Birth of the Dragon

Ryan

Ryan didn't know what to think. He couldn't take his eyes off the little creature that had just emerged from the egg. It was covered in something slimy, but the moonlight reflected off its blue-grey scales, making its tiny form easy to see.

He stood near the edge of the clearing with a few other people he recognised from Sam's party. The sounds of music and drunken laughter had faded away while he was following the strange elf-girl. It was only after the newcomer broke the silence that Ryan noticed just how quiet it had become.

"So it's real."

The dark haired girl had appeared behind them. She regarded the dragon with curiosity, which Ryan thought was strange. There was no evidence of shock in her expression. Ryan glanced at the others around him, noticing how strange it was that not all of them wore expressions of disbelief or surprise. Selina looked like she wanted to fall asleep right where she was, and Mel looked more apprehensive than surprised, like she was afraid of what she saw.

Ryan counted four others standing beside him - Mel, Selina, Sam, and the new girl, Dakota. That made him five, the dark-haired newcomer six, and the dragon seven…

"Alana?" one of the others - Dakota - questioned, "What are you doing here?"

Alana pointed at the dragon. "Looking for her."

Dakota glanced from the dragon to Alana. "How did you know about her?"

Alana bowed her head. "I know she's important to us. I - I had a dream about her, a vision, more like."

"Sam," Selina's slightly startled voice drew everyone's attention as she stared with wide eyes at the dragon, "Sam, can I go back to bed now please?"

Sam was staring at the dragon with wide eyes, looking like Ryan felt. Instead of answering Selina he turned to the new girl, Alana. "Tell us everything you know."

"Wait a second," Ryan turned, "Shouldn't we get some help for her?" He pointed to the unconscious form of the strange girl who had led him here. "Is she okay?" He quickly rushed over to her side. Another boy was already there, looking old enough to be her brother. He was cradling her head and lightly tapping her cheek, clearly distressed.

"She collapsed once the - the thing hatched. She's not responding."

Ryan reached for his phone, "We should call an ambulance," he said, his hands shaking as he tried to dial the number.

"Don't bother; she's fine." Alana had approached the dragon.

"And it would bring up too many questions," said the unconscious girl's brother.

Ryan frowned, but put the phone away. Still, he took her wrist and checked for a pulse, while watching Alana carefully. "What is going on here?"

She crouched and reached her hand out for the small creature. "Our lives are changing is what. All I know is we were chosen. Something about an Order. We should get somewhere less… open."

Ryan wondered if Alana knew what kinds of creatures were lurking in these woods, or whether she was simply being paranoid. He suspected she knew more than everyone else here. The unconscious girl's brother spoke up. "My house isn't far from here. If someone could carry Alex," he indicated to the unconscious girl, "then I'll run ahead and get some dinner started."

Dakota frowned. "And what about the thing?"

"The dragon, you mean?" Mel stood back with her hands in her pockets, regarding the dragon with apprehension. "We take it with us."

"But how?" asked Dakota

The dragon touched its nose to Alana's palm, then allowed her to pick it up, wrapping its tail.

Mel turned to Alex's brother. "Lead the way."

As the others began to follow Alex's brother, Ryan lifted Alex up with his arms under her knees and back.

Her brother was right, their house wasn't far away. The others followed in single file, with the exception of Sam, who had become an involuntary crutch for a very sleepy Selina. Ryan brought up the rear of the group of eight, but even with Alex in his arms he was easily able to keep up.

After whatever Renwyn had done to him that day in the forest, Ryan had begun to notice that his strength, stamina, and senses had all become heightened. He vaguely recalled Renwyn acting weird, before somehow changing his appearance into something else, something with wings, and the same kind of transformation happening to Ryan. It had been painful. Renwyn had called them both 'Elves'. That was when Ryan blacked out, before waking up somewhere in the woods, with Renwyn nowhere to be seen. He had no idea what had happened, but he was both terrified and eager to see Renwyn again. Whatever he had changed in Ryan, it had left him feeling more alive than ever. Somehow, he knew that this was related to the dragon. It had to be.

The group soon arrived at the house. It was a big old house, two stories high, and made of wood, but didn't look very stable at all. The paint was chipping everywhere and the outside steps creaked with every step.

"What about your parents?" one of the group asked Alex's brother, who was leading them inside.

"They're at a conference, you don't have to worry about them."

The inside of the house was a little neater, with clean furniture and a homely feel. Ryan could smell the cleaning spray that Alex's brother must have used earlier. It scared him that he could now smell something so obscure.

"Where should I put your sister?" Ryan asked.

