It was now or never. If Azara didn't do it now, their plan would be all for naught.

Yet Angus trusted in her. He had trained her well.

The sapphire dragon cast him an unsure glance as she perched on the edge of the roof, standing by a row of ice cream cones lining the roof's edge. "Are you sure about this?" She called.

Angus peeked back at her from his position at the tip of the roof. "Yes— now hurry! The people are about to come through!"

Azara let out a sigh, though Angus caught her grinning as she did. He knew that she was secretly just as excited as he was.

Hearing the sound of footsteps in the building beneath him, he lifted a talon in signal. "One... Two... Now!"

On his command, Azara ran down the line of ice cream cones with one wing extended to knock them over as she went. One by one the tall cones of creamy goodness toppled over... And Angus raced over to the edge of the roof to observe as they rained down upon the unsuspecting first visitors to the Giant's Causeway.

Surprised cries sounded from below as the people were coated in the sweet creaminess. People looked up to try and find their assailants as ice cream dripped through their clothes, and Angus flattened himself against the roof to hide, heart fluttering with excitement.

Soon the grumbling crowd wandered along down the path, and Angus sprang up and raced over to Azara, meeting her with a high-five. "Aha! That was brilliant! Did you see that big burly bald guy with a cone on his head? Priceless!" He clutched his stomach as he laughed, his legs going weak beneath him.

The sapphire dragon chuckled herself but offered a talon to steady him. "That little girl looked like it was her birthday when one landed on her shoulder. She just picked it up and started licking it!"

He grinned. "This is definitely one for the record," he laughed. Glancing past her, he realized that there was something glistening in the sun, creamy and melting... "Hey, we forgot one!"

Azara turned around, seeing the lone remaining ice cream cone. "Oh— whoops."

Angus shrugged and trotted over to it. "Well, I suppose we shouldn't let it go to waste then...." he pointed out with a sly expression.

She wandered over towards him. "Yes, that would be a terrible waste... Except for the fact that we had ice cream for our first breakfast, remember?" She held up a talon. "No, we need something healthy. Otherwise we're going to end up too heavy for our wings to carry us."

Angus frowned. "Awwww, why? When there's perfectly good food right in front of us!"

Now it was her turn to give a sly grin. "Lucky for you, I know just the trash can. I'll be right back." Before he could protest, she jumped off from the roof and flew away out of his sight.

Leaving him alone with an ice cream cone. He tried to distract himself by watching the tourists wander the maze of hexagonal stones with the gray-blue sea crashing against it but...

The ice cream cone might have had a few bites taken out of it by the time she returned, carrying something wrapped in brown paper in her talons.

She set down beside him and set the brown paper roll beside the ice cream cone. With a dramatic flair, she unwrapped the package to reveal...

"Fried fish?" Angus questioned. "How is that healthy?"

She used her talons to break off a portion of chunk of fried cod. "Ah well, it's at least meat. Come on, you've had me eating more potatoes than I even knew existed in these past two months that I've been here with you. I think it's about time you've tried something from my homeland. Something that isn't ice cream."

Angus grumbled, grudgingly accepting a piece of fish that she handed him. Tentatively he nibbled on a corner...

Meh.

But, not wanting to offend her, he forced himself to take another small bite, and another...

"Admittedly..." Azara murmured. "It tastes better fresh." She chewed in thought, then a gleam came to her eyes. The sapphire dragon raised her chunk of fish... And dipped it into the ice cream.

"Azara!" Angus exclaimed. "That's disgusting!"

The dragoness responded by bringing her icecreamed fish chunk to her mouth and taking a chomp out of it. "Mmmmhmmmm!" She mumbled through a mouthful of fish and ice cream. "Delicious! You should try it!"

He crinkled his nose at her good-naturedly. "No thanks."

Azara downed the rest of her fish and used both talons to push the cone towards him. "Try it! You must!"

The idea sounded as revolting as her fried fish, but he didn't want to disappoint her... So he took his fish, dipped it in the ice cream and stuck it in his mouth.

It was actually quite tolerable. Decent, even. He put a greasy talon to his chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm... If only we had some potato to dip in it... Then we'd have a masterpiece!"

At that, Azara burst out laughing.

Angus joined her, till he put a talon to his stomach. "Maybe we could try that for third breakfast... Or first lunch... But by the great golden sheep, I'm full." He glanced sadly to the melting ice cream cone. "I don't think this'll last that long though."

Azara grinned. "We could always get another. You are rather good friends with the ice cream vendor in town."

"I suppose so..." He said, and put a talon on the ice cream. "Which would mean that it would seem we are no longer in need of this one...?"

Azara seemed to catch his drift. "I'll go check for incoming people!" She announced, and raced up to the peak of the roof, leaving Angus lying in wait by the half-eaten ice cream cone.

He braced his talons on the cone, watching Azara for her signal. She watched the ground intently... Waiting... Waiting... "Now!" She called.

On her command, Angus pushed the ice cream off the roof, and he watched as it fell down... Down...

Right onto the head of a flustered old man.

Angus couldn't help but laugh right then and there, and even Azara's attempts at hushing him when she rejoined him were unfruitful.

The poor old man spun around in confusion, and removed the cone from his head, though there was little he could do as the creamy liquid seeped into his white hair, long beard, and thin brown jacket. His brilliant blue eyes were wide, and Angus almost felt bad for the man. Almost.

Then the old man turned his eyes to the roof, spotting them. "Aha! It's you! I found you!"

Azara grabbed his arm. "We should probably fly now," said she. Angus nodded in agreement, turning and flaring his wings—

"Wait! Please! I need your help!" The old man called.

Angus paused, but Azara still insistently tugged at his arm. "What is it? We need to go!" She questioned.

