The Girl and The Dragon

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. We came in the time of peace. We lived through the native’s wars and now they turn their wrath upon us.

We couldn’t stop this war which continues to rage on. I know my people aren’t winning. Benjamin, my mate is dead. He has given his life so our people can live, and so, his child will have a chance to live.

I don’t understand how Blake found us. We should have been safe.

It hurts, but deep in my heart, I know my people won’t survive. But I will not let Benjamin’s sacrifice be for nothing. I will save our child. There is still time to hide her from this monster, Blake, who seeks nothing more than to annihilate us.

The air is thick with the scent of blood, the blood of Hunters and Dragon. The stench of burning flesh, the sounds of screaming and crying herald the final assault.

Panic, fear, and desperation drive me. I pace the room, desperately torn between my need to help my people and my need to save my child. I am trapped. Trapped because I can’t endanger my baby. This baby is our people’s only hope, and my last link with Benjamin.

Our beautiful land has become unbalanced, twisted, drained of life and beauty and all of this is Blake’s doing. His warped powers gave birth to the Black Phoenix, an evil mutation of all that is light and good. My child writhes and kicks within my womb, sensing my desperate need. . . and fears

Blake must never find this child. If he does. . . I cannot bear the thought, he will not be satisfied with simply twisting and maiming her. He will destroy her. But before he does that, he will use her, as he used his own daughter, to experiment upon, and create a new breed of Dragon and Hunter. Blake has only ever sought power. He seeks to control this world and the world beyond. And all this horror and evil he justifies by his desire to bring back the dead and resurrect his lost love, Rose. But Blake has never known what love is, what love means. He has no love within him, no respect for the woman who gave him his child. If he had, he could never have used his daughter as he has. Already he has mixed her blood with the blood of an Elder Onyx, and this un-natural offspring, is destroying us. Blake’s daughter is dead and so now, desperate, he comes for me, and my child.

Screams, roars, the clash of steel and claw echo throughout my chamber. My guards are dying to protect me . . . us. Quietly, I slip into the shadows. Blake will not have me or my child. We will not serve him and his perverted needs.

I realize that the shadow I am now standing in, is the shadow of the one I hate the most and that is not Blake. My skin crawls with fear and hate. I know Bellona is stone, even in this warm room, her once skin still feels like snow. For the first time in the two days since she has been petrified, I wish she wasn’t stone. I never wanted her to live, even when I first saw her as a new-born baby. She was always cold, as cold as snow and ice.

“Come out Katarina, you have lost. All the Fire-Breathers are dead. Only you are left. Only you and your child.”

My blood freezes.

Only a door stands between us. Fear engulfs me. I need more time! My baby must live.

“Katarina. The sooner you come out, the sooner this will all be over!”

The thrill of triumph rings in his voice. He is enjoying the moment.

“Why are you doing this?” I cry swallowing the lump in my throat.

A cold laugh is my only answer.

“Oh, sweet little Katarina. You know why. And you know I always get what I want. And what I want, is my dead love alive. For that I need you, well not you exactly, just your child.”

There is pause and then the door is kicked and kicked and kicked. It will not hold for long. Concentrating, I focus my essence upon protecting my baby and then I shift grateful that the room is large. The door splinters and Blake strolls in. Green eyes meet his blue ones. He doesn’t look like a killer or a monster. He looks more like a knight in shining armour. But his golden hair and good looks lie for they hide his cruel and heartless nature.

Desperately, I scan through time searching for another Firer-Breather. This is a desperate action on my behalf, but it is the only way for us to survive. My essence will lie hidden within this host Fire Breather’s body and my baby will live.

The faint trace of a Fire Breather wafts through time towards me. She is so far away but I must try. It is our only chance and death is better than Blake has in store. I take one last look at all I love, then my body roars with pain. All is a blur and the last sound I hear is Blake’s roar of anger and then, blessed silence.

“I will find you Katarina and I will find that child of yours. I will get what I need.”

Did I hear those words? Are those words real or am I hearing my own fears?

My last conscious thought is for my child, “Sally Cross, please look after my baby.”

Then I am gone, merged into Sally’s unsuspecting body.

I will sleep until my child turns seventeen and then it will be time for me to wake. Until then, my child is safe, I hope.

The Girl and the Dragon

Chapter One

The scorching sun touches everything. It scorches the sand red making it burn. The flaming colour almost matches my long hair. I lie in the shadow of a tree to have some protection from the sun.

My eyes are heavy with sleep, and I want to dream of all the different places I want to go, places which aren’t red and hot. I want to dream of the story of how the first Dragon was born. It goes something like this. The Sky fell in love with Earth and out of their love the first Dragon was born. But the Sun was jealous and tried to burn the Dragon. The Dragon thought the Sun’s fire was a gift and welcomed it. And so, an act of hatred was turned into a gift of great wonder and joy and the Dragon became a the fire- breather.

The Sky wasn’t faithful to the Earth. His eye turned towards the beauty of the Sea and that was how the Water Dragon came to be. Earth was so hurt by Sky’s lies and deceit, and out of her pain and sorrow came the Ghost Dragon, which created all illusions in the world. The Oxy Dragon was born from the internecine fighting of these three dragons.

