Elemental Dragons Book 1: Blood and Water

by Jessica Turnbull

  “You came.”

  The voice behind me makes me jump. Aqueous clings to my leg for a second before composing himself and growling in a way that he views as threatening, but really comes off as a squeak.

  Someone steps in front of me, a smirk on her face. “I’m Braith.” She has a thick Welsh accent, but she speaks slowly and clearly so I can understand her.

  Braith has dark skin and short black hair, a lot shorter than Rocky and Marco’s. It’s spiky with bright blue highlights scattered around her head. What strikes me most are her big, brown doe eyes, which are warm like my Mum’s but hard to read.

  “You’re a lot prettier up close.” She looks me up and down, biting her lip thoughtfully.

  Shifting uncomfortably, I mumble: “Why am I here?”

  She sighs wistfully. “Let’s go to the circle.”

  Braith skips into the middle, checking each candle as she laps the length of the circle. A black and white dragon lands next to her, its bright orange eyes locked on Aqueous and me. Pale blue snowflake markings cover its face, tail and feet. Its horns are similar to a ram’s, curved in the middle back to its ears.

  “This is Damayanti.” Braith wraps her arms around her companion’s neck; she looks slightly bigger than Drea.

  “Damayanti?”

  “After the Hindu myth. Because she’s absolutely beautiful.” She scratches Damayanti’s chin, cooing over her.

  I don’t know much about Hinduism, but it’s a pretty name. Most of the dragons have unique names, so most don’t surprise me. Damayanti is an unusual name, though, one of the only ones that have really stuck out from the rest.

  “What are ya waiting for? Come ‘ere!” She waves me over impatiently.

  I’m starting to feel really uncomfortable. Something about this seems a little...off. I could be ten seconds away from getting kidnapped for all I know.

  I don’t know this girl.

  I don’t know what she wants.

  I don’t know what all these candles are for.

  Why did I do this?

  With a little prompting from Aqueous, I carefully step into the circle, trying to avoid knocking the candles over. Now that I’m closer, I can see the candles are all the same size, apart from the one in the middle, which is considerably taller. Braith sits down in front of the large candle, beckoning me to sit on the other side. Aqueous and I swap quizzical glances before settling down.

  “So, what’s his name?” She points to my companion.

  “Aqueous.”

  “That’s weird.”

  “Excuse me?”

  Ignoring my hostility, she stares into the flame. “You have markings, no?”

  How does she know?

  My heart thumps so loudly I swear she can hear it. She looks up at me, waiting expectantly for my answer.

  “What do you m-mean?” I stutter, cursing myself for fumbling my words out of nervousness.

  “You know.” She reaches over to move my hair out of the way, looking at the intricate details on the back of my neck. “They’re pretty.”

  With a harsh swipe, I whack her hand away. “How do you know?”

  She looks hurt at my reaction, sighing: “I’ve been watching you.”

  How long has this been going on? What has she seen?

  “What?” I back off a little bit, making hurt flash across her face.

  “Fuck, that came out creepier than I thought it would,” she mumbles, her eyes darting around the circle. “I mean; I saw them. When you were practising your defensive moves. Ya know, with that guy. Marcus?”

  “Marco.”

  She waves her hand dismissively. “Whatever. I saw them, and I was intrigued. I thought I was the only one.”

  I’d thought about others having markings, wondering if Rocky, Wes and I were the only ones. I didn’t expect to find out like this, however. But, if she thought she was the only one, that means she doesn’t know anyone else with them.

  “You have them?”

  “Mm-hm. Wanna see?”

  Before I can reply, she’s stripping off in front of me. She removes her black dress, and she’s completely naked. I see pale blue snowflakes on her shoulders.

  “Like whatcha see, huh?” she taunts, jiggling her breasts.

  Embarrassment reddens my face. “Put your clothes back on.”

  She looks like she’s about to argue, but then her face falls. “What a buzzkill.”

  “Is this some kind of joke?”

