The Dragoso Series 2: Strength in Darkness

“Does Mom know you’re doing this?” Kathey’s firstborn, Marty, questioned. He was the spitting image of his father, Kyrus, minus his pinkish orange eyes.

“I’m sure she’s aware, kiddo. Let’s fly,” Trevor replied. He was all too familiar with the snappy attitude, David went through the same phase, even if there was an age difference. Marty exhaled and turned to his dragon form, a pinkish-orange scaled Goop Dragon. His sister, light yellow scaled Feather Dragon, Calla, stood beside him, watching. Trevor smirked and looked among all the kids before nodding. “Alright, just stay below the treetops and don’t fly out of the forest. Your mom will kill me if something happens, stay in pairs at least, alright?”

“Mr. Trevor?” Trevor looked down at Comet, a Fire Dragon. “I don’t really have a partner.” Trevor knelt down, looking to Tyrande and Ayassa.

“Can you keep an eye on Tyrande and Ayassa, they are the youngest and I was gonna stick with them, think you can?” Trevor asked.

“Yes, sir!” Comet responded, saluting Trevor before running for the two. They exchanged a few words before Comet and Tyrande pushed into the air, waiting for Ayassa to get the wind under her wings and follow her older brothers. The other pairs had already flown off and Trevor caught occasional glimpses of them as they flew around. Trevor wasn’t sure how some of the breeds could come from a Flower Dragon as one of the parents.

Some made sense, like Marty as a Goop Dragon. His colors were a mix of Anna’s pink scales and Kyrus’ orange scales, being a Volcano Dragon. But then there was the fact of Glower, a rare Glow-in-the-Dark Dragon. Trevor didn’t think they could possibly exist, but the glowing scales in dim lit places was proof enough.

Trevor’s thoughts were interrupted when two of the three adopted kids landed before him. Glass Dragon Storm and Water Dragon Seabed.

“I win, Storm!” Seabed argued.

“No, you don’t Seabed, I won that round,” Storm snapped. They looked up to Trevor. “Who won?”

“Was pretty close, you two would have to do a tie breaker,” Trevor replied. Seabed groaned and Storm grinned before they took off again. Trevor smirked and shook his head at the two siblings. He knew Kathey had adopted for the sake of rescuing them. Protection, rescue, it meant a lot to Kathey at the time. Storm was a couple years away from fourteen, the ripe age of a mature adult dragon.

Trevor’s mind jumped to David and Aya. David still had a couple years as well, but Aya was mere months away before she was an adult. It was hard to imagine that he had only months before his youngest sister was a changed girl.

Trevor drew his attention to the forest, watching everyone. He spotted Sandra and Sorren, twin Energy Dragons. While Sandra had bright pink and purple scales, Sorren had darker toned scales of the same colors. The only kids Kathey had with Gemini. Trevor couldn’t imagine Gemini -or even Kyrus for that matter- give up something like fatherhood for their own selfish desires. What was more important than being there for their kids?

Trevor snapped from his thoughts when he heard a yelp in the woods. He looked around, listening closely. Out of nowhere, all the kids flew from the forest and landed by Trevor, all except Comet, Tyrande, and Ayassa.

“Comet?” Trevor called. “Tyrande! Ayassa!”

“Help!” Tyrande cried and Trevor ran forward, changing to his dragon form as he ran and launched himself over the treetops. He spotted a group of dragon riding hunters flying over the trees, their target locked on what could only be the three unaccounted kids. Trevor hovered for a moment before dropping below the trees and weaving among them, spotting Comet’s red scales through the greenery.

“On your six, kids!” Trevor called. The three skidded to a stop as Trevor approached, watching him. Trevor flailed his wings to stop his momentum, but roared in pain when something struck his back, the pain lingering.

“Trevor!” Comet squeaked and Trevor fell to his belly. Trevor groaned and lifted his head, opening his wings slightly.

“Get over here you three, now!” Trevor grunted. Tyrande, Ayassa, and Comet hurried forward and slid to hide under Trevor’s wings.

