Miracle

I’m sorry, Dad.

In the time we had, you did your best to sculpt me in your image. You were efficient, teaching me to steal, to lie, and to survive. Some called us immoral, but we knew they were wrong. You had already taught me right from wrong, and you demanded I never sin. Until this day, I have done as you asked. I was a cheat, a scoundrel, but not once was I a sinner.

Yet as that crimson aura lingered in the air, I could deny it no longer.

The smell of blood was truly intoxicating.

The foul scent poured down my throat, defiling my lungs. It only got stronger as I approached the corpse. Blood soaked his ivory scales, pouring across his skin from a gash in his neck. His bat-like wings were sprawled out across the floor, stained a pale blue by the moonlight. The cut was so wide you could see a hint of vertebrae behind his broken flesh.

It was disgusting.

It was unthinkable.

It was the best thing to ever happen to me.

I couldn’t help but laugh, even as tears ran down my face.

I was a sinner, yes, but don’t mistake my smile for a confession. If I had even attempted to fight him on my own, I would have been nothing more than a scrumptious meal for him to eat. The best I could have hoped for was getting lodged in his throat, a pathetic little fishbone strangling him to death.

No, I wasn’t the assassin. I was just lucky enough to be the only witness.

Even now, I could hardly believe he was dead. I waited for him to stand, to unbreak his fractured arm, to wipe away his countless wounds. I waited for him to reveal how he performed such a convincing trick on me, or to tell me this was nothing more than a dream. I waited, and I waited, but the smell only grew more potent in my nose.

There was no saving him.

The dragon prince was dead, decaying in a corner of my ancient home.

To those on the outside, it was as tragic as it gets. A royal of the west, assassinated! Dying alone on the other side of the world! It would be a national tragedy. An international incident. It might even result in a war. Thousands, maybe even millions, would follow this prince into hell. The public would mourn such a catastrophe for decades.

I sympathized with those who would miss him. A son, a brother, a young man taken far too soon. Yes, to them, it would be a calamity, but to me?

It was nothing short of a miracle.