The Dragon’s Quest for Hopper starts off as any other low brow elf seeking a real place in life. He didn’t think the real place would be babysitter to a dragon. Part of him wishes the dragon mother decided on eating him instead of shoving him into this new role. What was he thinking getting involved with Linda or Hartliebe or thinking he deserved more in life than running a beer company. Beer is his life. Or it was. His life now seems a lot different. And scary.
Genres: Adventure, fantasy
[WIP: The Dragon’s Quest for Hopper]
Derrick and Dominik
It is several hours after cast off that I find myself hiding in the galley. Well, I called it the kitchen until the pirates made sure I knew it was the galley. Why such different words? “I hate sailing. I lived in the forest. Had no desire to leave the forest. I mean I wasn’t happy living solely in the village, but I never wanted to sail.” Whining to Derrick seems the only safe option. The pirates think I am mad for not wanting to sail.
“I lived on a cliff face. I thought I would be happy on my cliff face for life. Then the pirates showed up. These Mad Hatters are mad and it’s not just their hats.”
“But their hats are pretty mad.” Seeing them with the funny hats had me laughing. Until they stabbed me with a saber and sent me to the ‘brig’. I’d call it a cell, but no. Stupid pirate terms. My wand let me out, but I wasn’t going to repeat that again.
“You can laugh at them with me, but not at them. We did not get along at first. Aimee made a difference.” He grins handing me a bowl to mix. “She told me all logically like what they desired from me. They needed me to get to Isle of Terrick. I had no idea and the plans fell through when I got Aimee pregnant.” He sticks his tongue out. “I won’t tell the crew, but I did all that on purpose. I had no desire to see this isle. Now they found a dragon who wants to. How could they not join him on the quest?”
“Point.” I sigh helping him with the food. He is not down here because they force him. He chooses this task because it is easy and well received.
“Rich probably wants to see the isle too. I won’t be able to stop him either.” Derrick sighs looking up to the deck. “My kids are troublesome.”
“Why so many?” I thought dragons control their fertility.
“It’s fun to keep Aimee half way to crazy.” He grins. “Rich, Melanie, and Katelyn were because I wanted to see what a half dragon half elf would be like. What does a half breed have to go through to become a dragon? Ben, Alena, and Shawn were because Aimee looks cute pregnant. I’m thinking to force her into another one before this is over.”
“That sounds mean.” I hand him back the bowl. “I’m gonna go up and see Aimee and tell her.”
“She already knows.” Derrick pushes the bowl back into my hands. “And agreed, actually. If this goes on too long the pregnancy will stop the Mad Hatters. You three should have no trouble.” He points back to my stool. “Now focus on your work while I get this stuff ready. There are a lot of people on board and only a few do not need to eat every day.”
“A few? The pirates are the only ones who need to eat every day. That’s it.”
“Thirteen is not a small number.” He switches to a dough ball. “And I do need an extra set of hands.”
“So you recruited me?” I look at my bowl. He had me make whipped cream. Who even thinks of something like that? “What’s this for?”
He looks at my bowl with a suggestive grin. “Me.”
I place the bowl on the counter and walk back up to the deck before he can stop me. I really do not want to know his plans for it. Dragons are not easy to understand in the least.
“Hey! Dominik! Over here!” Ethan calls to me from the edge of the ship where he has a fishing rod. “I’m catching fish!”
“Who’s gonna eat it?” I ask him walking over.
Ethan leans back grinning at me. “You always catch fish to have on hand. If sirens call, you feed them or they feed on you.” He tosses the newly caught fish in a bucket of ocean water. It swims around confused. “Wanna join?”
“Uh…” I glance at where Derrick is working. Then at the rest of the random crew members. If I do not have a task, I will be put on one. “Sure. What’s the chance that we will see a siren, though?”
“One hundred percent.” He tosses the line out into the water. It takes a long while to reach the surface then sinks into the sea. “Too many people on this ship. Too much noise. Too much food. I’d say if we don’t meet at least three, we can call ourselves lucky.”
“Are they one of the reasons this trip will be longer than it should be?” I sigh casting my line into the ocean.
“Hey, hey.” He knocks my arm lightly. “Sirens are beautiful. So as long as they don’t eat us, it’ll be awesome.”
Somewhere in the back of my mind I think that sirens in any sense would be a bad thing. Beauty does not make me want to meet them. Nor do I want to fish so they can be fed. But considering the other options on board this ship, fishing will be my desire job. “I hate sailing,” I whisper at the water.
Ethan glances my way confused. “Did you say something?”
“Nope. Hope we catch a lot of fish.”
“I hope we catch the eye of a lot of sirens.”
Maybe I should have pushed Cyro into flying there. We should be able to handle the journey and the return.
[About Cat Hartliebe] [Cat Hartliebe’s Books] [WIP: The Dragon’s Quest for Hopper]
Cat Hartliebe 