The Dragon King's Obsession

ONE

We slowed our horses to a trot after hours of travelling. When we were near enough to the home of the Drakii, we dismounted to continue on foot. The five of us, Goldie and I as well as three men, also hunters and children of hunters, dismounted.

My stallion kicked up a storm, refusing to be fastened.

The forest around us was silent and I feared his neighs would attract attention before we were ready to be found out.

We fastened our horses and started the trek to the Mountains.

“Are we ready?” I asked my companions as we drew closer to our destination. They halted to gaze at me.

The words of the Tarot Reader rang clear in my head. These men and lady were the closest people to me on earth. As fellow heirs of prominent dragon hunters, we had grown in each other’s company. I had trained with them. Hunted with them. Laughed with them. I would hate to put them forward on a journey they were not agreeable with.

“We’ve hunted dragons before. This is nothing new. “ Elliott's obnoxious voice answered me.

With an unruly mop of golden hair and eyes so blue they resembled the ocean, Elliott was unnaturally beautiful. He was Lord to a flock of giggling ladies. A studious and charming lord. I hate to admit that his charms had fooled me before.

He fit into the category of dreamboat and he was a really proud one. He spoke like the emperor of our little group, bossing everyone around. Everyone except me.

“Shut up, Elliott.” I snapped.

I was not being mean on purpose but my nerves were all over the place. My pride would not let me put in words the terror in my heart. It grew as the sun set around us. We were less than a mile away from where the dragons lived. Their territory.

Only the bravest hunters and a few foolish men ventured close to the Dragon Mountains. We were going to put our bravery to the test and hope it did not unravel as foolishness.

 “Don’t take that tone with me, Missy.” Elliot sneered at me.

The incidents from the day were getting too much. They piled high and made me snap. First, the foolish stable boy that blocked me from getting Blackbear, my horse, to Father’s lack of faith in my hunt. The crazy Tarot reader and her lies that spooked me whether I admitted it or not and now Elliott and his empty pride.

 “I’m taking any tone I want with you, Elliott,” I sneered back. It was not the time to pick a fight but I would not let him speak to me like he was the High Duke. My nerves were strung tight, my heart migrated to my throat. I wanted to lash out at something or someone and he was about to make himself a vessel.

Before we could fall into our usual banter, our friends jumped in to stop us.

“This is not the time for pointless bickering!” Benjamin said. “Elliott, stop acting as though you do not know the seriousness of this plot! We must put our heads together if we are to return with them!”

“Benjamin is right,” Joshua cut in. “If we band together, we will have a tale to tell our generation. This is not the time for squabbles.”

Benjamin and Joshua were the most alike of us all. Hence, we named them the twins. They were as close in blood as a dragon and our kind.

We left our horses, making sure they were fastened tightly enough to not break away and then we trudged off.

The Dragon Mountains was said to be chilly all year round. We came prepared with large fur coats but before long, the cold was eating away at our fingers. The chattering of Goldie’s teeth followed us as we moved up the steeped path. She almost lost her balance for the third time but her brother caught her. Elliott.

When we finally reached a part that was levelled, we stopped to catch our breath.

We were fully in Drakii territory.

From up where we were standing, a blatant display of wealth was visible. It was as if we had walked into a fantasy land. Castles with intricate designs, gates of strong iron coated in gold dazzled the eye from each corner.

And far off, in the middle of castles and mountains, the tallest of them stood.

My body tensed in alert as the birds quietened. The hairs on my arms stood still as fear spread. I pulled an arrow from my quiver and readied to shoot. Goldie and Joshua drew their swords, gripping the hilt firmly. Elliott got out his rifle while Benjamin mirrored me. We stood in a circle with our backs to each other

It would have been easier to use a rifle but none of us were trained with that thing. I could fire off arrows faster than it could be reloaded.

We didn’t get a chance to fire anything as Joshua’s scream rent the air. Fire came blazing down on us before we could think to react. We dove in different directions. A bit of flame caught on my trousers. I saw it as I stomped my leg.

A magnificent red dragon. The span of its wings was indescribable.

We had been warned that older dragons were stealthy but this one had come upon us like a conjuring. He moved like a hunter of his kind.

A small distance away from me, it rained fire. It bore down on my friend and his screams prompted me to action. My first instinct was to dive and pull him out before the fire reached him but someone gripped my charred leg.

Goldie’s big blue eyes were almost as wide as the crystal orbs from the Tarot Reading place as she stopped me from going to Joshua’s aide. We watched as he went up in flames.

“No!” I broke out of her hold and ran at him. There was nothing I could do as he writhed in pain. I doused him with my supply of water. The effect was as a teardrop in an ocean. Inconsequential.

I stood at a loss as my friend since childhood burnt. Someone barrelled into me, sending me flying ten feet away.

“Run, Missy!” Elliott shouted as the ground I had been standing on a few second prior caught up in flames too.

My eyes were blind as I stumbled. I felt blood trickle down my face from the fall, smoke covered my vision, assaulted my lungs.

“Missy!” I heard Goldie scream in a horribly tightened voice before I felt the hot breath on my neck.

I turned while time slowed. I turned to see a scaly red reptile, huge nose puffing out smoke and slit-like yellow eyes fixed on me.

My heart fell into my stomach.

I took a step back. Then another. The big red dragon waited, watching me. It almost seemed amused as it took in powerful breaths, sucking the air greedily into its great nostrils.

I launched an arrow but a strong wind knocked it off its path. The beast still watched me in a taunting way. I launched another but my arms were unstable.

It went against all my training but I turned and I ran. I ran like my clothes were on fire. I ran like I was trying to escape my shadow. I ran like my life depended on it. I flew through the ground, leapt over twigs and rocks. I ran until I could no longer feel the presence of the great red beast.

The air was clear but it was still like the very wind knew that a predator was on the loose.

I kept running.

Foolish, foolish Mystique. I was running closer to the home of the Drakii. I could see the looming castle of their king up ahead, a mast that no one could see the top of.

I changed gears and started to run back, zigzagging through rocks and bones that made me shudder. My feet started to grow weary but I pushed them harder.

I ran all the way back to our horses. The stallion my grandfather had lent me and the black Moroccan mare that Joshua had gotten at his coming of age were kicking up dirt. They neighed louder as I approached, my stallion managing to tangle himself around the tree I had tied it too.

The rest had made it out. All of them except Joshua. The sounds of his screams re-echoed in my head, his burnt body plagued my consciousness. By god, I was terrified. I was out of my mind with worry and guilt and pain.

My hands trembled as I worked my horse free. The stallion jerked and neighed. It kicked up its front legs and made my unsteady hands more unsteady.

My head banged, I wiped blood and grime off my cheeks, the sour on my burnt ankle was irritated.

I jerked the rope on the stallion loose just as large shoulders blocked out the sunset. He was a huge man, tall and big and broad-chested. He wore only a small wrap around his groin and there was a tattoo of a big red dragon covering his left hand

Shifter.

“The others will enjoy hearing you scream.” His lips stretched up in ridicule. I turned to run again but a heavy hand on my head rooted me to the ground

“Enough of the running, human. I’m done playing.” He snarled with glee in his yellow eyes. “We will continue the fun with my brothers.”

“L – let go of me!” I was a Hunter and a Hunter never conceded defeat. I tried to shove him off but it was like moving a rock. Even his hands did not move. A sack covered my head before I knew it. Then my feet were off the ground.

The horses neighed louder as we launched into the air. I could not see but I felt the change in altitude. My stomach got queasy. The bread and meat I had for lunch jostled about until my stomach could not hold them anymore.

I threw up and the sack on my head trapped the vomit against my face.