The Golden Dragon's Hoard

1 - 8

"The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can't be any large-scale revolution until there's a personal revolution, on an individual level. It's got to happen inside first."
― Jim Morrison

Hey guys! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I'm really happy with this book so far

Part One - Chapter Eight
"The Wanting Little Chapter"

The coven eats together every single night—probably because they're weird.

Athanasius or Ras are typically the ones who either make or bring the food into the den. The witch doesn't because, for all his talents, 'cooking' is apparently not one of them.

Stray thinks it's because he can get burned, unlike the big dragon and the phoenix.

He likes to imagine that Oziamon is a bit scared of the fire, of getting hurt by it, sometimes. It's nice to imagine that he's not the only one who gets scared.

He eats with them and has learned a lot by doing so.

There is a difference between he and him but only because of something called grammar—that he hasn't quite figured out—and learned because the witch was talking about one of his friends that uses every 'pronoun'.

All the covenmates use he and him and his, just like Stray! Ras uses she sometimes, too, though.

He doesn't know how someone can use all, like she or him and they, but it sounds interesting. He'd probably avoid seeing them, though, if given the chance. Mostly because people are scary and also because he really wouldn't mess up.

'Pronouns' are a rule he's never broken, he doesn't want to start.

Oziamon plays the guitar but only sometimes and he sings a lot—sometimes he doesn't even realize he's doing it! The hatchling thinks it's really funny, hearing the hums and words and humming back, startling the witch.

The witch is jumpy, sometimes.

He has scars, too, ones like his. Stray's not sure what made them.

He knows a lot about other stuff, though.

He knows that Ozzy's favorite color is green, hates mangoes, and has a lot of money that doesn't get used. He likes working in the shop but does it for too long, so Ras or the big dragon have to drag him back to the den for a break.

Athanasius doesn't like people too much, he has something called 'social anxiety'.

The phoenix does like people, since she doesn't have the anxiety thing, and is really good at making small talk. Or just talking in general—she makes more sense than the others do in common.

All three of them, though, have so many friends! They talk about them constantly over dinner, while eating. The hatchlings never really understood that, why people get together and just talk —his old catchers used to do that, minus the food.

But now, he knew.

"You and your damn potatoes," Ras mutters, his feathers ruffling as she passes the dish of the baked vegetables around.

The swearing used to scare the little dragon, but now he knows it's in all play.

"Please expand your taste buds," Ozzy joins in. He leans back in his seat, a mischievous smile barely touching his lips as he dramatically shakes the bowl at his familiar. "After a couple decades, you should've gotten tired of them."