New Dragon's World Chapter 23

New Dragon's World

Chapter 23: The Curse of the Half-Dragons Pt. 1

Just as the two half-dragons prepped themselves, a loud sound was heard. Everyone turned around and saw that in the distance, Titus was flying towards them. His large wings beat at the air. As he drew closer to his friends, Titus began to lose altitude. Still exhausted from his fight with Eig'nia, he struggled to remain airbourne and eventually, his wings gave out and he plummeted to the ground, landing next to a nearby plateau. Slowly, he tried to walk over to his friends, only able to take five steps before losing his last ounce of strength. He reverted to his human form as Kyle, Sarah, and Jessie ran over to him. They helped Titus up as Kyle and Sarah threw his arms over their shoulders to help give him some leverage. Slowly, step by step, the three walked in synch together with Jessie going ahead of them until they had gotten to Titus' car. Jessie opened the door to the passenger's seat and Titus sat down.

Alex studied the dragon with great intrigue. The way he looked now it was almost too hard for Alex to believe that this was the same dragon who had given Saulstrance so much trouble in the past. But then he realized…

"Hang on…" Alex said to himself. "If Doulstraz is here…then I guess that means that Eig'nia is gone…"

Alex slapped his palm over his face and groaned. "First Girido and Theian… and now Eig'nia. This is really bad."

At that moment, Alex glanced over at Titus, who was still quite worn out from his previous battle.  He figured that if he were to fight Titus now, then he'd no trouble defeating him.  By killing Titus, they would then be able to move forward with their plans, even with half their group gone.

"Doulstraz!!" Alex shouted.

Titus looked wearily at the young half-dragon.

"I wanna fight you!! Let's see how strong the dragon who's been giving my dad such a hard time really is!"

"His 'dad'?" Everyone whispered to each other, confused.

As everyone whispered amongst themselves, Alex flapped his wings and flew a few feet above the ground.  He launched himself towards Titus, his fingernails somehow having extended into claws, just like Drake's.

"Come on!!" Alex shouted, ready to strike.

Just then, Drake flew in front of Alex. The older half-dragon came to a screeching halt. He glared at Drake with a stern expression that sent a shiver down Drake's back.

"Get out of my way." Alex commanded.

"No. I am not going to let you hurt my dad!" Drake exclaimed.

Alex dropped back to the ground, as did Drake. Drake stood in front of his friends and family, determined to protect them at any cost. He watched Alex carefully, anticipating his next move.

Alex sighed and rubbed his eyes with his right thumb and index finger.
"I just don't get it." Alex started. "You're a half-dragon like me, so why are you so determined to protect these humans?"
"Well…they're my friends. That's why." Drake answered.

"And how can you be so sure of that?" Alex asked. "How do you know these humans really consider you to be their friend? What if they actually hated you, just because you're a half-dragon?"

"Do-Don't say things like that!" Drake exclaimed sadly.

"That's how it is for half-breeds like us, Drake! Humans see us as monsters, dragons see us as mistakes! That's what it's like to be a half-dragon!"

Drake was speechless. What if what Alex had said actually WAS true?  What if his friends DID secretly hate him? Drake clutched at his chest and started to cry when he felt something on his neck. He opened his eyes and saw someone's arms wrapped around him. When he looked back, he saw that it was Crystal!

"Just stop it!!" Crystal shouted as she hugged Drake tightly.

"I don't care if Drake's a half-dragon or what! He's my best friend! He'll always be my best friend!!" Crystal exclaimed as she hugged Drake ever tighter.

Moved by Crystal's words, Drake placed his hand on Crystal's as tears ran down his cheek.

Alex scowled. To him, it made no sense whatsoever: a human defending a half-dragon. His blood started to boil at the mere sight of it. In his mind, a half-dragon had no friends, no acceptance from the other races.  To him, the only person a half-dragon could trust…was one of his own kind.

"Drake isn't like you!!" Crystal continued. "Drake would never tell someone else that their friends and family hated them!"

"She's right!" Kyle interjected. "Who the hell do you think you are to tell my cousin that people hate him?!"

"Oh, shut up!!" Alex said annoyed.

"Hey, Alex…" Said Drake somberly.

