"Did you just fucking sing a dragon to calm down?" Sage screamed.
"What was I supposed to do?" I screamed back, forcing my body up again. "I'm covered in my blood, I'm literally covered in sauce for them to barbecue me, so, what was I supposed to fucking do?"
"You calmed a dragon… down!" Barbie giggled, screaming the last word.
"Damn, mom, thanks," I chuckled, eying the sky.
"Did you just call me mom?" She gasped. "Gracie, I'm younger than you."
"I'm surrounded by idiots," I groaned, back to walking, carefully.
"What was that monster?" Sage screamed. "Asrai have mercy on us, I do not, want to encounter that motherfucking beast," oh, he's shitting himself.
Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh. "One of the elders, probably!"
"How do you fucking know so much about them?" A strange girl yelled, close enough that I could tell she was the one behind Sage, an unfamiliar one.
"She is smart!" To my surprise, both Percy, Barbie, and Sage shouted.
"Who asked that?" I made my voice louder.
"I'm… oh, shit, oh shit!" She cried, "I just looked down, oh my God, oh my God, how high in the sky are we?" Her voice broke, a sign of actual tears.
"8 thousand miles," I shouted the answer and she screamed.
"Shit, we are high as hell," the girl screamed.
"How… how much is a mile?" Barbie asked, screaming to be heard.
Well, she certainly isn't shameless about her lack of knowledge, ain't she? "One million meters. One meter equals 100 centimeters. My leg is 90 centimeters long, so, longer than my legs!"
"Anything is longer than your legs, Grace!" Percy shouted.
"Did you just call me short?" I gasped in dismay at his ability to joke at a moment like this, when we are literally hanging on for dear fucking life. I mean, sure I can't die in the moment, but fuck, the feeling is still the same, even if I'm a lot more numb than before, attempt of murder by dragon in not nice.
"Have you seen yourself?" He barked back, laughing.
He is a maniac, no other explanation, "Percy, shut the fuck up, if you do not want me to jump here, and make a wave where you are, so you will fall down!"
"Oh shit!" Sage screamed, "Grace, there's a dragon coming under you."
"It's almost… almost twice the size of the silver one," the girl I still down know the name, screamed at me, "it… it… it has… it has black scales!"
"Black?" I screamed, genuine terror creeping into my veins.
"What… what kind of dragon is that?" Barbie asked, terrified.
"There are no… n-no records… on… black dragons," I shook, I actually shook, the fear of not knowing anything about this monster under me creeping into my bones, but the second the dragon emanated an aura similar to that place I nearly lost my mind and soul in it, understanding of someone never seen before settled into my bones. "Oh… shit… no way, no way," I gasped. "No way."
"What? What?" The four of them yelled at me.
"How… how black is the dragon?" I asked, heavy breathing.
"Blacker than the old women you threatened back there," Percy barked.
"Percy, not fucking now," I snapped at him. "And that's racist!"
"No, I'm serious, she's starless-night-sky black, it's blacker than that!"
I swallowed, "Can you see the… the eye color? What is it doing?"
"Black, the eyes are black. Everything is black. Black, black, black. Fuck, even the teeth are black, obsidian black, Grace!" Sage screamed.
"It's… it's opening its mouth!" Barbie cried.
It's a void dragon. A void, dragon. A void dragon about to eat me!
Gulping my panic forcedly, I tried it again, "1 crow for malice, 2 for mirth, 3 for a funeral, 4 for birth, 5 for silver, 6 for gold, 7 for a story that should never be told, 8 for heaven, 9 for hell, 10 for the devil where ever he may dwell," don't stop, don't show fear, don't show submissiveness. "1 crow for malice, 2 for mirth, 3 for a funeral, 4 for birth, 5 for silver, 6 for gold, 7 for a story that should never be told, 8 for heaven, 9 for hell, 10 for the devil where ever he may dwell," I made my voice sound sweeter, eyes closed as I slowly got back to walking.
If it isn't burning or eating me yet, then I'm not is full danger yet.
"1 crow for malice, 2 for mirth, 3 for a funeral, 4 for birth, 5 for silver, 6 for gold, 7 for a story that should never be told, 8 for heaven, 9 for hell, 10 for the devil where ever he may dwell," sing like mom, be confident. "1 crow for malice, 2 for mirth, 3 for a funeral, 4 for birth, 5 for silver, 6 for gold, 7 for a story that should never be told, 8 for heaven, 9 for hell, 10 for the devil where ever he may dwell," sleep, dragon, sleep, go back to the void you came from, get away from me.
"Uh… keep singing!" The nameless girl shouted, so I did.
I sang, more and more melodically, more and more like my mom would, or like I remember that she would, I may have remembered her sweeter than she was, since the job of being the sweet parent was totally dad's, at least with me. My mom was mostly duty driven, given the weight she carried as the heiress of our bloodline, one that was passed down to me together with the secrets I was tortured to give to our enemies but I didn't bend. She loved me profoundly, but she was the type to show it through actions instead of words and physical touch.
But her voice… I don't remember it so perfectly anymore, but I still have it in my mind how soothing and sweet her singing voice was, how gentle it felt on my ears, like an enchanting siren. I focused on that feeling, trying to emanate it.
"What the… fuck?" Percy gasped. "I think… the dragon is helping us?"
"It's guarding all the space for the five of us from under the steps," the nameless girl exclaimed. "How the hell is that possible? Is it… your song?"
"Let's just take advantage of it," Sage yelled. "Keep singing, Grace."
Shutting my mind to their words, not to lose my focus, I kept on singing,
"If we quicken the pace, we might get out of here soon," Percy suggested.
"Let's put a bigger space between us and the ones behind us," Barbie.
My body agreed with Barbie's idea, because fighting some bastards in this nightmare of a hanging bridge, while singing for the dragonsa nd trying not to turn into their lunch, would be too much. So, I moved faster, but still carefully. Singing my mom's lullaby with my heart on it, hanging on the improbable idea that they aren't attacking because of the lyrics or my voice, and just going forward.
"Halt, Gracie!" Barbie yelled, "There are five tiles missing in your front."
I froze, still singing, but it was extremely hard not to give in to panic.
What the fuck am I supposed to do now? Fucking jump?
"You have to jump!" Sage screamed for me.
Hell no.