Chapter 3 Dragons

A few weeks passed, and the dragons grew quickly they were now the size of large dogs and I could tell it would soon become difficult to keep them in the house any longer.

They were also extremely intelligent. "Nyx" I said and she came to me "Ignis" I said pointing at the raw meat I had brought into the house. Fire came from her mouth quickly cooking the once raw meat. "Good girl" I said petting her head Drazyn ran over, obviously jealous. "Go eat" I said to nyx as I began to pet drazyn. I sighed.

"Alright you two I have to go out now" I said as they began to tilt their heads at me. "Stay here and don't cause trouble I'll be home soon" I said in a serious tone. I knew they would understand. They may have been dragons but I could swear their brains were that of humans... maybe even more so. I walked outside closing the door behind me. It was mid autumn. The leaves were a beautiful yellow and snow would soon follow the fallen leaves.

At that moment as I stood there I felt almost as if I was forgetting something important. But I never came to mind. So I walked into the woods with two goals. The first was to collect more herbs. Or what was left of them. And the second was to go into the mountain and find a cave for the dragons to stay, where they could continue to grow without worry of someone finding them and using them.

I walked for hours picking herbs and climbing the mountain I made it only half way up before a wave of exhaustion came over me, causing me to sit down on the ground. It was odd this never happened before.

"Marianna!" A familiar voice called out. "Duke Cedric? What are you doing all the way out here?" I asked curiously. "I was actually looking for you my lady" he said as he approached me on his white horse. "Me? Whatever for?" I asked. "It seems Lady Amelia is looking for you quite urgently. When she couldn't find you in town I asked a few town folk if they knew where you were and they said you frequent the woods and mountain for herbs" he explained. "Ah I see" I said as he hopped off the horse. "I was Actually beginning to feel quite tired so I was going to head back" I told him.

"Allow me to escort you back then" he said holding his hand out to help me up. "I suppose the pleasure is all mine then my lord" I said, taking his hand a d standing up. Suddenly a wave of dizziness came over causing me to fall forward and Duke Cedric to catch me.

"Are you all right?" He asked concerned. The dizziness went away for a second as I looked up at him "I must've stood up to fast, I apologize" I said with a light smile. I stood up straight and took a step before the dizziness came back causing be to wobble a little. "My lady you don't seem to be alright" he said obviously worried.

"I-Im not exactly sure" I said as my vision began to blur. And I fell to the ground "MARIANNA!" he yelled quickly kneeling to my level and holding me. My breathing became faster as I was no longer able to get up. I finally remembered what I had forgotten, as my body began to tremble.

"My lord" I said looking towards him "I am suffering from m-my l-low mana" I began to stutter "what should I do?" He asked concerned. W-whatever y-you d-do don't.... don't...." I began to lose track of what I was saying as my mind began to go blank and my body fell limp. "Marianna" he said lightly shaking me refusing to let me go "Marianna!" He said again as my eyes began to just stare off. I couldn't move due to the lack of mana flowing through my body. And it wouldn't be long before I fell unconscious and eventually died.

"Wait your mana is level 1" he said coming to a realization suddenly I heard what sounded like flapping of wings. Then two black figures appinfront of us. It couldn't be could it, nyx and drazyn, but how did they know.

"DRAGONS!" Cedric yelled unsure if what to do. Nyx and Drazyn lowered their head and made what sounded like a growl, causing Cedric to pull out his sword. No I have to stop him. I can't let him hurt them or them hurt him. I used the last bit of energy I had and looked at him "d-dont hurt t-them" I said as he stared into my eyes. I then turned my head to look at nyx and drazyn again. 1

"Nyx... Drazyn... be..... nice" I said as they stared at me all 3 of them gave me a look of concern mixed with confusion and worry. But this was all I could do.... all I could say.

I was all out of energy and my vision was slowly beginning to go black. Slowly beginning to fade. I wasn't completely sure if Cedric realized I was having an Attack do to the lack of mana in my body. But I had hope that as a powerful Duke he was smart enough to realize.

At this moment, time for me was slowed Maybe even paused. Thoughts of the past few weeks rushed through my mind as I tried to keep my eyes open as long as possible. The Thought of Cedric hurting Nyx and drazyn filled my mind as well as the thought of nyx and drazyn hurting him. What if I opened my eyes and one of the three of them were hurt or even worse dead. Or worse, what if I died. What would happen to nyx and drazyn. I can't let anything happen to them.

As my eyes closed they were the only one who filled my thoughts the only ones I truly cared about. As everything went black.

TO BE CONTINUED