Aska snarled from behind Roxi as the other dragon swooped in from the sky, rejoining them. Aspen petted the beast’s head, but otherwise showed little interest in the creature bonded to him. Roxi kept her distance from her father, realizing more and more how little she wanted to be associated with him. He hadn’t even bother naming his dragon, his companion. He’d been a dragon lord for more than a hundred years – he never did tell her how many more – and still couldn’t think to name the dragon. This fact not only disgusted Roxi, but made her wonder how he was chosen in the first place. Aska titled her head to the side, almost as if reading Roxi’s thoughts.
Timophy – the name Roxi had decided to call her father’s dragon – breathed out smoke. “Did you find them?” Aspen asked.
“They are a couple miles south from here. From what I could see, there were at least five of them, four sorcerers and one fire proof… I presume dragon lord,” Timophy answered, his voice rough like he had just used his fiery breath.
“Did you blast one of them?” Roxi asked.
“Two. But they survived because the man is fire proof.”
“You know you were supposed to wait for us,” Roxi scolded.
“If he could’ve taken them all out before we got there, wouldn’t that have spared us a trip, my dear?” Aspen challenged.
“They could be innocents,” Aska added, coming to her lady’s defense.
“Raphael could very well be hiding among them, but that doesn’t mean that they know what he is, or even that they are guilty of being magic users. We can’t just blast everyone because they might be a threat.” Roxi sighed and Aska moved closer to her, rubbing her head against Roxi. She smiled and affectionately placed her hand on the dragon’s head.
“I don’t care who is innocent and who is not. Chances are that if they are with Raphael, they are not innocent. You know the laws of the land. Even those aiding sorcerers are guilty,” Aspen replied, crossing his arms over his chest.
Timophy snarled again. “We are wasting time by allowing you to walk by foot. It would be faster if we flew.”
“You know I hate to agree with him, but he’s right,” Aska added.
The dragon lords nodded and climbed onto the backs of their dragons. Timophy and Aspen took off first, followed shortly by Roxi and Aska.
“You seem very eager to go and kill people,” Roxi commented once they were in the air as she gestured for Aska to slow down a little so that her father and Timophy couldn’t overhear.
“I am eager to get this over with, whether we end up killing people or not.”
“You know that if we get there we will have no choice. My father volunteered us for a war that I want no part in.”
“You don’t have to listen to him, Roxi. Your path is your own to choose. I will stand by you whatever choice you make, but I implore you to make the right decision.”
Roxi let her head fall back, the wind whipping her dark hair behind her. “I don’t know what the right decision will be. My mother is a sorcerers… you know that. And she’s not exactly the best kind of person. How do I know that if I choose to side with the other sorcerers that I’m making the right decision? What if they all are bad?”
“Don’t you think they might be wondering the same thing about dragon lords now? Your kind is hunting them. No group’s people are all bad. There are exceptions to every rule, Roxi. I know your heart is good, it is why I chose you all those years ago. You will make the right choice and I will stay by your side through it all.”
“I admire your faith in me.”
“You are not your father’s daughter.”
“Will that make me my mother’s then?”
“You are not defined by who your parents are, but what choices you make. I know you do not want any part in this war, so do not take part in it. You and I can even work toward stopping it.”
“Is that what you want to do?”
“It doesn’t matter what I want to do.”
“It does to me. As you pointed out, I’m not my father’s daughter. I do not plan on stripping away your choices.”
Aska let out a smokey breath. “I want to fight against these dragons and dragon lords that believe it’s okay to kill off an entire population of people. We are supposed to be pure of heart, along with out masters, and following the queen’s orders is going against our very natures.”
Roxi rubbed Aska’s head with a satisfied grin. “And so we shall fight then.”
YOU ARE READING
Haunting Shadows (Book 2)
Fantasy"What if my sins are all I've become? Will you still love me if the Andreas you once knew is too far gone to ever get back?" Lana had survived burning on the stake, but at what cost? Every time she closes her eyes, she revisits the horror of burning...
