The Dragon's curse

Chapter 27

Xander and I walked out through the entrance like we were going for a stroll.

As we got deeper into the woods, the dark clouds started to appear, and it suddenly started to rain. We decided to take shelter in a cave nearby.

"I thought you were a good guy," I whisper.

"How do you differentiate good from bad, Zoe? If you leave your foster parents who fed and raised you just because one day you overheard them saying they are not your biological parents is good, leaving them for the people you don't even know; if they want you or are alive is good, then I don't see how me trying to help out my parents is bad," he exclaims.

It feels like a hard slap. Xander is right.

"I'm sorry, I really am. I didn't mean it that way," he hugs me as if sensing the hurt in my eyes.

"No, you are right. I should have thought about that," I choke.

"Please, after you get out of here, do not try to get back in. I promise you I will do everything in my power to find out about what happened to your parents and about your visions as well," he pleads.

"In the meantime, I want you to have this," he hands me a small book.

It is a hardbound black book with gold print. The cover reads, The House of Doryus.

"I believe it belonged to your family, and now it's yours," he says.

The rain stops, and we decide to head out.

We hear rustling sounds in the distance. Xander holds my hand tight, and just then, the sounds grow louder.

"Master Xander," yells a man in black. "We have orders from the Lord to bring you two back to the mansion," he adds.

"No, she is not going anywhere," Xander yells.

"Master, it would be better if you cooperate with us," he offers.

"Touch her, and I'll bury you right here," Xander barks.

The man in black does a hand gesture, and ten more men come into sight.

"Sorera o kyatchi," whispers Xander.

The branches of the trees move in the direction of those men, and they get trapped. The commander has managed to escape from them and charge towards us. Xander quickly pulls out his swords and blocks the man.

"Let us go, Noah," Xander yells.

Suddenly, an arrow pierces my arm, and I wail in pain. Xander looks back at me and slices Noah in a quick motion. He runs to me and scans in all directions. We spot an archer on a tree. He chants something again, which I quite don't make sense of, but the archer falls to the ground, breaking his neck.

I try to apply pressure to the wound to stop bleeding. As I press harder, I hear a cry from the sky, and we both look above to see Rex.

Rex lands right before us.

"Get on him," ushers Xander.

We both climb onto Rex, and he flies high above, taking us away from the scene.