Children of the Dragon: Chapter 9

“Silva?” Sofie whispered her eyes widening.

“The eldest daughter,” Daze said standing slowly. “Coming to the rescue. But how. Was my sphere not large enough?”

Silva set her mouth in a thin line and ground her teeth together, “You try to hurt my sister again and it’ll be the last mistake you make.”

Daze smirked behind his mask and shook his head, “A nice threat. As much as I’d love to see you back it up but I don’t have time to waste on you.”

He raised his free hand and thrust it forward a golden light exploding out. It covered them all and Sofie covered her face stunned and frowned looking at Daze. He’d cast his time magic again and she was stuck with him once more. Silva stood mouth mid shout and Daze cracked his neck back and forth slowly.

“Now where were w-“

A large hammer of stone struck Daze and he was sent rolling across the plateau. He dug his sword into the ground to regain his footing and snarled. The walking creature of stone turned toward him the large hammer resting comfortably in hand.

“Another elemental? How?”

A golden light flashed and his eyes widened. Silva turned toward him, narrowing her red eyes. The elemental lumbered to her side lowering the hammer and she pointed, “Like I said. Stay away from my sister.”

“Silva you can move?” Sofie said eyes wide.

“How? You’re no time mage,” Daze said then his eyes narrowed seeing the source of the golden glow around her. It was coming from her neck, a pocket watch necklace. “My meddling brother.”

Silva growled the red of her eyes bleeding into a draconic yellow and she pressed her hands together. Eyes widening, she blew a gout of fire and it swirled into a figure. The elemental dropped down onto its knees before standing up slowly towering over them. It moved with a soft wooshing of flames as it turned to look at her. It tilted its head to the side and she pointed.

“Take him down,” she commanded.

The elemental nodded and exploded forward sprinting at Daze. Before he could do anything about the fire elemental the ice elemental appeared behind him its sword raised high. Daze flipped his own sword around blocking it and the force drove him almost down to his knees. The fire elemental was in front of him a fist cocked back ready to blow him away.

He started to move when he was suddenly restrained by force. He looked at Silva and saw her holding out her hand like she was holding onto a toy. He couldn’t move and his eyes glowed, meeting her own. One of the orbs in the sword began to glow and then there was a pulse of blue energy.

Both of them heard the noise that echoed in their ears. A gentle song by a voice that couldn’t have belonged to any human entered their ears. Both of them felt their eyes cross and lose concentration. It swept over the area and Silva and Sofie both let out shouts as they sank down to their knees.

The power of the sound distorted the trio of elementals and they each let out a piercing shriek before shattering into their respective elements. Daze swept the sword back and forth slowly and then leaned forward shoving his sword into the ground.

He looked beyond them and toward the mountain ignoring the sisters. He coughed hard into his hand and he almost stumbled. He made a noise in the back of his throat and said, “Annoying. I can’t handle all of you at once. But I’ve planned for this. I won’t be thwarted that easily.”

 He seemed lost in his own head and for a moment Silva thought about attacking him while his back was turned but instead, she went to her sister’s side and helped her to stand up. “Are you okay?”

“Ye. Yeah. Thanks Silva.”

They turned back toward Daze and he was looking at the pair of them with narrowed eyes, “You don’t know just how much power resides inside you. Faerie and dragon blood rolled together. A dragon rider to boot. It’s as if Alpha and Omega themselves smile on me. But our meeting is going to have to wait.”

Silva moved in front of Sofie again and glowered, “Just come and try it.”

“Not now. But soon.”

An explosion echoed and Sofie shrieked jumping to her sister’s side, hiding behind her. Daze pointed at them, his fingers flashing gold and blinding Silva as she gave the order for her elementals to attack again. But when they looked again, he was gone. Emeralda and Nero both crashed into the ground. It shook and both almost fell over.

“Hatchling! Where are you Sofie?” Sofie gasped touching her head and looked back at Emeralda who faced her. She looked at her and a weight lifted off her chest. She ran over quickly and wrapped her arms around leg tightly. Emeralda lowered her head and pressed it against her shoulder gently. “You’re alright. I don’t know what happened. You disappeared.”

