“Pretty much,” Avianna said. “I could sense your energy instantly, the moment you touched me. It was never broken, the waves just seemed confused. If you were exposed to another egg from birth, then you would have been fine. I awakened the energy within you, put you back together, sort of thing. And I have to tell you that you’re blowing me away, girl. Your magic is strong.”
I didn’t know why, but all of a sudden, I was so angry, furious, that I never figured out the truth. What she was saying made sense, and all that time when the other wardens kept telling me that I just had to accept the fact that I would never be magical. It was bullshit.
“Where did you learn this kind of vocabulary? I mean—”
“Don’t stress. Despite what you may think, I’m very old and I have been around some strange wardens in the past.”
“Old? But how old, and how come you haven’t hatched out yet?” I asked, thinking that the shell might start breaking right in front of me. I wasn’t ready to welcome a dragon into this world. I had no resources to bring it here and I didn’t really know how long it would take for her to grow to a normal size.
“How was I supposed to hatch out if I wasn’t connected to anyone? Someone took me from my mother’s nest years ago, and I have been with at least ten different wardens ever since. None of them felt right, only you, Francesca,” she said, and the warm fuzzy feelings made me a little emotional. There was a lot that I had yet to learn about dragons in general, but for now, I already knew that Avianna was amazing.
“Hey, Fran. Are you awake? Aly made something called lasagna. She is serving it right now and that thing looks amazing.” Nicolas’s voice startled me all of a sudden.
I didn’t even realise how much time had passed.
“Give me a few minutes,” I answered, and then I heard him mumble, “All right.”
“We will talk more later. Tomorrow morning I’m going to see a warlock who can possibly take us back to Draconia. I would love to take you, but I think it’s too risky.”
“Fine… whatever. I’ve always been on my own. I know you only care about that hottie, warden. Can you tell him to touch my shell or run his fingers over the scales again? It kind of felt nice.”
“What are you… I mean he’s—”
“All right, all right, Fran. I’m only messing with ya,” she cut me off and I laughed. “I know you can’t take me. I don’t want to get separated from you again. I want to stay and eventually see the real world with my own eyes,”
It was strange but Avianna’s voice and her character reminded me a lot of Dara. That baby dragon was sassy and kind of crazy too.
I left the bedroom five minutes later, still in quite a shock. Aly put a lot of effort in that dish called lasagna, and it tasted delicious. She even brought some wine. Nicolas finished his in no time and then he asked for seconds. An hour later, I was so stuffed that I excused myself and went upstairs. I ended up talking to Avianna for the next hour until it got dark outside. Eventually, I fell asleep in my clothes not even realising when I began dreaming about flying on a giant bird.
I woke up some time later, and when I glanced at the clock, it was around eleven a.m. The whole house was immersed in silence.
Downstairs, Nicolas was still snoring, and it looked like Aly wasn’t in the house. In the end, Avianna suggested that maybe I should go and see the warlock in the evening. We hung out downstairs, watching the people moving in the black box until Aly returned with a lot of bags. She must have gone out shopping.
Eventually, Nicolas woke up and got ready. In the late afternoon, he emerged from his room dressed in an old leather jacket and a pair of trousers. Aly must have washed all his clothes—she was a true saint.
I was nervous for some reason, still not believing that my egg could communicate with me. I really wanted to take her back to Draconia, so she could finally hatch.
“I bought some sage, but maybe you both should try this for now. These are contact lenses; they will make your eyes look normal,” Aly said, showing us some kind of tiny containers filled with water. I had no idea what was inside, but she explained, reading the instructions about how we were supposed to insert these tiny jelly things into our eyes.
This took ages, and it was kind of painful, but eventually I managed to do it. When I glanced in the mirror my eyes weren’t yellow anymore, but a plain, faint green. I didn’t know if I was going to get used to it, but maybe tomorrow, I could try to use the formula that Marek had given me. Nicolas was huffing and moaning that it was too much of a hassle, but he got it right the first time. I didn’t know what he was complaining about.
