Hey y'all, it's Ender! I hope you're having a great day and I hope to make it even better with this new one-shot! NOTE: I do not own Minecraft, Mianite, any YouTubers mentioned, and really, I don't own anything except this story. Also, the dragonspeak in this story is in bold.
This is OFFICIALLY the longest one-shot I've ever written and have gone completely bonkers over this! There's gonna be a comic based on this posted on my Twitter this afternoon so go check that out as well. And the ending bit was written while I was really tired so it gets kinda bad in descriptive quality and some content was left out but whatever. This took me three weeks to do and I'm not changing a single Notch-damned thing about it.
Hatchling
I stumbled through the woods, clutching at my side and reeling back and forth as blood streamed down past my waist onto my thigh. The long gash just over my stomach stung like crazy, but all I knew was that I had to get away. My village had been attacked by the Welveres, huge, wolf-like creatures with a thirst to kill. I had been lucky to escape, but the wound was very severe. And though I was certainly no medic, even I could tell that I was losing far too much blood.
I fell to my knees and crawled under the twisting roots of a giant oak, smearing scarlet on the damp soil. The roots crossed over each other in a thatched pattern, letting in specks of light from the golden afternoon sun, high above the tree canopy. It wasn't long before I let my head fall onto the cool earth, my fingers drenched in blood while still more continued to drip onto the ground.
My village had been a hunting one, trapping and killing the mighty animals of Harigad. Welveres, dragons, even the huge wyrms that could break a man's neck just by breathing on him, for they were that powerful. But they hadn't seen the signs of the gathering pack of Welveres, and that had been our downfall.
I, not yet old enough to meet the hunters' age requirement of sixteen, had heard it first. A great crashing through the trees and the howling barks of a Welvere. By the time I had begun to warn my neighbours to get inside, the pack was upon us.
They were breaking through doors just by sheer strength and close-ranged swords and spears proved ineffective against them. Archers shot their bows, but very little, for fear of accidentally hitting one of the many townsfolk mixed in amongst the pack. It wasn't long before all our weapons were either snapped, unable to be used, or damaged beyond repair.
One of the largest Welveres had backed me up against the side of a house, and I had nothing but a dagger to defend myself. It snarled before pouncing and I tried to use that moment to escape. But as I turned, it tore into my soft flesh with its fangs, ripping out a huge chunk of my skin and rendering me unable to do much more than stagger away, crying out in pain with each step. It turned its eyes to another, more filling prey and thus gave me the opportunity to escape with my life.
But now, hours after the dawn attack, the wound was still bleeding and I was beginning to feel lightheaded. I moved my blood-encrusted hand away from the injury and hissed under my breath as the cool air nipped at it. I tore away a bit of soft cloth from a red silken sash around my waist and wrapped it over the wound, successfully binding it, but not tightly enough to stop the bleeding completely. I gritted my teeth and once again pressed down over the injury, pain creeping through my limbs.
These were the wild lands, out here. There were none of the sheltering walls that had framed my village, nor were there any hunters to protect me from the beasts that roamed amongst the trees. I was alone and virtually helpless against anything that came my way.
No sooner than I had thought that, there was a loud crunching and snapping of branches in the trees ahead. Something - and something big at that - was coming straight for me. I froze, one hand still on my stomach and the other desperately clawing for something that might do anything to help me defend myself against whatever was approaching me. I was met with nothing except for the tree roots forming a cage around my hiding place and the soft dirt beneath my fingers.
There was a low growl and I immediately stilled all movement, waiting with scared, baited breath as I heard a soft sniffling. The thing, whatever it was, was scenting for me. It could tell I was here. There was another growl then a quiet 'shink' as silver claws wrapped around one of the roots encasing me. It was wrenched away with a sickening tearing sound, dirt flying up from the ground and falling into my face. I flinched as a sharp-edged stone struck my side, further irritating my wound. I stared up into the face of my sure-to-be doom, trying not to cry out in fear.
It was a dragon, and looked to be a rather young one. It was about ten meters long, with thin, leathery wings and a lithe body. Its scales still looked quite soft and unprotective, but that didn't make it any easier to face. It still had exceptionally large fangs and the beginning glances of ivory horns were protruding from its narrow skull.
Other than the deadliness about it, it was quite beautiful. It had a base shade of dark chocolatey scales, the colour of cocoa chips melting on a warm cookie fresh out of the oven. It was speckled with iridescent white patches, shining like pearls in the gentle green light. Its eyes were a rich orange, fading into colours like a blazing wildfire as it shrank into a dark, reptilian pupil.
The dragon growled again, edging its head close to me and sniffing at my wound. I held my breath, silently counting down towards the end. The dragon made a low keening noise and nudged my stomach gently, as though hesitant to further injure me. Its hide was surprisingly smooth and its breath smelled warm and sweet, like magnolia flowers. My chest started to hurt from the lack of fresh air but I was too fixated on the dragon to release the breath I was holding.
Finally, the dragon withdrew its head and huffed, raising its translucent wings to catch the light and send a soft orange glow to illuminate my face. I breathed out shakily, unable to restrain my tears any longer. They came with each breath of fresh air, trickling slowly down my cheeks and brushing lightly past my chin. I had survived an attack of the Welveres without too much panic, but the tension that came from the uncertainty of when the young dragon in front of me was going to kill me was making me break down internally. The gash on my side still throbbed with pain and the blood still oozing past my fingers further reminded me of how vulnerable a position I was in. I was feeling lightheaded, either from fear or blood loss, and the dragon tilted its head to the side, giving me a toothy grin that did nothing to calm my frantically drumming heart.
It gave me a noise that sounded strangely similar to a cat's purr and crouched down, waving its long tail about as it raised its wings, shoving its head close to the ground. It hardly took me more than a second to realise the unbelievable - the dragon wanted me to play with it.
"Of course," I murmured aloud, barely above a whisper. "You're still a young dragon. You haven't learned to kill humans yet."
The dragon's eyes lit up as it heard that and I suddenly regretted saying anything. It raised its head and shook itself, standing proudly over me before wrapping long silver talons around my body. I yelped, choking out a heartbroken sob after. The dragon keened lowly before lifting me up into the air and sniffing me again as I struggled weakly in its firm grip. I was sure that I was just radiating fear-scent, but the stress of the moment had finally derailed any train of reasonable thought.
"Please," I whimpered, trembling violently as I closed my teary eyes, waiting for sharp fangs to sink into my tender flesh, ripping me open like a piece of paper. I felt the dragon take me between its teeth, but it was being surprisingly gentle, barely piercing my pale skin and being especially cautious with my wound. I could've opened my eyes, but I felt the dragon start to move slowly through the woods, and besides, I was feeling dangerously sleepy and lethargic. It felt like there were heavy weights on my eyelids, forcing them to stay closed and further pushing me towards a deep state of unconsciousness - not sleep, no, this felt like it would be much more deadly, and possibly lead to me actually dying.
It gave me a new want to stay awake and I forced my eyes open, though their gaze was dimmed. Everything seemed like a shining blur from the mouth of the dragon that still carried me onwards. I could hear its strong breathing, steady as it loped smoothly between the towering trees. I had no clue where it was taking me but I was honestly struggling so much just to fight against the pain coursing through my limbs that I couldn't spare enough concentration to wonder or to speculate. My hand finally slipped away from my side and the scarlet sash, partly wrapped around my bloodied hand, trailed after it, fluttering in the empty air. The dragon made another soft keening sound that almost shook me to the bone from being so close to the source.
