The Dracones

I’m in the shadow world, and I’m definitely dead this time. That little rat bastard dragon wasn’t wrong, was he? I look to my left and see Nylarth has appeared before me. “Pissed off the Dracones Gods have you?” He chuckles as he gives me an amused smile.

I shrug. “It was my free time.”

He chuckles. “By the gods you are something else. They needed a good ribbing anyway.”

I smile. “Hopefully the next one can keep that going.”

Nylarth looks me over. “You still killed Modain. It was an honorable way to die.”

“It was a stupid way to die. Who just charges into a dragon’s mouth?” I fold my arms as I look at the little lights before me. Another soul to take my place.

“One who looks out for her partner. You’re very good at working for a team. Trayvon is another matter entirely. I’m afraid after you, he won’t be so kind with the next one.”

I snort. “When was he ever kind?”

“Good point.” He pats my shoulder. “Now who do you want to replace you?”

I shrug. “To keep up with Trayvon, someone like me. Or Freiah maybe?”

He shakes his head. “There is not another like you my dear. Freiah is better suited to heal. She does not like fighting, though Trayvon challenges that belief sometimes.”

I think about it. “Stubborn would be good. Maybe Moira.”

“How well did you adjust to being here?” Nylarth chuckles.

“You do like poking holes in things, don’t you?” I mutter. “She can handle it though. She’s smart.”

“She also leads hundreds of people, child.”

He’s got me there. “This is hard. How did you choose me so easily?”

Nylarth scoffs, “I didn’t. I thought about this long and hard in my lifetime. I was old when I died.”

“No,” I give a mocked gasp. He chuckles as I turn back towards the lights. “What made you choose my traits?”

“I thought about the man you’d be working with. When I found you, I knew you’d be perfect.”

I roll my eyes. “Great, I’ll need to pick a stone to get through his thick head.”

Nylarth chuckles. “That is true. He does care for you. Your loss is devastating to him.”

I wave him off. “Only because I bullied the Gods, and he got to keep his precious dragon. I doubt the next one can do the same thing. Freiah is the only one I can see pulling that off.”

“You keep thinking of people you know. Try thinking of your traits. There are tons with a lot of your qualities.”

“Hopefully just the good ones.”

“Stop!” A voice yells behind us, causing us to both turn in surprise.

I groan. “What are you three doing here?” I whine as I look at the Dracones Gods. “Can’t you let a girl die in peace?”

The woman glares at me. “Silence you insolent girl.”

“Haven’t you come up with a better insult than that yet?” I turn my body towards them, fully facing them as Nylarth stifles a giggle.

The man cuts her off. “You killed Modain.”

His statement confuses me. Was it supposed to be a question? “And he deserved it,” I pointedly say as I nod.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

“And released the tortured dragon spirits.”

“Again, yes.”

“And helped redeem your predecessors, Morkov and Slayer.”

“Unknowingly,” I sigh, wishing they’d get to the point.

To my surprise, both Morkov and Slayer appear before us. “She did indeed save us our lords.” They say as they kneel. I roll my eyes as Nylarth looks them over.

Morkov stands. “We did what we thought was right your Graces. We were desperate and foolish. Katarina saved and repaired all that had been done. Even Necro has vanished from this earth.”

The man looks at Morkov. “Morkov, why didn’t you tell us you had an heir?”

He grimaces while Nylarth gapes at me. Morkov speaks with care. “Forgive me Ugyay. I thought if I had forgotten about the child I had sired, the problem would go away. I know a child of an immortal would have been a great asset to you, but once I gave up that immortality the child lost his ability as well. No direct line and all that.”

I roll my eyes. My greatest grandfather, the love em and leave em type coward, everybody. He peeks at me, shame showing on his face.

Ugyay looks me over. “She does look like you by quite a bit. You must be proud of her.”

“I’m proud, but I doubt she is of me as of this moment. I was stupid back then.” He looks me over. “I am sorry for what I did to your ancestor, Katarina. How did she fair?”

