1 The Mysterious Man

It was a party day, there was a big party going on at the castle. While people picked up wine glasses and toasted each other, they wore very expensive clothes, and even had a very suitable posture for the occasion.

Since I was seventeen, I had to dress like this, behave like this. As I was the eldest daughter of the Brauhs family, I had to be an example to all the others and represent my family.

The party took place during the night, a very troubled schedule, but perfect for a big party. The children who were there were already lost in energy and slept between their mothers' laps or in a nearby bench.

"You are the oldest daughter of the Brauhs family, aren't you?"

A voice interrupts my thoughts, I was sitting on a white wooden bench, next to the flowers that enchanted that garden. The voice I didn't recognize came from my left side, so I turn my head to analyze who it is.

A blond-haired boy was on top of me, bowing in respect. His clothes were pieces of well-made, dark fabric. He also wore a beautiful blue cape that gave an interesting contrast at the time.

I didn't know anyone with, that outfit, that cape and that similar look, so I already knew who I was from the beginning.

"Hello, Prince Louis, what are you bringing here?"

"I was passing by, and I saw you looking at that night sky."

Louis, he was just a boy, but he was the son of the current king. You may even think that he was a simple, perfect prince and that any other girl had to marry him. But he had his own problems and defects.

Despite all the possibilities being very present, he had his mental disorders. His mother died before a sacrifice, after accusing her of being a witch, so the king was upset and never left the throne room.

So the prince himself, a boy of the same age, does all the heavy lifting.

"I heard that your mother is still in poor health, my condolences." Says the boy, preparing to sit next to me.

I didn't like to talk about it, my mom was in a bad way, and I didn't like to remember.

"Thank you, my father hired all the best healers in the kingdom, and none of them managed to cure her."

"A feather ..."

After that conversation, a very awkward silence grows in the place. It wasn't like I didn't have anything to talk about, but starting a conversation on a bad topic was difficult to change later.

"Ah ... I remembered what was going on, I was actually looking for a guard." Exclaims the prince, remembering what he really was going to do.

"A guard? What happened? "I question the prince.

"Nothing happened, it's just a suspicion of mine ..."

"A suspect?"

The prince put his hand on his chin, trying to think of something. I still didn't understand what he had suspected, if it was someone's, or actions at the party.

"Actually, there is a mysterious man ... well, to call him a man is a little rude, he is much younger in appearance. But I've been analyzing it, and almost nobody knows him, and when they ask what family he is from, he says he doesn't have one. "

"Really suspicious, would he be a thief?"

It was difficult to put any title on it, after all I had not seen his face. But everything the prince had said was really suspicious, he could be anything, a member of a family he is ashamed of, a man who snuck into the party, even a spy from another kingdom.

"I think a thief is difficult, but I need to be alert about him, so I would comment on the guards." Says the Prince, getting up and looking at the hall.

"I can help, after all this is my castle, I can't let you take anything from here."

"Of course."

...

A few hours had passed, I was standing next to the prince, pretending that I was being very social with him, like a normal conversation. The party's events were also entertaining and getting drunk. Louis sometimes looked to the side, to find such a suspicious man.

"Are you sure he is going to show up here? The castle is quite large. "The prince asks me.

"Well, he has to show up at least sometime ... This is the main hall, and you're here to recognize him, after all, you're the only one who saw him."

"You're right ..."

He didn't have to wait long, and the prince and I saw him a little later. He was talking to a young lady, who seemed to be interested in him. In fact, the prince's description of him was a little uncertain, that man was very handsome. He had beautiful dark hair and golden eyes, very rare.

"Are you him?" I ask the prince.

"No doubt." He responds seriously.

He wore a beautiful suit, it was black like his hair. On his shoulders were golden shoulders, very elegant. He smiled elegantly at the lady who was holding the wine glass. The man's smile was also very beautiful, if the prince had not said his suspicions, I would certainly think he was a man of potential.

"So far I haven't seen anything suspicious ..." I say.

"Nobody saw it, their story is suspicious."

"No one really knows about him, do they? It's really a little bit suspicious, if I only knew his name."

"Why the name?" Asks the prince, turning his face to me a little confused.

"To stay in my memory, after all, he has a high degree of beauty." I answer as sincerely as possible. The prince just smirks, as if I had contacted a beautiful joke.

The man says goodbye to that lady, and walks off to the other side. Towards the door where the portrait corridor was, the pictures of my family, where everyone was worth a fortune.

