell ya where it is, you bigmouthed Gila monster. It’s buried under all the rubble you and your friends keep heaping on us. Can you blame them for not wanting to waste any more of it? I wouldn’t if I were them.”
“And you, Maille,” the wyvern sneered—which would have had much more impact if he still had a beak full of pointed teeth. “Shall we count the ways you’re so blameless? Let’s start with the hatchlings. When were you going to tell me?”
The leprechauns showed up next and Samantha felt as if she were in a three-ring circus. Then a pack of furry little creatures with pointed ears and mouths full of spikes as nasty as Maille’s showed up, and it became a four-ring one. Five when the unicorns trotted back out. Six with the centaurs.
And then Samantha lost count as hundreds, if not thousands, of creatures filed into the streets, hurling insults and clumps of sand all over the place.
Kal kneaded the back of his neck and looked at her. “Anything else you want to wish for?”
Samantha straightened and rolled back her shoulders. No wonder the place looked like it did. “Yes. Let’s take care of a few things.” She rubbed her hands. “First, I wish you’d make all of them immobile and quiet.”
“Done.” He made a karate-chop move with his hand and peace reigned as the glitter settled onto the street. It was a big improvement.
“Next, I wish you’d shore up those buildings.”
“Gotcha.” He waved at the droopy buildings lining the street, making them perk up. The way his abs rippled, framed by his orange vest and highlighted by glitter, made her perk up.
Samantha shoved that image from her mind. She had a job to do. “And the trees. I wish they were orange—er, green.”
So much for the job.
“Absolutely.” Another wave of Kal’s hand, and the landscape got prettier—though more of an orangish-green than full-on green, but if she had him change the trees back, she’d have to come clean about why. Bad enough her subconscious was duking it out with her libido, she didn’t want to have to come out and admit something
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