So Brantley finally won permission to join Evie and Dylan for their slumber party. He pulled his long legs up to his chest and folded them. Dylan put a blanket over his head and Evie held a flashlight to her chin.
Evie made her voice dark and deep as she said, "It was a dark and stormy night."
"That's not how it starts," Dylan complained.
"Fine, then you read it," she said, tossing the book at him.
The Legend of the Red Dragon was actually broken up into little snippets of this sighting and that tale. Dylan read out the first segment:
"'The legend of the Red Dragon,'" his voice ominous and dramatic, "'is hundreds of years old, dating back to the earliest settlements in America. The product of rape, a human girl perverted with demon blood stalked the savage lands of the virgin wilderness. Many thought the creature an innocent child, but her true heart always revealed itself. The fervent were shown the truth from the beginning. The creature had blood red hair.'"
"Of course, it's blood red," Brantley scoffed.
Dylan said, "If you're not going to take this seriously, get out."
"Sorry, sorry," Brantley said, pressing his hands.
"'Legend has it that she was chased out of Europe by King Ao Guang, because she wouldn't submit to his authority. And when the holy people fled the perverted territory of Europe and established themselves here, they were scandalized to discover an ancient demon in this Pure and Clean land.'"
Evie rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Ancient? Really?"
But Brantley had another thought. Though he was familiar with the legend from his youth, it hadn't crossed his mind for a decade. He began to wonder if Queen Lilith might be this exiled Red Dragon.
"'The native peoples proved themselves to be godless savages,'" Dylan read. "'They worshiped her and brought her trays of fruits and raw meat.'"
Evie snickered and Brantley thought it was pretty funny too.
"'The Pure and Clean colonists prayed to God for direction, tried to embrace love and ignore the dark, godless ways of the savages, but such evil cannot be borne. The colonists fought with the heretics and pushed them out of this Pure and Clean land. God supported his righteous people, helped them fortify the land.'"
YOU ARE READING
The Lamb and the Gray Battle
FantasiaEvie has spent the last 575 years on the North American continent, now called America, the Pure and Clean. She smiles, volunteers and makes cakes and pastries for her neighbors, hiding away her demon blood. She wants nothing to do with her estranged...