"Upstairs, second door on the left." He turned and addressed everyone. "There's a bathroom downstairs just there and one upstairs at the end of the hall. There are several other rooms that we'll have to share but someone is welcome to mine. Give me a few minutes to get something on and then I'll go grab the spare mattresses from the attic."

Ryan took Alex upstairs and found her room fairly easily. The place was well lit once he was able to find the light switches, although they flickered every now and then. Ryan frowned as he placed Alex on her bed. Were his eyes always that good? The lights weren't any different to the ones in his own house, and yet, he could easily sense the quick flickering.

The room was startlingly bare - nothing on the walls, no evidence of it being a high-school girl's room except for some clothes strewn on her desk next to a sewing kit. Deciding not to snoop too much, Ryan took the blanket on her bed and tucked her in, before turning off the light and heading downstairs.

The group was gathered in a large room, with Selina taking up a two seater couch as she slept silently, looking inhumanly beautiful with her golden hair fanned out in lovely waves. The others sat on the other three seater couch, or on the floor. Ryan took up a spot against the wall next to Mel. It was then he noticed that she had a blood stain coming from her neck. He gave her a questioning look, and she jerked her head in Sam's direction, accompanied by a glare. Everyone was silent.

After a few minutes, Bash came in with sausages and bread. Everyone began eating, as they all seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. Alana, Ryan noticed, dug in hungrily, finishing before everyone else.

"What did you mean, Alana, when you said that we were chosen?" Ryan asked.

"The dragon needs protecting. I saw us all there surrounding it as shadows closed in on us."

"What do you mean by shadows? And why would it choose all of us?" Sam asked.

Alana slumped her shoulders. "I don't know."

"I think I might know," Mel said, sounding grim. "How long have you been having these visions, Alana?"

"These dragon ones? The past week. I have been having visions since I could form sentences. My mother told me the first full sentence I ever said was how I died in a past life."

Mel narrowed her eyes. Then, she waved her hand in a simple twirling motion. It produced a brief flicker of a flame. "I'm a witch," she said, "And I think you're an oracle of some kind." She glanced around at the others. "I'll bet there's something strange about everyone else here as well."

"Like a Wiccan?" Dakota asked. Her eyes were narrowed in return.

Mel shrugged. "We can perform magic - spells and charms. But not like in Harry Potter."

"I guess that explains what happened with me," Sam said quietly.

"What did happen with you?" Mel had an accusing tone.

Sam had his hands locked in his lap and didn't look up at her. "I have no idea."

"Alex might know," Ryan spoke up. After all, she had known he was an elf. "Did she appear to anyone else before we came to the clearing?"

Dakota nodded. "I was having this weird hallucination where there was all this blood, and she came and led me away."

"Me too," Mel said, "I thought it was Sam chasing me through the forest… but his image flickered, and for a second it looked like her."

Alex's brother spoke up. "She was able to give me a few scraps of information, something about a cull, but from the sounds of it she didn't think she'd remember anything after the dragon hatched."

"A cull?" Ryan asked. He didn't like the sound of that.

"I know what she's talking about." Beside him, Mel stood up. She looked even grimmer than before. "The cull is…" she faded off. "The cull is a mythological story. My coven occasionally tell stories about it to the younger ones to scare them, but none of us are sure it's even real. According to the story, the cull is an inevitable war that happens once every ten thousand years between all of the supernatural creatures. The war is allegedly so brutal - so massive - that entire species have been wiped out. And if the stories are true then the next cull is happening very soon."

"This is crazy. I have to still be hallucinating, right? It would be all over the news if dragons and witches actually existed!" Dakota responded.

"Maybe we're all really drunk," Ryan mused, wishing it could be true. "We can't tell anyone about this, either way. Either we're insane, or this is actually happening - but it doesn't matter, everyone will think we're insane anyway."

Sam shook his head. "I'm not affected by alcohol, so unless we're all drugged or on some weird reality show, this is real."

Dakota slumped in her chair. "But if it is real, why don't we show it to others? The news or something?"

"We have to protect it; keeping it secret will keep it safe," Alana replied quickly.

"Why do we have to protect the dragon?" Mel asked, folding her arms and leaning with her back against the wall.

Alana turned to her. "Look at it - it's a baby. If we don't, it might die."

"And Alex said something about how it needs to be us, that others can't be trusted." Alex's brother said.

"Okay but what does it need protecting from? These shadows you saw?" Mel asked Alana.

"My visions aren't always literal. The shadows are the unknown, they are danger. Not just for the dragon, but for us all."

"Well Mel, you said you're a witch or wiccan or something, what's out there?" Sam asked.

