Standing in the doorway of the barn, the stocky man stood with his arms behind his back. His rigid posture matched his spotless, midnight-black leather uniform adorned with the insignia of the Dragon Corp and a patch with a curved line forming wings. A dark gem, shaped like a diamond, protruded from his chest just above the insignia. From what Benjamin told Evelyn of the military, she deduced that indicated his rank. Under his rank were many patches in the shape of horizontal bars of various colors. The meaning of them eluded Evelyn. His face bore the wear of aging similar to her fathers. He stared through Benjamin, who was now standing at attention, raising a hand to his heart in salute, his uniform now looking drab and boring in comparison, his plain, gray jacket barren of patches, bar the insignia of the City Guard. Benjamin's face was as stiff as the rest of his body, locking his body up in the pose.

“C-captain Oliver, sir,” Benjamin hoarsley greeted.

“Officer Eir.” Captain Oliver nodded his head in greeting toward Benjamin. “At ease. It is a pleasure to see you again. I take it you will soon be on your way to your post?”

Benjamin shuffled his legs apart, lowering his shoulders, but Evelyn could see he was still anything but at ease. “Yes sir, I just had to take my sister home from work.” Benjamin briefly glanced at Evelyn.

The rider shifted his attention to Evelyn. Just a glance from his dark-green eyes locked her in place. “So that must mean you are Evelyn Eir, Veterinarian technician for Dr. Mary O’conner. Just the person I wanted to meet.” He took a step toward her. Evelyn flinched, taking a moment to realize the rider had extended his hand out. She shot a look at Benjamin. He hinted to her to shake his hand. With a twitch of hesitation, she took his hand into hers. When their hands met, a burst of energy surged shot from his palm into hers, racing through her veins. She tried to pull back, but something held her arm in place. Captain Oliver’s grip was firm, but the force he used would not be enough to hold her. Her gaze locked with his, doing her best to not show the shock and worry on her face.

“It has come to my attention that you were recently accepted into the Dragon Care Academy. While I was in town, I saw fit to come congratulate you in person. Fioren and I greatly appreciate the work you healers do for us.” His face was unreadable. He sounded genuine, however, his previously stoic face lightened with a barely noticeable grin; One that upon first glance was harmless and appreciative, but something felt wrong about it. To Evelyn, the grin felt wicked, as if he found something he was looking for.

“Thank you, sir,” Evelyn hesitantly replied.

“Perhaps one day you will tend to Fioran. Have you seen a dragon in person before?”

Evelyn’s shoulders raised with her breath in an attempt to quell her rapidly beating heart. “No, I haven’t had the honor of that yet. That is my hope when I start at the academy. I really love animals, but dragons seemed beyond anything I would work with as a veterinarian.”

The rider nodded, taking a step back. “Most definitely. Given your love for animals, you probably go into the forest quite often. Have you been there recently?”

Before she could answer, the most incriminating sound possible rang in her ears.

CRACK

Her breathing ceased, chest tightening. Not now, why now? She thought in a panic, trying to send her feelings, her thoughts to the unborn dragonet to stay in the egg just a little bit longer. With a little luck maybe Oliver would think the wood of the barn walls creaking, or the barn door swaying on its rails.

CRACK

There was no alternative Evelyn could think of for it a second time. Before she would try to escape, she looked to her brother, hoping he understood and would have a plan. To her surprise, her brother was not ready to flee, not ready to fight, just the way he was before. It was as if he did not hear the egg. A quick glance between her father and the captain revealed that none of them reacted either. Could she have imagined the sound? It seemed so real.

Then a flurry of emotions flooded her. The need to burst free from her confinement and explore the world. The rush of eagerness and altruism. It became clear that she was not imagining the sound. But why could only she hear it? She tried again to send her own emotions to the egg, willing the dragonet to not hatch, doing so in vain as Delain’s son resisted her wish. Looking back at Oliver, she finally answered him. “Not recently, I’ve been too busy.”

With a raised eyebrow, Captain Oliver said, “Interesting, because I noticed some relatively fresh tracks leading from your yard into the forest. Are you sure you have not?”

As Evelyn opened her mouth to respond, she heard her fathers voice call out. “My Wife.” Everyone turned to Anderson, his sudden interruption. “Their mother went into the forest around that time to visit her hometown. She has not returned since then.”

Captain Oliver raised an eyebrow. “I see, where would that be?”

Evelyn became curious herself. She knew her mother well, but she always assumed that Dahlia had lived in Banrigh her whole life. Though in that moment, she realized how naive of an assumption that was.

Anderson clenched his jaw before answering, “Midrib. She hails from Midrib.”

