Prince of Fire | Dragonfire Book One

Capítulo Once

An infernal fire decimated Dracula's enemies, shocking any survivor to their knees and making them beg for mercy.

~ Draconic Book of Songs

Chapter Eleven

"I want to go," Evelyn insisted. "I know more about the Jade Chalice than anyone in your organization."

Raquel glanced over her, seeing whether she was joking or not. But the determined and serious look on Evelyn's face painted a clear, firm stance on her part.

"It could be dangerous, and you don't know how to fight," Raquel replied smoothly, trying not to instill a challenge into her. Elena could tell that her mother was attempting to dissuade her as gently and logically as she could.

Evelyn flushed at Raquel's second half of the sentence. "I'd have someone around to fight," she muttered before arguing. "And I don't think that animal would harm me just yet. He probably needs more information on how to use the Chalice if he finds it, and I'm the only one at hand that could provide that information. Besides, from what I know, you'll just be hiking or sitting in a helicopter for the majority of the time. I can do that."

Elena couldn't help but consider her argument. For the most part, Evelyn's claims were valid and reasonable; the hunters were only going to trek around the mountains if they saw something of interest. The rest of the time would probably resemble the hunt in Alberta from the week before: flying in a helicopter until they saw a dragon or until their heat sensors spotted something.

If she were being honest with herself, Elena would think that their method of tracking was excessively time and gas consuming. Yet, it was hard to simply purchase a piece of technology that solely tracked unmarked, so-called mythological beasts, so it appeared as if they were going to keep doing things the hard way for now. If only they had managed to insert a tracking device into Dracula when they had caught him the last time.

Nevertheless, Elena wanted to partake in the hunt, and in order to do so as Evelyn's babysitter, Evelyn would need to participate first.

"Puedo ir con ella. Prometo a protegerla," Elena promised her mother on behalf on Evelyn. If she could just promise that she would keep the innocent civilian safe, perhaps her mother would permit the idea.

Her mother narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Solo quieres ir para cazar el dragón," she inferred from Elena's promise.

"Is there anything wrong with trying to hunt the most infamous monster out there?" Elena demanded, switching back to English to potentially rally support from Evelyn.

"Nothing is wrong with that, Elena. But that only puts you under more pressure if we find Dracula. As Evelyn's guardian, you would need to protect both Evelyn and yourself," Raquel reminded her of the unspoken words underlying Evelyn's argument and Elena's previous promise.

Yes, someone would be able to fight for Evelyn, and that someone would primarily be Elena. The whole search group could fight as a unit, but if Dracula was going to target Evelyn as a source for information, then Elena would be directly in his line of fire.

Elena lifted her chin, rising to the challenge. She trained hard to make it to the High Council; she could definitely keep up with the tasks given to her. "As I said earlier, I promise to protect her. I'm capable of fending for myself and protecting someone," she assured.

Raquel gave her a cool, challenging gaze. "And what of your spar with Dante?" she asked pointedly, reminding Elena of her essential failure. She flushed in response, wanting to forget about that fight, which had reflected poorly on her. It was an embarrassment for a Council member to have been defeated by an unaffiliated, probably untrained human. No wonder her mother seemed to doubt her abilities as of that moment.