"In Latin my name, Aurelia, basically means 'the golden one.' My mother literally named me her golden light through the storm that was her life. That is my job. To be everyone's light at the end of the tunnel. And I got stuck worrying so much about...
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Aurelia was numb.
Her headache still thrummed in the back of her head and her mind was spinning with the possibilities of what could have happened. Although she did find great amusement every time Leo cocked his head back to look at her fearfully.
When they had reached the bow of the ship, the figurehead dragon had turned a hundred eighty degrees to look at them. While Frank yelped and backed away, Aurelia didn't even flinch.
"It's alive!" Frank gasped. Aurelia just tapped her temple like her brain was short-circuiting.
"Yeah," Leo said. "Frank, Aurelia, this is Festus. He used to be a full bronze dragon, but we had an accident." Aurelia felt a little sympathy at Leo's sad emotions towards the memory.
"You have a lot of accidents," Frank noted.
"Well, some of us can't turn into dragons, so we have to build our own." Leo arched his eyebrows at Frank. "Anyway, I revived him as a figurehead. He's kind of the skip's main interface. How are things looking, Festus?"
Festus snorted smoke and made a series of squeaking, whirring sounds. Leo was nodding along as if the machine was speaking in English.
"Ugh," Leo groaned in response. "Could be worse, but the hull is compromised in several places. The port aerial oars have to be fixed before we can go full speed again. We'll need some materials: Celestial bronze, tar, lime—"
"What do you need limes for?" Frank asked.
"Dude, lime. Calcium carbonate, used in cement and a bunch of other—" Leo stopped when he felt Aurelia's annoyed gaze searing into the side of his head. "Ah, never mind. The point is, this ship isn't going far unless we can fix it."
Festus made another click-creak noise.
Leo was confused before understanding. "Oh ... Hazel." He looked at Frank and Aurelia. "That's the girl with the curly hair, right?"
Frank gulped. "Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she's fine," Leo said. "According to Festus, her horse is racing along below. She's following us."
