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Cooper’s shoulders rose, nodding for AB to stay behind him as we moved in. The glimmer of the flame grew more and more pronounced, and we held our weapons at the ready as we snuck closer, finally spotting an outline hunched over the fire.
The lone man appeared to be around five foot six. He was an older gentleman, maybe in his sixties. He wore cargo pants and a button-down shirt, and he had a round face with a grayish-black beard, heavy eyebrows, and short hair with a receding hairline. I believed he was somewhere from the Eastern Bloc, but not sure exactly where. Since the wall dropped, places and cultures had been changing rapidly, everyone running to new countries, only to find it wasn’t any better than what they left.
A kettle whistled softly as the man poked at the fire, seemingly oblivious to the threat coming upon him.
“Join me?” He finally looked up, his brown eyes peering right at us, noting the weapons we had pointed at him. His English was clear, but an accent lingered—one I couldn’t place. “Coffee?”
“Coffee?” Croygen’s forehead buckled with confusion, taken off guard.
“Yes,” he stated firmly, waving us over. “Lower your weapons and come sit. I have plenty of food too.”
None of us moved, suspicious of a lone man deep in the caves where this treasure was supposed to be, offering us food like we were in some Hansel and Gretel horror film.
“Ah.” He bobbed his head, pouring coffee into his cup, looking anything but dangerous. “You are skeptical. I understand. Seems everyone is on the hunt… an article bringing in treasure seekers from all over the world. Ready to cut each other’s throats for fortune.”
“And are you one of those treasure seekers?” Croygen kept his gun on him, though the man didn’t react to it.
“Me?” He indicated himself, head wagging. “No. I’m far more interested in how this placeprotectstreasures and the ancient magic that is still here. I like to think of myself as a specialist, trying to preserve the species.”
“Hate to tell you, but the dragons have been dead for thousands of years.” Croygen scoffed.
“Oh, I don’t know. I’ve seen things that make me believe it hasn’t been as long as we think. But I am more a hunter of facts or truths of evidence.”
“And you’ve found evidence of dragons?” Cooper’s tone tipped over into mocking. “Like what?”
The man’s bushy brows lifted like two caterpillars climbing a tree. “I’ve seen their nests.”
“Nests?” Croygen halted, his arm lowering in surprise. “You have found an actual dragon nest?”
“I have.” He nodded smugly.
Finding the nests meant you found the core of the magic, the most potent place to hide treasure—the dragon’s lair. No matter how long ago they went extinct, that was where treasure would be concealed.
Maybe this was where the nectar was. Could we really find it? Would I end the curse that was placed on me? Could I save my family and somehow save AB before I gave it to Batara?
“Where?” Croygen demanded.
“A little journey from here, but most likely you will never find them on your own.”
“How do we know you’re not lying?”
“Guess you’ll have to see for yourself with your own eyes,” the man replied, still not reacting to the guns pointed at him, as if that was a common thing and a normal way to greet strangers.
“Take us there.” Croygen’s tone was even but still a clear threat, his weapon trained at the man’s head.
The man only smiled. “First, come and break bread with me.” He patted his hand on the ground next to him. “You look famished and tired. As you see, I’m not what I used to be. We can set out first thing tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Croygen inched closer. “How about we set out now?”
“Youth, always in a hurry to waste it.”
“Now he sounds like Tsai,” Croygen grumbled, only loud enough for me to hear him.
“I also have tea and some honey.”
Oh. Shit.
From the depth of Sprig’s slumber, wrapped up in Annabeth’s bag, he heard his call, his siren song.
