Azura-Making my way downstairs, I find Jade and Cyran sitting on the couch. They were in an intense conversation and didn’t seem to realize that I had come downstairs. I thought about alerting them, but something Jade said caught my attention.“They are looking to appoint someone else as King.”“There has never been a time that the council has stepped in to have someone else step into becoming the Dragon King.” Cyran didn’t look happy, but he didn’t look angered either.“I asked them, but they didn’t want to give me a straight answer. When they arrived while you were gone, I thought it was strange. You informed them that you were looking for Azura, but they still came. Your uncle wasn’t with them.”I knew that the one Jade referred to as uncle, was the one he contacted to explain the situation. While we were headed home, I asked him if the council had been dealt with. He explained that he contacted an old family friend who had been around since his father was King.“Why come when I a
Cyran-Gritting my teeth for control, it took everything inside of me to not react. If I did, I would give Arion precisely what he wanted. Until I could prove what he had done, my hands were tied. If I reacted now, it would give the council more of a reason to take away my title.For now, I needed to remain calm and hope that the others did as well. Tightening my grip on Azura, I kept her behind me as we entered the room. At least I didn’t need to worry about Kellan. He knew what was at stake.If I had been granted the time needed to speak to the council privately, I might have been able to sway them. As it stands, there would be no way to get them on my side. It wasn’t just the council in the room, there were also others that I knew would side with Arion.I wasn’t sure how he managed to wiggle his way onto the council, but I had a feeling this was all premeditated. Keeping Azura slightly behind me, while Kellan also walked in front of her, I was tempted to tell her to meet up with Ja
Azura-The next few days were brutal. We had to keep to the back roads to avoid traffic cameras, but that wasn’t the worst part. The fact is that I have had a fever ever since we left Kansas. Cyran was doing his best to help me get the fever down, but nothing worked.Instead of stopping again at a hotel or anything, Kellan and Jade took turns driving so we could get to Mexico as soon as possible. Even Cyran’s uncle told us we needed to hurry because he was worried that I wouldn’t be able to survive if we didn’t find a solution. For the most part, I felt fine, other than feeling weak and having a fever.I didn’t know what was going on, but I kept thinking my body was rejecting the stone. I didn’t want to tell Cyran, because I didn’t want him to worry any more than he already was. For the last few days, he hasn’t slept, other than dozing off for a few minutes occasionally.I have been lying with my head in his lap, while he kept placing ice packs on my head. It was sweet that he was sho
Azura-Three days passed before I was able to have the energy to move around on my own. During those three days, Cyran hasn’t left my side except long enough to get me something to eat, take a shower, or use the bathroom. I felt bad that he was taking care of me as much as he was.I had even had a few moments of depression where I thought it might be better to remove the Stone. The only reason I didn’t carry through with the thought was because I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. There was no telling what would happen to the Stone after being without a host for so long.Now it didn’t matter because the Stone had finished settling inside of me. Now I was mostly back to normal, although I wasn’t in the best condition yet. It was clear that I wasn’t becoming a Dragon and that it had just been the Dragon Stone.After the first twenty-four hours, new human cells started to appear. There was a small part of me that had hoped I would become a Dragon, so I wouldn’t feel as useless around Cyr
Azura-Arriving at the location we were meant to meet the guy, I looked between the back seats at the rundown building. Graffiti was splashed across the wall, showing little to no artistic talent. It looked as if someone threw paint on someone else's art.Trash littered the ground around the building and a steel door sat in the middle of the building, with garbage bags piled on either side. There weren’t any windows, which made me think that this was either the wrong place or that this was some kind of scam. Glancing at Cyran, his expression was pulled down into a frown.“Are you sure this is the place?” Cyran asked Kellan.“This is it.” Kellan sighed as he got out of the car.Although I was in a ball of nerves, I climbed out of the car as well. Every molecule in my body was urging me to leave this place. I didn’t know if it was because of the guy we were meeting or because this place was disgusting and smelled of pesticides.Cyran climbed out of the car, through my door, then grabbed
Azura-Arriving at the docks, I instructed Jade to get rid of the car, since Arion now knew what we were driving. While she did that, with the help of Kellan, I walked down the pier with Cyran. He hasn’t said a word this entire time. I figured his mind was out of sorts.While I now knew that I hadn’t kept hidden from Cyran when I took my vacation last year, I learned a lot about how to try to stay under the radar. One thing I knew, was that we could hitch a ride with someone that is leaving the country by boat. They would likely be shady or a fisherman, but if we can make it to a secluded area, the guys can shift into their Dragon form to take us wherever.It didn’t take long to find a suitable boat to take us, and I didn’t get any bad vibes from the men on the boat. They were just simple fishermen. They agreed to let us board their boat if we helped them maintain the boat. Whether it be cleaning, repairs, or helping with the fish.After Kellan and Jade returned, we helped get the boa