Mel glared at him. "Vampires are real, I know that much. And oracles exist, apparently." She nodded to Alana. "As for the other species out there, I don't know much. Werewolves, elves, fairies, there are a lot of myths mixed with truth. Anyone feel like sharing what they are?" She seemed to be fixating on Sam.

"Don't look at me, I'm as weirded out as you are."

"What happened with you two?" Ryan asked.

Mel glared menacingly at Sam. "He tried to drink my blood. He's a vampire."

Sam shifted uncomfortably but didn't say anything.

Alana's eyes widened. "A vampire? Like an undead creature of the night, Dracula-type vampire?"

"I'm not dead though!"

"But you did try to suck her blood. Maybe you don't have to be dead to be a vampire. This is supposedly real life, so maybe it's not like it is in the movies," Dakota responded

Alex's brother put his hands up for silence. "I've realised I've been incredibly rude. I'm Bash, and my sister is Alex. What are all your names? Giving an interesting fact about yourself isn't necessary though." He chuckled to himself, lightening the mood.

The others went around introducing themselves. Ryan already knew most of their names - Mel, Sam, Dakota, and Alana. Ryan introduced himself, then pointed to Selina's slumped form. "And that's Selina."

"It's great to meet you all and you're welcome to crash here for as long as you need," Bash said.

Alana turned to the dragon, who was asleep in the corner of the room. "What about the dragon? I think she should be safe here, but we should all help look after her. Besides, if we're together we can see why each of us was chosen, like me being an oracle or whatever Mel called me, and her being a witch, and Sam's vampirism."

"That's a good idea, however right now we should all sleep on this and try to come to terms with this insane experience tomorrow," Bash responded.

Dakota nodded, her eyes heavy. "I could sleep a lifetime away."

Selina

Selina was hot when she woke up on the couch, sunlight streaming through the windows. She had a vague recollection of last night - following Sam into the woods, and seeing a dragon hatch. For a moment, she considered the possibility that it was a dream. But her memories of that night, though blurry and hazed with her sleepiness, felt too real to dismiss.

Once she had gotten to this house, however, she had instantly fallen asleep. She wondered what the others had done, where they had gone, and what she had missed. It seemed to be early in the morning, as the sun was low. Her phone was dead, but she doubted her mother had been trying to call her.

She had no desire to go back home yet - while she was starving and in need of a shower, there was a dragon in this house. Her mother wouldn't miss her. Selina had once gone a week without coming home, and her mother hadn't even noticed.

She sat up and stretched. The others were probably upstairs sleeping, but Selina felt wide awake. She decided to go for a walk. Usually she went for a morning run, but she wasn't feeling too well after the previous night, and didn't want to stray too far from the house. She had no recollection of how to get back to the town. The morning was cold as she stepped outside, watching as her breath came out in swirls and mingled with the light mist.

As she began walking into the woods, a faint whooshing sound came from above. Glancing up, Selina couldn't see much past the treetops. She had strayed a little from the house, though she was careful to keep it in sight. The trees above rustled suddenly and the whooshing sound grew louder. As she stopped and tried to find the source of the sound, she caught a glimmer of gold and the sound of wings. A few seconds later, her brother descended slowly through the trees, his wings out to slow his descent. His stripy pyjamas flapped in the breeze created by his wings.

"Selina," he said, sounding relieved. He strode forward and hugged her fiercely.

"Nathan, what's wrong?"

He let her go and looked up. "I found her."

Nathan had barely raised his voice, but almost instantly a crashing sound came from above, and Jacob landed beside Nathan in a half-kneeling landing position, his outstretched wings covered in twigs and leaves. A second later, a branch fell from above, narrowly missing Jacob's wings. Unlike Nathan, Jacob had crashed through the trees, not bothering to avoid anything. He seemed unfazed. A shiver flowed through his wings as he stood, shaking off the leaves and twigs, and leaving his clean wings blindingly bright and pure white. He was wearing formal clothes again, but they were ruffled by the flight. The two men folded their wings behind them and glared at Selina in unison.

"If you were going to be out all night, you should have at least made sure your phone was charged," said Nathan.

"That's what this is about? You were worried about me?"

"Of course I was worried about you! I went to wake you up this morning and found an empty bed!" Nathan shouldn't have been mad; he knew he didn't have the right to be after leaving. He seemed, in fact, relieved. But in the few days that he had been back, he had fallen back into the role of her protective older brother. He crossed his arms and looked away from Selina, to the house behind her. "Where have you been?"

Selina didn't want to explain herself, and she got the sense that the others back in the house would want the events of last night to remain secret. Not that Selina knew much of what happened - just vague, untrustworthy memories. But that didn't mean that she couldn't get some information out of Nathan and Jacob. She turned to Jacob. "What other supernatural creatures are out there?"

