Claimed by the Dragon King

Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Winged Assistant

POV: Gift

“Come on, please? Just this once, cooperate with me. I’m only going to bake some bread. I’m not going to start a fire!”

I had been talking to the old kitchen torch in my hand for a while now, but it seemed like it had no intention of listening to me. Of course, that was because it had no ears. I had pressed its trigger so many times, but all that came out was a clicking sound and a weak spark that quickly died. Click. Click. Click. Nothing happened. I looked at the large tray of cinnamon rolls already prepared on the metal table in the bakery kitchen. If I could not light the oven and melt the sugar on top, my customers would literally have nothing to buy tomorrow morning. And if that happened, I would lose my job faster than I could blink.

Growl.

I heard a soft sound near my feet. I looked down at the floor and saw one of them, the black baby dragon I had named Vharkan. I got the name from our black bread, which was a best seller among the kids because it was sweet. He had small horns on his head, a long tail with a sharp point at the end, and two tiny wings folded against his back.

Vharkan looked at me with his big blue and red eyes that were shining with curiosity. He seemed to notice how stressed I was because of the kitchen torch in my hand. Slowly, he walked toward the bottom of the stove, raised his little head, and looked at me as if asking what I was doing.

“Don’t interfere with this, little creature,” I whispered to him, “This is an adult problem. This oven is stubborn, just like you when you don’t want to eat vegetables.”

But Vharkan seemed to be more stubborn than the torch in my hand. He sat properly, took a deep breath, and suddenly squeezed his eyes shut. His little cheeks puffed up as if he were gathering a huge amount of air inside his mouth.

“Wait, hey, what are you going to do—” Before I could finish, the little dragon pulled himself back.

He pushed himself so hard that he lost his balance. His wings flapped.

A huge burst of bright red fire suddenly came out of his tiny mouth, shooting straight under the stove! The fire was strong enough to ignite the oven’s gas line in just one second, but because of the force of his own fire breath, his little body fell backward. He rolled across the kitchen floor, all four of his tiny feet raised in the air while his eyes were still tightly closed, as if he was surprised by what he had just done himself.

I stood there staring while still holding the kitchen torch. The oven was now working perfectly, with a beautiful blue flame inside, thanks to a mythical creature as cute as a fluffy dog.

A giggling laugh echoed from the top of the metal shelf. I turned toward the sound and saw Vharkan’s twin, a pure white baby dragon whom I had named Lumi. She was lying on top of a clean baking pan, her tail swinging back and forth against the metal like she was clapping, while her mouth was open as she made sounds that were clearly laughter at what had happened to her mischievous brother. Half of her apple in her hand was already gone.

Vhan was still lying on the floor, scratching his head. He slowly opened one eye before finally standing up and shaking his head as if he were dizzy from what he had done. He looked at Lumi grumpily and let out a small puff of smoke from his nose.

“Are you okay, my baby?” I held my forehead, but I could not stop myself from smiling.

They were so cute. Even though they were dangerous creatures who could burn down a house whenever they threw a tantrum, during the year I had spent with them, I had learned that they were just children who needed love.

They never hurt me. They helped me in their own little ways even though they were not human. I just had to be very careful with them.

I helped Vhan up, and he smiled at me before wrapping his little arms around me. I hugged him back.

Suddenly, I remembered my past. When I was still a child in the orphanage, after I lost my parents in the tsunami, I was always alone. The one who saved me was a dog. We both survived, but that was also the first and last time I ever saw him, Joseph’s dog that lived near our home by the dump site. No one wanted to play with me because I had no family, no story to tell, and no money. I remembered the nights when I cried under my thin blanket, praying that someday, even just one person would choose me, take care of me, and tell me that I was not alone. Being an orphan with no one to run to in your own world was the most painful experience a child could ever have. And that was what I experienced. So when I saw that woman desperately trying to leave the eggs with me, I felt that they needed someone to take care of them. I was twenty-three years old. I was just a simple sales clerk in a small bakery, and later, I also became a baker.

I was already used to being alone. Yes, I had no family, but I never allowed that to become a reason for me to be bitter about life. I chose to be cheerful, kind, and positive instead, even if sometimes I had to talk to the bread and the things inside the bakery just so I would have someone to talk to.

One night, while I was closing the bakery in the middle of heavy rain and strong winds, I saw a woman outside. She was completely soaked and clearly terrified. She was tightly holding a large bundle in her arms.

I knew I had to be careful. I was alone, and it was already nighttime, but I could not leave someone who looked desperate and was clearly asking for help.

When she entered the bakery, that was when I saw what she was carrying.

Two enormous eggs wrapped in pieces of cloth.

They were huge, almost twice the size of a watermelon. They were completely white and heavy, with a strange glow on their surface. I had no idea where she got them, but I became even more stunned when she told me that I needed to buy the eggs.

She said that if I did not take them, she would die.

I did not know if the woman was crazy or if something deeper was happening, but because I felt sorry for her, I gave her all the money I had in exchange for the two strange eggs.

She left immediately afterward, leaving the eggs with me without giving me any explanation.

I brought them to my small apartment above the bakery, even though I was scared of what might be inside them. Maybe they contained aliens, dinosaurs, giant ostriches, or Godzilla’s children. But there was one thing I was sure of, they were not chicken eggs.

When I touched the first egg, golden lines suddenly appeared and began glowing across its hard shell.

