The Bird and the Wyrm-Chapter 51: A Plan Brewing

I handed you a blanket I’d taken from your room then walked around to the other side of one of the pagoda’s columns to get undressed.

I’d just dropped my trousers to my ankles when a sound made me turn and find you standing right behind me.

"Ah!" I jumped and quickly pulled my trousers up. "I-Is something wrong?"

You stared hard at me and I put two-and-two together. I held out a hand.

"I’ve just eaten, so most of my blood will be in my stomach but you can have a bit now. When I wake up tomorrow, I’ll give you some more."

You bit and fed on my finger and I tried to examine all the different shapes of leaves in the greenery around us. There were round leaves and spiked leaves and wavey leaves and...

You took my finger from your mouth, licked it, then let go.

"That was fast..." I eyed you. "You sure that’s enough?"

You nodded and went towards the tent.

I shook my head, got naked, then transformed into a dragon and padded over nearer the tent. There was a small clearing there that looked about right to sleep in.

It’s strange how things I’d never done before suddenly felt so natural like curling up all comfy like a snake. Never done it before, yet it felt so right.

I closed my eyes and rested my head on my coils and listened to the forest. I was tired but also still wired from all the day’s activities. Had I really flown all the way to and from this mountain twice? It hardly seemed possible, yet I knew it was true since each time I opened my eyes I could see the forest get darker and darker all around me.

It was when the night creatures started to rustle about when you emerged from the tent and came over to me.

Can’t sleep? I mentally thought to you.

You didn’t reply and instead stepped into the middle of my coils and sat down with the blanket covering both you and me.

"Cold," you said.

It’ll be warmer in the tent.

You ignored me and snuggled up closer to me, resting your head on my shoulder.

A thousand years could have passed and I wouldn’t have noticed - all I saw and felt was you; your warm breath on my scales, your half opened hand against my hide, the weight of your body against mine.

As a dragon, my eyes are as good as a cat’s and I could perfectly see each lock of your unruly hair and even each eyelash as it cast a minute shadow against your cheek. You wanted to be with me, because I was warm, but I wanted to be with you because you made me warm.

Slowly, I coiled myself a little tighter to better keep that warmth in and laid my head down again, eyes still open and watching your chest rise and fall as you slept.

I really love you, I thought silently.

--

The angry words flew across the room, garbled through the air into Zhan’s ear and out the other. He stared ahead, like he always did, like he was some puppet completely fine with what was going on, but internally he was seething. How could he not be?

A glass made of crystal crashed to the floor, its liquid contents bathing the floor wine red.

"Explain to me. Explain how exactly the dragon was able to escape again?" The bald man’s blue eyes fumed and sparked.

Zhan averted his own, staring at the bookshelf at the back of the room. "He was not alone," he said evenly. "He had help from the swordsman from last time."

The bald man smacked his table with an open hand. "And? So? Did I not instruct you to make sure there were no more mistakes? Did not Morgan accompany you?"

Would he be removed from this mission, wondered Zhan. Would he be expelled from the sect?

In the past such thoughts would have attacked right at Zhan’s soul, making him shiver and do all he could to avoid it, but now... he was almost looking forward to it. At least it would be a kind of ending, even if it wasn’t the one he wanted.

But Morgan, at the mention of his name, stepped forward, coming abreast with Zhan.

"My lord," he said with that endlessly infuriating smile, "this swordsman truly is powerful. His sword can cut things that I for one thought were impossible to cut. Zhan can’t be blamed for our failure this time."

"Oh? Can you be then?"

Morgan’s smile broadened. "We can both be," he said, "and so can Artemis Long for not furnishing us with all that he knew."

That made the burning flames in the bald man’s eyes pause for a moment. "Go on."

"Well, that is just it. I do not know." He half turned to Zhan for support. "Misha Long is clearly no normal dragon and the swordsman is far more powerful than either of us expected. And right when it would be most helpful, Artemis Long... disappears."

The bald man’s brow furrowed. "Go on."

Morgan made a self effacing gesture. "This is merely my own personal speculation, but... I believe there might be someone working against us."

Even Zhan looked at Morgan with surprise. A... traitor? But surely...