Drake removed Crystal's arms from his neck and walked up to the older half dragon. He looked right into Alex's eyes, noticing the intense, building rage behind them.  But there was more to Alex…more to his eyes than simply rage.  They were the eyes of someone who had been through some truly traumatic experiences. Someone who had seen truly horrible stuff. Drake wondered to himself, just what kind of person Alex really was.

"You know Alex, I don't know why you hate humans, but I know I don't.  I love my friends and my family and I'm glad they're here.  And I know they love me too! And I know Sean never hated me either! If he did, he wouldn't have stood up for me and Crystal when bullies tried to pick on us."

"Reeeeally…?" Said Alex, sarcastically. "Well I guess you'll never know what he really thought of you, huh?"

Drake smiled. "My friends believe in me. So I believe that Sean, Tim, Uncle Lucas, and my grandparents are still alive somewhere." He said confidently.

"Well, kid, believe whatever you want. But someday, you're gonna see for yourself just how cruel the world really is."

"So are we gonna fight or what?! Are you and your dad gonna fight me both at the same time?" Alex asked.

Drake looked over at his father, who was still sitting on the side of the driver's seat. It was evident to Drake that his father was still in no shape to be fighting.

"Hey Dad, leave this to me."  Said Drake.

"O-oh?" Said Alex, amusedly.

"Drake, no!" His mom protested.

"You don't have to fight him now, Drake! Just wait till your dad's a little better!" Crystal added.

"Titus, are you really going to let your son do this?!" Ben asked shocked.

Titus raised his hand in order to shush everyone. He looked at Drake, who was certain that his father would tell him to wait until he was feeling a little better. Drake turned his attention to the ground and sighed. This whole time, he only wished to show his father that he was capable of taking care of himself. He desperately wanted his family and friends to believe in him.

"Hey, Drake, come here for a second." Titus said.

Drake walked over to his father. Titus placed his hands on Drake's shoulders and looked him in the eye. They stared for a few seconds before Titus cracked a smile.

"You go out there and give 'em hell, kid!" Titus declared as he rubbed his son's head.

"Alright!!" Drake beamed.

"Titus, please think about what you're doing!! Are you really okay with this?" Rick asked.

Titus sighed. "Guys, just listen to me for a sec. Drake's growing up. He's grown a lot since this all started. And he's not the weak little boy who always needs his family's protection anymore."

"Drake…just be careful…and do your best, son." Titus smiled.

Drake nodded and turned to Alex. Alex had been busy warming up while everyone else had been talking.

"Are you finally ready?" Asked an anxious Alex.

"Yep. Let's do it!" Drake said with utmost confidence.

Alex's wings unfolded and he took to the sky with Drake following behind him.  Drake flew high above Alex , did a backflip, and spiraled downward. Alex flew out of the way and watched as Drake continued to spiral closer and closer to the ground. Just before he collided with the ground, Drake was able to bring himself to a screeching halt as he hovered only mere inches above the ground. But before he was able to recover, Alex smashed Drake into the ground by stomping on his back.

Drake moaned in pain as he tried to get back on his feet.  He looked up and saw Alex, who was standing in front of him, looking down at him. Without thinking, he jolted up and headbutted Alex in the gut.  Alex doubled over and held his sides as he fell to his knees. He threw up some and rubbed his stomach. He struggled back to his feet while still rubbing his sore stomach. His tail whipped around fiercely as he punched Drake in the face, who retaliated by grabbing Alex's shoulder and punching him in the face as well. Alex pushed Drake off him and ran about ten feet from the group, stumbling over his own feet while doing so. Alex took many deep breaths, trying to get air to his lungs.

"Hey, Drake…earlier…didn't you say that I was 'a half-dragon like you'?" Asked Alex.

"Yeah, I guess so." Drake replied.

Alex scoffed. "I'm nothing like you! We might be half-dragons but we're far different. Here, I'll show you what I mean."

Alex hunched over and winced in pain. A new set of sharp spikes ran from the top of his head and went all the way to the beginning of his tail. His muscles bulged and red scales began to pop up all over his body. His hair extended and ran all the way down to his neck. His ears grew longer and became pointed as his height increased somewhat. His fingernails extended into long, deadly claws and his shoes ripped open, revealing scaly, digitigrade feet. While his hands still retained all five fingers, his toes had instead been replaced by three large toes, each with a claw growing out of it. A single claw erupted from the heels of his feet. Two elegant horns spiraled from his head and curved slightly to the back of his head. His tail started to whip around at an even more rapid pace than before as his bizarre transformation neared its end. The scales had completely covered his body as his face pushed out, becoming a long snout.