I thought I was just hallucinating, but when I touched both eggs at the same time, the golden light became even brighter.

Then something moved inside. I froze when something knocked from inside the egg.

The other egg answered.

That was when I realized that I had not simply bought two strange eggs. There was life inside them, and those lives were dragons who had been calling me “Mama” from the very beginning.

That was why, when the two eggs finally hatched and I saw their frightened little faces searching for someone to care for them, I could not throw them away or give them to the authorities. I knew what it felt like to be abandoned. So even though I had no money, even though my apartment was small, I promised myself that I would protect these two for as long as I could.

A sound from the front of the bakery suddenly broke the silence of the early morning. My whole body froze. My ears seemed to grow larger as I listened carefully, trying to hear if there was someone outside the shop. The clock hanging on the wall showed that it was only four in the morning, far too early for customers, and my manager would not arrive for another three hours.

“Who’s there?” I whispered, suddenly feeling very nervous.

I looked at the two baby dragons, who were now both alert. Vhan stood straight on the floor, his tiny horns seeming to have a faint glow, while Lumi flew down from the cooking area and landed beside her brother. Both of them were staring toward the kitchen door that led to the main lobby of the bakery.

“Hide! Hurry!” I ordered them, already panicking. No matter how many times I tried to leave them in the apartment, they always found a way to come with me to the bakery. They would sneak inside whatever I was carrying and even climb into my bag. Sometimes, they would fly around, and I would find them hanging from the window. I decided that was even more dangerous than simply bringing them here with me.

I placed the kitchen torch on the table and quickly grabbed my old backpack hanging near the chair. I opened its large zipper and placed it on the floor.

“Come on, my babies. Get back inside the bag right now. Don’t make a sound, okay? Wait for Mama to come back here.”

The two understood me. Even though they would only be one year old tomorrow, they were incredibly smart when it came to situations where they needed to hide. They quickly ran away from the stove, their tiny claws clicking against the tiles as they raced to get inside my bag. Lumi was the first to dive inside, immediately followed by Vhan, who even used his wings to get inside faster. Once they were both inside, I slowly pulled the zipper closed, leaving only a small opening so they could breathe properly.

“Stay there,” I reminded them before slowly walking toward the kitchen door.

I grabbed a wooden rolling pin from the counter as a weapon. The wit and courage I had learned from living on the streets returned to me. I was stubborn, yes, and I refused to let myself become easily frightened by thieves or anyone with bad intentions. If someone planned to rob this bakery, they would have to get through my rolling pin first.

I slowly opened the kitchen door and peeked into the bakery lobby. There was no one at the counter. There were no signs that anyone had forced their way through the door.

“Maybe it’s just a cat,” I whispered, trying to calm my rapidly beating heart.

I took a deep breath and walked out of the kitchen. Every step I took was careful, the rolling pin raised in the air and ready to hit anyone who might appear. But before I could even reach the middle of the lobby, I heard a sound from behind me, coming from inside the kitchen.

Zip…

“Good grief!” I quickly turned around and ran back into the kitchen.

The bag I had left on the floor was now open! The two mischievous baby dragons could not stand being inside their cramped hiding place. They had used their tiny claws to open the zipper from the inside, and now they were quickly running toward the side of the kitchen, where there was a small window facing the alley behind the building.

“Vhan! Lumi! I told you to hide!” I scolded them angrily but quietly as I chased after them, but neither of them listened to me. It seemed like they had sensed something strange outside the window. Lumi jumped onto a box of flour, then climbed onto the window frame. Vharkan followed her, moving his tiny wings to help him jump higher until he was beside his sister.

When I reached the window, I was about to grab them and put them back inside the bag, but I stopped when I saw their reaction.

The two little dragons were standing straight, their scales raised like the fur of a cat that had spotted an enemy. Their large eyes were staring outside at the dark and wet alley.

Growl…

They both let out a low, serious, and brave growl at the same time. Their voices were still small and slightly cute because of their age, but it was clear that they were trying to threaten whatever was outside the window.

“What are you two looking at?” I asked as I slowly looked outside too.

The alley was empty. There were only garbage bins, old boxes, and heavy rain hitting the concrete. Nothing seemed unusual. Nothing was moving. But in the blink of an eye, I saw a huge shadow suddenly pass by. The glass window in front of me suddenly carried the smell of smoke, along with a scent that was familiar to me because of Vharkan.

And then, from the deepest darkness of the alley, a sound echoed that made every hair on my body stand.

A tremendously loud roar broke through the silence of the early morning. The force of the sound was enough to make the glass window in front of us shake, and I could feel the floor beneath my feet trembling. It was not the sound of a cat in heat. It was not the sound of a howling dog. And it was definitely not the sound of any animal known to science in this world.

I stepped back twice, the rolling pin in my hand suddenly feeling completely useless and insignificant against the power of the voice I had just heard. The two baby dragons on the windowsill became even more excited.

“Papa!” Lumi said, making me stare at her in shock.

“Papa! Papa!” Vhan answered happily, as if he was excited.

Papa?

I looked at the window as sweat began to trickle down my face despite the cold morning air. My heart was beating rapidly, every second filled with fear as I remembered the strange golden light and the stories about a world I did not even know was real.

I swallowed hard and whispered to myself, terrified by what I was thinking.

“Don’t tell me there’s another dragon outside?”