She sighed. “Yes, but why could they not have all stayed?”
“Because they have the instincts of black dragons,” the black dragon replied. “They do not want to live in small clans or large colonies.”
“But it would have been safer!” the red dragon cried. “Most of them would still be alive if they had stayed…”
My heart sunk. Raikidan told me it was a hard life for half-colors but from the sounds of it, they were killed in cold blood, which he had never mentioned.
The black dragon looked as though he was planning to respond but a roar echoed from the sky. Curious, I ventured out of the cave to take a look. Ascending from the sky was a massive black dragon and a beautiful emerald green dragon. The two dragons on the ledge moved, allowing the dragons in flight to land.
When they landed I noticed a squirming green and black bundle of scales in the green dragon’s mouth. The green dragon lowered her hand and she barely managed to open her jaws before her precious bundle scampered off into the cave.
I turned to watch the little green dragon bowl over Raikidan. Raikidan, forgetting why he was sad, wrestled with his new companion. I smiled as I watched them. They were so innocent. I noticed the interesting pattern on the little green dragon’s body as they played. Although his scales were predominately green he had black ones scattered across his body like stars in the sky.
I wondered if this was Corliss. Raikidan never mentioned to me he was a green-black dragon but as I looked over at the two black dragons who were sizing themselves up against each other in front of their mates I could see the resemblance between the two. They’re practically identical. It would also explain the choice in different colored mates but I didn’t know enough about Dragon mating habits to know for sure.
The two little dragons chased each other out of the cave and down the path leading to the woods. Not wanting to lose sight of them, I followed. As I did, the world around me changed little by little, and the two wrestling dragons grew older each time. By the time the two split apart they were enormous. They couldn’t be less than three times my size, but I could tell by Raikidan’s size neither were full grown yet. Or at least, not to the size of his current age. Raikidan was easily three times this size now, if not more.
The two dragons sized each other up but as they went to lunge at each other, a roar pierced the sky. Corliss sighed and flicked his tail before jumping to the skies and flying off with his parents. Raikidan exhaled through his nose and headed up the path to the cave. Once he reached the top, his mother greeted him
“It is time for your shifting lesson,” she said.
Raikidan sighed. “Do I have to?”
I blinked at the difference in his voice compared to what I was used to hearing. It was higher, not by much, but enough for me to notice.
His mother chuckled. “Yes. Now shift into a human.”
He groaned. “Can we do a different shape? I hate that one.”
“You have been listening to your father again.”
“There is nothing good about humans.”
His mother snorted. “And how would you know? You have never met one.”
“Father has.”
“As have I. And your father is wrong. There are nice qualities about them. Your father just refuses to see them. Now shift.”
He sighed and moved to the edge of the ledge. Closing his eyes he forced himself to concentrate and his body reacted. The process was slow, much slower than what I had seen when I first watched him shift, but eventually he made it into his human shape.
He was much younger than I expected—looking no older than seventeen. No wonder he has such an attitude.
“You should allow me to cut your hair to a more acceptable length,” his mother teased.
Raikidan snorted. “I will pass.”
“Your shifting needs work,” his father chided as he immerged from the cave.
Raikidan sighed and then looked bored. Obviously that wasn’t what he wanted to hear from his father.
“He is still learning,” his mother objected.
His father snorted. “He has been learning for the past few years, and still he has not mastered shifting to the most basic creatures.”
“You need to go easy on him,” his mother insisted.
“I did not go easy on the others and he will not get any special treatment,” his father growled.
“And they resented you for it!” She turned to head back into the cave. “As do I.”
Ouch. Raikidan’s father looked completely unfazed by her words but his body posture said otherwise. Even Raikidan appeared upset by her words.
I looked around when everything suddenly started going dark. My blood ran cold when a gunshot rang out and Raikidan’s mother cried out in excruciating pain. I gulped when the cave faded away and the three dragons were left standing where they were. Except Raikidan’s mother wasn’t standing anymore. She lay motionless on the ground with blood pouring out of her from the underside.
Raikidan took a step forward. “M–mother?”
Raikidan’s father bent his head down and nudged his mate’s motionless body. Raikidan ran over to his mother and placed his hand on her head. He appeared older, about the age I knew him to look, and I could see a large cut on his cheek as he tried in vain to get her to respond. That cut… Its location was the same as the scar I had found when inspecting him for wounds after his fire training.
Raikidan’s father roared with anger and turned away from the two. He laid down some ways off and as he did his mate faded away and Raikidan shifted to his natural shape. I was still floating in darkness, but they were now inside a cave. It was dark out and a storm hammered beyond the cave mouth.
Raikidan moved to the mouth of the cave and stared out into the night.
“You are finally deciding to leave?” his father muttered.
“There is no reason for me to stay anymore,” Raikidan said. “You blame me for what happened when you are just as guilty.”
Raikidan’s father stood up and growled at him. “You did not protect her.”
