Vur and Tafel were sitting next to each other with a stone tablet placed on the ground in front of them. There was a rock propping it up at an angle, so they didn’t have to strain their necks to study it. It was the same tablet that Ramon and Gloria had received, one with the alphabet of a long-lost language transcribed on it. Vur’s eyes were wide open, but a not-so-subtle snot bubble was expanding and shrinking from his nostril.

Heavy footsteps approached the couple, and the snot bubble popped. Vur blinked and raised his head. There was a small holy dragon shuffling towards them with his head slinking down. Ramon glanced at the tablet before collapsing beside Vur, letting his scaled belly scrape against the ground. The holy dragon let out a sigh, and Tafel nudged Vur with her elbow.

Vur blinked at Tafel, and the demon gestured towards Ramon with her eyes. Vur blinked again before clearing his throat. He nodded at the holy dragon. “Hi, Ramon.”

“Hi, Vur,” Ramon said and sighed again. His head remained pressed against the ground, but his eyes shifted to look at Vur. “When you were younger, were you hit a lot?”

Vur rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes in thought. After thinking for a bit, he nodded. “Yep. It’s a normal part of growing up.”

It’s not normal, Tafel thought but didn’t say anything out loud. Maybe it was normal for dragons?

Ramon fell silent. Then, he sighed. “I don’t want to grow up.”

“Why not?” Vur asked and tilted his head.

Because you told him getting hit was a part of growing up, Tafel thought but still didn’t say anything.

Ramon pouted. “I don’t want to get hurt.”

Vur scratched his head. “When you become an adult, no one will hurt you anymore. You get to do the hitting instead.”

Ramon’s eyebrows perked up. “Really?”

Vur snorted. “Have you ever seen me get hurt?”

“No…,” Ramon said, his forehead scrunching up as he dragged out the word. No one hit his parents. No one hit his grandparents. Was it true that only children got hurt? Vur never lied, so it must be true! Ramon hopped to his feet and stared at Vur with glowing eyes. “Can you teach me how to grow up?”

“Sure,” Vur said and straightened his back. His chest puffed out. “Growing up is very easy for dragons. Eat lots of meat and sleep as much as you can. Eventually, you’ll be able to catch a meteor.”

Ramon blinked and tilted his head. “Is that it?”

Vur nodded. “That’s it.”

“But what about learning?” Ramon asked and gestured towards the stone tablet.

“What about learning?”

“Don’t we have to learn?” Ramon asked. “Grandma says I have to learn to be a proper cursed dragon.”

Aren’t you a holy dragon though? Tafel wanted to ask but knew better than to open her mouth. What if Ramon rebelled against Grimmy’s parents because of her comment? Then, she’d be the one responsible for Ramon’s delinquency, and she wasn’t strong enough to shoulder that burden.

“Learning…,” Vur said and frowned. After a bit, he nodded. “Learning is important too; it can help you grow a little faster. You can do it while you sleep.”

“Wait,” Tafel said, her eyes widening. She grabbed Vur’s arm and stared him in the eyes. “You learn in your sleep?”

Vur blinked. “Of course,” he said and tilted his head. “Who doesn’t?”

Tafel released Vur’s arm and exhaled. She turned back towards the stone tablet.

“Is something wrong?” Vur asked.

Tafel grimaced. “Don’t talk to me right now. I need to think about some things.”

“Oh. Okay.”

***

The next day, Ramon walked into the learning room with his head held high. Grimmy’s mom was already inside with Gloria. The old dragon glanced at Ramon when he entered. “You’re late.”

Ramon blinked. “Huh?” He glanced around, but as far as he could tell, there wasn’t a single way to tell time in the palace. Outside, there was no sun or moon either!

“Class begins when I arrive,” Grimmy’s mom said. “If you’re here after me, that means you’re late.”

Ramon fell silent. It was a trick he learned while living with his other grandmother. As long as he stayed silent, he wouldn’t be noticed or yelled at. Ramon plodded along to his seat beside Gloria and stared at his grandmother.

Grimmy’s mom stared at Ramon for a little longer before clearing her throat. She tapped on the ground, and a hidden trapdoor sprung open. Her claws clacked as she rummaged through the items inside. “Not this one…. Not this…. Here we go.” She pulled two tablets out of the ground and placed them onto Gloria’s and Ramon’s tables. Her tail swept behind her, slamming the trapdoor shut.

Ramon glanced at the tablet. There were a bunch of scribbles covering it. At least, they looked like scribbles to him.

“Is this another lost language?” Gloria asked.

“No, this is an apothecary’s handwriting,” Grimmy’s mom said. “All apothecaries have poor handwriting that regular people can’t read. It has something to do with the knowledge overwhelming their hand-eye coordination space inside of their brains.”

“They all write the same way?” Ramon asked. He peered at the scribbles, but if it was written in a language he knew, then he couldn’t even identify a single letter.

“Oh,” Grimmy’s mom said and opened the trapdoor again. “This isn’t the most recent version of the language you know.” She fetched out two more tablets and placed them on the children’s tables. “Languages change every time we hibernate, so you’ll always be learning. Study this alphabet first.”

Ramon nodded. He placed the tablet flat against the table before resting his head on top of it. Gloria glanced at him. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m trying a new technique Vur taught me,” Ramon said. “If I think about these letters when I fall asleep, I can learn them in my dreams.”

Grimmy’s mom stared at Ramon. There was a miraculous technique like that? Or was Ramon just using it as an excuse to slack off? “I’ll go have a word with Vur. The two of you stay here and study hard. I expect you to have the alphabet memorized by the time I get back.”