Agni rested his head against his hand, anxiously tapping his foot on the floor. The crown of Cadmus sat on the arm of the throne, its large rubies shimmering in the light that came in through the windows, dancing between the leaves of the enormous trees in the courtyard.

His eyes narrowed with disdain at the crown—one of the jewels was missing. It was something he had always hated about it. The ruby had been given away generations earlier as a gift from Cadmus to Draconia, as an offering of peace, and previous kings had refused to replace it. Replacing it, Agni's brother had told him once, would be a sign of disrespect towards the previous kings who honored the alliance between Humans and Dragons, as well as a sign of disrespect to the Dragon Queen and her kingdom, who were as irreplaceable as the ruby.

Agni didn't see it that way, though. The missing gem made the crown look old and broken. It was a spot of weakness in the strength of Cadmus. They didn't need the Dragons—Cadmus could rule the continent on its own. The only reason he hadn't replaced it yet was because he couldn't. The rubies were a special kind of gem that could only be found in Urbem Mortis, the land of Vampires, who had sealed off their borders to Humans ages ago.

His thoughts were interrupted when the doors to the throne room were opened, allowing a tall, muscular man to enter.

"What do you want?" Agni sat up straighter on his throne, his head high and shoulders back as he looked down on the man with contempt. "You should be patrolling the Cadmian borders."

The man was dressed in a grey uniform with purple accents, and his white hair stood out in comparison to his brown skin. Agni hadn't expected Soren's report for at least another month.

"The Enforcers are stationed on every edge of the kingdom, Your Highness," Soren replied, kneeling before the king. A dark mask covered most of his face, except his troubled green eyes. "However, we've had some complications. Nothing to worry about. Besides, we've discovered—"

"Complications? What kind of complications?"

"Rebels," Soren explained. "They've been interfering with the Cleansing. We believe some of them could be Draconians. But we—"

"I hired you to eliminate the Dragons!" Agni shouted, knocking his crown to the floor in a fit of rage. "Four years later, you dare to come before me and tell me that not only are there some still alive, but they're trying to regain power?"

"Forgive me, Your Majesty," Soren said, bowing to the king again. "My soldiers are tracking them down as we speak. In the meantime, I need to—"

"Why are you here?" Agni clenched his fists, unable to stand the thought of more Dragons out there, threatening his plans for Cadmus. "You should be out there, getting rid of them!"

"Sire, please," Soren pleaded. "I've been trying to explain... We've found the Dragon Prince."

As quickly as it had come, Agni's rage was gone, his eyes wide with excitement. He rushed down the steps from his throne, nearly colliding with Soren.

"Take me to him!"

***

Agni, keeping his face himself hidden with a mask and heavy cloak, followed Soren through the darkened alleyways of Cadmus. They stuck to the shadows, avoiding contact with the Cadmians. It was dangerous for Agni to show his face, especially with the kingdom in its current state.

The new king hadan't anticipated Cadmus would fall so hard into ruin in a mere four years. The kingdom was struggling. Most of the neighboring kingdoms had broken their alliances and taken a neutral standpoint, serving as refuge for Cadmians and Draconians alike. Many disagreed with Agni's declaration of war against the Dragons, but cutting themselves off had left those who remained in Cadmus in ruin, with a lack of supplies going in or out.

It didn't matter anyway, Agni believed. His plans didn't require allies, only power.

"We found him in an old abandoned hospital," Soren explained in a hushed voice as they walked through the industrial slums of Cadmus. Every building was shabby, and the people even more so. It all had a sickly grey color to it, created by thick layers of dust and soot from the factories. "Most of the building went up in flames before it collapsed, and my soldiers found him in an area underground that remained intact."

The two men stopped in front of what was left of a dark brick building, dirty and crumbling. Climbing over piles of rubble, Soren led the way to a metal door that made a loud shriek as he forced its rusty hinges open. Their footsteps echoed as they made their way down what was left of an old stone staircase, and Agni pulled his cloak tighter around himself as the air got cold and dank. At the bottom, their path opened up into a large corridor, lined with dirty cells and filled with the sharp stench of death.

"What kind of hospital is this?" Agni questioned in disgust, pulling his cloak up over his mouth and nose, resisting the urge to vomit. There were bodies in the cells, some more rotten than others, being eaten away at by maggots and rats. "Who are these people?"