Hang in there, Trevor! We’re coming! Kathey’s voice echoed in Trevor’s mind. Trevor gritted his teeth and looked up as the hunters landed. He growled, his breath element bubbling in his throat, ready to freeze anyone that came close to him. Instead, he roared as a hunter stabbed his back with something that he couldn’t see. He felt the kids huddle closer to his sides.

“Get the dual colored ones, leave the red one behind!” One of the hunters commanded. Trevor’s wings were forced up, the thin bones aching as they shoved them away.

“Trevor! Help!” Tyrande wailed as he and Ayassa were grabbed. Trevor grunted as he tried to move, but the pain in his back equivalent to knives left him paralyzed.

“Give the bitch a message, lizard. If she wants her kids back, she can come get them at HQ,” a hunter said and kicked Trevor in the snout before they shoved Tyrande and Ayassa in small cages and mounted their dragons.

“Get up! Help them!” Comet commanded. He crawled out from under Trevor’s wing and stared at his back, mouth open and shock on his face. Comet swallowed and looked to Trevor, who was fighting to stay awake. Comet looked around before his focus was drawn to someone approaching. Through Trevor’s barely open eyes, he spotted pink scales, Anna’s scales.

“Oh Gods, what happened?” Anna demanded.

“Hunters came, Mom...they took Tyrande and Ayassa,” Comet explained.

“Son of a hellhound...” Anna cursed.

Trevor didn’t know what happened next, his vision turned black.

~oOo~

“Shit!” Trevor snapped as a dragon tooth was pulled from his back. It turned out he was hit and stabbed with about twenty dragon tooth arrows. In his state of weakness, he was reverted to his human form and was laying on an examination table in the Med Lab.

“You’re lucky they didn’t slit your throat,” Kathey barked at him. She stood nearby with her arms crossed. “You let my kids get taken!”

“What was I supposed to do with dragon teeth in my back?!”

“You could’ve said no to bringing Tyrande and Ayassa to fly in the forest. Could’ve stayed with them while they flew around.”

“Lemme see a tooth.” Trevor and Kathey looked to the door of the Med Lab and spotted Aaron and Cyrus. Sereph held one of the teeth out to him and Aaron took it, looking it over. “How’s the bleeding control?” Trevor scoffed, he knew that his wounds wouldn’t stop bleeding, the pile of medical sponges by his elbow kept growing.

“Keeps bleeding, slowly but still going,” Sereph explained. Aaron wiped at a tooth before placing it with the others.

“Blood Dragon teeth, he’s got anti-clotting agents in his body right now,” Aaron said.

“That explains a lot,” Sereph snorted and grabbed a bottle from a cabinet and filled a syringe with the liquid before approaching Trevor who tensed up. “Trevor?”

“Don’t like needles...” Trevor mumbled and squeezed his eyes shut. Sereph slipped the needle into the visible vein in the crook of his arm and pushed the plunger. She pulled the needle out and set it aside.

“You’ll be alright. The clotting agent I just injected will take a while to counter the anti-clotting agent, giving me enough time to get these last few removed and stitch you up,” Sereph explained and Trevor nodded.

“Why can’t you just heal him with magic?” Cyrus questioned.

“Trevor lived most of his life as a human, his body is very sensitive to magic, as are his siblings. I could cause a lot of damage to him if I’m not careful. It’s better I tend to him the old fashioned way, stitches and painkillers.”

“Trevor!” They all looked up when they spotted Brenda, Aya, and David standing at the door.

“Hey guys...” Trevor mumbled and his siblings came to his side.

“Are you ok?” Aya asked. Trevor raised an eyebrow for a brief moment.

“Other than getting shot and stabbed with something equal to a knife, I’m good.” Trevor grunted as Sereph pulled the last tooth from his back. She looked over each wound, Trevor wincing occasionally. After making sure everything was cleaned, she started stitching Trevor wounds. “They gonna scar?”

