We’d covered dragons in Newbie training, but only briefly, since nobody ever thought we’d actually see one. There were two known types, eastern and western, and both were very powerful, dangerous, with intelligence ranging from smart to brilliant. They were so absurdly, extremely rare, and since no one had encountered one in generations, they were commonly assumed to be extinct.

They were definitely not extinct. There was at least one slithering along right in front of me, and if he wanted to eat me there probably wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. The gigantic creature took my breath away. He was so big that my brain was having a hard time calculating the dimensions. His head was the size of a small car. His shoulders were like two elephants squeezed together. I could only see the front legs, but they were shaped more like hands, only he could palm a cow like I could palm a basketball. One of the claws hit the floor, but with surprising gentleness. The enormous head dipped, fence-post horns tilting to the side, eyeballs the size of my head blinked. The eyelids actually made an audible slap as they closed. “Have a seat, Mr. Pitt.”

The only chair I saw nearby was a gray stone throne. I pointed at that questioningly, but no sounds would come out of my mouth.“Yes, yes. A nice piece. It belonged to Nebuchadnezzar, a fine specimen of human leadership. I picked that up at auction for a very reasonable price. Please, we have much to discuss and there is little time.” The massive head swung away as Management continued his path along the pillar.

I very carefully lowered myself onto the priceless historical artifact. The seat was a little small. The dragon continued speaking, obviously trying to put me at ease. “Forgive my rudeness. I will attempt to keep my voice down. I do not receive many visitors. Would you care for anything to drink? I have some very nice 1907 Heidsieck, purchased for the Russian royal family but then lost at sea, and only recently discovered by divers.” I shook my head no. “Are you certain? It was a bargain at two hundred thousand a bottle. Ah yes, I forgot, my sources said you are a teetotaler. Very well, down to business then.”

“You’re a dragon?” Considering my current circumstances, it was a remarkably stupid question, but to be fair, I was still suffering from the awe.