“Time magic,” Nero said joining them. Sofie turned and walked over hugging him tightly. He hugged her back sighing softly. “I’m so glad you’re okay. You are okay right?” He crouched slightly brushing her hair back and seeing the scratches and bruises.

Her eyes turned pink and green looking away and nodded, “Yes daddy. I’m okay.” She looked at Silva and smiled at her warmly. “Thank you, Silva. You saved me.”

Silva’s blue eyes blipped green for a moment before settling on a gentle orange. “It was nothing Sofia. You’re my sister.” She let out a sound as Sofie was suddenly hugging her and she blinked quickly and then wrapped her arm around her slowly.

The air shifted beside them and they turned as Silver landed. She looked at them quickly and Sefirin landed hands raised ready to fight. But there was no danger or anything to be done. The young red dragon growled but it was for the most part quiet. The spell that Nero and Eskir had cast was still in effect.

“Little one. Are you all alright?”

“Yeah what happened?” Sefirin said looking over at them but focusing on Silva. “You rushed off in the middle of the rescue suddenly. Said Sofie was in trouble.”

Nero frowned, “Wait. How did you manage to save Silva? Daze’s time magic should have frozen you on the spot.”

“I don’t know,” Silva frowned. “He said something and there was a golden flash but then suddenly everything had moved.”

“Your necklace,” Sofie said. “It was glowing during the fight.”

She looked down picking it up slowly and saw the hands. The hands had been turning, leaving a soft golden trail but were turning back into a normal color. She looked at it perplexed but Nero came closer, “Can I see that.”

Nodding quickly, she took it off and handed it over to her father. He turned it around slowly and then shook his head. “Sehren. He gave this to you right?”

“Yes. Before we left.”

“Looks like I owe Sehren a thank you and a long talk. Hold onto this Silva,” he said holding it back out to her. “And good job protecting your sister. You were the only one who could.”

“Thank you father,” she fastened the necklace around her neck and smiled. “But what made him leave. He seemed to be distracted by something.”

“I think it was that,” Sofie pointed to the sky. Silva, Sefirin, and Nero’s eyes turned draconic looking as far out as they could. Emeralda and Silver looked as well and they were all startled. But the flapping shapes in the distance started to make themselves known.

“Nero. Is that what I think it is?” Silver said softly.

“If we’re seeing the same thing then yes.”

It was a large white butterfly. Its wings glistened with gold and silver dust that trailed with every massive wingbeat. It moved majestically, following air currents that none of them could see. The three teenagers stared at it in apprehension, ready for some kind of fighting, but Nero smiled broadly at the sight.

“Is that another portal thing?” Sofie asked eyes widening. She looked back at Nero and he was shaking his head.

“Nothing at all like that,” he said softly and looked at Silver. “In fact, this is good news for a change. But also.” He looked back toward the red dragon who was eyeing them all but mostly he was looking at Sofie. Sofie backed away but stealed herself and started walking over to him.

“You’re scared. Me too. But we’re gonna get you back home. I promise,” she raised her hands looking at the dragon. The dragon sat up surprised and then growled looking at her. Silver turned toward them immediately growling back but Nero held up his hand to her.

“Easy Silver. I think Sofie and this one have an understanding,” he asked. The young dragon grunted but settled again. He closed his eyes and lowered his head slowly. Sofie touched his head lightly and smiled when the younger dragon didn’t immediately try to bite her hand.

“Looks like you may have a knack for this,” Sefirin said.

“You think so?” she said and glanced at him. Her father nodded turning his gaze back to the sky.

“We should regroup beyond the village,” Silver replied turning to look down at it. Despite the devastation, there was in fact space just outside of the perimeter of the village. A wide space of field that had only been lightly touched by the devastation. That’s where they all came down and waited for the ethereal butterfly to land.

It came down spreading its massive wings and covering them in dust that faded away the moment it made contact with their skin. Its wings moved like giant blankets of leathery material, covered in glowing circular patterns that seemed to be the cause of the dust.

