Down to Earth~ Sequel to Peter Pan's Dragon Girl

Chapter 27

Elias p.o.v

Red. This was all I could see as that monstrous bird vanished with Reine. The color of rage. The color of blood. Soon to be the only thing left of that beast and whoever is controlling it, nothing more than a spackle of blood on a wall as my teeth rip into their throats.

Our screaming has drawn the Black Pirate I saved from the cave we all shared and so I turned my anger on him. Grabbing up his shirt front, I shoved him back into a tree as growls rumbled through my body like internal earthquakes.

"What is that thing and where does it come from? ANSWER ME!" Much like dad, I picked up the trick of scaring people at the right moment to ensure obedience. The boy before me flinched backwards into the rough bark and I could see the fearful ties binding him into submission.

"It's called a Scáth Dubh. There aren't very many of those things so they're hardly ever seen. They stay around the Great Lakes, that's why your girlfriend hasn't seen one before."

"And where does it make its home?"

"Nobody knows, everyone who went searching never returned. But there is someone who may know." I let his shirt loose and step back to prepare for my change into my Dragon form. I ignore the Black Pirate's gawking and snatch him up to place him on in my back, he may be annoying and irritating beyond measure but he's still injured and human and fragile.

"Where is this person? Who are they exactly?" He took a moment to gather his bearings before pointing to the West.

"They live in a cave on the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains. But by the time you reach them, she'll be long dead you know." I face the correct direction and tense to make a steep launch into the sky.

"You've obviously never ridden on a Dragon before." I slingshot myself into the air and make no hesitations to begin flying at the speed of what mom calls a jet plane. Knowing that the human I carried couldn't withstand this kind of wind force, I created a shield around us shaped like an arrowhead for protection and less wind resistance.

"So who exactly is this person? I'm not flying blindly into the mountains on a story that you advocate to be true."

"When the Scáth Dubh first appeared it was when I was a child who had just joined the Black Pirates crew. It would come in the night and snatch men off the ship and even take some of the monsters from the water with no problems. Lost a lot of good men to that monstrosity. After a few years we noticed a pattern, it would only ever steal the strongest of the watch. That's when we realized it was following orders from somewhere but we could never track the thing. With more and more tracking excursions, the ones who left would send messages about the things they hear about the bird and our last message was that a man who lives in the mountain caves knew where to go hunting for the beast and how to best it. We stopped sending out men to vanish after that party never returned. That was two years ago." So the massive bird was taking orders, huh? Then why didn't it snatch me up instead of Reine, I am the Dragon on Earth and any percentage of Dragon blood makes someone infinitely stronger than an ordinary human.

"Well, if this thing has been around for as long as it has, we better be on guard at all times." The Black Pirate boy firmly nodded in agreement and focused mainly on navigation since his weaker eyesight couldn't catch the details of the sky as it whizzed by his head. He found the cave we were looking for and I landed on the ridge about 15 feet below it, humans aren't used to seeing huge, fire breathing Dragons come barging into their cave and it may give the person a heart attack before they prove their usefulness to me. We climb the cliff and I begin to notice things about this cave that look oddly familiar to me, like I had seen them somewhere else before.

"Who did you say lived up here?"

"I didn't, the letters never said a name. Why?" I shook off his question and swiftly draw my blades before stepping away from the walls and out into the opening of the large cavern.

"Who dare disturb my slumber?" The voice that bellowed from the darkness rumbled through my bones and shook the ground under my feet. It was like when Grandpa would sometimes argue with dad and they inadvertently would begin to drop their voice pitch and grow in volume to see who could get deeper and be the alpha of the island. That was until mom stepped in and showed them both that it was her who truly dominated Neverland whether they knew it or not. All in all it was always an amusing match to witness.

"My name is Elias Ren, son of Beryl Manstra and Peter Pan and grandson of Alecon Black- King of the Dragons." A deep growl quaked the world around me at Grandpa's name and I saw a light flicker in the darkness.

"Alecon Black is no king. He stole that title from me!"

"And who are you exactly?" The light began to expand and I realized it was a massive Dragon eye, the head that followed almost dwarfing even Grandpa. His scales were once as fathomless as Alecon Black's but the time he spent alone hidden away in this cave as he watched the world grow old and crumble had turned the black armor a dull and wan gray color, and the fiery eyes associated with our race had faded into a soft and pale yellow like the flame of a candle instead of the blaze of a wildfire.

"I am Absint, the true King of the Dragons."

"Absint means Banished, and a banished Dragon has no right to be the king." He blinked slowly as he processed my words with flat and bored interests.

"I got this name when your traitorous grandfather stole my throne and ran me out like an unwanted stray cat. I would say my true Dragon name, but it was stripped from me and I have long since forgotten what it could be. But that is of no consequence, the real injustice here is that your ancestors cheated me out of my rightful inheritance and reign. The scales must be balanced and the wrong must be corrected, so unless you have sought me out to restore my rightful rule, leave at once." It clicked in my brain whom this Dragon really was, and his placidly uncaring demeanor was the furthest thing from the truth.

"I know who you are, Grandpa told mom about you. In the form of a bedtime story. He called you Absint the Unfit, former King of the Dragons. He said you were a terrible King, that you were greedy and blind to the suffering of your people as long as you got whatever you wanted then you couldn't be bothered to protect those who were being butchered by the humans of old for sport and fame amongst their kind. I wouldn't give you any right to rule, even if it was my place." The growls returned and rumbled through the earth and my feet into my heart.

"You are his grandson, are you not? You should have inherited his kingdom from your whore of a mother if my lineage is correct." I raised hackles at his crude attitude towards my family and the words he used to speak of mom.

"You will watch your tongue when you speak of my family with such disrespect before me. I cannot inherit a kingdom when the King is still alive. Alecon Black is very much alive and well and still the King." The bland eyes grew in intensity until the blaze matched that of a house fire.

"That snake is still breathing? Perfect, I can bite down on his throat myself! I will take my place and you, the sniveling brat grandson of the mutineer, will lead me to him."
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Hello, beautiful readers! I am very much sorry that this took so long to be written and published out to you all! My summer was intense and I have been busy with the start of college life. But things should pick back up hopefully and I can finish this wonderful adventure of Elias and Reine.

If you have any ideas you would wish to add to the story, leave them in the comments and I will try to work some literacy magic!

Vote, comment, and enjoy as you please!

Stay crazy my little demons!

Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease!