The Little Book

However, the joy seemed not to last in that place because suddenly a wave of noise started coming from the metal gate.

It was those dragon companies, or rather, beasts that were enemies of him, outside the corridor, eager to devour him completely.

From the intensity of the noise, the enemies of that dragon had sought reinforcements, yet they were not strong enough to open that metal gate.

However, that noise was becoming deafening, and staying nearby was no longer a good option.

"How about you show us a way out of this place?" shouted Kowalsk.

Piotr tried, but amid so much noise, he ended up losing track of what to do.

Kowalsk was puzzled by his behavior, seeming as lost as a blind man in a shootout.

After all, for someone who had been in that place for so long, as he seemed to suggest, he should know all the entrances and exits there... unless he had never left.

Meanwhile, the noise at the gate was growing louder, leaving Kowalsk even more disturbed.

"Do something, Piotr, or I'll end up going crazy in this place," yelled Kowalsk, already looking for a button or lever to try to open that gate.

"Are you going mad, old soldier? Do you think we would survive that pack of dragons?" For a moment, Kowalsk paused, thinking about what he had just heard from his unfortunate companion.

"Since when is 'pack' the collective term for dragons? As far as I know, that's for wolves."

"And why are you concerned about that, old soldier? Why does it matter? So what do you call this pack of beasts?"

Kowalsk fell silent; after all, he didn't know either. But by chance, he had found a little book in one of the drawers where he had found those gloves.

He looked at the cover with some hand-drawn designs and, upon reading one of its contents, he was satisfied, immediately repeating it to Piotr.

"Only animals that have collective life, like bees or those that live close to humans, have collective names. However, the dragon is a mythical being or animal typically represented alone, or a reptile that lives apart from humans. These characteristics mean there is no collective name for these animals, whether mythical or real."

Quickly tucking the book away in his pocket, Kowalsk concluded, "So now you know we don't say 'pack' to name dragons."

But in his eagerness to hide the book, he accidentally dropped it, and Piotr quickly picked it up.

"Mr. Kowalsk, or old soldier, as I prefer to call you, know that before being an experiment, I was also an exemplary student. If you let me read this addition that you must have overlooked..."

"...but if, figuratively speaking, a bunch of dragons or dragonesses appears, the language offers you some options: a flock (of dragons), flood, crowd, 'a lot of dragons' (a humorous term), just as these suffixes are used for any other animal - a pack of dogs, a clowder of cats, a shoal of fish. By extension, you can say a swarm (of dragons), if it's in a lighthearted text. Or legion, if they are meant to terrorize. When a term doesn't exist, one is often borrowed."

Kowalsk blushed with shame, something he hadn't done in a long time.

"Let's do this, old soldier: from now on, we'll use these names for those creatures."

Feeling frustrated, Kowalsk retorted, "To me, they'll always be called dragons."

"And to me, if they're in groups, they'll be whatever I say they are. After all, you read the book, didn't you? So did I. There's nothing more to discuss."

Piotr asserted categorically to Kowalsk, ending that senseless discussion