The Dragoso Series 1: Discovery in Hardship
Chapter 10

Trevor sat silently at breakfast, picking at his omelet. David and Aya were deep in conversation about potions and Brenda was reading through her Magic book. Trevor exhaled and dropped his fork, pushing his plate away and grabbing an apple from the bowl of fruit in the middle of the table. He stood up and headed out, ignoring his siblings’ calls to him. Trevor walked out and to the stables, stopping by Stephanie’s stall.

“Back again? You know Kathey will have your head if you don’t go to classes today,” Malice stated from his usual napping spot. Seemed like he didn’t stick around for breakfast long either.

“I’m aware, but I have an hour until they start,” Trevor snapped.

“You need to get over this, Trevor. You can’t be a mother hen to a full grown griffin who knows exactly what she did and she doesn’t regret it. Don’t hover over her, get to class.”

Trevor rolled his eyes and ignored Malice.

“Trevor.” Kathey’s unmistakable, stern voice, caught Trevor’s attention. Trevor froze for a second before looking over at her. “I don’t know what’s going on with that thick head of yours, I don’t like to pry into personal matters. But you need to suck up this guilt and quit worrying about Stephanie.”

“If I wasn’t such a damn coward she wouldn’t have gotten hurt!” Trevor argued.

“If you were a coward, you would’ve left for home already. You have enough understanding of how to control your dragon form to be able to leave. Course, your siblings would stay, they seem quite happy here and unafraid of what’s been occurring. You’re no coward and you have no reason to worry about MY griffin. Understand?”

Trevor scoffed, tossed the apple into Stephanie’s stall, and stormed out.

“Trevor!”

“No, Kathey. I’m done!” Trevor snapped. He turned dragon and took to the air, heading south. Kathey watched him fly off before rubbing her face.

“Great. Things just keep getting better everyday,” Kathey mumbled.

“What me to go after him?” Malice offered.

“No, leave him be. I think he’s taking this harder than his siblings for a reason. He was about to start his life and then was shoved into this one. He’s probably been going through a lot.” Kathey looked at the sky again and exhaled. “Don’t tell his siblings where he is, they’ll go looking for him.”

“Copy that, boss.” Kathey shook her head with a smirk and headed inside.

~oOo~

Trevor flapped his wings hard and fast. Despite the difficulty he had flying recently, he ignored any faltering he had and kept pushing himself forward. Tears of rage flowed from his eyes as he flew. Trevor squeezed his eyes shut.

It’s my fault. Stephanie wouldn’t have been hurt if I didn’t act like such a coward. It’s my fault she’s hurt! It’s- “Shit!” Trevor had opened his eyes and almost collided with another dragon. He caught a glimpse of blue scales before he plummeted to the ground. Trevor’s face met with grass and he slid to a stop beside a river. “Ow...”

“Hey! Are you ok?” The dragon above called, flying down and landing. Trevor rubbed his snout and looked up at the dragon, noticing he had a silver eye.

“Yeah, sorry about that. Wasn’t watching where I was going.” Trevor swiped at his eyes and stood.

“Most dragons don’t exactly end up falling when they almost collided. Are you a yearling or something?”

“A what?”

“Raised as a human and only just realized you are a dragon within the year.”

“Uh...”

“Hey, I used to live in a school with yearlings, you can tell me.”

Trevor perked up.

“Voutneth?”

“How did you...?”

“My siblings and I attend.” The male tilted his head.

“Why’d you leave?” Trevor looked away.

“I don’t wanna talk about it...”

“Can’t be worse than Kathey’s past mates. Considering Gemini had a demon inside him and Kyrus being a total jerk and...Mykau having anger issues and being sent away.” Trevor looked up. The male looked sad and had the same look Trevor had been sporting. Guilt.

“Are you by chance...Mykau?”

The male nodded.

“Good god, I’m so sorry.”

“Not your fault. It’s not even my fault. Have you met Salem?” Mykau asked.

“No? That name doesn’t sound familiar.”

“He’s the blacksmith teacher at Voutneth. He used to reside in my body. Dark magic forced him to basically become an inner demon. My inner demon. He had a lot of anger for the world, until we were separated. But his rage still lives in me. I...can’t control my anger much.”

“That sounds horrible.”

“Honestly, I see Kathey’s reasons for it. She has such a life-threatening job and me losing my cool and myself doesn’t help. I’m a danger to any missions she has, a danger to her kids, to my own kids. It was better that I left, I didn’t see it at the time, but I’ve had time to think.” Trevor nodded. “So what’s up with you? Why’d you run off?”

“Stephanie got hurt...and I blame myself...” Trevor sighed.

“Why?”

“There was a hellhound sighting in Drake. My siblings and I were on the griffins while Anna and the Compass Boys flew overhead. We found the hound and I...dismounted to get a better look. It saw me and I...hid behind Stephanie like a coward and she got hurt. They keep telling me not to feel guilty, but I just...I do!”

“They’re right you know. The griffins were created to be fierce guardians.” Trevor looked up at Mykau. “There’s a cheesy fable about a fledgling that got lost in a forest long ago and was almost killed by a bear, but a flock of griffins came to its aid and saved it. They’re considered guardians of dragons. The fable might be fake, but their behavior and actions say otherwise. Stephanie was doing what was natural of her, protect a dragon, and she did. It’s nothing serious is it?”