“Believe me, your selfish action four days ago, told me enough as to what to think of you and your friend.” He winces while I then shrug. “To answer your question, I don’t know. I grew up as an orphan so that part of my past has been lost. Maybe I’ll ask her once I officially cross over.”

“No, I will.” He smiles at me. “I owe her an apology after all these years.”

Ugyay looks at me. “You see, this is interesting. With your biological line as part of the original Dracones, we can make you immortal. All you have to do- “

I cut him off. “Save it Ugyay. I’ll agree to being immortal, and protecting the dragons, but that is it. I will not swear loyalty to a bunch of swindlers.”

Ugyay’s jaw clenches as his fists ball. The others stare at me in shock. “That’s not what I had in mind.”

“Then get yourself another girl. I have no children. I have an adoptive sister, and I refuse to pick her. Who knows, maybe you’ll snag the next line in another century or so to complete your precious set.” I turn back to the screen. “So Nylarth, you really think I should focus on my traits?”

“Uh-yeah.” He says, taken off guard by the direction of this conversation, as he turns his attention back to me. “Also focus on skill. Make sure they can fight since this life can be hard.”

I cock my head as I think of it. A little light in the farthest part of the northern region lights up. A man with golden curls and blue eyes pop up. He’s wearing the Wolves crest and is currently locking blades with a Trix. “I like him,” I say as I grin. I think my heart just melted a little.

“Fine!” Ugyay snaps, causing us to turn.

“Pardon?” I ask as the little dragon lifts himself off of Ugyay. He flies over to me and sits on my head.

Morkov chuckles, “It’s good to see you’ve been keeping Amelia safe all these years, Ugyay. She must sense my blood in Katarina. Look how much she likes her.”

If a God could get red faced from anger, Ugyay did it. “Take your immortality. I’m not finished with you. Ulia, Rescove, let’s go.” They vanish and I’m kicked out of their world.

I gasp as I wake up. I’m on a boat and smell of kerosene. I look up in enough time to see a flaming arrow flying towards me. Oh no. I roll into the water, just barely missing the flaming arrow. I pop my head out of the water as the crowd on the shore cheers. They just tried to set me on fire and are happy about it?

“Kit!” Alienis roars, causing the crowd to silence as he pushes off the ground. Before I can blink he has me scooped up and is barrel rolling through the air.

Gracial growls and starts flying to attack him. “Katarina is gone. Let her go.”

“She’s alive! She’s alive!” Alienis chants in his head over and over again.

“Can you please set me down? I’m starting to get a little sick.” I beg as I feel things I wish would stay down start to come up.

Gracial tackles Alienis, causing water to splash the entire clan and what appears to be my family, as we plummet back into the lake. How long have I been gone? “Tray!” I yell as I briefly manage to get my head out of the water. “Help!” Gracial is trying to wrestle me from Alienis while he’s squeezing the dear life out of me to protect me. Alienis is doing his best to make sure I can breathe, but Gracial is playing hardball and not listening to my pleas for her to stop.

“Kit!” Trayvon yells from the shore and dives into the lake. No, I whine. I wanted him to yell at them. It’s what he does best.

Alienis pulls up as soon as Gracial knocks me out of his claw. I burst back out of the water while Gracial still wrestles with Alienis, convinced he still has my corpse. Trayvon has finally caught up with me and tackles me with a giant hug, pulling us both underwater.

I gasp for air once we’ve popped back up. “If I knew I was getting this kind of reception, I would have stayed dead.”

Trayvon gives pealing booms of laughter; relief and joy in every feature of his body. “How are you here? You’ve been dead a week.”

“Long story short, but they basically kicked me out.” I grin as his eyebrow raises. “You’re not the only one I can piss off. I’ll tell you more once we’re out of the lake.”

He nods. “Sounds good. Before we celebrate though, I will tell you Modain is dead, Mikal is not.”

I’m confused. “So?”

“Modain managed to give Mikal his soul willingly, Kit. Mikal has what was left of Modain’s power. It wasn’t much, but Mikal’s still inhumanly strong.”

I really didn’t even get a moment to relax before I’m faced with my next mission. I groan as I throw my head back, “I think I’ll go back to being dead.”