The Heart of the Dragon

Back on top of the hill, everyone kept watching the meeting at the bottom, wondering what was going on.

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Eli questioned.

“Probably about us” Tammy suggested.

But as they kept their eyes on the scene, Angie turned her head to see that Mr. Monroe was still writing in his notebook while taking glances at the hybrids and dragons.

“What are you doing?” she asked him.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” he replied, not taking his eyes off the scene “I’m taking notes.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Notes? Why?”

“Why?” he snickered, “Because this is the most fascinating thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Real live dragons, and hybrids that are part human and part dragon, how can I not take notes on them?”

But seeing the way he was writing and admiring the scene, Angie couldn’t help but get an uneasy feeling when a thought came to her.

“Um, you’re not gonna show anyone those are you?” she asked a bit uncertainly.

“Relax Miss Brighton” he assured, “These notes are for my eyes only.”

For some reason, Angie didn’t feel convinced. She needed to see exactly what he was writing, so when his attention was turned back to the scene, she slowly scooted over where she tried to get a glimpse of his notebook. But she was only able to get haft a second of a look at a page when she suddenly felt the ground under her palms gave away, and just like earlier, she began to slide down the hill at a speedy pace.

“Angie!” she heard her friends cry out as she frantically tried to grab onto something to stop herself.

But with nothing but grass, she began to panic as she got closer to the bottom, knowing that once she stops, she will most likely be spotted by the hybrids and dragons. And as soon as she reached the bottom, her fall came to stop after rolling across the ground until she was on her stomach. After letting out a small moan, she lifted her head to find herself the center of attention as all the hybrids and dragons had their eyes turned to her just as she expected.

“Um...” she mumbled, feeling her heart pounding with fear as she gave a worried smile “Hello.”

At that moment, the dragons began to growl at her while showing their razor-sharp teeth. One medium-sized orange and yellow dragon began to prowl towards her while still growling as she quickly scooted away in fear. But right before the dragon could get her, Hayden suddenly jumped between them and gave a threatening snarl at the beast who stopped on its tracks but kept its eyes on him while slowly backing away with a grunt. Nobody said a word as they watched as Hayden turned to the girl and helped her up.

“You okay?” he asked her.

“I think so” she replied in a mumble, not wanting to face the others.

“What’s going on?” one of the hybrids demanded, “Who is she?”

“Is she one of the survivors of the crash?” another one questioned.

“Has she been watching us this whole time?”

“Does this mean we have to kill her?”

“Hold it!” the older hybrid suddenly shouted as he made his way past the crowd and up towards the pair.

Knowing that he was in trouble, Hayden remained calm while keeping Angie behind him.

“Hayden,” he began, no tone in his voice “Judging by your actions, it appears you know this girl. Care to explain?”

The young hybrid let out a sigh, “I know I’m not allowed to interact with humans, but she got separated from her group. She was lost in the jungle and a notosuchian was about to kill her while she was unconscious, and I just couldn’t let her die. I took care of the notosuchian, and when she woke up, she wanted to see who I was. I tried to talk her out of it, but then I gave up and I allowed her to see me.”

The older hybrid didn’t say a word as he waited for Hayden to continue.

“After that, we talked for a bit while I walked her through the jungle to find her friends, now I know that you said that we shouldn’t trust humans, but we can trust her, and her friends.”

“You’ve met her friends too?”

He sighed, “Yes.”

“So have I” Candace suddenly announced as she joined Hayden’s side “I spotted him talking to them, and then they spotted me.”

“Are they here right now?” the hybrid demanded, “Are they watching us?”

Hayden took a glance at his sister who motioned him to tell the truth.

“Yes,” he mumbled, “We told them to hide up the hill.”

“We never meant to come down here” Angie put in, “But I’m really clumsy and here I am.”

The hybrid didn’t say a word as he stared at her, giving her an uneasy feeling.

“So what do we do Ajax?” a male hybrid asked, “She and her friends know about us.”

“Please don’t kill them” Hayden begged, “They don’t deserve it.”

“I’ll be the judge of that” Ajax declared.

“You can trust us” Angie spoke up, still hiding behind Hayden “We mean no harm. Besides, I’m pretty sure we’ll all smart enough to know not to mess with fire-breathing dragons.”

“She’s got a point” Hayden admitted.

“Look,” she added, “All we want to do is get home, we’ve got two pilots back on the beach who are trying to radio for help, but I don’t know how long it’ll take, or if it’ll even work. All we’re asking is for your help to get off this island, and if possible, can you try to heal our pilots? One of them is badly injured and needs medical attention.”

Ajax began to think, and so did the other hybrids.

“If you really do mean what you say-” he suddenly spoke, “We will help you and your friends, only if you promise to not send anyone to our island, our home must remain hidden.”

“You have my words” she promised, “Besides, I don’t think anyone’s gonna be able to find this island on their own.”

“You don’t know that, and neither do we. It’s never happened before, anyone who has ever been here was by accident, and most of them became what we are now. But we must be safe from humans.”

She gave a promising nod, knowing that she could trust her friends in keeping the promise. But then that got her wondering about Mr. Monroe and the notes she saw him taking. Surely he meant what he said when he told her that the notes were only for himself, but can she really trust him?