Jermaine Deon Carter
April 6, 2022
The Tragic Rose
One day, Rose disappeared without a trace. Her family, my family, and I asked around to find out where she went. Rose wasn't at her home, she wasn't at school, and she wasn't at any of our normal hangouts. Her family was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, as was I.
That night, I dragoned up and did a sweep of the city just in case Rose showed up in a place we hadn't looked yet. I was ambushed by a young woman calling herself Huntsgirl. She dressed in black-and-green ninja garb. Her only other discernible trait was a long, blonde, braided ponytail. The Huntsman accompanied her. They quickly overpowered me and knocked me out.
I groaned and grunted as I woke up locked up in a strange vehicle. I was chained to Brook, Silver, and a giantess named Bertha. I tried to break our chains, but I couldn't.
"Save your strength, Jermaine. These chains are reinforced with unicorn horn. Even you can't break them," Silver said.
"What are we doing here? Where are they taking us?" I asked. Silver pointed out the window and towards the Moon.
"See the elliptical position of the Moon?" Silver asked. I nodded. "My guess is that we're the special guests for the Huntsclan's Grand Equinox Hunt," she said.
The vehicle stopped in the middle of the woods. The drivers led us out and tied us to wooden poles. There was a large campfire burning.
"For thousands of years, our order has lived by one simple code. The way of the hunt. Tomorrow at dawn, each of these creatures will be released and given a ten-minute head start. Then, we shall track them down and bag them as our trophies," the Huntsman said.
"Dragon, I just wanna have a good look at you before I slay you tomorrow," Huntsgirl said as she walked up to me. "There's something about you. In your eyes. Something familiar," she said.
"Something about your eyes is familiar to me, too," I said.
"You don't know me, dragon," she said.
"Wait a minute…," I said. I gasped "Rose? Is that you?" I asked. She gasped, as well.
"What? What did you just say?" she asked.
She suddenly felt weak. She groaned as she placed her hand on her forehead. After a few seconds, she shook it off.
"Don't try to get in my head, dragon," she said.
The key to the chains tying us against the wood was on her holster. After she turned around and began walking away from me, I used my tail to the grab the key. I untied us from the wood. I tried to use the key to unlock the chains around our feet, but it didn't fit.
"Looks like the key won't work on these locks. We're stuck together," Brook said.
We managed to sneak away while the Huntsclan wasn't looking. Just seconds after we made our escape, Huntsgirl and the Huntsman noticed we were missing. He was not happy.
"The prisoners have escaped, Master! I…I don't know what happened!" Huntsgirl said.
"Disappointing, Huntsgirl," he said.
"Release the hounds!" he said to the rest of the Huntsclan. A horn blew as dogs were released from their leashes.
"Let the hunt begin," he said. My friends and I hid behind a large bush.
"Jermaine, do you really think that was Rose?" Silver asked.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I promise we'll find out as soon as this hunt is over," I said.
I tried to fly us from the bush to the other side, but we got stuck in a tree. Our combined weight soon made us fall down. The Huntsclan noticed and trained their weapons on us. The sound of their weapons cocking hurt my ears a bit.
"Open fire!" the Huntsman said.
We dodged the blasts at the last second. We ran, with the Huntsclan in hot pursuit. We came to a river.
"Brook, Silver, get in the water. You gotta swim us to the other side," I said.
"On it," they said in unison.
They jumped into the water. They swam much faster than I anticipated. We emerged in front of a rocky area filled with gas-spewing geysers.
"Don't try to breathe fire here, Jermaine. The gas coming out of these geysers is highly flammable," Silver said.
"Fire at will!" the Huntsman said as he and the rest of the Huntsclan ran towards us.
I tricked them into shooting our chains, which set us free. I breathed fire at a column of gas near the Huntsclan. The ensuing explosion forced them to flee.
"Fall back!" the Huntsman said. We retreated to a cave to regroup and think up a plan.
"Above all us, we have to stay together. We don't stand a chance out there by ourselves. The Huntsclan are just gonna pick us off one at a time," I said.
"So, what's the plan?" Silver asked.
"We're through running and hiding. We're gonna take the fight to them," I said.
"Oh, yeah. A little payback. I like the sound of that!" Brook said.
"We hit their camp at sunset tomorrow," I said.
Come time for the attack, I flew up into the air to give them cover and distract the Huntsclan. Huntsgirl grabbed me with a large, heavy chain and dragged me down. She aimed a glowing, claw-shaped staff at me.
"Excellent chain work, Huntsgirl. It looks like you'll have your dragon trophy after all. Now, finish him. Become one of us," the Huntsman said.
"Something…familiar…," Huntsgirl said to herself. She groaned as she clutched her head again.
"What are you waiting for?!" he asked.
My friends came to the rescue. Bertha charged at the Huntsclan and easily knocked them around. Silver and Brook worked together to drench them with a large volume of water. I broke free of my chains and spewed fireballs at the Huntsman.
