Aqueous and Asteroid wrestle playfully, rolling around on the damp earth. Cerberus jumps out of the way as they roll towards her, nosing the two of them away from Drea as they get too close. The two finally break apart as they fall into a slight dip in the ground. Asteroid darts upwards, hovering in the air as Aqueous writhes in the hole, before rolling onto his stomach and huffing at his friend. The orange-footed dragon grabs her friend’s tail in her teeth and yanks him onto his feet. The two playmates then return to wrestling, until Cerberus separates them with her foot. She finds it hard to stop Asteroid, considering the young dragon is now almost half her size.
“Is she coming back?” Wes shivers violently, his hands shoved under his armpits.
Rocky shrugs, watching the two dragons play. “Who knows?”
Just as Asteroid and Aqueous manage to pin Cerberus playfully to the ground, Damayanti stops a few metres away from us, Braith squirming wildly on her back. She waves a book around with a picture of a dark blue water swirl surrounded by bright blue dots on the front of it. She slips off her companion and throws the book towards me. I have to dart forward and stumble to catch it.
“It’s about Marine!” She takes the book from me, pointing excitedly at the cover. I’m not entirely sure why she even threw it to me if she was just going to take it back. “It could give us answers!”
“Okay? Which page?”
She flicks through the book before stopping near the end, landing on the first page of the last chapter. “The fourth encounter with Draca left Marine trapped in an avalanche. She was rescued by Lightning and Frost mere minutes later, only to be told of the news that would break her heart, the news that she never fully got over. Her lover, William, was killed by Draca during the avalanche. The large beast had picked him up, flown high in the air, and dropped him on a ledge of sharp rocks. It was believed that this was her motivation for killing Draca in the end. She believed she was sacrificing herself to kill the beast and to see her lover again.”
“That’s my dream! I was in an avalanche, and someone told me about William!” I exclaim excitedly.
Rocky raises his eyebrow quizzically. “That’s a tragic love story, but what has it got to do with Haze, exactly?”
Braith glares at him and puts her hand up for quiet. “She failed. She did indeed kill Draca with her plan to lure it into a narrow cave and collapse it, but she survived. The others pulled her out of the rubble and she went on to live until she was ninety years old. Her legacy left a daughter, Mary, who was born a few months after the death of Draca. Mary went on to have between five to seven children, who have created the family tree that leads to their current descendants.”
“Jeez, Mary was busy,” Marco mutters, squeezing his eyes shut as the wind buffets his face once more.
After a few seconds, Rocky speaks again. “So...? What does it mean?”
“Marine had a daughter, Mary, who must be related to you! We’re all connected to the Original Elementals; they’re our ancestors.”
My brother scrunches his nose up in confusion. “But Haze and I are completely different elements, yet we share the same ancestor...?”
Braith is silent for a second, before flicking to the front of the book, staring at some sort of family tree. “Marine and Lightning were siblings. It would make sense that you’re siblings as well.”
My brother nods slowly. “So, how useful is the book, exactly?”
“Very.” She hugs the book close to her chest lovingly. “I’ve read it many times, along with the books about the others.” She strokes the spine of the book, her gaze locked on the ground. “Frost is my favourite. She’s my ancestor.”
“Who’s mine?” Wes steps forward, still shivering from the cold. “You haven’t mentioned wind.”
“Squall.”
Marco snorts and bites his lip to stop himself from laughing. He isn’t even trying not to hurt Wes’ feelings. It’s just a name; I’ve heard weirder from the dragons.
“So, what does it mean?” Rocky’s gaze is locked on the cover of the book. “It’s a nice story, but why did you bring it?”
“I know these things off by heart,” she explains. “I could re-read them, and give us core information. Like, for example, Marine and Squall shared a pet cat, Tobias. Sound familiar?”
Normie?
Next I’ll be haunted by a cat ghost. Sounds fun.
“Are you telling me that even the cat is involved in all of this?” My brother rubs his face, pinching the bridge of his nose agitatedly.