“Just be careful, you two. I’ll be worried. I have no family, but even after only a day, I feel like I’m responsible for you,” she told us, and Nicolas laughed.
We left the house around eight p.m. and my stomach was in knots. I knew how to get to the station. Avianna wished me luck, but I couldn’t hear her once I was outside. Maybe next time I could bring her along. I definitely had to replace the sack with something more suitable.
“You and me, huh? Who would have thought that I’d be walking alongside such a beautiful woman in a non-magical world?” Nicolas asked, touching my hand.
I glanced at him, wondering if maybe he had taken too much of his medicine. His voice made me laugh a little, but he must have sensed that there was an irresistible attraction between us, because he kept hitting on me. Even Avianna liked him.
“Okay, hold your horses, warden. I’m not planning to stay here for long. As soon as I find a way back to Draconia, we are done,” I told him, still thinking about that arsehole, Victor.
“So, you’re serious? You really want to return to the place where there is no future?” he asked. I thought he understood me the first time. I really didn’t want to repeat myself.
“Come on, let’s speed it up. I’ve made up my mind. I’m leaving as soon as I know how,” I told him more firmly.
Aly was going to be disappointed, but she would have Nicolas to look after. Right now, I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him about Dara. I just couldn’t forget about her and leave the others to endure the same treatment.
Thankfully, he didn’t pursue the subject further and we reached the station. There was a lot less people in the tube than yesterday and somehow, and I managed to stay calm, kicking the anxiety in the butt.
Nicolas was looking around, and he seemed perfectly fine being in the wagon. He made a few silly comments and joked about quiet humans who weren’t paying attention to anyone else. I told myself that I needed to get used to being around him, at least for now.
I was thinking about what Avianna had said. As it turned out, all those wardens who told me that I would never have highly functional magic were wrong.
“I like this world. I like it a lot,” Nicolas kept repeating over and over when we walked out of the tube station. Last night, I studied the map for a while, so I was supposed to know where we needed to go. Nicolas was waiting for me, mumbling something about North and South London. People were walking up and down the walkways. I flicked my wristband a few times on the train, but overall, I felt fine. Aly reminded me to take her husband’s gun, just in case, and I didn’t want to say no. We started walking, passing several streets, and I was convinced that we were heading in the right direction.
“This way. The card says that his office is in the paper factory and the building is accessible through the back,” I told him.
Soon enough, the surroundings began to change, and the street ahead looked rough. A lot of humans were staring at us and I had a feeling that I might have taken a wrong turn at that busy traffic light. There were a lot of youngsters around; most of them were standing in groups.
“Maybe we should turn around,” he finally said when we moved past some burned-down houses.
“Hey, pretty girl. You look like you’re lost,” some strange man said, blocking our path when we turned to the left. Nicolas moved closer to me and I quickly put my hand on the gun inside my pocket. This
was silly. I really wasn’t planning to use it anyway.
This man had charcoal skin and very white teeth. He was dressed in strange colourful clothes and he had a lot of gold hanging over his neck. I decided to show him the card that Marek had given me, while Nicolas stared at him with a deep frown.
“Can you take us to this man?” I asked.
When he read the name, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and he snapped his fingers.
“Yeah, everyone knows ole powerful Harvey. Come with me,” he said, sounding disappointed. We started walking, following him. At this point, I didn’t really care anymore. After all, I was still able to defend myself, exactly the same way I had done in the past. My confidence grew, as did my fear of the unknown.
11
Harvey Stark.
Nicolas kept glancing at me while we were following the suspicious-looking human. He was taking us further into the rough-looking streets. His name was Chris, and he told us that he grew up around this shady neighbourhood.
For the first time since I buried Dara, I felt like I was finally going to be able to change things. I just couldn’t get used to the fact that she was gone—forever.
I was pumped with excitement, and new hope began flickering through me.
