Page 7 of Eliza's Cursed Dragon

“We can’t stay here.” I wiped my eyes and stared down at them, wondering if they could understand me.

One of the swans moved his beak up and down, his light blue eyes told me that he was Caspian. “You can understand me, Caspian. I know you can.”

He squawked in reply and moved his head up and down.

A loud cry from inside the trees sent another shiver down my spine.

“Help! Help! Oh, please help me!” a woman’s voice called out.

“Now what?” I muttered, but the urge to aid whoever was asking for help made me scramble to my feet and rush to where the voice called from.

“My cat, my cat, my poor Lucifer!”

My brothers were close behind me, their wings waving and their little feet hitting the ground in adorable slaps. I felt like I was flying down to the lake’s shore where the trees were thickest.

At the sight of a black-clad witch with green skin and a hawk’s nose—complete with wart—I stopped dead in my tracks. Oh no, a witch, not again, raced through my mind. Instinct demanded I turn and run in the opposite direction, but then I saw what the witch was pointing at: a black cat, clinging to a log, in the middle of the lake.

The witch was jumping up and down on the shore, frenzied and panicked. “Help! Help!”

Two of my brothers tentatively put their feet into the water. They were swans, they could swim, but having seen how hard they tried to fly, I didn’t want to watch them drown if they hadn’t gotten their bodies under control yet.

“Hold on, I’ll go,” I called to the two brave ones shaking their little feet in the water.

Hastily I took my shoes and dress off, plunging into the thankfully mild water in my slip.Swimming had always been one of my favorite things to do, one of the few I excelled at, and in a few strong strokes I reached the log with the cat on it.

“Here, little kitty, I’m not gonna hurt you,” I promised, cooing to the frightened cat. “Just hold on, little one, I’ll get you back to your mistress.”

I grabbed the log with one hand and with the use of the other and my feet, I propelled us back to the shore.

Just before we reached shallower water and I could stand, the cat jumped on my back, claws out. “Ouch!” I cried.

He used my back like a springboard and catapulted himself toward land and his mistress, scratching my back and shoulder bloody.

“Hey,” I called out, but the sight of the cat clinging to the witch and her holding him tight was enough to make me forget my own misery.

“Lucifer, you silly cat, you need to learn to stay away from water,” the witch admonished her pet in a loving voice, making my eyes water.

I stepped out of the lake and watched her turn and move back into the trees. My brothers squawked and surrounded me, as if trying to dry me with their bodies.

“Here now, all is well,” I said, falling to my knees and bathing in the feathers lightly touching me all over, drying me.

Suddenly the witch stood in front of us, her wrinkled face was all puckered up, with Lucifer perched on her shoulder. She regarded me through shrewd, green eyes. “You’re not gonna holler after me to demand a thank-you?”

Puzzled, I frowned. “Why would I do that? Seeing you and your cat united said more than words.”

Something kind washed over her severe features. “Ah child, you truly are a blessed one with the gentlest heart I have ever met.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Here I am, obviously a witch, and here you are, with your cursed brothers and you’re not bargaining with me to turn them back into their real form as a reward for saving Lucifer. That’s a kind heart.”

“Could you?” Hope flared through me.

“No.” She shook her head. “Constancia is too powerful. But you can, sweet one.”

“How?” My heartbeat picked up a notch.

“You already altered her curse, remember?”

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