"This floor was once an infirmary for prisoners of war, hence the cells." Soren crossed the room without so much as a glance at any of the bodies, opening a door into another hallway. "As for who they are, we received a report about a year ago of a raid on Cadmus Orphanage. We believe these could be the missing orphans, but the only way to be sure is to summon their caretaker here."

Agni quickened his pace after Soren, leaving the dungeon behind, along with its horrid stench. He let out a noisy sigh as the door shut behind him, wanting nothing more that to be rid of the disgusting place. Of all the places the Dragon Prince could be...

Farther down the corridor, there were enormous piles of broken stone and charred wood. Bits of rubble occasionally fell, and what was left of the support beams creaked and groaned. Agni prayed that the rest of the building was sturdy enough for him to get out of there alive.

"He's in here," Soren said, knocking on a metal door with an opaque window, and an Enforcer opened it to allow them to enter.

Agni's heart fluttered with excitement as he stepped over the threshold. He would finally be able to carry out his plan. If he got the Dragon Prince out of the way, there would be nothing to stop him from extending the borders of Cadmus. A small gasp escaped his lips as his gaze fell on the center of the room.

Zane's fiery red eyes stared straight out, his black hair flowing slowly around his face. The young man's muscular body was clothed in nothing but a pair of pants and armored boots, his bare torso revealing a deep incision that started at his collarbone and traced all the way down to his bellybutton, exposing organs and bone. He had a mask over his mouth and nose that let out small air bubbles every few seconds.

Agni removed his hood and stepped forward, gingerly touching his fingers to the cold glass. His eyes were wide as he stared up at the Dragon Prince's body, suspended in a glowing green liquid.

"Can he see us?" he questioned, rapping his knuckles against the glass chamber. It was a bit disappointing—he'd anticipated a fight.

"No." Soren crossed his arms as he stood beside the king, looking up and the body before them. "Technically, he's not even really alive."

"Technically?"

"His soul is no longer attached to his physical body—it's been removed somehow." Soren took a clipboard off of the desk in the corner of the room, flipping through the pages. "His heart and stomach have been removed, as well. The ones in his body are not his own."

"For what purpose?" Agni asked, his anger rising again. He had the Dragon Prince in his clutches, and couldn't even gain the satisfaction of killing the man? "Why would someone take another's soul and vital organs?"

"To keep him alive. His body is also protected by an immense amount of healing magic, along with other powerful spells."

With a furious cry, Agni punched the glass, causing it to crack. How could one person cause so much trouble? He had worked for years to set his plan into motion, and it was all starting to unravel. First the rebels, and now this? He glared at the damaged glass as small green sparks danced across it, and the crack was repaired.

"What happened to his heart and stomach?" Agni asked through his clenched jaw, shaking his hand out. He wasn't sure he really wanted to hear the answer, though.

"Transplants." Soren flipped through the pages on the clipboard again. "His soul has been fused to another person, along with his vital organs. If successful, it seems as though this person should inherit the Dragon Prince's power, perhaps even become a vessel for his soul."

"Who is he? He must still be here somewhere! No one can just run off with an injury like that," Agni said, pointing to Zane's open torso.

"We're not sure who it is. A few of the papers only refer to the host as Experiment Number Seven."

"Who wrote these reports?" Agni yanked the clipboard from Soren's hands. His eyes darted all over the notes and he flipped through the pages. It was a whole lot of scientific language he could never hope to understand. There were also drawings of the differences in Human and Dragon anatomies, with all the gaps filled in with notes. There were even concepts of how a Human might look once fused with a Dragon. But those were ridiculous—there were no Humans running around Cadmus or Draconia with wings, or with scales in place of skin...

One drawing that Agni came across was that of a young man, with the same label that Soren had mentioned—Experiment Number Seven—and it was covered with notes about organ transplants and the possible effects of Draconian power on a Human body. Was this the man who had inherited the will of the Dragon Prince? Could any Human survive such a procedure?

"The doctor's name was Aaron Davis," Soren told him. "We found him dead in a pile of rubble."

"So, he was crushed when the building collapsed?"

"No, he had his throat ripped out."

Agni swallowed hard, and sweat ran down the side of his face. What the hell was going on in Cadmus?

"Surely the man had help!" Agni shoved the drawing of Experiment Number Seven into Soren's hands. "No one could do this alone!"

