Book 5: Chapter 41 (1/2)

Kondra wrinkled her nose and frowned. She raised her head and shouted, “Lulu, take Alfonse out for a walk, would you?” The holy dragon lowered her head and rested them on her front paws. She closed her eyes and spread her wings, letting them soak in the moonlight. After a few minutes, one of her eyes creaked open. Her youngest daughter had actually ignored her. “Lulu? Take Alfonse out for a walk. Now!”

Kondra exhaled out two jets of steam through her nostrils and closed her eye. Not that long later, Kondra’s brows furrowed, and she stood up. She went over to the corner that Alfonse was in and shot a laser beam at the mess the bear had left behind. Her gaze landed on the shivering creature, and she let out a snort before turning her attention away. “Young lady, if you don’t come out right this minute, I’ll go in there and get you. Don’t blame me for what happens then!”

There was still no response coming from Lulu’s room. Kondra slammed her tail against the ground. “Ten!” She took a step towards Lulu’s cave. “Nine!” She took another step. “Eight.” She dragged out the word, letting her daughter know she meant business. “Seven!” Really? Lulu wasn’t even going to respond? If that was the case…. “Three, two, one!”

Kondra stomped her way into the tunnel leading to Lulu’s room. “I gave you a chance,” she said. “And you didn’t…. Lulu?” Her head poked inside of her daughter’s room, but it was completely empty. There wasn’t a holy dragon in sight. Kondra whirled around. “Has anyone seen Lulu?”

“I think I heard her leaving with the cursed elf,” Leo said, his voice echoing out of his room.

“Leaving?” Kondra asked, her eyes widening. “Leaving where?”

“I don’t know.”

Kondra couldn’t see her son, but she could hear him shrugging through his voice. Her eyes narrowed. If Grimmy’s cursed elf was the one that brought her daughter away, then there was only one place they could’ve been going. She nudged her sleeping mate’s shoulder. “Wake up. We’re going to get our daughter back.”

Kondra’s mate yawned and opened his eyes. He rubbed them with the backs of his paws. “We’re bringing Leila back?” he asked. “I thought you were fine with Grimmy. Overall, he doesn’t seem like such a bad dragon. What changed your mind?”

“Not Leila,” Kondra said and growled. She glared at her mate. “Were you even listening to a thing I said?”

“I was,” Kondra’s mate said and bobbed his head up and down. “But I was also asleep, so….”

Kondra huffed. “Lulu was taken away by Grimmy’s little elf,” she said. “We’re going to go to the southern continent and get her back.”

“You knew she went to the southern continent, but you didn’t stop her?” Kondra’s mate asked and tilted his head. He leaned back and covered his mouth with his paw. “Forget I said anything. We’re going to the southern continent to bring Lulu back. Got it.”

***

Lulu’s eyes widened at the sight below. “What is this place?” she asked and gulped. Her eyes shone, and she couldn’t help but sweep her gaze back and forth over the land. “There are so many hard-to-find ingredients!”