Page 48 of Dragon Heir

“You forget this is my domain,” Will reminded him as he bared his sharp fangs to the man. “My word is final. My judgment is final. If I decide that you have broken my laws then there is little that can stop me.”

“But the laws of the country!” Wrecan protested.

“They are nothing to the laws of the dragon lords,” Will growled as he thrust the man’s face close to his so their noses almost touched. My dragon husband’s sharp eyes glowed a brilliant red and his hand that held the man transformed into a claw. “Now speak before I pass final judgment on you.”

The man’s mouth flopped open and shut and his eyes were filled with terror. He looked about for reprieve but there was no pity to be found in our faces. This worm had tried to turn Will’s own people against him. He would receive no mercy from us.

“A-alright!” the man blubbered as he whipped his face back to Will. “I’ll talk!”

The moment he said that the man’s eyes bulged out of his head. Literally.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I clapped a hand over my mouth to stifle my scream but Vargas didn’t even bother doing that. Ugly black boils popped up all over his flesh and the air filled with the stench of rot. Dark blood flowed from the open wounds and soaked his clothes, forcing them to cling to his quivering body. Will dropped him and the man landed on his unsteady feet. He clutched his boil-covered hands around his neck and a horrible gargling noise emanated from his throat.

Everyone leaped back as Wrecan stumbled forward, his hands outstretched and flailing around searching for anything to grab. He tripped over the ground and fell face-first onto the grass. His blood poured over the lawn and killed every blade of grass it touched, scorching it like black fire.

The man twitched a moment before he lay still. A dead silence fell over us.

I inched over to Will and grasped his arm. He fumbled around until one of his hands found mine and squeezed it. His eyes remained on the fallen human, or what remained of him.

Ware’s hushed voice broke the silence. “What in all the realms was that?”

Will pursed his lips as he turned his face toward me. “The blight?”

I nodded. “That’s what it looked like.”

“What disease could have changed this man?” Allard spoke up.

“It isn’t a disease but a curse, the same one that no doubt animates the black worms,” Will told them as he released me and inched closer to the remains of the man.

Wrecan’s hand shot out and wrapped around Will’s leg. Vargas screamed as the man lifted his head and revealed his half-rotten face. His soulless black eyes stared with fury at both Will and me. He tried to pull himself up using Will’s leg to steady himself. Will stumbled back and threw a fireball into the man’s face. The heat forced the man back and he lost his grip, allowing Will to yank himself out of the man’s hold.

I rushed to Will’s side just as the monster that Wrecan had become lunged at us. “Will!” I shouted as I swung my back to the thing and covered Will’s front with my body.

A beautiful brilliant light shot out of me and enveloped all of us. It struck the mutated man and flung him onto his back upon the grass. He stared up at the sky with shock written all over his face.

His clear, normal face.

Wrecan blinked up at the bright sun above us as everyone gaped at the man. I turned around and joined in the surprise. He lifted his hands up to his face and turned them this way and that.

“W-what. . .what happened?” came his hoarse question.

Will’s focus lay solely on me. “How could you cure him?”

I shook my head. “I-I don’t know. I couldn’t do that with the others.”

Allard carefully knelt beside the confused Wrecan and took the man’s hand. The doctor turned the limb over in his palms and furrowed his brow. “There doesn’t appear to be any signs of the illness.” He lay the man’s hand down and met the confused Wrecan’s eyes. “Can you tell us why you changed?”

Wrecan stared dumbly at him. “Who. . .who are you?” He looked about our faces without recognition. “Who are any of you? Where am I?”

Vargas frowned. “Do you know who you are?”

Wrecan furrowed his brow. “I. . .my name is Donald Wrecan. I’m. . .I’m a tailor in Mirum.” He blinked up at us. “But this isn’t Mirum. How did I get here?”

“What is the last thing you remember?” Allard questioned him.

The man’s eyes took on a faraway and frustrated expression. “I. . .I remember closing shop for the night and I heard something behind me. Then I-” He reached behind himself and touched his shoulder before he winced. “Something cold touched me. That’s the last thing I remember.”

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