“Okay, enough with the sob story,” Grimmy said and nudged Alora’s side with his tail. “Bring out Zyocuh.”

Sharda slapped away Grimmy’s tail, glaring at the black dragon. “Don’t you dare touch my granddaughter again.” She lowered her gaze onto her granddaughter and stroked her head. “Where’s Zyocuh, dearie? Take him out so we can get rid of him for you.”

Alora sniffled and raised her front paw. She pointed at her middle claw. “He’s in there.”

Sharda stared at the claw. There was no response. She blinked and looked at Grimmy. Her throat let out low rumbles, and she gestured at the claw with her head. Grimmy took a step back, then another. “I’m not supposed to touch her,” he said and took a third step back. “Isn’t that what you said? You should really make up your mind.”

“It’s your escaped experiment,” Sharda said, narrowing her eyes. “Take it out of my granddaughter.”

“What makes you think I know how to do that?” Grimmy asked and gestured towards his chest with his front paw. “I know I’m a respectable genius, but there are some things that I don’t know how to do. If you want me to figure it out”—he grinned—“then I’ll have to perform one or two or twenty experiments.”

“Wait,” Alora said. “I know how to get rid of him. I just need the giant’s red orb from her.” She pointed at Lindyss. “If I eat it, then Zyocuh will leave my body.”

Sharda snorted, ejecting two pillars of fire from her nostrils. She held her paw out towards Lindyss. “Hand it over.”

Lindyss turned towards Grimmy with a questioning gaze. He shrugged. A sigh escaped from Lindyss’ lips, and she bent over, reaching into her shadow. She pulled out a red orb and lobbed it into the air. It landed on Sharda’s palm but bounced off and rolled to the side.

“I got it,” Alora said and scrambled for the orb. She picked it up, blew on it, and wrapped her tongue around it, taking it into her mouth. Her throat bobbed as she gulped. A moment later, her scales—which were still red after losing their purple hue—pulsed and blood surged out of the gaps between each one. Alora hunched over, and black vomit flew out of her mouth, splattering against the wall of the altar room.

“Alora!?” Sharda rushed to Alora’s side. She grabbed her granddaughter’s shoulders, but they were too wet and slick with blood to get a proper grip. “Grimmoldesser! What’s happening to her?”

“Well,” Grimmy said, not moving an inch, “it seems like she’s bleeding and vomiting. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say she’s exploding, but I could be wrong.”

“What!?”

Grimmy scratched his head. “Oh, yeah, I was wrong. She’s not exploding.” He pointed. Blood had stopped surging out of the gaps between Alora’s scales. “It’s been over several thousand years since I’ve last experimented with blood magic, so my memory can be a bit off. If that wasn’t her exploding, then that was her body rejecting some of the blood that entered her.” He nodded. “You know how if you put lizard blood into a human, the human dies?”

“No.”

“Oh, well, they do,” Grimmy said. “The first trial to overcome in blood magic was figuring out a way to not die when absorbing other creatures’ blood. And rejecting it all like that”—he gestured at Alora—“is the simplest way.”

Sharda furrowed her brow. “Then … this is a good thing?”

“It’s a great thing,” Grimmy said. “It means she gets to live and take the first steps towards becoming a blood magician. Blood dragon?” He nudged Vur, who was just beginning to wake up. “Hey, Vur, what sounds better for a dragon: blood magician or blood dragon?”

“Blood dragon,” Vur said without hesitation. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. “What happened to Alora?”

“She’s turning into a blood dragon,” Grimmy said and rubbed his chin. “Actually, she may already have turned into one. It looks like she finished.”

“But where’s Zyocuh?” Sharda asked. She lowered her head and peered at Alora’s face. Her granddaughter’s eyes were closed, and her breaths were slow and labored. “Dearie, can you hear me? Are you alright?”

Alora’s eyes shot open. She sneezed, and a ball of red phlegm flew out of her nostril, sticking to the wall. She shook her head, flinging red droplets throughout the room. She blinked twice and looked down at her paws. “Hey, Zyocuh! You didn’t tell me that would hurt so much!”

Alora’s claw flashed. “Remember the body you promised me.”

“Mm?” Alora tilted her head. “Body that I promised you? I don’t recall. Did we ever make a promise? Dragons don’t forget their promises, dude, and if I don’t remember, then that means we never promised anything.”

Alora’s claw flashed twice. “You!”

“Me what?” Alora snorted and reared back, holding her paw out towards Grimmy. “Here’s Zyocuh.”

Grimmy raised an eyebrow. “Have you tried biting your claw off?”

“Yes,” Alora said. “It didn’t work, but it makes him feel pain.”

Grimmy hummed. “I do have a way to get rid of him, but I’d have to give up one of my rare treasures to do so…,” he said and stroked his chin with the tips of his claws. His eyes shifted towards Sharda. He coughed. “Compensation.” He coughed again.

Sharda glared at Grimmy. “You know I don’t hoard treasures.”

“Excuse me?” Tafel asked, thinking back to the dragon matriarch’s kitchen. Her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with her hands. Thankfully, it seemed like no one had heard her.

Grimmy wet his lips with his tongue. “How about … you let me raise Alora for—”

“Absolutely not.”

Grimmy chuckled and sat back on his haunches. “Can you raise a blood dragon?” He tilted his head and smiled. “Hmm? What if something unexpected happens to her and I’m not around to stabilize the situation?”

Alora’s eyes shook, and she inched towards her grandma, who had a strange expression on her face. “Grandma…? You’re not thinking of leaving your poor and helpless granddaughter all alone with an evil black dragon, right? Who knows what he’ll do to me!”

“Vur will be there,” Grimmy said. “I wouldn’t do anything evil to Vur’s cousin.”

“You already have!” Alora shouted, pointing a trembling claw at Grimmy. She looked up at her grandmother, and her stomach sank upon seeing Sharda’s calm countenance. “Grandma…?”

Sharda patted Alora’s head. “Grimmoldesser has a point.”

“Grandma!”

“I just want the best for you, dearie,” Sharda said and ran her paw up and down Alora’s back. “Don’t worry. I’ll be coming with you and watching over you every step of the way.”

Grimmy made a face. “Eh…, if that’s the case, how about you give me your oven as compensation instead? You can keep your granddaughter.”

“Absolutely not!” Sharda roared.

“Grandma…? Why does it sound like you’re more indignant of having your oven taken away than having your granddaughter taken away?”

“You’re imagining things, dearie,” Sharda said and rubbed her granddaughter’s head. “Then we have a deal, Grimmoldesser? You remove your nasty experiment from my granddaughter, and I’ll give you the privilege of raising her under my supervision.”

“That sounds more like a hassle than a privilege….”

Sharda snorted. “Your child will be born soon, will it not?”

Grimmy narrowed his eyes. “And?”

“I’ll bake cookies for it.”

“Deal.” Grimmy reached into Lindyss’ pocket and dug out a jar with an unresponsive devil inside of it. “No takebacks.” He opened the jar and grabbed Alora’s paw, shoving the tip of her claw into it. “Alright, Zyocuh, here’s a body for you.”

“…It looks ugly.”

“So, it’s perfectly suited for you, what’s the issue?” Grimmy flicked the claw that Zyocuh was occupying. “This is the best and only body I’m offering to you; take it or leave it. The other way is to have Vur purify you out of existence with his laser even if it may hurt your host a teensy bit.”

Alora’s claw flashed, and a sigh rang out. “Alright.”