“What’s that supposed to mean?”
It occurred to me in that moment that my humor at the cryptozoologist title—AKA someone who claimed monsters of myth actually existed—may have been valid a week ago, but now, given all I’d seen and experienced… Guess it wasn’t such a joke after all.
“What’s your interest in Alistair?”I asked, changing the subject.
“Other than the fact he’s a dragon?”Dr.Malone smirked.“I’ve been hunting his kind since I discovered Tiamat’s cave a decade ago and realized they truly existed.”
“Isn’t she the dragon who got bloodthirsty and caused the extinction of her kind?”
“She was the greatest of them all and traitors killed her,” hissed Nessie, dipping her head fast and low on that sinuous neck.
“Maybe she shouldn’t have wantonly killed humans,” I pointed out.
“She culled the unworthy,” Nessie argued.
“I heard she ate her servant’s babies.”I couldn’t have said why I deliberately antagonized, only I found it interesting to watch Nessie.Every so often, I’d swear her eyes slightly changed in color and her demeanor softened.It lasted only seconds at a time, though, and I had no idea if it meant anything.
“That servant left her no choice.Those needy creatures?—”
I interrupted.“You mean the babies.”
“The leeches,” Nessie continued with an impressive sneer of her snout, “would have distracted the servant from doing her duties.”
“I’m surprised you would defend your sister, seeing as how she’s the one who chopped off your wings,” was my blunt reply.
“A maiming is better than killing, wouldn’t you say?”A coy reply that actually puzzled.
“You’re saying you forgive her?”
“Forgive what?If it weren’t for the clipping, Nessie wouldn’t have survived the ensuing massacre of dragons.The killers never even bothered coming to the loch.”
Of the many signs of madness, talking about yourself in the third person?Top of the list.“Is that why you lured Alistair?To steal his power to shift shapes so you can escape the loch?”
“Among other things.He’s also going to help me trap the hatchlings.”
“You want the baby dragons?What for?”
“My plans are none of your business,human.”
I might have prodded more, but a groan from the cage showed Alistair waking.He tried stretching, but the tight confines of his prison wouldn’t allow it.
He made it to his feet, his head brushing the top of the cage, and glowered.“What is the meaning of this, Nessie?”he barked.
“We were long overdue for a visit,” was the taunting reply.
“You’ve put me in a cage,” he growled.
“For my safety and that of my guest, Dr.Malone.”
Alistair stiffened, and by his next words, I realized he’d heard of the man.“What are you doing conspiring with this false steward?”
“False?He’s done more to revive our kind than Oliver and the other two who claim that title.Because of him, there have been four dragons born, and more to come.”
“You do realize he wishes to use them for his own gain.”Alistair gripped the bars as he conversed.
“His plan, perhaps, but not mine.And fear not, once he’s finished doing my bidding, he will meet the same fate other humans have once they’ve outlived their purpose.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”Malone whirled to glare at Nessie.
