The Red Dragon

Chapter Seven:

Seraphina’s POV:

I stare down at the watery eyes in front of me. I can smell the rum humming in drones from the skin of the deformity in the front of me.

“Please, no!” The figure screams at Troy, who is standing next to him with a dark and hooded smile. He has already used magic to burn and tear at the flesh of our prey, making it completely unrecognizable. Is it a male or is it a female? I could never tell.

“Ah, ah, ah, little human. Us witches don’t like begging. It only makes you look even more pathetic and makes me even more excited to hurt you.” Troy breathes, his whimsical hands lifting to form a new spell in teasing torture. I roll my eyes at his actions.

“Quit teasing, Troy. We came here for a reason, remember?” I say in my most powerful voice. This only makes him look at me in submission. Nobody questions me. I am the leader of the Witches and more importantly, I am the leader of this rebellion. I look into the darkness of the small, human town situated within Human Land. It is pitch dark and insanely quiet, making it even easier to capture people. I watch as the cold air blows in unsettled tones against the dusted roads. Even the houses in the neighborhood look tilted as if bending over and bracing for an uneasy beating. Maybe it’s just my darkness speaking though? I look back at Troy, who is holding onto the seared figure with one hand, but staring up at me with his slanted, white eyes. I only nod, permitting him to speak again.

“Now, human, tell me what you know. Have you noticed any weird activity lately?” Troy booms, making the charred human cry out again. Why do they always cry out? Have they no dignity or shame?

“I told you. I have seen nothing! I am just the cleaner here at the park.” The figure says again, this time reaching a new low. Must be a male.

“You are lying. I can smell it on you!” Troy tries again, lifting the collared shirt of the figure and shaking it wildly.

“I told you. I know nothing!” The human pleads again, making Troy spit out in anger. I watch as he pulls his hand to the neck of the human, slowly squeezing more and more. I can smell the darkness slowly itching into the human from his hand and I can taste the bitterness swimming further and further into the human’s soul. If Troy carries on, then the human will die and all our efforts will be for nothing. We have spent enough time edging through this weak land in search of the one thing that needs to be found. We have heard the rumors and we have prophesized the tales and the time is here for war. I heard about it as a child and I saw pictures of it in storybooks, which only makes the situation more surreal. If we do not find this creature then it will take over all of the lands and the Witches will lose everything they have worked for thousands of years towards. I think of my many years of hard work and leadership and the generations before me that sacrificed so much. We have built up so much power as Witches, that every other magical creature bows before us, even those arrogant dragons. Some may say we are not the “good” witches that we once were, but who gives a damn when it means we are respected, feared and anticipated by all who walk the lands. The tale speaks about a creature that will be born and return harmony between all, but I will be damned if I watch the balance and order of things become a chaotic change in MY land, with MY people and with MY power. I will not sit back and watch another creature take away my chance to be the greatest and most feared ruler of them all. I want that power. I deserve to have that power! I crave the power I have over so many. I lift my hand to stop Troy before he kills the human. He looks at me with confused eyes, but I only smile at this. He knows better than to question me. Questioning me is punishable by death.

“Let me have a look, shall I?” I ask nobody, before lifting the form to its feet and holding its cheeks with my hands. Troy has a knowing look on his face, as he has watched me do this countless times to other humans and even other magical creatures. The rumors have been spreading for weeks and this burnt human is only a pin drop of the many I have killed for information. I can feel my skin bubbling with anticipation to be victorious. I need to find that creature.

“What are you doing to me? Please!” The human cries out again before I allow my darkness to mirror into him. I feel my soul edging closer and can almost feel myself entering into the human's mind as if taking a peep. Time to sift through his memories. I watch each one, sometimes fast-forwarding through as I watch how boring and meaningless its life is here in Human Land. I feel myself becoming agitated, as I watch thousands of useless memories play over, providing me with absolutely no clue for my mission. I start hurrying them up, becoming bored and feeling an increased desire to kill for wasting my time, but one tiny fraction of a memory gathers my attention. I slowly rewind the movie of this human’s mind back, taking my time and feeling my energy increase. I watch as the human ambles in slow steps through the pitch-black night, his breath heavy with liquor and his steps almost dragging. He is sitting on a park bench, but his drunken state makes him fall over into a large and cushioned bush. He is trying to get up, but something peculiar catches his attention as he watches one of the weeping willow trees in the distance, so he decides to lie down instead. There is a soft, orange light coming from behind the hanging leaves of the tree and in between the sways of the leaves, small gaps reveal somebody who is unfathomable from this distance, creating fire. I can hear the human’s heartbeat increasing as he watches in confusion, but nothing prepares for what he sees as the dark, unrecognizable figure twirls the fire down into the sand. He tries to zone in and the harder he stares, the more the moment builds up before the figure looks in his direction. Its bright, glowing and red eyes quickly flash to the space where his body lies in the bush and next to the pathway. It doesn’t seem the red-eyed creature actually sensed him, but the poor human got such a fright that he very quickly ran away, not caring for the danger he may face if found, seen, or heard. It is as if all his drunkenness left his body at that moment and before finally closing the door to his house in a panic, he looked at the park noticing four gentlemen walking along its path. He wanted to yell at them to stop and that there is something evil lurking in the distance, but his pathetically petrified heart couldn’t bring him to make a sound, so instead he went to bed, laying his head deep under his covers and praying to his human God for mercy.

I quickly pull in all of my magic, gasping out and breathing in as I slowly come back to my senses on the dark street. The human figure is unconscious from all my probing, but I have never felt more alive. After all this time and all this searching, I finally have the cold, hard facts that the rumors are true. War is indeed coming our way. I feel my blood boiling in rage, as I think about everything I process being taken away from me. I will not let it happen. I will kill everything that takes away my power.

