A simple, unassuming sneeze from Sabel—who had, in typical Sabel fashion, been experimenting with "dessert-themed familiars" in the backroom. The goal was to create a sugar cube that could stir its own tea.
Instead, the cube wriggled. It grew eyes. Then wings. Then teeth. Tiny, adorable, marshmallow-like teeth.
"Behold!" Sabel cried, eyes wide with pride and possibly too much caffeine. "The Sugar Draconequus!"
Rosemary, who had just sat down to update the café's inventory log, didn't even look up. "Please tell me it doesn't breathe fire."
"It breathes caramel vapor. Very fragrant!"
That was when the tiny dragon burped, and the wooden shelf caught on fire.
The Outbreak
It turns out, sugar dragons multiply fast. Especially when surrounded by warmth, caffeine, and excess whipped cream.
By noon, there were thirty-seven of them.
One was riding Percy like a knight on a disgruntled pigeon.
Another was asleep in a milk frother.
One chewed through a customer's menu, then melted it with a giggle.
"These things are everywhere!" Malaki yelled, jumping back as a dragon nibbled on his boot.
"They're not aggressive," Sabel argued.
The ceiling cracked as one sneezed a butterscotch beam that melted a light fixture.
"They're not friendly either!" Rosemary shouted, dodging a sugar blitz.
The Containment Plan
With the café moments away from becoming a dessert-based warzone, the team gathered in the pantry.
"We need bait," Sabel whispered. "Something irresistibly sweet, magical, and possibly emotionally manipulative."
"Like your personality?" Percy chirped.
"I was thinking more like… the Forbidden Frosting."
Everyone gasped.
"You mean the one sealed in the fridge vault?" Malaki said. "The one that made the emperor of mint cry?"
"Yes," Sabel replied gravely. "The frosting of infinite allure."
"I thought we were saving that for someone's birthday."
"Let's live to have birthdays."
Operation: Frosting Lure
Sabel smeared a spoonful of the Forbidden Frosting on a golden croissant and held it above his head like a sacred relic. The sugar dragons turned, eyes glowing, wings flapping.
They charged.
Cue dramatic chase music.
Sabel sprinted through the café, croissant in hand, with dozens of squealing sugar dragons flapping behind him like sparkly bees. Percy cackled from a chandelier. Rosemary tossed flour sacks for cover.
The prince dashed out the back door and into the alley where he'd prepared a summoning circle made entirely of chocolate syrup.
He tossed the croissant into the center.
FWOOM.
The sugar dragons dove for it, colliding, twirling, laughing—and disappeared in a pop of marshmallow smoke, safely contained in a candy dimension.
The Aftermath
The café was a mess of frosting trails, singed menus, and a ceiling fan that now spun clockwise and in reverse.
Malaki groaned. "I stepped on a cookie with teeth."
Sabel wiped sweat from his brow, hair dusted with powdered sugar. "We survived. Barely."
Percy flopped onto a stack of napkins. "This is why I drink decaf."
Rosemary stood in the doorway, arms crossed, foot tapping.
"You're banned from sugar magic for a week."
Sabel gasped. "That's practically treason!"
"You turned the espresso machine into a sugar golem, Sabel."
"…it wanted to feel alive."
That night, the prince sat on the rooftop with a normal cup of coffee, looking at the stars, his coat still smelling faintly of caramel fire.
A soft rumble behind him made him turn.
One last sugar dragon, the size of a walnut, blinked up at him with tiny cinnamon eyes.
Sabel grinned.
"Let's keep you between us, okay?"
The dragon sneezed glitter.