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Chapter 3
It had been three weeks since Jacelyn started her training and her skills had improved greatly. Although she barely remembered the basic fighting techniques that were taught to her when she was young, she quickly and easily mastered the lessons. Normal humans couldn’t learn to fight as quickly as she did, but neither Jack nor Ezra cared considering that they might be pressed for time should a pack of demons arise to take over the town.
Jack watched on as she attacked a straw dummy designed to look like Ezra. She developed a catlike grace in her attacks, obviously from some shattered pieces of memory left within her. But she also had a good balance between cunning and brute force, a skill passed on from Ezra. He felt a weight on his shoulder and found Lilly’s blue eyes watching him.
“Hello there my little Lilly-of-the-Valley, come to watch her train too?”
She responded by jumping off his shoulder and curling up on his lap. Her eyes flashed with concern for him. Because of her inability to speak, Jack felt safe to tell her his innermost thoughts and feelings. Lilly was also a very understanding young dragon, so he could talk about the darkest of subjects and she wouldn’t think any less of him.
“Look at her Lilly, she may have her mother’s physical appearance, but she also has her father’s attitude and spirit. It’s because of that spirit that I don’t despise her. It feels like my best friend is back even though he is hidden in a body that resembles my enemy. I suppose it’s a good thing that Jacelyn looks like Fiora. No one can have an excuse to hate her as long as she doesn’t resemble Jason or me.”
The small green beast shook her head and made little grunting noises in reply, making Jack laugh a little.
“I suppose you’re right! No one does seem to like her because of that Dragoncurse attitude of hers. I guess because her father is descended from Seluja Dragoncurse, she couldn’t live with kind, positive people and so she adopted a cold attitude to protect herself. That must be why she has her daddy’s spirit, because anyone with the blood of Dragoncurse are the most hated scum on the earth.” He paused when he felt a presence behind him, “How long have you been there, boy?”
“I only heard the part about Dragoncurses being scum or something like that,” Ezra reassured cheerfully as he sat down beside him and bit into an apple he had brought with him. Ever since Jacelyn’s fighting had improved, she managed to get a few kicks and punches to him in the last few matches, leaving him with bruises all over his exposed arms.
“You know, not everyone hates Dragoncurses. My father doesn’t and I don’t either. Heck, I know Chelsea doesn’t hate you, she thinks of you as an uncle!” he added as he remembered the look on his little sister’s face every time he tells a story of their adventures.
“Don’t be naïve!” Jack barked, startling Lilly in the process, “Nejar only accepted me because it was Jason’s dying wish.”
Ezra was unfazed by his outburst, “Even if my father never liked you at first, he still trusted Jason Dragoncurse and when you think about it, he trusts you too. Remember, I am the next heir of Eagle’s Landing and my dad knows better than to put my life into the hands of someone he doesn’t trust.”
Jack couldn’t respond to that. He was more shocked at the fact that Ezra knew Jason’s real surname. It was supposed to a guarded secret to keep Fiora and Jacelyn safe from prejudice. When Jason had first come to Eagle’s Landing, only Fiora and Nejar knew who he was and had helped him hide his identity by changing his name and making him wear dark spectacles. During the brief moment of silence, Ezra finished off his snack and threw the apple core to the side. He then rested his arms on his knees as he stared at Jacelyn down below.
“Hey, Jack? Why does she have fangs? I remember seeing a picture of her when she was five and she didn’t have fangs then so where did they come from?”
“How the hell should I know? She’s not my daughter.”
“…I just thought since you and Jason were close cousins-”
“We just assumed we were cousins,” Jack corrected him, “Before her madness, Seluja had five sons and with the passage of time, her own descendents forgot which son was their ancestor. Besides, I lost touch with Jason when he dropped his name and married Dragonhope, so I wouldn’t know anything about his daughter.”
The last time Jack had seen Jason was when he was on his death bed. He told Jack to watch over and protect his daughter, but failed to mention that he had to go find her first.
“Does it really matter which son you’re descended from?” Ezra wondered as he stretched in the late afternoon light.
