stonecrandall Chapter 11 A Good Dragon
Chapter 11 A Good Dragon
The Holy Lord's vertical pupils widened slightly: "Me?"
"yes."
Quill said matter-of-factly, "You know more about alien junk than anyone else. There might be crash debris in Missouri too. Aren't you going to Brooklyn to check out the warehouse? After you're done, we can drive there. It'll only take a few hours."
The reason is ridiculously far-fetched; it's simply that I want to go back with you.
He quickly calculated in his mind: the Brooklyn warehouse could be processed in two hours at most.
It takes about ten hours to drive from here to Missouri. If you leave now, you can arrive tonight.
More importantly, Quill took the initiative to invite him.
"Why do you want me to go?" the Holy Lord asked.
Quill paused for a moment, then looked down at the empty plate in front of him.
"Because... you're the only one I feel I can understand this feeling, um, Dragon."
His voice was low: "You said you used to be human, and now you've become like this."
"I've been thinking about this. You're right, I've indeed been drifting for too long. Going back to see the world might be the right thing to do."
He raised his head and looked at the Holy Lord: "But I'm afraid that if I go back and find that everything has changed, I'll be all alone... and I won't know who to talk to."
The Holy Lord remained silent for a long time.
He stared at Quill, his tail motionless behind him, then slowly nodded.
"it is good."
Quill's eyes lit up: "Really?"
The Holy Lord nodded: "Come with me to the warehouse in Brooklyn. After that, we'll drive to Missouri."
"make a deal."
"However, you must grant me one request." The Holy Lord changed the subject.
Quill had also considered that this might happen. If the other party had agreed without any hesitation, he would have thought that the Holy Lord had other ideas in mind.
"If you feel that anything strange has happened recently, you should tell me."
"Sure, besides, this isn't really a condition, is it?" Quill waved his hand.
The warehouses in Brooklyn were even more chaotic than the Lord had imagined.
Piles of wreckage and debris lay in the corner, with Quill following behind the Holy Lord.
"Are these things really that dangerous? We didn't sense anything when we were sorting them," he asked.
"Some are."
The Holy Lord crouched down, placing his palm against a piece of dark metal as if sensing something: "The core energy of this piece has been exhausted; it's safe."
He stood up, his gaze sweeping across the entire warehouse to make sure there was nothing else that required attention, then pointed to another pile of debris: "Those need to be isolated separately; the radiation levels are too high."
The warehouse manager hurriedly took notes, but his eyes couldn't help but dart towards the horns and tail of the Holy Lord.
"All done?" Quill asked, leaning against the door.
The Holy Lord nodded.
"Shall we set off?"
"Let's go."
As evening fell, they drove away from New York.
Quill was driving a rented SUV, with old songs from the 1970s playing on the stereo.
The Holy Lord sat in the passenger seat, his tail tucked into his feet, watching the scenery outside the window change from the city to the suburbs, and then from the suburbs to endless farmland.
Have you heard of this?
Quill hummed along to the music: "This is my mom's favorite song."
"She used to play this all the time," Quill said nostalgically. "I used to find it really annoying, but now I kind of want to listen to it again."
As night fell, they entered Missouri.
Quill became quiet.
He stared at the road ahead, his hands gripping the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white.
"We're almost there," he said softly.
The town was smaller than the Lord had imagined.
A main street with a few shops, a gas station still open, dim streetlights, and the occasional car passing by.
The Holy Lord noticed that several passersby were casting curious glances at their car; in this small town, any unfamiliar face would stand out.
Quill parked his car in front of a small house.
The house wasn't big, but it was very tidy. A lamp hung on the porch, and you could see the light inside through the window.
"This is it." Quill's voice trembled slightly.
He sat in the car without moving.
The Holy Lord did not urge him; he sat quietly, his red vertical pupils glowing faintly in the darkness.
After a long while, Quill took a deep breath and opened the car door.
He walked to the door, raised his hand, then lowered it, then raised it again, then lowered it again.
The Holy Lord stood behind him, maintaining a perfect distance.
The door opened.
A woman with gray hair stood inside the door, staring at Quill, stunned.
"……mom."
The woman covered her mouth with her hand.
In that instant, Shendu saw something shatter in Quill's eyes.
He turned his face away, giving the mother and son some space.
The woman saw him through her teary eyes and froze. She saw his red vertical pupils glowing in the darkness, his face covered in scales, his short horns, and his tail.
"That is...?" Her voice trembled.
Quill turned around and saw the Holy Lord standing in the moonlight, and suddenly realized something.
"Mom, don't be afraid, that's a friend I met in New York."
He quickly explained, "He's not human, but he's a good person... uh, a good dragon, his name is Valmont."
The Holy Lord nodded slightly and bowed in the manner he remembered from his gentlemanly manners, though it looked a little strange in his current state: "Excuse me."
The woman's surprise lasted only a moment; the return of her son overwhelmed her with such excitement that even the strangest things became acceptable.
She wiped away her tears, a slightly trembling but sincere smile on her face: "Please come in, everyone."
The Holy Lord paused for a moment on the porch; it had been a long time since he had stepped into a human dwelling.
The photos on the wall and the cozy decorations reminded him of his servants and palace when he was a king in his previous world.
The Holy Lord's tail unconsciously curled up behind him, carefully avoiding the clutter.
The room was decorated warmly, with photos hanging on the walls: a young Quill, his mother, and a man whom the Lord did not recognize.
On the TV cabinet opposite the sofa, there are some inexpensive but thoughtfully placed trinkets.
Quill's mother sat on the sofa, her eyes still red, but with a smile on her face.
She would steal glances at the Holy Lord every now and then, her eyes filled with surprise, but her fear was slowly fading.
"Thank you for coming back with him," she said gently. "This child has always been afraid of being alone."
The Holy Lord nodded slightly: "He is a good person."
Quill cleared his throat awkwardly. "Mom, I brought you a present."
He took a small box out of his pocket and opened it.
The Holy Lord's pupils suddenly contracted, and a strong desire rose in his heart.
It's that pendant, the monkey talisman.
"This was found on a Chitauri officer."
Quill's voice sounded a little nervous: "I think...it's quite pretty, so I wanted to give it to you as a talisman."
The woman looked at the pendant, a smile in her eyes: "It's beautiful."
The woman reached out and took it, and the moment her fingers touched the talisman, the Holy Lord sensed it.
That force fluctuated.
The talisman has recognized its owner.