“Honestly, at this point I just want to see if there is anything here. Father was so sure, but I wonder if he was just as stubborn as my uncle, only to the opposite extreme. I want to know where we came from. We have a lost history, and I want to be able to share it with my descendents. We live in the age of information and I think it’s important that we learn where we came from so that we can better know where we’re going.”
“I can understand that. I came here to get closer to my parents. But there’s so much that I never realized…”
“If they were anything like you, I can understand why my father chose your parents to come here,” Thomas said. “I am truly sorry about everything. I hated lying to you Amber. I hope that we can have a fresh start.”
“I suppose that saving my life a couple of times makes up for that,” I said. Thomas reached out and slid his hand over mine. The touch of him was warm and exciting, and I didn’t pull my hand away. Yet when I drew near him, I couldn’t help but remember that he was a dragon. I knew I should have been frightened, freaked out, but after talking with him it seemed somewhat…normal. Perhaps it was just because I was on a deserted island, but I’d always assumed there were secrets in the world, and I couldn’t very well ignore what I had seen with my own eyes, and I couldn’t resist the attraction I felt for Thomas either. It had been simmering in my heart since we had first met and had only grown during our time on the island. Now, I felt closer to him than ever, for I knew that we were struggling with the same issues. I looked deep in his eyes and felt the world melt away. This man had saved my life twice now, and I was eternally grateful. I squeezed his hands and he shifted closer towards me. The air sizzled with the heat from his body and I met his lips as he touched mine, enjoying the warm burst of passion that flowed through my body. I cupped my hand against his cheek and moaned softly, before we heard noise behind us. William had returned.
12
I broke away from Thomas, a little embarrassed. William pursed his lip and stared at us for a couple of moments. He had cleaned off the blood, although he still looked drained.
“Shall we continue?” he asked.
Thomas leaped up and held a hand, helping me up.
“I am curious about something though, if you’re dragons then surely you can fly around this island and explore it in a way that I never could. Why do you need me here in the first place?” I asked.
“Because you’re the expert. You’ve been training for this your entire life, we haven’t,” William said. I wasn’t used to receiving praise from him. When I looked at him I blushed, confused as to whether I was actually attracted to him or if I was just transferring my feelings for Thomas. And then, in the back of my mind, there was Bobby as well. I felt bad that he didn’t mean more to me, but I was intrigued by the mystery of Dragon Island and these two men. My blood sang with excitement.
“You know how to put things into context, how to read the landscape in ways that we can’t. We have done a recon of the island, but we haven’t seen anything obvious. Now that you know the truth, do you have any other theories about where we should look?”
I considered the matter for a moment. “I suppose it depends on a couple of things. Do you know if you ancestors spent more time as dragons or as humans? If it’s the latter than we might well find the remains of a settlement in the heart of the jungle, but if they preferred to live as dragons then it’s more likely that the lair will be in a mountain. I don’t presume to speak for you, but I imagine dragons would prefer to live in places near the air so they can fly and swoop down to the jungle to hunt.”
“That makes sense,” Thomas said. We all looked up at the mountains that threatened to pierce the sky. They looked ominous and foreboding.
“It would explain why my parents stayed where they
did. I imagine if they had found an old ruin, they would have tried to take advantage of it and turned it into a new home, but if the dragons of old stayed in the mountains they’d be unable to get up there. It doesn’t look like they’re easy to climb,” I said. From what I could see the mountains were sheer rock.
“A place that only dragons can access,” William said. He looked at Thomas and nodded.
“Wait!” I said. I knew what they were thinking, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to go flying again. “Before we leave, I want to bury Vincent. I think it’s the right thing to do.”
“We don’t have time,” William said.
“Actually, I think time is the one thing we do have an abundance of,” I snapped back. “I haven’t been able to bury anyone on this trip, not even my parents. Duncan and Daniel were lost to the sea, and it just feels wrong to leave Vincent laid out there like that. He was a good man, and he deserves more than just to be left to rot in the middle of a jungle. I know I’d want to be treated with a bit of dignity if anything happened to me.”
The brothers looked at each other and nodded.
“I’ll go and fetch the crate,” William said. I was glad to hear him say that as it gave me and Thomas a chance to spend a little more time together and explore our attraction. But, to my dismay, Thomas instantly told William not to worry and that he would go and fetch the crate himself because he felt like stretching his wings. I tried to hide my disappointment as I didn’t want to appear rude to William, but when we walked away from Thomas I did feel as though I was missing out on something.
We entered the jungle and I heard the sound of thrashing wings behind me. I twisted my neck round, but only caught a glimpse of a tail as Thomas swooped around the island and returned to the beach. My gaze continually darted towards William and I wondered what he looked like when he was a dragon.
“I’m sorry about your family. Thomas told me what happened,” I said, hoping to at least find some common ground with the man since we were going to be stuck on this island for a little while.
“What’s done is done,” he said curtly. We walked through the path, through all the vines and branches that we had raced through until we reached the site of the battle again, where the boar’s body lay next to Vincent. The boar seemed immense, and it was amazing to me that William had been able to slay the creature, but then again he was a dragon.
“I’m surprised you didn’t burn him with your breath,” I said, trying to make light of the situation. William glared at me. “I’m not going to start a fire here. The jungle would go up and we’d all be burnt in the inferno. I didn’t actually change into a dragon, I managed to slice the boar’s throat. It was a hell of a thing though. For a moment there, I thought I was a goner.”
I thought so too, but I didn’t say that. Knowing he hadn’t changed into a dragon cast William into a new light. While Thomas had saved me, William had charged into danger, all to avenge a man that he hadn’t shown any sign that he liked.
“Why did you do it?” I asked. He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Why did you fight the boar? You could have ran away with us, but you were already moving when Vincent turned to fight. I didn’t think you even liked him that much, or any of us for that matter.”
“I did something better than like him; I respected him. Any man who can turn and face a boar like that has my respect. I wanted to make sure that his sacrifice wasn’t in vain. I wish I could have saved him, he was a good man. And you’re right, he probably does deserve some dignity in death, although I’m not sure how you suggest we should go about digging a grave for him.”
He was right. In my haste I hadn’t thought about the fact that we didn’t have a shovel. I looked around to try and see if there was anything that we could use as a replacement, but the branches didn’t seem sturdy enough.
“I guess we’ll just use our hands,” I said, and walked forward to start digging with my nails. As I did so, William reached out and held me back. He shook his head and smirked. He walked forward, arched his head back and his body began to tremble. I instinctively turned my gaze away, knowing that I was witnessing something private and sacred, but I was unable to resist looking. I saw him hold his arms out. They became the wings, joining and spreading out from his back. His skin turned to green scales, his thick hide glistening under the light from the sun. His head lengthened and a snout grew. Great talons grew from his feet and sharp teeth snapped in a powerful jaw. I was left breathless by the sight of such majesty. The dragon was something out of myth, and seeing it was still surreal. His tail swayed behind him as he reared up and slammed his claws into the earth, bringing up mud, flinging it behind him. I had to step out of the way so as not to receive a mouthful of dirt. I used the opportunity to look at the dragon more closely, for when Thomas had appeared to me, I was so shocked I had only taken a cursory glance. Now I looked at the details, at the way its neck sloped into its spine, at how the scales were formed so perfectly together, and how the wings beat back to help him keep his balance. The tail ended in a sharp point, and I was utterly in awe of this creature.