“Yeah, it does, because if we knew who we were related to, then everyone wouldn’t hate all the Dragoncurses. Two of Seluja’s sons supported and encouraged her to destroy the world with her powers where as the other two were against it and tried to stop her. As for the fifth and youngest son, no one knows much about him, everyone assumed he was killed when the demons were released.”
“Oh, I see. It’s kinda unfair that people think of you like you were the one who released the demons,” Ezra said sympathetically.
“I don’t need your sympathy…It’s just how life is. Some people can live happy and good lives while others can’t,” Jack muttered as he crossed his arms and glared at the horizon.
“And Jacelyn might suffer too?” he asked quietly while glancing at the slender girl.
“Most likely. It seems that she has already been suffering for the past twelve years. Don’t try too hard to make her happier, you can get pretty annoying,” he warned with a sideways glance before he stood up.
“Roger!” he grinned as he followed suit and stood beside him, “It’s starting to get late so let’s head back to Inn.”
Down at the practice field, Jacelyn had reduced the dummy to a pile of straw. As she sheathed her daggers, she realized that her so-called ‘mentor’ was gone.
“Okay, where did Ass go?” she muttered to herself before she headed back to the Inn. The wooden pole that held up the dummy started to collapse, making her turn and cast a fire spell on it by reflex. Like Phoenix, she was also able to cast spells without chanting. But despite the fact that Jack said it was a rare skill, Ezra and Dojebon also held the same ability.
The sun was starting to set by the time she opened the front doors and entered the lobby. Jack and Ezra were sitting on one of the couches while Phoenix and Lilly slept side by side on an armchair with Dojebon watching over them to make sure Phoenix didn’t do anything to harm his sister.
“Oh, there you are, Ass. I was hoping to kick your face today,” she replied as she approached the two men.
“My poor, sweet, naïve, little darling, this,” Ezra pointed to is face, “…is my face. The part that you have been kicking lately is what I am sitting on right now.”
“Whatever Ass, I call ‘em as I see ‘em.” She plopped down next to Jack on the couch.
“Why do you keep calling me ‘Ass’?” he whined as he leaned forward to gaze at her past Jack.
“Because I have trouble remembering names,” was her reply.
“But you remember Jack’s name and you are a lot nicer to him,” he argued, earning a shrug from her.
It was true. At first she did throw sarcastic remarks at Jack and ended up receiving the same hurtful comments from him. It felt like she was insulting herself every time she said something mean to him. It even made her feel guilty. Dojebon once told her that he was mistreated by everyone just because he was a Dragoncurse. Though she didn’t understand exactly why people hated Dragoncurses, she felt a strange connection with Jack from the fact that he suffered from discrimination just as she did and therefore couldn’t bring herself to verbally torture him. Ezra, however, was a different story. She didn’t feel one bit guilty shredding his dignity as he continued to pester her everyday.
“Leave her alone,” Jack said before she could respond to Ezra, “We have more important things to discuss now.”
Another reason Jacelyn respected Jack was because he didn’t aggravate her. He even refused to reprimand her antagonistic behavior. In fact, he encouraged it.
“What is it?” Jacelyn wondered as she broke away from her glaring contest with Ezra.
“Now that Jacelyn is caught up with her studies, it is time for a pop quiz. Tomorrow we are leaving. We are going to ride with the caravan heading towards Nagendra through the canyon to protect the traders from demons.”
“And where to after that?” Ezra inquired.
“We are eventually heading to Eagle’s Landing.”
Jacelyn’s eyes lit up after those words. He had said that her family was there as well as all the answers to her questions.
Ezra gave Jack a skeptical glance, “You’re actually going to Eagle’s Landing?”
“Yeah, what’s your point?”
“It’s just…well every time I go back to visit the folks, you never go with me. You’re always camping out on a lone plateau somewhere, waiting for me to return,” he explained worriedly as Jack huffed.
“I just don’t like the place, that’s all. ‘Sides, I promised Jacelyn that I’d take her to see her family.”
