Dragon Diary

Entry 14: My World Turns Upside Down

Hello Diary,
I have to admit that by the time I woke up everything was in chaos. I started to gain consciousness and the first thing I noticed was the smell of blood. I could feel the rush of wind against me and knew that I was being carried through the sky.

I was afraid to open my eyes. By the way I was being grasped in someone's talons I had a feeling that something terrible had happened. It was at least not my own blood in the  air. Instead I used my mind reading powers to scan the sky around me. Just as I had feared, I could sense some of the dragons I had sensed before. I could not sense the minds of my mentor or his mate anywhere nearby. By the mental block my captor had, I knew it was Kram.

I was just about to open my eyes and address the kidnapper when a gust of air and flapping wings surrounded me. I kept my eyes shut as I realized we were going in to land. We were back home at the Palace already.

I felt my father's adviser land a bit awkwardly while grasping my tiny body in one paw. As he gently released me on the courtyard floor I could hear the thuds of other warriors landing behind him.

"Kram? I see you found my heir. What of that traitor General?" That was the deep resounding voice of the King of Angoleth.

I slowly opened up my eyes just in time to see Kram sneer and hold up a trophy to show his king. As my eyes adjusted to the light I saw my father's glare quickly turn into a grin.

The trophy was the head of a dragon, still dripping with blood from the neck where it's body used to be connected. At first I blinked and shook my head in disbelief, but my eyes were not lying. Kram was holding the severed head of Cand himself.

"I knew you would want proof so I brought you this prize." Kram said with a malevolent smile.

I was frozen. I couldn't even move to get up off the ground. My eyes began to get blurred with tears. Cand was dead? How did this happen? Now I would have no one to look up to, no one except Gaelon.

I was having a mental breakdown and didn't even realize my father was watching me carefully. All I could do was stare at Cand's expressionless face and quiver in sadness and agony. This pain was far worse than anything my father had done to me, physical or mental. I wanted to die and it was the first time in my life I have felt true helplessness.

"The boy is in shock. He was knocked out before the attack. I needed him out of the picture. He has just now realized that his beloved adopted father is dead, and all hope of rebellion with him." Kram was saying to his king above me.

"Ruinar?...Ruinar, I hope that I can still count on you. Cand was going down a dark path of treason. It had to be stopped. In time you will understand." Even though my father spoke to me I barely heard his words.

"No..." I whispered through my sobs. "He... He can't be dead, not now." I closed my eyes and stared down. I couldn't look at this gruesome​ scene any longer.

"What of Eira? Why is her head not here with his?" I heard my father's voice snarl in anger.

"I could not bring myself to kill my own sister, so the army dealt with her for us. As you can see I have about half as many dragons as I left with. They have assured me she died, plummeting into the lake. She took a few dragons down in her struggle."

I heard a snarl of approval from my father to Kram's story. The warriors must have all been nodding in agreement. Could it really be true? Are they both dead? My little brain doesn't want to process all this.

"Now then, I think Ruinar has learned why it is best to not defy the king of Angoleth. I expect him back to his studies this afternoon." My father snarled.

It was all I could do to keep myself from fainting. As Kram handed my father the head and lead me inside I started to wonder where my life was going to go from here. No one was safe from my father's magic.

My thoughts suddenly fell on my only option and an even larger pit hit my stomach. If I was going to save anyone then I would have to learn some of this dark magic. It would be the only way to have any future at all, even if it meant my own life was sacrifice down the line.