“Most likely.” Trevor grinned.

“Cool.” Sereph finished stitching his wounds and Trevor sat up slowly, his teeth clamped on the inside of his cheek as he did and Sereph started wrapping his torso, Trevor hands clasped together behind his head.

“Avoid changing to your dragon form for a few days. Your wounds will heal quickly if you relax,” Sereph advised and Trevor shrugged.

“Easy enough.” Trevor looked to Kathey. “What’s your plan for getting Tyrande and Ayassa back? We can’t just barge right in, that’s suicide. Can’t do undercover, they’ll know we’re dragons right away, right?” Kathey nodded. “They know Aaron and Cyrus are with us, no way they’ll accept them with open arms.”

“And with Cenod working with them, we’d have an all out war against the Hunters if we don’t take them out when we make our attack,” Kathey added.

“What can Cenod do?” Brenda piped up. Everyone looked to her. “He’s a wyvern, right? He’s just a dragon like the rest of us, so what can he do?”

“Besides the possession and summoning parasites that control hosts, he can become a shadow the way Brokenstar did. That’s probably the only reason Brokenstar was able to do that, Nega Dragons don’t normally have that ability,” Kathey explained before rubbing her face. “Nobody goes outside unless it’s necessary, alright? Can’t have them taking anyone else. I don’t even want to think about what they could be doing to Tyrande and Ayassa.”

“You’re really calm about all this,” Trevor noted and Kathey scoffed.

“Let’s just say history is somewhat repeating itself.”

~oOo~

Garrett stared at the two fledglings in the cage. What better way to bait Anna than to take her kids and use them.

I’ve snatched her kids up before, Cenod mused in his mind. Garrett smirked.

“Have you now?” he asked.

Indeed. Not long after she birthed the Energy Dragons sired by Gemini.

Garrett raised an eyebrow before turning his back to the cage.

“Our mom will beat you and save us!” Garrett spun to the cage and kicked the bars, making both fledglings squeak with fear.

“Shut it pipsqueak. I know exactly what I’m doing, and by the time my plan is complete, you won’t see your mother or your plague of a family ever again.” Garrett glared for a moment before turning and started out of the warehouse.

A bang echoed through the warehouse and Garrett stopped before four cages in the corner. He looked over at the four dragons contained. The cage holding a white and light blue scaled Glacier Dragon had a sizable dent in the bars, the dragon snorting. His whole muzzle was scarred from the chains that wrapped around him to keep his mouth shut. The icicle looking spikes along his back were chipped.

“Let me out you son of a hellhound!” the Glacier Dragon mumbled through the muzzle.

“Like I’m gonna listen to you!” Garrett laughed and walked out. The four dragons watched him walk out before the white scaled Divine Dragon with hints of sky blue on her turned to the Glacier Dragon.

“You’re going to get yourself killed if you don’t calm down, Ractor,” she advised. The horn on her forehead was chipped and her feathered wings have seen better days.

“He’s going to kill us either way Vatuna, it’s not like Ractor’s actions are going to change anything,” the light blue and purple Coral Dragon replied. He smacked his lips before pawing at his tongue, it was rough from the dehydration he was suffering from.

Nearby, Tyrande and Ayassa listened to the four argue, their cages were close to each other. Tyrande tilted his head at them before looking at the other cages, seeing the condition of the other dragons compared to the four in the corner. All the other dragons lay silently, some staring into space, some licking their talons. One was preening her wings. They all seemed to be in somewhat good condition, almost like they had given up hope of escaping. Tyrande looked to the corner again and took account of their appearances.

The Divine Dragon with a chipped horn and badly kept wings, the Glacier Dragon with chipped spikes and scars on his muzzle under the chain, the Coral Dragon who constantly panted from dehydration, and the pink and ocean blue Paradise Dragon missing the feathered crest on top of her head.

“I hope Mom gets here soon, Ayassa. These dragons need help, more than we do,” Tyrande stated and Ayassa whimpered, nodding to him.