“What are you talking about Jack!? Her family is-” Ezra froze mid-sentence when he glared at him. It was enough to make Jacelyn suspicious. When she had first met Ezra, he did use the past tense when he said, “Your parents and their dragons were the best hunters back then.” Did that mean that they were…?
“My family is what?” she asked in an awfully quiet voice.
Jack shook his head dismissively, “Nothing, the boy doesn’t know what he is talking about.”
“Okay then. I’m going to bed,” she responded as she cast an unconvinced glance at him. He was hiding something, but what?
“Night, sweetheart,” Ezra called, knowing that she didn’t like being called ‘sweetheart’, as she walked away.
At this she snapped, “Go to hell, Ass!”
“Love you too, babe,” he returned, earning a death glare and a show of fangs from her as she turned a corner. Once he was sure that she was gone, he faced Jack, “Why did you lie to her?”
“I didn’t lie. You were about to say that her family is dead, but really only her father is dead. No one knows what happened to the mother so there’s a pretty good chance that she’s still alive. As for family in Eagle’s Landing, your father desperately wants to see her and I’m assuming that he’s willing to adopt her. Didn’t you say you wanted a sister that was more mature than Chelsea?”
“Haven’t you been paying attention!?” he shouted in horror, “I wanted her to join my family in a different way!”
“What? By marrying her? Please, you only met her three weeks ago. Haven’t you figured out by now that she’s out of your league?” Jack let out a rare smirk and chuckled as Ezra’s face fell.
“That was incredibly mean of you! Who are you anyway? Jacelyn? …And I really mean it this time, it was love at first sight!”
“Yeah, that’s what you said about what’s-her-face ….Rebecca wasn’t it? What ever happened to her?”
“Ah, she dumped me and I was over her when I saw Jacelyn.”
Jacelyn had given up eavesdropping after Jack mentioned something about her being adopted. It was easy to hear them from her door since it was really quiet in the hallway. Her father was dead and her mother was missing. The news hadn’t really upset her too much, after all, she didn’t remember her parents. She could tell Jack was joking when he talked about Ezra’s father wanting to adopt her, but he was serious about him wanting to see her. What could Ezra’s father possibly want with her? Did he know about her family? Could he know where her mother was? She was getting a headache from all of this.
She turned the knob on her door and was about to enter her room when Ezra suddenly asked, “I wonder why my dad wants to see her?”
“Because Jacelyn was kidnapped and taken to Seluja’s secret keep, the Mountain Stone Palace. Nejar was hoping she could lead the main forces there and put an end to all these demons,” Jack answered, “I wonder how he’s going to react to the fact that she lost her memory…”
Jacelyn rested her forehead on the doorframe as the new information settled in. She used to know where the Heart of the Demons lies? This was too much information for her to bear, but she couldn’t stop listening to them. She quietly shut the door behind her and leaned against it.
“Well, we’re screwed,” Ezra sighed eventually, “The Angel of Light goes missing and then the people’s last hope has forgotten her purpose.”
There was a slight pause before Jack yelled, “What the hell was that!? Have you been drinking again?”
“No, I was trying to be poetic,” he retorted before a squeal erupted downstairs. She could hear the men laughing as the dull sound of dragon claws clapping against the hard wooden floor approached her door. Phoenix barged in through the small door for made for pets and climbed on top of her bed.
“What happened to you?” she wondered as he turned three times at the end of her bed like a dog and then curled up like a cat.
“I was taking a nap, minding my own business and then suddenly I woke up and found Lilly next to me and then Dojebon glared at me!”
She giggled at him. If dragons could blush, then Phoenix would have been red all over by now. It was silent in the lobby now, meaning that they had left. She decided to try to forget all that she heard and just focus on tomorrow. It wasn’t her fault she lost her memory, so she wasn’t going to be much help to this Nejar guy. There was no point on dwelling on it anyway. She had gotten enough answers from them; her mother was missing and her father was dead.
Jacelyn moved to lock her door, but was caught off guard when someone knocked.
“Hey, you awake?” It was Ezra.
