The Findings

Iris

“I am going outside.” I said as everyone played board games and the thunder roared and the lightning struck the ground.

“No, daughtren. You cannot go out in a storm like this. It is to dangerous for you or even Lolo. Amilia, calm down. The kids will be okay.” My father, Tara, said as he we all watched her pace and look through the window periodically.

“I need to find them or something bad might happen. I don’t know what it would be.” I said as lightning struck the ground and the power in the house went out.

“Fear not dear children. To search for them, I have sent a wren.” A female voice said as a puff of gray and white mist appeared out of thin air.

The smoke cleared and we saw a tall young lady wearing a white suit and a sword within its sheath. We looked at her, awestruck and confused.

“Are you the Fae known as Sparky?” I asked her as noticed my mom walking toward her.

“Indeed, Iris. What seems to be the predicament here?” She asked as she bowed.

“Your Storm Lightningbird, the Fae that help my great grandmayma Cotton Eye.” Deera said as she took something out of her hair.

“I see you have the family heirloom passed down from Cotton Eye, to her daughter, Corn Flower, to her son Draco who gave it to Lavender who now passed it down to you, Deera. She has kept her promise to pass her story down and you see they are true.” Storm said with a smile.

“I am going out there, whether or not you like it.” I snapped and left out the front door as the rain poured down.

I transformed into my Draginucous form and tucked my wings as I ran off. I ran down the streets and down the alleys. I stopped for a moment and saw something golden in the sky. I flew up to the sky and got to the golden glows level. I flew faster and above him. I saw a field below the golden glow. The golden glow was a Golden Draginucous. I closed my wings and I hit smack dab onto this Draginucous’ back with no issue. It caused him to go off balance and we tumbled through the sky, falling… falling… until it crashed into the muddy ground. Lightning struck a tree nearby as I looked at who this Draginucous was.

“Who are you? Why are you in the sky near my home?” I asked as the glow of the fire from the tree lit up the area near us.

“It is me, you idiotic girl!! It is only your Uncle Killer!! Get off me so we can get out of here!” Killer snarled at me as he pushed me off as we heard crackling from the fire nearby.

He stood up and stretched his wings out. He took off to the sky as a burning branch landed on my tail as I went to take off. I screamed and Killer kept flying away. I landed and I screeched as I heard a quite a few footsteps running toward me then, everything went silent as the rain came pouring down. I looked around and couldn’t see anyone. I was soaked… I was alone and cold. I laid down and I heard rustling near by as the rain slowed down once more. Then there was nets everywhere and I was pinned by these nets and a cover was set over my body and I heard talk from the two I could see in front of me as I felt something poke or pinch my thigh.

“Kuyini lesi sidalwa? Gcina ukhonjiwe! Asifuni ukuba avuke! What is this creature? Keep her pinned! We don't want her to get up!” A male voice said in Zulu as he pointed at me.

“Angazi. Ngicabanga ukuthi ingabe i-Dragon Kin. I don’t know. I wonder if she is a Dragon Kin.” Another male said as he looked at me with curiousity.

They came closer to me as I went to stand up. I fought the nets that draped over me, but it wasn’t for long. I fell to the ground out of breath as one went to touch my head. I growled as his hand got closer. He pulled his hand away and motioned for something to be moved forward. I heard multiple clicks and a couple of people climb over something metal. They closed the cover and the rain poured down as the nets were cut.

“Release her!!” Someone yelled from across the way.

The last rope was cut, and I ran straight forward until… BANG!!! I hit the front of a cage. Flashbacks went through my head as an engine revved up and we started to move. I screeched but no answer. They put a cover over the cage as we moved away from the area I was hurt. I transformed back into my human form and started to cry. A few hours later, we had arrived in a town that was cheering. I peered out the back of the cage where the cloth was split. I could see a town and a bunch of Vulcanites following the truck. The truck stopped and I heard someone clear their throat.

“Sibambe isidalwa esingavamile ku-zoo yethu!! We have caught a rare creature for our zoo!!” A male voice yelled as the cover was pulled from over the cage.

“What is this creature? She look human!” A young woman said in English the best she could.

“We think she is a… What the fuck? Where is the creature we caught last night?” The male asked as he looked down at me.

“Wh… what creature?” I asked with innocence.

“We caught what looked like a Dragon Kin, you bitch.” He snapped at me.

“Don’t call me a wench, or else.” I snarled at him as I hit the front of the cage, causing him to fall down.

He climbed down and opened the cage as he said, “You i-bitch!!”

I transformed into my Draginucous form like what they captured last night, and he closed the cage door. I stayed silent as I hit the cage door with my head.

“She is no rare creature!! She is a Dragon Kin, Sergeant Herald. She is the one you said, and I quote, ‘High Commission Baldur, Nancy, Drake and I need to find that girl and study her.’ Unquote. Is that not what you said?” A young lady said as she held her head down with a hood upon her head.

“Yes. She is going into the Zoo so we can study her better. Put her in the Dragon Fighting Ring for now!! Put a muzzle on her also while you’re at it.” Herald yelled as he hit the cage door.

The truck started to move, and I hit the side of the cage, causing the truck and the cage to flip over. The cage door opened up as I stood up and started to walk out. Then, ropes and chains were thrown around my neck and feet. They pulled the ropes and chains tight, which caused me to fall to the ground. They tied my wings down and put a muzzle over my nose. I pulled away from them, but the muzzle stayed there on my face. I growled as I fought the ropes and the chains as they pulled me away from the truck to something called the Dragon fighting arena.

“Let her go, guys!!” One of them yelled as they got to the entrance of the arena.