We crossed a busy street and walked into a much quieter alley. Chris glanced around a few times; his clothes were very bizarre, but I decided to withhold any kind of judgment for now. The smell of burning tar wafted into the air. Tiny particles of magic were rising over the nape of my neck. I liked being in control of my magic. I felt good about meeting the warlock. Even humans had heard of him, so I supposed that was a good thing.
“Hey, how much farther before we get to that Harvey guy?” Nicolas asked when we started walking through the back alleys. There were more homeless people standing around, and the strong smell of mould made me nauseous. Something felt off and I didn’t know why my head started throbbing all of a sudden. Aly’s husband’s gun seemed heavier than it did earlier on, and that was simply impossible. I didn’t want it now. I didn’t think I needed it.
Five minutes later, Chris abruptly turned around, and his eyes hovered over my face. There were no witnesses: the older homeless man had left in a hurry, moving past us earlier on. It took me a moment to realise that Chris was holding a gun.
“Hand over all your cash. Now!” he ordered, dragging his hand through his hair nervously. He kept pointing the gun at us, and I stood there, paralysed. There were guns in Draconia, but not many. Most wardens used magic, and those that didn’t have much bought potions.
Nicolas looked at me wide-eyed, and lifted both of his hands. “Buddy, we hate to disappoint you, but we don’t have any cash on us. Not any that you would find useful in this world, anyway. We are from… somewhere else.”
Chris backed away, then he started shaking his gun, pointing it between the two of us. He must have done this before, but he didn’t look very experienced.
My skin prickled with foreign energy, lifting all the tiny hairs on the back of neck. Heat infused my cheeks.
“Why don’t we all just calm down,” I said. It was easy to say, but my heart was jackhammering in my chest now.
“I will fucking kill her if I have to. Everyone around here knows that people who work for Harvey have plenty of cash. You two have ten seconds to give me what ya have,” he demanded, sounding angrier.
I glanced at my hand, seeing flames rising around my fingertips. Nicolas had magic, but I was much stronger. I really didn’t know much about rules around here. Were we supposed to use magic in front of humans? It was a non-magical world. Who knew?
Chris started counting and my blood went cold. I didn’t want to die out here, taking a bullet in some dark alley.
“Buddy, come on. We would give you anything that you wanted if we had it, but currently, I don’t even have any dragon credits on me, mate,” Nicolas said.
“Seven, eight …”
Darkness blurred my vision. I felt like I was falling through another crack, so I quickly shut my eyes. This wasn’t fair. I needed to return to Draconia. Chris was insignificant. He was just after our money. None of this felt right. Avianna and I only just found each other. She still needed me to hatch out.
Chris fired the gun, and I shouted, “No!” opening my eyes at the same time. Nicolas jumped, protecting me with his body. For a split second, I thought he was going to take the bullet for me. Then, time stopped, and the world around us ceased—the bullet was suspended in midair, only inches away from Nicolas’s face. Energy soared down my spine, crackling loudly. I truly had no idea what was happening. It had to be some kind of dark magic.
“What the fuck?” Chris shouted, and his dark skin paled. A split second later, the bullet dropped to the ground and turned to ash.
I looked up and saw several wardens in the distance, staring at our group. One of them was balancing a ball of bright purple light in the centre of his palm.
“Human, get the hell out of here before I fry your skinny ass!” the man with a white beard shouted, then blasted his magic. The ball of energy nearly killed Chris. He jumped, then slammed on the ground, rolling a few times. The same warden created another orb of light in his hand, but Chris was already running, screaming something about crazy people and sorcery.
Something happened with my magic. My fingers were inflamed, but my energy seemed absent.
“What are you doing out here, wardens? This area is strictly off limits to anyone who isn’t associated with Harvey,” barked the short, stout warden. He was clean-shaven, and he had a lot of magic. It was strange, but I could almost see it moving through his veins.
