Page 89 of Cruel Daddy Dragon

He looks down regretfully. There’s a murmuring of sorrow among the dragons in there, and I hear myself sigh. Sarah touches the back of my arm softly.

“Anyway,” Cyrus continues, “let’s see what these ones say…”

He walks closer and studies them. He grows silent. Lena crosses the room again and looks back at the witchy sigils. She seems to be drawing them down, annotating them as she goes. Sarah looks over at me.

“Do you think that any of this might convince Cyrus to let everyone stay?” she whispers.

I know he can probably hear us, but I still speak back in a low tone.

“I don’t know,” I murmur, “Evander says we need to prepare for the worst, and he’s probably right.”

She sighs lightly. She folds her arms, and I sling my arm over her shoulders.

“Julie?” Cyrus calls suddenly, “Can I ask you something about these?”

“Yes?” she says, padding over.

Cyrus has slowly traversed from one side of the wall to the other, reaching the corners of the mural carved into the wall. He’s crouched down by the corner, where it seems to have suffered the most over time. Julie reaches the corner.

“Are these crests based on something in Greyson Ridge’s history, as far as you know?” Cyrus asks Julie.

Julie leans down, squinting at it. She adjusts her glasses when she stands up before she answers.

“It’s a little hard to tell because it’s rubbed off, but I don’t think so,” she says.

“They’re not familiar to you?” Cyrus asks, “At all?”

Julie shakes her head, and Cyrus nods in return.

“I see,” he mutters.

“What do you think it is?” Evander asks.

“I mean, I can’t besure,” Cyrus says, “but this looks like it could be the icon of the Naga.”

A rolling gasp moved over all of us.

“Wait!” Lena says, turning around, “What? There’s an icon for the Naga there?! So Creepy Tom wasn’t the only one?!”

Kaius starts snickering. Everyone gathers around the engraving and peers closer.

“Oh, my god,” Milo says, “Itdoeslook like it could be!”

I lean down and frown at the lines. I didn’t notice it before because more than half of it is missing—a large chunk of rock has been broken off, but the loops that are left do seem familiar.

“So what does this mean?” Lena says, “If this is the icon for the Naga?”

“Well… obviously, I can’t be sure—” Cyrus begins, but Lena cuts him off:

“Just tell me Greyson Ridge wasn’t Naga-ville back in the day!” she snaps, “I can’t be doing with more than one Creepy Tom!”

I snort. Kaius starts snickering harder. Everyone else has a better time hiding their laughter, but I see some smiles twisting as they hold it back. Even Cyrus breaks out in a smile:

“I can’t be sure,” he says again, “but it looks more like the protection circle might have been cast topreventGreyson Ridge from becoming“Naga-ville”.” His smile drifts as he adds, “But it looks like there was more than one Naga. There was enough that they had to be locked away.”

Cyrus walks back to the middle of the wall, looking over it.

“This engraving islitteredwith hidden symbols,” Cyrus says, “There are hundreds tucked away inside the other drawings—it tells a far different story when you know what they mean. I suppose that was to keep them secret in case a casual observer wandered in.”

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