The Dragon King's Obsession

PROLOGUE

When Mystique Hunter walked down a road, people stopped to stare. Their reaction to her was often a look of admiration, followed by an exclamation of, “What a beautiful girl!” To whoever was beside them.

Even in its braid, her fiery red hair that contrasted with her light skin reached close to her waist. Her emerald eyes stood out, big and bright. With her cute button nose and glossy pink lips, it was no surprise that she attracted a lot of attention.

It wasn’t just the beauty from her mixed heritage that attracted people. It was the elegance with which she carried herself. The grace only a Hunter could wear as easily as a second skin.

She ignored the catcalls from drunken men who weren’t worthy of licking her boots as she strode home.

Her father was in a meeting with fellow dragon hunters when she barged in.

“What is the meaning of this horse crap? Why have the stable boys refused to let me take my horse!?” She vibrated with anger as she glared at her father.

Under the dim light of the room, he looked older than his age of forty seven. He took off his glasses and massaged his temples while his guests stared, affronted at the rude interruption.

“I overheard your friends talking about your foolish plan to storm the Dragon Mountains. I forbid it.” Eric Hunter, her father, said, putting on his glasses.

“I’m past the age of needing your approval! This is my hunt and you’re not ruining it for me!” She cried in exasperation. The other five men in the room followed the conversation with their head whipping from father daughter.

“As long as your horse is in my stables, it is not allowed out without my permission. Have fun walking the two thousand miles up north.” He snorted, dismissing her with a wave of his hand.

“Now, Eric, my Elliott will be with her. You know, he killed a red dragon last week. He can protect her. Allow the children to have a little fun before the festivities begin.” A man with a protruding stomach and balding hair said with a brassy voice.

“I mean no disrespect, Oswald, when I say I never asked your opinion. Your Elliott killed a baby dragon. He will be the one needing protection from Missy.” Eric said coldly. The rebuffed man turned red in the face at the public embarrassment. “As for you, Missy,” He turned to his fuming daughter, “You will not go anywhere near the Dragon Mountains. You’re foolish to think you and your little friends can walk into the home of the Drakii and walk out so I must save you from your folly before it destroys you!”

The other men in the room, four of them, they bristled at the insult to their children. Sure, they weren’t Hunters but they were still among the leading dragon hunting families. How dare Eric call their children little like they were kids in a playground unaware of the real world!?

Before any of them could protest this insult, the eldest Hunter walked in.

“Grandfather!” Missy shouted, rushing to hug the old man. “Tell father to release my horse right this minute! My friends await my arrival for us to venture to the Dragon Mountains.” She complained.

“What are you doing here?” Eric hissed at his father, rising from his seat.

“That is no way to welcome your father, Eric,” The old man said with exaggerated sadness.

“Welcome, Father,” Eric grumbled. “Now, tell me what you’re doing here!”

“If my son won’t visit me, then I must visit him. I’m an old man, Eric. I need my family around me. Who knows when I’m going to break my back or fall in my bath?” The older Hunter shook his head. “You don’t want me dead and rotten for days before anyone finds me like Edgar’s poor widow, do you?”

Used to his constant tirades, Eric was quick to stop his train of complaints.

“You hade a house full of maids and attendants to see to your needs.” He snapped. “You are only seventy two, father. Stop speaking as though you would drop dead anytime soon.”

“My father’s great grandfather died at thirty two, Eric. Death has no respect for age. But that’s by the way now.” He inserted himself at the oval table where the interrupted meeting had been going on.

The other men at the table looked at him in reverence. Richard Hunter was somewhat of a legend. In his days, he was known to have killed the most dragons among his peers. His legendary sword hung in his son’s office, a weapon of mass destruction.

“What is this I hear about the Dragon Mountains?” He easily inserted himself into the conversation and then he dominated it.

“Father has stopped my horse from leaving his stable. I planned to visit the Dragon Mountains for a simple hunt but he is standing in my way!” Missy complained. Her temperament was as fiery as her hair as she glared at her father who was still standing.

“Why, Eric? Are you now against dragon hunting?” Everyone in the room froze at that jab. It was no secret that Eric had not killed half as many dragons as his father but to accuse him of being against the Hunter’s code? Even Missy was affronted.

“W – what!?” Eric stuttered with wide eyes. “I’m against my daughter doing something so reckless as to walk into the home of the Drakii with only a few half trained hunters!” He exploded. A vein throbbed in his neck. This was the reason he stayed away from his father. The man had a knack for creating controversies out of thin air.

“Don’t be such a fret, son,” Richard said, rising from his seat. “Missy, come. I have a horse and a map you can borrow.” Eric’s jaw fell open as his temper flared. “Gentlemen.” Richard bowed at the awestruck men at the table before gripping his granddaughter by her elbow and pulling her along.