“What do you want?” she snapped as she backed away.
“I was wondering if you’d like to go out somewhere-”
“What was my answer last night?” she interrupted.
“Um, …no,” he replied.
“Exactly.”
“Suite yourself,” he mumbled before he left. She glared at the door for a few minutes before she purposely collapsed into her bed, forgetting that she hadn’t locked her door.
“I just sent him to go wake up Jacelyn,” he answered before he realized, “…maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.”
Upstairs, Jacelyn awakened to warm sunlight against her face and a dull pounding in her head.
“Wake up, sleeping beauty. We’re leaving today.”
She opened her eyes to find a pair of blue eyes framed by wisps of blonde hair looking down at her. Ezra?
“Wha…?” she croaked before the face lowered down closer to hers as if to kiss her. Jacelyn panicked and took careful aim with her fist before rolling over to push the body off her bed. She soon heard a thud accompanied by a groan as she looked over the edge and found Phoenix on the floor near the end of her bed.
“What was that for!?” he shouted up at her, “Ezra has been knocking on the door for the past ten minutes and suddenly your fist goes up in the air before you roll over and knock me off with your feet!”
Jacelyn blinked at Phoenix’s story. She must have been dreaming. But why was Ezra in it of all things? “Sorry, Phoenix. I must’ve had a nightmare.”
“Morning baby,” Ezra said casually as he barged in. After pounding on the door for five minutes, he had tried the door knob and found that it was unlocked, “Make sure you pack everything ‘cause we’re not coming back- Hey!”
Without warning, he was pelted by a couple of pillows, followed by a cotton nightgown clad Jacelyn rushing over to hit him a few times with her last pillow.
“Get out…of my thoughts, damn it!” she screamed as she shoved him out and slammed the door.
“What did he do?” Phoenix wondered as she stormed around the room, packing her things into her new suitcase.
“Nothing! …But could you do me a favor, Phoenix? Be mean to Ezra.”
On the other side of the door, Ezra stared at the wooden surface of her door in shock as her words finally registered in his brain.
“…Get out of my thoughts?” he whispered to himself before a grin formed on his face, “She’s thinking about me!”
He ignored the fact that it could be a bad thing as he turned away and headed downstairs. She could have been having nightmares about killing everyone or she could be dreaming about torturing him and she’s starting to feel guilty about it.
“I might be getting past the first wall…”
Jack, Lilly, and Dojebon heard a door slam followed by stomping sounds. They feared that Ezra may have been beaten up before Jacelyn kick him out because he was gone for a while. They were surprised, though, to see him a few minutes later happily bounding down the steps without a scratch on him.
“What?” he asked against the stunned stares.
“You’re…not dead?” Dojebon inquired carefully as he flew up to inspect him.
“Ah, Jacelyn’s nothing but a big sweetie. You just need to know how to handle her…” Ezra stopped when he noticed Dojebon backing away in fear. Before he knew it, a flying kick was launched at him and he soon found himself face first on the floor. Jacelyn straightened up and let out a self-gratified smile, allowing her fangs to glisten in the morning sunlight. Phoenix soon appeared with her suitcase and dropped it above her. She caught it with ease as her dragon landed on her shoulder.
“I’m ready to go, Jack,” she giggled. Jack only stared at them.
“There’s never a dull moment with you two,” he mumbled before picking up his bag, “Let’s go!”
Ezra groaned and crawled up into a kneeling position when Jack walked out the door with Lilly.
“Must you be so violent?” He stretched as she walked past him.
“Must you be so cheeky and annoying?” she returned without looking at him, “You have been picking on me ever since we met. What did you expect?”
“I don’t pick on you,” he said, but was ignored. He was shocked to see Phoenix sticking his long snake-like tongue out at him as he and Jacelyn left.
“Uh, did I do something wrong?” he wondered as Dojebon landed in front of him.
“I don’t think you did, but it must have been pretty bad if you got dissed by her freak-of-nature.”
“Dojebon! Be nice to Phoenix,” Ezra scolded as he stood up. The green dragon held up his claws in a defensive gesture.
