The Dragon Hunter

27

At the end of the corridor the walls gave way to a huge library; shelves lined with books bound in a spectrum of leather. Luna gaped as Eli led them deeper inside, elegantly weaving between the cabnits with his wings tucked in, touching his sides. Occasionally his tail would stray too far and knock into one of the shelves, sending books tumbling down where either Minx or Luna would catch and place them gently on the floor. They fell into a steady rhythm after a while, staring and thumping and catching.

"I trust you came for information of Meden's prison?" Eli asked, pausing to look back at them.

Instantly Luna's guard was up. "How do you know about Meden?"

Eli laughed, the sound like rain falling against leaves. It had a soothing effect of the group, and just managed to put Luna more on edge.

"The moon is gone and the sun fails to rise. The last time we met and fought Meden he told us this day would come. My master prepared for this," he said, rising onto his hind legs to reach one of the higher shelves. He leafed though the books, delicately pulling each forward with a shiny claw before retrieving the one he wanted.

It was old; red leather binding worn and tattered through years of use and then years of being left to father dust. Eli fell heavily back down onto all fours and paraded back over to them, presenting the journal to her. Hesitantly, Luna took it and flicked it open, staring at the loopy handwriting that decorated the pages.

"What is it?" Minx asked, peering over her shoulder.

Luna frowned, trying to make sense of the words on the page. Some of it was coherent, but other parts consisted for random letters and symbols strung together to form paragraphs. "I don't know."

At this, Eli laughed, thumping his tail against the floor and flapping his wings slightly. "I wouldn't expect a human like you to make sense of some of this, yet a dragon - an especially powerful dragon at that - could probably make sense of the dragon tongue on these pages." With this his gaze turned upon Minx, who seemed to shrink back just a little at the attention.

"Well, you're a powerful dragon. Can't you read it?" She said, looking down at the floor. Her ears twitched slightly and she shuffled her good wing.

Eli smiled, revealing sharp teeth the colour of flint; grey and flecked with gold. "I think you and I both know what I mean when I said 'an especially powerful dragon.' Now, Minx, answer me honestly. Can you read this?"

Minx fell silent, suddenly engrossed in scraping the mud from her claws then tracing circles with the fallen dirt. After an eternity, she finally answered. "Yes...sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Its...blurry. Hard to make out. I need to concentrate."

"And what does it say?"

She fell silent again and Luna finally lost her patience, crossing her arms and letting out a quiet sigh. "Minx, please. Just do as he says, we don't have time."

Minx glanced - locking eyes with her tamer - and Luna flinched. She could make out a mixture of emotions within them; fear; anger; sadness.

"Minx?"

"It says we need to head north, where the mountains lay in wait, just before the land's heart. Therein a prison is buried that has the power to seal away even gods." she whispered. "There's more, but that's so I can read."

"Interesting," Eli purred. "A guardian that cannot read all of the text. I suppose this was to be expected. A half breed isn't strong enough to translate."

"What? What do you mean 'half breed'?" Luna spat, moving to stand protectively over Minx. The fact he had also implied Minx was a guardian also registered, but she would deal with one thing at a time.

"Let me tell you a story," Eli sighed, turning away from them. He started to walk. Luna grabbed Minx, dragging her to her feet. Together they ran after him. Eli was still talking, as if nothing had happened. "A story of a guardian who fell in love with a common blackthorn. Eventually, this love resulted in the birth of a child who was both guardian and blackthorn, a mix of blood. And when the mother passed due to a miscommunication, and the father could not be found, the mother's murderers were entrusted with the child's safety. And on the day that the world burned the child was saved and then lost, along with another.

"Yet it seemed fate intervened, and by Meden's will both children were kept together as the murderers waited; one died and the other was left behind in the ruins of a destroyed family to wait for them to find him," Eli sighed deeply and his shoulders slumped.

Luna caught on but pushed the emotion that welled up inside down. Now was not the time nor was it the place for a mental breakdown. "Do you regret what you did?"

"I suppose I would if I could," Eli smirked. "But as you know, Miss Autumn, we cannot feel remorse or any of those fanciful emotions, can we?"

"No," Minx sighed. "Though...guardians can?"

Eli nodded, confirming their worst fears. He stopped before a large display case. Inside was the brightest shield Luna had ever seen, dazzling in its polished spark so much that the engravings along its surface seemed to be no more than trails of light. Beside it hung a sword, leather bound hilt sunbleahced and ratty from use, but blade still as sharp and deadly as the day it had been forged. Before Luna could register what was happening, Eli brought his first down, shattering the glass. Shards sprayed in every direction, forcing Luna to shield herself with her arms. When she looked up a gain, Eli had taken the sword and  shield down and was holding them out to her.

"He would be so proud of you, you know," he purred. "He would've wanted to do this himself."

"Huh?"

"Luna Autumn, great niece of the Dragon human Hatchet Autumn and his next and only kin. Do you promise to serve the society with heart and soul, fight so that this blade may once again taste wicked blood? Do you swear to follow the great light giver Meden with your final breath?"

"I guess? But what's-"

"Then I now give this sword it's first drop in a long time, and turn my responsibilities of this library's keeper over to you. With it, comes my master's title and all of his knowledge," he grinned slyly at Luna's shocked expression then winked to Minx - who was still trying to get over the shock of discovering she was a guardian - before slicing the palm of his hand open in the sword. It seemed to wake up, the blade shining a low green in the light of the burning candles. He handed it to Luna, who just blinked and opened her mouth. No words came out. Eli guffawed and placed the  shield onto the floor beside her, wings flapping in time with his laugher.

"Congratulations, Dragon hunter."