Richard Hunter did not think twice before approving the dangerous plan of his granddaughter. Her zeal reminded him so much of himself as a youth and he encouraged her passion to rid the earth of shapeshifting monsters. She rode with him in his car to his castle where he gave her a horse and his map of the roads.

Horses were going out of fashion but save for making the long trek on foot, there was no way to make it to the north without a horse. No roads linked the Drakii to the humans.

On her way to the path she was to meet her other friends, fellow children of dragon hunters, she picked up her best friend, Marigold. As they walked with the horse, people openly stared at the two pretty girls in their hunting regalia and ethereal beauty.

“A Tarot Shop!” Goldie exclaimed. The golden haired girl almost clapped in excitement.

“No,” Her friend shut her down immediately. She deflated like a punctured balloon.

They had reached Darkened Alley. The streets were loud and crowded with traders littered everywhere. Two or three times, a man or woman jumped before them, trying to persuade them to purchase their fantastic product.

“Buy this! Your hair will never have a tangle after you use it!” A man cried, jumping to halt their movement. He opened up a clear container and shoved it right under their noses. “Can you smell that? It was made from –“ He broke off as he recognized the emblems on their black bodysuits.

He apologized hurriedly, bowing away. He bumped into a soldier who lifted him by the scruff of his neck and carried him away to teach him a lesson.

Missy turned in time to see her friend disappear into a Tarot Reading shop.

“Why do I ever take this girl anywhere?” She muttered to herself. Goldie had a nasty habit of taking detours wherever they went, wasting precious time.

Missy found a boy to hold her horse before she followed after her friend.

The Tarot Reading shop was hidden between two shops of peeling green and yellow. The shop was almost invisible in its location.

She looked left and then right, making sure no one was paying her any attention before she ducked into the concealed entrance of the shop.

Goldie waited impatiently for her to enter, sitting crossed legged before a thin woman. “Took you long enough,” She drawled, uncrossing her legs and sitting up straighter. The Tarot Reader looked up at the newcomer and became speechless.

It was a look Missy knew all too well. The look of surprise that quickly morphed into admiration. She knew she wasn’t homely by a long shot but the looks still bothered her.

Reading the look of distaste on the newcomer's face, the Tarot Reader schooled her expression back to one of deep concentration before she spoke.

“Welcome, I know why you’re here. I am Tabitha.” The woman’s voice was quiet and eerie in the tight space of her shop.

Of course, you know why I’m here! There’s only one reason to be here. Not like you offer candy to lost children! Missy thought snidely.

Like most of the shops in the Darkened Alley, this one was small with only a little window that was blocked out by rags. It was also very tight. Strange objects littered everywhere. Two huge crystal balls were placed at either side of the entrance. At least three different incense burned in the shop, strong and overpowering. Combined, they smelled horrible. Only a small lamp on a cluttered table illuminated the foul smelling room.

Missy sat next to Goldie, opposite Tabitha. The lady outstretched her hands. Confused, Goldie tried to take them but she jerked like she had been burned.

In her most spiritual affection, she said, “Mhhhh! No! Grease the palm of the spirits!”

Goldie put her hand in her leather pouch and drew out a silver coin, excited to start her fortune reading.

Tabitha silently quivered in excitement. The silver coin had the image of a stern faced man on it and it was the most money anyone had ever offered for a reading.

Not for the first time, Missy wondered why she was doing this. Her grandfather would flip if he found out she was associating with the other kinds. She cursed herself for allowing Goldie to manipulate her into entering the shop. Goldie was a Believer. Missy was not. She liked the hard, cold facts of reality and did not believe anyone could see anything from cards and crystal balls.

She put her hand in her pouch and drew out a single bronze coin, small and without an engraved image on it. The Tarot Reader frowned.

“Not enough!” She closed her eyes, humming under her breath.

“What do you mean not enough?” She snapped. She had never gone for a reading before but she knew there was no fixed price. People paid whatever they wanted. Soldiers did not pay at all.

“The door of your fortune is blocked,” Tabitha said the same way a person would say 'Your father died.’ “I see cynicism “ She tightened her eyes. “You need more –“

“Donkey dust!” Missy exclaimed, pushing back her wooden chair as she stood. “We are leaving, Goldie!” She marched to the exit, her fine leather boots clicking on the creaky wood of the floor as she stomped away.

When Goldie did not rise, she turned to see her friend blinking baby blue eyes up at her with her lower lip jutted out. She stomped back to her seat, hating how she still could not resist a simple sad face. She looked at Tabitha, hating the cockiness in her wrinkled face.

She pulled a single gold coin, big and round with the image of a chained dragon engraved on it and dropped it into the Tarot Reader's outstretched palm.

Even the crystals were impressed by her donation. Goldie's eyes widened, the Tarot Reader’s jaw dropped at the sight of the shiny coin. A golden coin!