The rider hummed inquisitively, scratching his chin. “So she is of Faiyan descent,” he muttered. After a moment of pondering, he turned to Evelyn and gave her a nod. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Evelyn. I am sure you will get to meet Fioran soon.” He gave the others a nod before exiting the barn, the door sliding shut behind him.

The family stood in silence, listening as the heavy footsteps faded into the distance. A moment passed, everyone anxiously waiting for something to happen, for Oliver to come back in a rage. Once they were sure he was gone, Anderson turned to his children, his brows furrowed. “Quickly and quietly, you two tell me what happened.”

The siblings looked at each other, Evelyn trying to read Benjamin’s face. He was not subtle with his idea. With the shake of his head, Benjamin made clear he did not want their father to know about—

CRACK

Everyone froze. That crack was clearly audible, not just in her head. Anderson glanced over to the trap door, then back at Evelyn. With a lump in her throat, Evelyn hurried to the haystack, kneeling down to uncover the door. If the egg was going to hatch, she needed to be there to meet Delain’s son. “I think it’s best that I show you.” She flung the plank up, revealing the cracked, yellow egg sitting atop the medallions and trinkets. AS if the dragon were holding his paw up to Evelyn’s, upon her touching the cool, hard exterior, she felt a bump from within. Expecting to see shock and horror on his face, She was surprised to see her father overcome with unvexed worry and sorrow. “His mother gave him to me, Dad. Ben had nothing to-”

“Evelyn,” Anderson started, cutting her off. “Ben clearly knows what is going on. Tell me everything.”

As she opened her mouth to respond, another crack sounded as she felt something hit her cheek. Looking down, she saw a small yellow fragment of eggshell. The egg now had a long crack right under her hand. With another nudge from within the egg, the crack grew and the shell started splitting. With a glance through the crack, she could see a yellow, rounded snout poking at the eggs hardened interior. From the limited information she could gather, she knew dragon eggs typically hatched alone, something about dragons being independent, strong beings from birth. So she resisted the overwhelming urge to help the hatchling.

They watched in various states of awe as the little dragonet finally broke through and destroyed the outer shell, flopping onto the ground in front of Evelyn. His scales were a bright, golden yellow, a pattern of black diamonds striped down his side and his tail. Two horns barely protruded from his skull just behind his sharp ears; they were just nubs that had a lot of growing to do. The dark yellow spines on his back were curved back, the tips rounded. Evelyn estimated he was about the size of a large dog, perhaps just smaller than a Mastiff.

Eyes still closed, he reached out his black talons at her. While the emotions were clouded before, they were now clear and defined as a strong pulse of desire radiated in Evelyn’s heart. She instinctively placed her hand on his talons, barely able to cover his paw. To her surprise, he was warm to the touch. A weak power of electricity radiated from his scales, almost humming with magical potential. With a smile, Evelyn gently patted his paw and watched as he opened his big, pearlescent blue eyes. Their gazes met and Evelyn felt her whole body warm with shared joy.

“Grldabu,” the hatchling gurgled in greeting, revealing his small, sharp teeth.

“Hello there, little one. It’s nice to finally meet you,” she whispered.

With a happy squeak, the dragon nudged her chest with his snout and let out what sounded like a purr. Petting his head, Evelyn tried to the moment; a moment cut short by her father clearing his throat, winning the attention of her and the dragon.

“Sorry we have to cut this short, but you must get that to safety. Evelyn, did you understand that dragon’s mother?”

She nodded.

“That’s what I feared. There is another trap door in this hole. It leads to a tunnel that takes you deep into the forest. Once out, go to Cove and find a man named Isak Elvar. Take this and the dragon. Show him the medallion and he will aid you.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“What about you?” Benjamin asked.

“I will cover your tracks, just keep Evelyn safe. You need to go now.”

“We should talk about this, make a plan for us all!” Benjamin exclaimed.

“There is no time, look.” Anderson motioned to the walls, thick vines quickly climbing up the walls nearing the ceiling, similar to the ones Evelyn found where Delain once laid. She could hear faint murmuring on the other side of the door, familiarity ringing with the voices. Before she could ponder further, the barn door shattered in a ball of flames. Splinter pelted Evelyn as she shielded the hatchling from the blast. “Go, now!”

The second trap door was under a mix of medallions and dirt, Evelyn was in such a rush to hide the egg, so she missed it. With a nudge from Evelyn, the dragon slid into the dark hole, followed by Evelyn. Moving the dragon out of the way, she watched Benjamin follow after a moment. The light from above was snuffed out as their father closed the door above, leaving the siblings in darkness.

“Let’s go,” Benjamin said as he squeezed past Evelyn and the dragon. She glanced back at the trap door then to the dragon, or where she assumed he was.

