I watched from across the street as the strange girl walked around the shop. She’d slammed right into me and hadn’t even realized what I was.
She’d been in a hurry, and after I told the others to move on ahead without me, I followed her to spy her disappearing into that witch’s shop. Taking up a place across the street, I waited intently to see where she would go next in such a hurry.
What fascinated me most was she had a very interesting scent about her. She was dragon kind, that I had no doubt of, but there was something else. Human and the reek of demon. I wanted to ask her what she was doing with a demon, but she’d run off before I had the chance.
More worrisome was why I was here in this town, to begin with.
Word went out a few mornings ago of a bounty on the bastard son of Raghnall. I’m usually not into collecting bounties, but orders are orders, so I took my team and here we were in this town searching for the half-demon, trying to find him before anyone else did.
It wasn’t the bounty’s gold I cared about, well not truly. A dragon always coveted treasure. What was more important was the truce his capture might finally bring between the demons and dragons. For too long our clans fought and killed each other for reasons none of us even remembered.
The door to the shop opened, and the curious girl stepped out. She was like me and yet she wasn’t. I spotted a flash of silver and gold at her wrist, and my nostrils flared in anger.
Someone kept her trapped from expressing her true form. She couldn’t be the dragon she was meant to be while wearing that horrid thing. She appeared in distress as she tucked the paper sack under her arm and raced down the sidewalk again.
Not wanting to lose her, I hurried after, keeping my distance just so I wouldn’t freak her out and she disappeared completely. She ran a few blocks over and then came to a large, wooden house surrounded by a fence and protective spells.
I snarled as I was forced to come to a stop before I was thrown backward. The girl raced up the steps and into the house without fail, but I knew I couldn’t do the same.
“Who are you?” I whispered growing annoyed at my inability to understand this riddle.
I had to see inside the house but couldn’t get too close. Otherwise, I risked giving myself away. If the protective spells around the house allowed her to pass, perhaps they would do the same for me simply because of what we shared.
The power pulsing from the house was strong, but when I breathed in deep, I realized I’d found more than just the home of this mysterious young woman.
My eyes narrowed.
There you are.
The bastard half-demon. He was here.
Was he responsible for keeping her trapped with that bracelet? All I knew of him was his thieving track record. He stole relics from all races and pawned them or sold them off for his own gain. He was a traitor to all races, not just the demons. It would be a pleasure to stop him from bringing any more harm to our kind. I stalked around the house as I texted my brethren to tell them our target had been found.
When I reached the rear of the house, I heard children playing and I paused. I couldn’t let innocents be harmed. The demons might be fine with barreling in without a care for who might get hurt, but dragons were above such ruthless tactics. Dragons were placed here to protect, not destroy, unless absolutely necessary.
I would wait as long as I could, but before this day was over, I would have the half-demon in chains, and the bracelet torn from that poor girl’s wrist. She needed to be freed.
And I would make whoever placed that bracelet on her pay for their heinous crimes.