The Dragoso Series 1: Discovery in Hardship

Dragons. Beautiful, yet misunderstood creatures. Nobody knows how these creatures came to be. Magic? Science? Humans have heard stories, but never has anyone been able to get up close and personal with these beasts.

Or so many have thought.

Dragons gave humans the chance to know who they were, in the guise of a human. Dragons began starting families, but time is not always kind to them, nor was their genes. Powers and even the ability to become a dragon was being passed down to offspring. A gene is what enhances the magical ability within a child.

Only a few humans know the true secret of the dragons. And one family would experience something no ordinary dragon would ever encounter.

~oOo~

The giggles of kids and splashing of pool water was up in the air in a backyard. Blue eyes gazed at the children as they played. Trevor Williams had gotten out a while ago to dry off and have a sandwich that their neighbor, Linda, made for them for lunch, now watching his siblings and their neighbors play around.

“How are they, Trevor?” Trevor’s mom, Evanna, asked as she approached him from the house.

“Really good, Mom. We could use the fuel, seeing as Aya and David are always on the go,” Trevor noted, pointing to his youngest sister and little brother. His eyes landed on the older of his sisters, Brenda. She sat at the edge of the pool with her legs in the water. Watching the four younger kids.

“How’s the college search?” Evanna questioned, brushing a blond lock away from Trevor’s eyes.

“I’m limited with my choices with the scholarship I was awarded, there’s a decent one in Wyoming that I can get a good degree with,” Trevor mumbled. School was out for the summer and Trevor had just graduated. Plans for the future were beginning now, and he wasn’t too sure about it. Brenda, Aya, and David had relied on him for years. Without their father, the younger kids looked to Trevor as the man of the house.

“That’s pretty far, baby, you sure you want to be all the way out there, away from your siblings? I know Brenda is just starting her Junior year in high school, Aya is in eighth grade already and David is just starting middle school. It’ll be a hard without you around,” Evanna advised and Trevor exhaled.

“I know, but what else am I supposed to do? Not go and let my full ride for a year go to someone else?” Trevor questioned and Evanna nodded.

“Think about it, you have some time.” Trevor nodded to his mother as she headed back inside. He looked up when Brenda approached, sitting in the second chair.

“What’s wrong, Trevor?” she questioned. Trevor exhaled and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Mom’s worried about me leaving for Wyoming. It’s not exactly my choice on where to go if I get offered a free ride for a year. I’m just trying to take advantage of it.”

“And you should! We’ll be okay here. David and Aya will rely on me, but that’s just fine. I’ll stick around, go to the local college after I graduate. Just so I can take care of Aya and David through the hard times ahead. You worry about what you need to do, okay?” Trevor smiled at his sister.

“Thanks.” Trevor looked towards Aya and David in the pool. “Crazy kids! Come eat lunch!” Aya and David scrambled out of the pool and towards the sandwiches. They each grabbed one and Trevor wrapped a towel around David, Brenda doing the same with Aya. Trevor ruffled David’s darker blond hair as he ate his sandwich, looking up at Trevor with his deep blue eyes when the towel was removed. David clawed at his hair to tame it before shoving the last of his sandwich in his mouth.

“Are you two having fun?” Brenda asked and Aya nodded with excitement. Britney and Kevin, the neighbor kids, clambered out of the pool finally and headed over to where the Williams kids sat and they grabbed sandwiches as well, sitting on their towels.

“Trevor, are you really leaving soon?” Kevin questioned. David looked up at his brother.

“By the time you kids all start school again, I’ll be leaving. But I will be coming back after I finish my adult school,” Trevor explained.

“Are you going to be gone long?” David asked and Trevor shrugged.

“Four years maybe. I might come back after I finish and stick around for a while.”

“Really?” Trevor nodded and David beamed.

“I’m not leaving forever. Time will just fly by and then I’ll be back before you know it.”

“You promise?”

“I can’t promise that I won’t be gone forever, but I promise that I’ll try to come back to you guys.” David thought for a good moment before he nodded.

“Okay...I’m okay with that.” David hugged Trevor and smiled.

“Hey, can we go to the park?” Aya asked and Trevor looked up at Brenda. He shook his head at his sister.

“I thought you were having fun here?” Trevor questioned.

“Yeah, but we just ate, we gotta wait an hour, don’t we?” Trevor smiled at Aya and shrugged.

“You have a good point, maybe you should ask somebody else to tag along?” Trevor tilted his head towards Kevin and Brittany. Trevor watched David ask their neighbors to join them at the park. The younger kids ran to their respectable houses to get changed into day clothes. Trevor stood with Brenda and they started for their own house.

“Are you going to be okay when you leave?” Brenda asked as they walked. Trevor looked at the sidewalk and exhaled.

“I’ll probably be worried about you guys. I’ve been so used to having David and Aya at my heels and you at my side.”

“You’ll be ok. You’re great at making friends, you’ll fit right in when you leave.” Trevor hugged his sister’s shoulders.

After everyone was changed into clothes for the park, Trevor and Brenda walked behind the four kids as they talked about what they were going to do at the park. Approaching the playground, Britney, Kevin, Aya, and David sprint in and head for the jungle gym. Trevor and Brenda found a bench nearby and sat down, watching the kids. After a few minutes of watching, Trevor and Brenda began discussing school. Mainly what Brenda was going to do and the matter of their significant others.

