{HIATUS} Éternel: Between Two Worlds (#3)

iii. Hidden

Warning: This chapter contains brief depictions of blood and violence.

✶⊶⊷⊶⊷❍⊶⊷⊶⊷✶

⁵"What do you mean, dragon hunters?"

...

The fierce wind whipped around my body, closing in on me, its freezing temperature seeping into my already ice-cold skin. I dug my nails into my palms, protected by my gloves, and took my bottom lip between my teeth, my thoughts scrambled.

Prymia rumbled beneath me and looked back with worry, but I simply smiled and slid my hand down to pet her neck, assuring the Deadly Nadder that I was alright.

A breath of relief left my mouth as Auction Island came into my line of sight. Ships were pulling up to the docks, the people onboard coming out from underneath the deck to watch me and Prymia flying over them.

The Nadder approached the island and glided toward the Scribe's stall hidden between the trees. A few distraught people dodged our sudden landing. They stared at the stranger before them, masked and armed with a sword, with a Deadly Nadder by her side.

I had to be unrecognizable to pull this off, and to do that, I unfortunately had to leave Toothless behind. Bringing a Night Fury with me would make me stick out immediately as the Commander, so I pulled aside a random Nadder for the mission.

"Māzi, zaldri."

("Come, dragon.") I said, patting the side of Prymia's head before stepping forward to begin my walk to the Scribe's tent. The Nadder chirped and followed closely behind me, keeping her eye out for any of our targets.

Despite the sweat drenching my body from the layers of clothes I had on, I continued to walk under the harsh sun, and finally reached the Scribe tents and stalls. I waded through the dozens of tents before finding the one I was looking for: a large tent, covered with the hides of dragons.

I looked back to Prymia and spread all five of my fingers out, and she nodded, jutting out her tail spikes. She carefully walked in front of the tent, spreading her wings as she actively looked at our surroundings while I slipped into the tent, sighing in relief once I realized it was empty.

I immediately began scouring through all of the chests and bags, looking for any indication of where the hunter's base would be set up. Prince Hyunmin had warned me he'd noticed an underground dragon hunting market beginning to take off.

I groaned in frustration as I threw aside a satchel which had only contained a few rotten apples. Taking a moment to think, I scanned the tent again when my eyes landed on a rolled up piece of paper underneath the rug inside.

I lifted the corner of the rug up and pulled the paper out, unrolling it to read its contents.

8 Hideous Zippleback Hides, 5 pairs of Monstrous Nightmare horns, 2 Spanish Silvercrest Skulls - Send to The Cut by next Monday

Sidewinders -> Located on Glacier Island... stay hidden in snow, lure with other Sidewinders then use Dragon Root arrows to neutralize

Note to self: Virsallo wants a Kirin horn

Immediately I felt the contents of my stomach rising up my throat, feeling sick to the point where I had to swallow the urge to vomit. My hands and limbs shook along with my bones, utterly shocked at what I was reading.

How could I have let this happen?

My sickness turned to a burning anger, and I scrunched the paper up before stuffing it into my pocket. I turned to exit the tent when I heard Prymia screech from outside, followed by the sound of her firing her spines.