It turned its thin legs so that it could get comfortable. Raising its wings, the light that it radiated died down revealing a furry body. Instead of a butterfly, they realized that it was a large moth with a spotted coat as if covered in snow. It looked apprehensive toward the trio of dragons that were now in a clearing as if waiting for a trap but once it saw Nero it let out a soft cry. Lowering its body slowly its wings came down and the creature settled.

A woman jumped off its back, flipping once before coming down into a wide grin. Her curly white hair had grown longer but her face hadn’t aged a day from the flat and thin nose to the, freckles, and bright white eyes. Flashing a grin Olivier moved forward and spread her arms. “Of all the surprises I didn’t expect to see any of you here.”

“Q’una!” the trio of siblings said going forward quickly.

She laughed and hugged each of them in turn and looked them over one by one. “It’s so good to see you three again.”

“Q’una what is that?” Sofie asked staring at the moth as it looked over the group of them.

“Is that a familiar?” Sefirin asked. “Like how dad does?”

Olivier glanced back at the moth and it let out a soft cry looking at her, “Not quite.” She swiped her hand through the air gently. The moth let out another cry and then began to glow and buzz. Its body turned into dust suddenly, not like an explosion but more like it evaporated. The dust flowed around her like a cloud and then faded into nothing.

Her eyes flashed and then settled on her usual orange. “That’s not a familiar but good ole fashioned faerie magic. Making constructs is something that we do well. I can show you how it’s done when we get back home. Maybe one of you two will be able to conjure your own.”

She winked at Sofie and Silva both. Silva looked away but Sofie walked over to her sister and wrapped her arm around her arm. Silva looked at her surprised but Sofie beamed up at her nodding quickly. “We can figure it out together, right?”

Silva stopped her initial response her eyes going from green to blue to finally orange and she nodded, “Sure.”

“Hey come on what about me Oli?” Nero said pretending to be upset but Olivier laughed.

“You rank a little lower on the totem poll Nemo. But it’s good seeing you as well. Though I think there’s someone else who’s more than happy to see the four of you than I.”

Lily floated down, a small tornado under her feet. She came down smiling at everyone. Her purple hair was tied up with her red ribbon in a large ponytail. Her eyes were tired but they shined looking at her kids and husband.

Once she landed finally, she was rushed by her children all of them hugging her at once. Doing her best to hug them back she laughed, “Oh it’s been so long. I feel like I haven’t seen any of you in years. What are all three of you doing out here though?”

“Apparently being great runs in the family,” Nero said coming over. He and Lily shared a quick kiss and a smile. “Hey babe.”

“Hey baby.”

“Before we get ahead of ourselves let’s address the dragon in the room,” Olivier said marveling at the trio in front of her. Her eyes shifted from white to blue quickly as she appraised them. “I never thought I would see so many dragons this side of the veil.”

Lily came forward slowly standing near her family. “So that wasn’t just a one time thing then.”

“What wasn’t?” Silva asked.

“The magic that we investigated in Jigour turned out to be a dragon. We thought it was a freak coincidence and sent it back. But this is definitely more than that.”

Watching the myriad of dragons, she paused going to Silver. She stared at her so closely that she forced herself to look away as if being rude. The dragon hummed softly and tilted her head to the side. She looked back toward Nero and laughed, “It looks just like her. Almost a spitting image. How crazy is that?”

Nero shook his head, “More than that. It is her. My Silver. Our Silver.” He said and held his hand out to Lily. Her eyes widened but she took his hand without a second thought. And for a moment she was inside not just his head but Silver’s. The memories of the time they’d spent together. The years of being in each other’s company flooded back.

Lily gasped, her eyes flying open and the inkling of tears in them. “Silver?” She looked at her and took a hesitant step forward. “Is that really you?”

The humanoid dragon looked at her and smiled brightly, “It is me Lily.” She crossed the distance between them and hugged her tightly Silver returned it humming softly. “It’s good to see you.”

