I lose concentration and fall into the icy depths. I drop like a stone.
I open my mouth automatically to cry out and water rushes in. I push up, using every muscle to get to the top. It is too heavy underwater to use the full force of my magic. I am about to breach the surface when I feel something awe-inspiring and terrifying. Something is underneath me, something large, and it pushes me up. It forces me out of the water. It gives me enough of a launch to fly over to the shore.
“What happened?” yelps Marley, while Alona rubs my arms feverishly. She doesn’t need to, the shock and adrenaline are distracting me from the awful cold.
I stare out at the water.
“I don’t know,” I gabble, all bravado gone. “I have no idea.”
I scramble forwards, now pressing both hands to the water. I once summoned the Kelpies of Edinburgh this way. It called them to us, despite how reticent and reluctant they were around humans.
I try now. Letting the water sing.
Something breaches. Somethings large, right at
the spot in Loch Ness where I dropped. It swims
closer, standing to its full height when the water is shallow enough.
“Oh, my G—” Marley croaks out the words and then falls silent, completely petrified.
“It’s true,” Alona gasps, more still than I have
ever seen her. “Those silly human stories, they were
all true.”
“Not exactly,” I murmur, taking in the enormous creature. It’s the size of an elephant. It’s scaly and rough and has four legs and a long slender tail. It has a colossal pair of wings. It is blue. A deep, electric blue. Its face has been drawn in fairy stories for as long as I can remember, with flared nostrils and large teeth, yet seeing it in person is more astonishing than I could ever have imagined.
“It’s not a monster,” I finally breathe. “It’s a dragon.”
Chapter Nine
When Magic Is Blue
Marley grabs my hand and Alona presses against my other side. The three of us cower in front of this intimidating creature as it blocks out the moon and stars before us. The shallows of Loch Ness only reaches the creature’s knees, causing me to wonder what its feet look like.
“Should we run?” asks Marley, his hand squeezing tightly to mine. Alona is trembling but she remains in her human form, defiant despite the obvious fear she is feeling. “What if it breathes fire, in stories they always breathe fire.”
I keep staring up at the dragon. It has deep blue eyes that match its scales and body.
“I wouldn’t trust those stories,” I tell Marley, keeping my eyes glued to the blue reptile. “They say a lot of things that aren’t true.”
I take a step forward, letting go of Marley’s hand and extracting myself from Alona’s grip. They both make noises of protest, but I ignore them. The dragon makes a chuffing sound. A grunt. Yet no fire comes out of its nostrils, only air.
I wade into the water, still too pumped with adrenaline to feel the full sharpness of the icy cold. I reach out a hand to touch its snout. The dragon intuitively flinches away, even gurgling slightly in objection. I still my hand, deciding not to press any closer unless welcomed.
“It pushed me out of the water,” I tell the others. “It came up from the deep.”
“I think,” Alona says slowly, “it’s a she.”
“This is Nessie,” Marley says dazedly, taking a miniscule step forward, too. “We’re actually looking
at Nessie.”
The dragon chuffs once more, at the mention of that name, as if rejecting it. It causes Marley to step back again. I admire her giant wings, noticing that they’re not only blue, but transparent. Almost fragile. The dragon folds them in and roars, moving back out towards the deeper section of the loch.
“Wait,” I call, pushing against the water and following her. “Do you Glamour?”
“I don’t think the possibly fire-breathing dragon speaks English!” Marley rasps.
As if to spite and defy him, the dragon sinks down into the water. I can see the blue scales beneath it but Marley gasps, leaping forward.
“It’s gone,” he cries.
“You can’t see it?” I demand, laughing shrilly at
the realisation.
The dragon can Glamour. It can disguise itself, blend into its surroundings like a water chameleon. That is why no film crew has ever discovered it. The tourists who’ve come, desperate to explore and unmask the monster, have probably sailed their boats right by the dragon, never knowing what was underneath because its Glamour perfectly hid it.
The dragon resurfaces, calmly. I fully believe I can see a glint of satisfaction in her eye.
“The few people who spotted you must have been like me,” I say softly. “That’s why no one really
believes them.”
The dragon doesn’t react. I step closer again, holding up my hands to try and communicate how badly I just want to connect. Peacefully.