"We captured one man, wounded by part of the collapsed building. My men are holding him across the hall. We couldn't risk trying to move a Draconian through the streets of Cadmus... not with the current state of the kingdom."

Agni took a deep breath and closed his eyes, exhaling slowly through his nose to compose himself enough to speak calmly.

"When we're done here, I want this place destroyed. Let the Dragon Prince's body rot under the rubble for all I care—he's not in my way anymore. Then, find this Experiment Number Seven and kill him!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Soren bowed as the king stormed out of the room. He crossed the hall, yanking the door open, his chest filled with rage.

There were five Enforcers in the room, surrounding a man who was chained to a chair. On the floor, a magic circle had been drawn, a spell to prevent him from using any of his Draconian power and keep him from transforming back into a Dragon.

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He had his head down, and blood dripped from the wounds on his face and body. There was no way to tell which wounds were caused by the collapse of the building or which were inflicted by the Enforcers. They weren't known to show any mercy to their victims.

"Who are you?" Agni asked, but the man didn't answer. He didn't even move. Was he still alive?

"Your king asked you a question, Dragon!" One of the Enforcers grabbed the man by his hair, yanking his head back so he was forced to look at King Agni.

"I have no king," he stated. His eyes were bruised and swollen, but still glowing bright with defiance. "Nothing you do to me now will change what we've accomplished."

"Who are you?" Agni repeated, tapping his foot impatiently.

"My name is Mason," he replied weakly. "Not that it matters—I'll be dead soon."

"Who is Experiment Number Seven?"

Mason laughed, though it quickly turned into a coughing fit as he spit up blood. He had a terrible wound across his stomach, and the entire front of him was a bloodied mess.

"He's a miracle... an extraordinary being," he told Agni once he'd finally caught his breath. Even though he was fatally injured, he was smiling, a proud gleam in his eyes. "He's the most successful medical experiment we've ever attempted. Prince Zane will put an end to your tyranny."

Agni grabbed him by the throat, but there was no fear in Mason's eyes. It angered the king even more to know that this man didn't care about what happened to him.

"Where is Experiment Number Seven! He must still be here somewhere!"

"Have you looked around?" Mason coughed, trying to speak through his raspy, labored breaths, his chest heaving. He was getting paler by the second. "Once... once the Dragon Prince woke... in the... the host body, we... lost control of him. He's... long gone by now."

"He has nowhere to go! He can't have gotten very far with those injuries."

Mason laughed again, but only for a short moment before his laughter cut off. The light faded from his defiant eyes as he stared up at King Agni, and his last breath escaped his smiling lips.

Storming out of the room, Agni stopped short in the hall. The only light came from the glow of the liquid that held Zane, illuminating his lifeless red eyes. Agni shook his head with disdain as he left the Dragon Prince behind, frustrated that he couldn't simply kill him and put an end to all of this.

Maybe he could still end it. If he could find this test subject and kill him, then there would be no chance of survival for the Dragon Prince, either. But who was he, and where had he disappeared to?

Exiting through the dungeon door where he'd entered, Agni nearly collided with another man.

His face was aged and tired, although he couldn't have been much older than thirty, if that. His silver eyes were red and swollen, but went wide at the sight of the king, and he bowed, avoiding Agni's furious gaze.

"Forgive me, Your Highness," he said, his voice quiet and hoarse. It seemed that he'd been crying, and Agni just shook his head. A man shouldn't be so emotional where others could see.

"Who are you?"

"Sire, this is the caretaker from Cadmus Orphanage," Soren explained. "He was brought here to identify the bodies in the cells."

"I see..." Agni's eyes narrowed as he examined the man from head to toe. There was something strangely familiar about him. "Tell me... are these your orphans?"

"Well..." The man blinked back a few tears, and his voice shook as he spoke. "Some of them are beyond recognition at this point, but I can tell with the others... it's them. They've been missing for over a year. It was terrible when they were all taken, but this... this is worse than I ever could have imagined."

"What's your name?"

"Daemon Arnaldo."

"Arnaldo?" Agni's eyes went wide. No wonder the man looked so familiar! "Didn't you used to be—"

"That was a long time ago," Daemon interrupted. "I left that all behind me and opened the orphanage in Cadmus."