The bald man sat down in his chair and made a pyramid of his fingers as he thought. Then he slowly began to nod. "You might be right there, Morgan, you might be right..." He straightened. "In light of this, I will suspend any punishment of the two of you until this business with the Raging Waters Dragon. If the two of you are able to conclude it well, then I might consider rewarding you both instead." He waved a hand. "You are dismissed."

Zhan and Morgan both bowed then quickly exited the room.

Neither of them spoke as they walked down the corridor, turned into the main reception (Morgan greeted the receptionist while Zhan walked straight on, ignoring everything), and left headquarters via the rickety old stairs at the back of the rundown pub.

It was only when they were both safely across the road from the concealed entrance that Zhan whirled around and pointed an accusatory finger at Morgan.

"What was that?" he asked in a low, but still angry tone.

Morgan glanced around then gently pushed the finger out of his face. He sighed. "I don’t think I’ve ever met a damsel so against being saved."

"Wh-"

But before Zhan could explode at that last statement, Morgan quickly covered his mouth, turned him around, then pushed him into a nearby restaurant.

"Table for two," he said as a waitress approached.

"Morgan," Zhan hissed.

"Yes?" replied Morgan as he steered Zhan to a small booth near the back of the store by the entrance to the kitchen.

They both sat and Morgan pulled out the ordering paper and started ticking items off. Zhan eyed him then the paper but ended up saying nothing.

Morgan - God knows how - knew all the dim sum dishes he liked.

After a minute or two, Morgan hailed a waitress, gave her the paper and ordered a pot of Tie Guan Yin tea. Another one of Zhan’s favourites.

The boy silently glowered as the pot of tea came and Morgan poured a cup of the both of them.

"You were saying?"

Zhan glowered a moment longer then downed the entirety of his cup and poured himself another. "Why did you help me?"

Morgan looked at him with wide eyes. "Help you? How did I help you?"

Zhan kicked him under the table. The man winced and raised a conciliatory hand. "Please, I only helped you because if I didn’t, then I’d be facing just as much punishment as you."

A waitress, a different one from before, came by the table with a pushcart and took the first of their dishes from it and placed it in the centre of the table. Zhan waited for her to leave before continuing the conversation.

"Do you really think Artemis is a traitor?" he asked.

Morgan raised an eyebrow at the question. "Do you think he is?"

"Answer the question," said Zhan, pointing his chopsticks rather rudely at the man who’d helped him so much.

The man didn’t seem to mind so much and picked up one of the charsiu bao and placed it in his bowl then put another into Zhan’s. There were a total of three on the plate originally.

Morgan took a bite, then went on with his mouth half full. "What do you know about the old man’s plans?"

Zhan knew the boss of the Unity was sometimes called the ’old man’ behind his back but he’d never actually heard it and he struggled to hide his surprise at the moniker. Was Morgan a more senior member than he realised?

"Not much. Find the dragon, provoke the right thing from it, then set it in the crystal. That’s all I know," said Zhan.

Morgan nodded thoughtfully then swallowed. "That’s about as much as most people know, I think. All very mysterious, don’t you think?"

Zhan took a bite of his own bao and eyed Morgan suspiciously. "If you know more, then just spit it out. You’ll choke if you keep so many secrets to yourself."

Morgan laughed and downed the rest of his tea. "Alright, I didn’t tell the old man about you stealing the sword then getting distracted on the job and letting the dragon get away because I want you to know that I don’t want anything bad happening to you."

Zhan scoffed. "Right. Next you’re going to proclaim your undying love for me, is it?"

Morgan looked highly offended by this. "Do you really think I’d proclaim my love in a second-rate restaurant like this with you looking like that?" He sighed. "You really do think very badly of me, don’t you..."

"What do you want?" asked Zhan. He put his chopsticks down and perched his chin on the his palm. "You have something on me now, so what are you planning on make me do for you?"

Morgan sighed. "I don’t want anything bad happening to you because I think the two of us are uniquely positioned to be... useful to one another."

"And?" Zhan reached for the last charsiu bao, hesitated, then cut it in half with his chopsticks.

"Just like how you want a way to break the curse on you, I have an item I’m dying to find."

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