by Katie Cherry
“Everyone else on Zilferia is suffering just as much as I,” I insist, hating it as always when all the attention is directed onto me.
Zeke shakes his head in concern. “No one else had their dragon part ripped away from them. That’s… that’s probably even worse than losing their Gifts. And somehow you endured both trials…”
I take a deep, shuddering breath. “…Gale said you might be able to help me in that regard.”
Kate frowns. “How? What does he think we can do?”
“…He thinks that my dragon part is just blocked because it would kill me if he actually took that much of me away… he thinks that you can do something to help me ‘find myself,’ as he worded it.”
Kate shares a glance with Zeke. “…Well, I do have one idea. But we’re going to need some help,” she says.
“Anything,” I reply. She nods and leads Zeke and me back over to the silver dragon. Kate whispers into its ear, and it soars into the sky once more.
“Where’s he going?” I ask.
“Just be patient,” Kate laughs. “You will see soon enough.”
So I sit down on the grass and wait. As I wait, Zeke tells me what happened to the Sohos, although I already knew most of it. The Dragon Hunters had been attacking them- although not focusing on them nearly as strongly as they had the dragons. Still, Sohos had been both killed and kidnapped by the Dragon Hunters, and now their numbers are dwindling. One of the kidnapped people, a captain, a leader of a section of the army that got taken, found his way back. He told Zeke and Kate how Patrick and sucked the Gifts right out of him and his men. Half of them died because of the process.
Zeke doesn’t know what they do with the Gifts. I take a breath and prepare to tell him when I’m cut off by the return of the enormous dragon- and following along right behind him is another dragon. This one is dark green, lithe, and beautiful. It is obviously young, but not as young as Eric was when I found him or let him go. My head goes up to its shoulder. The young dragon lowers its head to peer at me. I’m instantly lost in his eyes. Immediately tears well up in mine and I throw my arms around his neck.
“Eric,” I cry.
“Crystal,” he responds, not sounding like his carefree younger self any longer- but also not like the other dragons. His voice isn’t as high as it used to be, but neither is it so low that it shakes the earth, like Gale’s does.
“Oh, Eric, I missed you!!”
“I missed you, Crystal,” he replies. “Living with Tatiana and Victor was fun at first, but I wanted to go back to you. I didn’t understand at first why they wouldn’t let me see you… but then my friends’ parents and other family started dying around me… death was all around us. I still thought of you every day.”
“I thought of you every day too,” I say. “At least, almost every day.”
Kate steps up, and I reluctantly release Eric’s warm scales. “Eric is here to help you.” He bobs his head in agreement.
“…How?” I ask. “Gale couldn’t help me… how can Eric?”
“Because,” Kate says, grimly holding up a cup. “I think that drinking dragon blood may help you.”
“…Dragon blood?” I glance worriedly from Kate to Eric.
“It won’t hurt,” Eric promises. “Kate says you only need a little. Just a scratch. I’ll be fine.”
I’m shaking. Drink dragon blood? “Now while normally this would be suicide for a human to do…”
“Wait… what?” I interrupt her. “Suicide?”
Zeke explains. “Humans who wanted the power of a dragon would sometimes kill a dragon and drink its blood in the hopes that its magic would be infused into them deeply enough that it would turn them part dragon. …They all died if they tried.”
“But you are already part dragon,” Kate continues. “Plus you would only drink a sip, not an entire quart like they tried to do. I seriously doubt it would kill you… but it might help to bring out your dragon side.”
I glance from Eric to Kate and back again. “…If Eric’s willing, then I guess I’ll try.”
Kate nods and turns to Eric. “My needles are not sharp enough nor long enough to penetrate your skin between your scales… otherwise, I would simply draw blood that way. As it is…”
Before she can even finish, Eric raises a claw and slashes at his ‘wrist’ on his other foreleg and holds it over the cup as Kate holds it out. About five great drops of blood splash into the cup before the cut stops bleeding so heavily. Eric lowers his forearm, and all three of them turn to me expectantly.
