Chapter 19

The feeling wasn't going away.

Bad knew something more was happening, something more was coming but he couldn't put his finger on it, at least, not yet.

It didn't matter for now. Shaking his head clear he flew to the dragon's domain, it was easy to see from the sky, after all, they cleared over half the forest to make their home. The ground was hot and smoldering with ash to keep themselves warm and comfortable. With a deep breathe, Bad dropped from the sky and landed in the Dragon's territory.

The moment his feet hit the ground, they came out!

Hiding within the forest, Dragons of all shapes and sizes charged at him. He stood perfectly still, then unleashed his black aura to the masses. Instantly, they stopped!

The dragons held back but growled lowly at him. "I got to speak to your leader." He said gently. "Please, take me to him? I mean you no harm."

The dragons exchanged a look amongst themselves, but they eventually came to an agreement and led him deeper into their territory.

Bad saw so many other dragons, many he has never seen before. They were massive no doubt, but some were no bigger than a transport truck. As he continued to walk the path down, more began to appear, but kept their distance from him. They snarled and glared him down as he walked by, no doubt the old Shadow King has something to do with this.

The dragons paused as they suddenly stepped away. Bad froze as he came to this giant of a dragon. 'That would be worthy to be called a dragon level threat to say the least.' he thought. It was as big as a small mountain, as soon as it took notice of Bad, the dragon stood and arched his wings up. It blocked out the sky as the dragon stared down Bad. "Speak," he demanded. "Who… are you?"

Bad stood strong. "I go by the hero name Metal Bat! But I am called Bad… now apparently the Shadow King," he explained.

The dragon snarled. "Leave at once!"

"I ain't here to hurt you or take anything!" Bad protested. "I am here to help, you got these…"

"We are aware of the mortals wielded dark magic." It said. "We can take care of them ourselves and have no need for you, be gone!"

"HEY!" Bad snapped back. "YOU THINK I WANT TO BE HERE? I DON'T! I WAS ASKED TO HELP YOU, QUIT BEING AN ASSHOLE ABOUT IT!"

No one moved, not a single dragon flinched as their king stared down the king of the Shadows. "You are not like the other Shadow King…"

"Damn right!" Bad protested. "Look, you got a beef with the old king, I get that, but I ain't him…"

"HE TOOK MY SON!" the dragon roared. "My strongest from the brood and those of his friends. They were groomed to be the next to take over our clan… but you took him!"

"I DIDN'T, THE OTHER ASSHOLE OF A KING DID!" Bad protested.

He then felt something from his shadow, peering down, Bad saw his own starting to grow, then, Igris came out from it.

The other dragons went silent, their heads lowered to him as Igris stood before Bad and then the King of the dragons. They spoke in dull roars, the King's anger didn't subside. "A body guard!? He is using you as a mere body guard for a mortal child!?"

"He protects my little sister!" Bad stated. "Igris has been a true friend in that…"

"IGRIS! YOU NAMED MY SON!" The Dragon King demanded.

Igris snapped at his father, however the two were not getting along. "Look, he asked my sister to name him and so she did…"

"You are no dragon…"

Igris froze to his father's tone, but the glare in his eyes spoke volumes. Igris didn't like the way he was speaking to Bad, and became rather protective. "You protect him for he is the King of the Shadows and you have become his minion, of course you would defend him!" his father scolded. "You have no free will of your own, the moment you become a shadow, you become HIS, nothing remains left of your former self!"

Bad paused. "Igris… is that true?" he questioned.

The dragon's head lowered as he muttered a low growl. Bad turned to the King who smirked. "He confessed it's true,"

"Shit man… Look I didn't ask for this job okay, this was thrown at me. I am here to make sure that these asshole druids don't harm your people. I know the power the dragons possess… sort of." Bad said. "But I was told to help you and I aim to do so!"

"Then be gone!" the Dragon King demanded. "We don't want you here! You don't belong here and mere mortals are easy enough to deal with."

Bad sighed and nodded. He then remembered something. "Before I go then…" reaching into his shadow he found it was passed into his hands. Bad pulled out a small dragon and placed it upon the ground. "You can go home now." He said gently.

The little one peered about until its eye caught something familiar. It rushed into the hoard of dragons, chirping happily as it came to find a family member. There was a stunned look on the other dragons as Bad took his leave. "Let's go Igris, he doesn't wanna listen, I ain't going to force him to accept my help. Let's go."

Bad grew out wings once more and began to take flight. He was just about to fly out of their territory until a massive eruption of fire came from behind him, he turned and saw the mighty dragon King, suddenly fall!