  Slowly she pulls her dress over her head. “Nope. That was a test.”

  For fuck’s sake. What the hell is going on?

  “A test for what, exactly?”

  “To see if you would stay and listen to what I have to say.” She must have noticed my annoyance because she speaks more softly. “We can help each other, Hazel. You know stuff I don’t; I know stuff you don’t.”

  I raise my eyebrow suspiciously. “Oh yeah? Like what?”

  “There are nine people with markings. So far, I only know of you and me. But, don’t ya see? The ninth is missing.”

  She’s speaking in riddles. If her aim is to piss me off, it’s working. “No, I don’t.”

  “Each candle has its own colour,” she points out, looking around the circle. “Except this one.” She gestures towards the candle in front of us, which is a snowy white. “Stellar is missing.”

  I stiffen as I realize she’s right. One candle is red, one blue, one yellow, but the middle one has no colour at all. “Who’s Stellar?”

  With a smile, she whispers: “Our saviour.” She leans close to me, making me lean back out of her reach. “Stellar isn’t here right now, but two are.”

  “Four are,” I blurt out.

  “Huh? Four?” Her eyes widen in excitement. “You know more of us?”

  I’m not sure if I believe what this crazy girl is saying, but it could be the most important lead we have. “Rocky, my brother. My friend Wes also has them.”

  The mysterious girl claps her hands loudly. “Yes! This is going to be so much easier now!” She takes a deep breath before continuing. “Each person has their own markings. The markings represent our element – in your case, water. Once we’re all together, we can do something! Although I haven’t been able to figure that part out yet...”

  She’s talkative. I’m surprised she has enough time to take a breath between each sentence.

  “Okay...? What are the candles for?”

  She looks around wistfully. “Just a little creative idea of mine, to demonstrate the hierarchy of the markings. But mostly to make it a bit more romantic, I guess.” Wriggling her eyebrows, she reaches forward to touch my face before I whack her hand away roughly.

  This could be a joke. I could be falling for a huge prank right now. Someone could have taken pictures of all of this, and I could be bullied again tomorrow.

  “What’s wrong?” The excitement slips from her face, replaced with concern.

  “Is this a joke? Am I going to get the shit beaten out of me for this tomorrow?” Tears are forming in my eyes, so I bow my head.

  A few seconds of silence drag out between us. After what seems like years, she picks up one of the candles, blows it out and passes it to me. It’s pale blue, like the reflection ice gets when it freezes over a large body of water.

  “It’s my candle,” she mutters. “It represents ice. You keep hold of it, to show ya my sincerity.”

  I don’t know how a candle is supposed to convince me, but it feels strange. As I roll it in my hands, I see the word ‘Frost’ on either side of it. For the representation of ice, I guess.

  “Take care of it,” she whispers, before standing up. “You can go now. I’ll find ya tomorrow.”

  I stare at the strange girl for a few seconds, before rising to my feet and leaving. I feel bad leaving her, knowing that tomorrow she’ll have to wander around trying to find me.

  “I’ll be in the library at twelve,” I call behind me.

  “Great! See you there, hot stuff!”
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br />   16

  Chapter Sixteen

  It’s close to Christmas so the library is empty. My friends are the only people in here, and we’re waiting for Braith. I haven’t yet told them what happened last night; Marco and Rocky are in a strop and Wes has been reading all morning.

  I’ve been on the computer for a while, trawling through websites only to find that over half of them are filtered. It’s frustrating to know that what you’re looking for is right in front of you, but you’re unable to see it.

  “Hey, gorgeous!”

  For fuck’s sake.

  Before I can turn around to greet Braith, she’s on my lap, looking at the computer screen curiously. “No luck, huh?”

  “Nope, none.”

  She shrugs. “It’s fine. Have ya got my candle?”

  “Not on me, no.”

  “Ah, I see. Go to bed with it, huh? Have a little fun?”

  My face reddens at what she’s implying. “No,” I hiss through gritted teeth.

