XXV
387 Words
XXV
Frog picked up several chairs and set them upright. The studio was almost restored to its normal self, and it gave him some peace to know that things were back to balance again. Unless some new CEO came along again and put him into a rage.
He had cast a painting spell to give the broken but now restored equipment a fresh coat of paint that quick-dried upon casting, and the studio smelled brand new.
He slid on his red tie, clipped his lapel microphone to it, and he sat in his chair again and practiced his upcoming broadcast.
It shouldn’t have been weird to talk to a camera screen and know that the entire city was watching. But with an empty studio, his voice echoed throughout the place and reminded him how empty it was.
“I ought to apologize for my speech last night, but I won’t. I meant everything I said and if you don’t like it, watch another news dragon.…”
He paused, imagined the crew shaking their heads. He’d deal with them again if needed, but they wouldn’t touch him.
“One of my faults is that I’m outspoken,” he continued. He ribbited, tasted pond water in his mouth, and then repeated the sentence again for better cadence. “But I can’t apologize for who I am, just like you watchin’ can’t apologize for bein’ elven or human or a hybrid between the two. It’s who ya are, and one oughn’t jam a needle in the eyes of his heritage. That’s all I’ll say.”
He entered an almost trance as he repeated the speech, this time with more feeling, more pauses, and more bass in his voice.
No later than when he finished the last sentence, he saw Dark standing in the studio in front of him.
Frog would have known Old Dark anywhere. Even in a cursed state, the dragon was regal and black. He wore an eyepatch over his left eye. He was almost, if Frog didn’t know better, decrepit. The old dragon walked with a limp, as if all his legs had been broken at some point and healed irregularly. He was not the same.
“It can’t be,” Frog said. “I never thought I would see you again.”
Dark approached him slowly.
“Are you real?” Frog asked.
“Real as you are,” Dark said hesitantly.
Frog threw over the desk and embraced Dark, and they both laughed joyfully.
- Writer
