Gloria and Ramon lay on their bellies, their necks extending forward to munch on the food placed between them. Ramon slurped on bear meat while Gloria stuffed her face into a pile of grapes. Although the buried humans had bigger problems to worry about than being hungry, they couldn’t stop their stomachs from growling upon seeing the sight. Gloria’s eye shifted to the side, and she blinked at the drooling humans. She swallowed the crushed grapes in her mouth and asked Kozabokget, “Do we have to feed the humans?”

Kozabokget glanced at the field of heads. They were staring at her with pleading expressions. “No,” the pink-eyed goat said and let out a small smile as despair flooded their faces. “They’re small and squishy compared to a dragon, and they definitely can’t compare to you when it comes to not eating or drinking, but they can go three days without water and over a month without food.”

“Oh,” Gloria said. “That’s longer than I thought.” She raised an eyebrow. “How come Tafel seemed like she needed to eat so often? Didn’t she eat twice a day?”

“Although humans can survive a month without eating, they’ll get weaker as the days pass,” Kozabokget said. “Tafel eats every day to maintain her strength. Since we don’t care about how strong these people are, and in fact, probably want them to be weaker, it’s better for us to withhold food from them. Remember, being kind to your enemies is being cruel to yourself.”

Gloria tilted her head before mumbling to herself. Then, her brow furrowed. She picked up a piece of meat and tore it into tiny pieces with her claws. When she had a shredded pile held in her paw, she walked over to the field of heads using her hindlegs and offered the first head she in the field a piece of meat. “Are you hungry?” she asked. “Eat some.”

“T-thank you,” the man said and bit the piece of meat offered by Gloria’s claw. It was a strange experience, one that he could brag about in the future. Who else could claim they were handfed, err, clawfed by a dragon? Other than everyone else in the field, of course. Gloria shuffled through the field of heads, offering a piece of meat to each one. She almost crushed one person with her tail, but luckily, she noticed in time.

“What are you doing?” Kozabokget asked. “Didn’t you hear what I just said?”

“I did,” Gloria said, eyeing the human head in front of her to make sure her claw didn’t jab its face on accident during the feeding process.

Kozabokget frowned. “Then, why are you still feeding them?”

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“Because you’re evil,” Gloria said. “You were sealed in the evil-sealing tower for a reason. If I listen to you and learn from you, won’t I become an evil dragon? I don’t want to be evil. People like you more when you’re nice and behaved. Look at how Grandma treats Ramon for being a troublemaker. How will she treat him if he becomes evil?” The cursed dragon shuddered. “Right. I’m a good dragon, and I won’t do evil things.”

“But you’re a cursed dragon,” Kozabokget said. “Being evil and cruel is in your blood.”

Gloria shook her head. “My mom’s a holy dragon,” she said. “I inherited her blood.” She glanced at her paw, which no longer had any meat. She went back and grabbed another piece of meat from Ramon’s pile to shred it with her claws.

“It’s fine if you want to feed the humans, but why do you have to feed them my food?” Ramon asked and made a face. “Why don’t you feed them your grapes?”

Gloria blinked. “Tafel and Vur like eating bear meat more than they like eating grapes,” she said before shifting her neck to face the field of heads. “Do you prefer eating meat or grapes?”

“Meat!” someone shouted, not able to see Ramon’s threatening expression from the position he was in.

“See?” Gloria asked. “They want meat.” She finished shredding the bit in her paw and wandered back to the field, personally feeding each head since they couldn’t move much on their own.

From far away in the distance, Joseph and Keith were watching through telescope-like objects. They were covered in dirt, the only thing capable of blending them in with their surroundings. “Can you explain to me exactly what’s going on?” Joseph asked, not taking his eye off the telescope.

“I’m seeing the same thing as you, boss man,” Keith said. “To me, it looks like the cursed dragon is feeding our scouts. They’re planted like that in the first place to keep them from moving.”

“Even if they’re buried like that, it should be easy enough to dig their way out,” Joseph said and frowned. “Are they waiting for the right chance?”

“Not exactly,” Keith said. “Danielle and I tied them up before burying them. The goat said we’d be eaten if one of them escaped, so obviously, we did our best to secure them.”

“Is the goat important to them?” Joseph asked. “If we capture it, how do you think those baby dragons will respond?”

“If you had a talking pet dog, how would you feel if I stole it from you?” Keith asked. “Isn’t that quite obvious?”

“Is it a pet?” Joseph asked. “I’ve never heard of a dragon keeping a pet around. Are you sure it isn’t some sort of emergency food supply? Perhaps it’s a snack.”

“Why do you always doubt me?” Keith asked and frowned. “You ask me questions; I give you answers; you ask me questions doubting the answers I give you. If you think I’m wrong, then just do what you want, but let me turn myself in first. I’d rather be buried there without a curse than be found here with you planning on stealing their pet goat for some hare-brained scheme.”

“You’ve really been challenging my authority lately, haven’t you?” Joseph asked and glared at his companion.

“Well, following your authority almost got us killed multiple times in the span of less than a month.”

“You’ve slain three dragons by following me.”

“And that’s why we’re almost getting killed now!”