“They say it’s not. Course I pried its jaws from her leg with my own hands.” Trevor sat back and showed the healing wounds on his fingers.

“Even I wouldn’t do that. You are no coward, that’s for sure. Listen.” Mykau placed a hand on Trevor’s shoulder. “Go back there. Learn everything you can about being a dragon and make the most of your life after you are officially a true dragon.” Trevor observed Mykau’s eyes for a moment before nodding. He stood and opened his wings, taking off. Mykau watched him fly off before he smirked. “Kid’s got potential. Let’s just hope he doesn’t screw up like I did.” Mykau shrugged before taking off again.

~oOo~

Meanwhile

Black scaled feet paced before the Underworld throne, back and forth without pausing. Near the throne stood a small Death Dragon.

“Master, what troubles you?” the fledgling questioned. The dragon pacing stopped and glared at the fledgling.

“Shut it, Demise. I revived you to use your power, not to question me like you’re some adviser, which you are not!” the black and red male snapped.

“Sorry, Master Brokenstar!” Demise squeaked and laid down, bowing his head.

“You better be sorry, worm,” Brokenstar snorted before he made his way to the opening in the wall of his chamber. A full view of the valley of death, the place where the spirits wandered. “All this power, all this chaos, and yet they still have not done a thing to stop me. The hellhound I sent to Drake should’ve drawn them here.” Brokenstar looked over his shoulder at Demise who was picking at the scales on his tail. “Maybe they aren’t as stupid as I thought they were.”

You were told to not underestimate them! The voice in Brokenstar’s head snapped. The Nega Dragon snarled.

“Demise, leave my chamber.” Demise looked at Brokenstar for a moment before standing and hurrying out of the chamber. A black shadow pulled away from Brokenstar’s body and a shadow like Wyvern appeared, standing before him. “I didn’t underestimate them, Cenod!”

The shadowy Wyvern was pure black, only his solid white eyes could be seen along with a ring of runes around his neck. Cenod bared his teeth, which gleamed in the torch light.

“Clearly you did if you thought one stupid hellhound would send them scrambling here. The Compass Dragons are not fools. They weren’t when the first generation appeared, they aren’t now. My master recruited you because of your knowledge of the Compass Dragons and knowledge of the Underworld. Use your resources and bring them to an end!”

“I’m working on it!” Brokenstar snapped and Cenod shook his head.

“You better, or it’s your life on the line.” Cenod became a shadow again and phased into the Nega Dragon’s body again. Brokenstar tsked and looked out at the valley again.

“I’m not afraid of some stupid bird and his magic.”

~oOo~

Trevor slid to a stop on the grounds of the Academy. He looked up at the large building before turning human and entering the school. Students were piling into the mess hall for lunch. Trevor exhaled and started towards the crowd. He found his siblings at their usual table, chatting away like they always did. Trevor approached and Aya and David smiled at him. Trevor pulled his usual chair back and Brenda looked up at him.

“Hey, where have you been?” she asked.

“Kathey asked me to go check something. Something about an opening to the Underworld. She told me to go check it out,” Trevor lied.

“Where’d you get that bruise from?” Brenda poked a spot on his forehead and it throbbed slightly.

“Lost my wings and hit a rock after I fell.” Trevor rubbed the spot, knowing it was a total lie. Brenda shrugged handed a turkey sandwich to Trevor. He took it without question and bit into it. “So, did I miss much?”

“Nope, just took notes and went over stuff,” David responded.

“I’m gonna need those notes after classes,” Trevor requested.

“We got you covered, no worries,” Brenda assured him and Trevor nodded.

“Thanks.”

~oOo~

Trevor approached Stephanie’s stall for Care of Griffins class. The griffiness snorted as he approached. Trevor patted her neck and grabbed her halter. He slipped it on her head and led her out to the field. Stephanie limped as she followed him but didn’t slow at all. Trevor let her loose and she limped to the fence and sniffed the grass. Trevor clicked his tongue and she looked up, tossing her head and screeching happily before approaching him and nudging his face.

“Hey, Steph, I’m sorry I got you hurt,” Trevor apologized and Stephanie looked at him, seriousness in her eyes. “I did my best to protect you, even if it’s your job to protect me.” Stephanie nibbled his hair and Trevor took it as an apology accepted.

“Hey, Trevor! Walk Stephanie around the field so she can stretch that leg a bit,” Malice called from the stable. Trevor waved in understanding and clicked his tongue.

“C’mon, let’s walk so you can stretch that leg,” Trevor offered and Stephanie cooed. Trevor started walking and Stephanie walked beside him. Trevor remained silent for a moment while his thoughts ran through his head. His girlfriend came to his mind and he looked at Stephanie. “My girlfriend would’ve loved you, Steph. She always loved exotic animals, birds were a favorite of hers, eagles especially. Man if she could see you now, I’m sure she’d explode with joy.”

Trevor chuckled before he sighed. Without his cellphone, she wouldn’t even know how he was doing. The last thing she would see from Trevor was the text message he sent saying he was sick. With his dragon powers, it was dangerous for her to know what he really was. Would he ever see her again? Would he have to keep his secret from her for years to come if he ever did see her again? How long would it be?

Trevor’s thoughts were interrupted by Stephanie cooing and nudging his face. Trevor wrapped an arm around her neck and sighed.

“Maybe you’ll meet her someday...”

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