The Dragon Prince
Returning to Varrfarrinn

Alyssa

We flew across the night sky; none of us could speak of what happened; none wanted to accept what happened hours ago. We split into two groups, one flying while the other shifted back and rested on the ones flying so we wouldn’t have to stop on our way back to Varrfarrinn. I sat on Vincent’s back, tears flowing freely down my face. Isabella was gone, and I blamed Gabrial and couldn’t wait to tear his head off. But a small part of me knew this was my fault; she pushed me out of the way. Looking up at the sky, I lay back as I felt Vincent’s wings move.

I watched the stars and felt my tears leak down my cheeks to my ears, but I ignored them. Isabella was the first I trusted when I arrived in Varrfarrinn, my first friend in years. She made me laugh while I was sad and taught me not to fear the mate bond but to embrace it. Isabella was more than a friend; now she’s dead because of me.

The sun began to shine as it rose on the horizon. I had jumped off Vincent when I saw that he was getting tired, shifted into my dragon, and allowed him to rest on me as he turned. I felt him lie forward, and I could swear I felt a slight shiver from him like he was crying. He hugged my back, and sometime later, he fell asleep.

“It’s not your fault,” Dahlia said.

“You are a part of me; you know it is, Dahlia,” I snapped at her. “Why didn’t we shoot him? We are stronger than we once were, so why couldn’t we shoot him!?”

“Alyssa, calm down. We almost died healing Alexandria; we had no energy to cast our magic,” Dahlia said.

“Calm down!? I just watched that monster murder my best friend! I did nothing!” I yelled.

“There was nothing we could have done,” Dahlia said. “We will make him pay for what he has done,”

“But it won’t bring her back to us, to Annabeth, her family, will it?” I growled.

Dahlia tried to say something else, but I pushed her back to the depths of my mind. We had started learning to communicate better, and now I know how to shut her out. I still felt her emotions; she was annoyed that I had shut her out, but I knew she understood why I did it.

With my argument with Dahlia, I didn’t notice Vincent waking up. I felt his hand on the of my neck, brushing it gently. “Alyssa, there was nothing we could have done for her,” Vincent said.

I shook my head at his statement, not willing to believe him. “Isabella made her choice; Isabella chose to save you. She is at peace and in the Promised Land of the Moon Goddess,” I gave him a slight growl, but he continued stroking my neck. Vincent then asked if I was tired and if he should take over, but I shook my head. I was still weak from healing Alexandria, and it didn’t help that we were flying much faster than when we arrived, but I couldn’t justify switching places. I deserve this pain.

“Alyssa, please don’t be like this. I’ll take over,” Vincent said.

I felt Vincent unhook his belt from mine and jump off a moment later. He quickly shifted into his white dragon form and flew next to me. Vincent nodded to me to get on his back, but I refused. He then tried to talk to me through our mind link, but I blocked him and flew away. I don’t want Dahlia, Vincent, or anyone in my head right now.

Two hours passed, and I could feel my wings burning, so I flew over Vincent and shifted back. Soon, we could see Varrfarrinn in the distance. But something was wrong; I saw smoke rising from a few places around the island. “Oh no, the watchtowers,” I huffed in panic.

I hope we are not too late. We flew low, ensuring the intruders did not spot us. After a while, we found a place to land. We all stored our bags under a bush since walking around with them would be hard.

“Damn it, no answer,” Alexandria said as she put her phone back in her pocket after trying to call Annabeth or anyone she could reach. “Guess we have to sneak quietly to the hospital to try to find mom,”

“How many attackers do you think there are?” Vincent asked.

“Not sure, little brother. I can tell they destroyed the watchtowers a few hours ago, so there is no telling now how many we are dealing with,” Alex said.

“What about the people? We are responsible for their safety. We have to do something,” Vincent said.

“Trust me, as soon as we find out who is responsible, I’m going to tear them apart,” Alex then passed Vincent and me to speak with everyone. “Now, everyone, we stick together and head for the hospital. I know you are all tired, but today has just begun. Follow me and stay quiet.

Vincent looked at me and gave me a small, reassuring smile. He knew I was still not ready to talk, so he took my hand and walked into town. We managed to get to the hospital without raising any alarms. We could hear the sounds of fighting and magical explosions in the distance. We passed a few dead bodies in the streets. Vincent held my hand tighter; we could do nothing for them now. Alexandria instructed Renna, Bao, Daiyu, Ashley, and Caitlin to guard the door and let us know if anyone was heading our way.

“Haley, Kita, stay guard here,” Alex said as she entered her mother’s hospital room.

“How are you feeling?” Vincent asked me.

“I don’t think now’s the time to talk about it,” I turned to face Jacob and Megan. “I’m so sorry,”

“Thank you, Alyssa,” Megan smiled softly.

“Well, you should be sorry,” Jacob’s face flared with rage. “If it weren’t for you, my twin sister would still be alive!”

“Jacob!” Megan said.

“That’s not fair, Jacob!” Vincent got in front of me to confront Jacob.

“FAIR!? Since your precious mate arrived, things have been getting out of control. And on top of that, you don’t want to tell us exactly why they’re after her!” Jacob snarled.

“Jacob, I’m-” I tried to get another word out, but Jacob’s rage stopped my words from leaving my lips.

“Save it,” Jacob walked off.

“I’m sorry on Jacob behalf,” Megan said.

“He’s right. It’s all my fault. I left Isabella to die. Excuse me.” I left for the bathroom, and the floodgates burst open as soon as the doors closed. Jacob was right; it was all my fault.

