The Dragon Curse

An old friend

I turned to him then searched for Jack to sign him, but I didn't see him. I went closer to the person and he smiled at me.

"I..." I started, but I didn't know what to say. Maybe he can't help. How could I trust in a stranger enough to tell him that I'm looking for a witch?

Luckily Jack found me so he stepped next to me and looked from me at the stranger, whose eyes all of a sudden widened and looked at Jack suspiciously.

"Robin?" asked Jack first and to his words, the man looked at him surprised.

"Jack?" he whispered and Jack slightly lifted his hood for the man to see his face.

I was about to ask how do they know each other, but after the man looked around he told us to follow him outside. We went to the back of the pub, so Jack could take his hood off fully and look at the man. They hugged happily and longly, but when I coughed they released.

"So, how do you exactly know each other?" I finally asked.

"Oh, yeah. Mark, he is my friend Robin. Robin, he is Mark." said Jack turning and looking at me. "He helped me so much."

"And how long..." I asked.

"Let's talk somewhere else instead. It's not safe here," said Robin, and Jack put his hood back.

"My cave is the safest, they don't know where it is," answered Jack and we started following him out, but I grabbed his hand to stop him.

"And what about why we came here in the first place?" I asked Jack and he looked at Robin.

"We will come back later," said Jack reassuringly. "Right now it's better if we talk somewhere else like Robin said."

I took a deep breath and nodded. I assumed Robin and Jack have known each other for a while and they probably wanted to talk with each other after so long, so I just followed Jack and Robin. We soon left the town and went straight to the forest. We walked for a little until we reached a small cave that was halfway in the ground so we had to crawl to get inside. When all of us were inside we sat down, so I could finally get some answers to my questions.

"I've never actually asked you what happened in the pub," I told Jack because right now I was far more interested in this.

"How do you..." started Jack looking at me with curious eyes.

"Wade, one of my friends, was there and saw, but you know, I want to hear the full story. He said that your eyes glow." I said and tried to read his face, but I couldn't decide if it was fear or shame.

"Yes it can," he said and took a deep breath before he continued his story and looked at Robin beside him. "We were in the pub when three men came up to us."

"They were there for me." interrupted Robin. "I met with a thief group and I owed them. Those three men were there to take my money."

"Why didn't you tell me this?" asked Jack with concern in his eyes as he kept looking at Robin.

"I thought they will forget it. And it's my fault that you are wanted now." he continued. "Sorry."

"I wouldn't be able to hide it for too long anyway, so it's not your fault," said Jack again, then he turned to me. "My eyes are glowing when somebody who I love or really close to me is in danger. They attacked Robin and my instincts were to protect him because he is like a brother to me. I beat them and growled at them. I didn't know what I was doing until my eyes turned back. Everybody around me was shocked and scared. I'm a monster."

"No, you were doing what you had to," I said and the silence fell in.

There are still so many things I don't know, but it's better if I'm not asking right now. But we need to find a solution to Jack's problem, so I thought let's talk about that instead.

"I think we should head back to the town," I said and the two looked at me.

"Why were you there anyway?" asked Robin. "They could've caught Jack."

"We need to find a witch quickly and I know someone there who might help us with this problem," I answered and Robin looked at me then Jack with concern.

"What problem?" Robin asked and Jack sat closer to him.

Jack rolled up his shirt to show his injured side to Robin. But he showed his scaled back more, which caught Robin's surprise. Jack turned his head to look at his friend while rolling his shirt back down.

"What happened?" he asked.

"We don't know," I said because Jack didn't say anything. "I was talking with my friend when I heard a noise from the shed. He was in pain and the scales appeared on his back."

"And the holes?" asked Robin more concerned about the wound.

"My wing was caught in a bear trap," answered Jack and Robin gasped. "I think I'm turning back and I don't want that to happen."

"Well..." started Robin as he started thinking."The witch who lived in this town was burned yesterday, so we need to find another."

"So there is nothing we can do. They'll kill me." panicked Jack and I saw fear in his eyes.

"I'm not going to let them do that," said Robin, grabbing Jack's arms to make him feel a little better. "We stuck together and nobody can hurt us. I made a promise, remember?"

Jack slightly nodded and hugged Robin, sitting in silence for a while. I honestly don't know how we can help Jack. Maybe I should go home and just forget this whole thing. I mean. Jack has Robin now and he knows him longer than me, so I understand if he doesn't want me around. But it's not fair. He helped me against the wolves, I need to help him now no matter what. I could have died that night, but no. So it's my turn to help him.

"I go and get something to eat. I'm hungry. We will talk about a plan later." said Jack and stood up to leave the cave.

He stepped out and I was alone with Robin. He can answer my questions though because I didn't really want to bother Jack with all my questions. But I don't know what to say first. Maybe how did they meet?

"How did you meet with Jack?" I asked and Robin turned to me.

"I have known him since we were kids. Well, I was a kid, he was a baby dragon." he chuckled a little at the thought of them playing together in the forest as children. "I know the witch who raised him. I used to help her gathering herbs and various kinds of flowers. When I didn't have to do anything for her I played with Jack a lot. We became best friends, even if we didn't understand each other."

"And how did you meet?" he asked me with more curiosity.

"A pack of wolves was chasing me and Jack saved my life. On the same night, he knocked on my door and asked for help, because those wolves hurt him badly. So, I helped."

"How long have you know?" he asked, sitting closer to me, like if someone else could hear our conversation.

"Two days," I said when suddenly, we heard a scream, and it sounded like Jack.

Both of us quickly stood up and went outside to see what happened, but I didn't see anything. I looked at Robin and we had the same thought. We started running towards the sound, unknown what waited for us there.