“Yep. He was a partner to both of them. However, our lives aren’t following theirs exactly, thank goodness. Marine and Frost met through Lightning, who was Frost’s boyfriend.” She sticks her fingers down her throat. “I am definitely not doing that.”
Rocky rolls his eyes and mumbles something under his breath.
This is getting weirder and weirder.
For one, I’m being haunted by one of the Original Elementals, who left me with a bracelet that does nothing but try to cut my hand off.
Two, a Primordial Dragon is about to be re-born. Enough said.
Three, now I’ve got to worry about the damn cat. Normie’s involved in this, but what part does he play? Purr the dragon to death? Complain and complain about a lack of food, causing the dragon’s eardrums to explode?
This is not getting any easier.
“So... What’s the plan?” I ask, seeing as everyone else is dead quiet.
Braith doesn’t meet my gaze, her shoulders slumping. “I... I’m not sure,” she confesses. “What more can we do? There’s still five people to discover, and we have no clue who they are. As for the Primordial Dragon... What can we do? The oldest person here is seventeen, and the Original Elementals didn’t face Draca until they were in their late twenties.”
“'Draca’?” Marco raises an eyebrow quizzically.
“That’s what they called the Primordial Dragon they killed. It was the last one alive that they knew of at the time.”
“Basically, we have no plan.” Rocky scuffs the floor irritably, anger written all over his face. “We can’t just sit around for ten years.”
She shrugs. “Continue with our lives, I guess. There’s nothing more we can do until Stellar arrives.”
Wes finally speaks up, jarred from his train of thought. “There’s someone out there with every single element?”
“Yeah, we have to wait for them. According to Stellar’s book, they were one or two years younger than the others. We can’t do anything but wait. Because of that, we don’t know how to defeat the Primordial Dragon. Our lives won’t follow theirs. Who knows what will happen this time?”
“Maybe the people and animals involved are the same, but not the chain of events,” Wes suggests. “If we were ‘re-born’ then why wouldn’t Normie be if he was a part of Marine and Squall’s lives?”
19
Chapter Nineteen
“A dead end?” Ray slams his hands on the table, his eyes blazing with fury. “You have not hit a dead end! I can supply you with more books, anything you need!”
I sink in my chair; his fury is making me increasingly fearful. He could strike any one of us whenever he wants with no warning, now that we have no new information for him.
“We can only wait,” Wes mutters, the only person here who isn’t afraid of Ray’s temper.
“Not good enough!” Ray storms around the table to us, eyeing us with hatred and disappointment.
Braith fidgets in her seat, anxiously glancing at Damayanti, who is ready to spring to her partner’s aid if needed. “We’ve explored all the options. What would you suggest we do?”
The blond boy’s furious glare lands on Braith, but she doesn’t meet it. He leans in close to her face, making her whimper and bow her head. “I cannot understand a word you are saying. Speak properly.”
Damayanti growls as Braith doesn’t move. The usually loud girl swallows meekly before talking again, this time a lot more slowly. “What would you suggest we do?”
“I s
uggest you look harder,” he hisses before returning to his pacing.
Braith sighs with relief as he moves away from her, and Damayanti relaxes slightly into a sitting position. I grab Wes’ hand, squeezing it tightly for comfort. He squeezes back, but he is much calmer than I am, his breathing level and his gaze stony.
He’s scaring us all to death.
Everyone is silent for a minute or so, casting distressed glances to each other. Rocky is watching Ray’s every move, carefully studying his behaviour. He’s worried Ray will lash out, and he wants to be ready in case the angry boy makes him his target. He deliberately separated us, moving Rocky to the end and putting me between Wes and Braith.
“Everyone leave!” he orders. He turns to face us, his gaze locked on mine and Wes’ hands. “Except Hazel.”
What?
Why me?