  Braith snickers and slips onto the chair next to mine. “Where’s Rocky?”

  Why does she want to know that? For the candle thing?

  “He’s with Marco, sulking.”

  “Why?” She eyes the two boys up and shakes her head.

  “I dunno. Neither have spoken to me all morning.”

  She tuts and rolls her eyes. “Boys.”

  Wes chooses this point to join us, finally tearing himself away from his book. “Hey, Hazel. Who’s your friend?”

  Braith beats me to it. “I’m Braith. I’ve got those markings too.”

  Wes pauses for a second to mull over her words before his eye widen. “You found another person? That’s great! It’s more common than we thought!”

  “Yeah,” Braith’s mouth curls in one corner. “I think I know why they appeared too. I could only show Hazy here a bit last night,” she elbows my side sharply, making me wince.

  “Wow! What do your markings look like?”

  Braith smiles at me and wriggles her eyebrows flirtatiously. She stands up and goes to pull off her shirt until I yank her back down to her seat.

  “That will not be necessary,” I mutter.

  “No, no! I don’t think you got a good enough look-”

  “What’s going on?” Marco seems to have recovered from his sulking session, and leans on my chair to join the conversation.

  “Braith has the markings too!” Wes explains excitedly. “She was showing Hazel last night!”

  Marco’s eyes widen in realization. “Oh! Rocky saw it wrong...”

  What’s happened now?

  “Saw what wrong?” I demand, glaring at him as he avoids my gaze.

  “He thinks you and Braith are dating.”

  “What?” Braith and I scream in unison, though hers is a lot more excited than my more agitated tone.

  “Let’s do it, Hazy!” she screams, wrapping her arms around me and nuzzling my neck.

  I push her off and ignore her look of mock hurt. “Is that why he’s been ignoring me all morning?”

  He fidgets uncomfortably and casts a stony look at my brother. “I guess so.”

  Rubbing my temples, I can feel the stress building up inside of me. If he’s that worried, he can just talk to me. He’s behaving like a bratty child.

  “Go correct him, please,” I sigh, rubbing my eyes tiredly.

  Marco nods and, thankfully, doesn’t argue. Wes looks confused, but knows not to start asking questions. Braith pouts and crosses her arms.

  “What, am I not good enough for you?” she whines mockingly.

  “I’m not discussing this.”

  She grabs my hand. “So, there’s a chance?”

  I yank my hand away and roll my eyes. “No.”

  “You’ll change your mind. You can’t resist my charms forever.” She winks and wriggles her eyebrows.

  I ignore her as Rocky comes over, looking apologetic, his hands stuffed into his pockets and a sheepish grin on his face. He rubs his arm and mumbles: “Sorry.”

  “We’ll talk about it later.” My tone is harsher than I wanted it to be, but I don’t take it back.

  He nods mutely, refusing to meet my gaze.

  Why does he need to create such a fuss? I’ll get a partner someday; I’m not planning on staying single forever!

  The trouble is, he will always see me as a vulnerable child that needs protecting.

  I’ve grown up now.

  I still need him, but not nearly as much as I used to.

  I’m not a child anymore.

  “Alright, can we talk about the markings now?” Wes whines impatiently.

  Braith nods enthusiastically. “I found information from my sister. She’s twenty-four and left camp years ago, so she could sneak stuff in. That’s how I found out about the myth.”

  Wes hangs off her every word, while Marco rolls his eyes in disbelief. “The myth?” he snorts disbelievingly. “Myth about what exactly?”

  She waves her hand for quiet, shooting Marco a stony glare. “The Original Elementals passed their powers on to present-day humans. They evolved in a way that other people didn’t, and they were able to survive the Primordial Dragon attacks with the help of their leader, Stellar.” She pauses to wink knowingly at me. “The Original Elementals have been reborn through us. That can only mean that the Primordial Dragons are coming back.”

