7
Chapter Seven
The walk back towards the city is a long one. We’re all on foot now, to give our dragons time to recover. Aqueous is still too sore to carry me, so I’ve been shuffling along at his pace. My companion limps, low grunts escaping his lips with each step. His foot is clearly painful. I only hope that it isn’t broken, or it could take months to heal.
Months that we don’t have.
“Right.” Marco pauses at an intersection of two paths. One leads towards camp, the other towards a row of freshly seeded fields. “Do we risk going past camp or do we go the long way?”
“I don’t think Aqueous can make the long way,” I admit, making my companion snort in disagreement. “We should go by camp.”
“No way!” Braith argues. “The Wyrms found us once, they can do it again. We’ll practically be begging to be attacked if we go any closer to camp.”
“But-”
“Aqueous can make it, can’t you, big boy?” Braith pats his neck, making him puff his chest out in pride. “Besides, he can always lean on someone else for help. There are three other dragons here.”
Marco takes my hand with a smile. “I know you’re worried about him, but we don’t have much choice. Going near camp could mean that we get attacked again. Aqueous isn’t in any shape to run like last time.”
“Fine. The long way it is. But we’ll stop frequently.”
“Deal.” He kisses my cheek and takes the lead out towards the fields before Braith runs ahead of him, keen to take in the new sights.
Her companion hangs back, the black and white dragon letting Aqueous lean against her for support. The affection in her orange eyes is obvious, but as always Aqueous is oblivious. Instead he seems focused on keeping an eye out for danger.
I chuckle to myself, making Marco give me a strange look. “What’s so funny?”
“Them.” I nod towards my companion. “It’s very sweet.”
“Reminds me of how we pined for each other. It seems so obvious looking back,” he admits, his eyes twinkling.
The memories make my heart flutter. It all did seem obvious with hindsight. We were inseparable, always there for each other and quite affectionate. How neither of us thought the other might feel the same way, I have no idea. But I’m so glad to have him now.
He was worth the wait.
“Oi, lovebirds!” Braith calls out, waving her arms wildly. “I think we have people up ahead.”
Not again.
I don’t want another repeat of the man at the farm.
Soon these people come into view, but they are simply specks on the horizon. They seem to be mulling around in the field, a tractor slowly crawling after them.
“I think they’re workers. If we stay far away enough, they shouldn’t notice us,” Marco says, shielding his eyes from the sunlight with his hand.
“They won’t notice three teenagers and four dragons?” I tease.
He rolls his eyes. “They may notice, but hopefully they won’t care enough to investigate. Let’s stay close to the forest and see how we go.”
We must stick out as we slowly make our way around the field. No-one seems to notice, or care, to stop us to see what we’re doing. I’m grateful to avoid another conflict for today. We come across a newly built cottage, with its modern windows and new paint job.
“Ooh.” Braith vaults over the wooden fence and jogs up to the doorstep, plucking something off the doormat.
“Braith!” I scold her, but she shrugs in reply.
Marco crosses his arms as she vaults back over the fence with a newspaper under her arm. “That’s stealing.”
“I don’t think they’ll notice.” She presents him with the front page, which has a muddy footprint on it. “I don’t think they’re fans of The Evening Dragon.”
My boyfriend rolls his eyes once more, but doesn’t argue as we continue our way, Braith scouring the pages.
“You looking for something in particular?” I ask, dropping back to walk at her pace.
“Just anything we need to know,” she mumbles, frowning. “Like this.”
She hands me two crinkled pages and points towards the top headline: ‘Escaped – be on the lookout for these creatures.’ Underneath are blurry pictures of what is unmistakably Wyverns, with their lack of front legs. The dragon that attacked us is at the front. It’s described as an Anthropomorphic Dragon. That explains why it walks on two legs.
The newspaper also has a blurry picture of what looks like a red snake and a Wyrm, except it has two long wings sprouting out of its back. The two are labelled as Ouroboros and Amphiptere Dragons, terms I vaguely recall from Dragon Mythology.
“Oops.” Braith holds her hands up in defeat. “We may have several problems.”
“You think?”
Marco drops back to read over my shoulder while I scour the article, looking for any hints as to where all these creatures are. The last line makes me freeze. ‘Kill if spotted – reward for each dragon killed.’
“Can’t they just leave them be?” I groan, letting Marco take the pages from me.
“Of course not. That would be too humane.” Braith’s mouth is set into a tight line. “Someone always has to solve a problem by killing.”
I’m silent for a few seconds, not wanting to answer her while she’s in such a foul mood. I don’t blame her, but it was inevitable. These creatures have been saved from extinction and now the Government thinks that the only way to solve the problem is to kill them. I’m sure if they just left them for a little while, nature would balance itself out.
Maybe I’m being too optimistic.
Those dragons, like the Anthropomorphic, are used to ruling the Earth alongside the other Primordial Dragons. Introducing the Avian, Reptilian and Wyrm Dragons will just cause them problems.
“Apparently there’s a protest in the city,” Marco muses. “Parents want the Wyverns recaptured.”
“Why?” Braith whirls around, her hands balled into fists.