This was my favourite story when I was little. Gabe and Jacob would tell it to me all time. It would always put a smile on my face.

It might not have had a happy ending but it was peaceful ending.

Gradually I felt sleep pull me into its sweet embrace.

Everything is blue, as though everything is made out of ice. I look at two small girls and they are covered in bruises. They are sobbing into each other arms. Scanning the room, I note there aren’t any doors or windows. Across the room I see another little girl hitting the walls and screaming. Her small hands have started to bleed. Her voice gives out and she slides down walls in.

“Jack!”

I almost roll over and go back to sleep to find out what happens in my dream. I hope someone saves them.

But it seems hopeless. I sit up and see my two brothers Jacob and Gabe cruise towards me. I know it was Gabe who yelled out to me because he is the only one to ever call me Jack. I think he only started doing it to annoy mum. She loves my name. If mum hadn’t corrected him the first time he wouldn’t have kept going. Gabe insists Jacob also be called Jake.

Jacob and Gabe are twins and where one is the other is never far away. My brothers are intimidating. But they don’t intimidate me. Everyone finds it difficult to tell them apart, and I guess I can see why. They are both six foot tall, have dark, brown hair, strong jaws and a dancer’s physique, even though I don’t think they have danced a day in they life. They have both been trained to be warriors all their lives. They may only look eighteen or nineteen, but in truth they are twenty-three. This is all thanks to the Dragon’s blood carry in the body and maybe little bit of the Hunter’s blood too.

Dragons age differently to humans. We never look older than forty. It a blessing and curse. The twins love to confuse others. Today they are wearing the same dark jeans and t- shirts. The only person who can ever get them into a blue or red button-down shirt is mum. I can’t talk, and neither can dad. Mum loves colour and dresses.

The single difference between my brothers is their eye colour. Gabe’s eyes are bright blue, and they scream reckless, trouble, and fun. Jacob, on the other hand, has warm dark grey eyes. They look a little like dad’s but if you look carefully, you can see that dad’s eyes are a lighter shade. Eyes, in our families, reveal our personalities.

Jacob is a gentle giant and so talented. His drawing is like looking at the real thing. He always has a sketchbook and pencil nearby. My room is filled with his art. He will draw anything. He makes drams real.

Gabe on the other hand is reckless and fearless but smart. He may act like a fool, but he is no fool. He is not sentimental at all, he’s practical and physical.

They plonk down on either side of me, looping their strong arms around my shoulders and immediately, I am suspicious. It's not their big dopey grins that are the giveaway, it's that they are never this loving unless mischief is in the offing.

Jacob leans in and whispers, “Jacqueline, how would you like to go flying?"

A smile lights up my face. Mum and Dad don't like us to go flying. They always say it's too dangerous, but that has never stopped me before. I love flying towards the sun. I love flying and nothing will ever stop me taking to the air.

Gabe and Jacob often fly with me, but we haven't flown together for a week. Even though I've already flown today, I am not going to turn down the chance to fly with them. Flying is our time to have fun together. It’s the only time there are no rules!

I look at them. They haven't made a move to go. Shrugging off their arms, I casually stand, glance over my shoulder at them and say,

"Race you to the car!"

And I’m off, Jacob calling out.

"Hey! That's cheating!"

Laughing, I glance back to see them pushing and jostling each other, trying to get in front of each other, because the last always must buy ice cream on the way home. They’ll never beat me. Laughing at their antics I lunge towards the car only to find myself hurled in the air, a giggle escapes me, as Gabe catches me, and holds me in a big old bear hug.

"You little brat, that was cheating" he laughs.

“Yeah, I know. But you two were so asking for it.’

Forty-five minutes later we are at our hide-away, a spring is surrounded by shrubs and red limestone cliffs. Silently, we glide towards the shimmering blue water. It's so beautiful. The soft, sighing song of the breeze whispering through the green shrubs makes this, for me, the most peaceful place in the world. It’s a blue oasis in sea of red.

Jacob, ever the scout, gets out first, just to make sure, we are alone.

Except for the breeze and the birds, we are.

Sorrow nips at my heart because we aren’t here with mum and dad. I can’t help wondering if mum and dad will ever feel safe to fly. My sorrow the sorrow soon disappears, we are having too much fun.

Within seconds, Jacob, and Gabe shift.

Gabe transforms into a big, tough, dark, grey Ghost Dragon with glowing sapphire eyes and covered in flickering sapphire scales. Gabe’s talent is to cast illusions. When he throws the mist, you forget everything you saw or thought you saw and yet Gabe tries not to use it. I never ask what he can do, even if I did, I don’t think he would answer me. He never reveals much about the powers of the Ghost.

Jacob has shifted into a Water Dragon. He is beautiful with dark blue skin and scales lit with a grey fire. With a single touch, Jacob can transform water, making it boil, freeze, flow or mist. He can spray you with a jet or drown you in a shower of rain. Sometimes he makes it rain for us. It is so nice to hear rain on the roof.