Jacob had a stony expression. "You don't get to ask questions," he said gruffly.

"But how can you expect me to go with you unless you answer me? I don't have any idea what I could be getting myself into."

"Then don't come. It's your decision."

"You haven't given me much of a choice. I could become a half angel and go do who knows what or stay here as a human. What's the catch? What would I have to do? How dangerous is it all?"

"Selina." Nathan interjected, ever her sweet and polite brother.

"No, Nathan. You expect me to come with you based on what you told me - which was nothing at all by the way - and then act like I should know exactly what I want to do! Well, I don't know! I have all of these things happening to me right now, but what if I don't want any of it? What if I want to do something else like - like become a cleaner like my mother?"

"A cleaner?" Jacob raised an eyebrow.

"It could be a very rewarding career!" She indignantly crossed her arms. "Anyway, I'm safe. You can stop worrying about me. So if there's nothing else…"

In a blast of air, Jacob summoned his wings and launched from the ground with a powerful sweep of his wings. Nathan, however, stayed, a sympathetic expression on his face. He summoned his wings as well, though they trailed on the ground behind him; glimmering in the soft morning light. In the silence, her gaze was drawn to them as if they were calling to her. You need us, they seemed to whisper into her mind as they shimmered, catching the light perfectly.

Nathan frowned as a bit of torn pyjama fabric floated to the ground. "Do the wings leave scars when you fold them up?" she asked, her voice breaking the silence.

He turned to look behind, his wings swishing with the movement. Did they get in the way? So many questions to ask, so little time before she had to decide.

"They do leave a mark, but it's not a scar exactly," he responded. He raised the wings, and Selina watched, fascinated, as he turned so she could see him fold them up again. It was like an illusion, the way they fitted into each other, within a few seconds shrinking and folding swiftly until they disappeared at two points just between the shoulder blades of his back. Just as she had expected, there were tears in his pyjamas where the wings had first broken through. There, on his skin, she could see two faded red lines. Stepping forward to get a closer look, she could see that the lines were dead straight and made up of several smaller, block lines. It reminded her of some kind of ancient language style.

So many questions were building up inside her. Finally, a step away from him, she said quietly, "tell me everything."

He shook his head, almost imperceptibly. "You have to say yes first."

This was unfair. Jacob was being just as rude about this whole thing, but he didn't have to be nice to her. He wasn't her brother. Nathan was. Nathan was supposed to look after her, to defend her even when she didn’t need defending, to be on her side. He'd always been that kind of person. Not her friend, but her supporter. Just as she supported him over the years - been proud when he achieved something, been angry when someone hurt him, was on his side when they fought with their mum. That was, until Nathan had left.

"I need something," she said. His wings unfurled again, a lot quicker than it had taken to fold them up. She almost missed it - the sudden, smooth, growth of white feathers from his back into fully stretched out wings. He seemed to sigh, tilting his head back with a relaxed look on his face. It looked like it felt nice. He finished stretching them, letting them fall back to the ground. A cascade of gold-flecked white feathers from his back to the ground. He turned back to Selina.

"You'll be immortal." The words were like a question.

"Seriously?" The raised eyebrow, the glare.

Nathan didn't back down. His skin seemed to emanate that supernatural glow. She wondered if she had only noticed it at this point, or if he had somehow let that part of him show for effect. That part that made it utterly clear he wasn't human.

Immortal. Never aging, never dying. Her mouth went dry, as she realised there was no question to answer. I want that life.

"Did you know? Before you said yes, I mean."

"Yes, dad told me. Not much, but he did tell me that."

She felt an unwelcome feeling then. A pang of resentment. Nathan had had the easy choice. Mum wasn't going to let Selina go as easily, the baby of the family who still needed coddling. Funny how her mum only acted that way when it suited her.

"What are you even doing here?" Nathan asked.

"I told you, didn't I? I got drunk last night, ended up here."

"Why?" He eyed the house again. "Who else is here?"

"Just a couple of friends, okay? I can handle myself, you do realise."

Nathan gave a knowing smile. "Oh, I'm not really concerned, just curious as to who you have been spending time with."

"I don't have a boyfriend if that's what you mean."

He raised his hands innocently. "Of course not! Why would you assume that?"

She gave him a look.

"Did you want a lift home?"

"I didn't think you drove here."

Nathan raised his wings, towering over Selina in full glory. The low rays of light shone on the feathers like they were drawn to them through the trees. "I wasn't talking about driving."

Overwhelmed with the need to say yes to everything right then and there, Selina opened her mouth. But I can't leave the others. There's still so much I don't understand. The rational side of her told her to stay put. She didn't know everything yet.