“-so I told Jason, if he brought me flowers and my favorite chocolates for prom I’d...I’d...” Brenda sneezed.

“Bless you! You ok?” Trevor asked. Brenda sniffled and rubbed her nose.

“Yeah, probably just from dust. You know how those dry wood chips can be,” Brenda joked and Trevor smiled, nodding in agreement. He sniffled himself and looked around the park, spotting his siblings and waving to Aya as she stood on the top of one of the playgrounds.

“Could be allergies too. They’ve been saying pollen count is unusually high this year.”

“They also say it’s cause of those ‘mythical dragons’ that nobody has actually seen. Nobody has even gotten a clear photo of a dragon, there’s no way they’re real,” Brenda argued.

“You never know. Remember that one kid that was suspended from school for supposedly setting one of the bathrooms on fire? They never found a lighter on him or any means of flammable device so they let him back in.”

“Yeah, he was back for one day to clean out his locker, return his books and leave for good. I wonder where he went.”

“Who knows.” Trevor looked at his watch. “Aya and David! It’s almost dinner time, grab Britney and Kevin so we can go home!” They waited a few minutes for all the kids to be gathered and they started for home.

~oOo~

“Today was so much fun!” David exclaimed as he set his plate in the sink. “Whose turn was it to do dishes tonight?”

“Me and you, buddy,” Trevor answered, pushing the step stool by the counter. “You dry tonight.”

“Ok.” David stepped onto the stool with a dish towel in hand as Trevor washed and rinsed off the dishes. Trevor handed David a clean spoon when it rattled onto the counter, David’s face in his arm as he sneezed.

“Bless you. You feeling ok?” Trevor picked up the spoon and David nodded.

“Yeah. My nose just tickles.” Trevor nodded and handed the spoon to his little brother.

After the dishes were done, the four of them headed down to their basement for some intense gaming. Trevor was glad to have taught his siblings how to play video games. Aya and Brenda weren’t too big into playing as much as he and David, but they had fun playing Mario Kart. Evanna bid them goodnight a few hours later, reminding Trevor not to let everyone stay awake too late.

An hour passed before Trevor called it a night. They started for upstairs and to their bedrooms. They were lucky to have a nice house that allowed them all to have their own bedrooms. Trevor said goodnight to everyone before he closed his bedroom door. He sat at his desk and stared at the many letters he had received regarding what colleges would take his scholarship, on top was the Wyoming letter. His eyes skimmed over the words before he dropped the letter and sighed. He was really going to leave the only home he ever knew. The family that always relied on him. Trevor’s eyes landed on a photo on his desk. A man with messy blonde hair, almost white, and striking blue eyes held a baby in his arms. Matching blue eyes on the baby, wrapped in a blue blanket.

Henry Williams, Trevor and his siblings’ father. Last time Trevor had seen his father was when David was born. After that he said he had to take a business trip and hadn’t returned. Eleven years had passed.

“Why’d you leave us, Dad? A critical point in my life where you’re needed and you’re just...gone...” Trevor exhaled and laid the frame down so he wouldn’t have to see his father. Trevor coughed and cleared his throat. “Hope I didn’t catch something. It’s the middle of summer, being sick is the last thing I need.” Trevor changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed.

Trevor opened his eyes, finding himself in the hallways at school. A typical day for the seniors, chatting in the halls about what they planned on doing after High School. Trevor stood with some members of his football team, his girlfriend standing with her arm hooked in his, Brenda on his other side.

“Hey, you guys remember that kid who set the bathroom on fire?” Josh asked.

“He’s some kind of freak! I was there when he set the toilet paper on fire. I heard him sneeze one second, the next there’s smoke filling the bathroom!” Omar explained. Something roared down the hall and Trevor looked towards the sound.

“That’s the least of our worries. Run!” Trevor shouted. Around the corner at the end of the hall, a red dragon’s head poked. It roared and let loose a lick of flame. Setting a few stray papers on fire. Trevor dropped his backpack and clenched his fists at his sides. His team started to run, Brenda and Amy staying at his sides.

“Trevor? What are you going to do?” Amy questioned.

“I’m keeping you safe, Amy. Run.” Trevor pecked her lips before she ran off. Brenda looked at Trevor.

“You sure you can do this?” she asked. Trevor nodded.

“Be ready just in case.” Brenda dropped her stuff and stood at his side.

They ran at the dragon as it rumbled closer to them, fire engulfing them. The flames burned as the dragon watched it burn. It smirked before something white began glowing in the flames. Trevor opened his eyes before flapping his dragon wings. The flames disappeared and he and Brenda stood before the red dragon.

“Nice try, but you can’t stop us that easily,” Brenda noted. Trevor snorted before snapping his sharp teeth at the dragon, who backed up.

“Hey, watch it!” he snapped and Trevor growled. He pounced on the dragon, both of them glowing.

Trevor jolted awake, coughing violently. He sat up and tried to breathe. He cleared his throat again and looked at his hand. He stared at the liquid on his hand for a moment before swallowing nervously.

Blood.