Azura-When we arrived at the island a few days later, everyone was in good spirits. To be able to relax and enjoy life for a change was exactly what we all needed. We knew we still had a long road ahead of us, but it did the soul good to take a step back.Before arriving, I explained what my plan was. Everyone didn’t see any issue with it, other than Cyran. When I told him about the people I met at the Village in China, he immediately tensed.Kellan didn’t know why Cyran didn’t want to go, nor did Jade. I have tried to ask Cyran multiple times, but he wouldn’t tell me. He had been on edge, and I wondered if the people I met didn’t have a good relationship with Cyran.“We aren’t going anywhere until you tell me what is wrong.” I placed my hands on my hips while digging my feet into the sand.If there was an issue, we all needed to be aware. While I didn’t have a bad feeling about it, I knew that if we weren’t all on the same page, things could get dangerous. Standing my ground, I had
Azura-“Why don’t I show you where you will be staying, and we can discuss things further? Ava, our Seer, will join us so we will understand what is at stake.”Trenton waved at another female Dragon to join us, while the others dispersed. Following Trenton to the two-bedroom cabin I had stayed in the last time I was here, I couldn’t help but wonder if Cryan and Kellan had watched over me while I was here. Glancing at Cyran, I got my answer by the look of recognition in his eyes.“If you knew I was around Dragons, why didn’t you force me to leave before?” I asked quietly, although I knew everyone else could hear me.“Because you weren’t in any real danger. I had thought about it, but everyone seemed to like you and treated you well, so I stayed back. I had planned to step in if I thought you were in danger. Since you didn’t stay in any place for too long, I didn’t see the harm in letting you just enjoy your time.”Smiling, I realized that even then, he had cared. If he had really been
Azura-“Are you ready?” I knocked on the bathroom door, where mine and Cyran’s sixteen-year-old daughter was getting ready.“Almost!” Angel yelled although it wasn’t necessary since I could hear her clearly.Tonight was the anniversary of Dragon’s becoming exposed. Everyone called it D-day. This meant that now that Angel had her Dragon, she could fly with her father for the first time instead of as a rider. I was a little envious of them now that they could fly around freely. Somedays I wished that I had become a Dragon and could fly with them.Then again, I was perfectly content with being a Rider. Ever since Dragons have been exposed, things have changed drastically. At first, things had been bad, and we never thought that humans would accept Supernatural creatures.Not all of the supernatural were ready to expose themselves, but that was up to them. Those who have, joined society. There were some that have become employed by humans. Some joined the police force, fire department, be
Cyran-“Release the shield!” I yelled.When the barrier was down, Arion flew into the sky, fleeing as quickly as he could. A moment after he left, the last of the rubble from the building fell, until everything was settled. A large block of cement was atop me, but I was able to throw it off of me with ease.Checking to make sure Azura was okay, I moved away from her when I saw she was fine. Checking the others, I saw that everyone was mostly okay, except for the now humans that were crushed below the rubble. Part of me felt guilty that they didn’t survive, now that they were human, while at the same time, I was relieved they would no longer be an issue.Helping a few to their feet, I returned to Azura’s side and attempted to wipe away the dirt on her face. She placed her hand over mine and looked up at me with love shining brightly in her eyes. She was safe and that was the only thing I could think of right now.“You need to go after him. Until he is dealt with, this isn’t going to be
Cyran-Leaving with Kellan, Azura, and Jade, we made our way to the headquarters of the council. The others lingered behind, so they could prepare. The goal was to catch everyone off guard, which meant we couldn’t try anything right away.Walking into the building with just Azura, Jade and Kellan stayed behind to greet the others. The guard at the entrance wouldn’t allow them to enter anyway. It would be better if Kellan went in as well, but I understood they were being cautious.Standing in the room with the council members and Arion, I had to force myself to refrain from showing my hand just yet. Azura was doing a better job at acting, as she stood behind me, using my body as a shield. I could sense she was nervous, which I was too.There wasn’t any guarantee that things were going to work out in our favor. Right now, all we could do was have a little faith that everyone would do their part. No one spoke a word for a long time until Arion stood up and moved around the long table.“I
