"Why?" asked Eric, looking up at the dragon - an actual, gods-damned dragon. "We can both see you just fine."

Drake nodded, then shifted slightly on his cushions. "Which as you may remember, surprised me when I first entered the outer cavern."

The two humans nodded and remained silent as they awaited explanation.

"Dragons as a species control a good deal of magic," Drake began in an instructional tone that both academics instinctively recognized. They sat ...