“Because they…” he trails off, his breath catching in his throat before speaking again. “They laid eggs.”
“What eggs?”
“Dragon eggs.” He motions towards our companions, who have stopped just within earshot. “That’s why the Wyverns were hostile. Drea, Bluey, Damayanti, Aqueous…. They’re the Wyvern’s children.”
Growls from the dragons tell me that they are as shocked as we are. The Wyverns must not have told them.
Fuck.
I dragged Aqueous away from his own family.
Braith sinks to the floor, chin on her knees. “No wonder they didn’t like us. We stole from them.”
“It wasn’t our doing,” I argue, but Braith shoots up to face me.
“We were a part of it. We strolled in and freed them, yes. But we also showed them their mutilated children, who we force to keep by us with some stupid bond!”
“Braith-”
“No! Shut up! We’re the monsters, not them! We stole their babies, and we’ve just walked right off with them!” Her eyes brimming with tears, she waves her arms around manically in the dragons’ faces. “Go home! Be with your families!”
Damayanti shakes her head slowly, her lip quivering, but Braith pushes her away. My companion looks at me with sad eyes, a shrill whine rising from his throat.
I step towards him, placing my forehead against his. “You can go if you want or stay. It’s up to you.”
“No! You’re just stealing them again!” Braith explodes, shouldering me away from my companion.
“It’s up to them, not us!” I bite back, pushing her roughly. “We are their family too.”
“Enough!”
A wall of flame erupts between us, making Braith and I take a few steps away from each other. Marco struts into the fire, his eyes blazing with the same intensity as the flames licking at his heels.
“Enough,” he repeats, the fire dying down until all that is left is scorched ground.
Slowly I take his hand, rubbi
ng his palm with my thumb. His skin is red hot, and when I produce water to combat it, steam rises between our hands. Everyone stares at each other silently until a bang makes us jump.
In the field behind us a rock is hurled into the air before landing on the path just ahead with another bang, exploding into dust.
“I think they care now.” Braith jumps on Damayanti’s back, the two of them galloping ahead.
With the state my companion is in, I don’t think I’ll be able to do the same. The black dragon tries to rush ahead but stops and hisses in pain. The hurled rocks become bigger and more accurate, one striking Drea’s clubbed tail.
“Go!” I push Marco towards Drea, but he bounces back to me.
“Nuh-uh, we are not splitting up.”
“We can’t outrun them or fight them.”
“Then we’ll just have to hide, won’t we?”
I scoff. “You want to hide three dragons and two people in an empty field with no cover?”
“I’m going to try.”
A rock flies inches past my face, making us both jump. Marco pulls me into a shadow of a tree, cracking his knuckles one by one.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Drea, you hide Aqueous and Bluey. Hopefully I can handle Hazel this time.”
Drea nods abruptly and presses her large body between the two dragons, before disappearing into the darkness.
“How-”
“She’s better than me,” he admits.
Before I can ask him anything more, he presses his lips against mine, and my body instantly goes cold. His breath is warm against mine, heating up my lungs and keeping me from choking. The sound of running fills my ears, which makes my heart pump, but it passes us by. We’re hidden this time. Once the group have passed, Marco pulls away, leaving me gasping for air before he lets me go.
The sunlight hits my body once more as I topple onto the dusty path, holding my chest with one hand as I vomit uncontrollably into the grass. Marco kneels beside me, holding my hair back and kissing my ear softly.
“Sorry, I’m kinda used to it,” he chuckles as I throw up the last bit of bile in my stomach.
“You’ve been practising,” I croak.
“Turns out I need to start out small, like with rocks. Then I just need to snog you and we’re good.”
I chuckle as he helps me to my feet, my eyes adjusting to the bright sunlight and warm air in my lungs. The dragons don’t seem fazed by their experience. I guess they’re used to it.
“Come on.” He takes my hand and leads me down the path towards a large hill covered in baby blue bluebells. “Braith and Damayanti went this south; those guys went west.”
“Look at you, human compass,” I tease.
“I’ve gotta be good for something. I’m the only one without markings here. Draca will want me to tag along for some reason.”
“You being my boyfriend is enough of a reason.”
“I don’t want to go down in history as your boyfriend, though. Maybe valiant protector?”
“Dream on.”
* * *
The sky fills with hues of blue and yellow as the sun sinks below the horizon. It’s so calming watching the giant orange ball slowly disappear below the hills. Trees and buildings are black in the lack of sunlight, making the fields look like a painting. I’ve never really watched the sunset before.
“Still no sign,” Marco sighs, dropping more wood on the fire. “The tracks go dead towards the city.”
“They must be going by air,” I shrug, looking up at the sky, as if the two of them might suddenly appear.
“They have a habit of running off by themselves. Especially after Braith has a tantrum,” Marco mumbles, throwing a few more pieces onto the fire.
“She’s been through a lot.”
“We all have.”
“She lost her sister.”
“You had to leave Rocky behind, and I left Mason. She’s not the only one who has made sacrifices to come out here,” he retorts.
I place my hand over his, looking into his sad eyes. “You didn’t have to.”
“I wasn’t going to let you go.”
“Do you ever regret coming with me?”
