Dragon Hoard Part 7: Gluttony

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Dragon Hoard Part 7: Gluttony

This is post #7 of 7 in the series “Dragon Hoard”

I watched in growing horror as Lee Anne crammed more and more food into her mouth. Grease dribbled down her face and some of the food fell to the floor but she was pushing an impossible amount into her mouth and she swallowed it without chewing.

I shuddered as a large mass of food made her throat bulge. Her whole body seemed to be swollen and bloated I realized, growing at an impossible rate as she consumed her food.

I reached out to stop her from taking another bite, but she pushed me away and bared her teeth at me, the smell of burgers, fries and fat strong on her breath. My step backward was involuntary, for a moment she seemed almost feral in her protection of her food.

Dragon-Hoard-Text-7 Something had to be done quickly though. Whatever the source of the magic it was harming Lee Anne and if things went much further they might be irreversible. I didn’t have time to unravel the spell affecting her so my easiest option was to render her harmless to herself.

Fortunately, that is one charm I now carry everywhere. My hand fumbled in my pocket as I pulled out a small zip-lock bag, opened it, got a pinch of the fine dark powder in my hands and flicked it into Lee Anne’s eyes. She blinked, dropping the food long enough to wipe the powder from her stinging eyes, which was all the distraction I needed to initiate the spell and she slumped over against the slot machine.

The powder in question, just pepper. The spell requires a susceptible mind and people who are distracted are much more open to suggestion. The fact she was already under some sort of spell no doubt helped too, I’d been able to get her into the trance even quicker than I had hoped.

I checked her pulse and then, taking care to be as gentle as I could, lowered her to the floor, lying her on her side. Her breathing was gentle but her body was still under malign influence and it remained bloated and distorted. Underneath the stench of the fast food I thought I smelt a hint of something else, but I wasn’t able to place it. My spell would stop her feeding the magic affecting her, but her body might reject the food she had crammed into it, and I didn’t want her vomiting and choking.

"Interesting things keep happening round you don't they Mr. Brodie." An unfamiliar voice broke into my concentration.

I fought to control my impulse to spin round and finished checking Lee Anne and then rose to my feet and turned to face the woman who had addressed me.

I’m not good at guessing ages, but I’d guess at late thirties and from the gray pants suit she wore I knew she had a connection with Sante Drago. Which wasn’t a good thing.

“I’m a little busy right now.” I said in response to her opening salvo. Lee Anne might not have been a close friend, but she was a friend and I didn’t like being distracted from her problem. The woman glanced down at Lee Anne, the expression on her face seemed more curious than revolted. An odd reaction I thought.

“You seem to have averted the immediate crisis.” She said after a moment. “Mr. Drago would like a word with you.”

My stomach churned at those words. Nothing good would come of a face to face meeting with a dragon. So I did what I’m best at, I stalled.

“And you are?” I asked.

“Cassandra, Mr. Brodie, shall we be going?”

“Pleased to meet you.” I smiled and offered my hand to her. “And you are?” That one got the slightest twitch of her lip. Amusement or contempt, I couldn’t tell.

“I am Mr. Drago’s assistant and he would like to speak to you as a matter of urgency.” To me, notice, not with me.

“One of his assistants.” I noted. She gave me a look. “I saw him earlier. He has several assistants.”

“Indeed. Might I suggest, as one of his assistants, that Mr. Drago does not take very kindly to being kept waiting.”

“And why would that be exactly Cassandra? Why would the Silver Dragon want to talk to a minimum wage employee like me?”

“Must we play this game.” Cassandra tapped her foot, her patience finally succumbing to my charm and being replaced by annoyance. ” I know who you are Mr. Brodie and what you are. So does Mr. Drago, and he wishes to speak with you… now.”

I went from worried to scared in an instant. Just how much did they know about me? And who was Cassandra? Not your average assistant obviously. Not a dragon, I would have sensed that, but something else perhaps? She seemed unconcerned by the magic happening all around her. I couldn’t see anyway out of it though, I had to beard the dragon in his den. Apart from anything else, he was my employer.

I nodded my assent and gestured for Cassandra to lead the way. We hadn’t taken three steps though when a familiar noise echoed through the casino and set the hairs on my neck on end. It shouldn’t have been that loud, not with all the other sounds and not in such a big area. But then again, it wasn’t natural.

I hadn’t heard a wolf’s howl since the night they chased me across the countryside, but I wasn’t likely to forget it ever again. On the plus side, I guess I had located Rick. The bad news, a werewolf was loose inside the casino!

Next: Part 8 - The Dragon’s Lair

Dragon Hoard is a weekly serial sequel to The Wolves of West Virginia, which is available on Kindle.