They all let go and everything except for the Muzzle got loose. I stood up as they all backed away. I turned around to see them close a big metal door. I turned around as I heard a wooden door creak open. I walked over to it to see that there were actually different types of Draginucous in this arena. There was the Wooden Draginucous, Metal Benders, Air Makers, Fire Flickers, War Machines, Aggressive ones and Water Hummers. The only one they were missing was… a Black Draginucous… like me. I walked out and the wooden doors stayed open. The other Draginucous stared at me like I was a threat. A red eyed Draginucous with blue fur and broken horns walked up to me.

“Who art thou enters thy arena?” He asked as he looked at me up and down.

“I am Daru Daru, a Black Draginucous. You must be Droopy’s older brother, Draconian the Aggressive.” I said as the muzzle made me look weak.

“Weak are you or strong, are you?” He asked as he grabbed the front of the muzzle and put my head down to where the strap showed.

He growled and I felt his warm breath upon my neck. He gently grabbed the strap and pulled up with it. It pushed against my face as he pulled. He took his paw and cut the muzzle strap. He let go of it and I stood up. The muzzle was no longer on my face. I looked at him and bowed my head in respect. He growled and walked away.

“Fight me, young dark one. See who is strongest.” He challenged me.

“No, Draconian. I will not fight you.” I answered back as I stood my ground, spread my wings wide open and I noticed that there was some… no… a lot of Vulcanites gathering around the top of the arena.

The other Dragon Kins backed away into where I came out. Those doors closed, leaving Draconian and I in the arena. The top of the arena was chains and he lifted his arms which had his wings on them.

“Draconian!! I don’t want to fight you! I want to be friends!!” I snarled at him as I lowered my body.

“Fight thy leader known as Draconian!!” He snarled as he lunged at me and the crowd cheered.

I dodged and he started to crawl all over the walls as I watched his every movement. He roared and jumped at me again. I moved as he launched toward my wings. I tucked them in and jumped up onto the top of the stone wall where the chains met with them. I looked down at him and growled. He hit the ground, face first as I climbed back down the wall. He and I fought like that for almost two hours with him breathing fire and I, dodging his attacks. He sat up, shook his head and looked right at me. He was breathing hard and I noticed his right eye was hurt and blood was running down his face. He growled and lunged at me again. I stood there, hoping that he hurts me. No, that is not what happened. He stopped right in front of me and bowed. I changed into my human form and sat on the ground. He did the same and sat right in front me.

“I… I submit.” He said while out of breath.

“Let me help you heal, Draconian. I know how to use magic, or I can use my medicinal kit with you.” I said with a smile.

“Can you use the kit on me, so you don’t have to waste your energy?” He asked me as he looked at me with worry,

“Not an issue, my dear blue brother.” I said with a wider smile.

I stood up and walked over to him. I grabbed the vial and a rag that was in the bag I kept with me all the time. I opened the bottle with my teeth and put a little bit of the goop that came out onto the rag. I told him to hold still and he just sat there like a statue. I dabbed it on the wound where his right eye was, and he flinched as it stung the wound. I put a gauze pad over the eye and then wrapped it, so the gauze stayed in place. I got done and put my supplies away. He looked at me and he slightly smiled at me. I helped him stand up and he bowed to me.

“What are you doing?” I asked him as I watched him kneel down on one knee, fist over his heart and leaned slightly forward.

“Bowing to thy new leader, of course.” He answered me as the door opened and out walked the others.

They gathered behind him and bowed down to me. I shook my head as I heard a loud ringing in my ears. I put my hands over my ears, and I screeched. The ringing in my ears continued until I punched the concrete wall. My punch caused a hole in the wall and the others were now on their Draginucous forms except for Draconian. He watched me as I paced back and forth… back and forth.

“Kuyathakazelisa. Akaphenduli ngendlela efanayo neye-Dragon Kin. Udinga ukuhlukaniswa ngokushesha. Interesting. She doesn't respond the same way as the other Dragon Kin. She needs to be separated immediately.” I heard Herald say as I looked up at the chain roof.

“Inohlonze impela. Mbuyisele kulelo gumbi kuze kuphinde kubonwe okunye. Ngubani esingamethemba ukuthi uzokuthumela ukuze sazi ukuthi udla hlobo luni lokudla? Very interesting. Get her back in that room until further notice. Who can we trust to send in, so we know what kind of food she eats?” A female said as she looked at Herald.

“Put chains around her wrists and bring her to the palace. The King would like to see this young thing in person, Nancy.” I recognized that voice as Drake.

“Why me? Are you that crazy? Do you see how many Dragon Kins there are down there? I will be slaughtered within minutes.” The woman I now recognized as Nancy said.

I spun around, looked up at the three of them and snarled, “No.”

They looked at me surprised at what I responded with. I growled and climbed up the wall. I got to the chains and climbed through. They backed up a little bit as I stepped through.

“Can you not see they are miserable?” I asked them as I fell to my knees.

When my knees hit the concrete floor, they noticed the bandage on my lower right leg. Nancy lifted the hood off of her head and Drake stared at me. Herald walked up towards me but stayed a full 10 feet away from me.

“How can you tell they are miserable?” Herald asked me.

“I know because that place is boring as all get out. Fighting is not the answer for entertainment for us. We need something else to do. Please, let us go instead of keeping us.” I begged as I sat there looking at Herald with pleading eyes.

“No!! You are to go to the King so he can see you.” Herald snapped at me as he put chains around my wrists and tightened them.

He dropped the chains into Nancy’s hands and walked away from us angrily. Nancy walked toward a tall and grand sight of a castle that was about 30 miles away. We started on our long but silent journey to the castle as it started to sprinkle.