Inheritance

Part 2. Chapter 66

Francis sneezed as he gazed into the remarkably green eyes of the fairy, Casamir, and the red, elliptical eyes of the dragon that the fairy's arms were inextricably wrapped around. Francis felt that he should be far more frightened than he was as he stared his very-probable-doom in the eyes, but he was too preoccupied with his sickness to care about anything other than how cold he was and how runny his nose was.

The elf shivered and hugged his stomach.

Kori looked up at him worriedly. She touched his arm with a trembling hand. Unlike him, however, she was not shivering with sickness, she was shivering with fear. Francis said to the fairy, "We have nothing of yours. Just let us go."

Casamir looked at the elf with such intensity that Francis felt as if he were gazing into his soul. "I am looking for a child. A fairy child with red eyes and golden hair. Have you seen him?"

Kori and Francis glanced at each other, and then back at the fairy. Kori said, "We have seen no such child."

Casamir's eyes narrowed. Black magic pooled in his green eyes. "What do you think, Anyanantan? Is she lying?"

The dragon dug its claws deeper into the earth, baring its teeth. "There's no way to be sure. I'm hungry. Let's eat them."

"Not a bad idea, Anya." Casamir replied. "But I don't like to kill needlessly, and you did just eat a lot of horses."

"So you're the one who ate our horses while we slept, then?" Terrance interjected angrily.

"Anya was hungry. She has to eat, after all." Casamir replied, rubbing his cheek against the dragon lovingly.

"Damned monster..." Terrance spat.

"What did you call her?" Casamir unwrapped his arms from the dragon's neck and held two smoking balls of black fire in his hands.

Kori quickly intervened. She curtsied and fell on one knee. "Please forgive our insolence. As we have told you, we have seen no fairy child with red eyes, and, as you can plainly see, we hold no such child captive."

Hew watched the situation unfold with his characteristic silence and expressionlessness. Francis could tell that the man was trying to think of a means of escape.

Casamir was charmed by Kori's polite nature. The black fire faded from his eyes. "I suppose you're correct... I see no child with you. What do you say, Anya? Shall we let them go? Or do you want to eat them?"

Anyananta shook her head. "I see an opportunity for you here, Cas—there is almost one of every species we need here. It is time for you to complete the ritual. There is no other way for you to become fully dragon."

Casamir turned to the dragon and shoved his hands, consumed with black fire, into the dragon's leg. He snarled, "I am a dragon!"

The black fire scorched the dragon's scales but did not otherwise harm her. She replied calmly, "It is true that you have adopted our culture and our ways, but you do not walk or talk like a dragon, neither do you fly like a dragon."

"But I have the heart of a dragon!" The fairy retorted. "I do not need to prove that I am one!"

Francis, despite how weak and sick he felt, was now frightened. It wasn't death he was afraid of; it was this bizarre pair of fairy and dragon. They made him feel sick to his stomach; he felt like, if they were going to kill him, they would kill him in the most brutal way possible. They also seemed far too close for his liking.

"It is true that you don't have to prove that you are a dragon to me, but you must prove it to the others." Anyananta grumbled. "You are of age. The time to prove that you are a man is now."