The Red Dragon

Chapter Four:

Charlotte’s POV:

I stare at the park in front of me, making sure there is no movement or activity anywhere nearby. It is two in the morning and usually, the humans are asleep and never in the park at this time during the week. I quickly run to the bench, which is well hidden by the weeping willow trees and take off my satchel filled with some items brought from home. I lay them out in front of me on the grass, which has become my ritual for many years now. You see, I have been carrying a secret for a long time, which is that despite not having ever shifted into a dragon, I have dragon abilities and in order to nurture them I sneak out in the dead of each night to practice. I look down at my special items, sitting in a semi-circle and cannot help but think of my sister, who just came to visit.

Dragon glass, which is our biggest threat.

A dragon stone bath, which apparently can hold dragon fire.

An enchanted dragon cloth, which forces a shift in a dragon.

A bottle of dragon water, which can show you your dragon and the future.

A mirror.

I sit in between the glass, closing my eyes and allowing the power inside me to ignite. It feels like a fire burning from my toes and up to my eyes. A wind roars around me, blowing the long, swooping leaves of the willow tree and even causing the ducks from the pond nearby to awaken, but just before it becomes out of hand, the fire inside me stops and I open my eyes. I lift the mirror to my face and look down at it, smiling at the red eyes gleaming back at me. I have awoken my dragon. I sit silently for a few seconds, allowing my heightened hearing to make sure I am alone and only when I am convinced that nobody is around, so I become relaxed.

The first thing on my list of things to do is prick myself with the dragon glass, which stings like something stupid. I add a few drops of the blood to the bottle of dragon water and I watch as the contents shimmer red. I look closely, watching as my blood twirls and dances within the liquid until it eventually morphs into a flying dragon. I watch as the dragon, which is red from my blood, swoops and dips in the liquid and she even lets out a puff of soaring fire. I smile at this, as it means I definitely have a dragon inside me. I go onto the next step and close my eyes, imagining my lungs filling with searing, hot embers. When I finally feel like my whole chest is about to burn into ash, I breathe out, allowing the soft flows of smoky fire to fill the dragon stone bath. My eyes glimmer in joy, as I watch the fire streaming from my mouth and pooling in the bath. Yes! I stop and watch the fire dancing, swooshing and splashing, as if it is only bright, orange water. The final step is to see if I can finally shift, but this step is usually such a fail! Every time I come here, I effortlessly get through all the tests, but it would seem my dragon just isn’t ready to come out yet. I throw sand on the dragon stone bath, killing all the flames and then turn to look at the dragon cloth sitting delicately on the grass. Please, let today finally be the day! I lift the cloth up with my fingers and place it on my arm, feeling the way its silky fabric stings against my skin. I watch as my arm starts erupting into fiery-looking scales, but I can only scream as my body resists the shift. I try to push further and further, barely holding back the tears from the excruciating pain bubbling inside me, but this does nothing to convince my dragon to come out.

“I see something there!” I hear a voice boom, which makes me quickly throw the dragon cloth down from my arms. s**t! I hear the steps from the other end of the park and they seem to be running closer and closer. These people have been interrupting my little practice sessions for a few nights in a row now and they always appear out of nowhere. Thankfully, they aren’t as sneaky as me.

I throw all my precious items into my backpack and sneak behind the tree, disappearing into a long line of hedges that run all along with the parameter of the park and back to my house. I manage to get most of the way back to my house, hardly stopping to take a breath and pushing my legs faster than ever. I dive behind my rose bushes just in time to see the several male figures surrounding the Weeping willow. I have managed to calm myself enough to the point of “switching off” my dragon and I just hope that from where they are, my navy blue clothes cannot be seen. I watch, as the figures circle the tree, one even leans down and plays with the dirt. I feel absolutely paralyzed watching them and my heart rate is beyond crazy. They are so busy searching, that I decide to very slowly back myself up to my front door, reaching up to turn the handle and open it. I manage to squeeze myself in while bent down, but I do not miss the two, very bright, beaming, orange eyes that look in my direction. Just as I notice them, all the figures disappear into thin air, making my entire world rock upside down.

The little army trying to find me are dragons. My brows furrow at the thought of dragons coming into the Human land. They never come here!

“There has been unrest amongst the magical creatures.” My sister's voice rings in my memory over and over, making my hairs stand on edge.

Perhaps the unrest is what is causing them to come here?

Maybe I should go home and see what this is all about.

Dominic’s POV:

My dragon radar bursts into piercing and long whines, as a small red dot flashes across the screen.

“WARNING: DRAGON ACTIVITY IN HUMAN LAND” The machine screams over and over again, trying its best to inform me of the posing threat. I sigh in frustration at this.

“Luke, Charlie, time to go for another trip to the humans. Round up a few more men.” I mind link my second and third, informing them of our current situation.

