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We paused as a young dragon came hopping down the street. In the fading light, its scales appeared almost black. Running, the creature leapt into the air, flapped its wings madly (which always failed to support it), then ran some more after crashing back to earth. The size of a large sedan, the young dragon made quite an impressive crash. Evidently having a blast, it repeated this process over and over. Moving too fast to properly go around the corner, its momentum caused it to bounce into Mr. Hadley’s old VW beetle. The bug tipped over on its side and the young dragon continued along, either oblivious or uncaring about either the car or the torn-up asphalt from the road.

Unlike the last dragon I’d met, this one didn’t worry me. In truth, he was a transformed child from a few blocks over. The kid had been permanently changed thanks to a passing wave left over from the many floods of magic that had poured back into our world when the Great Seals had been broken. The boy... young dragon... had a good heart. He didn’t get a chance to run and play often. Still, he needed to be a little more careful.

“If I ever get a car,” I began with a small frown, “remind me to put wards around it.”

Ari tipped up a shoulder. “Or get it enchanted like Charli Rhodes’ car.”

“Yes, something along those lines,” I agreed, watching the young dragon run and hop off into the darkness. “One never knows what might happen to a car left on the street.”