Chương 61: A Dragon's Hoard

Derek's crew had been hammering and sawing for hours now, rebuilding the door frame Ignis had destroyed yesterday. The noise was incredibly loud. Power tools and workers shouting measurements to each other were constant. Someone's radio was blaring classic country at a volume that should've been illegal. I found Ignis in the garage, curled up like a giant golden cat. The noise didn't seem to bother him at all. He didn't even twitch. As for me, my eye was twitching.

It was taking everything I could not to start spreading around curses instead of blessings. Part of this was because of what had happened the day the incursions occurred. One of the local high schools had been close to a portal, out of which had spewed thousands of huge rats. Although the rats had been driven off, many of them had escaped. However, that wasn't the only thing bothering me. I'd never been a fan of change, and now I was change. Needless to say, I was quite irritable.

Even the sleeping Ignis bothered me. I stood in the doorway, watching the dragon's chest rise and fall with deep, steady breaths. Tiny wisps of smoke escaped his nostrils with each exhale. His wings were folded neatly against his sides, his tail curled around himself protectively. He looked so peaceful. I envied his ability to ignore the noise. Part of me wanted to end that peace right then and there, but I ruthlessly shoved those feelings down.

"How long has he been like this?" I asked Derek, who was measuring something on the damaged wall. I wasn't sure whether the damage was from the Wild People or Ignis, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know either. Derek glanced at his watch.

"Since dawn, according to Luke. Said the dragon was asleep when he left around six. It's past noon now." He made a note on his tablet.

"I dropped a hammer right next to him about an hour ago by accident. He didn't even flinch. The kid sleeps like the dead."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised then," I said as I glanced at the hammer hanging from Derek's belt. I heard glass breaking from somewhere in the cabin and my eye twitched again. I was so tempted to take that hammer and go on a rampage.

"No judgement here, but your life is so weird," Derek said conversationally.

"Tell me about it," I muttered. I approached Ignis carefully, trying not to disturb him. Up close, I could see he looked exhausted even in sleep. His scales, usually gleaming bright gold, seemed slightly duller. His breathing was deep, almost labored. What did you do, kid? I thought, remembering Luke's excited text message this morning about receiving some kind of 'draconic gift.' Luke had been vague about details. He just said that he'd explain later, but whatever Ignis had done had clearly taken a toll.

I sighed and turned back to Derek.

"Can you build something for him? A proper place to sleep?" Derek lowered his measuring tape.

"Like what? A dog bed?"

"A fireproof bed. Something sturdy that won't burn if he accidentally breathes fire in his sleep."

"A fireproof bed. For a dragon.' Derek didn't even blink anymore. After everything he'd seen in the last few weeks, a dragon bed probably ranked pretty low on the weird scale.

"Sure. What did you have in mind?"

"Something sturdy. Metal frame, maybe stone base? And it needs to be big enough for him to grow into. He's probably going to get much bigger."

"How much bigger are we talking?" Derek asked, ready to take notes.

"I have absolutely no idea," I admitted.

"Could be pony-sized for years or he could be car-sized by next month."

"Right. Love working with precise specifications." But Derek was already pulling out his tablet, stylus moving across the screen as he sketched. I watched, already knowing it was going to cost me an arm and a leg. At least I'm getting the family and friends discount.

"I can do a raised platform. Steel I-beams for the frame, reinforced concrete base, line it with firebrick. Put it in that corner where he won't knock things over when he moves around."

"How much?" Derek calculated silently, fingers tapping.

"Steel's expensive right now with all the construction going on. Firebrick isn't cheap either. Labor costs…" He grimaced, as if already regretting what he was about to tell me.

"I can probably do it for eight thousand." I winced, but it was actually about what I was expecting. My savings were taking a serious beating since I died. Between the cabin repairs, the new security measures Kathy wanted to install, and now dragon furniture… But what else was I going to do? Let him sleep on the concrete floor? Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Do it," I said. Derek studied me for a moment.

"You're really committed to this dragon, huh?"

"He's a kid who can't get home," I said simply.

"What else am I supposed to do? Kick him out?" Derek smiled slightly.

"Good answer. I'll order materials this afternoon. I should be able to start building tomorrow."

"Thanks," I said, looking at my newest house guest.

"No problem." He went back to his measurements, then paused.

"You know, if you really wanted to make him feel at home, you might consider getting him a hoard to sleep on."

"Yeah," I said slowly.

"I'd thought about that too." Derek raised an eyebrow.

"Are you thinking about what I'm thinking about?"

"Probably not. What are you thinking?" I wasn't in the mood to guess. Also, I was still tired. They'd begun construction not long after sunrise.

