Dragon in Hiding (Book Two in the Dragon Insurgent Series)

Chapter 1: New Allies

New Allies

I had been walking the streets of the capital for about three hours, and I could already tell finding my family was not going to be easy. The streets never seemed to end, and as I drew nearer to the city's core, the number of people around me appeared to double with each step. I was constantly jostled and bumped, and no one ever paid any attention to me as I asked where I could find Sumter Corp. Headquarters. All I got were some funny looks and snide comments.

I stepped off the main road into an alley for a quick breather and to get out of the claustrophobic conditions I was in. I took a couple of deep breaths to slow my beating heart, and looked further into the alley to see if I could go a different direction. I turned to find a young human boy being surrounded by a group of older men with metal bars in their hands. I could see the fear in the younger boy's eyes as he backed away from the group, and it intensified as his back came up against the brick wall that blocked the end of the alley. One of the older men, I assumed he was leader, stepped forward.

"Do you think just because your dad has a big fancy job and makes all kinds of money that you can walk around our city without being punished?" he said with a venom-filled voice, "Well, I plan to fix that little attitude problem of yours."

He took a step forward again, bringing himself within a couple feet of the young boy. He raised his arm, holding the bar as if it were a sword, and swung down in a deadly arc. I didn't think at all when I acted, but the next thing I knew I had the bar in my hand, stopped about two inches from my face. I looked behind me to see the young boy had peaked from behind his hands to see why he had not been hit. His eyes widened when he saw that I had stopped the bar, not half a foot from his own face. I looked back in time to catch a left hook directly into my cheek, and I flew to one side, dizzy and pained.

"That will teach you to mess in Gang business." the man said with a sick smile, "Beat it before you meet the same fate as your friend here."

He raised the bar once again, but this time I reacted and caught the bar behind his head, causing him to lose his grip and cause nothing more than a mild breeze to hit the boy. He looked at his hand to see what had become of his weapon, and looked behind him to see I had the bar in my own hand, poised and ready to attack.

"You attack an unarmed boy in a dark alley," I said with my own venom, "yet you don't have the courage to face a child without five others to back you up." I spat on the ground at his feet, "You sicken me, a waist of food and time, nothing but garbage. You might as well disappear and no one would care. They might actually feel good about it."

I had watched as his eyes went from confusion, to anger, to fury, all in a matter of seconds. I watched his eyes to foretell his attack, but what I saw was a cold pleasure as he stood there. I realized that the rest of his group was behind me, and I swung the bar up in time to block a downward slash from one of his comrades. The cold pleasure turned into a wild fury once again as he yelled "Attack!" I jumped up and flipped behind the man who had tried to brain me, and flattened him with one quick swing. The next thing I knew I had all five of the other men surrounding me, and I had to rely totally on instinct to not be pounded into a bruised pulp. They swung at me from every angle, but I was able to fend off most of them with lightning speed. I also was able to land some hits of my own, throwing two against the wall, and knocking the leader on his back, out cold.

As soon as it had started, it was over. I looked to see the remaining men limping away, leaving their fallen members in the muddy alley sludge. I dropped the bar I had in my hand, and fell to my knees. I could feel pain on almost every part of me, now that the adrenaline rush had left my system. My vision swam, and for a second I lost my focus, long enough to drop my false form for a full second. I heard a small gasp behind me, and I realized the boy had seen my true form. I immediately shape-shifted back into human form, and staggered to my feet, trying to get out of the alley and away from the boy. I knew that if I didn't get away, he would sound the alarm and I would end up in the same predicament as my family. I made it about two steps before my vision went totally black, and I felt a dull impact as my body hit the ground. I groggily heard the boy run up, and I felt myself being lifted by my shirt. I tried to stay focused and attempted to move, but I didn't have the strength to move a finger, much less my body. I was dragged out of the alley, and the last thing I remembered was the boy talking to someone.