Page 23 of Consort's Dragon
He kept reading, seating himself in the chair that last cradled his father, devouring each sentence.His father, usually a stoic and technical man, had saved the emotional side of himself for his diary.
Lolei has gone into labor.Soon now, I shall be a father.I cannot wait to hold my child.I just hope the birth is easy.
Despite knowing what happened, it hurt to read the next bit.
I don’t understand what’s come over Lolei.She refuses to bond with our son.She either bursts into tears at the sight of him, or screams.I’ve hired a wet nurse, but Lolei’s erratic behavior has forced me to also set a guard on Griffon’s room.
His chest tightened as he kept reading, watching his father’s anguish unfold on the pages as his wife—Griff’s mother—descended further and further into madness.Until…
I can’t believe she’s gone.It happened so quickly the doctors could do naught to save her and now I am a widower with a small child who doesn’t understand.I don’t know if I can do this alone.
As Griff kept leafing through the book, he lost track of time until his stomach reminded him that he hadn’t eaten in over a day.It should also be noted he remained naked.It wasn’t as if he were cold, though.The active volcano kept the city warm.Still, a man shouldn’t parade around with his balls and dick swinging.It could prove distracting, especially in a fight.
While he wanted to keep reading, Griff knew he had to take care of some basics first.Clothing proved a challenge seeing as how most of the fabric he discovered had disintegrated over time.However, he did manage to find a pair of leather pants in his father’s garderobe that fit, if snug and a bit stiff.While he remembered his father as being a big man, it turned out Griff was thicker.A cured leather vest would have to do as a shirt as the linen versions fell apart the moment he touched them.
Clothed, he went in search of food.Not surprising, the pantry was bare.However, in the garden, where the plants had grown wild without Cook to tend them, he managed to find some vegetables as well as the berry bush fairly bursting with colorful, ripe fruit.
Perhaps tomorrow he’d go hunting for some meat—if there was anything left.The dragon admitted to having a voracious appetite.
His full belly brought on yawns.It didn’t feel right to sleep in his father’s bed, though, and his old room?The hole in the ceiling led to mold covering every inch of it.
He ended up in the parlor, the divan there musty but solid.While uncomfortable, fatigue dragged him down into a deep, dreamless slumber interrupted by a strident bugling.
The strange noise drew him to the door and a glance outside showed the dragon squatting in the courtyard.
There you are.
“Where else would I be?It’s not like I can leave.”A salty reply.
If you did, I’d follow.
The answer took him aback.“You can leave Verlora?”
Yes, but why would I?My previous selves used to roost here, you know, back before the humans built their cities.
“How did you die?”
The dragon’s head swiveled away from Griff, and it didn’t respond.
Griff cleared his throat before saying, “My mother died when I was young, so I never really knew her.And my father, well, you know what happened to him.”
For a moment, he thought the dragon wouldn’t speak, but it said, more softly than usual,My last body was sacrificed for humanity.
“Why?”
As if you don’t know.
“I wouldn’t ask if I did.”
You spoke its name earlier.
“Zhos killed you.”
In a sense.While it didn’t actually wield the weapon that smote the dragons, Zhos’ existence was the cause.
“How would killing dragons stop Zhos?I don’t understand.”
And I don’t wish to tell you.Recalling my untimely demise is upsetting.