"That you're about to spend a ridiculous amount of money on something shiny for a baby dragon to sleep on." Derek almost sounded sorry for me. I could swear I could hear something like, 'better you than me' in his voice.

"... maybe," I said tiredly. I stood there, staring at Ignis for a second, thinking.

"You're a good person, Abe. Weird, but good." After that, Derek went back to work, leaving me alone with my thoughts. After a few more minutes, I activated my smartwatch and called Shelly. She answered on the third ring.

"Please tell me you're not calling with another emergency."

"No emergency. I need a favor," I said, hating that I would have to ask someone for something. I hated asking for favors.

"Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?" Shelly asked suspiciously.

"Can you go to the bank? I need pennies," I said. Silence. After a few more seconds of silence, I asked, "Shelly?"

"Did you just say pennies?" Shelly said, almost as if she had misheard me.

"Yes. Lots of pennies. Like, thousands of dollars worth," I explained. Then there was more silence.

"Shelly, are you still there?"

"I'm trying to decide if I should hang up or ask for clarification.' She sighed deeply.

"Okay. Why do you need thousands of dollars in pennies?"

"Dragon hoard. Ignis needs something to sleep on. Something that makes him feel secure. Dragons sleep on treasure, but I can't afford actual gold. Pennies are copper. They're shiny. Close enough. He definitely won't know much they are worth anyway."

"You want to build a dragon a bed of pennies," Shelly said, clearly working through what I'd said. Usually, she was quicker on the uptake, but I guess everything was catching up with her. Since she apparently got it, I simply said, "Yep." She then said, "You do realize that two thousand dollars worth of pennies is going to be about two hundred thousand pennies, right? Do you realize how many banks I'm going to have to visit to get that many?"

I did some quick mental math and realized she was right, about how many pennies it would take and how many banks she would have to visit. It'd be heavy too. With this in mind, I threw Pierre under the bus.

"Why don't I ask Pierre to help you out?" It sounded like Shelly took a deep breath before answering. However, the tone did sound a little clipped when she responded, "Fine." Yep, she's annoyed. Well, Pierre can calm her down. Or at least take the brunt of her anger. Either way, I'm off the hook.

"The banks are going to think I'm insane."

"Tell them it's for an art project or that you're collecting them for when they become relics in a few decades," I suggested.

"What kind of art project requires two hundred thousand pennies?"

"A really big one?" I tried.

"They probably won't even bat an eye considering all the other weird stuff going on nowadays." She was quiet for so long I thought she'd hung up. Then she said, "Fine. Pierre's mine, all day. You can't have him do anything else. Got it?"

"Deal. Thank you, Shelly." Then it hit me. I really had been ordering Pierre and the others around recently. I was a little surprised that no one had objected to it.

"Yeah, yeah. You owe me. Again." She paused.

"How's the dragon doing, anyway?" I looked at Ignis, still sleeping soundly despite a power drill starting up nearby.

"Exhausted. He gave Luke some kind of magical gift last night. He's been asleep ever since." She sighed.

"That dragon is going to give us all gray hair."

"I'm a raccoon. I already have gray hair."

"You know what I mean." I could hear her moving around, probably grabbing her purse.

"Okay, I'm heading out. First bank run of the day. I'll call Pierre and tell him the good news."

"Thanks, Shelly. Really." I didn't know what else to say, so I left it at that.

"Just... take care of that dragon, okay?" Shelly said, the soft side of her taking over.

"He might be annoying and arrogant, but he's just a kid."

"I know," I said. After she hung up, I settled onto the overturned bucket Derek had been using earlier and just... sat, thinking. The garage was actually relatively quiet now. The workers had moved to the other side of the cabin to work on the roof. It was just me, a sleeping dragon, and my thoughts. And I had a lot to think about. The Raven Mocker was still out there. Wounded but definitely still dangerous. Then there were the Wild People. They'd attacked my home and killed my followers. I needed a plan.

A real plan. Not just, 'I hope they don't attack us again.' They would attack, and probably sooner rather than later. What I needed to do was a way to deal with them. Before I could even start to think of a solution though, a new notification appeared. GAIA SYSTEM ACTIVATED. Global Announcement: System Updated.

Named Pantheon Champions: Can provide quests or training Nexus‑Point Custodians: Can open portals to other planes Experience Points: Awarded for planar energy absorbed Planar Store: Make purchases with planar crystals MESSAGE FROM GAIA. Counter-Attack! After reading the announcement, I just sat down and really wondered, Am I dreaming? Is this some cosmic game?