“Is he dead?” Celia asked. It's been a week and Juliana returned with Celia to Vur’s prison residence. Vur was still in the same exact spot he was in last week, but his face was on the floor and he wasn’t moving.

“That’s odd… he should’ve been able to survive for a week without food with that body of his,” Juliana said. She walked over and placed her hand on the crown of his head. “There’s no flow of mana or blood in his body,” she said.

“You killed him? You killed the son of a dragon?! Oh Aeris, please have mercy on our poor souls,” Celia said as she fell to her knees and prayed. Her heart started pounding and her stomach felt queasy.

“I might be able to fix this. Most likely. I hope,” Juliana said. She rolled the boulder off of Vur’s body and flipped him over. “He doesn’t look emaciated at all; that’s good. It should work better if his body is preserved,” Juliana nodded. “I should probably remove these seals too.”

“Are you going to resurrect him? What if he becomes a zombie?” Celia asked staring wide-eyed at Juliana.

Juliana nodded. “If he becomes a zombie, I’ll just have to bind him and send him back to the matriarch and pray for the best,” she said and waved her hands. “Dispel.”

The black runes on Vur’s body disappeared. “Alright, I’m going to start now,” she said. She placed both hands on Vur’s chest and willed her mana to her hands. Celia stood with her back to the door and watched as Juliana’s hands glowed green. The intensity of the glow increased until the whole room was filled with a green shine before the glow flashed and dispersed. “Did it work?” Celia asked.

Juliana gasped for breath and shook her head. “His soul must’ve dissipated already or something is preventing it from coming back,” she said.

Celia’s heart sunk. “Now what?” she asked.

“There’s one more thing I can try,” Juliana said, “reanimate dead.”

Celia bit her lip and nodded. “We’ll have to flee with the whole village after we reanimate him,” Celia said. “We’ll be gone by the time the dragons notice the decay. The tree of knowledge that our village grew around is already gone. Do it.”

Juliana once again put her hands on Vur’s chest. This time, her hands glowed black and a jagged root pattern started to spread out on Vur’s body. After the roots fully cocooned his body, a bright light flashed and the roots disappeared. Juliana coughed up blood. “It failed,” she said.

“That’s… what do we do then?” Celia asked with a pale face.

“Let’s consult with your grandmother,” Juliana replied. After they left the room, Juliana waved her hand and said, “Seal.” A green circle with a rune inscribed appeared on the door. The two went to find Celia’s grandmother.

###################################################################

Fools. I knew they were stupid, Vur thought. He canceled the play dead spell and stood up to stretch. He smiled as he waved his arm and said, “Dispel.” The green seal on the door disappeared and he opened it.

A log slammed into him and he flew back into the wall behind him. “Silence. Bind. Curse: weaken. Curse: fatigue. Curse: silence. Curse: immobility,” Juliana said as she walked back into the room with a smile. “You’re a thousand years too young to fool me, little one.”

“Mommy, did Miss Celia just throw a log at a little boy?” a girl whispered.

“Hush, honey. Let’s go,” her mother replied as she dragged her away.

“You little brat! I’ll kill you!” Celia said as she stomped back into the room. “Do you know how worried I was?!” She picked Vur up by the back of his neck and placed him across her lap. She raised her arm and spanked him until his butt bled. “You’re not even going to apologize? Tch,” Celia said as she continued to spank him. Three hundred and seventy two spanks later, Juliana stopped her.

“Um, Celia. I silenced him, he can’t apologize,” Juliana said while rubbing her cheek. Celia stopped and looked down at Vur. He stared at her with wide eyes and tears streaming down his cheeks. Celia’s heart dropped as her anger was extinguished and she rubbed his head.

“I’m so sorry; don’t cry,” Celia said. “Do you want to eat meat? Let’s go to that bear okay?” Vur nodded his head and held Celia’s hand as she led him out of the room. Vur used puppy eyes on Celia, it was super effective, Juliana thought.

“Stop,” Juliana said. “You’ll put some clothes on right?”

Vur made a face, but he still couldn’t speak. “You don’t want anyone to see handprints on your butt right? Dragons don’t get spanked. You can hide that if you wear this,” Juliana smiled as she held up a green robe.

Vur hesitated before he reached out and grabbed the robe. He looked at it and then looked at Celia and held it out to her. “You need help putting it on?” Celia asked as she took it from him. Vur nodded. Juliana smiled as she watched Celia dress Vur. Step one accomplished.

###################################################################

“Daaad,” Rudolph said, “I don’t want Johann anymore. All he does is eat, poop, and sleep.”

“You asked for him and you said you would take care of him if I got him for you,” the king said. “That was part of our conditions.”

“But, Dad, the stories never say anything about how much they poop. I have to use a shovel to get it out of the backyard,” Rudolph said, “and I have no allowance from all the meat I have to buy to feed him.”

“Raising a pet builds character,” the king said. “You’ll thank me when you’re older.”

“Your dad is right, honey,” the queen said, “I heard that Michelle, the pope’s daughter, likes men with character and dragons.”

Rudolph’s face began to burn and he looked down. “Alright, I’ll raise Johann,” he muttered and walked away.