Chapter 7 Heartbroken dragons

Ignus continues to run for his life. The sun is rising with its rays going through the branches of the wonderful forest of Heart. With the Sun at full view, Ignus is back into his dragon form. Yet he still runs on three legs while one of his fore legs is holding the bag with food he bought.

He stops right in front of the entrance of his cave hideout. He looks back to make sure he isn't followed. With one relaxing breath he enters the cave.

While he enters his hideout, a group of Komandrian dragons are seeing hiding by a boulder watching Ignus enter. Among them, Pengu step up and asks, "Is that him Jagan?"

"That's him alright" Jagan confirms. "The same creature whom burned down the village."

One of the armored dragons step up and asks "How should we catch him Lord Pengu?"

Pengu stares at the cave in thought. He kind of sworn he seen a creature like him before. His thoughts get interrupted by the tapping from one of the guards by the shoulder.

"m'lord…we got a problem." The guard tells him nervously.

Pengu opens his eyes to see a human girl with a familiar blueish hair style running into the cave out of breath. Both Pengu and Jagan looks at her with shock. They both know who she is. And she is supposed to be back in Amuredo.

"Sisu what are you doing!?"

(Ignus's POV)

In his full dragon form, Ignus walks up on his hind legs to a cupboard and puts the bag inside. Afterwards he goes to his sleeping chambers looking tired. It was a crazy night. Now he has to sleep the entire morning.

He hops into his make shift bed which is a pile of pillows and walks in a circle like a dog. With a big yawn he lays down to get some shut eye and enters a dream state.

()

In his dream, he finds himself in a classroom full of strange relics with his fellow students of the Wizard's academy alongside his fellow students who are either chatting or doing required homework.

Ignus is seen in human form, wearing the wizard's uniform reading a book about Dragons. He did not read the book only for studying but he does have a big interest in those creatures. He used to read it a lot with his brother Bailinor. Such wonderful beings who once coexisted only to disappear. If it weren't for them, human kind in Eurobania would never learn to use magic nor they would fight back against dragons who were evil. Such power those winged lizards have make them both fascinating and terrifying at the same time.

"Hey Ignus! Good moring!" a voice calls him out. "Reading about dragons again?"

Ignus perks up with a smug smile. "Who dosen't want to read about the most awesome magical creatures in the world?" He turns around to see three young boys walking up to him.

"You could like dragons all you want but man you have this obsession" the leading boy states. The leading boy is name Melvin. Unlike Ignus, he has brown hair and green eyes and he is a bit chubby. Also he is one of Ignus's close friends alongside Trevon the blonde hair and blue eye one and Eriko the red head and red eyed.

"We are talking about the very creatures who gave us magic in the first place! Without them we be still using sticks to make fire instead of our finger tips" Ignus boasts as he snaps his fingers to create a small ember. "Must I add that we have a test about them today?"

"WHAT!?" both boys freak out.

"We have a test today? Why hasn't anyone told me while I was sick?" demands Melvin the snobbish one.

"I was too busy doing helping around my foks" claims Trevon the family guy.

"Umm I kinda feel asleep in most classes" confesses Eriko who is the lazy one.

Ingus chuckles with a big smile.

"Chill out guys, you three are acting like a bunch of stooges."

His three friends look at him with weird looks wondering what he means by that. In response Ignus only gestures his arm to invite his friend to join him in his subject to study.

"Thanks for helping us get ready for the test" says Melvin.

"Don't sweat it, I am always down to help my friends" Ignus claims earning a nudge from Trevon.

"You saying that because you are prince or because you like to be the center of attention?"

"What can I say? I like helping people. It helps me learn to be a magic professor one day" declares Ignus.

"don't you want to king?" Eriko asks with a confusssed look. It is considered unusual for royalty to not be interested in the position of King or Queen.

Ignus just shrugs and replies, "Politics is not really my thing. Thank the Maker I have an older brother who will be the king. I am more interested in being a great wizard one day so I could be able to maybe travel the world and teach people about what I know about magic. Or maybe I could one day find out where the dragons went!"

Ignus's eyes beam at the thought. Perhaps, both him and his brother are total dragon fanatics. The entire all stare at him and give him a jolly laugh. Knowing that they are just laughing with him, Ignus could help but blush and holds back laughter.

"Good luck with the dragon part" a girl student with black hair and blue eyes joins in. "Everyone knows dragons have been gone for a long time."

"The stories say they flew somewhere. And one day, I will find out!"

Ignus makes himself look determind. Eicko however looks a bit uneasy.

