Book 5: Chapter 3 (1/2)
Tafel held up Minerva’s golden feather and inserted some of her mana into it. The feather shone with a golden light, illuminating a spherical area around her. She glanced around, but there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary, meaning Susan and Emile hadn’t been there. If she wanted to find traces of them, she’d have to start from where they’d gone missing. With that thought in mind, her horns glowed silver, and she opened a portal in front of herself. After stepping through, the sight of two relatively small dragons appeared in her view. They were pressed against the ground, held in place by chunks of earth. To the side, Vur was taking a nap in his human form.
Tafel stared at Vur for a few moments, wondering whether his actions would be classified as good parenting or bad parenting. On one hand, the two dragons wouldn’t get hurt or cause any trouble. On the other hand, he basically locked them up and took away their freedom. She shook her head; luckily, the two dragons weren’t her kids, and she didn’t have to care too much. Maybe this was a common way to raise baby dragons. She wouldn’t know. Besides, if Vur went too far, then Grimmy or Leila would object.
Tafel turned her attention onto Minerva’s feather and sent her mana inside, causing it to glow once more. The golden light encompassed the whole cave, and faint images were revealed. Fiery red talon prints and faded red lines in the shape of blurred phoenixes indicated where Susan and Emile had been. Some lines were dimmer than others, and judging by the brightness of the lines exiting the cave, Tafel assumed the brighter lines were the more recent ones. As long as she followed the brightest traces, she’d be able to find the two phoenixes. She ignored the two grunting and squealing dragons as she walked past them, not making eye contact lest she feel pity for them.
Upon exiting the cave, Tafel was greeted by four pairs of eyes unblinking eyes. Grimmy, Leila, Prika, and Nova stared as Tafel gulped. For some reason, she suddenly felt guilty. “Err, hello, everyone.” She nodded. “Just passing through.”
“How did you teleport into the roost?” Grimmy asked, his brow furrowing. He was sure he set up plenty of anti-teleportation measures to prevent anyone from harming his children. “By any chance, does it feel like your body is going to explode?”
“I gave her an entry scale, remember?” Leila asked while Tafel frantically checked herself for any hints of deterioration.
“Oh.” Grimmy nodded. “That makes sense.” He stroked his chin with his front claw. “Tafel, you’re supposed to be pretty intelligent, right? Come, come. We have a problem we’re discussing, and an outside opinion might be what we need to come to a consensus.”
Tafel raised an eyebrow. A problem that four dragons couldn’t solve? Why did they expect her to be of any help? “What’s wrong?” she asked and walked over, putting away Minerva’s feather. The golden glow was a bit distracting.
The dragons exchanged glances, and Grimmy gestured for Leila to speak. The holy dragon cleared her throat. “We’re a little concerned with Ramon’s and Gloria’s personalities. Ramon behaves more like a cursed dragon than Gloria does, and Gloria behaves more like a holy dragon than Ramon does.”
Tafel waited for more, but the four dragons were staring at her with looks of expectation on their faces. She pinched the sleeves of her robes and furrowed her brow. “Is that all? I’m sorry, but I don’t really see how that’s a problem.”
“Well, for one,” Prika said and raised one claw, “Ramon bites the tails off of rabbits and uses his healing magic to help the rabbits regrow their tails. And then he bites them off again.”
Tafel’s face paled. “Oh….”
“As for Gloria,” Prika said and raised another claw, “cursed dragons are hated existences.” She glanced at Grimmy and Leila. “No offense.” She cleared her throat. “Gloria’s skin is so thin; you could probably break it with a gust of wind. If someone insults her in the future, causing her to lose control of her emotions, a wide swath of land will probably be cursed and unlivable for a long period of time.”