Elemental Dragons (Book 1)

Chapter 12

Did I?
Did I just kill a dragon?
No. no, not a dragon a Death Stare. Wild dragons, enemies. Whatever, they are supposed to die right? I stepped back from the death stares lifeless body. I shrunk back to my human form and slid onto the couch.

Mount must of heard all the commotion since he flew in at record speed and collided with the wall opposite to the entrance. He got up and jumped into a pouncing position. Low grumbling arose from deep in his throat.

Something must have registered in his brain that the Death Stare was dead and he stopped growling.

"Oh."

He said, tilting his head to the side.

"You already killed him?"

I managed to nod and slouched further into the couch. Does it always feel this bad when you end a life? Probably. I fiddled with my fingers, guilt drenching my now shaking body.

"Did he say anything to you?"

Asked Mount cautiously, obviously realising my shocked state.

"Uh. Yeah I think so..."

I mumbled numbly. I never really ever had a thought about how it felt if you killed someone. Something. Guilt overrides every other feeling. Numbness too I guess. It's funny, you don't really think about it until it actually happens. Ok, not exactly funny, just weird and sad I guess.

"Well spit it out boy."

Mount impatiently huffed out smoke before sitting on his hind legs.

"Oh right. Well, he said it's not over healer. In the end, all elemental dragons will fall."

He nodded thoughtfully as he absorbed this not-so great information.

"yeah. That's basically all we could get out of them as well."

Great. I killed him for no reason.

He tried to kill you, I find that a good reason to protect yourself.

That was the other reasoning voice in my head. I guess I should listen to the glass half- full voice.
------

We managed to scare the rest of the Death Stares off. For now at least. While several dragons flew around putting out the fires, the queen and the council were in her cave discussing how to deal with the new  disturbing news.
As the meeting was taking place, Sapphire was trying to take my mind off the Death Stare I killed with board games and Dad jokes. Virtually impossible I know. But for some reason, just being with her relieved some of the guilt and replaced it with all the things that made her more and more beautiful. Like the way her eyes became crescents when she laughed or smiled. Or the dimple on the right side of her lip when she smiled. 

"Ok your go Dylan. Roll the dice."

I nodded glumly and rolled the wooden dice.
5.
I moved my board piece five places and dragged it up a ladder. Yes you guessed it. Snakes and ladders.
B.
O.
R.
I.
N.
G.
Any who, at least I was somewhat good at it. No matter what though, my mind kept seeping back to that dark corner of murder. It was like knowing there was a spider web on your arm which is super annoying but you can't see it and can't get rid of it. The paranoia of not knowing where the spider was when you walked through a spider web. Yeah stupid analogies but you kinda get the point.

------

A week past without much commotion. Dragons of all elements were sent out in groups to see if they could find any Death Stares.

Most groups came back with nothing and some were still to return. I went to the dragon school again and learnt how to control my fire breathing abilities. It wasn't too hard you just had to keep your temper down or steam will billow from you nostrils and ears. I also learnt how to swerve and do tricks while flying as well as some healing techniques which my father had wrote down on a piece of old parchment. The words seemed to swirl and dance across the pages, changing the spell depending on what you were thinking about. For instance, if I was thinking about water, it would show a spell which would conjure water from the deep caverns underground.

I learnt the simplest spell like healing a cut or a bruise as well. I could also heal a cracked scale or a broken talon.

All the adults seemed different now. More tense and alert than before. I guess they were taking the threats seriously. Some, like Steve had said, had left or were planning to leave. No one seemed to blame our problems on me though. Not yet at least.

I flew around the tops of the mountains trying to clear my head.

What if this place does get attacked worse than before? What will happen to you?

"Nothing!"

I hissed back to my self conscious.

Very well. Die then. No fair that we all have to die.

"I won't die. We're dragons! Toughest creatures in the world!"

What about Griffins?

"What about them. Oh right, there not that powerful."

I rolled my eyes dismissively. They probably were quite powerful.

I dived down to Mount's cave and landed heavily on the stone edge. I groaned in pain. Could never get that landing right. Then out of nowhere the sound of alarm bells chimed in the distance.