Shifters; Wrath of Dragons

Chapter Six- Hope in Anger

After putting Rocky away,I headed to the house. It was so big they had signs directing you to different areas,so I found the library without a problem. Mary's reading something and frowning. “Mary?”

she looks up and smiles at me,putting the book away. “hey,sis. We're just gonna do basic Hunter history today,okay?”

“sure.”

she leads me to a table with a stack of books. “listen,I know you were a little freaked out about the whole half-dragon thing, and I kinda was,too for a while. But it's really not a big deal in our world. The first hunters were actually dragons.”

“they were?”

“yes. They had to be,because they were hunting the most dangerous dragon there has ever been,and one of the first that ever was.”she opens one of the books to a marked page. The illustration shows a massive red dragon with horns curling back and baring it's teeth. “Helgoth.”

“he's terrifying.”I say honestly.

“yeah,wait until you meet him in person.”she replies seriously. I stare at her, wondering if she's joking,but her face is grim and I realize she's most definitely not. “okay. So,he's alive today?”

“yes. But,believe it or not,they succeeded in defeating him. He was dormant for thousands and thousands of years. As was his brother,Valgoth.”she turned the page and there was an illustration of a dragon the color of the sky,with golden eyes. Suddenly,Mary growled and rubbed her temples. Seeing my alarmed look, she smiled reassuringly. “sorry. just... I'll explain later.”

“okay. so...”

“we're descended from both of them. Rather closely,actually. Mom is Valgoth's granddaughter. While Dad... well,Dad never said.”she looked lost in thought for a moment,but I had something else on my mind.

“Mary?”I asked cautiously.

“hmm?”

“why wasn't I put back with you guys?”

she gave me a sad,sympathetic look. “I'm sorry. If I had known about you,I-- and Dad,if he had known you were alive,you wouldn't have been left like that. He thought you were upstairs,where the fire had already-”her voice caught and I realized it had affected her just as much. “no one ever contacted us about you.”

“oh. That's strange.”

“I guess.”

“well,normally,if a child is found,they contact the parents or closest family first.”

“yeah,okay. Look,Hope,it's probably nothing suspicious. I mean,Ryder made it so I didn't remember you or his face,so I didn't know who he was. He probably did something so that we wouldn't be found so easily.”she must see my sadness because she squeezes my shoulder. “hey,don't worry. We're a family again. This time last year,I thought all of you died in that fire.”

“at least you grew up with Dad.”

“at least you got to remember them.”Mary grumbled back. At my puzzled look, she sighed. “Dragon magic. A memory spell. I could remember experiences, but I didn't recognize Ryder as my dad. And I didn't remember you.”she looked away as if ashamed and I realized she felt guilty for not knowing me. “I wasn't accusing you of anything,Mary. And I don't blame you. I blame...everyone else.” it took me another minute to realize that I really did. I was mad at my parents. I loved them and was glad I found them,and Mary most of all,but I was still angry.

We spent the rest of the afternoon teaching me about Dragon History,including what she knew about our bloodline. The next day at training,I let my anger take over a little bit when Dad began teaching me hand-to-hand. He seemed confused by my aggression but it didn't distract him. It was only when I struck him hard in the gut and walked away, taking deep breaths,that he questioned me about it. “Hope,are you alright?”