Book 2: Chapter 13 (1/2)

Lulu hummed as she threw a green tree into a massive pool of water. She was in her corner of the cavern, a layer of miscellaneous materials scattered amongst her paws. By the pool of liquid, there was a hole in the ground which she blew fire into until the water started boiling.

“Mom,” her brother called out from across the cavern. He was bathing in a patch of moonlight, watching his little sister throw things into the water. “Lulu’s making weird things again.”

“Shut up, Luke!”

Kondra opened one eye and peered at her daughter. Lulu was glaring at her brother, ready to throw the massive ingot in her claw for ratting her out. Kondra sighed. “Just don’t blow up the living room again.”

“That only happened because Dad knocked over my stuff!” Lulu said. She puffed her cheeks out and narrowed her eyes at her father.

“If you weren’t so messy, I wouldn’t have knocked anything over,” her father said, rolling his eyes. “Besides—”

“Hush,” Kondra said and covered her mate’s snout with her claw. “Did you feel that?”

Lulu’s brow furrowed. A fluctuation of mana washed over her, causing her to raise her head. Two dragons flew overhead, blotting out the moon as they descended towards the transparent ceiling. “It’s Leila!”

The ceiling shimmered as the two dragons passed through and landed heavily in the center of the cavern. A black dragon flared his wings outwards and roared, causing Lulu to flinch and drop the ingot in her paw into the pool of bubbling water. But she didn’t seem to care about the lost material or ruined formula. Her eyes were glued on the black dragon by Leila’s side. Did her sister really…?

“My name is Grimmoldesser!” Grimmy leaned back and sat on his haunches, crossing his arms over his chest. His voice echoed through the chamber. “Leila is my mate!”

Lulu fainted.

Kondra’s eyes widened as she climbed to her feet. She snarled and bared her teeth at Grimmy, taking a step forward while raising her head into the air, looking down on the black dragon. She was a little bit bigger than him due to her being older, but Grimmy didn’t back down as he glared back at her.

“Hi, Mom,” Leila said, stepping in between the two dragons. “This is the mate I’ve been telling you about.”

“A dragon of darkness?” Leila’s brother asked from his patch of moonlight. “Oh boy, you’ve done it now.” He rose to his feet and slinked away, fleeing from the cavern.

Kondra glared at her daughter. “Leila…,” she said. “This is the gallant dragon you’ve been telling me about? Grimmoldesser!?” She roared the last word, white fire spewing from her mouth.

“I’m very gallant, thank you very much,” Grimmy said with a nod as he snuffed the flames with his tail. “You haven’t even gotten to know me yet; why do you sound so angry?”

“Grimmy is actually very sweet, Mom,” Leila said, blocking her mother’s view by spreading her wings. “He’s not the one who forced the dwarves to leave. Probably. And look—he even has a holy warrior as a mascot.”

Lindyss’ eye twitched at the term mascot. She appeared from behind Grimmy’s wing and waved at Kondra, a white halo above her head. “This lowly warrior greets the matriarch of the land,” Lindyss said and lowered her head.