Cyran-With the members that would be joining the council, we released the others to return to whatever they were doing. They all agreed to help in any way that they could, but right now we needed to establish the plan. Taking the meeting to Trenton’s house, which was larger, I felt as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.At first, when Trenton told everyone what was going on, I wasn’t sure if they would agree to help. They didn’t seem to trust me, and I didn’t blame them. What my father did was beyond anything I could have imagined, and I had witnessed a lot of it.As Trenton talked more about everything, I began to see hope gleaming in their eyes. It didn’t take as long as I had thought it would for everyone to be on board. Now that we had the members to create a thirteen-member council, including Charles, I knew we were on the right path.The only member on the council that wasn’t a Dragon, was Azura. I discussed it with her as we walked to Trenton’s house, which she had
Azura-“With everything we have, is there a way to face Arion and the council, or do we need more?” I glanced around the room, hoping someone had an idea.Between what I found out about my past and Cyran learning what he did, there had to be something we could do. The only one who seemed deep in thought was Cyran, while the others looked as if they didn’t know what to do. No one said anything for a while, but then I had an idea.“In the past, I had spoken to Trenton about having him meet with Cyran to discuss a way for all of us to work together. Maybe we can still do that. Now that we know they were treated unjustly, perhaps Trenton and the others would be willing to work with us for a long-term solution?” My eyes landed on Trenton as I spoke and hoped that he was still willing to change our future.“I was thinking the same thing. For me to put an end to the current council, I would need new members to appoint. If I could put together another council, we could clean up this mess. Of
Cyran-“That is part of it, but I don’t know the rest of it. I can’t find anything in your memories about it, so I think it was something that happened before your time.” Trenton answered without looking at me.Since there was nothing, I could do about it now, I turned back to watch. We still needed to figure out how to stop the council, but so far all I was seeing was that my father hadn’t been the King I thought he was. Nor had he been the father I had admired.“Why don’t you stop this? As the council, aren’t you supposed to ensure that rules are followed? Isn’t this against the rules?” Little Cyran asked the council member who stepped forward to observe the younger version of Trenton who was being beaten with a whip.“Little boy, your father holds all the power. The council is here to enforce his rule and we all agree with him. It is because your father chose us as his council that we are able to do what we can to control things. Since you won’t remember this, I have no problem tel
Cyran-“Let’s track down any potential Dragon Stone Keeper that was born around the time of Cyran. Cyran was born. Most Keepers are around the same age as their Guardians. Once all of them have been captured, we will expand our search to capture others.” My father said while getting agreeable nods from the others.I wasn’t sure how to feel right now. There were too many feelings rushing through me. There was anger, confusion, disbelief, shock and so much more.“What will happen after we capture them, and you die? How can we ensure that they will be killed?”“Let me worry about that.” My father had a smirk on his face like he already knew what he needed to do.I waited for them to talk more, but shortly after they began to leave, and Trenton sped time along. When we stopped, we were now standing in the backyard, where my father had us kids trained. I didn’t see him or Arion, but Arric and I were training with one of my father’s warriors.A few minutes passed and I wondered why we stopp
Cyran- “Are you ready for this?” Trenton asked the moment he walked in the door. Looking over at Azura who was snuggled next to me on the couch, I could tell she didn’t want me to go. We already discussed it this morning. She was worried about something going wrong. Tightening my hold on her, I pressed my lips against her forehead. “It will be okay.” I assured her, although I didn’t believe it myself. She nodded her head after a few moments of hesitation. Giving her a smile, I pressed my lips against hers, before releasing her and standing up. Azura stood up beside me and threw her arms around me, faster than I had ever seen her move. “Please be safe and no matter what happens, remember I am here waiting for you, and we will get through it.” She spoke into my ear and clung to me. “I promise.” I wrapped my arms around her and almost had to pry her from me, although I wished I didn’t have to leave her. The words she spoke were similar to the words I had whispered to her after she
Azura-My head felt as if it were pounding. Every molecule in my body felt heavy as if I had been drinking heavily the night before. Pressing my hands to my head, I heard myself groan. I didn’t open my eyes, but when I felt a soft touch against my forehead, I sighed contently.“How are you feeling?” The sound of Cyran’s voice jarred me and I quickly opened my eyes and sat up.“Fine.” I blurted, although I was far from fine.He moved toward me, with one arm sliding across the back of the couch. Scooting away, I pulled my feet onto the couch, while wrapping my arms around my legs. I still remembered what happened, so I believed that Cyran was better off not having me around.Not that I was going to kill myself or anything, but I needed to think of a way to keep myself safe while staying as far away from him as possible. Kellan scoffed and I immediately knew he was invading my thoughts. Glaring at him he held up his hands in defense.“We made a promise, yes, but I had to at least make su