I accept the cup from Kate with shaking hands and lift it to my lips. Closing my eyes, I take a sip. The instant the blood touches my tongue, I drop the cup, gasping. A little of the blood makes it down my throat, but for the most part, I spit out about half of what I got in my mouth in the first place. I collapse to the ground, gagging. The blood burns! It tastes like… liquid fire, and is the consistency of… well, blood. The blood seems to thicken around my tongue and on my throat, and I gasp for water. Zeke whistles a runner over and tells him to grab some water for me. He’s back in a few seconds with a cup of water, which I guzzle down thankfully. The rest of the blood washes down my throat and I’m able to breathe again. I sit up, gasping as the other dizzying effects of the dragon blood take hold.
My eyesight is suddenly as clear as if I was using my dragon eyes, the base of my fingernails hurt, my brain suddenly feels like it’s been asleep all my life and only now just woke up, and every nerve in my body tingles. The tingling fades first, thankfully, as does the pain in my fingers. My brain slows down a bit, but it’s still more active than usual.
“I can see… why people… die from drinking very much of it,” I gasp, my eyes watering.
“Yes… well, we chose Eric because he’s young. His blood is more magical and potent than most,” Kate says, sounding as if she’s choking from shock. I glance up at her, but she doesn’t meet my eyes. She’s unusually pale while Zeke regards me with curiosity in his eyes. “…What?” I ask. “What happened?”
Zeke just waves over another runner, who then grabs a mirror. Zeke hands it to me without a word. I glance in it and am surprised to see that my eyes are a mix of my normal eyes and my dragon eyes. I’m a little unnerved by the sight and quickly avert my eyes. I then notice my fingers. My fingernails have turned into claws. “Um… is that supposed to happen?” I ask, casting my eyes around the rest of my body, which seems to be just fine.
“Honestly, we weren’t really sure what would happen,” Kate says, glancing at me then looking away again. “There hasn’t exactly been another Dragongirl who got her dragon part… buried… before.”
“…So we also don’t know if this change is permanent or not,” I murmur, glancing at my hands once again.
“No, not for certain. But since you are able to control if you want to be a dragon or not at will- normally- we think that this should behave the same,” Zeke says.
“What if it doesn’t go away?”
“…Then I suppose the King’s Village will just have to get used to having a dragon-princess among them in the flesh,” Zeke says. “How about you get some sleep. We can take you back to the Village in the morning.”
“Yes… we’ll know by morning if that change is permanent or not,” Kate says, trying not to make it evident that she’s avoiding looking at me.
“…Alright,” I say sadly, allowing Zeke to lead me toward one of the empty houses in the trees.
******
“Crystal! There you are!” I bolt upright in bed, frantically searching the darkness with my eyes, which I immediately notice are back to normal. Someone turns on the lights and I’m able to see who it is.
“Chet,” I sigh, laying back in bed. “You scared the living daylights out of me!”
“Sorry,” he says apologetically. “I couldn’t find the meeting place for a while. I only just got here… I was worried I wouldn’t be able to find you.”
I instantly forgive him. He really sounds pretty worried.
“So how did my parents take the news?” I ask.
“As well as you’d expect,” he says, sitting by my feet on the bed. “They were outraged that you just left without telling them, then they sent me back out to find you and bring you back as soon as possible- whether you want to or not.”
I laugh. “Don’t worry, I’m coming back in the morning.”
His eyes grow serious. “No, Crystal… you need to go back now. If you wait for morning… it may be too late.”
“Wait… what?” I say, sitting up and fully paying attention now. “What do you mean?”
“I saw the Dragon Hunters on my way here. …They’re coming to attack the Sohos again. Which means, you can’t be here when that happens.”
“But… I need to help them…”
“Yes, but you can’t now, remember? No Gifts.”