“You know what to do.” I say, nodding my head at Troy as a go-ahead to get rid of the human. AN evil smirk forms on his lips, as I turn. I can hear slashing and gurgling and can even smell a crimson scent, but my mind is elsewhere. It is on everything that a weak human revealed in his memory. I may not have seen one small detail as to who this red-eyed creature is, or even what they look like, but the truth was in its eyes.

The red dragon lives.

Dominic’s POV:

My men and I quickly fly down in the dead of night, our radars bursting with a warning in the cold air of the human world. The closer I get to that damn park we visited the other night, the more I feel my dragon stirring in anger and worry. We all manage to land, making sure we are unseen and quickly shifting into our human selves. This trip is not for the same reasons as last, but for reasons far worse.

“This way, Your Majesty.” One of my guards says, motioning towards a different area than previously explored. We waste no time in walking in quick steps towards a dark and gloomy-looking space between two houses. With each step, my eyes widen and my skin crawls in thick concern. The smell of darkness haunts every edge of the little slit of land. All of us move into the space, our dragons roaring as they sense danger. I can see two of the men with me are battling to control their dragons, as they walk further into the alley that screams of pain. Their eyes are flashing, their lips wincing and their whole bodies tensing with searing burns.

“Go wait there. Be on the lookout. Mind link me if you see anything!” I whisper at the two men, earning grateful nods. I sigh, as I look to the men who were brave enough to join me in this haunting mystery. They always follow, but I cannot expect them to hurt themselves if it is not necessary. I watch as they take their stations at the entrance of the alley between the two houses and only when I feel content that they look comfortable, do I turn to look at the black void again. It really is a dark little space. The further I walk down the alley, the more my skin stands on edge until we finally reach the end and I see what has all of our dragons stirring in terror and unease. I hear gasps filling the air behind me.

I look down at the morphed figure on the floor. Its skin is covered in large, black blisters and every inch has is seared with burns. I can smell its hair has been singed, its flesh cooked and its blood puddled in stillness around the floor. What is even more disturbing is the way its body is pulled into unnatural angles, almost making it look like a scene from a horror movie. Victor leans down and analyses the demented figure of the dead human, almost scanning every possible edge of the space. Luke leans down with him and slowly edges his index finger down to touch the pooled blood. We can get a lot of information from a person’s blood, but Victor quickly slaps Luke’s hand away and grabs his wrist with pointed eyes, causing Luke to growl deeply in a warning.

“There is darkness here. If you touch this blood, the darkness will slowly eat at you and drive you into insanity.” Victor warns, his eyes turning from Luke’s to the rest of us. I can sense the tension in his expression as he conveys this information.

“Victor?” My father, the current king, asks. His brows are furrowed and he looks worried.

“I can smell it everywhere. It is on this human’s clothes, his skin, his flesh and even in his blood. Dark magic, Your Highness. One so dark that it itches at the very essence of life until your soul is enclosed in nothing but darkness.” Victor says again, this time causing the rest of us to become silent. A magic that causes your soul to form darkness?

“How?” I ask, making Victor look at me and sigh.

“I have no idea, Your Highness. I have only ever seen this once before and many moons ago. There was a young witch who I encountered upon my visits to Dragon council with other magical creatures. I remember her being locked up in a cage for killing a whole village of elves! She was supposed to be sentenced to death, but the male creatures couldn’t keep their eyes off of her, for you see she was one of the most magnificent women that any male had ever laid their eyes on. She would lure men of all Lands in, whispering sweet nothings to them until they finally had the courage to get close enough for her to touch them. It all seemed okay, but with each passing day these men slowly changed.” Victor says, his eyes are deep in petrified memory.

“Change?” Luke asks this time and Victor nods.

“They started behaving weirdly. It started with small things like stealing from others, aggression and bad language, but with each day it got worse until some started killing their children and even taking their own lives. I remember leaving my room one day and hearing a commotion by the Witch’s cage. As I got closer, I noticed it was a young wolf who reeked of an odd odor which smells like this man here.” I say, pointing to the dead human on the floor.

“He was screaming out his plans to kill everyone and started attacking innocent creatures. I was horrified but noticed the Witch laughing from her comfortable spot behind bars. I asked her why she was laughing and she told me about the Darkness she possesses and how she can pass it over to others with just a single touch.” Victor concludes, looking around at all the bewildered faces. There is absolute silence amongst everyone present, but my body is burning to know what happened.

“So what happened then?” I ask, like an eager child waiting to hear the punch line of a story. Victor chuckles out.

“Well, when I informed other elders, they got into action. The witch was burned, but everyone else remained unidentified. Sometimes people would notice someone acting out in a similar way and then the council would step in and intervene, but life returned to normal.” He responds. I feel myself frown at this. What sort of happy ending is that?

“Why wouldn’t they kill everyone who touched her?” I ask again, needing more information.

“That is the thing with the darkness, Your majesty. You cannot see it until it plays out in the form of insanity. It is a hidden rot that eats away and pollutes the soul, but nobody knows they have it until it is too late.” Victor says finally.

Everyone looks between each other, their eyes thoughtful and wondering. Why would darkness be here in the Human Land? Why would darkness be hovering in spaces amongst the non-magical?

“Guys, look here.” Charlie says, pointing to a corner of the small where a small, but bright red message sits in boastful arrogance. My eyes go wide as I read over every word, which is clearly meant to be a warning to the dragons, but even more concerning, a warning to the one creature we cherish most of all.

WE HAVE FOUND YOU, RED DRAGON.