The Missing Dragon

Chapter 25

Lloyd's POV

"It feels as if it were yesterday. The day we found the royal nest and killed almost every dragon there..." He choked.

I let out a small gasp as I covered my mouth. T-This man helped murder Lylian's, no, our family! He took away the lives of dragonets not even hatched yet! He probably even has some of their blood on his hands! I could feel the anger rising in my, getting ready to burst. Now is not the time to lash out at him... i have a mission to finish. I should hear what he has to say first. I reasoned with myself before letting him continue.

"It was the biggest mission in decades... raid the nest and kill as many dragons and leave. I-I didn't think that they would try to use the new tech. Back in those days, Stormbringer had craved dragons blood a lot more than now. He wanted dragons to be wiped from the face of earth so he volunteered as soon as he learned about this mission.

Since I was a senior hunter, I had to go. I was excited, thinking that we would finally stop the dragons from killing anymore innocent people... I didn't think that it would be such a blood bath. Some of the dragonets turned into humans, hoping that that would save them... I didn't think he would actually kill them." His voice quivered in sadness and regret, he even lost his heavy accent.

"It started off as a normal mission. We traveled near the destination and walked the rest, hoping to catch them in surprise. Not only were they not expecting us to even be near their nest, they were too surprise to realize what we were doing. Three males, one elder, one adult, and a juvenile, all colored black. The two adults were watching the juvenile as they were walking towards the mountains. A strange sight for a dragon to be walking instead of flying. Even stranger to see an elder dragon in person.

Since it was almost winter, it was even easier to see the dragons. Surprisingly they didn't see us, nor did they smell or hear us. Taking the opportunity, Stormbringer sprung forward and raises his spear over the juvenile's head. The adult quickly took notice and swung its tail, hitting Stormbringer square in the chest. The elder and the adult realized that there were more of us and started attacking, almost setting the whole forest on fire. The juvenile was too terrified to move or fly away until the adult roared at it.

As we fought off the adults, Stormbringer followed behind the juvenile using one of the new tech. Stormbringer–"

"Sorry to interrupt, but what exactly is the new tech? And is it still used?" I interrupted. The juvenile must be Toothless, Lylian's brother! The adult must be Lylian's dad and the elder must be her grandfather, the night elder!

"Well Lloyd, these weapons were created to damage the soul, preventing any creature from being reborn or being reborn with an incomplete soul. If a creature does somehow survive the blast, they will live the rest of their shortened life with a split soul." He explained quietly. "Thankfully, the guild master quickly banned the weapons from being used and even went as far as destroying it as soon as he heard about what they could truest do."

"When you said shortened life, is that because of the weapon or because some creatures just have a shorter lifespan than humans?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, that's not what I mean. There's barely any story of any creature living with a split soul. Do you know why?" Mr. Harrison asked. I shook my head no, I could feel my heart clenching even before he explained why. "A creature has a mix of living up to 10 years, most die in five. There's is no way to fix a split soul apart from time. Time slowly mends the soul together, only if the person is strong enough in magic."

I gulped as I suddenly remembered something. If I remember correctly, father told me that Lylian's egg was shot by one of those weapons. Would that mean she has a split soul?! Wait... she's only 8 and she's going to turn 9 in two weeks... she'll only have a year left. No it can't be true! Wait let's not panic! I've been around her for years and I haven't felt anything wrong with her soul at all, so she must be fine... I hope.

Mr. Harrison must have saw the look of worry on my face because he asked."Is there anything you want to tell me kid? Is something worrying you?"

Should I tell him? I think I should... I mean he's told me all of these things which is probably too secret stuff and I don't sense a single lie so I guess I can. I reassured with myself as I took a deep breath.

"So you wanted to know why I'm hanging around dragons right? Well it just happens to be that that little girl is my fifth cousin. She's mostly dragon but there's also demon blood in her. I'm mostly demon but o also have dragons blood in me. It's very complicated. S-She was shot by one of those weapons when she was still in the egg. I'm worried that she might only have a year left because she's going to be nine soon." I blurted out quickly.

Mr. Harrison looked at me shocked before saying,"The only way she could have been shot was if she was... an egg at the royal hatchery! That would make her a royal dragon! And for her to be part demon, the only documented time of a dragon and a demon producing an offspring would be all those generations ago... with the supreme rulers."

Mr. Harrison looked at me in shock before leaning over the table to grab my shoulders. "Kid, I swear on my life that I would never ever hurt your cousin or you. I want you to leave this kingdom at once and never return. If anyone else finds out what you two are, they'll kill you."