The Hidden: Draco

Prologue

When I was little and my gran use to watch us when my parents went out on their usual date night, she would call me after I was already supposed to be in bed, and I would cuddle up in a blanket around her feet while she would cradle my baby sister in her arms.

In summer it would be out on the porch overlooking the mountains in the distance and on cold winter nights we would cuddle up around the wood burning fireplace. Those were my favorites. The smell of the woodburning mixed with the smell of the rose water my gran wore smelled like home safety and the excitement of hearing the story I knew my gran was about to tell.

She would tell me about all her adventures of being a traveling Shyth. A powerful witch that is particularly good at elemental magic, channeling the four elements into her magic. As well as the ability to see a person's probable direct future.

All the woman in our family were Shyth witches as it a genetic trait. Some more powerful than others but still the gene carried on as it was with all the Hidden.

We lived in a world hidden from humans but in plain sight. We lived among them but never to be a part of them. Some Hidden hid their abilities and lived as normal humans, having human jobs, houses and even friends. Other who could not hide their differences would choose to live in remote places away from praying eyes.

My family loved our magic and although we looked human enough and could live among them, we chose to buy a big farm up in the mountains so we could use our magic and teach our little ones how to control it without fear of being seen.

My gran however wanted to use her gifts to help others and so she began her life on the road. Going from town to town and helping any Hidden she could find with any problems they may have. She helped birthed babies of every kind of Hidden there was, helped solve injustices accosted to those who were either unable or too scared to contact human law enforcement, nursed some Hidden back to health and even got called upon by some Hidden species' royalty because of her future seeing.

She was very sought after in those days as the Hidden did not always live as peacefully as they do now after the accords had been signed.

There are a lot of Hidden species, and they all had their own version of royalty. Those decided to come together and set up the Accords after years and years of bloodied battles between different Hidden species. It has been years since there was any kind of trouble and most Species got along fine.

Back in my grans time however these kings and queens would call on her to try and predict the best battle strategy and best times for attack but she never liked getting involved. It was because of this that she got to meet Hidden most witches never normally would have and so her stories about all the Hidden she had met were more exciting than any book or television program I could have gotten my hands on.

She would tell me about the Fay, the Hidden that lived in wooded areas and had the ability to turn themselves into any plant-based form.

She would tell me about how she had delivered the baby of the queen of Warewolves, the wolf people that had to change once a month into a wolf form only lasting a night.

My favorite stories though were of the Hidden that did not look as human as we did. The Grazelle that were as tall as the tallest man with brownish grey skin but who according to gran had the most gentle of hearts. Or the Telacan, Hidden that lived under water and resembled more fish than man.

But as in every story an adult tells a child there had to be a villain. Something to frighten children into behaving. And in my grans stories those were always the Hidden only known as the Draco.

Unlike most of us Hidden who had multiple families. Some fifties to hundreds and others a little more rare, the Draco only had five.

Five families where only the first male would inherit the gifts of their father.

Not only were they the rarest Hidden but they were also known to be ruthless, unforgiving and violent. They were stronger and faster than any Hidden but as if that was not enough, they had the ability to transform into horrible monsters.

Dragon like creatures that would make the bravest of men run for the hills, they were also near impossible to kill, not that many had the courage to try. Going up against a Drago was surely as good as suicide. They were our Boogieman and monster that would come get you if you did not behave.

As children we Hidden would be told these stories to make us clean our rooms and eat our vegetables but as we grow up it would become more of a cautionary tale.

It went from "if you misbehave and don't listen to you parents, they will come as a swift eagle and pick you up in their taloned feet to take you to their caves where they would gobble you up in a second". As teenagers we were told "the Draco are rich evil man that are always on the prowl for young woman to marry and treat them horribly and that those women they chose would never be seen again.

So the stories would also change from family to family and Species to Species. In some they would just eat you, in others they would enslave you and in some it would just be that they are really bad men to stay well clear of.

As most Hidden girls having grown up with these stories, I took it as a warning but nothing more. Never really giving them much thought after one night at six after having a nightmare and running into my parent's room and my dad telling my mother to inform my gran that if she insists on filling my head with these stories she should be the one to stay up with me after my nightmares. It was then I realized the Draco are only scary stories but as I grew knew they were just a Species of Hidden to stay well clear of and if you do encounter them that it would probably mean the end of you.

Not much to think about as they were so rare and no one I had ever met had actually seen one. Never in a million years did I think I would actually see one, sitting on the carpet in front of my gran. Or than would ever meet one in a dark alley way while gossiping with my friends as a teenager.

But here I was, heart pounding out of my chest while standing in a room not faced with one of them but with all five and their eyes directly staring at me.