Before them now stood a bipedal, human sized dragon. Its clothes were just barely able to cover its body as the clothing bulged under the dragon's large mass.  It flexed its long fingers, observing them carefully as the dragon rubbed its index and middle claws against one another. Everyone watched in shock.

"Uncle Titus…what's going on?" Jackie asked.

"I thought this kid said he was a half-dragon? Shouldn't half-dragons…you know not be able to turn into full dragons?" Asked Rick.

"I AM a half-dragon. But I'm a different kind of half-dragon than Drake and Jake." Alex answered.

"Different…how?" Drake asked.

"Drake, you and Jake both have human mothers. My mom, however, was a dragon. Do you know what that means?"

Drake shook his head, not getting any of what Alex had said.

"His mom was a dragon? I'm afraid I don't have any idea what that means either." Jessie said. "Titus, do you know?"

"Yeah, I don't get it either. So his mom was a dragon. How does that make him any different from Drake, Uncle Titus?" Asked Kyle.

Titus looked grimly. "It makes him a lot different than Drake. Guys, Alex was born the same way I was."

"He was born the same way you were…" Sarah pondered over this for a quick second, then her eyes widened. "No…! You mean he - -"

"That's right! I was born from an egg!" Alex exclaimed.

"WHAT?!" Everyone said collectively.

Drake's eyes widened so much that they looked like they were about to pop out of his skull any second. He stood there motionless and in complete disbelief.

"Even if his mom was a dragon, there's simply no way that anyone could have come from an egg, not even a half-dragon!" Ben exclaimed.

"Well I did come from an egg. My mom was from the dragon realm. Seventeen years ago, my mom worked with the Leader, Tomi. She was sent to this world to learn from humans, to learn how they live and 'take care of each other'.  Tomi was the leader of a small group of dragons who wanted to bring awareness of their existence to the humans and to try and establish relationships between the two races. So to learn more about humans, my mom was chosen to be sent to the human realm, and it was there that she met that man who I was supposed to call my 'dad'." Alex explained.

"So what happened?" Asked Drake.

"My dad fell in love with my mom. At first, the two of them would just talk, but eventually they started falling for each other. And three years later, I was about to be born. But my mom didn't want my dad to know."

"Why"? Jackie asked.

"When a female dragon is about to lay an egg, she can't keep her human form. My mom knew this and tried to keep me a secret. She was trying to protect both me and herself.  However, my father soon found out. When he discovered the egg that I hatched from, as well as the fact that I had wings and a tail, he couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that he created a creature like me. It drove him crazy until…" Alex stopped.

"Until…?" Crystal asked curiously.

"Until I was four years old. One night, he took a knife, and slit my mom's throat while she was in human form. She died in her sleep. I had seen the whole thing. My father noticed this and walked towards me with the bloody knife…"

Alex shivered. "I still remember how terrified I was. I couldn't move. I couldn't even scream. No matter how badly I wanted to run away, I couldn't.  My father stood before me, put the knife at his neck…and he said to me…'You should never have been born…you little freak.' And just like that, he took his own life."

Alex felt as if he was about to cry. He tried to fight back his tears as he continued with his story.

"Not too long after that, I was put in an orphanage. I hated that place, I hated it so much! Because my mom never taught me how to hide my wings and tail, they were always visible. And because of that, the kids always tormented me. Some kids would squeeze my tail, others would call me a freak or monster and throw things at me…some even tried to rip my wings off. I watched as kid after kid was adopted. Most, if not all the kids were adopted…all of them except me. The adults would just look at me in disgust.  But of course, more kids were brought to the orphanage and I just kept being hurt and made fun of. By the time I was five, I couldn't take it anymore, and so I tried and snuck away from the orphanage. I knew I'd never be adopted…so I decided to try and make it on my own. But each day, I just got hungrier and hungrier and everywhere I went, I was still made fun of. And I just grew to hate humans more and more. I started to think…that maybe I would never find anyone who accepted me…But just as I was ready to give up all hope and just keel over, I ran into him."

"Saulstrance, right?" Asked Titus.

