The Last Dragon

by Ella Hart

  The Last Dragon

  Last Dragon Series Book 1

  By:

  Ella Hart

  Table of Contents:

  Chapter One: Ruing the Rain

  Chapter Two: Death Abounding

  Chapter Three: A New Friend

  Chapter Four: Found Out

  Chapter Five: Previous Betrayals

  Chapter Six: Sting of New Betrayal

  Chapter Seven: Getting Acquainted

  Chapter Eight: Road Trip Blues

  Chapter Nine: New Love

  Chapter Ten: Love Admitted

  Chapter Eleven: Moving On

  Copyright © 2017 by Ella Hart

  All rights reserved.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited, and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

  Chapter One: Ruing the Rain

  Cobalt ran his fingers over the patch of scaly skin on his left hand. He wondered absent-mindedly at the small but distinctive marking. As a dragon-shifter, he was supposed to appear completely human when he wished, yet for all his years, that one stubborn patch would never disappear when he shifted. He let out a deep, cold sigh, and stuck his head out of the cave.

  Though a bright day, it didn’t feel as though it’d stay that way. If he was going to visit town, he’d have to go now. A delay of more than an hour would send him running in the rain, and then he’d rue leaving the cave. He would hate himself for it. He always did.

  Even when it didn’t rain on him.

  Gathering his willpower, he stood up and stretched. It had been a while since he’d been out, but something just didn’t feel right about staying in today. With a heavy heart, he grabbed his jacket and headed down the rocky hillside, into the long grass. The jacket’s rough leather had softened to fit him perfectly, and he seldom went anywhere without it. It was the only thing he had left of his father. He had been human, and his mother a full-blooded dragon. There was a stigma about that back then; and if he was honest with himself, there still is.

  He’d long given up trying to live alongside humans. They knew he was different, and kept their distance from him. He’d grown tired of their suspicious eyes and relentless comments, and had resigned himself to a life of solitude. It was what he preferred, anyway.

  The wild grass brushed against him as he made his way through it. It was the kind of grass that made humans itch – something about the oils, he thought. It didn’t bother him much. His resemblance to them was the only thing he really had in common with humans.

  Savoring the solitude of the expansive grass fields, his thoughts began to wander. He knew he couldn’t hide his identity from the townspeople for much longer. He couldn’t shake the feeling that some already suspected what he was. After all, Cobalt wasn’t an incredibly common name for a human.

  He shook his head and imagined his worries sliding off into the river. The technique worked for him sometimes – other times there was no stopping the thought train in his mind. He spent so much time in human form that he sometimes had to remind himself to wash like a dragon – a lesson he had learnt almost too late. The memory of almost drowning crept up on him again, and he pushed it away as it started to rain.

  He shivered lightly. Cold rain wasn’t uncommon for this time of year, but it always caught him off-guard. He preferred warm rain – at least then he could imagine he was bathing or showering. As Cobalt neared the town, he withdrew from the tall grass and moved into a clearing. He paused for a moment to let the rain wash the sticky pollen from his hands and clothing, the drops slowly sliding down his fingers. He took off the jacket, now uncomfortably wet and heavy. At least it had kept him dry underneath, except for the wet patch where the water had run down his neck and into his collar. As the rain reduced to a drizzle, he looked around him.

  It wasn’t much to look at, even quieter than normal after the rain. A bakery lay slightly north of him, and the only laundromat was just a little further down the road with a small convenience store between them. He knew it well. A farmer that lived a mile or so out of town supplied the groceries there, and got a good cut of the profits. It helped him to feed his family. Sure, they imported a few things from out of town, but it was still an honest farmer’s town, through and through.

  That was partly the reason for his fear of being found out. In the olden days, the people were afraid of dragons and dragon shifters, and for good reason. The dragons would burn the crops back then, and whole villages would starve and die because of them. Because of his kind. He didn’t blame the village for hating them still. For hating him if they found out.

  As he entered the grocery store, he noticed a young woman standing at the counter. She was most likely passing through and needed some things for her ride. Few people would willingly move here, to the town of Hamlet. It had a small judicial system, and everyone knew everyone. By name, how they were doing, where they lived... Even who their families were, extended beyond the current generations that were still living.

  Cobalt watched the young woman for a moment before continuing his way. The stranger would be gone by the next day. He expected it so. He hoped it would be so. Newcomers to Hamlet didn’t last very long. There could be issues with how they lived, what kind of lifestyle they were accustomed to, and even the lack of high-speed internet. Only one service provided internet out here, and to be honest, it wasn’t all that good. Even his cave got better service than the grocery store.

  As he was pricing out the lettuce, he had the feeling that something was off. Were they watching the unfamiliar young woman, or were all their eyes on him? He had a tendency of drawing attention to himself without meaning to. That was just the way of small towns – harsher to outsiders, he supposed. Then again, he’d been living there for so long that people would probably start suspecting he was immortal. He was, but that was beside the point.

  Killing a dragon was difficult, not something many people were able to do.

