The master spy or Puss in the boot adventures

The cave of Smugg, the Shadow dragon, Part 32

"Thank you for the delicious dinner you brought me ,"the dragon said and opened his mouth.

Mer-mer tried to say something, but his mouth was stiff with fear. The dragon's snout came closer and the ugly maw was ready to swallow him. The smell of spoiled and bad hit them in the nose Mer-mer finally managed to shake off his numbness.

"Nooo," he finally managed to say." I'm not tasty..."

"How do you know that," the dragon asked and... both he and Shadow-cat laughed.

Shadow-cat even laid down on the ground and took to kicking his paws up.

"I'm going to die laughing," she cried through tears. "You saw his face. "

It was very funny, especially since Shadow-cat had forgotten that Blackbeard had cut off her tail... and it did look funny from the side. The dragon hadn't stayed back and was rolling on the ground, pushing rocks with its sharp claws.

"He really thought , I'm going to eat him,"said the dragon through tears..." Oh, I haven't laughed like that in ages...

"It wasn't funny," stomped Mer-Mer on the ground with his paw." It wasn't funny at all..."

"Oh, my , "continue laughing Shadow-cat...

Finally she and the dragon stopped laughing and they got up off the ground.

"I'll leave you to it, "Shadow-cat said, and climbed up on a rock and crossed her legs.

"What is she doing?" asked Mer-mer.

"Meditating, "said the dragon." It's time for your training... But before that, I'll have to tell you a little story... so you'll understand what an important piece of the puzzle you are..."

"What kind of story?"

"Once upon a time, there were three Protectors of Realities."

"Realities?"

"Yes, the Reality of Men, the Reality of Beasts, and the Reality of Shadows," the dragon hung up. "One Protector of each reality. The Realms were closed and one could not travel between the different worlds."

"Interesting, "said Mer- mer... "but what does that have to do with me..."

"Be patient," said the dragon." Even though the different worlds were closed to each other, some still managed to pass into the other worlds through temporary dimensional doors. That was why the Order of the Gate Keepers was created. There were three representatives from each Realm..."

"This is very interesting indeed, "Mer-Mer said to herself and continued listening to the dragon's story.

"Three Guardians from the Human Realm, three from the Beast Realm, and three from the Shadow Realm. You've already met some of them... "the dragon said.

"Wait... Who could it be..."Mer, Mer scratched his head with a paw and almost jumped..." It can't be..."

"Yes," said the dragon." The one who claims to be Cardinal Richelieu is none other than , a Guardian from the Realm of Men...The other one you haven't met in person yet, but perhaps you've heard of him- the mighty wizard Solaris."

"Yes, Mer-Mer said, "frowning..." And I still don't understand..."

"Your father was a Guardian from the Realm of Beasts... and your mother... from the Realm of Men..."

"Wait, wait, "my grandfather said I was an orphan..." He found me on the street...

"The one who claimed to be your grandfather isn't ... the real one. Your real grandfather was a very powerful man. But anywhere, the three Protectors created 9 Time Compasses that could be used to travel from one reality to another and were distributed to the nine Guardians. The three Protectors were then able to rest in peace and they headed to their domain , where they fell asleep. If there were any problems, all they had to do was break the Tear of the Gods and the Protectors would wake up . Unfortunately, one day the Tear of the Gods disappeared without a trace. Only the 9 Guardians knew where it was, in a chamber in the central castle that was located on neutral ground between the three realms. Only to open the chest, 9 keys were needed..."