"One of them escaped, you know." Agni wondered if he could push the subject. Perhaps Daemon knew who the escapee was, and where to find him. Maybe he was hiding back at Cadmus Orphanage. He made a mental note to send the Enforcers there later. "I suspect he hasn't gotten very far with the injuries we believe he's sustained. You haven't had any contact with him, have you? Are any of your missing orphans not in this room?"

Daemon looked around the room again. As he had mentioned, some of the bodies were beyond recognition, but the caretaker seemed to know exactly what he was looking for.

"One is missing," he told Agni. "One of the older boys, Blaise, but I don't think he—"

Before he could finish, the staircase echoed with angry shouting and the heavy thumping of footsteps.

"King Agni! Soren! You must come quickly," an Enforcer called out, breathing heavily as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "Sir, we think we've found the test subject."

***

Blaise backed up against a brick wall, breathing heavily. The pain in his body was worse than ever before, and he wasn't sure how long he could hold out. He couldn't remember how he'd escaped his prison, but at the moment, he didn't care, he just wasn't going back.

As Enforcers surrounded him, some with their weapons drawn, his eyes darted around, trying to find an escape route. Instead, he found a familiar face in the crowd.

"Daemon!" he cried out. He hadn't seen his caretaker in what felt like a century. Daemon took a step towards him, but the Enforcers stopped him.

"Please," Daemon begged, clutching the arm of one of the Enforcers. "He's hurt. Let me help him."

"That boy is extremely dangerous," King Agni stated, his gaze fixed on Blaise. He couldn't see the incision—Blaise was wearing a shirt that was far too large for him—but Agni was sure it was there, especially considering that the young man was covered in blood. The stench of death that surrounded the boy was enough to make Agni believe this was who they were searching for. "He's been given powers far beyond his own control, and he must be dealt with swiftly."

"What are you talking about?"

Blaise felt a swell of anger in his chest at the king's judgmental gaze, and he hated how everyone else was staring at him, too... like he was some kind of monster. A few innocent Cadmians in the street looked on in horror while others ran off, hiding in their homes.

How could the king say he was dangerous? He hadn't done anything wrong. Agni didn't know him at all... definitely not well enough to fear him.

Then give him something to fear.

Blaise hissed in pain, clutching his head in his hands. His forehead throbbed as thought he'd been struck in the temple with a hammer. Everything hurt, and now he was hearing voices, thoughts that didn't belong to him. Was he going crazy? He didn't want to hurt anyone—he just wanted to go home.

Don't be a child. Agni has to pay for what he's done. He deserves nothing more than death!

"Leave me alone!" Blaise shouted, lashing out with his arms, even though there was no body that the voice belonged to. How could he fight someone he couldn't see?

As he threw his arms up, as though it would somehow protect him from this unseen entity, it conjured a barrage of fire that forced everyone back, some falling over. The heat was unlike anything he had felt before, and bits of the buildings caught fire, casting an ominous glow on everything around them.

You can't get rid of me by flailing your arms.

Blaise cried out in pain, cradling his throbbing hands against his chest. His fingers were blistered and burnt.

Daemon was the first to reach Blaise, his eyes wide with concern and fear.

"Blaise, are you all right?" he asked, looking back and forth between the fire and Blaise's wound. "Oh, Gods, what have they done to you?"

"Everything hurts," Blaise groaned, nearly falling over, and Daemon supported him under his arm.

"How dare you?" One of the Enforcers pulled herself to her feet, and Daemon pushed Blaise behind him, blocking him from her view. "You can't protect him, Caretaker. You know the laws—all Dragons must be Cleansed!"

"No one is going to lay another finger on any more of my children, Dragon or not!"

Daemon waved his arm and it conjured up a vicious gust of wind, throwing the Enforcer against the side of a building. Blaise's eyes went wide with shock and fear as her lifeless body crumpled to the ground.

"Have you lost your mind, Daemon? You ain't never told me you was a mage!"

"I'll leave this in your capable hands," Agni told Soren as he climbed to his feet, shedding his singed cloak. There was a burn on Agni's cheek from Blaise's fire, but he didn't seem to notice or care. "Surely you can handle one dying boy and a mage."

As his men escorted King Agni away from the scene, Soren brushed a bit of ash off his shoulder. Bits of it came from the burning buildings around them, falling like black snow.

