Page 63 of Whispers of the Dragon
Her grandfather looked at her like she had lost her mind when she went for the paddles. “What’s the hurry? We don’t see any boats leaving the island. Even if they left now, they wouldn’t be able to reach us before we reached home.”
“Give them here, you old fool. I’ll do the paddling.” Leaving him no choice, she snatched them out of his hands. “You should be ashamed of yourself. You’re more concerned about what you’re going to have for breakfast instead of your granddaughter’s safety.”
“I stole the boat, didn’t I? You and Eira can stay home. I’ll return to the island and keep an eye out for Ryu.”
“We don’t know if he wanted her dead, too!” her grandmother screeched at him.
She barely managed to keep herself from screeching and sounding just like her. “Grandmother, please …”
Eira broke off at hearing a swishing sound that had her fearfully raising her gaze.
Ryu, in his dragon form, was hovering above the boat.
Her grandmother, still looking at her, raised her eyes to see what Eira was looking at and started screaming. Her grandfather did the same.
“Ryu, don’t—”
A loudoomphcame out of her when she slid off her seat and onto the floor of the boat as the dragon lifted the boat between his claws and started flying back to the island.
Grabbing her grandmother’s skirt, Eira pulled her down to do the same. Her grandfather quickly did, too, needing no urging, his face ashen.
“Eira, now that we’re going to die, I have to admit that we thought you were all crazy when you said Ryu was a dragon.” She gulped, still in disbelief that this was happening. “But you meant he wasreallya dragon.”
“Obviously!” she screamed loudly at her over the sound of whooshing air.
Grandmother started to practically cry now. “Now he’s carrying us off to eat us.”
Her husband looked at his plump wife pityingly. “You know he’s going to eat you first, don’t you?”
“Ryu is not going to eat Grandmother!” she chastised them, but her grandmother only became more hysterical.
“Eira, you cannot have children. My grandchildren can’t eat me. My ancestors would never let me rest in peace. They can eat your grandfather when they get hungry.”
Eira only buried her face in her curled-up knees, praying that Ryu couldn’t hear what they were saying.
“Quit yelling!” her grandfather yelled. “He’s going to drop us to shut you up!”
“He’s not going to drop his dinner.” Her grandmother snorted.
“Ryu is not going to eat either of you,” Eira repeated again.
“He doesn’t eat humans?”
She sighed not only at the situation she was in, but Eira really hated to lie to her grandmother.
“He does when he’s protecting me,” she finally admitted.
Now real tears formed in her grandmother’s eyes. “You’ve seen Ryu eat someone?”
There was a time to be truthful, and then there was a time when it was better to lie like hell.This is one of those times.
“No.”
“Then how do you know he eats people to protect you?”
“A wild guess,” she quipped, just wishing Ryu would drop them to their death at this point.
“You should be surer before making that kind of statement. Your grandfather has a weak heart,” her grandmother said, not happy.
