Dragon Born

Chapter 3

Skyler's P.O.V 

I watched Atlas as he looked around his new room, I was so happy he liked it. He examined every inch of it, he picked up the quills on his desk, scanned the bookshelf and went up into the loft where his bed was. When he came back down, he was wearing a big smile. It was the first time I had seen him smile since he got here. When I would visit him in the infirmary, the most he would give was a smirk, and it would be short lived.

"This is amazing, Skyler! Thank you."

"You're welcome, Atlas."

"Really though, this is nice. No one has ever done something like this for me before."

I tried to smile but my heart sank, I wish I knew more about Atlas's past. Clearly something happened to him, something traumatic and he won't talk about it. I only hoped that as we became better friends he would eventually confide in me.

"Would you like to see the village?" His eyes got big again.

"I'd love to!"

We left his room and I took him first to the main hall where I had told Kyren, Callum, and Faye to meet me. As we turned the corner, they were all there thankfully. I looked over at Atlas, but instead of being excited like he was before, he looked nervous.

"Don't worry, Atlas. These are my friends, they're really nice."

"Okay... Sorry, I'm not used to meeting new people."

"No need to be sorry. Come on, I'll introduce you!"

"Alright."

He still looked nervous, but I remembered how shy he was when I first met him, but once he gets to know them he'll be okay.

"Hey Guys!" They all turned around and waved at us.

"Atlas, I'd like you to meet Kyren, Callum, and Faye. Guys, this is Atlas."

"Hello!" They all chimed in unison.

"Hi." Atlas was still soft spoken.

"I was about to show Atlas the village, do you guys want to come with?"

Kyren was the first to respond.

"Sure!"

"Great! Atlas you ready?"

"I think so." He gave me a weak smile.

I took his hand and led him outside, with the gang following behind. When we stepped outside the sun was blinding but as his eyes adjusted, I saw Atlas's eyes grow wider than ever, his face was full of wonder, like he had never been outside before.

"Welcome to Eldoro."

"It's beautiful."

He walked down the steps and took in his surroundings. His eyes scanned everything, and we hadn't even left the castle grounds yet. Callum seemed to be thinking the same thing as me, except he is more verbal about his observations.

"What is it kid? You look like you've never been outside like this before."

"I haven't..."

We all stopped and looked at him, waiting for further explanation. As soon as he saw us, I could tell he regretted saying that, he wasn't much for talking about his past.

"I... I lived a very.... sheltered.... life.... in fact when I was in the forest that was my first time really outside. I mean, I spent lots of time out in my garden, but... it's not the same..."

The whole time he was talking he kept pausing, he was so hesitant to talk about his life, and I couldn't help but wonder why. What had happened to him that made him so afraid to say anything.

Either way, we all walked into town and showed Atlas everything we could think of. The smile never left his face for the rest of the day. He was fascinated by everything, and anything we saw. It was amazing to see him light up, but something still nagged at me. Atlas was so sweet, he was shy and hesitant but when you broke through there was this charming young man who easily saw beauty in the smallest things. And yet, behind his eyes I can see the worry and fear. He is scared of something, my guess is it's the reason he is out here all alone. No matter what, no matter how long it took, I was determined to find out why this boy was broken.