Book 3 Side Story 3 (2) - End of Book 3 (1/2)
More than two dozen dragons, most of them red, were milling about a valley. Most of them were lying on their stomachs, their eyelids drooping, but the younger-looking ones were chasing each other around while roaring and laughing. One dragon tackled another, and both went tumbling along like a scaly snowball before colliding into another dragon. The two dragons disengaged and lowered their heads at the dragon they bumped into. “Oops. Sorry, Grandma,” both dragons said at the same time.
“It’s okay, children,” their grandmother said. “Just be careful not to bump into the food. It’s not quite as sturdy as your grandmother.”
“Yes, Grandma!” the two dragons said. One of them licked his lips. “When are we eating? My tummy’s rumbling.”
“We’re still waiting for everyone to arrive,” their grandmother said.
The young dragon tilted his head. “But isn’t everyone here?” He looked around. “Who’s missing?”
“Your aunt, Prika,” their grandmother said. “We wait for her every Christmas, but she never comes home.”
“Maybe she’s dead?” the young dragon asked.
The other young dragon smacked the first one and pushed him down to the ground. “Stupid! You can’t say things like that. People get mad.”
The first young dragon squirmed and flailed his limbs. “The only one who’s mad here is you, blockhead!” He pushed his brother off and was about to pounce, but he stopped upon seeing his grandmother’s gaze. “Sorry, Grandma. Did I make you mad?”
Their grandmother shook her head. “No. I know Prika isn’t dead,” she said. “I still get updates from time to time. Last I heard twenty years ago, she was a part of Novasthiurm’s cohort.”
“Do you think she found a mate?” a red dragon called out from the side before snickering.
“Whether she did or not is none of your business,” the grandmother dragon said. “It’s because you and all your siblings kept teasing her that she hasn’t come back for Christmas all these years.”
The red dragon rolled her eyes. “You teased her too, Ma.”
“Did I?” the grandmother dragon asked and reared her head back. “When?”
“You say stuff like if you keep eating like that, no one’s going to want you as a mate. And other stuff like have you seen the state of your room? No respectable dragon wants to mate with a slob.”
The grandmother dragon exhaled through her nostrils, shooting out two jets of flames. “That’s not teasing. That’s the truth.”
“That’s even worse, Ma.”
“Well—” The grandmother dragon froze mid-speech. She stood up on her hindlegs and craned her neck towards the sky. A red and blue dot broke through the clouds. “Is that…?”
The two young dragons stood up and squinted at the approaching dots. “Is that our aunt?”
“Is that her mate?”
“Prika’s back!” the grandmother dragon shouted. The other dragons in the valley burst out into commotion and stood up to watch the approaching dots in the sky. The children, sensing the change in the adults, stopped playing around and paid attention to the sky as well.
Up on Vur’s head, Tafel swallowed while peering over his snout. She turned her head to the side towards Prika. “Your family is huge.”
“I have twelve younger siblings,” Prika said. “And all of those siblings found mates before I did. I bet half of them already have kids too.” She wrinkled her snout and counted out the dragons in the valley. “Thirty-four of them. My ma and pa are there too. That’s thirty-two minus twenty-four….” Her eyes widened. “Eight of them had kids and I don’t even have a mate yet!”
“Couldn’t it be more than one kid per dragon?” Tafel asked. “Vur’s cousins were triplets. Who knows? Maybe one of your siblings had octuplets.”
“And maybe the moon really is made out of cheese,” Prika said, rolling her eyes.
Vur blinked and turned his head. “Have you heard about the moon dragon?”
“Hmm?” Prika raised an eyebrow. “How did you know? When I went to find the love of my life on the eastern continent, a bunch of humans were throwing festivals and giving sacrifices to the moon dragon.”
“Oh, okay,” Vur said.
“Don’t sound so disappointed!” Tafel said.
“Prika! Welcome home!”