Dragon's Breath Book 2 (Completed)

Chapter 24

Dressed in heavy cloaks against the early morning chill, Grassina, Eadric and I hurried along the path to the swamp, lighting our way with torches. The sky was already growing brighter when we reached the pond. It wasn't a terribly large pond, but it had always been my favorite. I loved the stand of cattails at the far end, the willows trailing their lance-shaped leaves in the water, and the wash of gravel where I had often stood to survey my own, small kingdom. Haywood was floating on his back in the morning mist, seeming as if he didn't have a care in the world.

Grassina wasn't about to wait any longer. Holding out her hands, she called,

Come to me, my darling.
Come to me, my friend.
When you have sipped
The drink I hold,
Your feral life will end.

As if in a trance, Haywood rolled over onto his belly and swam toward Grassina, his liquid brown eyes never leaving her face. Uncovering the bowl, Grassina crouched by the water's edge. When Haywood's paws touched the mud of the bank, she tilted the bowl, pouring its contents into his open mouth.

Haywood blinked up at Grassina. Gradually, more mist rose from the water around him, and his edges began to blur. The dark, furry form that was Haywood grew longer, his head and body larger, his tail disappearing altogether.

I glanced at Grassina. Although her eyes had been troubled just moments before, they were now lit with the purest joy I had ever seen. She gazed into Haywood's eyes; her face softened. As the mist dissolved, I could see that Haywood was human again. A middle-aged man, he was dressed in clothes twenty years out of style. His sandy brown hair was tinged with gray, his brown eyes warm and friendly. From the way he looked at Grassina, it was plain that his memory had returned and that he still adored my aunt.

They reached toward each other with trembling hands. Their faces seemed to glow with happiness, and I felt my throat tighten when they leaned toward each other and kissed. I was still watching them when a breeze sprang up, chasing away the last of the mist and bringing with it a shower of rose petals, pink, red, purple and every shade in between. They drifted around us in a gentle blanket, filling the air with their sweet scent.

I was brushing a few clinging petals from my face when I felt something hard rub against my cheek. I glanced at my hand and was startled to find Grassina's green leaf ring on my finger. "Why is this —" I began, and then I heard someone gasp. I turned back to Grassina and Haywood. The breeze had died, leaving them covered with petals. Jerking his hands away from Grassina, Haywood struggled to back up, but his feet slid out from under him and he landed in deeper water with a splash.

I wondered what could have caused the look of horror on his face, and then Grassina turned around, the petals fell away, and I knew. No longer the beautiful woman I had known my entire life, she had become just like my grandmother. The curse we'd all feared, the curse the fairy had put on my ancestor, Hazel, had taken its toll, turning Grassina's glorious auburn hair stringy and black, her well-shaped nose so long that it almost reached her jutting chin. She had more hairy warts on her face than I had toes on my feet, and her fingers were bent and gnarled.

It was the rose petals, I thought. Grandmother must have added that to the spell she cast on Haywood. She's had her way after all.

"What are you pea brains gawking at?" Grassina asked, her voice as scratchy as a rusty knife.

"You've changed," I squeaked.

"Of course I've changed, fly breath. I've gotten a whole lot smarter. The wedding's off. I wouldn't marry fur-boy if he was the last wizard in the swamp. Now go away and stop bothering me. I've got to get out of these disgusting clothes and into something more suitable."