“What? I’m just saying…” he began, but Ezra gave him a scolding glare that silenced him.
Jack quickly whipped around to face him and held out his hand for a friendly shake, but the caravan leader paused as he got a good look at Jack.
He glanced at the ground, suddenly depressed as he muttered, “…Oh…you’re a Dragoncurse…”
“Was a Dragoncurse,” Jack corrected before he gestured to his young students behind him, “I’m just a teacher for these two; Ezra Dragonheart and Jacelyn Dragonhope.”
Zeke shifted his gaze to the mentioned two, but he still looked uncertain as he finally sighed, “Okay, stay here. I’m going to discuss this with the others.”
“Why do they seem reluctant to let us on? I thought they desperately needed us?” Jacelyn asked once the man was out of hearing range.
“It’s because of Jack. Although he dropped all ties with his family, his emerald green eyes are the mark of a Dragoncurse descendent,” Ezra explained as Jack turned away from them.
“And Dragoncurses…are hated because they are related to the person who created the demons? That’s stupid. Jack seems too nice to control demons.”
“The people are worried that whatever made Seluja go mad will happen to her descendents and so they treat all Dragoncurses badly,” Dojebon said from his small perch on a nearby tree, “Though sometimes you can’t blame the people for their distrust because a Dragoncurse’s common characteristic is their ability to purposely confirm people’s fears instead of proving them wrong when someone openly discriminates against them.”
“Wow, sounds like Jacelyn,” Phoenix commented as Jacelyn shrugged.
“Who knows, maybe I am one,” she replied, “Why else would I have fangs?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s not the case, especially when there are no reports of Dragoncurses with demon features,” Ezra argued.
“Then where did I get them from? The so-called prestigious Dragonhope clan?” she retorted.
“No, but I do remember this ridiculous rumor that Fiora injected more dragon blood into her veins when you were in her womb and you ended up with rare side-effects.” That only got him a blank look from her.
“…That’s not even funny…” Her eyes narrowed at him before Jack finally joined in.
“You know just as well as I do that that rumor isn’t true,” he said as he crossed his arms.
“I know, but I still find it amusing,” Ezra answered with a small grin.
“I’m not laughing,” Jacelyn muttered in a deadpan voice.
“Oh? Was I so funny that you forgot to laugh?” he asked with a gleam in his eyes. She grabbed him by the collar of his Latro coat and yanked him down to her level.
“I am very close to beating the living daylights out of you…” she sneered in his face. He was still chucking at her and that only fueled her ire.
“Well isn’t this cute? I finally got a rise out of you,” he smirked, unfazed by her threats. She pushed him away once she realized that she was only playing into his hands.
“Alright, knock it off you two. I’m not a babysitter for a couple of five year olds,” Jack interjected in a bored tone as Zeke returned.
“We have discussed the situation and have decided. We would appreciate it, if you,” he pointed at Jack, “Walk a little ways a head of the pack while the rest of you ride with us.”
“…Figures…” Jack muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck. Jacelyn glared at Zeke before she approached Jack.
“That’s an idea, but I think I’ll go with you, Jack. Who knows, maybe we’ll run into some friendly demons and throw a party…or take over the world.”
Jack grinned, “Sounds like a plan.”
The caravan leader flinched slightly, a bit frightened at their words before Ezra chuckled nervously and tried to calm him down, “They’re joking! But would it be possible if we stayed together? Dragonhope and I are still in training and we need guidance from our teacher.”
“Very well then,” Zeke sighed and then indicated a tattered, run down covered wagon. “You can ride on this, it will be traveling at the very back.”
He left before anymore could be discussed. Ezra faced his companions with a smug look on his face.
“Well? Don’t you have something to say to me?” he asked sweetly as Jack rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, why’d you go ruin everything and get us stuck on that rat trap?” Jacelyn snapped in annoyance. Dojebon quietly laughed to himself as he flew off to the wagon while muttering something about expecting too much from Jacelyn.
