Guess my only hope was Apollo returning in time or my grandfather realizing something was amiss and coming to my rescue.
Instead of a miracle, Tigger farted.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Seeing Malone chilled me, but oddly enough, I worried more about Iolana than myself. The man had colder blood than a reptile and a chilling sadistic streak that meant he wouldn’t hesitate to harm my servant.
My human who’d come for me.
Who’d cared enough to put herself in danger.
Who might now die.
It bothered. Bothered me intensely enough my tummy churned and began to bloat, filling with pressure that emerged in a loud Pfft.
It should be noted dragons did not expel gas like humans and other animals. Even when we did evacuate our bowels, there was little stench, for our bodies absorbed everything of use and the waste that remained? Usually just hard pellets of minerals we couldn’t process.
So the smell that followed my toot? Unexpected and, while it didn’t bother me, the humans began to cough.
Iolana, closest to me, retched, spewing the contents of her belly in a liquid and chunky stream that didn’t want to stop. Malone gagged, but standing in the doorway, where fresher air streamed in, he didn’t puke. He did hold his breath, however, as he lunged for my cage. He grabbed hold of it and went to exit, only to find himself in a tugging war with Iolana, who, despite her streaming eyes and gasping breath, held on to my prison.
“Let go!” Malone spat. A threat to which he added a bullet.
Into my Iolana.
With a cry of pain, because the hole streaming blood in her shoulder probably really hurt, she released her grip on my cage and fell to the floor. Malone quickly exited the aircraft with my cage, stomping down the steps before exhaling loudly and then taking several deep breaths of fresh air.
He then held up my prison to gaze upon me with a calculating glint in his eyes. “A poison-gas-spewing dragon. Not exactly what I would have preferred, but you could have some interesting uses.”
Of all the abilities to inherit, why did mine have to be the most useless? See, while the humans and other living beings might be affected by my noxious expelling, other dragons would only be slightly bothered, putting me at a distinct disadvantage in the fight for supreme ruler of the world. Not that I’d even end up in the running given my current situation.
“Since you ruined my jet, guess we’ll need to find another ride,” Malone muttered as he began to strut away from the plane. Away from Iolana, who required immediate removal from the poisoned air I’d accidentally unleashed and given medical assistance before it was too late.
“You wretched, evil man,” I hollered while grabbing the bars and punily shaking them. “Release me this instant. Iolana needs help.”
“No.”
One word.
One frustrating refusal that had me gnashing my teeth, and with a yell of rage, I clenched and expelled a fart, intentionally this time. Orange vapor emerged, but Malone held his breath and kept striding, moving away from the poison cloud, which quickly dissipated.
“What a useless power,” Malone taunted. “Only good for enclosed rooms. You’ll have to try harder to hurt me.”
A sour taste filled my mouth at the truth of his words. “I will kill you.”
“Says the runt,” Malone mocked. “The puniest of the litter with an ability easily circumvented.”
“I will ribbon your flesh with my claws,” I growled.
“Not if I have them removed. Maybe we’ll take out your teeth too, and then what will you do?”
“My poison will get stronger.”
“Easily countered with a hazmat suit, although I’m wondering if there’s a point keeping you alive. Perhaps I’ll dissect you instead. Imagine what I could learn.”
What an ignoble death. As my impotence and fear thickened, an acrid phlegm built in my throat.
“What, nothing to say? Now there’s a first,” Malone taunted, holding up my cage to meet my gaze.
