The Dragon of Charred Scales

Panic

Jacob

"Novayar," I hear someone yell in the distance. I curl up tighter under this boulder, hoping it and my invisibility hide me long enough. Hoping no one, especially Harogbas, finds me until I am ready.

Dunen. Harogbas. The same dragon. He had good reasons for that, and it is nice to see his true self. And he is a leader here, despite never referring to himself as an Elder. Duty takes up much of his time, so we were lucky to have any time with him. I get all of that.

But the rest of what he said made me uneasy. Undoing the Joining. Revealing dragons and Laku to the humans in a safe way. All of that on top of the prophecy. More things for me to deal with. Things that the old dragons, with all their well-trained conjurers, could not do. Even with his abilities helping me, we can do little, I am sure. We are but two dragons.

And apparently, two related dragons.

Of course, the human side of me is thankful for knowing who my father may be. The dragon side of me could care less. Obviously the dragon side of Harogbas wins out in his mind because he mentioned as a passing thought that he knew Jheecu and that he mated to her for her last nest, the one I was a part of.

But the part of me that I have grown up sixteen years, before discovering I am a dragon, feels a little hurt that he does not care. Like I am a new sidekick for his visions instead of family. I wish I had prepared myself for this after hearing a dragon say that they knew my parents. No dragon cares for their father. Many do not know who they even are. When have I ever yearned for mine? Not even as a human did I care that much.

Still, maybe I expected a little more acknowledgement, a few kind words, or something. Not a piling of new responsibilities.

In Oita, I would be expected to help Harogbas after I am trained. In Hasinji, I would be expected to be a laboratory experiment and a study subject as the only conjurer. Both places I must worry about the prophecy. And I am only seventeen, not an adult by either human or dragon standards. Yet no one, not even my father, if indeed he is my father, cares about me. Maybe not even Mother cares.

No, not no one. Oculeera has to go through all of this too. She was there when Harogbas revealed himself to me. She did not follow me when I slipped away to be alone, even though she watched me leave. She cares about my wellbeing and it is plain to see we have a tight friendship. Yet she is barely older than me, not enough to matter. There is only so much any spirit dragon can do to help me with every duty, every cage I must live in because of what I am.

Something brushed against my tail and jerked me from my thoughts. Nervous, I look and see a large black bug of some sort crawling around. I flail my tail around, trying to shake it off. Unfortunately, it got flung onto my snout.

"Aaa!" I roar, trying to swipe it away. I think I got it quickly, but I kept swiping just in case. After a moment, I calm a little. The bug is gone. Hopefully no one heard me.

As quietly as I could, I chanted one of the more complex spells I know, one that repelled bugs from an area. Oculeera taught me this one on our way here to Oita.

"Novayar, come out," someone called out, a lot closer this time. Great, I was probably heard.

A few minutes pass with no other sound. No wing beats, no yells. Just nature. My mind returned to my previous thoughts. Why does everyone expect me to shoulder all these burdens? Why does Harogbas want to do everything he said? I understand why the dragons in Hasinji want to study me. I even understand why anyone would like to reveal the magical world to humans if it could be done without chaos. But why undo the Joining?