Rise of the Scaled Ones

Chapter 6

The day of Prince Derek's arrival was rapidly approaching. Two days away. Villagers bustled around, re-stocking their stands in the market, harvesting crops, cleaning, and making the town presentable. Anjaleen was in charge of picking the biggest, ripest berries for the feast held in the Great Hall. She and Jezabelle, along with a few other young women, were careful with their pickings. They could not afford to give in baskets of small, sour berries. They also could not afford to crush any of the juicy ones. Those were put in a separate basket that was set immediately to the kitchen, where they'd be washed and put on ice before the feast. Then, they would be served on the pies and other pastries.

Anjaleen cursed as she almost crushed a plump blueberry between her fingers. Jezabelle prodded her with her elbow, "Any luck sister?"

"A little," Anjaleen sighed, "but it is so difficult to not smash the juicy ones!"

"I can image, sister. But I just want to eat them."

Anjaleen turned to look at her older sister and inhaled sharply. Jezabelle had red juice on the corners of her lips. "You've been eating them, sister!" She cried, "How could you?!"

Jezabelle barked a laugh, "We've both filled more than four baskets each. That's more than enough berries. I think the chef just wants a few baskets to eat."

Anjaleen stared at the other young women. Each of them had more than one basket filled and struggled to find more berries on the bare bushes. "You're right," she admitted, "We do have a lot of berries."

Her sister cheered, "Come on, girls! Let's go drop these baskets off at the kitchen!"

The other girls smiled and whooped, scooping up their full baskets and trekking off towards the village. Anjaleen did the same, before something caught her eye. Creeping closer, she peered under a bush. There lay a long, finger length, pearly white fang. As she held it up, her eyes widened. It was a dragon fang!

The fact that the tooth was still white and not starting to brown meant it had fallen out recently. Which meant a dragon lived near here!

Anjaleen pocketed the tooth and raced after the others with renewed vigor.

After depositing the bracket off at the kitchen, Anjaleen raced towards the meadow. She needed to tell Rhydian about the dragon! She needed to! Just in case-

She froze, listening intently. She heard it again, a small huff followed by a rumble of sorts. As she tip-toed closer to thick curtain of leaves between her and meadow, she fought down a gasp. A large, midnight black dragon perched atop the rocks. It's powerful tail swung back and forth lazily.

Then, it made a suffering sound and seemed to brace itself. Anjaleen couldn't keep back her sounds of horror and surprise any longer. The black scales looked as if they were being sucked back into the dragon's body, it's talons slid back into it's paws, and it seemed to shrink.

As it roared, Anjaleen got a full view of its fangs turning square-like and weak. The huge dragon maw was suddenly shorter and almost flat. The next roar sounded more like a human scream. She shrunk back into the brush, shuddering. Gathering her wits, she peered out again and was speechless. Rhydian was leaning against the rock, breathing deeply. Sweat dripped down his forehead and the rest of his naked body. But she was not at all admiring his figure this time.

Instead, she burst into the clearing, snarling. "What was that, Rhydian?!"

He looked up and his sky-blue eyes widened, "Anjaleen," he gasped, "What-?"

She could feel herself starting to shake in anger despite the hot tears beginning to stream down her face. "Why did you never tell me!" She screamed, "Why keep this from me?!"

Rhydian started to approach her but she flung herself backwards, "No! Don't touch me, you monster! Don't ever touch me!"

"I'm sorry," Rhydian choked, offended, "I couldn't tell you. You don't understand."

"Like hell I don't understand! Why did you never tell me you are a dragon?!"

This time he was silent. His eyes narrowed and he hissed like a snake, "What would your village have done to me if you'd told them I was a Shifter. A dragon Shifter no less. They would have come after me with swords and spears and fire. They would attack me!" Rage consumed the man's features, "I would have to kill them! I'd have to burn your people to defend myself! That would destroy both our lives!"

Rhydian took a deep breath and composed himself, "I did not hide this from you to lie to you, love. I did this to protect the both of us and keep what we have. Do you understand?"

Anjaleen nodded, "Yes, Rhydian. I understand...but," she shook her head, "I can't...just give me time to take this in."

She left without another word. Her spirit felt heavy and the worst feeling gnawed at her heart. She felt cheated and angry, but she also felt guilty. It was her own fault she couldn't accept that her friend, her love interest, her go-to man was a dragon Shifter. She loved Shifters, yes, but not dragons. Not the dragons that had plagued her village for generations and murdered her father.

Once she was home, she stormed to her room and collapsed onto her bed. Her anger had long dissipated and the only emotion she could feel now was a terrible loss.

A/N: YES! It's longer! 

~ Alex