The Dragon Hunter

9

Six months passed with little incident. Luna and Nyx kept in touch, Gemma arrived in Grey-Castle, talk of Pasirima and the clay army all but ceased.

Luna found out a lot about her fellow teammates. Rai had inherited her spot from her father when he retired. James had come from the north, which explained the fact he sometimes slipped back into his first language, and he'd lost his arm in a fight. What he'd fought had never been explained to her, but from the way everyone talked about it, it was a big deal. Mendax was the Society leader but was more of a father figure to everyone. Each of the seven squads was headed by a deputy, and Squad six was led by Axel who seemingly addicted to Wolfsbane. Luna didn't mind, everyone had flaws, though was confused as Wolfsbane was poisonous. If anybody understood they didn't bother to explain.

Nyx continued to grow his skills with Charlie and Jags help, learning how to manipulate objects and to an extent, read minds. He tried to create invisible walls too, but each time it was bigger than a matchbox it gave him a massive headache.

Minx's spines came through and her fire sacks developed, letting her breath fire. She grew to the size of a small goat. Ramsipia continued to speak to her and offer advice, but only Luna knew about it.

Quin also developed his powers through Axel's help, now able to create candle sized flames from nothing. His birthday came and went.

Life was going good.

Until the day three squads were sent to investigate the disappearance of one of the dominant sea Dragons to the south.

That was when everything went to hell.

~

Luna was throwing grapes at James when the news came in. Their squad was on house duty, which meant they had to tidy rooms, work the check in and cook. James and Luna were on check in.

"Pop!" Luna said, throwing another grape at him. He stooped down and caught it in his mouth before going back to filing.

"You got the stamp?" He asked between mouthfuls of fruit, shuffling some paper. Luna looked around, grabbing the stamp and throwing it at him. He nodded gratefully. "Thanks."

The door opened and Luna glanced up. August opened one eye but closed it again when he saw it was the postman. She smiled as the man handed her a single letter before leaving. James frowned, sliding a stack of papers onto a shelf under the desk. Luna turned the letter over in her hand. She recognised the handwriting instantly.

"Who's it from?" He asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Nyx," she replied. "Meden, I haven't heard from him in a good two months."

She opened it and began to read.

Dear Luna,

How've you been? Sorry I haven't been able to write. Scuro and his girlfriend have taken of the bakery from that old couple and are getting married in a few months, so I've been extremely busy helping out around the farm.

Anyway, I'll get right to the point. Me, Charlie and Jags are going to be visiting Grey-Castle in a few days. My parents want me to pick up some specific seeds (can't remember what they are, my parents have given me a list) so if you're off I was wondering if you wanted to meet up? I'll be leaving in a couple of days and so should be there by Monday if you want to meet up.

Nyx.

Luna glanced at James as she slipped the letter into her short pockets. The summer uniform of the Society was exactly the same but with brown shorts instead. James had already cast his jacket aside and she was close to doing the same.