Seven empty caskets. Each one meant a loss for someone out in the crowd. Somehow, the empty caskets were even worse than a filled one. It gave one false hope.
Councilor Kulde stood in front of the caskets, ready to address the crowd. Every Dragon Guardian in the world was here in this room, one for each country. Most were somewhat confused. A few knew exactly what was going on. "Hello friends. It has been awhile since we've gathered here all at once. Unfortunately, it is under grim circumstances that we meet here. There are dark forces at work in the magical world. We may be on the brink of a world wide war." Kulde paused for a moment, pushed a button, and a holographic image appeared next to him. It was a man of terrifying height with a glare that, even in digital form, sent chills down Haley's spine. He wore layers of furs and skins, and his face was covered with a white cloth. But the most terrifying part was his cape. A bright green dragon hide. It's head rested on his shoulder, teeth clenched. "His followers call him 'The Faceless Man'. Yusuf Lee, the dragon of Iraq, met up with him two years ago." He gestured to the hide. "The Faceless Man's identity and motives are yet to be discovered. But he and his follower's methods are quite clear. Many of the darker creatures have joined his cause already, and through fear and threats, he has recruited most of his kind. You may have noticed some empty chairs around you. Some of our best guardian dragons encountered him...not one of them returned." There were a few gasps throughout the audience as they realised what the caskets were for. He walked to the end of the line, to the first casket. "Charlie McDonnell, the dragon of Great Britain." He continued down the line, stopping at each one. "Adèle Chén, the dragon of France. Hans Lǐ, the dragon of Germany. Cecilia Russo, dragon of Italy. Dante Basco, dragon of the Philippines. Daniel Hyoshi, dragon of Japan. Jake Long, dragon of America."
Haley stood up, and walked towards the front. Six others followed. Adèle's father. Charlie's sister Bridie. Hans' brother Liam. Cecilia's mother. Dante's brother Derek. Daniel's mother. Backs to the crowd, they bowed respectively in honour of their loved one and set it aflame. Then they each took their seats in silence.
Haley felt several pairs of eyes follow her as she took her seat. Those who had already heard avoided eye contact. She did her best to ignore it. As if she needed a reminder. She'd seen the battlefield. She'd seen for herself the power of the faceless man.
In all honesty, Haley hadn't accepted his death until she'd seen his coffin burning. There had still been that glimmer of hope, deep inside her, that he had somehow survived that fight. But now, in the light of the flames, she could see that bit of hope she'd held on to for so long go up in smoke. For the first time, she truly felt the loss. He was dead. He wasn't coming back.
Goodbye Jake.
AN: found this in an old notebook while cleaning out my closet except it was MUCH MUCH stupider. Had to sexy it up before it was worthy of human eyes. My brother said it was an impossible task...This was mega short, I just wanted to stop here because all I needed was to introduce the villain and in the next chapter I'll explain what happened to Jake and the other six. I guess you could sort of call this a prologue...sorta.
p.s. sorry, I realise (-can't blame that one on Chrome. I always do that) that I spelled some stuff wrong...or right depending on your nationality. I'm using Google Chrome and I accidently set it to UKEnglish so it added a u to several words...and I'm not sure how to change the settings on chrome, so it's staying that way. I think I got them all fixed, but if not I'll just be half British.
anyway...review? Also, if you notice a reference to something/someone else in here, please say so. I want to see how many people will pick up on that. There's a few.