“How is this possible?” Lily asked wiping her eyes as she took a step back.

“I’ll fill you in later,” Nero said. “It’s a doozy. But it’s tied to.” He motioned around at all of the dragons with them now. “Speaking of. That’s Emeralda. Sofie’s partner.”

“Sofie?” Lily turned to look at her youngest, eyes somehow going wider.

Sofie looked away blushing and nodded quickly, “Yeah. Me and Em.”

Lily blinked quickly and shook her head, “Alright. I was only gone for a few weeks. And all of this has happened. I feel like I need to lie down.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” Olivier sighed but looked at them closer. “What about that one? Is he one of yours as well?”

“No. He’s just a young one brought over here by bad luck,” Nero said. “He caused a lot of trouble but I don’t think he’s that bad. Just confused and angry. Like teenagers tend to be.” He glanced at his kids and smirked. “But we’ll get him back home. And then fix what he broke.” Nero stared at the village and frowned. The smoke was still rising into the sky even though all the fires themselves had finally been put out.

“What are you all doing out here in Kyrix of all places?” Olivier asked her feet crunching in the cold grass.

“Kinda the same as you,” Nero glanced back at Silver.

The dragon lowered herself slowly and said, “After informing Nero about the portals we grouped together and set our eyes on Kyrix as that is when we believed another portal would be opening. But we were slow as a dragon had already arrived.”

“We’ve done as much as we could for the village,” Sefirin piped up he frowned hard. “A lot of people were hurt but they’ve been getting help. There are mages there that can take care of them.”

“You did good. All of you,” Nero said looking at each of them one by one.

It was then that Lily got a good look at her husband.

“What happened to you all?” Lily asked.

Olivier nodded, “You look like hell.”

“Daze,” Nero said cryptically. “He attacked us.”

“What?” Lily hissed and touched his arm then looked at her children. “Are you all alright?”

“Yeah,” Silva said. “He wasn’t looking for us though. He was after Sofia.”

Lily looked at her youngest immediately but Sofie shook her head. “I’m okay. But there’s something else,” Sofie said looking at them. “When he attacked me, he said he needed the soul of a dragon and a rider to give his sword the boost to do his plans.”

“The soul of a dragon and a rider?” Olivier repeated. “Are you sure? That’s what he said exactly?”

“Yes.”

“It sounds like he’s hunting a dragon rider?” Olivier said softly. “But as far as we know there’s just the two now. And even then there was only one until very recently.”

“Who knows with that man,” Nero scowled putting his hands onto his hips.

“What do we do?” Sefirin asked.

He frowned hard and Lily glanced at him, taking one of his hands. He squeezed it, looking at Olivier and then at his children and finally his wife. “I hate to default to this so much but I want to talk to Sehren. He’s the best person to know what his brother is thinking.”

“Always a safe option,” Olivier said softly. “He always seems to know what’s going on before everyone else.”

“I agree,” Lily sighed. “And we’re closer to Kyrix than we are to Agrentum. We can talk to them for refuge and then get in contact with my brother and by extension Sehren.”

“They are not going to be happy when three dragons show up,” Nero scratched the back of his head.

The red dragon sat up suddenly and growled, his voice turning into a roar. They started and looked around quickly at what had gotten the ire of the dragon. It was a man wearing a long black coat, gloves, and pants. He had deathly pale skin, a long nose, and sharp chin. He had short white hair with black roots. He wore orange glasses on his eyes that blocked them away. He was smoking something fragrant that seemed to annoy the dragons, Nero, Silva, and Sefirin.

He stopped and put his hands in his pockets looking at them, “Why do you always cause a mess Nero?”

Nero’s lips quirked in a smirk and he leaned back, “I cleaned this one up Haseo.”

“Huh. I find that hard to believe.” Spitting out the cigarette he stamped it out and looked at them all and lowered his glasses revealing dark brown eyes for a second. “More dragons. The rumors are true.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m gonna have to ask you to come with me. King Stefan and King Joseph want to have a few words with you.”