“Can you walk… um…” She started, realizing the dragonet had no name yet, something she would have to rectify soon.

The dragon responded with a low, unsure growl. “Grblbl…”

Evelyn knelt down, extending her arms. “Alright, I’ll try to carry you.” Dull claws rested on Evelyn’s shoulder, his scaly cheek rubbed against hers as she wrapped her arms around his waist. With a grunt, she lifted the dragon up, her legs telling her she should have exercised them more frequently in the past. His weight made her stumble back a step. Once she gained her balance, she felt like she was just holding a scared, tired dog. A dog that was going to grow and gain unimaginable powers. “Let’s g—” As she took her first step, a large boom muffled through the ceiling above, dirt and dust raining down. Her heart dropped into her gut. Her father couldn’t have been in the middle of that, could he? The dragon's tail wrapped tightly around her waist, a pitiful whimper vibrated in his throat.

“Run!” Benjamin called out, pulling on Evelyn’s shoulder to guide her through the darkness. They ran for what felt like an eternity, the burden of carrying a hatchling slowing their pace. Once they were out of range of the noises from above, they slowed to a quick walk; the dragon relaxed the tail that constricted Evelyn and loosened his grip on her shoulders, giving her a slight increase in range of motion. For a while, they kept moving, stopping to make sure they were not followed on occasion. No sign of any riders or dragons tailing them, providing Evelyn as minimal relief as possible at the moment. Her legs faded into numbness, her knees buckling beneath her.

“Ben, can we stop for a moment?” She panted heavily, sweat dripping into her eyes.

Concern floated into her heart. “Stlrp,” the dragon muttered, almost sounding like a word. As much as she’d like to be impressed by how quickly he was picking up words, holding his weight up for this long forced her to focus on keeping her legs from crumbling.

“No, we need… to keep going.” Benjamin’s words wavered. His labored breath echoed against the dirt walls, then the pounding sound of a body hitting the wall, sliding down slowly.

“What’s wrong? Are you alright?” She called out, gently setting the dragon down. Unable to see anything, she held out her arms, trying to feel for her brother. The smooth, wet surface she ended up touching felt like the shape of his head, strings of hair dangling against her fingers. Assuming he was sweaty, her hand recoiled. She wiped her hands against her scrubs. When she whipped away her own sweat, the familiar, iron scent of blood filled her nostrils. She quickly tried to scan his head for the injury, but to no avail.

As if he could sense her panic, Ben chuckled. “I’m fine, I just… need a moment to rest.”

“No, you’re hurt. I need to stop this bleeding; can’t have you passing out from blood loss,” she said half jokingly. She knew there was little chance of that, but without seeing the wound, she could not be sure how much blood he was actually losing. “I’m already carrying one heavy creature, I don’t need another. If only we had some light in here.”

“Light?”

Evelyn jerked her head back at the dragon. “Did… you say that?”

“Say what?” Benjamin responded to the question.

“No, not you.” She scolded Benjamin.

“Light!” The walls of the tunnel began to illuminate, color being brought to life around her tinted with the yellow light. She turned to the source, shielding her eyes from the blinding light that shone from the dragon's scales with a low hum of magic.

“How… His scales are…” Evelyn shook her head, this was her opportunity to assess her brother's injury. Half of his face was crimson with spilled blood. The source, a gash just above his eye, swelled, blood slowly escaping the opening. A piece of the door must have struck him when it exploded. Her anxiety dipped for the moment. “It looks worse than it is, but we need to get that cut covered. You also could have a concussion. Once we’re out, I can better evaluate you.”

“Don’t worry, I told you I’m fine.” Benjamin sat up straight, taking his guard uniform jacket off, folding it into a makeshift bandage and wrapping it around his forehead, tying it tight enough to press hard against the wound, slowing the blood flow to a light trickle. He stood up and shot a glare at the illuminated dragon. “That thing is bright, did you know it could do that?”

“I’m just as surprised as you. He even said ‘light’ as he did it.”

Benjamin rolled his eyes. “Sure, tell him to keep doing that so we can see where we’re going.”

Evelyn turned to the dragon, squinting into the bright light. “Can you stay illuminated?”

The dragon let out a shaky grumble as his scales dimmed slowly, fading back into their normal state, returning them to the eery dark. A grumble came from Benjamin’s direction “Of course it can’t, just great.”

“Scales hurt,” the dragon whimpered. His scales dimly lit once again. Muscles tightened, a grimace on his face, he was struggling to maintain the light.