I blinked slowly, feeling the breeze rustle past my dangling left hand, its right counterpart still resting between the dragon's fangs. Blood had completely streaked my side and had dried halfway down my leg, soaking through my tan pants as well as my shirt and coat, both torn. I let out a ragged, scraping breath before coughing sickeningly, my stomach heaving although there was nothing in it. I felt ill, and was sure I was as pale as the paper I had envisioned myself being torn like just a little while earlier.
As the dragon continued to carry me, I began to recognise more telltale signs that I was losing far too much blood, even still. My breaths were no longer even ragged - they were shallow and slow, as if my lungs were failing to work properly. My chest was hurting and the world was spinning like the discs my friends and I had played with when we were all younger and happier, innocently carefree without yet realising that our fragile lives would always be in peril.
It took me much longer than it should have to realise that the dragon had stopped and was setting me down on the ground. I brushed against a soft bed of grass and was rested in the middle, although I could still see great red trees stretching far above my head, branches arching over the glade as the warm afternoon sun shone through the patches between the bristling, needle-like leaves. There was a chorus of low growls and a brown, white-patched tail waved over my head. A soft moan escaped my parted lips as I continued to stare blankly up at the sky. My eyes were clouded and the smell of my blood continued to taint the air around me.
A single tear slipped down my cheek and I blinked again, my eyes only staying half open this time. There were heavy steps near me and I was gently dragged towards a source of heat. The point of warmth, seemingly another dragon, wrapped a thin purple-grey tail around my legs, raising my feet up to be propped up on a curved grey talon, angling me so that more of the blood would go to supply my upper body.
I let my eyes slip close once more, feeling too tired and too faint to stay awake any longer.
I woke up still nestled up against a warm dragon hide, a tail also wrapped around me, although my feet were no longer raised. I unconsciously snuggled closer to the dragon's soft scales and heard a low sigh from the dragon. The scales shifted under me in the calm motion of breathing and a fresh wave of heat rolled up from beneath my head. I was drowsy and the warmth only made me more so, so I didn't even think about what I was doing when I moved my hand up to rest on the tender belly of the beast.
There was a rumbling growl when I did so and my eyes snapped open, quickly filling with fear. There was indeed a dragon in front of me, in fact, the same one that had brought me to this glade. It immediately perked up when it recognised me and made a happy-sounding noise.
I pretty much screamed like a child.
The dragon started, flinching back at my high-pitched yell. I scrambled away, my side bursting in pain, and preventing me from doing much more than collapsing onto the ground and rendering me unable to regain my balance before the dragon was leaning over me, its face inches from mine.
"Hello!" It said cheerfully, speaking with a light, masculine voice. "You are awake! Mama will be happy that you are awake! She thought you would be not awake ever but I said you will be awake!"
"Oh," I said weakly, at a loss for any other words. So I had almost died and I was now in the care of a clan of dragons. This just got better and better.
The dragon in front of me wrapped his talons around me again, lifting me up and setting me back on my feet. I staggered, unsteady on my feet as my side was still aching quite painfully. I instinctively wrapped one arm around the dragon's slender neck, leaning heavily on the scaled beast. The dragon made a low huffing sound and lowered his head even closer to the ground, shoving up against my left leg and causing me to stumble and fall onto the back of his head. I yelped, grabbing onto the dragon's smooth horns as he stood up and feeling the lithe muscle tense and relax underneath the soft scales. It occurred to me that this dragon had no ridge of scales along his back and instead, I was left to cling to the ivory horns. He started moving along at a steady loping pace, keeping his head at a slight angle to avoid jostling me around too much. I rode on his neck in silence, still admittedly scared of what would become of me now that I was awake.
"Where do you come from, human?" the dragon rumbled.
"Uh, from Xenier," I stammered nervously. "It is - er, was, the village to the West."
"Oh," the dragon mimicked my tone from earlier. "My name is Jordan. I like my name. Do you have a name?"
"Yeah," I looked around as we walked, taking in the glory of the majestic redwood trees. "It's Richard."
"That's a neat name. I like it too, though not as much as mine," Jordan stated innocently. He suddenly stopped in the middle of the path and knelt down, a clear indication for me to get off. I did so, and fell as soon as my feet hit the ground, grunting as I landed hard on the path. Jordan the dragon took off seconds later, stirring up the air and creating a breeze that ruffled strongly through my brown curls of hair. I shivered and a thought suddenly crossed my mind - what was my wound like now? I rolled over to my right and pushed my jacket aside, lifting up my shirt and curling my lip at the stickiness. Blood was still encrusting my pale skin, but it had long since dried, leaving nothing but a rusty red crust. The injury itself, whilst still looking nasty from being surrounded in dry, sickly yellow pus, had healed over, at least a little bit. Whatever the dragons had done had certainly helped, though they could have at least washed the gash.
The was a quiet rustling and I turned to face where it seemed the noise was coming from yelping aloud at the sight that awaited my eyes.
There was a massive dragon lying behind me that somehow, I hadn't noticed before. It was obviously a female, with slimmer features and dark brown, almost black feathers framing her narrow face. Her scales were a rich red, like the redwoods surrounding us, and she had green spines running down her back to her tail.
"Hatchling," she rumbled, flicking her tail, which was as thick as a tree trunk. "You are human, yet you are not. Otherwise, I would not have allowed my sons to keep you here. They sensed something different about you, as did I. So tell me... whatever you have to say."
"I - I have nothing to s-say unless there is som-something you wish to hear," I stuttered, barely remembering my manners. I was terrified of this dragon, as it seemed she was the mother of her brood and even more dangerous than the younger ones.
"No need for such formality," the dragon chuckled lightly, narrowing her glowing yellow eyes. "Just tell me about yourself. And I intend to hear everything. If I do not and you keep secrets, then I will be very disappointed in you. And by the way, my name is Pine."
I swallowed, but didn't hesitate to explain who I was and what had happened to me for Pine to hear. Never once did he she take her intense yellow stare away from me and a couple times when she lifted a massive red paw to scratch behind her head, I stumbled over my words at the sight of her huge black talons. This made her crack a sly grin, though she never scolded me for flinching away instinctively.
"So you come from a hunting village," Pine sighed deeply after my story was finished. "Your kin has slain hundreds of my kind and we are kept in an eternal war. I risk the lives of my sons if I take you in, do you understand?"
"I - I understand, bu-but why would you take me i-in?" my eyes widened and I winced as another stab of pain shot through my side.
"You are hurt and there is no-one left for you to go to," Pine tossed her scaly head slightly, before shifting forwards and standing up to her full height. I shrank down as she towered over me, almost able to brush against the tops of the redwood trees with her feathery frills. "Welcome to my nest, Hatchling. Now, why don't we go to meet my sons?"
I yelped when Pine scooped me up in a gentle paw and tried to ignore her sharp, curved talons surrounding me and pressing tightly against my wound, which was once throbbing with pain, although it was no longer bleeding. She carried me back through the golden lit path, silent and flapping her leathery wings occasionally to keep her balance on only three paws. I relaxed slightly and closed my eyes, wrapping my arms over my chest and dropping my head until my nose touched my elbows. The steady motion of being carried along on the cool summer evening lulled me into a trance like to a doze and I hardly noticed when we stopped.
"Richard! You are back! Can he stay, Mama?" Jordan's excitable voice broke through my trance and my eyes snapped open. I instinctively coiled into myself, shrinking into a huddled ball at the sight of another young dragon, about the same size as Jordan. His scales were a dull purple-grey and he looked almost sickly, his black-striped legs shaking as they supported the weight of his scrawny body. His eyes were pure red and his scales were all torn underneath his dull eyes, leaving a bloody streaking and giving the appearance that he was crying blood. He flicked his tail nervously and raised his head to sniff the air, turning towards me after he had done so.
