Backyard Dragons Read Free

through it and now used a couch to reach this place in the same way he used a sycamore.
    Kurt had sat on that couch a fair number of times. The Palace had a wretched sense of humor. Justin tapped on the crushed green stones that made up the numbers at his chest height and heard solid thumping as the door translated his gesture into knocking.
    Claire answered immediately, and he escorted her to the spiral stair. She hadn’t explored much, on his request. After the spectacle that almost led to her execution the first time she arrived, she hadn’t argued with him.
    As they walked down the steps, Justin braced for the reactions of other Knights. A pair walking up the stairs nodded to him and ignored Claire. When they reached the main floor, another Knight passed them and smiled in greeting. They stepped out into the main thoroughfare between the various locations outside the dormitory without meeting anyone else.
    This wide corridor, made of the same stone as the stairs, had ceilings high enough to accommodate the tallest Knights. Noise dampened the moment they stepped into it, and their eyes slid across every surface without catching. This was not a hall intended for grand or lofty purposes, nor did it have any features to be admired. Knights used it to get from one place to another and its form did nothing more or less than fulfill that function.
    Guiding Claire up to the left, Justin scanned every branching hall for potential threats, though he hated feeling he needed to. The Palace was supposed to be their safe haven. For at least two millennia, the Spirit Knights had used this other dimension as a home away from home. Only Knights could come here, and all Knights were welcome. Except Claire, who’d challenged the very foundation of the Knights by doing nothing more than being a girl.
    They passed the kitchen—an enormous expanse of granite countertops and chrome appliances—on the way to the small room he wanted to use to help Claire forge her sword. Given what he knew of how this place worked, Justin had never been able to wrap his head around the food always waiting in the pantry and refrigerator. Nothing in the Palace ought to actually satisfy hunger, yet it somehow did.
    As they walked by, Justin accidentally caught the eye of the one Knight he’d rather not see with Claire by his side. Djembe turned with a steaming mug and froze when he saw them. A muscle in the Ethiopian-born Knight’s forehead twitched. Claire stiffened beside Justin.
    “Djembe,” Justin said. He waited to see if they’d wind up coming to blows over Claire or not.
    “Justin.” Djembe approached them, the aroma of his coffee reminding Justin he should be having dinner.
    “Good to see you,” Justin said, trying to keep things light.
    “Mm.” Djembe flicked his gaze toward Claire. His face betrayed none of his thoughts.
    Claire gulped. “I got my sprite.” She pointed to the dragon sitting on her shoulder. Enion chirped.
    “A dragon?” Curiosity and interest lit up Djembe’s face.
    “Can’t think of a better word for it.” Justin had no idea if the unusual creature could be a bridge between Claire and Djembe, but he hoped so.
    “Mm.” Djembe sipped his coffee. “Why are you here?”
    Though no Knight needed to explain their presence anywhere in the Palace, Justin did anyway. “Claire needs a sword.” Hoping to prevent what would probably become awkward silence, he tried to think of another subject to bring up. While they were here anyway, he figured he might as well see about helping Claire understand her sprite. “Have you seen Rondy around? If anyone knows about dragons, it’d be him.”
    “Library. All the time, lately.” Djembe eyed Claire. Justin hoped he remembered her right hook.
    “Thanks.” Justin tugged on Claire’s sleeve, urging her to move again.
    By unspoken accord, they walked more briskly away from Djembe. Claire glanced back several times before speaking again.
    “That was weird,” she said.
    “Yes.