Book 5: Chapter 44 (1/2)

“Grimmy!” an explosive voice shouted from outside the palace. “What did you do!?’

Grimmy’s mother blinked and turned towards her son. “What is your dad shouting about? Did you do something to the orchard?”

Grimmy exhaled out a breath of steam. “I guess you could say that,” he said and stroked his chin. “You and Dad were injured pretty badly, so while you were recovering, I helped you guys by setting up some protection around you.”

“He destroyed the whole continent,” Ramon said and gestured with his front paws, spreading them wide above his head. “You should go outside and see it. It’s so cool!”

Grimmy’s mother’s face froze. Then, it contorted. “You did what?”

Grimmy scratched his chin and glanced to the side, causing Vur’s eyes to widen. Vur leaned over and whispered to Tafel, “Do you think Grimmy’s mom is stronger than Grimmy?”

“Isn’t that generally the case?” Tafel asked back. “According to you, dragons get stronger when they sleep, so if a dragon’s been alive for longer, then it’s slept more, right?”

Vur nodded, the motion slower than usual. He tilted his head. “But isn’t Grimmy invincible? He can do anything.”

Tafel stared at Grimmy. The cursed dragon seemed to be … ashamed? Guilty? She wasn’t sure if she was reading his expression right or not. She turned back towards Vur. “Even if he’s invincible, it looks like he’s still respectful of his parents.” Her brow furrowed. “He did hit them earlier though.”

Stomping sounds echoed through the palace, and Grimmy’s dad reappeared. He glared at his son. “Did you cause the apocalypse? Is the rest of the world like this too?”

“What is it like out there?” Grimmy’s mom asked.

“Horrible,” Grimmy’s dad said. “Everything’s been corrupted by our mana. I flew way up, and everywhere I looked was the same. There’s an endless darkness lingering around.”

“It’ll disappear soon,” Grimmy said. “I already disabled the spell to wake you guys up.”

Grimmy’s dad exhaled. “Son, do you remember what I told you before I went to sleep?”

“Yep.”

“What did I say?”

Grimmy scratched his chin. “Do I have to repeat the whole thing? It was a really long monologue.”

Grimmy’s dad’s expression darkened. “As cursed dragons, we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard. In the public eye, cursed dragons don’t have a very good reputation. If we want to change people’s perceptions of us, we can’t go around wantonly committing evil.”

“I know, I know,” Grimmy said. “And I already handled it.” He gestured towards Tafel. “Look at this. Two phoenixes are accompanying me. If they thought poorly of cursed dragons, do you think they’d be here? Public perception of cursed dragons has never been better.”