Finally, enough time passed for Theo to wake Carrot and have a chance at sleep. 

Theo nudged Carrot's flank. The unicorn kicked his hind leg in protest but squinted an eye open.

"Already?" Carrot mumbled. 

The tiny dragon continued snoring peacefully.

Theo fluffed some hay into a rough pillow, placing his pocket watch open and face-up on so Carrot could check the time.

"Just give me an hour," Theo instructed. 

Carrot whickered in displeasure.

"You're doing all the heavy lifting anyway." Theo squeezed his eyes shut.

"Your mother would kill me." Theo heard Carrot complain and stamp his hoof.

"She'd have gotten the both of us long ago," Theo said before drifting asleep.

It was a dreamless, peaceful sleep, but Theo was nudged awake all too soon.

He groaned as he rolled up and scooped an indignant dragon into his cloak. 

Theo smiled as the extra warmth hit him. It was a good thing the little dragon provided much-needed heat because the creature was almost as annoying as Carrot.

"I don't want to get back on the jostly pony." The dragon nipped at Theo's fingers.

"We can leave you here. Maybe a friendly cockatrice would like lizard meat." Carrot snapped his teeth at the dragon.

Carrot was not handling the dragon's irritating tendencies well. 

Theo suspected the dragon's chatter reminded Carrot too much of himself.

"Lizard meat. You mean-"

Theo scratched under the dragon's chin, causing him to lose his train of thought. 

The dragon was almost like having a noble lady's lap dog around except more lizard-y, more fire-y, and much more chatty.

"What's your name, dragon?" Theo asked as he mounted Carrot. 

He had almost addressed the dragon as "little dragon," but he had managed to stop himself. He was confident that moniker would have resulted in a bloodied finger.

"I am Scourge of the Night, Prince of Shadows, Lord of Darkness-"The dragon said as he puffed his tiny obsidian chest, but he stumbled when Carrot began a canter.

"Okay, but what's your name?" Theo asked again.

The dragon blinked his round eyes.

Carrot whickered, this time in laughter. "The Scourge of the Night doesn't have one."

"Names are for mere mortals." The dragon snaked his neck to glare at the back of Carrot's head. 

Theo brushed the top of the dragon's head. Its scales were surprisingly soft. The dragon chirped with delight.

"I could give you one." Theo offered. 

The dragon ducked his head out from under Theo's hand.

"A mortal name might be tolerable." The dragon said calmly, but his tiny body quivered with excitement.

Carrot snorted, "Don't get your hopes high. You'll end up like me."

"How about Scourge?" Theo asked while ignoring Carrot.

"Scourge." The dragon hummed.

"You literally just took part of his title. That's not how you name people." Carrot tossed his mane as he leaped over a stream.

"Blackie?" Theo suggested. "Knight Night?"

"Scourge it is," Carrot said before muttering what sounded like several inappropriate words about Theo.

"My name is Scourge," The dragon tried out the phrase, flicking his forked tongue as he said each word. "I accept this name, mortal."

"My name is Theo." Theo gently reminded Scourge.

"I name you Mortal, mortal." The dragon continued to happily hum.

Carrot cackled at the exchange.

Theo shook his head. "This isn't how naming works."

"You gave me a name. I give you a name." The dragon squinted at Theo.

"I already have a name: Theo."

"You are Mortal now, mortal."

***

By the time they stopped for supper, Theo had the dragon tentatively agreeing to call him "Theo."

Theo pulled supplies out of his packs while Carrot grazed. 

They had reached an area with growing grass, and Carrot was delighted with the fresh food after days of snow, dried plants, and old oats.

Taking a small knife, Theo shaved off a sliver of cheese.

"Cheese, Scourge?" Theo offered the dragon a fingernail-sized portion of cheese.

"I feast on the corpses of my enemies, not this 'cheese,' Mortal." The dragon stretched to his full height. 

It was not impressive.

"I'm afraid we are fresh out of enemy corpses," Theo popped some cheese into his mouth. "It's cheese or nothing."

Theo placed a small piece of cheese on a leaf in front of Scourge. 

The dragon circled the cheese. Sniffed the cheese. Then, Scourge sat before it and batted at it with a claw.