"You should know better than to interfere with an Enforcer's work," he said, his gaze fixed on Daemon as he drew his sword. "You'll die for your crime."

"Enforcer or not, it doesn't matter to me," Daemon growled. He put his hands up, ready to fight. "Keep your filthy hands off my children!"

"Your children?" Soren laughed, loud and mocking. "They're not yours—they're strays. Filthy rats that wandered in off the streets."

Filthy rats? Are you really going to let him talk about you like that?

"Shut the hell up!" Blaise shouted, clutching his head in his hands.

Blaise's sudden outburst shifted Soren's attention away from Daemon, who seized the opportunity. An explosion of blue magic shot from his fist like lightning. Despite being distracted, Soren managed to dodge it, and it hit another Enforcer, throwing the man back into a wall. He lay in the rubble, shaking uncontrollably as Daemon's electricity flooded his body.

"You piece of trash," Soren spat, before rushing at Daemon with his sword.

Daemon exhaled a long breath and clapped his hands together. As he pulled them apart, sparks flew, and bits of blue static danced around the blade of the sword he'd just conjured.

Blaise looked on in awe at Daemon's power. How could he never have revealed that he was a mage, and an incredibly powerful one at that? All of the power in the world couldn't ease Blaise's worry, though. He didn't want anyone else to get hurt.

"Daemon, stop!"

He could do nothing but watch, though. Fear kept him paralyzed in one spot, his body shaking. He wanted to help, to will himself to move, but he couldn't. Another Enforcer approached him, and his gaze fell on a large shard of glass at his feet. Could he use it as a weapon to protect himself?

"What are you going to do with that?" the Enforcer asked, her shrill laughter filling the air.

Her mocking voice made Blaise furious, and he snatched up the glass shard, wielding it like a knife. He rushed at the woman, swinging wildly. Of course, she was experienced, and she effortlessly tossed him aside. He tumbled into the street, scraping and bumping his aching body on rubble and stone.

"Blaise, what are you doing?" Daemon tried to go to him, but Soren blocked his path. "Don't fight them, run away from here!"

He's right. You should get out of here while you still can. They mean to kill you.

"Stop tellin' me what to do," Blaise growled, pushing himself up onto his knees and brushing the dirt away. The pain made it hard to breathe, but he couldn't afford to rest.

"And what exactly is your plan, boy?" the Enforcer asked, her spellbook tucked under her arm. "You have nothing and no one. Even if you managed to escape somehow, where will you go? You'll die anyway because you're alone."

"Don't listen to her, Blaise. Just get out of here!"

As Daemon blocked an attack from Soren, the Enforcer kicked him in the stomach. He slammed back against a wall and slid to the ground, slumped over with the wind knocked out of him. Blaise's eyes widened with fear as Soren turned his attention on him.

"So, this is the all-powerful host to the Dragon Prince, is it?" Soren laughed as he approached Blaise, who tried to lash out with the piece of glass he still held, but Soren kicked the makeshift weapon out of his hand. Blaise froze when Soren pressed his own blade against his throat. "Where's all that power you were supposed to inherit, Experiment Number Seven?"

"I dunno what you're talkin' 'bout," Blaise said, and he winced as the man pressed his blade harder into his skin. A small trickle of blood ran down his neck, and fear crawled up Blaise's spine. He didn't want to die now. He had to go home with Daemon.

Show him what you can do! Kill him!

"Stop!" Blaise knocked Soren's sword away, causing the blade to slice into the palm of his hand. He clutched it close to his body, clenching his fist to stop the bleeding as he doubled over from the pain in his head caused by the loud voice. "Just leave me alone!"

Enough of this! If you won't fight back, I will!

Memories flashed through Blaise's head... memories that didn't belong to him. There were vivid imagines of Dragons being Cleansed, and it sent raw, crippling fear through Blaise's body.

He cried out, falling to the ground as blood seeped out of his skin. Bright green scales forced their way through, tearing his skin to shreds. His new heart pounded wildly, sending jolts of fiery pain though his chest, and the pungent smell of smoke filled his nostrils as he took deep breaths, trying to will the pain away.

"How interesting," Soren said, a twisted grin on his face.

"Get away from him!" Daemon demanded, still slumped against the wall, trying to catch his breath. "Even I don't understand what's happening to him. You may very well have just signed your own death certificate."