"Jordan, you already know," Pine dipped her head at the patched dragon. "And this is James. James, this is Richard, the human you've been helping care for these past few days."
"Hi again!" Jordan bounced forwards, flapping his wings energetically. Pine set me down on the ground and I stumbled, finding difficulty in getting my balance back. Jordan bent down, though with his small size, he didn't have to lean down far. "You smell like blood again. Mama, is he bleeding?"
"No, it's dry blood," James commented quietly, sniffing the air again. The young dragon's voice was almost amazingly deep and he continued to speak, "it just needs to be washed. Richard, there is a creek fairly close. I can take you to it."
"Thank you, James," Pine spoke loudly, which sounded akin to a burst of thunder, shaking the ground enough for me to have to fall into a crouch to avoid completely collapsing. "I'm going to go back to guarding the nest. Call me once you get hungry."
James flicked his tail in a silent response and padded slowly over to me, putting one small foot in front of the other very cautiously as though he was testing the ground ahead of him. Pine turned back and trotted back through the trees, leaving the other hatchling to scramble into a nest of woven redwood branches. James reached me and sniffed the air again before turning to the East, where the sun was just about to reach high noon.
"This way," he whispered and padded off in that direction. I walked after James as quickly as I could and was able to keep pace pretty easily with the dragon. He was extremely slow and kept scenting the air, veering rather jerkily to avoid trees. "I am sorry if I seem odd," James rumbled suddenly, making me flinch out of surprise. "I was blinded not long after I was hatched - that is why I have these scars and why I am so careful."
"I-it's fine," I forced myself to suppress a whimper, still not entirely trusting the small clan of dragons. "You seem to do quite well without sight an-anyway."
James smiled slightly, baring his sharp fangs and unintentionally scaring me enough to make me jump slightly, my footsteps soft against the spiky needles that dotted the forest floor. Soon, I could hear the running water and found a shallow creek trickling through the woods, barely deep enough to cover the smooth pebbles on the bottom. It took me a little while to find a deep enough pool to bathe in and cleanse my wound. James lay down some ways away with his wings folded up against his body and keeping his nose turned towards me to track my whereabouts constantly. I felt a bit unnerved by that as I shrugged off my jacket and stripped myself of my T-shirt, discarding the bloody piece of clothing next to the stained jacket. I dipped my dirt-encrusted hands into the cool water, sighing in relief as it cleansed some of the small scrapes that had gathered on my palms and fingertips. I scrubbed off the rusty red blood that had caked under my fingernails and splashed some water on my face as well, rubbing the back of my neck and rinsing away the grit caught in my curly hair.
I finally eased myself into the water and took another look at my wound, grabbing a bit of dry moss from a nearby stone and dipping it in the water before dabbing at the gash. It stung, but I knew that it was getting it cleaner, so I continued. After about another fifteen minutes of gently washing away the grime, I could see that the wound had only scabbed over quite shallowly - dirt had caked it before, creating the illusion that it had had healed over more than it actually did. The flesh surrounded it was a light pink and felt quite tender when my fingers brushed against the inflamed skin. I hissed under my breath at the sting and I splashed a bit more water on the injury, feeling the heat flare up from underneath the edges of the scar.
"It is almost the afternoon. We should go back soon," James rumbled slowly, unseeing gaze fixated on me even still. I flinched and quickly finished up washing, dipping my shirt and jacket in the creek a couple times to rinse the fabric. They were both tattered and stained beyond belief and I curled my lip as I put them back on, shaking like a dog and sending water droplets flying from the curly ends of my hair.
"I'm done," I announced, my soft voice still slightly shaking with timidness. James lurched to his feet and ruffled his leathery wings, the translucent grey membranes pale and letting the sunlight dimly shine through.
"There's no need for fear - Mama has already said we will not hurt you. And I know you have been raised to fear us, but we mean you no harm," James padded slowly over to me and scented the air again. "Good. You got the wound clean. We could not do that as effectively as what was needed so we decided to wait."
I honestly couldn't think of how to respond to that so I just remained quiet, letting James lead me back to the redwood nest. Jordan was still curled up inside, head lifted as he watched a few hawks that were perched in the trees above with his glowing orange eyes. His pupils were wide and he made light chirruping sounds similar to that of a feline while he watched the hawks. His tail twitched constantly, barely ruffling the needles as the birds far above glared down, far from intimidated by the curious dragon.
"Jordan, you will not catch those birds," James sighed deeply, as though this was a common occurrence for the both of them. "They are taunting you because they know you cannot get to them."
"Birds are mean," Jordan snarled, resting his head back on his paws and continuing to stare at the hawks. "Nasty feather-brains."
"Calm down," James scolded, stepping gingerly into the nest and curling up around Jordan. I stood back half-awkwardly, watching as Jordan relaxed once his brother rested his head on the patched dragon's shoulder, sharing his warmth. "Mama will be home soon with food. The birds will go away when she comes."
"Fine," Jordan grumbled before suddenly scrunching his face into a confused expression. "Wait, where did Richard go? I wanted him to stay."
"I'm still here," I tentatively raised my hand and tried not to tremble when Jordan twisted his head to look my way. He broke into a wide smile and shifted slightly to the side, leaving a space between him and James.
"Well what are you doing over there? Come into the nest!" Jordan invited, flicking his tail eagerly. James seemed indifferent and stared in my general direction with half-closed eyes. "You can curl up between James and I."
It took a second for me to muster up the nerve even to step into the hatchlings' nest, flinching when the pine branches under my feet crackled loudly. It felt like Jordan's unblinking gaze was burning holes through my body and I did my best to avoid brushing against any of the dragons' scales as I partially limped into the indicated space. Jordan suddenly shifted towards me and I yelped as he knocked into my side, sending me sprawling against his warm chest. My face flushed red out of embarrassment, more so for yelping so fearfully than anything else.
Jordan's right paw curled around my body and tugged me closer to his chest, being gentle with his talons while James stood up slightly, then almost tossed himself onto Jordan, curling up around the slightly larger dragon. I found myself getting drowsy from the heat two dragons were emitting, especially with James now practically draped over both Jordan and I, the latter having me almost snuggled up against his chest. Against my better judgement, I allowed myself to drift into a doze, briefly considering that my family might have had a heart attack if they saw me now, curled up in a nest of dragons. Needless to say, that was a big "no-no" for most humans.
I was woken up when a chunk of raw... something fell on me.
I squeaked as a heavy piece of raw meat was dropped onto my chest, splattering blood over my shirt and almost bruising my ribs. I pushed it off as quickly as possible and stared disbelievingly at the mass of dark red meat, pale, slick fat still clinging to the edges. In total, it was about the size of my head and looked more like the definition of disgusting rather than food.
"Eat up, little hatchling," I jumped, startled by Pine's loud rumble. I glanced up half-fearfully, seeing the grown dragon towering above me, blood staining the scales around her mouth. Just beyond her, I could see James and Jordan scrapping over the remains of a Welvere.
Oh... so that's what the mystery meat was.
"Uh... I can't eat meat raw. My, uh, my teeth aren't sharp enough," I stumbled over my own words while trying to explain to the dragon that there was a problem here in the way of food.
Pine said nothing, but she once again scooped up the meat in her mouth and lay down next to me, her bright yellow gaze never leaving my own. She slowly tore off bite sized chunks of meat using her talons, dropping them at my feet. Once all that was left of the raw Welvere was the bit still dangling from her teeth - she swallowed that herself and freed me from having to worry about dragon spit - I cautiously took a piece of meat and bit into it, almost gagging as a rush of blood and the heavy taste of iron filled my mouth.