For a few seconds, everyone remains seated. That is, until Ray slams his hand on the table, making Braith jump up and scamper out, casting pitiful glances towards me. Wes and Marco are up next, brushing my arm as they leave and the latter muttering apologies as he goes. Rocky stays stubbornly in his seat with his arms crossed sternly, his mind set on staying with me. He is not going to leave willingly. Ray rolls his eyes and opens the door, waving someone over. Three of his friends enter, listening carefully as he whispers in their ears. The three boys nod and grab Rocky, yanking him out of his seat.
“Get off me!” My brother kicks out, managing only to knock one or two chairs over.
“You can’t stay!” one boy grunts, struggling to get a hold as Rocky struggles wildly.
One stumbles backwards as my brother kicks him in the stomach. He sinks to the floor and breathes heavily, his arms cradling his winded stomach.
I can only watch timidly from my seat as Rocky is dragged out of the room, kicking and screaming wildly. Cerberus follows him out, lunging forward to try to bite the three boys. As the winded boy leaves, Ray slams the door behind him and turns his angry gaze to me.
Aqueous growls as Ray steps towards me. My partner emerges from under the table and bares his teeth, water streaming from his mouth. He’s getting ready to attack if necessary.
“He-” Ray points to my companion “-will leave.”
“I’d rather have him-”
I’m cut off as Ray’s companion, Winter, grabs Aqueous’ tail. My companion screeches in fury and turns to attack her, only to freeze in his tracks as his entire body becomes encased in hard brown dirt. As the dirt covers his face, I shoot to my feet, only to be immobilized by rocks crawling up my legs.
“No harm will come to him.” Ray opens the door again and waves Winter out, who can now easily drag my companion without any interference.
I should have done something.
I’m water for fuck’s sake! I could have helped him, or at least tried!
Aqueous trails dirt behind him as he’s dragged out, but the dirt around his mouth is starting to fall off in wet clumps. At least he can breathe now.
“Now.” This time Ray closes the door gently; his anger has cooled considerably. “You obviously have close ties with everyone in the group.”
I shrug shakily. “I guess.”
“So, if I teach you a lesson, the outcome will affect the entire group, yes?”
What does he mean?
Am I going to get beaten up like Maya?
“I don’t want any trouble.” I try to move back, only to remember my predicament when the sharp rocks scratch my skin.
“Then you should have looked harder.”
The rocks around my feet crumble, allowing me to step back as he swings. Before I can react, he lashes out again, this time colliding with my left cheek. Pain shoots across my face, and one eye closes from the stinging. He lets me sink to the floor and hide under the table, cradling my throbbing face.
“Be glad I was not harsher with you.”
“Rocky will kill you.” I wince as he crouches down to peer under the table.
“No. Because you are going to keep quiet.”
As if.
“Fuck off.”
He narrows his eyes. “Tell them you tripped over or hurt yourself.”
My brain is screaming at me to stop arguing, but I can’t. How can he expect me to stand there and lie to their faces?
“How will you teach the group a lesson if I keep quiet?”
“You have a lot of leverage with the group. You can spur them on when they stop working.”
“It’s human to get tired,” I retort.
He reaches under the narrow table and grabs my hair, yanking me out from underneath. He then grabs something from the table. Taking my chance to attack, I punch him in the stomach. He wheezes heavily, but his grip doesn’t loosen.
“Do as I say,” he hisses between breaths.
I have no fight left. I just want to go home, but I can’t agree. He’s taking this too far. If I try to fight back again he’ll overpower me, or call for back-up.
I have no choice.
“Fine. I... I... I’ll tell them I tripped.”
“Good.” He drops me, but keeps a tight grip on my hair. “Just for good measure...”
I cry out as he releases me, but as I look up at him, there is a large clump of blonde hair in his hand.
He cut my hair off.
It now falls unevenly above my jawline, cut into a slanted bob. Some bits stick out at weird angles, making me look like I’ve just dived into a hedge head-first.
“What was-” I quickly shut my mouth, not wanting to argue further.
