A DRAGON'S JEWEL: the Ancient Mage and the dark arts

Chapter 6: New Home

A few hours later Karlyle had already made all of the arrangement and the three teens were well on their way towards the Karnage mansion located on the outskirts of Elysium.

It was a long drive and the little doll-face girl, named Kloeye, had already claimed Alythia's lap as her official pillow for most of it.

While she was stroking the child's head she began to wonder what exactly happened that any man – even a deranged one – would want to hurt such a harmless girl.

Karlyle, as if she spoke her troubling thoughts out loud, responded to them. "That man wanted a crest. That's why he attacked my sister – to lure me out"

Now the reader might be wondering what exactly a crest was.

Well, so was our protagonist. Luckily an observant Karlyle saw the absolute confusion the girl's face was practically drowning in and went on to clarify.

"A crest is the gem etched within a Dragon Familiar's chest. It's quite valuable on the black market. Dragon Familiars are fairly rare so their jewels fetch up a hefty price"

"But why target Kloeye? Is she a drag---"

"Of course not" Karlyle interrupted. "Kloeye's eyes aren't black. They were originally targeting me only – there was a whole group of them. Kloeye got separated from me as I was fighting them off. After I got rid of most of them I heard someone fly through a window nearby and rushed towards the sound. That man you fought probably tried to hurt Kloeye in order to agitate me"

Alythia stared at him with furrowed brows. She could not understand why anyone would want to purposefully provoke a Dragon.

Let the reader take note that the reason our protagonist thought this way was because a Dragon Familiar's immense power is a well known fact. Alythia remembered reading that Dragons were easily able to demolish entire buildings with the whisk of a tail; blow apart entire cities with the flap of their wings. She shuddered at the thought. Aren't they an absolutely terrifying thing?

Karlyle saw the girl's wrinkled brows and chuckled. It was as if he was watching an incredibly adorable little mouse trying with utmost effort to solve a difficult maze of some sort.

"My crest is only visible when I take on my dragon form. Those men were fools but desperate men generally are – foolish enough to try and awaken something that is best left unstirred"

Alythia thought over his words. It made sense to her but she still thought it strange that he did not go on a rampage in the end – especially after seeing his sister's body practically lying lifeless on the ground.

"I almost did" Karlyle corrected her thoughts and she felt his intense gaze on her soften.

"If it wasn't for you Miss Ashwrith, part of the city would probably be in ruins by now"

He reached out his hand and gently brushed the back of his fingers against her cheek. "Quite the blessing you turned out to be"

Alythia's eyes stretched wide as a deep bewilderment nested on her face.

Karlyle couldn't help but snickered before attempting to guide her out of her confused state. "When I saw how hard you tried to shield my sister, using the last little bit of strength you had left, how do I put it? I guess it softened my heart a bit, enough for me to regain my senses before I morphed".