XVIII
808 Words
XVIII
Miri felt small in the presence of Old Dark.
The dragon lay sleeping silently on the floor. If she hadn’t been paying attention, she would have taken him for dead.
Here was the subject of her life’s work, by a sheer miracle, still alive! She wondered if Heaven was smiling down upon her, if this was her chance—life’s apology for all the hardship she’d borne until now. She wanted to pray, but there would be enough time for that later.
She pulled out her phone and tried to take pictures, but Lucan grabbed her arm.
“Not yet,” he said. “We have to keep this secret.”
Miri walked to the edge of the magical wall. She stopped just short of it and could feel its warmth against her nose.
“It is written,” she started slowly, “that he was killed by Fenroot and left to die in the forests by the coast, and elven villagers pushed his body into the sea.”
Lucan and Celesse didn’t reply; they too were mesmerized by Dark.
“History forgot him, but not completely,” Miri continued. “How many more souls would have departed this planet had he lived? What untold horrors would he have committed? How might the entire course of history have changed if he had survived?” Miri turned to Lucan and smiled. “This is huge, Lucan. Really huge.”
Lucan dug his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels. “What’s huge is the amount of s**t I’m in.”
“What?” Miri asked. “I thought you wanted to find the tomb.”
“I wanted to find a body, but not a warm one.”
He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “What am I going to do with an ex-dragon lord?” he asked.
Celesse frowned. “We’ll have to turn him in to the government.”
“To my uncle? Ha!” Lucan said. “Not a chance, babe.”
“This isn’t negotiable, Lucan,” Celesse said, wrapping his jacket around her tiny frame; she seemed to swim in it. Her eyes glowed in the pink light. “I can’t even think of what the fallout would be if you tried to keep this secret.”
“I thought the plan was to invoke the Magical Lands Act,” Miri said.
“The act protects research,” Lucan said, shaking his head. “But the moment a magical object is found, it becomes a joint investigation between the university and the government, with the governor able to review at any time. National security reasons. Even though I’m rich, I can’t interfere, Professor.”
Miri folded her arms. “I thought you were a lawbreaker.”
“Not when the risk is the penitentiary,” Lucan said. “I’m not that crazy.”
“So what do we do?” Miri asked. She pointed to Dark. “Mr. Grimoire, you have the most controversial figure in history at your mercy. No one has ever revered or reviled anyone since with the same intensity. Throw this chance away and you’re committing historical arson.”
Lucan raised his eyebrows mockingly. “Ooh, listen to you and your big words. Seriously, Miri, what the hell do you suggest I do? I’m trying to win an election, not start a museum.”
The three of them stood staring at Old Dark.
“I have no idea what to do,” Miri said finally.
“That makes three of us,” Lucan said.
A slurping sound took hold of the room as a group of Magic Eaters slithered in. They saw Dark and sucked their mouths loudly.
Miri pointed at the Magic Eaters and then at Dark. “Stop them!”
Soon there were more Magic Eaters.
“We should’ve shut the doors,” Celesse said.
“Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve,” Lucan said. He pulled out a grimoire, but the Magic Eaters passed him and raced for the magic wall surrounding Dark.
“They’re going to eat the wall!” Miri yelled.
“No no no no,” Lucan said.
The pink wheel hovered in front of him and he dialed through the runes. He hesitated, unsure what to cast.
Another swarm of Magic Eaters entered.
Miri grabbed Lucan’s wrist.
“There are too many,” she said. You’ll kill yourself if you cast a spell on this many.”
Lucan let the wheel disappear and gave a sigh of defeat.
They retreated to the door and watched in horror as the Magic Eaters gathered at the magic wall and started slurping it.
BOOM! One by one, they exploded, but it didn’t take long before the wall weakened.
“What’s going to happen when they break through?” Lucan asked.
Miri shook her head.
The Magic Eaters renewed their assault on the wall, exploding all over the golden room, coating it with dripping, gray slime. Before long, Miri could no longer make out the family mural.
CRASH!
“No,” she whispered, putting her hand over her mouth.
The wall shattered.
Pink liquid spilled across the floor. The Magic Eaters gathered around, drinking it furiously.
The magical barrier around Old Dark was gone.
“That didn’t take long,” Lucan said.
Miri shushed him.
They waited in silence as the slurping sound consumed the room.
Miri’s heart beat quickly.
The dragon stirred. First his tail swung from side to side.
His claws dug into the ground and then flexed. He stuck out each leg and stretched.
Then, the dragon lord opened his eyes.
- Writer