They were few in circulation. Only the wealthiest of the wealthy families dreamed to trade with them. It was the stamp of wealth.

“I – I cannot accept this “ Her voice quivered as she spoke. As did her hands.

“But you must,” Missy affected with care. “A donation for my cynicism. Now, read my fortune!”

Tabitha fell silent. She put the donation in her pouch with shaky hands, feeling a range of things at the same time. First, she felt excitement. No one in her generation had ever owned a golden coin. Then she felt nervous. She could not spend it. What trader would believe a Hunter had walked into her cramped shop and paid a golden coin for a reading? No one would. They would label her a thief and have the soldiers publicly whip her. Then she felt anger looking at Missy. The girl knew. She knew someone of her status could not spend such a coin. It was such a Hunter thing to do! Play people in their own game.

Tabitha peered into a crystal ball before she grabbed her deck of cards. She hummed and murmured as she shuffled them then reshuffled them until the girls were almost out of their seats with anticipation.

She cut the cards into three and it was Goldie's turn first.

She picked up her first card then a second and then a third. Tabitha stared with a spiritual calmness as the girl revealed her cards. 

“You have good luck here,” She said to Goldie. The golden haired girl beamed while her friend rolled her eyes.

“The Wheel of Fortune. You’re about to experience a change in fortune, my dearest.” Her voice was pitched high as she examined the cards in reverence.

“Is that – I already have good fortune. What will it change to?” Goldie asked, alarmed with her doe eyes widened.

“To better fortune,” Tabitha replied simply. Goldie clapped and Missy rolled her eyes harder.

In the end, it was pronounced that Goldie had a great fortune. She had picked good cards that showed she was about to come into a better fortune, meet her perfect match and start a family of golden haired children. All the while, Tabitha kept pausing for effect to further excite Goldie. Missy rolled her eyes harder still.

She was what Tarot Readers and magic practitioners called an Unbeliever. Those that did not believe in magic. Those that knew only the reality of humans and dragons. If there were men who could shed their skin and take on a body with wings and could breathe fire, why couldn’t there be women who peered into globes and saw death and destruction?

After Goldie’s good fortune, Tabitha shuffled her cards again and offered them to Missy who made sure to scoff every time the Tarot Reader sighed or heaved, something that happened every second.

While the lady sighed and hummed, she thought of the time she was wasting, sitting there. It was a long journey to the Dragon Mountains. She wondered if the white stallion she got from her grandfather was still out there. No one would dare steal from a Hunter but what if? She had better things to do than sit and listen to this fraudulent woman behave like someone possessed by an evil spirit.

It was with these thoughts she pulled her three cards, thinking of her grandfather’s stallion. Tabitha gasped like a woman in theatre, drawing Missy out of her thoughts. Goldie was peering at her cards, shaking her head like she knew what they meant.

“What is it?” She snapped.

She knew it would be something terrible since she was involved. Was she going to fall down a cliff and break her leg? Would a dragon roast her as she approached their hideout? Would her horse drop dead on the way!?

The first card she had pulled without thought was the thirteenth trump card. On it was written 'DEATH' in bold, block letters. That one didn’t need interpretation.

“No,” Goldie whispered, covering her mouth with her hand.

“Something terrible!” Tabitha cried dramatically. Goldie clutched her friend’s hand with one hand and the locket on her throat with the other.

The Tarot Reader frowned at the next card. She wasn’t quite sure what it meant. Her mother had taught her Tarot Reading but until she found herself without a roof above her head and no food in her stomach, she had never paid attention to it. Tarot reading was a family business she had dreamt of escaping until she had woken up to reality.

The next card was the Fool. Having no concrete Tarot Reading knowledge, she said in her most exaggerated voice yet. “You have been living a lie! This lie is terrible. Oh, it’s going to cause a lot of death around you!” Her eyes were wide and teary. She peered into the last card.

“Your temper! Yes, it’s bad! It’ll destroy you! Blood and death because of a lie. Because of your temper!”

Goldie was already crying for the doom and destruction awaiting her dearest friend. She cried silently to the side as the Tarot Reader clutched Missy’s hands and offered her a clearer reading in one of her crystals.

“It’ll cost you sixteen silver pieces but it’s worth it!” Tabitha cried, whimpering as Missy wrenched her hands out of hers.

“I’ve heard enough dust from the s**t hole you call a mouth! Goldie, up! We’re leaving.” She stormed off without checking to see if her friend was following.

They joined their other friends on an abandoned path to the north and off they went to the Dragon Mountains.

All the while as they galloped to hunt, Missy wondered what lies she had been told. What lies she had been living. She tried to push the words out of her head but they kept coming back. They kept haunting her.

What lies did she believe and what destruction was waiting for her ahead?