I wince, but then that reminds me of the next thing I need to do- find the Mermaid King’s Trident and return it to him. Hopefully, he can heal me enough that I’ll get my Gifts back, like Gale said. “Alright, let’s go,” I say, swinging my legs out of bed as he stands up. He helps me get my jacket on, and I put on my boots and we head out the door.
Dawn hasn’t yet come, but it’s no longer dark. The sky is grey and there’s a magical feel in the air. I breathe in the calm, clean air and relax. Everything is right with the world here. Here, I can feel at peace.
At least, that’s what I think until I hear the first scream.
<<
Hunter freezes at the sound. His men weren’t supposed to attack yet! This could ruin everything! …But at the same time, it might help him. Saving Crystal could get him some bonus points in her eyes, and that’s never a bad thing, especially when he’s trying to get her to like him and trust him.
Zeke, the leader of the Sohos, comes running up. “Crystal, you have to go… who’s this?”
“This is Chet,” she says. “He’s a friend.”
Zeke’s eyes narrow at him. “You’re a Dragon Hunter.” He draws his knife. Hunter forces himself to hold still.
“I was, because Patrick forced me to join. Crystal rescued me.”
“Well, Nathan really rescued both of us,” she explains.
Zeke sighs. “Fine, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.” He turns to Crystal once more. “Crystal, you have to get out of here, right now. …And good luck with the Mermaids,” he calls before racing away to join his people.
Crystal turns to Hunter. “How are we going to get out of here quickly without being noticed?”
He shrugs. “We’ll just have to be careful.” He takes her hand and begins running toward the dragon. “This is how you got here, right?”
“Yes… how did the Dragon Hunters get here? I thought there was a magical shield around the place,” she says.
“I don’t know,” Hunter says, helping her onto the dragon before climbing up himself.
“Take us back,” Crystal says to the dragon, who then takes wing, flying quickly. They land within minutes. Crystal slides down the side of the dragon, breathing hard from the speediness of the flight. “Let’s… go. Before…” she ducks and an arrow whistles over her where her head just was.
“Too late,” Hunter says, standing between them and their invisible assailant. “Run! I’ll be right behind you!”
“No! I’m not going to leave you!”
“GO!” he roars. He doesn’t have time for this. She needed to get away so he could take care of the guy who just shot at her. She scrambles away. Once she’s out of sight, Hunter turns back to the man who still lurks in the shadows.
“What the heck do you think you’re doing??” he demands, shifting back into his own form and speeding up to the man, grasping him by the collar of his cloak. “Did you not hear my orders? Do not harm the girl!”
“She… she wasn’t harmed,” the panicked man stutters. He’s bigger and older than Hunter, but is clearly terrified of him nonetheless.
“Yes, because you got lucky! You need to think before you shoot, dang it!”
The man drops to his knees before him, bowing his head. “I’m sorry! It won’t happen again!”
“No… it won’t,” Hunter says, pulling a knife out of his sleeve. “I don’t have room in my ranks for those who do not obey me.” He then drives the knife down into the man’s neck. He falls to the ground, gasping and choking on his own blood. Hunter swivels toward the other boy who still lingers in the shadows, fear in his young eyes. “Spread the word. I will have no mercy on those who disobey me.” The boy nods hastily and races away.
Hunter sighs and wipes off his knife on the now dead man’s cloak before sheathing it once more. He then turns and stalks after Crystal, shifting back into Chet as he goes.
When he catches up to her, he finds two more of his men dead at her feet with what looks like claw marks in their throats. “…Crystal? What happened here?”
She glances up at him, tears in her eyes and confusion on her face. “I… I don’t really know. They… they attacked me… and then… then they were dead. I… I don’t…” she breaks off, sobbing.
Wow, she sure is an emotional mess, Hunter sighs to himself before taking her into his arms. “Hey, it’s okay… you’re fine… you are fine, right?” he says, holding her at arm's length and looking her over.
“Yes, yes I’m fine… sorry, it’s just… I’m just so confused and lost anymore… I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“…You’re going to the King’s Village,” he says, looking at her worriedly. What happened to her? How could she not remember where they were going?