"Take defensive positions! We're under attack!" the Huntsman said. We soon overwhelmed him and the rest of the Huntsclan.
"Fall back into the woods! Retreat!" he said as they fled. While my friends were busy battling the rest of the Huntsclan, Huntsgirl ensnared me to a tree with bolas.
"It's over, dragon. Say goodbye," she said. She charged at me with her staff.
"Rose! No!" I said.
"Wha…what did you call me?" she asked.
"Rose, if you wanna say goodbye, say it to my human face," I said before changing back. "Rose, it's me," I said.
"Jermaine?" she asked.
She removed her mask. She was indeed Rose. She clutched her head and groaned once more. She accidentally dropped her staff as she backed away from me.
"Rose, what's wrong?" I asked. "Whatever it is, I can help you," I said.
She picked her staff up and charged at me again. This time, she merely slashed the bolas to free me before running off. I tried to go after her, but I tripped on the bolas and fell flat on my face. My friends ran up to me from the other side and helped me up.
"Jermaine, was that really Rose?" Silver asked.
"Yes, but she wasn't herself," I said.
"Don't worry, Jermaine. We'll find her and help get her back to normal," Brook said. She and Silver hugged me.
After we returned home, I told everybody what happened with Rose and the Huntsclan. Her family were just glad she was alive. The Dragon Council said Rose may have undergone some kind of mental conditioning by the Huntsclan. I was horrified at the thought.
Three months passed. Rose still hadn't resurfaced. I began to have recurring dreams about reuniting with her. I also had recurring nightmares about her dying and me being unable to save her. After one such dream, I woke up with her mask in my hand. I immediately told the Council.
"I think Rose is trying to contact me from…wherever she is," I said.
"Well, there are spells you can use to enter people's dreams," Councilor Andam said.
"That's gotta be it! Maybe I can use the same kind of spell to enter her dreams and find out where she is!" I said.
"It's best to proceed with caution," Andam said. "You really miss her, don't you?" he asked.
"It's been three months, Andam. She's my girlfriend. Even after what happened with the Huntsclan, I've never stopped loving her. I just…I need to know she's okay," I said.
"If you're serious about finding her, we know a spell that'll do it," he said.
"So, what are we talking here?" I asked.
"A portal spell. It's pretty tricky. If done right, it'll open a dimensional door to wherever she is," he said.
"Let's do it," I said.
The Council and my friends helped me gather the ingredients for the spell. We performed the spell at Rose's house. A portal appeared and showed an image of what looked like a school of some kind. The Council said it was the Huntsclan Academy. We only saw the back of Rose's head before the portal closed. The Council's suspicions were all but confirmed.
Several weeks later, the Oracle Twins and I went undercover as new recruits at the Huntsclan Academy. Beforehand, the Council told us to be prepared for anything and wished us luck. They'd also be on standby if and when things went south.
It didn't take long to find Rose, but she was still being brainwashed by the Huntsclan. The Huntsman soon found us and forced us into an arena. He was indeed mind-controlling her with a special device and had been for many months. Before then, he watched her from afar because of her dragon birthmark to determine if she'd be Huntsclan material. She was.
"The four of you will fight to the finish!" he said.
The Huntsclan cheered as buzzers sounded. I didn't want to hurt Rose, but I also didn't want her to hurt the twins. I reluctantly dragoned up and engaged Rose. As before, I was able to dodge each attack thanks to the twins predicting them. I repeatedly tried to get through to Rose to no avail.
I contacted the Council, who came bursting in not long after. The Huntsclan then focused all their attention on the Council. In all the commotion, the Huntsman accidentally dropped his mind control device. I destroyed it with a fireball, freeing Rose. She passed out, but I caught her before she hit the ground. She came to a few seconds later, groaning and grunting as she did so.
"Ugh…uh…Jermaine?" Rose asked.
"It's me, Rose. Don't worry," I said.
"What's going on? What happened?" she asked.
"It's a long story. I'll fill you in later. First, we gotta get you outta here," I said.
I grabbed the twins and flew towards the exit. After the Council made sure we were out, they combined their breath weapons to create a barrier between us and the Huntsclan. The Huntsman swore vengeance on us as we fled.
I thanked the Council and the twins for their help before returning Rose home. Her family cried tears of joy upon reuniting with her. They thanked me for bringing Rose back to them. The Council congratulated me for my efforts.
"Well done, young dragon," Andam said.
Once everything settled down, I told Rose about her being kidnapped and brainwashed by the Huntsclan. She couldn't believe it. I still had trouble piecing everything together myself. She apologized for her actions, but I told her it wasn't her fault.
"Thank you, Jermaine. For everything," she said as she put her hand on my shoulder.
We then kissed for the first time in several months. We were beyond happy to be back in each other's lives again.