Book 2: Chapter 62 (1/2)

A massive explosion rang through the cavern, causing Lulu to flinch and drop the bowl she was holding into the pool of bubbling liquid beneath her. “No!” she shouted before covering her mouth with her paws, glancing to the side at her mother and father. Kondra and her mate were stirring from the previous sound.

“What was that?” Kondra asked and furrowed her brow. Her head swiveled around like an owl trying to find any unknown sounds before her gaze locked onto Lulu. “Did you blow something up?”

“No!” Lulu said. “That wasn’t—” Before she could finish her sentence, the bubbling pool of liquid beneath her exploded, spewing green liquid everywhere as steam jettisoned towards the ceiling of the cave. Lulu whimpered as she wiped the liquid off her face before looking at her parents while hanging her head. “Okay, that one was me, but the first one wasn’t!”

“Get out,” Kondra said and pointed towards the tunnel with the sloped floor which lead outside. Green liquid dripped from Kondra’s face onto the ground.

“But it really wasn’t—”

“Now!” Kondra said, her voice raising in volume but lowering in pitch.

Lulu’s head drooped further as she sighed. “Yes, Mother,” she said and trudged out of the cavern.

“Bring me a snack when you come back,” Grimmy called out as she disappeared up the slope.

“And you,” Kondra said, whirling her head around to face Grimmy. ‘Why are you still here? Righteous quests don’t complete themselves.”

Grimmy yawned. “Why are you so impatient?” he asked and raised an eyebrow. “If you wait long enough, even a righteous quest will solve itself. There’s no need to take initiative.” He nodded once before closing his eyes, resting his head on his paws.

Smoke shot out of Kondra’s nostrils as Leila curled up closer to Grimmy and draped one wing over him, snuggling her head into his neck. Kondra let out a growl. “Leila…”

“Grandchild,” Leila said in response, causing Kondra’s eyes to narrow into slits.

The dragon matriarch snorted and faced her mate. She nudged him and asked, “Can you believe this?”

“Well,” Leila’s father said and scratched his head, “aren’t Grimmoldesser’s words true?” He sat up and held his paws in front of his face. “Hold up, let me explain before you spew fire at me.” He lowered his paws as Kondra shut her mouth and glared at him. “Think about it; isn’t what you’ve done exactly what Grimmoldesser has suggested?”

Kondra stared at her mate. She continued to stare at him as a bead of sweat rolled down his face. When it dripped to the ground, she said, “Elaborate.”

“Grimmoldesser’s adopting a wait and see approach,” Leila’s father said. “It’s the same type of approach you adopted when the dwarves first shooed you away. You waited for someone to come to give a quest to them, but you’re not taking any initiative yourself.”

“Yeah, you hypocrite,” Grimmy said. Leila smacked his snout. “What? It’s the truth.”

Kondra snorted. “I recognized the problem, and took steps to solving it,” she said and gestured at Grimmy, “by designating it as a quest. He’s done nothing at all. At least, I gave out a quest. I’m not just sitting around and waiting for my problem to solve itself.”

“Who says I’m sitting around waiting for my quest to resolve itself?” Grimmy asked and snorted. “I’ll have you know, I’m a very hardworking individual. Every time I go to sleep, I explore the world with astral projection. Before one can pacify a whole race, one must know every part of them. I can’t just barge into their place, break all their stuff, and massacre them without caring about the consequences. The ties between the dwarves and all the other sentient beings have to be taken into consideration.”

“Really?” Leila whispered while rolling her eyes. “Astral projection?”

Grimmy grinned at her but didn’t say anything. Kondra furrowed her brow and asked, “Is this true? You’re gathering information in your sleep?”

“Would I lie to you?” Grimmy asked, raising his snout into the air.

“Yes,” Kondra said. “You absolutely would. Dragons of darkness can’t be trusted.”