Raikidan rounded on his father. “And you were not there to even try! You refused to go with us, upsetting her by telling her it was pointless to go, and you try to blame me? At least I tried to protect her. At least I tried to make her happy.”
“Do not dare accuse me of not trying to make her happy,” his father spat.
“Nothing is ever good enough for you. Nothing I did ever pleased you. Nothing she ever did ever pleased you. You did not care about me, or about her. You only cared about yourself! You did not deserve her. She would have been better with another dragon as her mate.”
“Then you would not exist if that were the case.”
Raikidan turned away. “At least then she would have been happy.”
Raikidan took to the skies and didn’t look back. His father didn’t try to stop him and he didn’t watch his son leave. Instead, he retreated back into his cave, which faded away soon after. I watched the events that unfolded after Raikidan’s departure. I watched him battle storms in flight and fight for his life against other dragons. I watched as he tried to find his place in the world.
Now he lay on the ground, battered, bruised, and bloody while rain hammered down on him. He had fought for everything leading up to this point and now he looked like he couldn’t defend himself. Raikidan exhaled slowly. He looked like he was about to give up. I felt the need to be near him and encourage him to keep fighting but I couldn’t move.
Raikidan looked up, and as he did, a familiar-looking large green-black dragon landed in front of him. Raikidan growled and the other dragon laughed.
“You look pathetic, cousin,” the green dragon teased.
“C–Corliss?” Raikidan managed.
Corliss laughed again. “Of course it is me. I
must say you are pretty damned lucky to have landed in this condition in my territory and not a territory belonging to another dragon.”
Raikidan grunted. “Had I known where you had run off to, I would have done it on purpose.”
Corliss chuckled. “Let us get you somewhere dry so you can heal properly without getting an infection.”
Raikidan snorted. “I was joking when I said I would have come looking for you.”
Corliss chuckled again. “But I am not joking about helping you. We are kin, Raikidan, and real kin stick together no matter what. Besides, I need someone I trust to share my large territory with. It is getting to be too much for me to handle and I cannot think of a better dragon I would rather give a portion to. So what do you say?”
Raikidan chuckled. “I am not going to pass up free territory.”
Corliss laughed. “That is the Raikidan I know. Now let us get you to my lair until we can find you one of your own.”
I watched as Corliss helped Raikidan stand and lead him away. Time progressed and flew by again as the two split the territory and worked together to keep it. Each day they would meet up and speak about what happened, and every once in a while they’d size each other up and enjoy the closeness of their kinship.
Then one day, Corliss didn’t show up like he always did. Raikidan waited and waited, but he still didn’t show. Slowly, Raikidan ventured into Corliss’ territory to look for him. Raikidan stopped when he found him, but Corliss wasn’t alone. He was following a green dragon around, but from the looks of it, he wasn’t being aggressive. It looked like he was actually quite interested in this new dragon, and it didn’t look one-sided.
Raikidan hung his head and headed back the way he came. He looked so sad and lost. I didn’t understand it. It looked like Corliss had chosen a mate, and I would have figured Raikidan would be happy for his cousin but he didn’t look happy in the least.
I watched as Raikidan lay down with a sigh by the river that ran over his lair. The hours passed and he remained like this. He was finally roused when Corliss walked out of the woods near him, with his new mate timidly following behind.
“Raikidan, I wan—”
“I have seen your new mate already,” Raikidan interrupted.
“But how? This is the first—”
“I came looking for you.”
Corliss lowered his head. “Sorry. I meant to meet up with you but everything started happening all at once.”
Raikidan grunted. “I can see that. Now get off my territory.”
Corliss blinked. “W–what? What is with you today?”
Raikidan stood up and crossed the shallow river. “You do not need me anymore. You have her now. I hope she makes you happy.”
Now I knew why he’d been so upset. Raikidan, don’t think that way.
Corliss and his mate watched as Raikidan climbed down the cliff face and disappeared behind the waterfall that hid his lair.
“Corliss, what did I do wrong?” his mate asked, her voice low.
“Nothing,” he assured her. “You did not do anything wrong. He just thinks I have abandoned him.”
“But you did not,” she argued.
“He does not see it that way.” Corliss sighed. “And with everything he has gone though in his life… I do not blame him.”
The two faded, and the world changed so I was able to see Raikidan again. Time passed, and he didn’t do much other than lie in his cave and do nothing on a bad day and lay on top of his lair when it was nice, or force himself to monitor his territory. He was willing to speak with Corliss again, but it took quite a bit of time to pass before that happened.
The two would talk and wrestle from time to time, while Corliss’ mate watched from a distance, but I could see why Raikidan never mentioned any relation between the two of them. Their relationship was never the same after Corliss took his mate. They didn’t act like family anymore. They acted like friends, but not close ones.
I blinked at the scene in front of me when it changed again. It was now of Raikidan lying by the river, like he normally did, with a bored expression. As he laid there, a Amaranthine butterfly fluttered past him. This caught his eye and he watched it intently. It looked like the one he had followed when he was only a baby. It also looked like the few that had appeared from time to time in these time-lapsed visions, and each time Raikidan had taken an extreme interest in them as if each one was his favorite thing in the world.