"It will take some getting used to, Richard," Pine watched me carefully, an amused look glinting in her eyes. "But it will help with all that blood you lost. Eat up."
I guess that saying I wasn't looking forwards to coming meals would have been a very far understatement.
I grunted when I felt something sharp graze my leg and opened my eyes to see Jordan sprawled out on his side, feet twitching and snarling silently, caught up in some sort of deep dream. Apparently, one of his claws had scratched against my leg: unsurprising since I was once again nestled in between his front paws, head pressed up to his chest and taking advantage of his warmth. James was curled up with his back to Jordan's but Pine was nowhere to be seen.
The sting of the scratch on my leg was beginning to bother me, so I made up my mind to go over to the creek and wash it with the icy water to relieve the mild pain. I wriggled out from under Jordan's paws and stood up, cautiously making my way out of the nest of dragons, being careful not to step on any tails. I knew from experience that it was never a good way to wake up a sleeping dragon.
I managed to make it safely to the creek, the moonlight illuminating the many scars on my skin, especially around my arms and chest. Jordan and James tried to be gentle around me, but the quickly growing dragons could get quite rough and though their talons only sparked harmlessly against each other's scales, they could easily rip through my much more tender flesh. None of the scrapes had been serious, and I had grown used to it. Even accidental cuts like tonight was nothing unusual, though normally, it could be ignored until the next morning.
I had been living with the dragons for about two months now, and as it turned out, I had fit in pretty well with their little clan. I no longer tripped over my words if one of them glanced my way, and I had even grown so bold as to attempt riding Jordan, though the disgruntled hatchling had pointed out how awkward it was, since we were practically best friends at that point. In that time, my wound had also healed over completely and though I would sometimes experience painful aches in my side, the seriousness of the injury had long since disappeared.
I sighed in relief as I stuck my leg into the creek, the chilly water instantly numbing the sting and waking me up even further. I sat on the bank for a little while, pebbles under my toes shifting as I moved my leg around in the shallow water, cleaning the scrape on my calf and relaxing my muscles as well.
I heard a soft crackle and glanced up, expecting to see James or even Pine coming to get a drink of water. It felt like my heart almost stopped when I saw a giant dragon-like creature creep through the trees just a stone's throw away from me. It only had two legs and its dull orange wings were folded loosely by its tough green hide. Long fangs protruded from its mouth, and even from this distance, I could see its glowing mahogany eyes.
It was a wyrm, no doubt about it, and it was heading straight for the dragon's nest.
I stayed still as it passed, my breath held in apprehension until the Wyrm had completely disappeared through the trees, thin tail snaking along behind it. After that, I scrambled out from the creek, and dove down the narrow pathway back to the nest, hoping to at least make it back to the nest to warn my adopted family of the approaching danger. Unfortunately, the wyrm travelled much faster than I did, and I was able to hear the squawks of my nestmates before they were even in sight.
A red glow rose up from the clearing and a wave of heat rolled towards me, as well as a patch of thick smoke. I coughed instinctively, backing away and reeling into a tree, one hand clutched over my nose and mouth. The smoke burned at my throat, leaving a bitter taste on my tongue, and I peeked out, more smoke stinging my eyes.
The whole clearing was shrouded in roaring flames and the wyrm stood at the centre of it all, spitting out globs of fire at Jordan and James, who were running around the clearing as quickly as possible to avoid the white hot flame. They were squalling fearfully, frills ruffled up as they frantically dodged the wyrm's long claws.
I sucked in a gasp as I saw the wyrm lunge at Jordan, scooping him up and closing his teeth around the panicked young dragon. I heard scales crunch, but before I could even move, a fully enraged roar startled the wyrm and he dropped Jordan just as Pine dive-bombed the wyrm, aiming for its shining eyes.
I ignored the battle of wyrm and brood mother, instead locating a break in the fire and running towards Jordan, who was trying to get back to his feet, only to fall down with a moan of pain. His right front paw was twisted at an awkward angle and blood was oozing from bite-sized punctures in his scales from where the wyrm had bitten him. James was fumbling around on the opposite side of the clearing, crying out in distress every time a tongue of fire licked at his nose.
"Jordan!" I yelled, falling into a crouch beside the injured dragon. He glanced at me, eyes filled with pain and his mouth half-open, as if he was about to let out another wail of agony. Smoke had stained his iridescent scales, blood still running down his tough hide from the bite wounds.
"Get James over here," Jordan hissed through gritted teeth. "He can't smell anything through the smoke."
"But what about you?" I protested, fear threatening to swamp me. "You're hurt!"
"I'll be fine," Jordan's gaze softened as he noticed my concern for him. "Now go. You need to get to James."
I swallowed apprehensively but ran off towards James nonetheless, abandoning Jordan for the time being. Across the clearing, I saw that Pine had directed the wyrm's attention away from her sons and even though dark blood had streaked down her scales, which dully reflected the ring of flame around the clearing, she was still fighting with the strength of the wyrm itself. Smoke billowed towards my face in waves and I coughed, stumbling as the acrid smoke stung my eyes. I waved my hands in front of my face in a fruitless attempt to ward away the polluted air.
"James," I rasped once I got close enough to the disoriented hatchling, still stumbling around and wailing. My voice was barely audible over the crackling of the fire, but James was able to hear me and whipped around to face me, his normally spotless scales heavily stained with soot. "It's me, Richard. Listen, I'm going to lead you to Jordan. He's hurt and can't walk, and if I tell you to run, do it." James nodded, apparently getting the gist of my hurried explanation. We began to sneak cautiously across the burning clearing and I did my best to ignore Pine's agonised roars as she fought the attacking wyrm in a battle for our lives. Somehow, and by a completely out-of-place stroke of luck, we managed to make our way back to Jordan without destructive incident. James ran over to Jordan, who appeared to had given up the struggle of getting to his feet, crying out happily as he was able to find his brother. I breathed a sigh of relief, walking over to my adopted siblings as well and silently rejoicing in our small handful of good fortune.
From across the clearing, the wyrm gave a sudden screech of defeat, turning tail and taking off clumsily, blood dripping from its wounds and the edges of its wings tattered with bite marks. It was out of sight within seconds, the final noises of its taking off fading just after. Pine stared after it triumphantly, though she stayed stock still, the light of the dying fire casting deep shadows over her scaled body.
"Pine?" I called out loudly, worry for my dragon mother beginning to pluck at my heart. Instead, I was stunned into silence as she staggered to the side before collapsing, not even groaning as she impacted with the ash-dusted earth.
"Mama!" Jordan howled, half-lurching to his feet and taking a shaky step towards Pine's crumbled body, distress flashing through his glowing orange eyes. That stirred me to action and I forced myself to run forwards, dropping all caution as I raced towards Pine, frantically trying to reassure myself that she wasn't actually dead, tears bubbling up and starting to spill from my eyes. I couldn't even register the fact that Jordan and James were following close behind me. All I could focus on was the blood dripping from numerous wounds in Pine's chest and neck, pooling around her head like a gory halo. "Richard, no!" Jordan suddenly called out as I sprinted to Pine, stumbling through a patch of her blood. "Don't get - Richard!"
I screamed in agony as a searing pain flared up from my bare feet where they had touched the blood and I fell into a puddle of more dragon blood. It felt like acid on my skin and I continued to wail, curling up into a tight ball from the pain as it overtook my whole body.