"I don't know about that Ignus. But you do know there are dragon who are evil right?"

Ericko is probably referring to other tales that describes dragons as the villians. During the years of dragon kind's absence from Eurobania, many people have come to fear dragons making up stories that vilifies them

Ignus snorts and counters, "Not all of them buddy for it was they who gave us our powers and helped us fight back."

"Only if you don't eaten" teases Melvin.

Suddenly a scream is heard out of nowhere shouting 'hello'. It is so loud Ignus wakes up from his dream of his past.

()

Back in the waking world, Ignus shoots up as a dragon again.

"Hellooooo does anyone live here? If so I gotta say, this place looks like a dream home" a familiar annoying voice calls out.

By the maker that crazy lady followed me! Ignus guesses in his mind. He can't go to his human form due to day time. He needs to think of a plan on how to best deal with that coocoo girl name Sisu. She might not be a threat to his life but she is a threat to his own plans on being a loner.

He carefull trots down the hall to see the lady looking around the living room, admiring the wizardly architexture.

"Heavens above I have never seen anything like this" Sisu claims as she approaches a painted portrait of Ignus, his father, Balinor, and his late mother. "is that his family? And why do they dress like that?"

Sisu questions the royal attire Ignus's family dresses due to not knowing about the Eurobanian clothing style. Because she is just one person and he owes her for the meal, he decides to at least scare her out without chasing her. Being locked in his dragon form, he gets an idea. With a few coughs in his forepaw he shouts disguising his voice to sound more deep, "WHO GOES THERE!?"

His voice is so loud, it made the entire cave shake. Sisu almost tripped over. "WHOS THERE!?"

Sisu looks more surprised and alert rather than afraid.

"I AM THE MONSTER WHO DESTROYED ONE OF YOUR PETTY VILIAGES FOR TRYING TO ATTACK ME!"

"YOU'RE THE MONSTER! SHOW YOURSELF! AND WHERE IS IGGY!?"

"You gotta be kidding me?" Ignus mutters as he watches the lady Sisu daring him to show up being some kind of warrior princess or something.

"Uhhh THAT PETTY MORTAL YOU CALL IGGY SHALL BECOME MY MEAL IF YOU DON'T LEAVE MY LAIR NOW!"

"I ain't leaving without Ignus. Two, I apologize for what anyone here has done to you. And three, if you have any heart at all please come quietly so no one has to get hurt."

Ignus face palms at the stubbornness of the one call Sisu. That girl just wont give up. He is going to have to do it the hard way. He spreads his wings and flies into her view. Sisu turns around to see Ignus in all his rage. She looks at him in an awe like look.

Ignus stands on his hindlegs and spread out his wings and says, "MY TEETH ARE BLADES, MY CLAWS ARE SWORDS, MY WINGS ARE A MIGHTY TORNADO, MY FIERCESOME GAZE BRINGS NIGHTMARES TO ALL WHO SEES. I AM TERROR! I AM THE INFERNO! I AM THE FIERCESOME DRAGON!

After his terrifying speech, he expected to have scared off the girl. But she is still standing. Rather than fear, Sisu is standing her ground yet looking at him as if he is crazy. Out of nowhere she laughs earning an eye brow from Ignus.

"HAHAHAHAHA you're the monster? First off you don't look that terrifying. Perhaps I think you look very swell" she winks. "And you call yourself a dragon?"

"Uhhh yeah?" Ignus clarifys and blushes at her weird comment.

"You can't be a dragon." Sisu denies trying to hold back her laughter and crosses her arms.

"I am indeed a dragon the last I checked" Ignus barks still using his voice.

"Last I checked, dragons don't have wings, they do have scales but man where the heck is your fur other than your orange mane which reminds me of-" Sisu pause and stares right at the Yellow eyes. "Ignus?"

"That mortal you call Ignus is my captive ready to be my meal!" Ignus tries his best to discourage Sisu from suspecting his identity.

"Nice try buster. First of all, we dragons don't really do the whole eating humans around here no no no. And also your hair style as well as your eyes look excactly like the Ignus that I meet!"

Dragons don't eat people?! And did she say 'we dragons'? Ignus questions at what she just said. He shakes off the thought by wiggling his head and barks, "Lady! You are making this dragon encounter look very cartoonish right now! And I am indeed A DRAGON RIGHT NOW!"

Sisu looks at him smug and says, "Iggy, let me show you what a real dragon looks like."

