Page 55 of Dragon Heir

Raines closed his eyes and scrunched up his brow. The light of the flakes grew brighter and brighter, transforming into a brilliant sun that lit up the whole house. I could barely behold the wonder and I raised my arm to shield my face.

The Tenky disturbed the wonderment with its terrible cries. They were the shrieks of a creature in pain and torment. I squinted my eyes as something dark rose from its squirming body. It was like a shadow and it stretched upward, drowning the orange glow in its hideous emptiness. The wind that Raines had created had not only not subsided but had grown in strength, whipping about the room like a severed tornado and crashing into random points along the walls. The wind picked up bits and pieces of furniture and decorations and swirled them around us like a shifting junkyard.

Raines stepped up to the table and clapped his hands over the top of the glass jar. The shadow shoved itself against his palms and rubbed itself against him. My heart dropped into my stomach when I saw Raines’ flesh sink into a black color.

“Raines!” Will yelled. “Stop!”

Raines shut his eyes and shook his head. “No! This must be done!”

“Damn it, stop right now!” Will insisted as he marched toward him.

Raines’ magic burst outward in a rippling wave that shoved us back, Will included. I flung up my arms and caught Will’s back as he slid across the floor back to me.

“What’s going on?” I shouted above the storm.

“He’s absorbing the darkness to weaken it enough to free the Tenky!” Will yelled back.

My breath caught in my throat. Absorbing it meant taking the curse into his body.

Raines was infecting himself.

The dark twisting shadow pulsed and flickered as it pushed itself into Raines’ hands. Boils popped up and black blood dripped out of them and onto the Tenky. The little man’s black eyes softened and a hint of color appeared in their depths.

Raines gasped and stumbled back. The storm abruptly ceased and all the items captured in the wind crashed to the floor. Will shot forward and reached his servant in time to catch the man as his legs buckled. Raines’ hands shook so violently that the rest of him quivered. Will lowered him to the floor and grasped one of his wrists where he turned the hand over so the palm faced upward. I knelt on Raines’ other side and gasped.

Ugly black boils covered every inch and dark blood stained the tumors.

Will whipped his head up to Raines who weakly smiled. “My. . .my apologies, My Lord. I. . .I may have overestimated myself.”

Enna had approached the glass jar and looked inside. Her eyes widened. “Something happened to the Tenky!”

The other three congregated around the table and Allard reached his hand into the jar.

“What are you thinking?” Vargas scolded him.

“I am thinking I can risk as much if the human can,” Allard countered.

Enna swatted his hand away. “Then let me do it, you idiot. I don’t want some stupid dragon going nuts and blowing his fire in my face.”

She shoved her hand in and grabbed the Tenky whom she pulled out. Much of the little guy’s boils had disappeared and his eyes were a brilliant blue as he blinked in bewilderment at the curious faces that hovered above him.

“Do you remember what happened to you?” Ware questioned him.

The Tenky blinked a few times before his eyes widened. His mouth flopped open and his body spasmed. “Snake!” he shrieked as he stared with terrified eyes at the crowd. “Snake!”

Enna frowned and shook her head. “You’re not making any sense. What about a snake?”

A film appeared over the Tenky’s eyes and his head dropped back. He lifted one hand and pointed down at his pocket. “S. . .snake. . .” His eyes rolled back and he fell unconscious. My heart leaped when I feared the worst but his chest moved up and down with regular, if shallow, breathing.

“Perhaps there is something in his pocket,” Allard suggested.

Enna’s attention dropped to the pocket he indicated and she rummaged through it as best as her large fingers could manage. “The pocket is too small to get down in there,” she complained.

Vargas drew out a small purse from inside her coat. “Allow me.”

Enna held out her hand to the dragon lady and Vargas opened her purse. She pulled out a pair of tweezers and clicked the forceps together to make sure they worked. The small tool was able to reach deep into the pocket and draw out something that crunched and crinkled between the two forceps. She drew it out and raised it for all of us to see.

It was a transparent mess of snake skin.

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