“Don’t push yourself, we’ll manage.” Evelyn gently picked the dragon back up and turned to follow Benjamin, who was continuing down the tunnel. There was a long, squeaky yawn in her ear just before the dragon cradled his head into the crook of her neck. With him now asleep, she no longer worried about his anxiety and fright and could focus on her own. Dad… she thought. There was little hope of him getting out of the barn before the explosion they heard above, but hope nonetheless. At least he allowed them to escape. Why there was a tunnel underneath the barn and why Anderson knew about the medallion stash perplexed Evelyn. What was he and their mother up to?

Mom! If their father involved her in this, surely they’d go to Midrib and find their mother. How is she going to react to all of this, her home destroyed and family presumed dead? Trying to wrap her head around this mess was for naught, nothing made sense anymore. It was as if their happy, normal life was just a façade, forced into some scheme involving the group Delain was looking for. At least this means I didn’t completely lie to Delain.

Even if she could see him, Evelyn would have no idea what was going through Benjamin’s mind. He was a stickler for rules, hence why he joined the Guard Corp. This situation had to be eating him from the inside out, but she had no clue what to even say, lest he give her something to respond to. His silence was deafening to her.

After a while, they caught the first glimmer of light in hours. With a resurgence of energy, the siblings trotted to the source of the light. A boulder half the size of Benjamin was outlined in yellow-orange light, blocking the hole to the overground. Benjamin pushed on it, unable to dislodge the makeshift door.

“Help me with this, will you?”

Evelyn slowly laid the dragon on the ground, easing his head onto the dirt. His light blue eyes fluttered open, letting out a long, drawn out yawn. Evelyn positioned herself next to her brother, bracing her stance before pushing the boulder with Benjamin. It slowly inched away before tumbling out of the hole.

The warm, evening air filled Evelyn with rejuvenation, clearing her lungs of the stuffy, stagnant air of the tunnel. Light from the setting sun mottled through the leaves above was blinding after being in the dark for so long, as if she were looking directly at the dragon lighting up again. While Benjamin looked at his phone, Evelyn turned to bring the dragon into the open, only to see him crawl out of the hole himself, wobbling as he tried to remain upright. He padded to Evelyn, chest puffed out and head high.

“I walk!” He proclaimed.

“Great job,” she said, patting his head with heavy arms that wished he could have done that hours ago.

A hand tapped her shoulder, bringing her attention to her brother. He held his phone in an outstretched hand toward Evelyn. “Hand me your phone,” he requested with a tone of authority.

“Why?”

“They can be used to track us, we need to destroy them.”

Despite the dire situation, crushing her phone seemed devastating. “Are you sure? Won’t we need the map on them to know where we’re going?”

“I already checked, we are thirty miles west of Cove.” Benjamin lifted his hand closer, forcing Evelyn to reluctantly relent. He took their phones and placed them where the boulder once laid. “Now help me close this.” They pushed the boulder back into place, covering the hole once more, the sound of plastic and electronics cracking and shattering harmonizing with the shifting dirt around the stone.

Finally able to give their feet a break, the sibling slumped against a tree. Evelyn's body cried out, aching all over. She’d exercised before, but never to this extent, this was a new level of exhaustion. Heavy eyelids slowly faded her world to black, shooting open again when the scaly head of a dragon laid in her lap. His body curled around hers, similar to the way she curled around his egg every night in the barn.

Do dragons hear and learn while still in the egg? It would explain why he is able to speak so soon. There is so much I need to learn, she thought.

“Are you going to name that thing?” Benjamin's inquiry caught Evelyn off guard. He was right, the dragonet needed a name. So much had happened, she forgot all the names she thought of while he was in the egg and never got the chance to steady her mind to think of more, especially after he illuminated himself.

“That’s it.” She looked down at the dragon, bright eyes beating up at her curiously. “How does Lumin sound?”

“Really? Lumin is what you’re going with?” Benjamin questioned apathetically.

“Lumin,” the dragon repeated. “I like, me Lumin!” Lumin’s tail thumped her side as it swung back and forth.

With a giggle, Evelyn said, “he says he likes it, so Lumin it is.” Benjamin rolled his eyes. Getting the first good look at his head since Lumin brightened the tunnel, she noticed the blood covering part of his face dried up. No fresh blood seeped from the makeshift bandage. “Do you want me to take a better look at that cut?” Despite the lack of fresh blood, the possibility of infection worried her.

Benjamin shook his head, interlacing his fingers behind his head. “No, get some rest. We have a long walk tomorrow, I’ll keep watch.”

“You need sleep, too. Promise me.”

“Stop worrying, I’ll rest once I know we’re safe.” His gaze was fixed forward, staring into the abyss of the forest. His expression was unreadable, emotionless. With a defeated sigh, she leaned her head against the bark, placing her arm around Lumin as her eyes slowly closed, letting her exhaustion win the battle, dragging her into a deep slumber.