In a flash, Sisu transforms into her dragon form freaking out Ignus to the point he tumbles over and lands on his rump. He could not help but stare at Sisu's now serpent like form covered in thin blueish teal fur. In his eyes, she can't be a dragon yet has this attraction to her.

Sisu trots up to him looking sassy and says, "this is what a dragon looks like" at the same time uses her fore paws to point at herself.

"Seriously?" Ignus questions looking dumbfounded and laughs right at her. "Bwhahahahahahaha"

"Whats so funny this time?" Sisu pouts putting her paws to her hips.

"You really think that some fluffy oversized snake like yourself to be a dragon?"

"Same can be said about a naked oversized iguana with freaky bat wings on his back like yourself."

Ignus and Sisu continue to banter about what a real dragon is. Banters like what abilities and what appearance

"Can you breathe fire like this?!" Ignus puffs up and blows fire up in the ceiling.

(Sisu POV)

Sisu stares at the way he breathes fire. It looks like how her kind of dragon breathes ice. To come and think of it his face do resemble of a dragon of her type except he has spiky frills, furless face, and a pair of long horns on the back of his head. He is from another world right? Does it mean he is a different type of dragon?

"Um hey…what about we stop fighting. I think I know what is going on" Sisu claims.

She sees Ignus stop his fire breath and looks down to her eye sight. Sisu is a little bit intimidated by the fact he is one foot taller than her by a few feet on four legs.

"What do you mean?" Ignus demands.

"You come from another world, right?" Sisu asks him as she walks around him, studying his body seeing some similarities compared to herself.

"Where are you getting at?" he softly demands.

"I think we are simply different types of dragons!" Sisu guesses.

(Ignus POV)

Different types of dragons? It is a lot for Ignus to take in as he kept his eyes on the fluffy noodle who is Sisu observing him. It is getting awkward. However, she is not wrong. If the humans of this land are different, maybe dragons are different too. A lot of what he is learning from her goes against what he knew about dragons. They are supposed to have wings. They are not supposed to look like a bunch of fluffy noodles. And they definitely are supposed to breath fire.

"I think that is quite possible but…Oh maker where have I got myself into? This is so wrong!" He face palms himself. He stomps up to a fire place leaving a worried Sisu. "I JUST WANTED TO BE ALONE WITHOUT JERKS TRYING TO BOTHER ME".

Ignus stands in place facing the fireplace. He could sense Sisu trot up beside him and places a paw on his shoulder.

"Why did you follow me?" He questions her.

"I am trying to be your friend. Also why do you have to be such a scrooge to me? Do you really hate me so?" She questions with hint of a broken heart.

"It is not that" he denies.

"Then what is it? I really want to help!"

"You won't understand!" Ignus barks at Sisu showing tears.

"Then please help me understand!"

Now Sisu is beginning to tear up. She is probably not used to emotional situations. Ignus slowly turns his head looking at Sisu's heart broken face. He admits, it saddens him up to see someone so heart broken. That poor girl. He could see it in her eyes that she truly wants to help him, befriend him. He slowly lifts up a paw and wipes a tear from her face. Then he mutters, "faith".

"Pardon? Speak up," Sisu speaks.

"I just have no faith in people. Not anymore. When I was still human, I dreamed about wanting to be an explorer, a teacher hoping to share the wonders of this world those who I care about but what is the point of all that if all people do is take advantage of you and stab in you in the back when you are close?"

The room went silent. Sounds of flicker from the fireplace is heard. Sisu must be in great awe on how heartfelt Ingus sounded. Especially the way he begins to tear up, struggling to hold them back. She grabs him into a comforting hug and slowly strokes his orange spiny back. "There there big guy. Whatever happened back in your old home is all in the past. It would make me happy if you please just let me hel-"

"Sisu! Stay back from the monster!" a voice familiar to Sisu speaks out. The red and blue dragons perk up and turn their gazes to see a squadron of more serpentine dragons by the entrance of Ingus's hidden home.

Confused on what is going on, Ignus turns an angry face to Sisu and demands, "Is this some kind of trap!?"

"This is not what it looks like Iggy! I did not know my brothers are here so soon!" Sisu tearfully pleas

"Brothers?" Ignus repeats before looking the dragons.

The Green one steps up and gives Sisu a soft glare. "I thought I told you to stay in the city and help Pranee?"

End of chapter 7. I have to admit this is the most emotional chapter I ever wrote. There is a reason why I put 'hurt/comfort' as part of the categories.

Reminder: My book 'Tales in Scales the empty throne' is available at Amazon for around $5 if any are interested. It is also available online in barnes and noble or other retail that sells books online with different prices.