“We want to see Harvey. We are new in the city,” I said, walking towards them. I held up the card that Marek had given me earlier, hoping that somehow this was our golden ticket. The two of them exchanged looks, and their magic rose to the surface.
“Our boss is busy, and he doesn’t take walk-ins. Besides, there isn’t much that you can offer him,” the one with the white beard said.
“Take us to him and you won’t regret it,” I said. Nicolas was staring at me, probably wondering what the hell I was talking about.
The truth was that I was willing to make any kind of deal to get back to Draconia.
“Hand over the gun that you have in your pocket. Consider it a payment—a deposit—that I’m willing to accept, for now. If Harvey thinks that you’re worth it, then I might give it back to you,” the bearded warden said.
The gun belonged to Aly’s husband and I wanted to get it back. Nicolas didn’t seem to know what to say and I wanted to shake him. He had dealt with the Dark Ones on a daily basis back home, so I had no idea what was wrong with him.
We approached them and then my energy started vibrating. Maybe they were able to control my inner strength. I didn’t want to believe in this kind of power, but I was far away from home. In a world without magic, anything was possible. I handed him Aly’s gun. He brought it closer to his face, and stared at it for a long time.
“This one looks like an antique. I like collecting stuff like that,” he said, and then put it inside his pocket. He looked like the sort of individual who knew how to handle guns.
“Come on. Let’s start moving; otherwise more humans might show up,” the other warden ordered.
We followed them through the back end of the alley. Nicolas was quiet, and my heart started pounding insanely fast. Magic couldn’t just appear and then vanish completely. Maybe Avianna was wrong about me.
Soon we approached a tall, red brick building. There were people standing outside a metal gate. Most of them wore blue uniforms. They were smoking, standing in a group. No one paid any attention to us. I suspected that they were just humans; I didn’t sense any magic circulating around.
“This is it: the paper factory,” Nicolas told me once we walked through a large set of double doors, passing the foyer with a wooden reception desk. There was a human woman behind it. She didn’t even glance at us from her desk.
Her eyes were glued to a small flat screen, much smaller than Aly’s TV.
“You have to be quick. Harvey doesn’t like being interrupted when he is working,” the warden with darker hair barked when we made it to the second floor. We approached an old-looking wooden door. The warden knocked and someone on the other side said to come in.
We entered a large, stylish office. There was a huge window behind the desk looking out to the factory floor. People were working there, all focused, standing along the production line.
The man sitting behind the wooden desk was most likely Harvey. He looked like a giant, barely fitting in his chair. He had an elegant beard that was trimmed nicely on the sides. He wore a black suit that must have been tailor-made to fit his size, and he had masses of brown curly hair. His energy was nonexistent, or maybe I just couldn’t sense it.
“What the hell do you want, Lincoln, and why did you just bring these wardens here?” he barked in a loud voice. His eyes were the colour of honey and he reminded me of a bear. Maybe I was wrong, but the man in front of me didn’t seem dangerous or even scary. He was more like a cuddly stuffed animal.
“The girl had your card, sir, and she says that she is worth your time,” the white-haired warden replied. I assumed he was most likely Lincoln.
“Fine, get out and shut the door,” Harvey said. He was looking intensely at a stack of papers on his desk. I noticed the golden signets on his right hand. Both wardens left, and I didn’t know what to do with my hands. Suddenly, my magic started exploding inside me again.
“You have twenty seconds to tell me whatever it is that you want. I have shit to do and other people to see,” he snapped at me.
“I need to get back to Draconia. I fell through one of the cracks, but I can’t stay in this world,” I said, thinking that surely this would be enough. I had no idea how I could pay him.
He looked up and put his large hands behind his head. The magic in his eyes gleamed brightly and unnatural wind started ruffling my ponytail. Goose bumps appeared on my arms. I smelled magic rising around. It was trying to reach inside me, interfere, like it was almost a living entity,
Hatched (Draconia World Book 1) Page 8