"Yeah…He adopted me and gave me a new life. I owe everything to Saulstrance…no…to my real father! I'll do whatever I can to help him make his dreams of making this realm his kingdom come true! And I'll protect my little brother Jakol no matter what!"

Alex gritted his fangs and pointed a claw at Drake.

"Drake, Jake told me that you pushed him a while ago when you learned who his father was…You have no idea how upset he was from that. All of his previous so-called 'friends' were injured, one of them was even killed! So how do you think he must have felt when he learned that he would be going to school with another half-dragon, only for that half-dragon to treat him like crap?!"
"I'm…I'm so-so- sorry…" Drake stuttered.

"If you really are sorry, then stand up! Jake's my little brother and I'm not going to let anyone mistreat him! Not you, not anyone else!" Alex roared.

Drake sighed and got back on his feet. His fingernails turned into claws and blue scales formed along his arms, covering his skin.

"Hey, Alex, I wanted to ask you one more thing first." Drake said.

"What?!"

"Well, if you're a half-dragon, then why can you become a full dragon?"

"It's not that I can become 'full dragon'. This is a form that all half-dragons with dragon mothers have.  Our half-dragon forms show which side we lean closer towards. Drake…you and Jake have mothers that are human. Because of that, you two are more human than dragon. But because my mom was a dragon, that makes me more of a dragon than a human." Alex explained.

Alex blurred and in the blink of an eye, appeared in front of Drake, greatly startling the younger half-dragon. Drake looked up at Alex, who now towered over him by only a few inches.

"You ready?" Asked Alex.

"Yep. Let's go." He smiled confidently.

Alex swung a paw at Drake, only for Drake to catch it in his hand. Drake struggled greatly while Alex effortlessly pushed Drake's arm back. Drake was overwhelmed by how much stronger Alex was now! He felt like he was trying to push back a rolling boulder with his bare hands.  Alex let go of Drake's hand and the younger half-dragon stumbled backwards, landing on his tail and yelping in pain.

Drake stood up and took to the air with Alex following closely behind him. From the looks of it, Alex could have sworn that Drake was running away. He continued to give chase until Drake jolted around and kicked Alex in his snout. Alex brought his paws over his nostrils . Wasting no time, Drake cupped his hands together and swung them at Alex, hitting him in the side of his face. Drake watched as Alex fell from the sky.

As the older half-dragon fell closer and closer to the ground, Drake flew after him. As soon as Drake had caught up, Alex grabbed Drake by the hair and threw him, sending him flying head first into the ground. Drake moaned with great pain as he held his head. He curled into the fetal position as he continued to hold his head in pain. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that his vision was blurry.  He watched what looked like two figures, making their way over to him. He shut his eyes as he cringed from the pain and when he reopened his eyes, he noticed the figure looming over him. Its shadow cast over all but Drake's legs. As his vision started to become clear, he noticed it was Alex.

Alex looked down at Drake. He chuckled to himself at the pitiful sight. He had expected a member of his own race to be much stronger than this. He sighed to himself and reverted back to his human form. The mass that his body had acquired began to disappear as he changed back. His clothes were now greatly stretched out and sagged. The fronts of his shoes had been completely torn off with two large holes having been left in the back.

"Y'know, this is just sad." Said Alex. "I thought you would be stronger than this. I mean, you're the kid of the dragon who almost killed my dad!"

Alex's cocky smile turned into a scowl. Angered by the thought of both having overestimated the son of Doulstraz and for having someone so weak be of the same race as himself, Alex swung his leg back, and proceeded to kick Drake in the gut.

"AAAAHHH!!" Drake screamed as Alex's foot went into his stomach full force.

Intense pain surged through Drake's stomach. He held his sides and winced as he rolled around from the pain. Still holding his stomach, Drake tried to stand up, only to be kicked by Alex once again. This caused Drake to fall back to the ground. Alex continued kicking Drake in his gut over and over and over.

Everyone watched, completely horrified by what they were witnessing. This wasn't a fight anymore; this was cruelty. Nothing more than pure cruelty.

"Titus, you need to do something!!" Rick exclaimed.

"But  I - -"

"Titus, if you don't stop this, Drake's going to die! Help him!!"

Titus struggled to stand up, only to fall back onto the seat. He was still too weak to move. He growled in annoyance. Annoyed that he can't do anything to save his only son, annoyed that all he can do is watch his son be killed. He cursed himself for being unable to help Drake when he truly needed it.

