The soldiers had stilled and were looking at Ignimitra.
Angrily, I drew for my sword to stop their commander from approaching my dragon. Tears had sprung free of my eyes, and there was nothing I wanted more than to hurt someone to make up for what Ignimitra had been through.
“Your dragon…?” he pointed to her, awe tinging his voice. “Is it okay?”
I wanted to spit in his face. Why did he care?
“Clearly she isn’t,” I snapped, gesturing to Ignimitra.
She didn’t even look like the same dragon anymore. She lay limp in the sand, her huge body almost blending in with the horizon behind her. My heart had shattered into a million pieces. When I had been considering what I would lose after we deserted, losing Ignimitra hadn’t even occurred to me.
“Get an alchemist!” The commander barked at the nearest soldier to him. “Hurry!” The soldier sprinted off towards the city, and my haze of confusion thickened.
“Do not come any closer,” I said, when he tried to take another step forward.
I had a death grip on my sword, ready to prove to him that my words had been a command and not a suggestion. But surprisingly, he heeded.
When I was sure that he would keep his distance, I crumbled to my feet. Laying my face against Ignimitra’s. I stroked her slowly, willing her to come back to me. If only I had the power to.
“Please don’t leave me, Angel,” I whispered against her skin. “I need your more than ever now. We had so many plans, so many things to do.” A sob choked me. “You can’t leave now.”
I don’t know how long I was there, laying against her and stroking her, but it must have been a while—for the soldier returned with an alchemist.
I was only able to tell from the script on his white coat. I was written in two languages over his right breastbone—one of them was mine, and the other was presumably the language of this island. I sized him up with fierce eyes.
“I’m Alchemist Lee,” he said in a soft voice. “I can help your dragon.”
He was much shorter than the commander who had summoned him. In fact, I figured that if I stood even, I would be taller than him. He had even russet colored skin, with salt-and-pepper hair cut close to his skull.
I drew my sword. “You’d better make sure she lives,” I rasped. My hoarse voice added to the virility of my threat.
Alchemist Lee seemed perturbed by my threat, but nodded sheepishly. Reluctantly, I stepped away from Ignimitra to give him space to work. I was still skeptical of him—why was that soldier so ready to kill us, but now he was offering us aid—but I had no choice.
We were hundreds of miles away from any alchemist that I trusted.
The alchemist kneeled beside Ignimitra, taking out a glowstick from his breast pocket. He forced her eye open, examining it with his light. He did the same for her other eye. Then, he was putting a hand over her heart to feel her pulse.
It was a strange process—one I had never seen from Betheka, or any alchemist at the Academy for that matter. She just seemed to be able to tell what was wrong with any dragon at any given time. But this alchemist seemed like he had a procedure.
Did that make him a better alchemist than the ones I knew? I wasn’t sure about that.
As he examined her, he scribbled something down in a notepad at intervals. That, I didn’t like. I had no idea who these people were. Why did they need to take notes?
I stalked over to him; sword drawn.
“What are you writing down?” I barked.
He jumped at my voice, as if he had been so absorbed that he hadn’t noticed me approach him.
“Oh, I,” he laughed nervously. “I am just completing my preliminary examination of your dragon.”
I was about to press him further when a commotion in the direction of the soldiers drew my attention. Turning around sharply, I half expecting to see them charging toward me. Instead, I saw that their group had parted and they had all sunk to one knee.
Beyond them, another group of people were approaching.
I squinted, to make sure I was seeing correctly.
But my eyes weren’t deceiving me, I recognized that head of graying light brown hair anywhere. In the crowd was Hakan. He was flanked by soldiers dressed similarly to the group that had met Ignimitra and I on the beach.
My mouth fell open, the next minute I was running towards them.
“Hakan!” I shouted, my legs carrying me faster than I thought possible. “Hakan! It’s me!” When I stomped past the soldier who had doubted that my father could be on the island, I made sure to kick up a little extra sand in his face.
So, we had made it Parhagola after all.
When I made it to the barrier that the soldiers had formed around Hakan, they crossed their swords to stop me from getting any closer. Among them, I recognized the young soldier that the commander had sent to find him.
Had he brought these soldiers on purpose?
“Let her through,” a distinctly feminine voice said.
The soldiers hesitated slightly, but obeyed her.
It seemed as if they were guarding her, not Hakan.
My eyes found Hakan first, he wore the biggest smile I had ever seen on his face. He didn’t look as bad as I had imagined. He was a little thinner, and his hair had grayed even more in the year I had been gone. His yellow eyes still shone bright, and I knew that he hadn’t lost any of childish curiosity.
“I’m so happy to see you, my child.” He said.
But he didn’t move to hug me, and something made me cautious of being the first to initiate it. An important-looking woman was standing beside him. She had been the one to command the soldiers.
In an instant, I knew who she was.
This was the Shadow Drakken.
That was why the soldiers had sunk to their knees. That was why she had so many soldiers guarding me. I didn’t know what shocked me more—that the Shadow Drakken was a woman, or that Hakan was in her company.
Confusion twisted my features.
I was unsure of what to do, to think. My mind was burning with pain from Ignimitra’s sudden illness, but also happiness from seeing Hakan again. Then there was the Shadow Drakken.
She was tall and svelte—I could tell that she had a solid body, even under the layers of clothes. She was dressed in a black leather outfit that molded to her skin, and a heavy cape that glistened with all kinds of dark-colored gems. A golden spiked crown bejeweled with amethysts sat atop her dark brown dreadlocks.
The stones were the color of Ignimitra’s eyes.
“Kaos,” she said. “It’s lovely to see you again.”
I frowned. My confusion seemed to amuse her on, for she smiled.
My stomach fell to my soles when I noticed that she had a broken incisor.
Suddenly, it hit me like a sledgehammer.
The Shadow Drakken was my mother.