"Please..." The man said again pleadingly. "I've been looking for you both all over... Just about everywhere."

Angus turned back towards the man, maintaining his station on the roof, and exchanged a glance with Azara before speaking. "Who are you?" He called down.

The man held a hand to his chest. "My name is Lawrence Bronze, but... You may know me better as William's grandfather."

This made Angus raise his eye ridges. "Did you say... William's grandfather?"

Azara narrowed her eyes. "Yeah... Hey I remember you now! You're the man that bought us at that pet shop!"

Lawrence pressed his eyebrows together in fear. "No— please, I really am sorry for all of that. It's just our tradition, you must understand. But William—"

"Come on, Angus," Azara interrupted, nudging him with a wing. "We owe nothing to a man who sees us as nothing but objects to be bought and sold."

Angus was inclined to agree with her, but there was something in how desperate the old man sounded... "How's Will doing?" Angus called down. "Sorry we just sort of left him on the concrete after being chased by mad people throwing ice cream at us. Got a bit busy with the whole kidnapping of the dragon queen and then protecting our general right to exist thing."

Lawrence rapidly nodded his head. "That's just it, you see. Will— my Will, he never returned. The people that came to our door had knocked me out, and when I woke up my car was gone and so was he and both of you... I spent weeks looking for him, but now even the government has decided I'm a mad man and given up so I came looking for the only ones left who might be able to help... His dragons." He took a brochure out from his back pocket. "I didn't know if he was kidnapped or... Or gone... But I looked all over for you two... And then I saw this!" He unfolded the brochure and held it up to them, pointing at an image of Angus in it. "I recognized those brilliant eyes— I recognized them from the pet shop, and I came here as soon as I could! Used the last of my money to book the flight..."

Azara still didn't seem convinced. "Listen sir. We are nobody's dragons. We are not objects. We don't belong to anyone, got that?"

The old man's face sank in dismay. "Yes— of course, but please—"

"We'll help," Angus interjected decidedly.

Azara slapped his shoulder with the back of a talon to get his attention. "Hey, uh, don't you think we should, I don't know, think that through first?" She said in a hushed voice. "This guy can't be trusted! He bought us! Like animals! What if he's just trying to trap us so that Will can keep us as pets again?"

He hadn't considered that, and he bit his lip on thought. Yet still... "What if he's telling the truth? What if William is in danger? I mean, the kid did help us escape... It's not fair to him if he's stuck in some cage now because he was trying to free us from one."

Azara snorted, though she seemed thoughtful. "Humans? In cages? Only a monster would do something like that to their own kind. Not that it's fine for them to do it to any other, either."

Angus took a deep breath. "That's a difference between humans and dragons. They turn against their own, since each other are what they see as the worst enemy there is to fight." He lifted a talon and placed it gently on hers. "But William is a good human. He doesn't deserve to be treated the way we have. I think that we should help him."

Her turquoise-flecked silver eyes met his golden ones. "Are you sure about this?"

He nodded his head, trying his best to hide his own concerns. "Certain."

She cracked a slight smile. "Alright then. Let's help find Will."

Angus reciprocated her smile and turned back to Lawrence. "We've decided! We are going to help you find Will!"

The old man practically jumped, his whole face a picture of relief and joy. "Thank you! Now— do you have any ideas on how to find him?"

Angus frowned. "I'd sort of hoped you'd have... A little more to go on? I mean, all we know is that we left him on the concrete..."

Azara looked thoughtful. "Angus, do you remember those two agents? Clara and... Mr. C? Mr. T? Mr. S? Something like that. Surely they found him after we got inside the clock tower... What if...?"

He furrowed his brow. "You think that maybe the lab took him?"

"It's a possibility," she murmured.

Angus flexed his wings in thought. "So I guess that means that we need to find the lab. But they were closed down, remember? Weren't they supposed to be all gone? So why would they be holding a little boy hostage if they are no longer an organization?"

"I wouldn't put it past Clara to resort to kidnapping to make some cash for herself," Azara pointed out. "And while the Lab has been officially forced to close, I wouldn't be surprised if there are still small groups of them hanging around somewhere. One of those groups may have taken Will. Ransoming children might be how they plan to get the money they need to start up again. Wow... This is bad."

"But wait a moment..." Lawrence interrupted. "I haven't received a ransom notice. Why would they keep him this long if they intended to ransom him?"

His heart sank. He thought he'd been on to something.

Azara hadn't given up hope yet. "Either way, the Lab is our best guess, whatever their reason for taking him— maybe they saw him as a witness to their schemes and needed to get him out of the way, or something. That means that we need to track them down, and I just happen to know a certain dragon who has access to all available resources out there and so might just have an idea as to where the lab is hiding these days."

Angus lowered his voice to a whisper. "The dragon queen?"

The dragoness nodded. "The dragon queen," she confirmed.

Angus spread his wings. "Off to London then?" Said he, ready to jump off into the air. "It's a bit of a flight, but we could probably get there by night if we start now—"

"Excuse me," Lawrence interjected, raising a hand to halt him. "But I can't fly."

Slowly folding his wings, Angus blinked. "Right. Yes. Totally remembered that." He thought for a moment, glancing around at the people and stones and water below... Until his gaze landed on a certain office. "I've got it! Come! There's someone we need to talk to," said he, spreading his wings and jumping from the roof before the others could object.

Azara joined him in the air. "Wait— what? Who?" She called.

"The Manager of the Giant's Causeway!" Angus called back, rapidly flapping his wings as he flew towards the office. "Alastair Alby is about to become our new travel agent!" 

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Please remember to comment and vote if you liked! I'd love to hear what you all thought of this first chapter into the book!