Learning about Dragons.

'A long time ago, there lived a dragon king by the name of Darcio. Darcio was a beast incarnate. A heartless man who ruled by instilling fear and terror in the minds and hearts of his subjects. Darcio feared no one but he was feared and loathed by many. He believed nothing was greater than him. Anything he wanted, he would get, no matter the cost. He wouldn't bat an eyelid before slicing someone's throat or cutting a head off. He enjoyed the misery of others. He enjoyed hearing people praise and worship him and his enemies plead and beg for mercy, in his hands.

That was until he found his fated mate. The woman destined to tame the raging beast. A beauty like no other. A woman who would restore humanity to a non-human creature. But Darcio was hellbent on defying fate. Even if it meant wiping out her whole generation.

Although the mate bond attracted him to her, he despised her with everything he had. Her existence irked him and his hands itched to take her life. All because she was a human. How could fate give him a weak human as a mate? That was something he could never accept.

He was destined for greatness. He was one with power. He wouldn't entertain anything or anyone who would bring him further from his goal of conquering the world....'

Delaney closed the book, sighing for the umpteenth time. Since she left Mrs Wade's house, she had been trying to focus on the book but it was getting harder by the minute. Especially because she was sober. She had already eaten six apples and she hadn't even read past one page. Walking to the kitchen, she drank a glass of water then went back to reading.

She decided to skip to the notes since she found the story of the heartless king very boring.

The first notes page was about Merikh's family. Danika was Merikh's mother, a human. Gabriel was Merikh's older brother and Azalea was their first cousin. There was no other information.

The other topic described the different dragon clans and their powers. The red dragons were the strongest. Their kind had ruled the dragons for centuries because they had both the frost breath, and the flame breath. The red dragons can breathe air that can freeze a man or cause a frostbite. This is a power that is possessed by old dragons of pure bloodline.

In cases of poison, red dragons can release a venomous poison mixed with fire that can paralyze a man. Dragons that have both this powers are undefeatable and almost invulnerable.

Apart from the red dragons, there are the white dragons and the black dragons. The white dragons are enemies with the red dragons and have fought for power for many years.

Dragons have bery sharp senses. They can sense the slightest movement even from a far. They are able to sense when someone is breathing, or when they are being watched. They can also hear the slightest vibrations and have a remarkable sense of touch. They can smell flesh from as far as a kilometre away. Some dragons have the ability to control and manipulate minds and can also speak through mass telepathy.

A dragon's strongest weapon is it's tail. Some dragons have poisoned tails which can kill other beasts. They have superhuman stamina, which allows them fly for a long time without getting tired.

"How did he even know all of this?" Delaney mumbled under her breath. When it came to dragon's qualities, she found it very fascinating and wasn't bored at all.

She came to the topic about mates. The first dragons were monogamous in nature and once they pick their mate, they would never leave their sides. But as time passed by, dragons became promiscuous creatures, until they find their mates who they settle with.

Dragons are very possessive when it comes to their mates and they are attracted to them by the mate bond. Once a dragon finds it's mate, they try their best to charm them and win them over.

Dragons are attracted to beauty, wealth, prestige and power. Dragons also possess additional abilities like superhuman speed, superhuman strength and unnatural healing ability.

Delaney suddenly came across a piece of paper that was not attached to the book. It was scrunched up but the handwriting was very neat. On it there was the word Dragon Tamers which was circled a few times, then below it were short notes.

She brought the piece of paper close to her face and examined it carefully. The handwriting was definitely a woman's. The syllables were shaped elegantly. The piece of paper was tattered at the edges and it was evidently old. Malcolm might have kept it there because it was important.

Resting her back on the sofa, Delaney focused on the notes with newfound interest. She should have started with that part since she was 'supposedly' a tamer herself.

Dragon tamers are very rare. They might have a supernatural ability, depending on the generation they're born in. Tamers are always mated to a powerful dragon_ Delaney almost laughed out loud. She was mated to a dragon?! And she had supernatural abilities?! Malcolm definitely made a mistake!

_ Dragon tamers can access the ancient dragon language from their memories or their predecessors. This is the language used to command the drgaons_ Ha! What a joke! A woman like her can command drgaons now? she wondered but still kept on reading.

_Tamers are sometimes sought out to be killed because they can be a threat to their enemies' existence. A tamer's mate is always of royal bloodline. Some tamers have abilities to predict the future and therefore help in preventing upcoming wars or major calamities.

When she finally looked up, the sky was already turning dark. While returning the piece of paper where it was before, she saw something written on the back of it but the words weren't very clear. She walked around the house to light candles before returning with one. She picked up the paper and placed it above the candle, to see the words clearly.

_Ego praecipio tibi ut transeatur_

_I command you to shift_

"I command you to shift," she repeated as if testing how the words would sound from her mouth. "Is this a translation?" she asked no one in particular, then placing the paper back, she took the book and kept it on one of the shelves, between old books but at a noticeable spot.

She locked the door and the windows then sprawled herself on the sofa. She closed her eyes and tried to empty her mind, so it wouldn't wander to dark places.

As strong as a person can be, past memories can haunt you for the rest of your life. Delaney had a dark and miserable past. As numb and as cold as she appeared to be, she was very afraid of the darkness. It was better to take her mind off of things, when the sun was up. The noices of birds chirping and people talking and vendors selling, and drunkards shouting and fighting each other helped to push back the voices in her own head.

But at a cold night like this, when she was alone, in an empty house, and with the silence of the darkness, the voices in her head grew increasingly loud. Images flashed across her mind, making her unable to get even a wink of sleep.

Her eyes flew open as she flung her legs down. She exhaled deeply, regretting the choice to stay sober. By now she would be sound asleep. If not for the creepy night, she would run to the Koza Tarven and tell Mark to fill up her hip flask.

She climbed up the stairs to Malcolm's office, blowing out the candles on her way. The night felt terribly cold when she was alone but it was better to be accompanied by a bottle of strong wine.

Malcolm's office was very neat and clean. On the corner there was a large mahogany desk filled with stacks of papers and pens and ink. Behind it was a single chair and a coat hanger at the side. Across the room, to the right, there was a wine cellar, with a variety of different wine collections, gathered by Malcolm over the years.

Delaney didn't waste a minute and walked right to the cellar. With a wide grin on her face, she ran her fingers on the glass bottles, and stopped on the last one that had a deeper shade of red. She didn't care for a glass, and sat on the comfortable chair behind the desk. Taking off her shoes, she placed her legs on top of the desk and leaned back leisurely. She unbuttoned her vest, and the top buttons of her blouse then gulped down the wine.

She hoped the drink to invade her senses soon, and suppress the ugly memories that crept to her mind so she drunk as quickly as she could, almost choking on the wine. A person who is afraid of their own thoughts can only rely on an intoxicant to cloud their minds and not give the brain a moment to think.