The Dragon's Son

•Chapter 6•

I woke up to light smacking on the side of my face. I growled lowly twisting my head away as I swatted the hand away, squinting open my eyes to see Jack leaning over me. His head shading my eyes from the harsh white light I could see around the room. He gave me a toothy grin before looking behind him, "He's finally awake again!" He said, and I could swear I heard a couple of sighs of relief before I shoved Jack away so I could set up.

My chest felt sore and when I looked down I saw the two welts forming near where my heart would be inside it. They were red and looked kinda like a spider bite, but I knew that wasn't the case. I could still feel the numbness in my toes and the tips of my fingers. I glanced over to see Onslaught and Dagger nearby with a group of teens. The troll man wasn't here thankfully for him. If he was, and he didn't have that shocking device, I'd have ripped his tongue out of his skull before forcing him to swallow it. There was also a shorter woman, possibly 5'6, with long brown hair, pinned back in a bun. A few strands of her hair had fallen from it and were curling around her ears as she was talking quietly to another man I didn't recognize. She had a black rubber and silver metal contraption hanging around her neck with a 'clipboard', if I remember correctly from my brief lesson on the flight over with Jack, in her hands. Her eyes were a murky brown that seemed to darken and lighten up depending on the light.

The man had the same colored hair, but his eyes were blue. He was sitting in one of the chairs, but I could tell when he stood, he'd match my height. He held himself with an aura of power that I didn't expect from someone so normal looking. He had one leg crossed over the other and black-rimmed glasses sat on his nose, just a little below where they should be. He was slim, but his uniform gave off the muscle he had. He had a different symbol on his uniform than Onslaught, Dagger, or Longshot did. It was the same as the shorter woman's. He also had a colorful little bar thingie above his name tag which I couldn't read.

I glanced back up to the man's eyes, only to find them staring right back into my own as if staring at my soul. I narrowed my own, holding his stare for a good two minutes while continued to talk before I had to look away. My skin itching and my will power decreasing at the intensity in his eyes. I heard a chuckle then before the man stood and slipped over, between me and Jack who had been telling me what had happened to the troll man that was known as Mott. The man stuck out his right hand to me, "I'm General Austin Flare Thompson. I would like to apologize for our scientist harassing you and then shocking you with his Tazer. We had no intention of that happening, but seeing as how he has been on probation for the last few years now, I think we should've suspected it," he apologized, as I took his hand and gave it a shake.

I took my hand back and grunted in response. Looking back down at the welts. " 'could care less," I grumbled lowly in dragon, "Just keep him away from me and the others. Do a better job at protecting your soldiers." I felt more than heard the shock from the teens and the other soldiers in the room. The shock from me speaking Draak tongue, from the teens. The shock from the soldiers because I basically just told the man I didn't think he was doing his job. No one must have ever spoken to the general like that. It didn't surprise me considering how they muttered about a 'Flare' on the ride over.

This General Flare, bellowed out a laugh once I finished. Nearly startling me as I glanced up with a raised eyebrow. He grinned a sharp-toothed smile that could rival my own, his eyes flashing reptilian green, startling me. There was no maliciousness in his gaze though. It was more a show towards me of his understanding. "Haha, he got you there, eh Austin?" The brown-haired woman said, laughing as she moved closer. She smiled kindly at me, "Hi, sweetheart, I'm Alexis, this idiot's second in command and medic. It's a pleasure to meet you." She shook my hand too. I liked her already.

"You're right. We should have known he wasn't fit for anything outside of lab work. We'll have a more thorough background check pulled on him before anything else is decided. If it shows up something we find unfit for his field requirements or that seems inappropriate for a setting with young adults such as yourselves, we'll have him removed," Austin responded, making me lift an eyebrow at him. He was speaking Draak Tongue, yes, but I couldn't understand half of what he actually meant, "Either way, enough on that subject. You have your family for the duration of your training to meet." 

Austin smiled pleasantly as he motioned to the group of other kids in the room other than me and Jack. I could smell the anxiousness coming off the teens in waves as they stared at me from across the room. None of their scents were familiar from the transport over, but then again, there had been a lot of scents in the tiny carrier. All of which blended together and mixed in a hodgepodge of different combinations. I wouldn't be surprised if my cousin's scent or Jack's were actually quite different than what I had originally perceived. 

My eyes dragged across the group with an appraising expression. Family, huh? I thought, taking in the three people plus Jack.  One tall lanky boy with dark blonde hair, shaved similar to mine, and two women. The blonde boy had dark brown eyes and a bit of stubble growing on his jaw. He was almost a head taller than me and the others in the room. The girls were slightly shorter. One was sporting shoulder-length dreadlocks, with caramel-colored skin. Her eyes were a piercing blue. The other girl had shoulder-length, platinum blonde hair pulled back from her face with a band of some kind. Her eyes were the color of honey. 

Jack gave a noise of annoyance when neither the three other teens nor myself made a move to greet each other. "He's not gonna bite you guys," he said, crossing his arms over his chest, looking to the three, "I would know, he put up with my annoying tail halfway here." 

I chuckled in response. "You're not annoying, Jack, just curious," I grumbled, my English rough as I expected it would be for a while. I slid my gaze over to the three before rubbing the back of my neck, a strange nervousness trickling into my system at the thought of my 'family' being scared of me. "I'm Jacob Drakon."

There was a brief moment of silence as they collected their courage. Then the tall lanky boy strode over, jutting his hand out with a determined look on his face. Despite the acute scent of fear wavering from him and the quivering in his hand. "I'm Marc McNary, a pleasure to make your acquaintance," his voice cracked on the last word, and I saw him wince as I carefully clasped his hand with my own, giving it a shake and a reassuring smile. 

The platinum blonde girl was there to take his place not a second later, "Sydney, nice to meet you," she smiled taking my hand in hers before vigorously shaking it up and down for a second. I couldn't help my grin at her enthusiasm despite the ache in my wrist from the odd shake. Then finally, the girl with the dreadlocks sidled up to us, flopping down beside my feet on the cot I had just realized I was sitting on. 

"Madison Blackwolf," she introduced herself, slapping her palm against mine instead of actually giving me a handshake. I lifted a brow in confusion, drawing a laugh from Jack. My eyes darted from the girl to him, silently questioning what that gesture meant. He had amusement written across his features, but it wasn't amusement from my expense, just amusement of the situation. 

"It's called a high five, where you smack someone else's hand with your own," he explained, making me nod slowly, so that was another form of greeting then. I huffed as the others took up chuckling at my lack of understanding. Yet, I felt the nervousness fading away slowly. Despite the initial greetings, they seemed to have relaxed. Possibly due to my innocence of the mundane, or just because they were beginning to understand that I was safe to be around. 

It felt... nice. I was being accepted by the people I'd spend the majority of my time with. Something I hadn't expected to accomplish till much later in this endeavor. I spotted Dagger's happy eyes from where he stood to the side, and I felt slight ease of the tension in my body. This didn't appear to be the worst beginning of this new chapter in my life. Though it did appear it was going to be one interesting ride.