It was there, that the prince and I were even more suspicious, and we decided to follow him, very cautiously. We opened the door of the corridor very slowly, which had some people, they admired the paintings, as if it were a museum. That great corridor, both long and wide, was filled with red, the walls and the carpet.

The suspicious man, was sitting on the rug, and leaning against the wall, he looked like he was sweating a lot. He unbuttoned his garment, and left it open for air. The prince and I were a little confused, after all he was shy? He made a great effort to talk to people, and that is why he was like that? Tired out...

Before we went to question him, ask him what family he was from, and what he was doing at the party ... A huge noise echoed outside the castle. Obviously the prince seemed concerned, and then he ran to see what had happened.

I thought that man had something to do with it, but he hears the noise, and comes running towards me, to escape. As I was in front of the door, I moved away for the other people who were there, to also run away. The man passes me, in the greatest despair and concern, he looked at his arm and then continued running.

I also run, not to run, but after that man. After all, his actions until now were very suspicious, I couldn't let him get away. I soon realize that he was just running away in the same direction as the others.

As I was following him, I couldn't help running towards the incident, the sounds of breaking windows were still occurring. Apparently it was an attack on the castle, and I was just running after another man, other than the bad guy.

Even though I'm running carefully, and lifting my dress, my heels break. So I hit everything on the floor, the pain I felt in my knees was small, so I could take it. But it was too late, when I turn my eyes back to the man, he had already crossed the garden and disappeared.

Just as I was scolding myself inside, the castle window breaks right in front of me. I didn't get hurt, because I was a little more than 20 meters away. This splinter was not even the most abnormal situation, there were men dressed in black, running across the low roof of the hall.

The men pointed their bows and arrows at me, one of them even shouted: "We found her!" And since there was no one on my side, or behind me, I was soon sure that it was me.

I try to get up, but I realize that I have sprained my foot, and I can't. The men in no time lowered their bows.

"Shoot!" A man yells at the other men who were pointing the bows at me.

It was really the moment of my end, that's what I thought. After all, why would they point the bows at me? What had I done? Was it because I found out about that man?

The arrows saw in slow motion, while I tried to convince myself of my death, I put my hand in front of it, even if it didn't do anything. But the moment I accepted that cruel fate, I feel a wind from my right side.

I had my eyes closed, so I couldn't really see who it was, it could be anyone ... Or just some random animal passing by me.

But there was something wrong, the arrows hadn't hit me yet. It was strange because arrows are not that slow. So I decided to open my eyes, to see what had happened. I open one eye at a time, very slowly, and when I see the scene I can't believe it.

A large black wing was in front of me, as if it were my shield, and whose wing it was was even more surprising. The suspicious man, with the incredible black hair, the radiant golden eyes, was in front of me, with a dragon wing protruding from his back.

"It's a pity that I met you like that, Catarine Brauhs."

The man says those words in a slightly quiet tone, his voice was somewhat thick and very relaxing. His face scares me, when I saw him for the first time, he had very beautiful white skin, but now part of his cheek was with some black scales.

"You are that man ..." I said without thinking.

"Well now it doesn't really matter who I am ... Please, I need you to run away."

The man still with the wing protecting me gets up, another wing from his back, now on the left side, appears. Looking more like an angel that had just been born, but those wings were not so pretty.

His face fills with scales, until it is completely black. After that, there was a huge white light, which almost blinded me.

And when I put my vision on him again, he had become a dragon.

I couldn't help but crawl back in fear. But it was very hard to believe that he had turned into a dragon. It was almost like a dream, or rather, a nightmare, after all dragons were scary.

"Please, I need you to ride me... I will take you to a safe place!"

I couldn't help being scared, after all, there was a dragon in front of me, and he was talking! It was really like a nightmare.

But some strength came from me, and I managed to get up, luckily I was able to lean on the dragon before I even fell forward. He lowers, and I climb on top of him, with some difficulty, but with success.

When I hold onto their scales, I find that they are more rigid than they look, they could even be compared to rocks. And obviously arrows wouldn't do anything to scales like that.

The dragon again raises its wings and beats it hard on the ground, gaining momentum and managing to fly. His wings start to beat faster so he can get out of there.

"She is running away!" I hear the men in black who were trying to kill me.

The dragon makes a quick charge forward and heads towards the mountains that were a little distant. My leg was hurting a lot, and because of the pain, I ended up passed out.