But this time he did something different. He got up and followed it. He followed it down the cliff and into the woods. He pursued it until it landed on a woman who sat under a tree. Raikidan looked at her with interest and she looked back at him. I blinked. I knew the woman. She was me.
Raikidan shifted, fully clothed this time unlike the others, and extended his hand. The woman who was me accepted the gesture and he pulled her up. Without hesitation, she walked past him and he turned to follow.
I watched as he tried to talk to her. At first, she was reluctant to communicate back but, as time passed, she was more willing. He then got her to laugh and he laughed with her. She tried to put some distance between them by picking up her pack, but Raikidan grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her back. He twirled her around as if they were dancing, and the woman smiled the entire time.
I couldn’t see why this woman was being portrayed as me. I didn’t smile and I didn’t laugh. And even if I did from time to time, it was definitely not like that. What was the significance to all of this? What message am I missing?
Raikidan pulled the woman close, as if the dance was done, and the two stared at each other. The woman’s expression changed then. A frown took the place of her smile and her eyes reflected fear and confusion. The woman pulled away from him and backed up. Raikidan tried to bring her closer again, but she kept her distance.
Raikidan looked so confused. He reached for the woman, but she turned away, and as she walked, she turned to ice. I couldn’t do anything but watch. I didn’t understand what was going on.
“Stop pushing him away, dear,” a voice whispered.
I looked around. “Mom?”
“Don’t push him away anymore,” she told me.
I continued to look around for her. “Mom, where are you?”
“He doesn’t want to be alone anymore.”
I regarded Raikidan, who looked sad and confused as he stared at the frozen version of me.
A pair of feminine arms wrapped around me. “He doesn’t want to be alone, just like you.”
“Mom…” I touched her hands as they rested on my collarbone.
“There’s nothing wrong with letting someone in,” she whispered. “It’s not a sin to rely on someone. He wants to be your friend, Eira. You don’t judge him. You accept him as he is. That’s all he’s ever wanted. He wants something like that to hold onto. Like you do.”
My gaze lowered. “It’s best if I—”
“It’s best that you find peace. It’s best you find happiness.”
“Happiness isn’t for me.”
“It can be, if you let it.”
“I can’t feel happiness.”
“Yes you can. You did once, and you can again if you let it.”
“It just leads to more pain.”
“It won’t if you truly believe in it.” She pulled away from me. “Stop pushing him away so neither of you is alone anymore.”
I spun around. “Mom, don’t go! Please, not yet!”
But it was too late. She was gone, and so was Raikidan, as well as the frozen version of me. I was alone and, in all honesty, I didn’t like it.
Chapter 35
Afog clouded my mind as I roused from my slumber. The sun’s warm rays bathed over my skin, enticing me to wake up. And although I didn’t want to, I wasn’t sure if I could face another dream like tha
t again. Shaking my head of its fogginess, I stretched and a small squeak escaped my lips. My eyes fluttered open and were greeted by a pair of curious green eyes.
I stared at the little dragon who perched his front legs on my bent knees. He tilted his head and watched me with curiosity and I looked back at him. He had red scales and a heavily plated crest that also covered the tiny horns, which were still growing in. Frills lined his hips and trailed down to the tip of his tail.
I reached out and touched his head. The little dragon squealed with delight and started jumping around everywhere. A smile crept onto my face as I watched him. His red scales sparkled in the late afternoon sun and he looked completely oblivious to any ill in the world.
I grunted in pain when the little dragon jumped on me. Good thing I wasn’t planning on having kids. He was a big baby; that was for sure. I turned my head when Raikidan growled. He sat a little way away from me, under the statue I had created. That’s when I realized someone had moved me under the statue, into a soft patch of grass and flowers.
The little dragon lowered his head submissively as Raikidan growled.
I narrowed my eyes. “What’s your problem?”
“He’s not being careful,” Raikidan said.
I snorted. “He’s only a baby. What’d you expect?”
The little guy didn’t look like he could speak or even fly. His wings looked too immature to be of any use to him.
“He still needs to me taught to be careful,” Raikidan muttered.
I snorted and rubbed the baby dragon’s head to reassure him. He chirped happily and tried to nip at my fingers.
Raikidan growled again and I rolled my eyes. “Will you shut up? He’s just—”
I cringed in pain when the baby dragon chomped on my hand, angering Raikidan. I smacked the little dragon hard on the nose. He let go and whimpered as I scolded him quickly before looking at my bleeding hand. Blood oozed out of three of my fingers. The little guy had sharp teeth; that was for sure.
The little dragon slowly lifted his head and began lapping up the blood. I could see little sparks shoot from his mouth as if he were trying to create fire, but none formed into a flame. It was easy to understand what he was trying to do. It looks like Raikidan isn’t the only who can heal with fire. It must be a red dragon ability. But this little guy was too young to make fire, let alone heal with it.
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