The Broken Seal - Chapter 5

He had to sit down. She. Was. A. Dragon. A fucking dragon. And he had sex with her. Three times.

« But how... I mean... »

They all looked taken aback. Cassandra springed to her feet and faced Sasha.

« I have... like a thousand questions. »

Sasha smiled

« Fire away. »
« About that. Can you... »
« Breathe fire ? Yes. »
« Have you eaten humans ? »
« Not for a very long time. I discovered quickly I prefered talking to them. And that their meat was too gainy for my taste. »

At those words, Jenkins chuckled, Jacob smiled, Eve coughed, Ezekiel looked disgusted, and Cassandra intrigued.

« And how big are you ? »
« My dragon is about... the size of a diplodocus. »
« Did you compare with one ? »

She had to laugh. 

« I'm not that old! »
« So how old are you? »
« I don't know. There was no measure of time when I became aware of it. We learned to keep track when men did. »

Jacob had a sudden realization.

« You were there. During the war against the demons. »
« Yes. »

She became sombre. He knew fighting, he knew what battling beings from other worlds was. But a war against demons? No one could even begin to imagine.

« How long did it last ? »
« About a generation of men. »
« Between 30 and 50 years. »
« Something like that, yes. About three weeks ago, a dragon called me about a problem he had. His lair had been visited and his piece of seal was missing. We never share information of that kind, so I knew this was serious. He is younger, and wasn’t hatched at the time of the war. »

Ezekiel had a chuckle.

« Hatched! »
« Because live birth is so much prettier... »
« Sorry. »
« Anyway. When Rowan told me about the theft, I checked with other dragons. One of them told me his part was also missing. It troubled me, so l called for an Assembly. »
« What is that ? »
« An Assembly is when Eastern and Western dragons meet in a neutral territory to talk. The subject is always of great importance to us. During the one we had two weeks ago, one more dragon said her piece of seal was missing. One can be misplaced, two is a coincidence. »
« More than that and there's a deliberate will behind it. »
« Yes. All the stolen parts belong to the same seal, the one for Shaitan. »
« Let me guess. A person, or persons, is trying to put the seal back together to invoke him. »
« It. Yes, to summon it back into this world. The thieves only want to bring Shaitan it seems. It is powerful, but it will be only one demon amongst men. Back then, a lot of lesser demons accompanied the Seven. Even if it manages to rally men, it won't be as bad as before. But it can cause a lot of damage. It can open the door to the underworld. »

Eve looked battle ready.

« So we have to prepare for war. »
« It is early yet, the seal isn't complete. I own one of the pieces, and two more are still hidden, probably lost, after all this time. We're trying to find them. And so we decided the best source of information would be the Librarians. »
« How do you know so much about us ? »
« We have known about the Library since the beginning, when it was constructed. We've been following its path. Some of us have been friends with Librarians before. »
« Why not come forward with everything in the first place ? Why all the secrecy ? »

Sasha sighed.

« It's who we are. We rarely trust, especially each other, and we thrive on secrets. We don't share what we know, unless we're under pressure or in imminent danger. Rowan only contacted me because he's my offspring and he thought I could help. »
« You have kids ? »
« The human term is too affectionate for the relationship we have. Parents care for their youngs, but when a dragon reaches maturity, we fall back on distrust and secrecy, just like with any other dragon. And yes, I have two. »

The look in Ezekiel's eyes became interested.

« What about your lair ? All the legends about the treasures are true ? The piles of gold, heaps of jewels ? »
« It's a bit different. It's more of a collection. I keep what has meaning to me. Sometimes a book has more significance than riches. I own a little bit of every place I've been, and every time I've lived in. The problem we face is that the dragons don't know how their lairs were found and infiltrated, and how they were robbed. We thought they were impenetrable. »

The Librarians had already battled villains who wanted to destroy them and take over the world, but his time, the idea of battling a demon was a bit overwhelming. Hopefully, with Sasha's help, they would have a chance. She was there the first time the demons were banished.

« How big is this demon ? »
« About three meters tall, with tail and horns, and claws on its hands and feet, it smells acrid, like sulfur. Thankfully, it has no special powers. »
« And you can breathe fire. »
« Breathing fire on a demon is like pouring water on a whale. It is not useful, Ezekiel Jones. »
« How can they reform the seal? »
« They will need to gather the pieces in a secret place, the same as last time, if they know where it is, put them together and a blood sacrifice should be able to reform it. But I have no idea how they will learn the ritual words because those are long forgotten. »

The more Sasha was talking, the more the Librarians were discouraged.

« There has to be an intermediary, someone in contact both with Shaitan and humans here. We have to find who it is. Now I have a better vision of what's to come, I have to call for another Assembly to ask the other dragons to work together in order to stop Shaitan. Most of them were not there during the war, there's only a handful of us still here, so we really have to make them understand what's at stake. »
« How did they find the pieces of the seal? »
« We don't know. The four pieces they acquired were stolen from dragons who were there during the war. The two left were lost when their owners died. We never reveal the location of our lairs, so when a dragon dies, his secret dies with him. »

Suddenly Sasha put her hand to her belly in shock.

« Somebody is in my lair ! It's not possible, it doesn't happen. I have to go now ! »