Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
While Iolana worked, I gorged on the sugary treats Apollo left for me, which I graciously shared with Keanu.
The big man had been flustered upon our arrival, most likely because he’d lost his caretaker for the night. I could understand his frustration. I’d be annoyed, too, if Iolana chose to be elsewhere rather than feeding me.
As we munched on the confections, I pointed to the computer sitting on a small desk. “How do I use that?” I’d learned enough via the television to know that, through a thing called the internet, I could access almost any knowledge in the world.
“Depends on what you want to do,” the big man stated, licking his sticky fingers.
“It’s been mentioned that there are videos available on this internet of other possible dragons. I want to see them for myself.” I wished to discern whether fact or hoax.
“Let’s see what a Google search pops up.” Keanu sat down, and the chair groaned in protest—but held. As for me, the wooden legs for the desk proved easy to climb, especially with my slightly bigger and stronger size.
Keanu glanced at me as I perched beside the keyboard. “Must have been some dinner. You’re the size of a fat squirrel now.”
“It’s like you want to die,” my riposte.
The big man chuckled, a first since we’d met. “Just saying it like it is. Same as you.”
A valid point. I did prefer honesty over vapid flattery.
I leaned close to stare at the words on the screen, most of which didn’t make much sense. I’d not had time to learn the English alphabet, something I’d have to rectify. Knowledge led to power.
Keanu pointed to a colorful square. “This YouTube video claims it’s got proof a dragon exists.” He clicked it, and a screen loaded, displaying numbers I could decipher and a few words. “What’s 404 mean?”
“Page not found.” Keanu pursed his lips. “Guess they had their video taken down.” He began typing and clicking some more. While he didn’t say anything, the grooves on his face deepened.
“Is there a problem?” I asked.
“Looks like someone scrubbed all the dragon-sighting videos.”
“As in cleaned them?”
“Kind of. They all seem to have been deleted from the internet.”
“Why?” The obvious next question.
“Only a few reasons I can think of. Copyright issues usually are the main culprit, but that mostly applies to movie studios and shit, sending their lawyers after folks posting clips of their stuff. Could be the person who posted about the dragons got called out for faking the videos and was forced to take them down.”
“Why do I get the impression you don’t believe either of those reasons?”
“Because it’s too thorough. Look, I’m not a genius when it comes to technology, but even I know when something goes viral, even if the original is removed, copies of it are always floating around, but in this case, it’s gone.”
“Meaning what?” I growled with impatience.
“Meaning someone with deep enough pockets for either some really good lawyers or a gifted hacker had every single one erased.”
Before I could ask “Who would do that?” it hit me. “The dragon depicted must have hired someone to protect them from discovery.” I paced on the desk. “Which leads to me wondering how I would contact them.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because, for one, it is always good to know who one’s competition is, and secondly, to temporarily ally myself with them. As I am still in the early growth stages, I’m vulnerable.”
“You think this other dragon would help you?”
“Maybe. We are territorial by nature. However, given we seem to have gone extinct for quite some time, it could be this other dragon might wish for us to align that we might pool our resources to subdue the humans.” And if she were female, she’d be very glad to know a male existed to fertilize her eggs.
“What resources? You ain’t got shit to offer,” Keanu rudely pointed out.
“On the contrary, my newest servant, Apollo Jameson, has graciously donated his wealth to my hoard.”
“Sure, he did,” a skeptical Keanu replied.
“Well, not quite yet, but it’s coming. I’ll be seeing him at dinner tonight and shall hammer out the details.”
“You think he’s just gonna give you his money?”
“Why wouldn’t he?”
Keanu snorted. “You really are just a baby.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I huffed
“You can’t tell someone rich like Apollo to hand over his cash and expect him to obey. The man is a business whiz. A self-made billionaire who didn’t get to his position by doing dumb shit like handing over everything he earned just because some little orange lizard told him to.”
“I am not a lizard, and you would do well to remember that before insulting me.”
“Just saying it like it is. Just because you want something doesn’t mean folks will hand it over. People can be self-centered and greedy.”
“Like you?”
“Yep.”
I hated that Keanu managed to instill a hint of doubt. Would Apollo balk, or worse, refuse? He’d better not.
“I need his wealth to start my hoard,” I grumbled.
“What can you offer him to make it seem like it’s in his best interest?”
“His life?”
Keanu chuckled. “Pretty sure he’s not scared of your puny butt.”
“I can promise him a high position in my retinue, that of personal protector. Only Iolana, who is my primary caretaker, and myself would be above him.”
“A position that won’t mean shit until you get mighty, and for that, you need his money. There’s got to be something you can tempt him with.”
It hit me suddenly. “Iolana.”
“What about my granddaughter?”
“Apollo lusts after her. I shall forbid their mating unless he agrees.”
Keanu blinked a few times before slowly saying, “Are you saying he wants to bang my granddaughter?”
“If that means copulate, then yes. Given their strong attraction, and how males are willing to do just about anything when it comes to bedding their female of choice, I will offer him Iolana in exchange for his wealth.”
Kean coughed. “Um, your plan has a few problems.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to balk because she’s related to you?”
“What? No. I’d love to see her shacking up with someone rich like Apollo. Your problem is gonna be Iolana. She hates outsiders. Even if she thinks he’s handsome, she’s stubborn enough to say no.”
“How do we convince her?”
“I have an idea.” Keanu grinned, a wicked thing that soon also tugged my own mouth as my servant and newly promoted chief strategist relayed his plan.