Selina backed away, trying not to look at his wings lest she be tempted to change her mind. "It's okay, I'll catch a ride with a friend."

Nathan seemed confused, but didn't push the matter. "Okay," he said, sounding unsure and maybe even hurt. "I'll see you later, then."

They hugged goodbye and he left in a flurry of wings. Unlike Jacob, who was clearly more practiced, Nathan needed a run up to get off the ground. Selina watched him fly off, looking more and more like a simple bird as he grew smaller in the distance. She trudged back to the house and entered quietly. The sun was still low, so it was likely that no-one was up yet.

She decided to explore the rest of the house, beginning with upstairs. There had to be a bathroom up there somewhere. If Alex's brother had told them where it was last night, Selina had been too out of it to remember. She needed a minute to herself.

Sneaking around, she could hear quiet snoring in one of the rooms she passed in the upstairs hallway. Moving on, she reached another door and gently opened it, hoping to find a toilet and a sink with a mirror. Instead, she found herself at the entrance to another bedroom. The furniture was bare and there were two dormant figures, a man in a chair and a girl tucked in bed.

The man, Alex's brother, turned to her, appearing fully awake, and gave her a kind smile. "Looking for a bathroom?"

Selina nodded.

"End of the hall." She didn't move. "Do you need someone to talk to?"

Selina froze, surprised he could sense something was wrong. He seemed to be a caring guy, and he wasn't too bad looking… but not interested in Selina, she realised. "Thanks, but I can't really talk to anyone about this."

"I understand, I'm making tea if you'd like some though."

She was very hungry. "If you're offering," she said with a nod and a smile. "I'll see you downstairs."

Ryan

Ryan was up to get a drink in the early hours of the morning. The sun had risen, and all was silent. He could hear loud snoring coming from one of the rooms, but he couldn't remember who was in there. Struck with a sudden need to know, he crept slowly up to the door, drink in hand, and began trying to gently open the door. The door handle squeaked, making him wince and spill his water on his socks.

He groaned.

Suddenly he could hear someone else down the hall. It seemed to be coming from Alex's room, and it sounded like someone was being attacked. Ryan wondered why no-one else was waking up. He ran down the hall and threw open her door. But no-one else was in there except for Alex. She was thrashing in her bed, clearly having a nightmare. As Ryan drew closer, he heard her whisper "Leave me alone!"

"Alex! Alex!" Ryan took her hand, holding it gently but firmly. "Alex, it's just a dream! Come on, you have to wake up!"

She gripped his hand tightly, her nails digging into his palm. "No, no!" Several foreign images flashed through his mind, instantly forgotten once they had gone.

Trying to stop her violent thrashing, Ryan managed to spill the rest of the water on himself. Alex, by some miracle, remained dry. "Hey, hey," he spoke softly, abandoning his drink and taking her other hand. "It's just a dream. It's not real. You're okay, you're fine."

She stopped crying out and thrashing but the vice-like grip remained for several moments before she finally released him. She murmured a few words in a language he didn't understand. Her lips now hinting at a slight smile, Alex appeared to settle down. Ryan brushed a strand of hair off her face and sat back, crouching next to her bed. He wanted to make sure the nightmares didn't come back.

He cocked his head as he watched her breathing steadily. When carrying her last night, he had been distracted and confused and only concerned for her wellbeing. Now, with nothing else to do, Ryan was able to study Alex for the first time. She was breathtakingly beautiful - but that was something he had noticed before, the first time he had seen her at the party. Her eyes had been wide with urgency and promise when she had been speaking to him. Flirting might have been a better word.

Her circular face was adorned with angular, exotic features, and framed with flowing blonde hair. There was still only low light in the early morning, but with Ryan's newly enhanced vision he could see her unconscious form perfectly.

He had grown used to seeing tiny flaws in everything around him that he never would have noticed before - tiny cracks in the wall, how one room was slightly colder than another, how every floorboard seemed to creak beneath him - but he didn't notice anything off about Alex. In fact, the more Ryan looked, the more beautiful she appeared to him.

Someone cleared their throat. Ryan jumped up with a start. It was Bash, standing in the doorway with his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face. Despite his strangely enhanced senses, Ryan had been too distracted to even notice someone arriving. "I was just - she was having a nightmare and no-one was here, so I…"

Bash eyed the wet patch on Ryan's shirt, from where he had spilt his drink trying to calm Alex down. He raised an eyebrow. Ryan quickly picked up his cup. "It was just water."

Bash remained silent. Please stop me Ryan silently prayed. "Bye." He left before he could dig himself further in.