Page 72 of Thorulf
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“I’M BAD BECAUSE that’swhat I do,” little Jade’s dragon whimpered, innocently taking comfort in the purple she-devil beside her. “I make bad things go away for my sisters, so they feel better.”
Never so angry, Jade scowled at the memory she and Thorulf watched unfold.
“My goodness, but that isn’t bad at all,” the purple dragon said compassionately. “You’re simply doing a good thing for your siblings, yes?”
“Yes,” little Jade agreed on a sigh. “But what if Thorulf’s Fortress can see all the negativity I filter? What if,” she inhaled choppily, devastated by what she thought might be happening, “what if it’s somehow ending up here?”
“I’m sure it hasn't.” Their nemesis’ eyes were speculative and cunning when little Jade wasn’t looking. “Though...”
“Though what?” Jade asked when the purple dragon hesitated.
“Well, what if you made sure your sisters’ memories didn’t end up here?” the enemy pondered. “What if you knew for sure they stayed away from here?” She met little Jade’s eyes, so sweet it was sickening. “Do you think that would make a difference? Do you think it might make it easier to get into Thorulf’s Fortress?”
“Unbelievable,” Jade cursed. “I reallywasthat stupid.”
“Not stupid,” Thorulf corrected. “Sad and desperate, maybe. Naïve and innocent, most definitely.” He shook his head. “But you’re not to be blamed for this. I should have helped you through your worries better. Made you feel more secure.”
“I think if my negativity was gone, I’d most certainly be allowed into his Fortress,” little Jade said, so hopeful when she looked at Evil, big Jade wanted to reach back in time and bat her upside the head.
The purple dragon perked up like she was the kindest little Evil tidbit in the world. “Then why not redirect it?”
Jade perked up as well like the swindled, duped fool she was. “I can do that?”
“Of course you can,” Evil said in a co-conspirator voice. She looked up the mountain at their lair. “And I know just where you can redirect them, so they never come here again.”
Jade pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head as the memory faded. “How was Ieverso naïve?” She was embarrassed to admit how easily she had been taken advantage of. “She convinced me to redirect my sisters’ negative energy to our lair, Thorulf. Something I didn’t even know how to do until she taught me.”
Something she now realized had given Evil a direct line into their lives. A connection like no other. A means to manipulate them from the inside out over the years. To dig her slimy, corrupt talons in deep.
“And I was all right with it,” he murmured, remembering. “If doing that meant you might be able to enter the Fortress. I agreed to it for your sake and your sake alone. Everything was foryoursake, not hers...” He shook his head. “At least at first...”
Jade squeezed her eyes shut at his admission, at the veils yet clouding their memory. The truths that were bound to get harder before they got easier. When she opened her eyes again, she frowned in confusion. “Where are we?”
“This is my father’s kingdom, the Stronghold,” he replied, equally startled to be standing on its outskirts in the blink of an eye. “How did we get here? How did we...” He trailed off and looked at her in understanding, touching the corner of her eye so gently, so tenderly, it almost made her tear up again. “I see now...”