"It's pretty good for field rations." Theo popped more cheese into his mouth.

The dragon nudged the cheese with his snout before suddenly snapping it up. 

He chewed open-mouthed, gnashing the cheese with his needle-like teeth. Scourge swallowed with a satisfied rumble.

"More cheese, Mortal." Scourge licked his chops.

Theo groaned. "I hear the capitalization in your voice, Scourge."

"I want cheese Mortal Theo." The dragon inclined his head.

"Now you're just using it as a first name." Theo groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

 "Carrot, Mortal, and Scourge," the unicorn whinnied, looking up from his meal of grass. "What a fine trio we make. I must say, I feel vindicated now that your name is as ridiculous as my own, Mortal."

Theo shook his head and gave the dragon another small slice of cheese. It was the last of his daily rations. 

Theo scowled at Carrot, jealous that the unicorn had an endless feast of grass. 

Theo plucked a stalk of grass and contemplated trying to eat it. 

He did. It tasted gross. He spit it out.

All too soon, it was time to continue the journey. It would take at least another week of riding to return to Dullahan. 

Theo longed for a night in an inn on an actual bed. 

Still, there were almost certainly posters of him circulating the surrounding areas by now. 

After a month or two, things would probably settle, but he should lie low for a while.

At least, that's what he thought until two days later when the trio started to travel on an actual road. 

A poster of villain "Neo" drawn wearing a gaudy, over-decorated suit was nailed to the road sign at an intersection. 

Layers of lace dripped from his sleeves. The coat was so embroidered that Theo doubted anyone could move in it.

The worst part was the face.

"Neo" had huge doe eyes and long eyelashes. His cheekbones were high and looked so sharp that Theo wondered how they didn't split the skin. His nose was narrow, almost like a rat snout, and his excessively full lips were fixed in a smirk.

"Well, I think we're safe going to town," Carrot said as he switched his gaze between the poster and Theo. The unicorn tapped the poster with his horn. "I don't think your mother could have recognized you from that."

"I don't know whether I should be relieved," Theo said. Marie was probably the one to provide his description. "Do you think this is how Marie saw me?"

"If she did, it might be time to rethink your amorous attitude," Carrot said.

"I am not-"

Scourge poked his head out of Theo's cloak. 

He squinted at the poster. "Is this the Earth art?"

"No," Carrot and Theo said in unison.

"The eyes are remarkably similar Mortal…Neo," Scourge said. "I thought your name was Mortal Theo."

"It is. Theo, I mean. Not Mortal Theo," Theo sighed.

Then, he turned to Carrot. "Do you think this means Marie didn't even remember my name right?"

"Maybe the artist just misheard her when she said your name. The two names are very similar."

Carrot butted Theo's arm with his nose. Theo weakly nodded.

"C'mon. Do you really want a completely accurate wanted poster?" Carrot nipped at Theo's cloak.

"No," Theo grumbled as he climbed onto Carrot's back. "We might as well stop in Piederfort for the night since nobody will recognize me anyway."

With a happy whinny, Carrot started to gallop with renewed energy. 

"Gourmet oats. Apples. Real hay!" The unicorn chanted his favorite foods as he ran.

"Hay!" Scourge chirped along happily.

"Do you even know what hay is?" Theo asked the dragon.

Scourge had clambered onto the top of Carrot's head and was wedged between the unicorn's ears. Scourge glowered at Theo. “Hay is…delicious…”

"Hay is dried grass."

Scourge's mouth hung open. "Dried grass?" The little dragon leaned over Carrot's head and stared at the grass. "This stuff?" His voice squeaked more than usual.

"Real hay can hardly be compared to this stuff," Carrot said with a shake of his head, causing Scourge to slide around. "It is a carefully selected blend of the finest grass sun-dried with care."

 "The hay back in the flat lands was sun-dried, too," Theo said.

"It's hardly the same, you uncultured warlock." Carrot huffed.

"Whatever makes you happy, Carrot." Theo chuckled and patted Carrot's neck. 

The corners of his lips turned up as he thought about the soft bed and a warm meal waiting for him in town.