Dragons Trust Book 1 - The Start

Happy Birthday...

Death.

That was the one thing promised to everyone. Whether he realized it or not, that was the first thing Tommy knew.

Our mother had died giving birth to him. None of us blamed it on him though. Except our father. But what the hell did he know? All he ever did was yell at all of us, drink, eat, hit me and our mother, "work", and sleep.

He barely even knew mine and my brothers names. There have been times he's forgotten how many sons he had.

Tommy had always regretted his birth. He always said that he knew he was the reason that our mother was dead. That he was the reason all of his older brothers had little to no memories of her.

I had been there when he was born. Our father had refused to take Mom to the hospital. So she ended up giving birth in mine and Micah's room. We saw first hand how hard it was to give birth. It was a bit traumatic for all of us.

But I could remember seeing how much she loved him. Then the look she gave all of us. The first and last words I remembered from her echoed in my head.

"I love each and every one of you with all my heart. Take care of each other and protect little Tommy as best you can!"

A knock came from my door. I hadn't realized I took a trip into my own head. The tattoo I had on the inside of my bicep peaked out. It wasn't a secret that I had it. It said my mothers final words and nothing else.

"Yeah?!" I yelled through the door. Tommy opened the door. He had been crying. He was still crying actually.

Today was his birthday.

"Bubba," I sighed. He choked trying to stay quiet. I pulled the youngest out of us into a tight hug.

Out of all of us, he looked the most like our mother. His arms wrapped tightly around me as his body racked with silent cries. He knew nothing of our mother besides what our older brothers told him.

"I tried Noah, I really, really, tried." He was talking about not feeling guilty. We always told him to never feel guilty for something he couldn't control.

"It's alright." The door closed. I looked up to see Micah. A look of understanding washed over him. Tommy cried until he had to sit down. He continued to cry and apologize until he fell asleep on my bed.

It was still early. two in the morning to be more precise. The sun hadn't even begun to rise.

"He's never going to be able to not feel bad is he?" I asked. Micah shook his head.

The two of us sat on the edge of the bed. Ares, Takiren, and Brantley all laid in Ares' stable. Every room had another connected to it that was big enough for dragons to rest in.

"Understandably though. He thinks it's his fault for Mom dying," Micah said. He was right. No one would ever be able to make Tommy understand that it wasn't his fault.

He was the spitting image of our mom. Red hair, long and skinny, freckles like stars all over his pale skin. Most of all the green eyes. They matched the color of newly turned fields in the spring.

My elbows dug into my knees. Fingers crossed in between each other and held my head up. A shaky breath left my lips. We all missed her. I could remember bits and pieces before she died. The only time I could remember her voice was the day she gave us Tommy, but we also lost her.

Micah gripped my shoulder. We would take Tommy and go back to the town we grew up in. Our six other brothers would meet us there as well. The nine of us would spend a little bit at our mothers grave and then spend the whole day together. We would go to different shops that Mom had taken us to and walk around the park. At the end of the day, we make a boat out of sticks and twigs and whatever else we could find.

All she had ever dreamed of was to sail. Because of our father, and ultimately us, she never got the chance.

So we did what we could. When we made the boat, we would write letters. Saying whatever we wanted. It could be how much we missed her, how we wish she was here, apologizing, anything.

Mine was always the same.

"Help me protect my brothers and don't let me forget you <3"

Once the notes were written, they would be placed into boat.

Then we lit it on fire and pushed it down the creek.

To us, it felt like the only way we could give her what she wanted. In the summer, we would take a trip to ocean and rent a boat for a few days. We would swim and have fun. Just for those few days we allow ourselves to believe that she was there with us. Having just as much fun as we were. That she was happy all of her children still loved her as if she were alive.

Micah moved closer and we both comforted each other until Tommy woke up. He was told to go pack and that we would be leaving soon.

Colten, the oldest out of the nine of us called. He wanted to see how Micah and I were holding up so far. Then he asked about Tommy.

In all honesty not all of us were that close. We still loved each other though. A couple of the few times a year all of us would in the same place at the same time was today and over the summer.

Micah and I were always the first to arrive. We left at ungodly hours of the morning to be there at a decent time. Nothing had changed in that routine for years.

This would be a long flight, but it gave all of is the chance to cry or think or do whatever we needed to do to collect ourselves and calm down. This would be Tommy's first long flight.

I kind of felt bad, he would be sore as hell when we got there. We didn't bother waking up the other two. Marcus knew we would be gone and would be with Via. Other than that, only the people who had to know, knew we would be gone.

We're coming to see you Momma.