The intimidating boy rises to his feet, a dark smirk on his handsome face. “Leave. Before I change my mind.”
Don’t let him think you’re a weak pushover. Teach him a lesson.
Despite my mind saying otherwise, I raise my hand and shoot a stream of water at him, content in seeing him stagger back and struggle for air. Not slowing the stream, I back out of the door, ignoring his wheezing as he struggles for air. When I’m at a safe enough distance, I sprint away, dodging his cronies as they go inside to check on him.
Once I’m out of the building, I don’t dare to look back.
* * *
“Damayanti!” Braith rushes towards her companion, who sinks to the ground so her partner can easily reach me. “Oh, Hazy...”
After running down the street for a while, I bumped into Damayanti. Braith must have sent her to look for me.
I hold my friend’s hand for support as she helps me step down from her companion. She throws her arms around me, muttering under her breath.
“What happened?”
Braith is ripped away from me and is quickly replaced by my brother. He squeezes me so tightly that I feel like I’m going to explode. He releases me when he notices my hair.
“What happened?” he repeats, more softly this time.
“I... I fell...” I lie, unable to meet his gaze.
“And your hair?” Marco twirls a strand in his finger, eyeing the lopsided cut.
“I fell.”
“You fell over, punched yourself in the face and then chopped all your hair off?” Rocky strokes my cheek, making me wince and wriggle out of his grip.
“Um... Yes.”
Braith elbows Rocky out the way, looking crestfallen. “He chopped all your hair off!”
“Good eye,” Marco says sarcastically, tucking a few strands covering my face behind my ears.
“It’ll grow back,” she tries to reassure me. “It’ll just look a bit weird for a while.”
“I don’t care about my hair.”
“You will tomorrow when one side of your face is black and blue with a haircut that looks like you’ve had a narrow escape from man-eating scissors.”
My brother steps in front of me again, studying my face closely. “He did this to you?”
I bow my head in shame. “Yes.”
“I’ll kill him.”
“No! He’ll just hurt you too!”
“I’d like to see him try.”
“Tha
t’s what he wants, Rocky! Just pretend you don’t know, okay?”
“What? No!”
“Please!”
Marco grabs my hand and squeezes it tightly. “Rocky, if you go back there, he won’t just hurt you. He’ll just come back to use Hazel as a human punch bag.”
Realization dawns on my brother’s face, before being replaced by frustration. “So we’re just supposed to ignore it? Carry on like normal?”
“Yes,” Wes has been quiet throughout the argument. He didn’t come over to check if I was alright. “We do as Ray says, and we don’t anger him again.”
We’re all silent for a few moments, before Braith nods and mutters: “Okay.”
Marco takes his chance to hug me while Rocky is lost in thought. He whispers in my ear: “I’m sorry I left.”
“I’m glad you did,” I mutter, gritting my teeth as my face throbs painfully when I knock it against his shoulder. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I’d rather me than you.”
“Well, I’m glad I was the one who was hit, then.”
He rolls his eyes. “Whatever. It won’t be happening again.”
“Hopefully.”
20
Chapter Twenty
Wes hasn’t spoken to me all morning.
Ever since he found out Ray punched me he hasn’t so much as looked at me. He’s completely blanked me. I try to talk to him, but he won’t answer. Instead he’ll look around the room and shrug.
It’s like I’m a ghost to him.
Asteroid is still talking though; she’s been following Aqueous and Normie around all morning. They huddle in a little group, murmuring amongst themselves only to stop when someone passes by. Every time I approach they move away as if I can understand what they’re saying.
A few people have asked about my injuries and hairstyle, and now they have the idea that either Rocky or Marco beat me up. Despite denying the rumours, they’ve continued to spread.
“Hey, Hazy!” Braith shoots up the ladder and sprawls out on my bed, holding a brown package in her hands.
“Hey.”
She frowns and strokes my cheek lovingly. “Poor Hazy... Does it hurt?”
Elemental Dragons Book 1: Blood and Water Page 15