Both dragons are gorgeous and powerful with their muscular bodies, heavy broad chests, and long winding necks. Their wings are the length of their body, and they stand on four muscly legs. Each of their feet has five sharp claws, claws made to slash. Jacob's feet are webbed allowing him to swim silently and very, very quickly. The pupils of their eyes are thin vertical slits just like a lizard's or a snake's eyes.

It’s time for me to shift. Within seconds I am moving gracefully towards the water. Looking into the water, I see a petite dragon glowing red and gold in the sun staring back. Fire flickers and burns under the surface of my scales as my ice-emerald eyes flicker gold.

Dragon females are smaller than the males so, I'm only half the size of Gabe and Jacob. To make up for that I'm streamlined and deadly, with curved razor-sharp claws. My legs are thin but strong. I don't look like other Dragons. I don’t even look like Mum. I've never had trouble controlling my Dragon. To me shifting, flying, and flaming fire is as easy as breathing. This, according to everyone, is odd.

Jacob doesn’t say anything, even though I know he wants too. He leans gently against me trying to comfort me. I know Jacob doesn’t care what I look like or if I stand out. He doesn’t see it as a problem. His only worry is what I think about it.

Gabe on hand, will make a joke out my being odd. He’ll call me flashlight, but I don’t think he sees me as odd or unusual. He sees this form of mine as normal. I can’t understand how he came to this conclusion.

Mum and Dad don’t know what to do when they see me like this, I think would be different if they could except how I look and that my language is a bit different too.

Our language is a little different to any of the other Dragons. The boys speak with more of a growl while I speak in a rumbling hum. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with how I look. I just want to know why I look this way. Actually, I’m quite happy with my body, because without it I wouldn't be as fast and agile and I’m built for speed which is lucky because I love speed.

Gabe and Jacob take off into a clear blue sky. Opening my wings, I flex them stirring up the red dust and rippling the crystal blue water. Quickly, I’m over-taking my brothers, soaring higher and higher, relishing the freedom of the sky, the warmth of the breeze on my wings, the sun on my back. Just now, I feel like I could do anything, go anywhere.

Flying always frees me of my worries. For some reason I’m always worrying about what is going to happen next. I can’t seem to lose the feeling that something bad is going to happen. All the time I have the feeling I’m being watched, stalked.

“Bub, it’s getting late. We need to get go if you want ice-cream!” Jacob calls to me, I hate Jacob call me bub, and love it too, but I still roll my eyes at him for it.

By the time I land Gabe has the music playing blaring, and Jacob’s yelling, as much as Jacob ever yells, for him to turn it down.

“Okay, Dad! Jack, are you ready?”

“Ready,” I laugh, getting into the car.

Gabe doesn’t turn the music down because he knows we all love Bon Jovi. Jacob shakes his head but joins in the singing as we make our way back to town. We’re all so carefree, so happy. I should have known it was too good to last.

In town Gabe and I sit around in the park waiting for Jacob to bring us our ice creams and when he does the first thing Gabe does is push the ice cream into Jacob’s face. Calmly, Jacob cleans up, clips Gabe under the ear and returns the compliment. Shaking my head, I move away from the combat zone. This could go on for quite a while.

Finally, Gabe shuffles off to get fresh ice cream, which, this time we eat and then, head home. I don’t want to think about how late it is. I have so broken my curfew. I was meant to home by four. It’s five-thirty when Gale pulls up at home. Quietly, we get out and tiptoe inside. We’re in luck. Mum and Dad are out. Thank goodness.

Our house is modern. It's all white and grey, which I don't like. The colours make me feel cold and unloved. Maybe, if the house was filled with warm colours I wouldn't feel so out of place.

“Bub, breathe. Mum and dad are out back. Maybe they won’t realise how late we are.” Jacob shrugs as he say it. It’s easy for him to say, but Mum and Dad are strict with me when it comes to curfew. Really strict.

“Maybe they’ll say, we’ll all fly as a family tomorrow,” Gabe mocks.

I shake my head and groan just as Mum walks in. Her worry soon turns to a look of disappointment. We are all in so much trouble. Disappointment is so much worse than anger. Even Gabe and Jacob shift uncomfortably.

“What time is it?” she asks, sweetly

Yep, we are in big trouble.

Biting my bottom lip, I look away from her.

“Five thirty” Jacob and I answer together. Gabe, tries to tough it out, “I haven’t looked yet”

“Gabriel Mark Cross, this isn’t joke. You and Jacob both knew that Jacqueline had to be home by four p.m. Neither of you called to say you’d be late. Neither of you thought, we’d like to know where the three of you were. Jacqueline, you should know better. Your father and I worry about you. I know you think you are all grown up and don’t need us anymore. The world is a dangerous place and you still need us. Don’t roll your eyes at me, young lady. That’s it. No more ice-creams in the park. No more flying as a family on the weekend and it’ straight home after school for the next month and a half.”

“Yes, Mum.” Jacob and I answer, Gabe shrugs.

Chapter Two

Jacob Cross