She shakes her head. “No, I remember that… I just don’t know what I’m doing here, on Zilferia. I can’t help anybody, and I can’t do anything…”
He glances at the bodies of the two men. “Um, I wouldn’t say that you couldn’t do anything…”
She just sighs and shakes her head, done crying. Girls, Hunter exclaims to himself. “No… but we need to go before more of them come. And we need to hurry.” She looks at Hunter meaningfully.
“Right… then are you okay with me carrying you? I don’t want to hurt you by dragging you along behind me,” he explains. Truthfully, this way she wouldn’t slow him down quite so much.
She nods. “That’s probably the best thing to do.” He then picks her up. She clings to his neck and buries her face into his shirt as he speeds away toward the Village.
His arms and legs are burning by the time he arrives. Not because Crystal was heavy, but he’s not used to running as fast as he can while carrying someone else. He sets her down outside of the castle doors gratefully. She goes up and knocks on the door, then opens it and walks in. She is immediately grabbed by Alexander Dragon and pulled into a hug.
“Don’t you ever do that again,” Pearl scolds, smiling with relief at seeing that her daughter is fine. “There’s a war going on, you can’t just go wandering around- especially without your Familiar,” he adds as Nora flaps into the room.
“I know,” she says, finally able to pull away from Alexander. “I wasn’t just wandering around. I was trying to help with the war.”
“How?” Thaddeus asks, walking up.
“Well, I got the dragons and the Sohos to agree to work with each other,” she says. “I know how to contact the dragons, as well as the Sohos,” she pulls the feather of a river-bird out of her boot. It glimmers in the light. “And they know how to contact me as well.”
“Well that’s great,” Alexander says, “but don’t do it again, okay? We can always send someone else to do whatever it is that you’re wanting to do.”
She shakes her head. “No, you can’t. The dragons would kill anyone else on sight, as would the Sohos and mermaids.”
“Mermaids?” Pearl questions.
“Um…”
“It doesn’t matter,” Alexander presses. “You aren’t leaving again without our permission and more than one guard. Not that you didn’t do a good job,” he continues, turning to Hunter, who’s just standi
ng there awkwardly. “It’s just that more than one would be better.”
“Oh, yes, I understand, sir,” he says. “I just figured that it would be better than letting her go out alone, as I’m sure she would do if I didn’t follow her.”
“Yes, and thank you for that,” Pearl says. “But next time, don’t let her leave at all. Am I understood?”
“Yes, my Queen,” Hunter replies, bowing to her slightly.
She sighs. “Please stop saying that. I thought we had gotten past that… just call me Pearl.”
“Sorry… Pearl.”
Thaddeus steps up. “It’s early. The sun hasn’t yet come up… I think that these two youngsters should get some sleep.”
Crystal sighs. “I don’t think I can even fall asleep at this point.”
The family cook, Matilda, then comes in holding a tray with two cups of hot chocolate on it. “Well then good thing I thought to make you two some hot chocolate! I added something to help you sleep,” she continues with a wink to Crystal.
She takes one gratefully. “Thank you, Matilda.”
Hunter takes one as well. “Yes, how thoughtful.”
<<
I take the drink up to my room. I sit carefully on the huge, plush bed and just cradle the hot chocolate in my hands for a while, trying to figure out the images whirring through my brain. When I was running after Chet told me to go, I had stumbled. When I got back up, there were two Dragon Hunters in front of me. Rather than just killing me or taking me hostage, they decided to pummel me with words instead. They told me how worthless I was and how doomed I was, trying to fight against an entire army with my small, nearly powerless band of friends.
As they spoke, I was filled with such anger that my vision turned red. The next thing I knew, my dragon eyes came out, and claws erupted from my fingertips. The men were so surprised they didn’t stand a chance. I cut them down in seconds. My anger cooled, but once it did, I was so terrified of myself that I was left shaking and crying. I didn’t know what to do. What had that dragon blood done to me?