  “Excuse me?” A sweet, unfamiliar voice caught his ears. He turned in its direction and standing behind him was the young woman.

  “Yes?” Cobalt replied. Maybe he had been wrong. Maybe she was coming to stay.

  “Where’s the best place to get some milk? I notice they don’t carry it here...” She didn’t sound like someone just passing through. “I just moved in.” And there it was.

  “That would be at the dairy farm, just a mile south of town. He’s tried to sell here, but it goes bad before people buy it. He does deliver daily, though. I’m Cobalt.” He held his hand out and she shook it. She had an unusually firm grip for a woman, he thought. Not that he was in the habit of shaking many ladies’ hands.

  Was she a big firm lawyer? After all, that grip was typical of lawyers. They didn’t like to let you go until you had signed them.

  “I’m Paulina,” she smiled. “It’s nice to meet you. Would you mind introducing me to the dairy farmer? After we’re done grocery shopping, I mean.” The smile turned sheepish. He felt as though his social awkwardness was showing. He never understood how a woman could simply ask directions like that.

  “Sure. My shopping can wait.” He honestly wasn’t all that sure he would buy anything anyway. He could put off the purchase for a few hours. “Are you all done, then?”

  “I have to check out, but yes.” Her smile regained its sparkle. There was a hint of pearly white peeking out. She had certainly come from a big city. Maybe even New York. He’d been there once or twice as a young dragon – though it was thousands of miles away from here.

/>   When was the last time a big-city girl had wanted to stay in this Podunk town? Never, that’s when.

  “Will you be staying here long, or just for a few weeks?” He couldn’t help but ask. There had to be a reason she had come out here. Maybe she was starting up an office site here for a law firm. Or maybe she just wanted to get away from the city life for a while. She’d soon come to her senses and leave. They always did.

  “I have family here. They’re older and can’t do as much as they used to.” She sounded sincere in her actions. “I moved out here to help them.” Now he wondered who she was related to. There weren’t that many older couples in town that didn’t have family in town anymore.

  “The Monson family.” She smiled as if she knew what he was thinking. “Mr. Maddox Monson and his wife, Amelia.” He remembered them. They didn’t come out too much anymore; he’d seen them grow up and get married and have kids. He’d once thought he and Amelia would fall in love, but it didn’t happen. Now he was watching her die, and it broke his heart in the worst way.

  “Oh. I know the Monson family well. I grew up with their kids.” He wasn’t quite sure how she’d take that. He didn’t look nearly as old as he was, nor as old as that statement implied he was. It sounded as though he were in his fifties.

  “You don’t look that old.” She laughed a little. “Looking good for fifty-something. I would’ve guessed you were twenty, maybe twenty-two, tops. My age.” Her smile brightened a little more. She must’ve seen the humor in what he had said. He smiled, trying to hide the pain he felt. It was difficult to watch everyone around him get old and die. Sometimes he felt like he was trapped in slow-motion while the world continued around him. She proceeded to check out and pay for her items, and the conversation lulled a little. He let it die and had a few moments alone with his thoughts, before he would have to continue talking.

  Chapter Two: Death Abounding

  The rest of the day was surprisingly pleasant. Cobalt didn’t usually enjoy the presence of others; he’d known too many people who had passed away in front of his eyes. Too many that never got to know his secret. It was easier not to talk to anyone at all. Paulina was different. She didn’t seem to mind that he looked too young. Or that he seemed to have wisdom beyond the fifty-something he had led her to believe he was. There was something in her air, her spirits, that was different from the typical passer-by on their way to something better. She wasn’t a typical city girl, either.

  On the ride to the dairy farm, she had told him about her life in the city – in New York City. She had been an aspiring actress until she had strained her vocal chords, and singing was no longer an option. Once she had realized that her dreams were dead forever, she decided to come help her ailing grandparents. She knew it would be a big adjustment after the bright lights of the actress lifestyle, but it was for the better. It had taken her three days to drive down, staying in cheap motels each night. She even got bit by a rat in one of them, but luckily, she hadn’t gotten an infection or rabies.

  Then she’d asked to hear some of his stories. He tried to limit it to events that had happened in the last fifty or so years. Living in a small town like this one, that was kind of hard. He’d had a traveler’s life before settling down. That much he told her. The particular stories he loved to tell had happened well over two hundred years ago, yet he told them to her anyway. She didn’t seem to notice that they were well dated and well-known around town. In fact, she hadn’t even heard about him until he had walked into the grocery store. A welcome relief, he was tired of explaining.

  Then she revealed that she had often come to the small town in her youth to spend summers with her grandparents. She remembered fishing in the river; milking cows on the farm that they no longer had. She sounded upset, or happy. He couldn’t tell.

  Humans could be weird sometimes. There really wasn’t much more that he could do to understand them. If he didn’t understand them after four thousand years, he wasn’t going to understand them after having a long conversation with one.

  As she pulled her car into the long driveway of the dairy farm, the conversation stalled again. She seemed to sense something odd about him, that he wasn’t quite what he said he was. That didn’t really bother him. He was used to it by now and recognized the look. Most people seemed to get that feeling about him.

