The blue and purple dragons, biffed out, turned scaley tail and took off for the distant valley from whence they had come. Two dragons were left in the sky over Ozmosis.
The Red Dragon and the White Dragon circled ever closer to the grounds of the city proper. Both finally landed on the grassy area of the city park. Red turned his reptilian head and focussed his eyes on the bag carried by Civis Romanus. Incon and Tusky exited the pub to watch the goings-on. The rest of the travellers had gathered behind Civis, except for Jayhawk. The angel was at Civis' side.
"To me, strangers...Give me the eggs," hissed Red.
"You've a promise to keep, dragon!" said Civis, who shared Incon's desire to leave Ozmosis.
"What promise? Weakling!"
"Yeah, right...weakling, huh! Well dragon, we have your eggs. Who's the weakling, now?" taunted Civis. Jayhawk poked Civis in the ribs. "Easy Civis. Not too harsh now."
The white dragon spoke next. "Red, knock it off with the intimidation thing. You're embarassing me! You know you promised to help them get home in exchange for your eggs. Now get up off your stumpy tail and do it."
"I can't have any fun around you can I," complained Red to White. "Okay...okay. Stop glaring at me. You with the bag, place it on the ground between White and me. Then we'll help you get home, deal?"
Civis looked at the others. Jayhawk shrugged his shoulders. So Civis walked about half way towards the dragons, and said, "All of us, dragons, go home...including Tusky."
"Yessss," hissed Red, "and Tusky, too." Civis placed the bag with the eggs on the grass of the park. Then he turned and joined his companions.
Red said, "You've been true to your word and so shall I be true to my promise. The dragon started to repeat these words in a soothingly, rumbling voice: Think pink...think pink...think pink..."
To the eyes of the travellers, the red and white dragons seemed to move sideways of their own accord without moving their feet. They smoothly merged, red on white and white on red, until pink replaced these two contrasting colors. Then the spinning began: round and round and round and round...all eyes closed to stop the nausea and other discomforts before they grew too strong to control.
Then the spinning stopped.
The grassy park was now a grassy hill overlooking the Eternal City of Roma. Their opening eyes beheld the Appian Way leading to the city streets lined with insulae. In the distance the walls of the Coliseum rose majestically. The Senate building glittered in the bright sun of the day.
Civis, Jayhawk, Incon and the others stared at the City then at each other. The same thought occurred to each one of them at the same time. All stood up and deliberately walked over to the barrel of poppy-steeped wine standing on the hilltop, upright and tapped, from which had come many a glass to be drunk. Four pairs of hands shoved the barrel on its side. More hands gave the barrel a hard push. Down the hill rolled the barrel spewing wine all along its tumbling path. It found a boulder at the bottom of the hill and crashed into it shattering itself unrecoverably. The wine drained away into the ground.
Civis looked at Jayhawk, "Bad vintage," he said.
Jayhawk said in response, "Undeniably. Think pink, indeed."
With that, they all walked back to their respective homes in Roma...and led by Incon, Tusky did too.
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Civis Romanus
THE END?