“Uh!” Ezra acted like he was hurt, “If you hadn’t noticed, I just got all of us a ride so we wouldn’t have to walk.”
“Well you do have a point, but keep in mind that he only listened to you because you are a Dragonheart. Were you a Dragonhope, then you wouldn’t have been so lucky,” Jack commented as he walked over to his student and briefly touched his shoulder, “But other than that, good work kid.”
“Hey!” Jacelyn complained after hearing the Dragonhope comment.
“Glad to use my name to help you out,” Ezra grinned as Jack left. He then faced Jacelyn, “So are you going to admit that I’m a nice guy and then go out with me?”
She only blinked at him and then walked past him towards the wagon, “Well, you’re something and I don’t date things.”
“So I’ve heard…” he mumbled dejectedly as he followed her. If only his friends could see him now. Ezra was still trying to win her affection or at least her friendship. Usually it was the other way around as the girls fought hard to get his attention. He was quite the ladies man back in Eagle’s Landing and was very popular among his peers so he wasn’t used to rejection. Even Rebecca came back to him after dumping him many times, which was why he didn’t care too much when she dumped him again. But the pain he felt from Jacelyn’s rejection hurt a lot.
Jacelyn, however, thought the rejected look was disappointment because she wouldn’t fall for his tricks. She was sure that he was picking on her and was trying to get her to fall for him so he could get a good laugh. She hated being laughed at. There was no way she was going let it happen again.
“Shh…not so loud Phoenix. You might attract the demons,” she warned, though her voice contained a bit of sarcasm.
“15 more minutes…” Jack slurred in response to Phoenix’s question. He was already half asleep as the moving crate these people called a wagon lulled him to sleep.
“You said that fifteen minutes ago,” Ezra reminded him. There were many holes in the walls to look out of, but the only thing to see was the canyon walls. Ezra resorted to staring at Jacelyn and ended up provoking her into a staring contest. Well, he stared while she glared.
“I see a couple demons on a ledge about thirty feet above us, “Dojebon reported from the small door, “What should we do, teacher?”
Jacelyn sat up immediately from the news. This was her first demon hunt so she was both excited and nervous by the announcement. As for Jack, he couldn’t have looked more bored as he held out the arm Lilly was perched on.
“What else? You dragons go take care of them before they go get their friends,” he ordered as Dojebon nodded once.
“Uh, right! Lilly, Phoenix, let’s go!” he commanded before he jumped out. Lilly followed without hesitation, but Phoenix glanced up at Jacelyn until he received an encouraging nod from her and then rushed off to catch up.
Eager to see her dragon in action, she crawled over to the door and tried very hard to ignore Ezra as he came to sit beside her. Dojebon dished out orders to the others as they flew up close to the canyon wall for a surprise attack. Phoenix approached them first with an earth spell to distract them as Lilly used her wings like a blade and attacked them from behind. Dojebon cast a thunder spell on one of the demons before it could counterstrike Lilly as she flew back for another hit. The other demon was making its escape up to the edge of the canyon before Phoenix tracked it down and released a breath of fire on it. He injured it greatly, but didn’t stop it from leaving. Dojebon called him back before he could try to chase it down.
“Can’t Lilly cast magic?” Jacelyn wondered as the dragons worked together to keep the remaining demon on the ledge.
“She’s one of many Latro dragons and Latronis who has to chant spells and since she lost her voice…” Jack trailed off as a solemn look graced his features.
“Thankfully, Lilly is of the Dragonheart clan and is physically stronger than other clans so her strength is more than enough to make up for her lack of magic,” Ezra added.
Both Dojebon and Lilly had their talons sinking into the odd beast’s dark flesh, causing it to squeal in agony. It clung to the stone with its claws as Phoenix joined in by pulling it by its tail. With their combined strength, they managed to pull the demon away from its freedom.
“I feel kinda bad for the demon…” Jacelyn said sympathetically over the loud screeching. The small battle attracted the attention of the other members of the procession and they all stopped to watch with fearful faces.