"Drake…" Titus' voice trembled. "I'm sorry…your father is truly pathetic..."

But just as Titus prepped himself for the worst, he and everyone else watched as Crystal ran up to Alex and elbowed him in the face.

"You leave my friend alone!!" Crystal shouted as she helped Drake back onto his feet.

"C-Cr-Crystal…?" Drake asked weakly.

Crystal smiled at her friend. "It's okay, Drake. You did great. I don't care what Alex says. I think you're strong. And you're a lot cooler and nicer than he is."

Drake smiled. "Thanks."

Just as Crystal and Drake were about to make their way back to the group, Alex called out to them.

"Wait! Where do you think you're going with him?! This isn't over!!" Alex exclaimed.

"Well I say it is over! You won, alright?! Just stop hurting him!" Crystal said.

"Who do YOU THINK YOU ARE to tell ME what to DO?!?!?!" Alex fumed.

Alex reverted back to his half-dragon form as he shot a long stream of fire at the kids. With his last ounce of strength, Drake threw Crystal in front of him, and threw his arms up, using his back as a shield.

"GYAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Drake howled in ever more agonizing pain as he felt the flames scorching both his back and his wings. Once the ordeal had finally ceased, Drake collapsed as Crystal ran up to him and held him in her arms. Black fumes came from his wings which had suffered serious third degree burns. His wings retreated into his back as Drake screamed in pain once more. The back half of his shirt had been entirely burned off, revealing Drake's bare back which was also covered in serious burn marks.

"Drake, WHY?! Why did you do that?!" Crystal exclaimed.

Drake smiled weakly. "'Cause… I don't want my friends to get hurt anymore."
"Drake…" Crystal cried.

As the little girl held her badly wounded friend in her arms, Alex walked up to them. Crystal backed away, still holding onto Drake tightly. She watched Alex with intense fear in her eyes. She knew she couldn't do anything. She knew she wouldn't stand a chance against him…but still…she knew that she had to protect Drake.

"Leave him here and go." Alex commanded.

Crystal shook her head.

"Why? Isn't that what you humans do?! Sacrifice others to save your own necks?! Let others get hurt just so long as you're okay?! You know that if you stay, I'll kill you too, so why won't you run?!"

"…I…" Crystal began. She started to shake all over from fear. She held the wounded Drake closer as her palms became sweaty. Her heart started to beat faster and faster from anticipation.

"I'm scared. I really, really, really am. But Drake's my friend. He, me, and Sean have always protected each other from bullies. Drake was always nice to me and he was always there for me. I've always looked up to him. So…"

Crystal bit her lip and looked down at Drake, who looked up at Crystal. Crystal smiled at her friend and then looked at Alex, her smile having turned into a frown and her eyebrows furrowed.  Her body stopped trembling, her mind made up. She had no regrets.

"If you're gonna kill Drake, then you're gonna have to kill me too!!" She shouted.

Drake looked shocked at Crystal's declaration, as did everyone else.  Alex just sighed and shrugged his shoulders. Humans…they always have to make things so difficult, he thought to himself.

Alex launched himself at Drake and Crystal, claws fully extended, intending to kill them both. Crystal squinted her eyes shut, fully ready for what was about to happen.  But before she knew anything, Drake pushed Crystal out of the way as Alex slashed at Drake, his claws cutting into Drake's scale covered arm and cutting up his sleeve. Despite the thick layer of scales that formed along Drake's arm, blood trickled down Drake's arm as he placed his hand over the wound and cringed from the pain.

Drake glared at Alex. He took his hand off of his wound, clenched it into a fist, and pulled his arm back. With a swift swing of his still straightened arm, he clubbed Alex in the face, knocking him off his feet and sending him rolling a few inches away from where Drake was standing.  Drake hyperventilated and his arms shook rapidly. Alex brushed the dirt off and stood up.

"Don't you EVER try to hurt her again…!" Drake said fiercely, his eyes bulging.

Alex smirked while rubbing the side of his face that Drake had hit.

"What is it with you?" Asked Alex. "You can't win you know. Your wings are burnt and you can barely stand. But I can still fly. That gives me much more of an advantage than you. So why do you still want to fight me ?"

"Well…Because I want to protect my friends…and I want to prove to them that I'm not weak!!"

TO BE CONTINUED