  I learnt about them in Dragon Mythology. The Primordial Dragons were the first dragons to evolve. They were huge, with long claws and teeth the size of an average person. Destroying villages and eating cattle were their only goals in life, but they died out due to natural selection. They were too big, they ate too much, and there wasn’t enough food for all of them. They eventually killed each other or starved to death. But they died out thousands of years ago. How can they be coming back?

  “That sounds like a load of complete and utter bull.” Everyone turns to Marco as he speaks. “They don’t exist anymore.”

  Braith taps her nose knowingly. “They’re being created. Scientists are close to giving the extinct creatures life.”

  Whose idea was that exactly? These creatures are unbelievably dangerous, and they want to bring them back to life! Some things should just stay dead.

  “How do you know all this?” Wes breathes, in awe of her story.

  “My sister is a scientist working on it.”

  Rocky has stayed unusually quiet throughout this conversation, and he still looks as if he won’t question anything. I’m pretty sure he’s waiting for my reaction, so as not to agitate me any more than he has done already.

  “Okay, so let’s say that your story is true,” Marco squeezes onto my seat, so I’m partly dangling off it. “Where’s your proof?”

  The girl considers this for a second, before snatching my keyboard and typing into the search bar. She types: Primordial Dragons resurrection, but of course the results are filtered. She clicks the filter log-in and starts putting in the details of Mrs Alhmer, one of the maths teachers. Once finished, the website page loads fully, allowing us to see its contents.

  “You bypassed the filter!” Wes scrolls up and down the web page, fascinated by the new information.

  “It’s pretty easy actually, Mrs Alhmer always shows her password as visible when she types it in, loads of people from her classes use her log-in.” Braith grins and grabs my arm. “Am I in the group now?”

  Rocky’s expression darkens and he opens his mouth to say something before Wes exclaims: “Definitely! This is all new stuff!”

  The new member punches the air excitedly. “Great, because it was a bit of a sausage fest before.”

  I rub my eyes tiredly, ignoring her comment. “Okay. Let’s print this off before someone sees us.”

  17

  Chapter Seventeen

  Life has become much easier since Braith joined the group. She can access areas we can’t and gathers information from her sister, who visits regularly. Wes has informed Ray about Braith’s markings, and he was more than pleas
ed to discover how much she knew about them. However, Ray hasn’t been informed about the Primordial Dragon, as she didn’t feel comfortable discussing it with him.

  “Hazel, you’ve barely touched your food.” Rocky nudges my shoulder, pushing my plate closer to me.

  “Huh? I was daydreaming.”

  Chewing a mouthful of turkey, he smiles, happy to see me eating. Christmas came around quickly, and the school are hiring out the hotel dining room for a Christmas dinner. The tables and chairs have been replaced by long rows of benches and large wooden tables. Red and green decorations are strung up from the ceiling, and a small tree covered in baubles stands in the corner by the door, with empty presents scattered beneath it. Some parents even came along, but not mine. I haven’t heard from Mum in months. Neither has Rocky. We’re both starting to get worried.

  Marco’s mood has improved greatly over the past few days, especially after hearing that Drea is doing better than expected and can return to dragon training again. Mason was allowed back into town last week, as he had been given the all-clear by the hospital.

  “Guys!” Braith skips over to our table, carrying a tray full of potatoes and vegetables.

  The crazy girl squeezes onto the bench in between Marco and me. She wraps her arm around my waist and wriggles her eyebrows.

  “Braith, you have friends now?”

  A tall woman with thick-rimmed brown glasses approaches us, smiling sarcastically. She’s almost identical to Braith, apart from the fact that her hair is in a long ponytail down to her waist and she has a faded scar on one cheek.

  “Olwen, sit down!” Braith cries. “Guys, this is my sister. The scientist.”

  Everyone on the table either waves or mumbles hello in between bites. Olwen sits at the end of the table and keeps an eye on her sister while she’s eating.

  “These are the people with the markings I told ya about,” Braith shoves some salad in her mouth and rests her head on my shoulder, stroking my hair lovingly. “My future wife is right here. Expect a wedding invitation any day now!”