Gatekeepers Book 1: Darkness

Before Draycos knew it, a month had quickly passed by as he stayed in Poseidon’s office, learning to read and write in the dragons’ native language. Even though they claimed that their little script from before was a joke, Draycos remained on high alert while Zero was near him, always keeping his distance from the blue dragon. There was one moment that he could’ve sworn Zero’s hand was reaching for a questionable area, and he reacted violently.

That night, Zero had to attend another council meeting to discuss the plan which Theravor brought up at last month’s council meeting.

“What the hell happened to you?” Vinzgar asked when Zero joined the rest of the council already gathered at the table. Zero was sporting a black eye and a bruised snout covered with a few bandages.

Zero sighed then winced in pain from his bruised snout. “I was trying to lighten the mood while teaching Draycos the Dragonscript earlier, but he didn’t take to it very kindly. I didn’t have time to stop to get a fairy to heal it on my way here after today’s lesson with him.

The other dragons sitting at the table glanced at one another uncomfortably. They had all heard about the joke Zero and Poseidon pulled on Draycos last month and his response to it.

Theravor tapped the tabletop as he examined Zero. “You played off of that joke from last month, didn’t you?” he guessed. “Poseidon made me aware of the fact that Draycos did give you fair warning. Draycos isn’t at fault for you ignoring that.”

“So, you mean he had full rights to punch the hell outta me?” Zero growled. Everyone at the table nodded in unison as a response.

“I’d advise that you stop with that weird sense of humor for the moment,” Theravor told him. “All you’re doing is irritating the lad, and that could cause the exact problem we’re all trying to avoid.”

“Fine, I get it,” Zero groaned as he leaned back in his chair, rubbing the black eye. “I’ll stop for real now. Although it is pretty amusing to see such a serious human react that strongly to the assumed situation I put him in. It’s not worth getting punched over for, though; man, that kid throws a heavy punch, if nothing else.”

“Speaking of, have we all finally come to a conclusion about the proposal I brought up last month? The one that would allow Draycos to get enough combat skill and experience to be of use to us in searching for the stolen Orb?” Theravor questioned.

The room was silent again as everyone exchanged looks with their neighbors, muttering quietly. It was Vinzgar who was the first to nod his head.

“I think I’m actually on the same page with you for once, Stormfang,” he admitted. “That event would certainly allow the half-breed to get in some combat experience, but that would all depend on him. If the brat fails, then we’re back to square one. We’re putting an awful lot of faith in a creature that we barely even know; we don’t even know if he’ll be useful in digging up information on the Orb at all, either.”

“We don’t really have many other options to choose from at this point,” Boreta added, folding her thin hands together as she placed her elbows on the table, deep in thought. “This past month, we have discovered nothing pertaining to the Orb of the First King and its current whereabouts. Draycos is still our only link; we might as well use the one link we have to find more clues.”

“That still doesn’t mean that the half-breed will be able to find anything for us,” Vinzgar countered, looking somewhat worried.

“Can I say something,” Zero spoke up, raising a hand. When he had gotten everyone’s attention he continued. “After teaching Draycos Dragonscript over the last month, I have a fair idea on what his feelings are about his supposed crime. He has an incredible amount of resolve to put an end to this whole incident and move on.” Zero glanced over at Vinzgar. “Anyone with the amount of resolve he has is bound to make at least some progress if he is given the opportunity to do things himself instead of waiting on others.”

Vinzgar grunted but said nothing, as he couldn’t refute Zero’s statement.

“Well said, Zero,” Theravor praised. “As expected of the head of one of the most intellectual royal families. You’re able to see the full scope of the picture before you. So, is everyone in agreement?” he added, casting his gaze across the Dragon Council.

All four royal families nodded their heads in unison for the second time that night.

“Very well, then. Vertex,” the king called.

“Sir?” Vertex responded, stepping away from the wall where he, Damrabe, and Reothad were leaning up against.

“Go over to the prison and tell Poseidon to post an announcement to all the prisoners there. It’s a few months earlier than normal, but it’s time for this year’s annual Prisoners’ Games tournament to begin.”

The next morning, Draycos was finally getting started on organizing Poseidon’s messy office space. Having nothing else to do while he remained stuck in here, Draycos had given his all to his studies on Dragonscript and could now mostly read the documents scattered throughout the office.

Zero had been a decent teacher. Despite being the current head of the royal Vizard family, he came to Poseidon’s office daily to give Draycos lessons. After Draycos learned of the details involving the different royal families and their roles, he had asked Zero yesterday why he would personally bother taking time out of his schedule to teach him anything.