“Don’t feel bad,” Ezra grimaced from the sound, “What they’re doing to that demon is innocent compared to what the demons do to humans. I’ve seen some of their victims barely alive with a missing limb or two or with their eyes gouged out.”
They soon had the demon hanging in the air and then let it go so it could fall to its doom. The dragons realized too late that the monster had wings hidden underneath it’s shirt and was about to fly away to safety, but Phoenix suddenly set his little body on fire and charged towards him. Unfortunately, the demon turned and evaded the attack. Phoenix turned around and faced the beast again before a dark ball of energy surrounded him and transported him in front of the demon. He charged again and this time was able to hit his mark, making the demon burst into flames and fall to the ground.
“Wh-what was-” Ezra stuttered as the flames around Phoenix disappeared. Jacelyn glanced at him, confused.
“What? He’s always been able to do that,” she said as if it was natural.
“You said that Phoenix was the only surviving egg when someone burned his nest, correct?” Jack inquired as he slowly faced her. He acted like he wasn’t impressed, but his eyes said otherwise, “That must mean Phoenix’s skin is resistant to fire, thus giving him the ability to be set on fire without getting burned. But as for that dark spell…”
“That’s why I used to ask about dark and light magic. That was a teleportation spell, but Phoenix can’t control it very well so he doesn’t use it often,” Jacelyn explained before she crawled back to her original seat.
Jack studied her carefully. She didn’t seem to be lying and she couldn’t possibly know the real reason why Phoenix had dark powers. Before he first set off to find her, Nejar told him all the information he knew about her. It was from Nejar that he had learned about the incident with the half-demon that attacked Eagle’s Landing followed by Jacelyn getting kidnapped by the demon that released the menace and was taken to Seluja’s keep. For a while he had had his suspicions about her, not that he thought she was a bad person, but there was something wrong with her and she didn’t remember it.
But in order to get the answers he sought, he had to get her to remember. Jacelyn glanced at Jack, making him realize that he had been staring at her. He didn’t want to scare her, but maybe this would jog her memory, “You know, when a Latro dragon and a human join together as life-long partners in the Latronis abs Obscurum, they tend to share certain abilities-”
“Meaning?” she interrupted, showing signs of boredom. Ezra knew what Jack was talking about, but couldn’t figure out what he was trying to say. Either way, he decided to help out.
“Here’s an example,” he offered, “Jack inherited a ‘steel muscle’ technique from Lilly and Dojebon inherited spell casting without chanting from me.”
“Oh, I see. So you’re trying saying that I might be able to cast dark magic too?”
Jack shook his head slowly, “No…I’m saying that it’s most likely that Phoenix got his dark powers…from you.”
“Only demons can use darkness” Her teal eyes widened as she pressed her back against the wall, “What? But how?”
“Yeah, what makes you think that?” Ezra demanded as Jack looked away.
“We have eliminated one of the demons, but the other got away. I have already informed the caravan leader to move on,” Dojebon informed them at the door. He, Lilly, and Phoenix were dripping wet from the water spells they used to wash the demon blood off.
“Yes, good work,” Jack replied as they came in.
“I’m sure that you have witnessed Phoenix’s …unusual abilities,” he continued.
“Yeah, we were discussing that when you arrived,” Jack responded in a quiet tone. Phoenix stayed close to Jacelyn. He was afraid that he was in trouble for letting one of the demons escape.
“I’m sorry for letting that demon get away,” he cried as he bowed his head.
“Don’t worry about it. That thing will some back…with reinforcements. Till then, get ready for battle,” Jack ordered.
“Uh, wait!” Ezra sat up, “Don’t you think you owe Jacelyn an explanation?”
“Later. We need to focus on the coming battle first.”
There was complete silence after that. Phoenix stared at Jacelyn with confused eyes before she picked him up with shaky hands and hugged him close. She didn’t care that he was still wet and was soaking her clothes. Ever since he was hatched, she thought that Phoenix’s spells were something that his kind always had, though when Jack told her that only demons used dark magic, the thought that he was a demon never crossed her mind. But now she knew the truth. The people of Talon were right, she had to be a demon.
