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“But what is this place?” Sharda frowned and inspected the altar, sniffing the air with her raised snout. “Something this dreary was infesting my territory?” Her eyes narrowed and she glared at Grimmy. “You have something to do with this, don’t you? If you didn’t, why would you be here?”
Grimmy scratched his chin. “Yeah,” he said and nodded. “One of my experiments ran off and escaped to this continent, but he arrived here before you did. So, technically, you’re the one who encroached on its territory first.”
Sharda’ face darkened. “You and your experiments. Don’t you ever learn?”
“What do you mean?” Grimmy asked and tilted his head. “I learn through my experiments. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for all the things I’ve tried. If anything, I’m the epitome of learning.”
Sharda heaved a sigh. “Whatever this place is, get rid of it,” she said. “I don’t want it here. Move it to Nova’s continent…, actually, no, move it to Kondra’s nest instead. Let her deal with whatever it is you’ve planted here.”
Grimmy blinked. “What if this place is beneficial like the Fountain of Youth?”
“Nothing you’ve ever made has benefitted anyone except for yourself,” Sharda said and bared her teeth. “I don’t care if this place generated the most delicious cookies in the world at the cost of nothing; get rid of it.”
“A magical place that generates the most delicious cookies at the cost of nothing?”
Grimmy and Sharda turned their heads towards the entrance to the altar room. A moment later, Alora’s purple face poked through the darkness and into the light. She licked her lips and looked around. “Where are the cookies? If you got rid of the cookie generator, get un-rid of it please. I could use some cookies.”
“I don’t think you’ll find any cookies here,” Tafel said from beside Alora’s foot. “There’s an altar and some bookshelves, nothing pastry-related at all.” She walked up to a nearby bookshelf and blew on the books’ spines, sending a cloud of red dust into the air. Her eyes widened, and she stood on her tiptoes to pull down a book from the top shelf. She bit her lower lip and traced her finger over the title. “How to Become a Demon Lord: For Dummies?”
Vur appeared beside her, peering over her shoulder. Then he glanced up at the bookshelf. “There’s a lot more of those,” he said and pointed. “How to Become an Elder Lich: For Dummies. How to Become a Zombie Lord: For Dummies. How to Become a Vampire: For Dummies.” He blinked and walked around Tafel, pulling the vampire book off the bookshelf. It wasn’t actually a book, but a slab of wood shaped in the form of a book. On its front surface, there were only seven words: Get bit by a vampire and live. Vur flipped the wooden slab over, but there was nothing on its back. He flipped it back to its front. “Huh. That’s easier than I thought.”
Tafel pursed her lips. “If we had traveled just a little further after exploring the chimera queen’s nest, we would’ve discovered this place earlier.” She swallowed and opened her book’s cover, revealing the front page. On it, there was the image of a fairy. Tafel’s eyes widened, and she turned the page over. After reading the contents, she swallowed and looked up at Vur. “I think this is real.”
“Really!?”
Tafel flinched and turned around. Alora was staring at Lindyss with sparkling eyes, the dragon’s mouth hanging open in a grin. “She’s really going to listen to everything I say for five centuries?” Alora asked and looked up at her grandma. “You’re the best, Grandma.”
Tafel exchanged glances with Vur, who shrugged.
Grimmy cleared his throat. “Ahem. You have to forgive me first,” he said. “While we both know I haven’t tortured you or anything and you were just making up nonsense claims, it’s clear our relationship wasn’t that great. If you want her to be your servant, then all ill will between us will disappear like smoke.”
“Oh!” Vur said, drawing the three dragons’ and Lindyss’ attentions.” He nodded. “You should accept the deal so you won’t have to rely on Zyocuh to get revenge on Grimmy.” He furrowed his brow. “But then Auntie will be your servant for five hundred years, and that’s a really long time, so maybe you shouldn’t.” He shrugged before turning to Tafel. “How come making decisions is so hard sometimes?”
“Wait,” Grimmy said. “Repeat that part about Alora relying on Zyocuh to get revenge on me.”
Vur blinked at Grimmy. “Alora said she wanted to get revenge on you because you did unspeakable things to her, so she tricked Zyocuh by sticking him into her claw and forced him into helping her get stronger. That’s why she was eating my people.”
“You were eating people?” Sharda asked, her eyes widening at Alora.
Alora glared at Vur before looking up at her grandma with an aggrieved expression. “They were sheep, Grandma. I didn’t know Vur had sheep for his subjects.”
Sharda furrowed her brow. “Who’s Zyocuh?”
“The runaway experiment,” Grimmy said before Alora could respond. He gestured towards the altar. “He owned this place.”
“And you stuck him into your claw?” Sharda asked, grabbing Alora’s paw. She raised it into the air in front of her face and frowned. When she saw nothing out of the ordinary, she put it down and lifted her other paw. “Where is he?”
Alora struggled free from her grandma’s grasp. “Vur’s just making up stories. I don’t know about any Zyocucumber or whatever.”
“What?” Vur asked, his eyes narrowed. “Are you calling me a liar?”
Lindyss raised her hand. “I, for one, have never heard Vur tell a lie. You should believe him. Your granddaughter is lying to you right now, and it’d be a horrible practice to give a liar a servant. She shouldn’t be rewarded for lying or else it’ll teach her to lie to you more often.”
“Now, now,” Grimmy said, stepping between Vur and Alora. “Let’s not throw around any accusations. Do you think I’d let one of my escaped experiments run free without keeping a tab on them? I have a simple method to locate Zyocuh.”
Alora swallowed, sliding her front paw back. “Y-you do?”
Grimmy grinned. “No, I don’t, but you’re acting suspicious while Vur’s remaining calm, so if there’s a liar here, then it’s you.”
“T-that’s not right!” Alora said. “I demand a fair trial!”
Sharda nodded. “A fair trial is what she wants, so a fair trial is what she’ll get.” She stepped back and pulled on Grimmy’s tail, dragging him to the side of the altar room as well. “We’ll proceed with a trial by combat between Alora and Vur. Whoever wins is the one who told the truth.”
“Wait, how’s that fair?” Tafel asked.
“Don’t question dragon logic,” Lindyss said and grabbed Tafel, dragging her away, but not before placing the bookshelf into her shadow. “You’ll hurt your head if you do.” When she arrived near the entrance, Lindyss turned around and cupped her hands over her mouth, speaking in a loud voice at Vur, who was in the process of polymorphing, “You better not lose, Vur. If you do, I’m going to stop knitting sweaters for you.”
“You know he doesn’t wear your sweaters, right?” Tafel asked. “He goes around shirtless.”
“Yeah, but he gifts them to you, and I know you like them,” Lindyss said.
Tafel blinked and turned to Vur. “You better not lose, Vur!”