The last thing I was aware of before I passed out was Jordan frantically calling mine and Pine's names, his voice filled with a fear that seemed to be from the depths of his great dragon heart.
Warmth. That was the first thing I noticed when I first came back into consciousness was the warmth. It wasn't the scorching heat of the summer, the kind that brought flies and an uncomfortable feeling of being stifled by nothing but the air. But nor was it the meagre warmth of a petty fire in the darkest depths of a bitter winter that only warmed your fingertips and your cheeks. No, this warmth emanated from inside of my very being, not quite from my heart but more towards the point of my lungs.
A low rumble fully aroused me from the thick sleep that had befallen me and I opened my eyes blearily, blinking away the bluriness that marred my sight. Pine needles in a nest-like pattern met my gaze first, piled around me as though they were built around my body. Leaves were arched far above my head, half-warm autumn sunshine weakly forcing its way through the green canopy that was just beginning to fade to glorious shades of red, orange, and gold.
The second thing I noticed was that there was an extremely off-balanced feeling weight on my back. The chill of scales was digging into my skin, even though I couldn't hear the breathing of a dragon next to me. My mouth also hurt and I licked my lips, greeted with the faint taste of blood. Something leathery was draped over my body and when I shifted, it did as well.
"Richard?" Jordan's gentle voice murmured close by. "Are you awake?"
"Yeah," I whispered back, turning my head towards the sound of the hatchling's voice. Jordan's face was, what one would say, a sight for sore eyes, despite the concern marring his beautifully shining scales. "What happened?"
"Dragon blood is like acid to humans. Usually, it would kill them but... it did something different to you," Jordan leaned down and nudged something off of my waist. "Uh... maybe you should take a look at yourself in the creek."
"What?" I tensed, an edge of panic in my voice. What could have been so bad that it made Jordan nervous? The spotted dragon didn't give an answer and instead gestured for me to climb onto his neck and I did so, grimacing at the pain in my fingers as they dug into the small chinks between Jordan's scales. It almost felt like my fingernails had been ripped off, but I decided to ignore it for the time being. Maybe the acidity from the dragon blood had screwed up the pain sensors in my nervous system. I used that to console myself, silence stretching on between Jordan and I as he carried me to the creek.
"Here," Jordan said softly, leaning down and letting me slide off of his neck and stumble to the leafy forest floor. I instinctively grasped at one of his tender, ivory horns to steady my weight but let go just as quickly when Jordan growled threateningly at me, disliking me pulling on his growing horns. I hurriedly stepped back and turned around, tripping into the creek and landing in the glassy pool with a large splash.
I sat in the water for a little while, ignoring Jordan's snickering as I waited for the cool liquid to still. After it had, I stared into the surface of the eddy and stifled a cry of shock as bile rose in my throat from the reaction to my reflection.
Wings, massive wings, were arched from my shoulder blades, shining blue scales reflecting the light and the yellow membrane sending ripples of golden light falling onto the water. Tiny fangs were digging into my lips, blood faintly smearing their tops from where they had pierced my gums. I lifted my hand to my face and shouted loudly as I saw that long talons had replaced my fingernails and the back of my hand was covered in glossy blue scales.
"Jordan," I choked out, tears welling up in the corners of my eyes as I twisted around, staring at the solid encasing of scales over my back and seeing my newfound tail waving slightly in the slow current. A tough yellow ridge lined the centre of my back, widening slightly near my wings and ending at the very tip of my tail. "Jordan," I said again and stumbled over to the dragon, burying my face in his shoulder as I began to cry.
Jordan gave a low murmur, wrapping his own wing around me as I sobbed into his scales, my shoulders shaking. I was heartbroken by my new form of being half-dragon - it felt like everything that had ever defined me had been stripped away. I felt exposed and betrayed, but I voiced all of that only in the form of the salty tears tracing their way down my pale cheeks.
"Jordan, what's happened to me?" I sniffled, digging my talon-tipped fingers into the pearly white patch on his shoulder. "I'm a monster."
"No you're not!" Jordan suddenly roared, moving away from me and denying me the warmth that I had been leaning on. "You are not a monster, Richard; never call yourself that again!"
"I'm half dragon!" I screamed back, my face flushing darkly as my internal tumult grew. "How am I not a monster? Look at me - I still have hands, but they have talons! I still have lips, but I have fangs! I still have flesh, but my back is covered in scales!" My skin was heating up rapidly but I paid it no mind as I roughly grabbed my wing, gasping as I almost tore the membrane. "Look! Humans don't have wings but dragons don't have hands! That means I'm not either of those anymore: I'm a monster!"
"Shut up!" Jordan screeched, sounding more angry than I had ever heard him before. I suddenly shrank down, once again becoming the scared thirteen year-old that had first met the dragons. "Just shut up! You're my best friend and it hurts me when you call yourself a monster. It makes me feel like I'm not doing enough for you and I can't even ask Mama for help because - because -" Jordan's voice trembled and his anger fell away faster than it had arisen. "Mama's dead."
Guilt crashed down on me like a wave as it finally occurred to me how selfish I had been acting. I was upset because I was half dragon when I had been living with dragons for almost two months now. But Pine was dead and I was whining about having scales. A renewed self-hatred filled my heart and I stared at my feet, silently cursing myself for acting up so childishly.
"Richard," Jordan whispered, reaching out with one taloned paw and curling it around me. He pulled me close to him, holding me to his heart and breathing shakily as though he wanted to cry along with me. "Don't ever think that I don't feel like you're my brother, no matter who or what are you. Mama died for all of us and you were no exception to her. Now come with me - I think there's something you might want to see. Or rather, someone. And stop feeling so depressed, we'll get you back on your feet in no time."
I allowed Jordan to walk me back to where I had woken up, in a nest of pine nearer to the creek than the clearing had been. But James was there now and he was curled around a marbled green ovaloid with cream swirls curled around the smooth surface. It reflected the light across its curved surface, sending a pale sheen rippling over James's scales.
"An egg?" I asked curiously, tiptoeing over to the egg. James lifted his head when he heard my voice and smiled at me, shifting so that I had an easy access to the dragon egg. I crept over to it and knelt beside the ovaloid, resting my hands gently on the beautifully swirled surface, feeling the heat pulse from under my fingertips. "Pine had an egg?"
"It's about to hatch," James told me, flicking his tail. "Jordan thought you might want to be the first to meet the new hatchling."
Silence befell us as we waited for the egg to hatch and the sun crept past the sky. I took that time examine my new dragon features, finding that the scales covered the entirety of the back of my body, creating a thick shield over my elbows and the backs of my knees. Nearer to my feet, the scales faded so that I had normal bare feet but talons still replaced my toenails, though they weren't as long as the ones on my fingers. The back of my neck was also dotted with dark blue scales, stopping before they actually touched my hair, though brown curls still hung over the cool scales. My clothes had also melted into what felt like tough dragon leather, like the kind of armour that the hunters in my village had worn when they went out to kill wyrms and such. It wasn't uncomfortable and they still felt like normal clothing, but they did cling to my body as though conformed to fit my form specifically. There was a small place where my old bite wound was, right at the place where the scales melted into my clothe, and the scales were pushed back slightly, revealing the pale skin where the wound had scarred. I also accidentally discovered what muscle was used to flap my wings and almost knocked myself out when my wing hit my head.
It took until almost sundown, but a thin crack finally spread over the top of the hard-shelled egg and a faint tapping came from inside the egg. My eyes widened as I watched a black, clawless paw punch through the creamy egg. In another couple minutes, a baby dragon with brown fluff lining its narrow face had burst out of the egg and was sprawled across the ground, sticky membrane and broken eggshell strewn about its small body.