“Dragon activity again?” Luke asks in the mind link.

“Yes. Meet me in the sky.” I respond, bursting through the door and allowing my body to morph into my dragon. I embrace the hot embers that take over, as my green dragon soars through the air. I see Luke, Charlie and a few others already waiting for me, which makes me happy. Good. We fly at impossible speeds through the sky, watching as the midnight sky changes from our humid climate to the human's slightly cooler one. Must be all the dragon fire in the air around us, but I much prefer the heat. The trip to the human land doesn't take long, considering how fast we move, but in human distance, it is unreachable far and even outer-worldly.

“Approaching. No noise. Stay above the clouds. Same place as last time. You know the drill.” I say, giving all my men the necessary details. This whole thing has seriously been a weird case for us. For years now, there have been spotting’s of dragon activity in the human land. Most recently, it has been activity coming from a small park in one of the towns, but every single time we get there, it is as if all ounces of magic have vanished. It is very odd, as dragons can sense other dragons for miles.

All of us swoop down low, finally able to see the park underneath us and we streamline our wings, creating as little turbulence in the human air as possible. We have managed to barely disrupt the natural order of things for humans, but for a split second, just before our dragons hit the earth, our bodies shift back into human form. With the help from the Palace witch, I have managed to also enable some invisibility powers, which we also use while we sort ourselves out. There aren’t many laws that accumulate to death, but exposing yourself to a human is one of them, which is why we need to find out who this dragon is so that they can face the consequences!

All of us finally step into the park, looking as human as can be and begin to walk around. We all look at each other with our glowing eyes, feeling the surge of energy around us. The dragon is close by. We walk along a narrow pathway, watching as the ducks stare at us with untrusting eyes. Everything looks so dainty and delicate in the human world, a bench made for two would only fit one of me and the water fountain for drinking is impossibly low. The night is a very still one, with not even the slightest crackle of activity. I do wonder why this dragon always comes out in these sorts of circumstances. Perhaps they are trying to keep themselves hidden from the humans after all?

“I see something there!” Charlie whispers and points to a very faint, but obvious light coming from underneath one of the drooping trees. This is where the dragon always seems to be, yet we have never seen it in the flesh. I nod and point for my men to edge closer. We have no idea what we are up again. All of our steps have become a little less slow and within a second, the dim light is gone, making us immediately sprint. It is as if this dragon has extra sensitive hearing and can feel us coming every single time.

We all run-up to the tree and I quickly shove the hanging leaves away. I can smell dragon magic in the air here and I can even feel the warmth of its presence. It seems to be a dragon that is friendly, but searching and caged in, which makes me frown. I have no idea what this means. I look down at the ground and see Luke fiddling with some soil.

“Dragon fire. It’s still warm.” He says, pinching the soft embers in between his fingers. I can see the soft orange still fighting for life within the moist sand. This dragon is a powerful one too.

We all stand, trying to sense anything around us, but nothing seems to reach us. This dragon really has me stumped. I have done countless tracking workshops, I have hunted down the worst and most sneaky and I have even trained many on how to use your senses to find someone, but this dragon always leaves me unable to do anything. I close my eyes and allow my dragon to take in everything. Only the softest, most subtle squeak makes me turn my head to the right. It would take an expert to have seen or heard it, but my eyes and ears miss nothing. The red door on that white house moved, even if it was only the slightest inch.

“Invisibility, now.” I quickly order my men and all of us disappear into the air. They know better than to speak to me when we are like this, as that would be beside the point. I slowly edge closer to the little house, taking in its ornate cornices and striking door. Something is inviting and warm within its red edges. My fingers play with the red petals of the roses decorating the many bushes in the yard. It is a pretty house and reeks of femininity. I let my dragon take over my senses again.

I smell a woman. She is soft, sensual and spicy all at once.

I can hear her very normal heartbeat.

I can taste worry in the air. I frown.

Just a little more, I beg my dragon, before opening my eyes and walking back to my men.

“Just a lousy little human girl. No dragon there.” I remark, causing my friends to nod and chuckle out.

“Looks like no luck today, Dominic.” Charlie says, patting me on the back. I feel so frustrated every time we come down here and hit a dead wall. We have all the evidence we need to know that there is most definitely a dragon walking about, but this one is ridiculously clever.

“Beers at my place?” Luke asks Charlie and me and we both smile and nod. They have both already begun their shift and I watch as their dragons shoot up into the air at lightning speed, but something keeps me on the spot. I look back at the little white house, with the flirtatious red door and shake my head. Strange.

“You coming?” I hear Luke mind link me again and I break my eyes away from the home. My two friends and my men are waiting for me in the sky, their trails leaving hues of orange within the clouds.

“Yes, I’m coming.” I respond, finally shifting and joining them.

Next time I will catch you and I won’t let you go.