I saw a window, and I opened it. I don’t know what’s coming over me, but I must leave. I jumped out the window and ran. I want to be alone. None of this would have happened if I never arrived here; maybe Zayne, Isabella, and all the other leaders would have been alive.

“What am I doing? Vincent is probably losing his shit that I left,” But as soon as I turned my back, something stopped me. I felt a lump in my throat, and as much as I tried to walk back to the hospital, I was pulling myself in the opposite direction. Dahlia tried talking to me, but I still locked her away. I found myself on the doorstep of Isabella’s house.

Thankfully, the fighting stayed within the city since no signs of battle existed. I found the door locked when I tried opening it. I moved the welcome mat by the front door and found the key.

I fought back the tears as I entered the living room. Everything looks familiar, yet so different. The calm smell of the house filled my nose, and I could no longer hold back the tears as they ran down my face. I recalled flashbacks of my time here with Isabella. Entering her bedroom was hard. Many memories flooded my mind, and they all got too much. Where was I when you needed me most, Izzy? I just watched as Gabrial killed you. I fell on Isabella’s bed. I grabbed her pillow and started crying more and more.

I don’t know how long I’ve cried, but I found the will to get off the bed. Then I heard voices inside the house.

“I told you that no one was in here,” said a man.

“Shut up and check the room; I swear I saw her,” said another man.

Oh crap, did someone see me? I stood by the door, trying to listen. I could hear two men arguing, but I didn’t know if there were more or whose side they were on. I frantically looked around the room, trying to find something to defend myself. Dahlia was screaming in my mind, and I decided to let her back in.

“IT’S ABOUT DAMN TIME! Listen, we are still weak and can’t count on our magic working yet, you have to hide!” Dahlia said.

I then rushed to the door and hid behind it as it opened. I decided not to lock the door so it would be less suspicious. A man entered the room, and he sighed out of boredom. I held a steel bar that I found before I hid. Just as he turned around, I swung the bar, hitting him in the face. He cried out as the steel broke his nose. I jumped at him again with the steel bar, but someone grabbed me from behind before I knocked him out. He shook the bar out of my hand.

“Guess I didn’t see things,” The man said. The other man got up; I cut his left eye. “Damn, she got you good; that might need some stitches,” The man laughed. “I guess we should call the boss,”

“Why rush it? It doesn’t matter if we call in an hour or two,” The other man said as he looked at me with a dark smile. “I have some things in mind that we can do together before we call it in. Get her on the bed,”

Terrified, I looked around the room for something that I could use. Not seeing anything, I brought my foot down on the man’s foot. He yelled in pain, and as his hold loosened, I turned around and punched him in the face. I barely reached the door as the other man tried to grab me. I ran through the house but tripped before getting to the front door. One of the men kicked me in the face to keep from getting up. My vision blurred for a while, and I fought my mind as it threatened to lose consciousness.

“You think you can damage my pretty face and walk away?” He growled.

I tried to use the couch to heave myself up. The man grabbed me by the hair, and I cried out as he dragged me across the room. “Gabrial was right; you are nothing but trouble,”

I could feel his breath on my neck, making me want to throw up. “You have the mark of a mate, we can fix that back at base,” the man laughed. “I guess this is one way to show off your place,”

I used this chance of him boasting to kick my foot back as hard as I could. I felt my foot connect with his shin, and the man cried. He turned me around, and his fist met with my face, and once more, I fell to the ground. Blood was leaking down my face, and I could taste it.

Then I heard him howl in pain as I heard bone snapping. He fell to the ground, and I crawled away from him. I got up and started running for the door, a little dizzy from the blow to my head. Then, a figure came crashing into me, and I heard the window break as I fell through it.

Glass rained over me as I landed painfully on the grass with the man on top of me. His hand found my throat, and I could feel the air blocking my lungs. I slithered under him, trying to find something on the ground. I soon felt a sharp glass shard in my hand; I grabbed the glass, swung my hand across, and watched as I slit the man’s throat open.

Instantly, the man’s hand left my throat, grabbed his own, and fell to the side. I crawled away from his, holding the shard of glass in my hand. He looked at me, and I could see fear in his eyes. He choked on his blood, and his arms fell to the ground.

“JOESPH! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” I looked up as the other man exited Isabella’s house. I watched as he shifted into his dragon. I tried to turn, but my mind was still foggy, and I could focus. A giant bronze dragon towered above me, and I could see the fury in his eyes. I walked towards me, electricity flowing around him. I forgot that they have some abilities of the lightning dragons but are more attuned to physical combat. I’m screwed unless I shift, but I can’t.

But then another dragon swooped down, knocking the bronze dragon back. A blue water dragon growled at him as he now stood between us. The bronze dragon leaped forward in anger. I ran away from the fight as they started rolling around in the grass in front of the house. Water dragons are more vulnerable to lightning attacks than other dragons, and I see the bronze dragon charging up electric power. But then, out of the blue, the water dragon spat water at him, and the bronze dragon cried out, and a sour, acidic smell filled the air. I know who this dragon is; it’s Elizabeth! Elizabeth watched the bronze dragon try to crawl away, but she used this chance to want for the kill, biting down hard on his neck.

Lizzy shifted back while holding a hand to her side. “Alyssa, what in the goddess’s name are you doing here!? Where are the others?”

I couldn’t get a word out and felt my vision blur again, and I passed out as Elizabeth caught me in her arms.

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