  “Are you leaving something out?” She posed this question as she stopped the car halfway up the driveway.

  “What makes you ask that?” He furrowed his brows. “You just seem a little jumpy when I ask you things about yourself.” She smiled a little. “I don’t mean to make you jumpy, Cobalt.”

  Her soft tone and piercing eyes awakened an emotion inside him that he never thought he would feel again. “No one asks about my personal life around here; that’s all. We all tend to know before asking.” He laughed a little. “I’m not used to someone needing to ask about this.” He bit his lip a little.

  “Well, in the city, it’s a little different. Have you ever lived in a big city?” She started to move the car forward slowly.

  “Not in a long while.” He was interested in seeing what she said at this point. A long while could mean many things. In this case, it meant about a thousand years. He’d just enjoyed the feeling of a small town better – though a large city was probably a better hiding spot for an immortal like him.

  “Oh. I see. Did you grow up in a small town before you travelled the world?” She continued to ask him questions. This time, she was making him think back to a time before he knew anyone besides dragon shifters existed. It had indeed been a small town. There hadn’t been many who stayed there.

  “Yes. I grew up in a small town that has since become a ghost town.” He remembered when he tried to return home. No one had been there. The caves were full of mice and rats – as always, but, the dragon shifters had been wiped out. He’d found evidence of a war. Some other race had managed to get the drop on them.

  “Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” S stopped the car at the dairy farm and turned off the engine.

  “Well, here we are,” he said cheerfully, trying to brighten the subject. “Let me introduce you to Mr. Jenkins.” Taking off his seatbelt, he continued, “It’s the least I could do for a newcomer. It can be difficult for new move-ins to get introduced to everyone and get into the circle.” A small chuckle escaped his lips. “I’ve seen people move out just because they didn’t feel welcome here.”

  “I’ve lived in small towns before. Never one that seemed to be so... opposed to outsiders, though.” She forced a laugh. “Is it always so hard for an outsider around here?”

  “Only those who don’t make a friend.” He smiled and looked at her warmly. “I do hope you can consider me a friend.” For some reason, she struck him as the kind of woman that he could eventually confide his secret to. He almost felt like there was something he was missing about her. Could she be a dragon shifter, too? He doubted it, if he was honest.

  “I hope you can do the same for me.” She returned the confidence a glowing smile. There didn’t seem to be a problem with what he had said. Instead, she seemed ready to return the gesture, quickly and easily. Somehow, it didn’t seem as though it should be that easy. He was expecting some sort of question or something before he was her friend. Maybe that was just the way of some girls.

  Cobalt couldn’t help but laugh a little as he got out of the car. As they trudged up the muddy drive, he wondered when Mr. Jenkins would get his drive paved. Someone would have to help him pay for it; sometimes the dairy farm didn’t do so well. Perhaps the drive wasn’t one of his most pressing concerns at that point in time.

  “So, how old is Mr. Jenkins?” Paulina started the conversation again. He was comfortable with silence, but for some reason, she liked to have a conversation going. The experience was strange to Cobalt. He’d never just... talked to someone for so long. She gave the impression that she wanted to get to know him, and it actually felt pretty good.

  “He’s 66.” He smiled. “His so
ns are getting ready to take over the farm. For now, he only oversees the customer list. He’ll probably continue to be involved in the business, but not as the head of the farm.”

  “Is it always so easy here in the small town?” She furrowed her brows. “Easy to keep businesses going, I mean?”

  “As long as the big names don’t move in, yes.” He nodded. “One of the big farming companies tried to move in a few years ago. We fought them tooth and nail, and won.” He broke into a smile.

  “I see. That’s interesting.” She seemed to share in his happiness over the town’s victory.

  They we at the door, and he knocked loudly. From experience, he’d learnt that they often couldn’t hear him on account of the radio or television being on. He couldn’t understand how they could stand to keep it so loud. After a few minutes and another round of knocking, Mr. Jenkins himself answered the door, still a little unsteady on his feet after his stroke.

  “Cobalt! Come on in.” He smiled warmly.

  “Good morning, Mr. Jenkins. How are you doing today?” He wanted to let the older man know he was there for him. He’d always been good to Cobalt, and he’d be sad to see the old man go. “I’m recovering as fast as I can. The stroke left my arm paralyzed, though.” He sighed. “I have to learn to write with my right hand, like regular folk. So, who’s your friend there?”

  “I’m Paulina Monson, Mr. Maddox Monson’s granddaughter.” She smiled as she introduced herself. “I need some milk.”

  “You’ll want to talk to my son, Ryan. He’s taken over the business.” “I’m surprised that hasn’t become common knowledge yet, Mr. Jenkins,” Cobalt teased the elderly man a little. “But that’s good for him. Are you planning to rejoin the company any time soon?”

  “Maybe. I don’t know quite yet.” He smiled sadly. “I have been thinking of retiring. And with Amanda deciding to return home, I think the family will be all right less one member working. Why don’t you two wait right here? I’ll go get Ryan for you.”