He smiles slightly. “Sometimes,” he admits. “But then I look at you and remember why I’m glad I did.”
“Ever the romantic.”
Blushing, he pretends to kindle the fire, when we both know it’s fine. “Who says I can’t be when we’re living out in the wilderness?”
We decided to camp on the other side of the hill, which took a long time to scale. Aqueous’ injury slowed us down; he struggled to make it up the steep slope. My companion sleeps soundly next to me, sticking his injured foot out awkwardly.
As I stare at him, an idea pops into my head. “Hey, feel like being my mentor again?”
“Huh?”
I roll my eyes and push him playfully. “Like my first year. Wanna teach me what you learnt before leaving?”
“If you want me to.”
I cast my eyes towards the still setting sun. It’s too early to sleep yet. “Let’s do it then. Give me a lesson I won’t forget,” I tease, biting my lip.
He takes my hands and turns them palm up. “Let’s start with what I like to call a ‘slingshot’.”
“Is that the technical term, Mr White?”
He narrows his eyes at me. “I’m the teacher; I decide on the proper names for things, okay?”
“Okay, okay. Go on.”
“Create a ball of water, just a small one.” He recoils as I create the ball in my hand. “Do not splash me.”
“Would I?”
“Hurl the ball into the air but catch it before it lands.”
“That’s the slingshot?”
“It’s a basic one. You need to make sure it’s the same ball – don’t create a new one.”
Following his instructions, I toss the ball above me, but I don’t catch it; it just explodes upon impact with the ground. Marco sighs as water soaks his jeans and shoes and gives me a poisonous glare.
“Sorry.”
“Again, come on: I want you mastering this.”
For a few hours he practises with me, getting more and more soaked as time goes on. Finally, I lean back and manage to catch the ball in my outstretched hand without it exploding everywhere. I give him a cheesy grin, which he reciprocates.
“Well done.”
“What next?” I ask excitedly, letting the water evaporate in my hand.
He grunts and lies on the floor next to me. “A rest.”
“Oh, come on! I was doing so well!” I whine, sitting up to glare down at him.
“So well that I am now sopping wet.” He grins, pulling me down beside him and towards him in a cuddle.
“But think of how much wetter you could be if we practised a little longer.”
“I hate you. Couldn’t you have been a dry element and made my life easier?”
That makes me stop for a second. Who knows what element I would have been if I hadn’t been injected with the serum? Maybe I wouldn’t have been water after all.
Marco notices my silence and nudges me. “You okay?”
“Yeah…. Just thinking.”
“About?”
“My element. I don’t know what I would have been naturally.”
“Haze, I didn’t mean to-”
I cut him off by pressing my finger against his lips, squashing them into a funny face. “I know.”
Batting my hand away, he pulls me closer. I can feel his heart beating in his chest. “It doesn’t matter what you could have been. It’s what you are now that matters, and you are Hazel Adams, future saviour of the world.”
“Fuck off.”
“You are! You think this is going to end without you saving the world from the Wyrms?”
“I haven’t really thought about it. I just want somewhere comfy to sleep,” I joke, making him chuckle too.
“Well, world savers might get VIP treatment, and if you do, I
want in.”
“You think I’d just leave you to sleep outside?”
He shrugs playfully. “Depends if I pissed you off or not.”
We both laugh and stare up at the darkening sky, joking and playfighting until we fall asleep.
8
Chapter Eight
I’m the first to wake up, stretching in the warm grass. I kick my blanket off and glance towards the firepit, which is now cold and full of ash. With a yawn I stand up and make my way lower down the hill, our toilet area. Before I get there, the ground rumbles and I freeze.
Slowly turning around, I come face to face with the Anthropomorphic Dragon. It stares at me with its empty white eyes. Its breath is hot and stinks of rancid meat, and its claws are covered in dry blood. Each time it breathes my hair ruffles slightly. I try to back away slowly, but it follows me, a low growl rumbling in its throat.
I create a ball of water in one hand, hoping to intimidate it, but it just cocks its head to one side, curious as to what my next move will be.
“Don’t try anything funny.” My voice breaks. “I’m not alone.”
The dragon purposely looks behind it at the hill, where Marco and the dragons are fast asleep. I curse under my breath as it gets closer.
With a yelp I hurl the water at it. It explodes on its chest, making it stagger slightly. At first the dragon seems to laugh it off, until the sound of sizzling flesh hits our ears. Steam rises from the wound, and melted amber scales drop on the ground. The creature screams and attempts to wipe the water away with its arms, but that just transfers the sizzling to its arm. With a roar of fury, it launches into the air, howling its rage to the skies before becoming a dot in the distance.
What just happened?
I stare at my hands, baffled as to how water could cause scales to melt.
Is my power still safe for me to use? Marco relies on me for drinking water; I don’t want to melt his insides.
My mind races, thinking back to last night. Marco got drenched then, and nothing happened. He didn’t get hurt.
I hope.
Anxiously, I run up the hill and throw myself beside his sleeping body, checking him over for burns or wounds. This rouses him. As he blinks sleep out of his eyes, he stares at me in confusion.
Glass and Ice (Elemental Dragons Book 3) Page 5