Zero had snorted at the question. “Despite being the head of a royal family, my family doesn’t have as many responsibilities as the other three do,” he answered. “Apart from our seat in the Dragon Council, we have almost no political power or involvement in the government here. We’re left to our own devices, which we normally just develop new inventions, among other things. I can use my free time however I see fit, and if that involves teaching you Dragonscript, then that’s that.”

“I still don’t get why you would want to do it in the first place,” Draycos said, still not getting a satisfying answer from Zero. Zero stopped checking the worksheet Draycos had filled out and looked at Draycos. He then gave a sly smile, his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth.

“That’s because I wanted to get to know the star of the hour better, you know?” Zero told him suggestively.

“Stop that,” Draycos snarled. Zero laughed and placed both of his huge hands on Draycos’s shoulders, crouching down to look at Draycos square in the eye.

“Seriously, though. I really do want to help you,” he continued, serious again. “Technically, I’m not supposed to be telling you this, but the council got a look at your memories during our first meeting after you arrived here.” A look of surprise came over Draycos’s face, but he said nothing. “We saw enough that we can understand you’ve had a somewhat difficult life up to this point. I can sympathize with that; I’ve always been the laughingstock of my family and other dragons since I’m the runt of the Vizards.”

“Even so, you still became the head of the family, didn’t you?” Draycos commented.

Zero nodded. “That’s right. Like you want to do, I managed to prove myself against everyone and made it to the top through hard work. You’re in a somewhat similar situation yourself, so all I want to do is help out a bit, no matter if it’s training your body for combat or training your mind for learning Dragonscript.”

Draycos came to respect Zero as the conversation went on, but he had somewhat dropped his guard which he had kept up around Zero constantly at that point, and Zero took advantage of the opportunity that presented itself and tried to pull a fast one on Draycos. Draycos foresaw it coming at the last possible second and took immediate countermeasures.

Having to read through all the documents thus far had allowed Draycos to gain a fair amount of information about this world he had found himself in. Not only were there scrolls related to the prison and those it held, there were many documents on other topics as well, and he scanned over those as he went through everything to organize them.

After clearing off the first shelf he started on and organizing everything that was on it, Draycos began to place the piles of books, scrolls, and parchment back on it in an orderly fashion. In the process, though, he disturbed a pile of books on a shelf higher up, and they tipped over and landed squarely on his head, knocking the surprised Draycos down to the floor. As he laid there under a pile of books and parchment, Draycos heard a knock at the door.

“Poseidon, it’s me,” a voice that he didn’t recognize said. “I’m coming in.” Without waiting for a response, the owner of the voice opened the door and stepped through the doorway. It was a slightly aged dragon with nearly black gray scales and pale red underbelly scales and wing skin. A gold band set with large rubies was fitting around his tail just before the tip, which was shaped much like that of a harpoon head. Multiple pale scars covered his entire body from head to toe. The dragon’s red eyes darted around the office until they rested their gaze on Draycos, who was still half-buried in a pile of books and parchment. He raised an eyebrow questionably at the sight.

“I’m guessing you’re the half-breed called Draycos?” he snorted, a slight look of disgust on his face. “What are you doing?”

Half-breed? “Nothing,” Draycos responded, pulling himself out of the pile and dusting himself off. “Just got caught in a landslide of parchment. Mind telling me who you are?”

“Where’s Poseidon?” the dragon asked, ignoring Draycos’s question. “Is the old dragon finally going daft and leaving you unsupervised whenever he leaves?”

Annoyed, Draycos glared at the intruder. “No, he hasn’t gone daft. He trusts me to do the right thing; and besides, I couldn’t leave the office without a dozen guards seeing me climb the rock wall. Did you forget that I’m a human stuck in a cave high up in the air?”

“Quiet,” the black dragon growled, quickly manipulating his tail so that its dangerous tip touched Draycos’s neck, shutting up the boy. “I had something to discuss with Poseidon, but since you’re here and the matter is related to you, I might as well tell you now, so I don’t have to come back to do it later.”

Draycos swallowed his saliva and nodded slightly, frozen in place with the sharp tip of the dragon’s tail pressed up on his neck. “Alright, what is it?”

“We’re hosting an event in a month’s time that any of the prisoners can participate in. An annual event we like to call the Prisoners’ Games. A combat tournament where the sole winner earns the right to do community service outside the prison.”