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I swallowed and nodded. “The man. Not the child. He had no mother. No guidance from his father or village, and he was so young when his power emerged, a power that wasn’t understood by his own people. It must have been quite traumatic for him.”
Zaide’s eyes darted between us, but he remained silent.
Charlie made a noise between a gag and a growl before standing up and waving his hand in my direction as he yelled at Sigurd, “Do you see what you’ve done? You’ve made him a sympathetic character, and now she’s going to hesitate when we need to defeat him.”
Zaide squeezed my hand and drew my attention to him. His purple eyes glowed as he said in a low voice, “He had many obstacles against him, Clawdia, I agree. But he has not risen against them. Instead, he followed the path laid out for him to a dark future. The boy may have been innocent and worthy of sympathy, but he has not been that boy for many centuries, and his path has only gotten darker.”
“Your titan is correct,” Sigurd said. “Do not waste your sympathy on Fafnir. And while he might be a child to you, he was an adult in my society. He knew his actions were criminal.”
Charlie asked, “What happened after he killed the child? Did he turn back? Go home?”
Sigurd continued, “He didn’t come back. We don’t know where he went, but we began hearing of coven’s missing members and knew he was flying to other covens around the country, killing and moving on. Which is when we collectively began planning. We asked Hreithmar how he was draining magic and why, and he was able to explain more about the nature of Drakorians. We also found out from a witch Fafnir had gotten close with that he was hoping to go to Drakor through a portal. He was looking into ways in which that could be made possible, including finding other supernatural beings who could portal, demanding witches to summon demons to create a portal for him and using the magic he stole to create his own portal.”
“Wait.” Charlie held up a hand. “He demanded that a witch summon a demon and make it create a portal? And that didn’t work?”
“He couldn’t resist adding more magic to his hoard and drained the demon of its fire before he had a chance to fulfill its role. Apparently, it happened on more than one occasion. Which is why we were so fearful of him getting near stronger supernaturals, in the human realm or in another realm. It was clear he couldn’t control his impulses.”
“He’s trying to get to Drakor to find people like him? Are there no other Drakorian descendants here?” Charlie asked.
“None.” Sigurd shook his head regretfully. “They were made extinct a long time ago when dragon slaying was a popular sport.”
Charlie asked, “So back to the original question. If he’s just taking magic for his hoard, where is he putting it? And why does he think he can use it?”
“His mother is a witch. He believes if he has magic, he can use it. And because his hoard is intangible, he has to keep it close to him. We don’t think it ever leaves him.”
“How can that be?” I asked with a frown. “Is it inside him?”
Sigurd shook his head, but his eyes sparkled with interest. “From what we learned from Hreithmar, we believe he keeps it attached to him somehow.”
“He has magic attached to him?” Zaide asked, his face a picture of puzzlement. I was just as confused.
“We weren’t sure exactly how, but we imagined it sewed together like a patchwork cape,” he explained.
“Like Frankenstein’s monster,” Charlie muttered.
I shook my head free of the strange image they presented.This doesn’t sound right.“He isn’t consuming the magic? It’s not a part of him?”
“He doesn’t get stronger in the manner one would if the magic had truly become part of his being.”
I thought back to the warehouse. Fafnir said “meal” and “taste.” He wanted a witch for power and because he was hungry. While it’s true he wasn’t getting obviously stronger, if he was using magic to feed himself, it wouldn’t make him stronger. Only satisfied.
“Can dragons feed on their hoard?” I asked.
Sigurd shook his head. “Drakorian’s are protective of their hoard. They organize it, stare at it, pick up items and sit with them. It’s rejuvenating. And this is important for the relationship between the dragon and the Drakorian. So, when a dragon’s desire is to hoard something intangible, it has detrimental effects. It puts him at the bottom of the social scale in Drakor since they take great pride in showing off their hoard and forces the dragon to seek more because it cannot see what it has. Fafnir cannot see his hoard and revel in its glory. Nor can anyone else. He is being driven mad with instincts he cannot satisfy.”
He certainly doesn’t seem mad.His every action seemed purposeful, carefully planned, and manipulative. He was a puppet master not a puppet. But Sigurd knew his history …
Confused, I shook my head. “None of this makes sense. He isn’t mad. He’s just as clever as ever. And if he was wearing the magic like a cape, then surely the hunters would have been able to sense the magic on Fafnir, magic he’s been gathering for centuries, as opposed to us being made out to be stronger.”
“We don’t really know how the device the hunters used worked, Clawdicat. I don’t think we can assume it would even pick up magic that wasn’t inherently part of a person. We don’t even know what they are measuring.”
“Perhaps his death took away his magic and he needs to gather more,” Zaide suggested.
“And that might be true, but why would he consent to dying early if he was going to lose his hoard? There is logic to his actions. Madness implies a sense of chaos and unexpected behaviors. So far, all we have learned about Fafnir is that he has been planning for a long time.” I turned back to Sigurd, my confusion spilling over. “And you keep saying magic is intangible, and while you might not touch it like you hold a spoon, you can put your hand in it. Like moonlight, it is there. You can see it. We’ve all seen it.”
“Perhaps it is spelled to stay invisible. Everything we believed hasn’t been confirmed, Clawdia. I’m sharing the theories, but your knowledge is welcome. It’s multiple minds that will solve this issue.”
But you are stating it like a fact. And now I’m doubting everything you’ve said.