"I think it's male," Jordan padded up behind me and stared down at the tiny hatchling, who was cooing eagerly as it looked around, flapping its almost translucent wings to rid them of the pale goo. It - or he - turned to look at me, blinking his cream-coloured eyes and making a purring-like noise. Darker green stripes lined his innocent face and a small mane of brown fuzz framed his head, fading into glossy black scales farther down his body.
"He's so cute," I chuckled, gently picking up the squirming hatchling and putting him on my lap. He nipped at my fingers but since it appeared that he didn't yet have teeth, it only tickled. "May I give him a name or...?"
"Go ahead," James rested his head on his paws. "You're probably better with names than either of us. Just please don't name him anything starting with a 'J'."
"Duly noted," I murmured, stroking the little dragon's fuzzy brown frills. He leaned into my touch, making a happy-sounding noise at the contact. I thought about a distant memory of something my mother had gotten for me at the market one time when I was little, about four years old. It had such a strange look and an even stranger taste, but I enjoyed it so much that the name had stuck in my head for years after. And now, looking at the little hatchling whose face seemed to resemble my favourite fruit, it was quite easy to decide on his name.
"How does Kiwi sound to you, little one?" I asked the dragon, staring at his pale eyes. He chirruped happily in what seemed to be a response and I laughed as he nuzzled my palm, all earlier depression vanished with the hatching of the little black dragon. "Kiwi it is, then."
"What's that?"
"An orchid."
"Does it taste good?"
"Uh... I've never tried - Kiwi, no! That wasn't an invitation to actually eat it!"
"Plbth! It's nasty!"
I couldn't hold back the laugh bubbling in my throat any longer. The little hatchling glared at me, though of course, he wasn't quite so little any more. He was almost twice as tall as I was and it turned out that he was growing into a very lithe, long-bodied dragon. His face had tapered even further but his cream-coloured eyes still glinted with a playful light that he expressed most wholeheartedly in everything he did. It had been a year since he was first hatched and in that time, all of us had changed in some small way.
Jordan's paw had been hurt after the wyrm attack and it was permanently twisted backwards. It never bothered him and even though he did limp slightly, you wouldn't have noticed it unless you were looking for it. James had retreated to the underground hoard that Pine kept and though I was never allowed to see it, Jordan had told me it was literally tunnels filled with gold and other gems. Either way, we didn't see James much more. And of course, I had changed as well. I had started growing horns - an uncomfortable business, I must say, it was like an eternal headache - and my teeth had grown sharper and more accustomed to tearing apart meat to eat. Hunting was still difficult since I had no advantage whatsoever in strength, even against measly jackrabbits. The last time I had tried to catch one, it had given me a solid pounding across my ribs with its back feet, leaving me bruised and humiliated for the next week. I actually spent most of that time hiding in a redwood tree to avoid Jordan's constant teasing.
Kiwi huffed at me once again, bringing me back to the present time where the hatchling was still glaring at me with creamy eyes. I shoved his shoulder roughly, unafraid of hurting the dragon. I knew well enough that he would be able to withstand my harmless punches in play. Suddenly, Kiwi started, staring at something in the bush behind me. In the next heartbeat, he had run off without a word, brown frills ruffled up in panic. I turned around, fear planting a seed in my heart to see what had gotten my adopted little brother into such a panic, but I only had time to see a dark flinthead flying towards me before pain exploded in my side, where my scales were disaligned and left a vulnerable spot to my skin.
I cried out in shock and hurt, tears blurring my eyes as I jerked the arrow out of my body, the point snapping off and remaining embedded in my flesh. I met the eyes of a hunter, his bow still drawn and his eyes wide. He had wavy brown hair, orange-brown eyes, and a sturdy complexion but all of that was drowned in the horror in his face as he saw me. Tears fell down my cheeks even faster at his disgust, reawakening my old fear of believing that I was a monster. That's all I was in this hunter's eyes, was a half-dragon monster.
Against my better judgement, though my mind had clouded up past the point of actually thinking, I turned around and stumbled away from the hunter, clutching at the heavily bleeding wound in my side. Blood was already streaking down my leg and trickling into the cracks between my scales. The wound itself pulsed with a fresh ache and déjà vu came crashing down on my head.
Soon, it came to mind that I had just been stumbling along the path for hours now and was completely lost. I was too lightheaded to do more than groan, though something urged me to find shelter for the night. Subconsciously, I slowly walked over to the nearest redwood tree and reached up, digging my claws into the bark and pulling myself up. I clambered up the tree with great effort, shoulders shaking as I gasped out occasional sobs, blood smearing against the reddish flakes of wood.
Finally, I pulled myself up onto a thick branch and collapsed there, my wings falling limp and dangling from the branch. I was beginning to wonder if the arrow had been dipped in some sort of mild poison because I was feeling very lethargic and I knew from unfortunate experience that the wound hadn't bled enough for my body to go into conservative mode.
Either way, I gave in and closed my eyes, listening to my breathing slow and feeling my hope that help would come slowly drain away.
...
"There."
...
"It's the least I can do to help that poor kid."
...
"Careful - careful! Don't let the ropes slip!"
...
"There you go. Let's get you some help."
...
I groaned, shifting my wings uncomfortably, as it felt like they were pinned under my body. I opened my eyes blearily and was greeted with a smooth quartz ceiling, glowstone placed like lanterns in the corner. My first observation: my wings were pinned. That was quickly fixed with a slightly painful tug and they flared out, drooping over the edges of the table. Second observation: I had no clue where I was. Third observation: my side didn't hurt any more.
I reached out with one hand and patted the injury, soft cloth greeting my fingers and the faint scent of antibiotics reaching my nose. I glanced down, finding that bandages were wrapped tightly around my stomach and that faint drops of dark blood were all that showed of the injury. I assumed that I had been given some sort of painkillers to numb the ache but I was distracted when my stomach growled loudly, alerting me to the fact that it was empty.
I slowly got to my feet from the table I had been lying on, stretching to relieve the stiffness in my muscles and arching my wings to their full length, which was about the width of the white room I was in. I twitched my tail a couple times and smacked my lips, setting my mind to figure out where exactly I was and who had tended to me whilst I was unconscious. There was a door leading out and I walked over to it, curling my claws around the handle and pushing open the pale oaken door.
I squinted as bright sunlight poured down onto my face when I stepped outside, momentarily blinded after the gentle lighting from the room I had been in. Harsh shouts reached my ears as soon as I took another pace forwards and I flinched, my vision clearing just in time to see a sword hovering just above my chest, the hunter that had shot me with the poisoned arrow at the other end.
"Don't try anything," he hissed, sliding the sword down to rest at the bandages on my stomach. I hardly dared to breathe, although my heart rate had sped up to twice its normal pace at my unexpected fear. The blade easily cut through the cloth and it fell to the ground, revealing the tender, scarred skin halfway hidden under my scales. With a twirl of the hunter's wrist and a flash of iron, the sword was resting at my throat, hovering above my skin like a bird from the ground.
"D-don't," I choked out, stumbling backwards and falling against the wall of the building with a pained yelp. Instinctively, I bared my teeth, though I was unwilling to actually hurt the hunter. I knew I was in a bad position for my own defense - sitting against a wall with a sword at my throat, held by someone who was at a much greater physical advantage than I. This situation practically had my death message written all over it in big, bloody letters.
