Book 3: Chapter 125

Alora bounced the sheepman in her paws up and down. It bleated and struggled to stay upright, its limbs flailing in all directions. Alora hummed and brought her paw close to her mouth, enough for the sheepman to feel her hot breath on its body. She snapped her jaws shut, and the sheepman bleated even louder, barely able to keep its arm out of her teeth’s range. Alora chuckled and lowered her palm, still bouncing the sheepman.

A small voice came out of her claw, “I’m not sure I’m helping the right dragon anymore.” It flashed with a white light. “You’re quite evil yourself.”

“What?” Alora asked, stopping her movement. “I’m evil because I play with my food beforehand? What kind of nonsense is that?”

“When your food is alive and begging not to be eaten, then yes, that’s evil.”

“Is it evil to add peppers to your food?” Alora asked. “Things taste better when they’re frightened. I’m not allowed to eat good food otherwise I’d be labeled as an evil dragon? I don’t think that’s very fair, and quite frankly, if eating good food makes me an evil dragon, then call me Alora, the evilest dragon in the world.”

“Alright, Alora, the evilest dragon in the world,” Zyocuh said. “How about you stop wasting time and catch the rest of the sheepmen?”

Alora sighed and threw the sheepman in her paw up into the air. As it fell, she positioned her mouth below it and snapped her jaws shut, its bleats disappearing. She swallowed and licked her lips before arching her back, stretching her front paws forward as her haunches rose into the air. Her eyes squeezed shut as she groaned, her wings fully extending. Then she exhaled and opened her eyes, straightening her back as she sat up. “So, how many of these do you think are left? I’m getting a little full.”

“I think you ate the majority of them,” Zyocuh said. “If I still had a body, I’d be able to check how much you absorbed based on your mana, but I can’t do that. After we get revenge on your uncle, you are helping me create a body, right? Just making sure.”

“Uh-huh, yep, of course,” Alora said as she looked around. She was in a small town that had empty streets and abandoned buildings. Doors were left open, and a few mice scurried to-and-fro. Alora lifted her head, pointing her nose and the sky and sniffed. “Hmm. Are there any more sheep left in this town? I wonder. It certainly smells like sheep.”

There was a small sneezing sound, and a few rats scurried out of a nearby basement window. Alora grinned and lumbered over to the building that they came out of. She dug her claws into the ground and pulled, lifting the house up, revealing a group of huddling sheepmen. The house went flying as Alora threw it aside, and she stopped a fleeing sheepman by squishing him with her tail, using just enough strength to pin him down but not enough to seriously injure him. “Why hello there,” Alora said. She grinned, showing her teeth. “Y’all should’ve said something when I asked. I almost missed you.”

“Yep, you’re evil,” Zyocuh said. “I’m starting to regret this.”

Alora ignored her sparkling claw and scooped up the sheepmen as if they were cookies on a tray. “I’m not a mean dragon,” she said to the trembling red creatures. “If you tell me where your friends are, I might let you go. What do you say?”

“Baaa, we won’t betray our—”

“I’ll tell! Baa, I’ll tell! Please, don’t eat, baaaa, me.”

Four sheepmen turned to stare at their companion who was positioned behind them. Alora chuckled and plucked the lone sheepmen off her paw and placed him onto the ground. Then she opened her mouth and threw the rest inside her gaping maw. She chewed a few times and swallowed before grinning at the lone sheepman, her teeth stained red. “Well, where are they?”

“I-I don’t, baaa, know their exact locations, b-b-b-baaa, but I can help you find them!” The trembling sheepman bobbed his head up and down. His expression stiffened, his eyes widening. Alora frowned as a chill ran down her spine, and she turned her head to follow the sheepman’s gaze. The sheepman let out a joyful bleat followed by a cry, “Great leader! O might leader! Save me!”

An ocean-blue dragon came crashing down from the sky, driving Alora into the ground. She yelped and wriggled as she was pushed back dozens of meters, destroying the buildings and trees in her way, leaving behind a line of overturned dirt. The ocean-blue dragon smashed down with his tail, forcing Alora onto her stomach when she tried to climb to her feet. “Ow! What the heck!? Vur!?”

Vur froze, his tail inches away from slamming down on Alora again. “Alora?”

“If not Alora, then who the heck do you think I am?” Alora asked, pushing Vur off of herself. She rolled onto her feet and glared at him. She shook herself, knocking the dirt from her scales onto the ground. “Why the heck did you tackle me? Don’t tell me it was another one of Grimmy’s rules.”

Vur scratched his head. “Why are you purple?”

Alora’s eyes narrowed. “Is that really the first thing you’re going to say to me? You’re not even going to apologize for driving me into the ground? That’s really not cool.”

“Sorry.” Vur blinked. “Why are you purple?”

Alora sighed. “Why aren’t you purple?”

Vur looked down at his scales. Then he raised his head to meet Alora’s gaze. “Because I’m blue.”

“Then I’m purple because I’m purple,” Alora said. “Happy now?”

“No.” Vur shook his head. “You were blue before, and now you’re purple. I was blue before, but I’m still blue.”

Alora closed her eyes and rubbed the sides of her head with her paws. “I’m purple because purple looks nice, okay? There’s no real reason.”

Vur squinted at Alora before leaning back and relaxing. “You’re eating my people.”

“Your what?”

Vur pointed at the trembling sheepman that was near the start of the line of overturned earth. “My people.”

“Your people are red sheepmen?” Alora asked, tilting her head.

Vur nodded. “Yes, and you’re eating them.”

Alora scratched her snout. “Oh, uh, sorry. I didn’t know.”

Vur frowned, his brow wrinkling. “According to Grimmy’s code of honor, I have to show you your place for invading my territory. But I don’t know how to do that anymore.” He scratched his head and sighed. “Then I have to tell Grimmy since I can’t do it.”