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Sharda swept her gaze over her assembled family members. Vur was in his human form, sitting next to Tafel on the ground. Behind them, Alice and Mr. Skelly were with their legs crossed and their backs completely straight, their expressions frozen stiff. Mary was sitting underneath a tree to the side, holding onto a turtle shell that had two pairs of eyes peeking out of either end. Eldest, Bonnie, and Youngest were bunched together like peas in a pod, staring at the green dragon beside their grandmother. Next to the annoying trio, their parents were sitting on their haunches, but their dad was sleeping despite having proper posture and open eyes.
“Where’s Sera and Vernon?” Sharda asked.
“They flew back to her”—Bonnie pointed at Mary—“palace to pick up the staves we left behind.”
Tafel swallowed and shifted her weight, inching closer to Vur.
Sharda nodded. “And Alora? Where is she?”
Vur pointed off to the side. “She went to the cave Auntie took over.”
“Auntie?” Sharda asked and tilted her head. She glanced at her daughter, Kaela. “Your cave?”
Kaela shook her head. “No.”
“Then which aunt of Vur’s is this?” Sharda asked. “Did Vernon have a sister?”
Kaela shrugged and jerked her chin towards Vur. “Ask him.”
“Auntie is Auntie,” Vur said when Sharda’s gaze landed on him.
Sharda furrowed her brow. “I have to meet this aunt of yours,” she said and climbed to her feet. “Where did you say her cave was?”
“Between those trees,” Vur said, pointing off to the side.
Sharda lumbered towards the spot where Vur pointed. When she reached the trees, she swept them aside with her paw, causing the earth to shake as they fell to the ground. Her head lowered, and when she was about to step inside, she came face to face with a purple dragon.
“Grandma!” Alora said. “Hi. I was just coming out to see you.”
“Alora?” Sharda asked. “What happened? You’re … purple. And your face is black.”
“Oh…,” Alora said and scratched her head. “I, um, fell into a puddle of red liquid and turned purple. And my face is black because this rude woman threw a lightning spear into my face!” Alora moved over to the side, letting light into the cave and onto Lindyss, who was lying down. Sharda glared at Lindyss, and Alora grinned when she saw that, but when her grandmother turned back to face her, Alora’s expression turned back into one of a hurt puppy’s. “Look at how charred my scales are. It was a really strong lightning bolt!”
Lindyss heaved a sigh and sat up. She raised her hand over her face, catching and pushing back the hairs blocking her view. Her fingers ran through her hair and down to her neck. She tilted her head from side to side, letting out a few cracking sounds before standing up. “I greet the dragon matriarch,” she said and dipped her head down.
“Huh? You throw lightning bolts into my face, but you give my grandma a proper greeting?”
Lindyss ignored Alora, keeping her gaze fixed on Sharda’s front claws. After having met so many dragons, they honestly didn’t seem that scary to her anymore. They were like giant children—giant children with sharp teeth and claws that could tear her apart at any moment, but still children nonetheless. Except for Grimmy. A shiver ran down her spine, and she almost smacked herself for thinking such nonsensical thoughts.
“And who exactly are you?” Sharda asked, tapping her front claws against the ground.
Lindyss raised her head. “I’m Lindyss the Corrupted One. I’m Grimmoldesser’s servant of sorts.”
Sharda rubbed her chin and hummed. “That explains it,” she said. “But why does Vur call you his aunt? Were you related to his biological parents?”
Lindyss shook her head. “He calls me aunt for the same reason he calls Grimmoldesser uncle. It’s just his form of address for us.”
Sharda’s expression stiffened. “He calls Grimmoldesser what?”
“Uncle.”
Alora blinked at her grandmother’s dark reaction. “Um, Grandma? Is Uncle Grimmy not actually related to us by blood?”
“No.” Sharda said, her eyes narrowed into slits. “He’s not.”
“Phew.” Alora patted her chest and shivered. “That’s a relief. Oh! Grandma! Grimmoldesser…, he, he…. He’s a bad person who punished me for no reason! He threw me into this portal with shadows and stuff and … and….” Alora burst into tears, wailing and sobbing into her front paws. “I was so scared, Grandma!”
Sharda’s eyes widened, and she glared at Lindyss. Lindyss shrank back, her shoulders feeling heavier than usual. “H-harming me won’t do anything to get back at Grimmoldesser.”
Sharda nodded. “You’re right,” she said and took in a deep breath through her nose. “But it’ll make me feel better.” Her chest expanded, and frost leaked out of the corners of her mouth.
“Wait!” Alora shouted. “You can’t kill her, Grandma! She has this orb—wait, no, she didn’t do anything wrong! You can hurt her, but you can’t kill her.”
“Is this the part where we run?” Erin asked and swallowed. She was sitting on Lindyss shoulder, staring up at the impending dragon breath leaking out of Sharda’s teeth.
“Can you polymorph her?” Lindyss whispered. “Even if only for a second.”
“If you lend me some mana,” Erin said. “Maybe I can polymorph her for half a second.”
Purple mana surged into Erin from below, and she raised her hand. She pointed at Sharda, who was still hesitating while making eye contact with Alora. “Polymorph!”
As soon as Erin shouted, a pair of translucent wings sprouted out of Lindyss back, and she surged forward past the rapidly shrinking dragon matriarch. Wool sprouted out of Sharda’s shrinking body, and her claws became more rounded as her paws turned into hooves. For a fraction of a second, she became a sheep. Then, she rapidly expanded, returning to her normal form, but by then, Lindyss had already escaped from the cave.
A loud bang rang through the air. Vur and Tafel turned to look at each other. “That came from Auntie’s cave, right?” Tafel asked and furrowed her brow. “I told you you should’ve gone with your grandmother.”
Vur shrugged. “I’d rather sit here next to you.”
Tafel pursed her lips, her cheeks tinging with pink.
“Tafel!” Lindyss voice shouted. “Portal!”
Tafel turned her head to the side, and her eyes widened at the elf flying towards her. A gaping maw was close behind, and Lindyss surged forward, narrowly avoiding the teeth snapping shut behind her legs. “Portal to where!?” Tafel asked.
“Anywhere!”
Tafel opened a portal in the air, and Lindyss surged through, disappearing from view.
“Widen it!” Sharda roared before Tafel could close the portal.
Tafel flinched, and the portal widened enough for Sharda to pass through. Then it closed, leaving behind a group of stunned spectators. A moment later, Alora popped her head out of the path of destruction that Sharda had left behind. “Where’d they go?”
Everyone turned to stare at Tafel.
“I, uh, just opened the portal to the last location that I had set,” Tafel said and scratched her neck. “While you were gone”—she nudged Vur’s side—“Grimmy wanted me to teleport him to the dungeon we found with the bloody chimeras. So, that’s where they are now.”