"Then don't attack," the hunter hissed, jabbing his sword just an inch closer to my flesh and provoking a loud squeak of fear from me. "I thought that the sedatives were supposed to be stronger than that. Of course, maybe because you're a bloody dragon, they don't have the same effect." I flinched again at his harsh, accusatory tone and shrank as far as I could into a ball. I just wanted to run away and never look back and my dragon-like instinct was also urging the flight option of the 'fight or flight' choice. I was already overpowered and had no advantage whatsoever in the predicament where I was currently sitting.
"Please," I said, tearing up as the fear began to set in my mind as a spiral of hopelessness. "Please."
"Reiden!" a rough, throaty voice rang out and I jerked my head around to see a tall man with a shock of light brown hair and a Welvere head acting as a helmet and framing his face walking swiftly towards us. The rest of his hunter's outfit was also made of Welvere pelt and a tail, albeit unable to actually be controlled, was swishing behind him. The name that he had called the hunter with the sword stirred a deep memory in my mind, but it was quickly forgotten in my tornado of thought.
"Denian?" Reiden said slowly, lowering the sword from my throat and tucking it into a leather sheath around his waist. Denian glared at Reiden before he bent down next to my and wrapped his strong arms around my ribs, hauling me to my feet and ignoring my scared yelp. "What if he hurts you?"
Denian huffed, but didn't answer in words. Then, a flash of greyish skin caught my eye and I saw that Denian's throat was crossed with pale, scarred flesh. I swallowed as I realised that he must have been attacked brutally and his vocal cords partially ripped with how the torn flesh was positioned.
"Th-thank you," I whispered to Denian and was given a small smile in response. I was slightly afraid of him but he had at least helped steady me and Reiden clearly respected him.
Denian gestured something with his hands and pointed at me, all the while staring at Reiden with intense blue eyes. Reiden sighed loudly and finally extended his hand towards me. "Okay, kid, first off I want you to promise that you won't hurt me or anyone else in this village."
"O-of course I wouldn't!" I stuttered, horrified that anyone would think such a thing about me. I still felt weak and hated the very sight of blood at this point. I unconsciously curled my fingers, letting my talons dig into the palms of my hands.
"Alright. Now, you've probably gathered that I'm Reiden - care to tell me your name, if you have one?" Reiden stared at me, prompting me to speak and communicating that with the look in his amber eyes.
"Uh, it's R-Richard," I took Reiden's hand cautiously and did my best not to flinch as he shook it lightly. "Where am I exactly?"
"In Dalin - the village of the great hunters," Reiden said proudly. "We helped you because you were hurt, but the plan was to restrain you just before the sedatives wore off in case you were violent. We didn't count on you waking up before tomorrow."
"Well thank you f-for saving me," I dipped my head slightly in respect. "But I can't stay here; my, uh, my family is probably worried about me."
"There's not a village around for miles," Reiden shared a confused glance with Denian and directed his gaze back to me. "Kid, who - or what - is your family exactly?"
"My human family was killed about a year ago," I stared down at my feet, almost scared to meet the hunters' eyes. "I live with dragons now. James, Jordan, and Kiwi."
"Kid - Richard, sorry - I don't think that you can go back out there," Reiden put his hand on my shoulder as if to lightly restrain me from going anywhere. I stared worriedly up into his amber-y orange eyes, nervousness coiling around the pit of my stomach once again. "You're still hurt and there's another pack of Welveres out there. Even a dragon can fall to Welveres."
"Then you don't understand!" I shouted at him, desperation to see Jordan again overwhelming my judgement. "I have to go back and warn them! They've taken care of me for the past few years - I can't just let them be killed!"
"Sorry, Richard," Reiden's gaze darkened. "These gates are staying closed for you."
It felt like my heart snapped at that moment and any last hope of freedom drained away from my spirit as my one plea to be with my adopted family was denied.
I sat in a dusty corner near the edge of the strong stone walls that framed the village of Dalin. My back was pressed up against the corner, wings folded up to my spine and tail curled over my legs. I mindlessly fiddled with a loose pebble, eyes dull and face drained of any cheerful emotion. I was bored and distraught about being trapped in the village. The younger children were scared of me, the kids my age all treated me like I was a freak and the adults downright shunned me, save for Reiden and Denian. It was a miserable life and I considered attempting to fly out of the village, despite my not knowing how.
"Hey dragon-boy," someone sat down next to me and I stole a sharp glance over at whoever had come so close to me when the rest of the village had treated me like a contagious disease.
It was a girl, around my age, with slightly wavy blond hair that hung just past her shoulders. She had on a simple grey T-shirt but her dark green eyes were free from any judgemental emotion that I had quickly grown to expect from anyone who looked at me.
"The name's Ashton, known as Ash, now close your mouth. You look like you've just seen a ghost," Ash reached out and pushed my jaw up with two fingers, effectively shutting my mouth and making me blush profusely at being caught staring at a girl like a lovestruck hatchling. "Now, dragon-boy -"
"I have a name," I interrupted Ash loudly, clearing my throat when she tilted her head expectantly. "It's Richard," I finished meekly, my voice stolen once again by her piercing gaze.
"Amazing. Now, as I was saying, dragon-boy, what's all this about having a scaled family? Some of the younger kids were talking and I got curious."
"Dragons took me in and raised me for the past year," my face fell as the realisation sunk in that Ash must have only wanted to talk to me to make fun of me or beat me down. It almost seemed that for just a few seconds that there was someone in this Notch-forsaken village that actually cared. My wings slumped again and my tail twitched dully, sending dirt puffing up under my scales. "That's really all there is to it. Now if you don't mind, I think I'm going to seek out another corner."
"I can show you a way to get out," Ash whispered just as I was about to stand up. I jerked my head around to stare at her and she gazed steadily back, unafraid as I lashed my tail anxiously. "There's a tree near the edge of the fence. You can glide out and get back to the dragons."
"Really?" my mouth fell open again, though this time it was for an entirely different reason. "You'd really help me escape?"
"Dragon-boy," Ash's eyes suddenly darkened and she stood up, grabbing my wrist and hauling me to my feet. She pulled me close enough that our faces were almost touching and it seemed that I was having trouble breathing again. "Why do you really think they don't want you going back out there? There are no more Welveres in these woods. They want to keep you close so that they can use you as a weapon to fight dragons."
"I -" I stuttered, unable to find an argument for Ash. And after all, I didn't really have any reason to disbelieve her. "They must know that I would never do that!"
"If you don't, they would kill you," Ash hissed, turning and trotting off, dragging me along behind her. "And I don't want to see innocent blood shed for the sake of killing dragons. Especially not yours, dragon-boy."
"Y'know, I'm technically almost fifteen. My birthday's on the ninth moon of autumn," I protested the 'boy' part of Ash's nickname for me.
"Fascinating. My birthday's the fifth moon of spring and I'm thirteen. I really don't give a dragon-crap about getting to know each other," Ash huffed, though when she glanced back at me, I saw something in her eyes that may have suggested differently. But she didn't indulge whatever emotion it was and I didn't bother to ask. "Well, dragon-boy, here's the tree. I trust that those wings of yours aren't just for oriental purposes, eh?"
"Nope," I stared up at the gnarled oak, seeing a branch that arched up above the cobblestone wall and guessing that was what Ash meant for me to climb. "But what will you do?"
"Buy you some time to escape," Ash stared at me and I began to get the feeling that there was already a heck of a lot of communication through the eyes in this little relationship. "Go now. The hunters left this morning, tracking what they think was an injured dragon that was wandering around the village late last night. At least, the tracks made it seem injured. One paw print was twisted around all weird."
"Jordan," I breathed, recognising the abnormality that my adopted older brother had sustained. "Ash - thank you. Really."
