Free Tiny Dragons 2: The Bear and Scepter by Bernard Schaffer Page B

didn't, he shrugged and went back to the totem to remove the other ruby. He popped the second stone out, then placed both gems and the eyeless totem side by side on the tundra and removed a camera from yet another pouch on his belt. He aimed the camera at the items on the ground and pressed the shutter button rapidly, taking multiple photographs from different angles.
    As he was bent over, a large shadow fell over him and it was suddenly so warm he was sweating. He stopped moving when he heard the sound of the dragon's rumbling breath just above his head.
    Lord Sun stared down at the human. "What do you think you're doing with that?" 
    The man put away his camera and said, "I'm analyzing this totem, trying to determine why it was able to hypnotize you so effectively. Perhaps dragons have a weakness to red light, or perhaps it is equipped with some kind of wave transmitter that−"
    "Enough!" Lord Sun snapped. "It has powerful magic and it must be destroyed."
    "Magic," the man laughed. "Of course it doesn't. There is no such thing. Magic is a word the ignorant use to describe phenomenon they do not understand."
    The dragon advanced, enough to make the human scamper backwards, "Are you calling me ignorant?"
    "No," the man said quickly. "You're only ignorant if you cling to a belief in something after observing demonstrable evidence that contradicts it. So let me examine this totem and determine the reason it was able to have such an effect on you."
    The dragon's head snapped sideways and it blasted a jet of white hot flame at the totem, melting the rubies and jade into the ground and leaving nothing more than a thick pile of ash from the wooden staff. Lord Sun looked back at the human and said, "What caused it does not concern me. Preventing it from doing so again does."
    The human groaned at the sight of the useless smoldering heap. He shook his head and muttered, "Well, at least I have some decent photographs of it. Hopefully, I can still come up with something."
    Lord Sun batted the camera out of the man's hands and said, "Who, exactly, are you and what, exactly, are you doing out here? Why do you have such strange equipment and, most importantly, why in the name of the Four Winds, did you stop those disgusting humans from capturing me?"
    "Because you and I are on the same quest," the human said. "We are looking for the same thing."
    "And what is that?" Lord Sun sneered. "Riches? Gold? All the things you humans crave!"
    "Fafnir's Horn."
    The dragon was taken aback. "How do you know about Fafnir's Horn?" Lord Sun snarled, "And what would you even do with it if you found it?"
    "I would blow it as loud as I could, as long as I could," he said. "I would blow it until I summoned the Last Black Dragon. Please tell me you are aware that The Evil One is coming and no one else can stop him."
    Lord Sun stared down at the human, too mystified to move or even know what to say. In all his many years, he'd never fathomed, never even considered for one second, that any human could possibly know about, much less care about, finding the Horn and using it to stop the Evil One.
    While Lord Sun stood gawking, the man discreetly reached down into his pocket and removed his camera. He raised it up quickly and took a picture of Lord Sun's massive face.
    "What are you doing?" the dragon said, startled.
    "Documenting you," he replied. "I've never seen an actual dragon before. I'd read reports that you existed, and seen footage, but to be honest, a large part of me was convinced it was all a hoax."
    "Tell me human, do I look like a hoax to you?" Lord Sun said loudly.
    "Nope," the man said, as he raised the camera and took another picture.
    Lord Sun squinted from the camera's bright flash, "Stop that!"
    The man held his hand up to the dragon's chest, feeling the warmth coming from within and said, "Can all dragons breathe fire?"
    "No."
    "Can you always breathe fire?"
    "Yes."
    "Have you always been able to breathe fire? Even as a baby? Were you ever a