With the Blood of a Dragon

Chapter Fourteen

Note: There are some mature scenes in this chapter. I just want to say that I do not condone or support self harm in anyway, especially not in teens and children. 
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"Four vials of blood, twelve scales, your... pendants, and a dragon head," I say and sigh. "What are we gonna do?" 

"We have to give her what she wants," Blaze says. "It's the only thing we can do."

Ever shakes her head. "No it isn't." She scoffs and runs her hands through her hair. "We could just not. He left me. He left us. I'm not ready to hand over body parts to a queen to get him back, when he probably won't even come back to us."

Blaze looks disgusted. "Are you really saying that we should let Blade die in the hands of a crazy queen?" 

"She's bluffing!" Ever protests.

I shake my head. "The Queen of Keys doesn't bluff; she kills." I say and walk over to my dresser. I grab an empty vial off the shelf filled with potions and the knife I keep in my belt. 

I hand Blaze the vial. "Hold this." I hold the knife to my left arm. I drag the blade down my left forearm and drop the knife on the floor. I grab the vial from Blaze as Ever holds Ana to shield her eyes from the dripping blood. I hold the glass container close to my elbow, below the cut. The jar slowly fills to the top and I cover it with a cork topper. Blaze gives me a clean cloth and a bandage. 

"What the hell was that?" He yells. He holds the cloth to my wound and by the time he pulls it away, the bleeding has already stopped. He doesn't seem to notice, he just covers it with gauze and medical tape. 

"That," I say, and push his hand away from my arm. "Was me trying to save your brother." I pick my knife up off the ground and wipe the blood off if it on my shirt. I hand Blaze the knife and grab another jar. "Your turn."  

Blaze takes the knife and Ever takes it away from him. "You're insane!" She says. Looking to me, then Blaze. "Both of you." She shakes her head and combs her fingers through her hair. "But I guess I'm insane too." She squeezes her eyes closed and drags the knife across her own arm. She hands me back the knife. "Give me the damn jar." 

I freeze in place, unsure of what to do. "I said, give me the damn jar." Ever yells louder. A steady stream of blood makes its way down her arm. She reaches out and takes it from me, placing it next to her elbow, just as I did. We sit in silence as her vial slowly fills. 

"I uh..." Blaze stammers. "I thought you weren't gonna hurt yourself for him." 

"Yeah well," She cleans the wound with a clean cloth and wraps it in gauze. "He's still my boyfriend." She morphs into a dragon and uses her sharp teeth to pull out one of her scales. She roars in pain, but pulls out three more. She transforms back, small pieces of her skin, the size of peas missing. She doesn't seem to notice. "He's still my best friend." She digs out a necklace that was tucked into her shirt. She rips at it, breaking the clasp. She puts everything, the blood, the scales, the pendant, in a pile on the leather couch. "He's still my family." 

I pick up the necklace she put in the pile. It's a small aqua blue stone fastened to a chain with a piece of silver wire. "Why does she want this?" I ask and hold the seemingly ordinary necklace in my hands. 

"It's what gives me the ability to control and produce water." She says. "Blade has one too, but I'm sure he queen already took it." She turns around to look at Blaze. "Your turn." She says and hands him the knife. 

"No." Ana speaks up. "Me next." She takes the knife out of Ever's hand. 

I look at her, horrified. "Ana! No!" I shake my head. "You're eight. You don't have that much blood to begin with." 

"She said all four of us." She says strongly. She has more bravery than I do. I never would've done this at her age. "And family is family. Even if I haven't known him very long, and even if he hates me." She cuts her arm and fills a vial with blood, just as Ever and I had done. She wraps the wound and speaks again. "I don't have scales, though. Only feathers."

"That's okay, sweetie," I say and wrap her in my arms.

Blaze goes next. He holds the knife to his arm, shakes his head, and mutters, "for Ayland." I run and grab one last jar and hold it below his cut. Ever tends to his wound and I take the pendant off of his neck. It looks almost identical to Ever's, but a burnt orange color. 

He steps back away from us and morphs into his fiery maroon dragon form. He rips out four of his scales with his teeth, silent through the pain. He transforms back and adds his contributions to the pile on the couch. 

I transform, rip out my own scales, and add them and my blood to the pile. Ana carefully places her vial of blood on the couch as well. "Now," I say and face my sister, my best friend, and the one who loves me, but I can't love back. My family, minus the brother who hates me in a loving way. "We need a dragon head. Anyone know where to get one?"