"Just go, dragon-boy!" Ash snapped, startling me and making me flare out my wings in surprise. "I didn't bring you here so you could pour sentiment all over me. Go!"
I quickly scrambled up the tree after Ash's harsh command, remembering how I had fled similarly up a giant redwood just days earlier. My claws sent little chips of bark falling to the ground and though the oak was small and fairly easy to climb, my heart was pounding so quickly that I almost thought that I had just skittered up a mountain instead. Freedom... freedom was so close and my dragon instinct continued to urge me forwards. As soon as I scrambled to the far branch, I launches myself out of the tree, spreading my wings until they trembled from the strain and bending my knees, keeping my limbs loose as I glided several meters past the fence. I snapped my wings back to a vertical position and stumbled onto my feet, running off to the east and following a homing instinct that I never knew I had. Jordan was waiting for me, I just knew it. Kiwi was worried and I was running to him, hair flying back and revealing my small ivory horns. James would even welcome me back, perhaps with a trinket from his hoard.
I'm going home to my family!
Unless of course, I somehow managed to run straight into Reiden, who was heading the same way I was with a bow in hand.
"Richard!" Reiden shouted, whirling around and seeing me standing stock still right behind him. "What are you doing?" I peered past Reiden and saw a whole group of armed hunters going along the path, led by Denian. "Answer me, halfling!"
"Uh..." it seemed that words had failed me yet again. Why did they always do that?
"Maybe the kid want to hunt down that twisted dragon with us," one of the younger hunters suggested, tossing his head and flicking a tuft of light brown hair out of his yellowy-green eyes. "You said earlier how it was in his blood, Reiden. After all, he is your son."
"What?" I cried, eyes widening as I stared at Reiden in shock. The tall hunter sighed and shoved a sword into my hands. I was barely able to hold the blade as my hands were trembling far too much while I waited for some sort of proper response. "What do you mean?"
"I was one of the survivors from Xenier," Reiden ran his hand through his hair, sighing heavily again. "Dalin was built from the remains of Xenier, but... I thought I had lost you, Richard. We couldn't find your body after the battle and I thought that my only son, my only child, had been taken by the Welveres. I was brokenhearted, but I promised that if you were still alive out there, I would find you. I just didn't... expect you to be half dragon, is all."
"Oh," I said weakly, unable to conjure up anything else worthwhile to be said - not 'oh' was the most appropriate thing to respond with, but still. English was still my weak link. It was better than the alternative that had come to mind - that being more along the lines 'Well why did you never look for me before you shot an arrow in my side, you dickhead?'
"Now come on, Richard. If memory serves well, you're still a bit underage human requirements for hunting age," Reiden's eyes bored into my own and I dropped my gaze to my feet as he continued with, "but of course, you're not quite human anymore. I think we can make an exception."
"You want me to hunt?" my hands started to shake even more and the sword clattered to the ground. "The dragon you're tracking - he's the one who cared for me for almost a year! He was more like a family than you ever were and you want me to kill him?" I was shouting now, tears pooling in the corners of my eyes and my body trembling violently out of horror. "When I first became half-dragon, I called myself a monster and you know what? I may still be a monster, but I will never be a murderer just for the sake of blood loyalty!" I didn't even wait to see the fear spreading over Reiden's face as I bared my fangs at him and charged, lifting my wings and springing up into the air just before I slammed into Reiden, clipping his head with one of the talons on my foot and flapping my wings strongly to gain momentum. Before long, I was truly flying for the first time, despite never learning how to. I heard a raspy shout from the hunters below me and an arrow arced through the air, striking against my shoulder blades but hardly piercing my tough scales. Elation flooded through my heart and I crowed giddily as I soared away, catching a light breeze near the tops of the redwood trees. I was home bound once again, and this time it was for sure.
"Jordan," I cried out as a flash of pearly, iridescent scales caught my eye. "Jordan!"
"Richard!" an ecstatic roar rose up to greet me and Jordan came barreling towards me, spiralling wildly through the air as he opened his mouth in a wide, toothy smile. He snatched me up with the front paw that wasn't twisted and held me close to his chest, rumbling my name over and over again under his breath as he fell into a glide back to the forest floor. I was laughing hysterically, pressing my now tear-streaked face to Jordan's heart and feeling his leathery paw curl more tightly around my shaking body as we descended further.
"Richard's back!" Kiwi's happy trill greeted me as we landed and I slipped to the ground, instantly getting tackled by the hatchling. I was still crying, but I was smiling so widely that I knew they were tears of joy. I was home. Back with my real family.
"Kiwi," I muttered, wrapping my arms around the hatchling's slender neck and hugging him close. "I'm so sorry that I didn't realise that someone was there sooner."
"Are you hurt at all? Did anyone follow you?" Jordan fretted, flicking his tail anxiously. "I looked for you around the village, but I couldn't get in."
Suddenly, the fact that there were hunters tracking Jordan back to us struck my mind and I scrambled away from Kiwi to get to my feet. "We have to go," I said urgently, flapping my wings to ready them, need I take off in a heartbeat's notice. "There's hunters tracking us and they could kill both of you. We have to get James and -"
"He's not come out of his cave for days," Jordan cut me off, orangey eyes filled with worry. "We tried to tell him about you, but he didn't speak to either of us. And you know, he usually makes a few minutes for Kiwi, if no-one else so we don't know what's going on."
"Well then we'll just have to trust that he can stand his own," I muttered determinedly, my heart feeling like ropes were squeezing it tightly as if to break it. "We can't stay. Kiwi's too vulnerable and Jordan, you're the only one who can fly us both out."
"Gotcha. Kiwi, climb onto my back and hold on tight," Jordan ordered, leaning down at letting the little black dragon climb up his smooth scales and perch between his largely-muscles shoulders. "Richard? Are you coming or not?"
"Yep," I answered, swishing my tail as I scaled Jordan's hide and tucked myself under Kiwi's lithe chest, feeling the heat from his lungs pulse above my tough scales. "Where will we go though?"
"The forest near the sea," Jordan stood up fully, ruffling his massive wings. "Trust me, we will be safe there and we can leave the past behind us."
A sudden roar split the air and Jordan flinched, taking flight quickly and soaring off in the direction of the rage-filled howl. My blood ran cold when it seemed that it was James's voice, but shriller, more human-like screams soon pierced the air.
Jordan glided over a battlefield nearby with Dalin's great hunters all gathered in a scattered ring around James, whose scales were embedded with pure gold and gleaming rubies adorned his face, making even the smallest ray of light shine like a rainbow on his scales made of gems. Blood was pooled around several limp hunters and I saw Denian limping away as quickly as possible, though Reiden was currently hanging from James's maw, speared completely through by one of the dragon's long teeth. I felt no regret as I stared at the corpse of my human father and didn't bother looking back when Jordan flew away again, apparently reassured that his blind brother was fending for himself just fine.
We flew well into the night and my eyes were drooping just as the moon hit the peak of midnight. I was relaxed, sprawled out over Jordan's broad back while Kiwi's head was resting on my own spine, making a warm, slightly heavy blanket.
"You can rest, Richard," Jordan smiled, tilting his head back to look at me. "We're together now from this night 'till the next dawn, and every dawn after. And I will always protect you little hatchling. I promise."
Holy Notch. Uh... wow. 13,723 words. New record. Best thing I've ever written. Has a comic. Check my Twitter Ender731. See the comic. Observe my new style. Leave a positive review. Yell at me to go to sleep because I've been awake for 37 hours. Yell at me that this had a legit happy ending. Yell at me that I'm going insane.