"Dragon Bait? Is this real?" Scott stared at the flyer, disbelief warring with a desperate hope. Dragons were real, so maybe dragon bait was too. The plan formed in his mind: make the bait, lure the dragon down, rescue Tober. But what if the dragon didn't bring Tober down? What if it just ate the bait and left?
His eyes scanned the flyer again. "Fairy Flight." Could he fly? Were fairies even real? The thought of making a potion for flight, soaring up to Tober, felt almost as fantastical as the dragon itself. But what if it scared the dragon away? Or what if fairies weren't fast enough to catch a dragon? The idea of a psychedelic, poppy-induced flight crossed his mind, a risky alternative.
The logic was clear: Dragon Bait made sense, a dragon eating flower parts wasn't entirely unbelievable. Fairy Flight, however, felt like a long shot. He needed a plan that was both logical and effective. He needed to lure the dragon down safely, without jeopardizing Tober. He decided to focus on the Dragon Bait recipe, hoping the lure would be enough to bring both Tober and the dragon to the ground. He had to try.
**Dragon Bait**
A base recipe to attract flower-consuming creatures, including most dragon breeds.
Ingredients:
* 2 drams violet stamen
* 1 dram lady slipper carpel
* 1 small whole cankerwort (excluding roots)
* 1 finger of whiskey
* Arrowroot (to thicken, as needed)
"A dram? What's a dram?" Scott muttered, peering out the window. Tober was still there, nestled against the dragon, seemingly asleep. He pulled out his smartphone and searched "dram." The results showed either 1.77 grams or 0.012 ounces. He grabbed his digital scale, selecting grams.
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Cankerwort. That sounded familiar. He checked the packaging for additional ingredients, but found none. "Uber Eats," he thought, "can they deliver cankerwort from the pharmacy?" A quick online search revealed cankerwort was a dandelion. He spotted some in his backyard, illuminated by the lights he'd left on. The dragon was now more fully wrapped around Tober.
Carefully, Scott ventured outside, armed with pruning shears and his infrared scope. After finding both boy and dragon were now asleep, he stowed the scope and snipped a small, bright dandelion just above ground level.
The recipe instructed him to crush the violet stamens. Using a ceramic mortar and pestle, he diligently crushed them. He then sliced the lady slipper petals into thin strips and added both to a shot glass with a "finger" of whiskey. He wondered if the type of glass mattered. Checking on Tober and the dragon (still asleep!), he moved to the next step: chew the whole cankerwort, holding it in his mouth for half an hour, stopping when he could no longer feel the stem with his tongue. The chewing was strange, but heâd seen dandelions in salads before. After five minutes of chewing, he had 25 minutes to check on Tober and contemplate the next step.
He spat the chewed cankerwort onto a flat surface, then mixed it with the contents of the shot glass. He skipped the arrowroot, lacking it, leaving the mixture somewhat liquid.
Bip, bip.
The sound startled him. Bees were flying into the kitchen window near the counter where he was working. He rushed outside, the buzzing intensifying, joined by other insects. He quickly placed the plate next to the dirt mound from the egg hole and retreated as bees, other flying insects, and even larger creatures: butterflies, rabbits, and a herd of deerâsurged through the backyard, drawn by the potent mixture. Then, a large, dark shape landed, the dragon. Tober was not with it. Scott squinted, seeing Tober wedged in the fork of the tree, slumped and asleep, face down.