The Heart of the Dragon

Back at the home of the dragons and hybrids, Jackson walked up to the tent where the injured pilots were being taken care of as he peeked in to see his father sitting on a log bench in front of the pilots who were asleep on the ground on a homemade bed made from leaves.

“Ah Jackson” Mr. Monroe called when he spotted his son “Come in.”

He stepped inside and took a seat on the bench next to his father.

“How are they doing?” he asked quietly.

“The hybrids are doing everything they can, they don’t know how much longer it’ll take.”

“What about the radio?”

“They’re getting there, they should be finished with it soon. Oh, check this out.”

He showed his son his notebook where he opened the book to reveal all the notes and sketches he took of the dragons and hybrids.

“Looks at all of these,” he remarked astonished “I don’t think I’ve written so many notes about one subject.”

“Um, that’s great dad” Jackson replied with a fake smile “Why are you showing me this?”

“Because think about it, if I write a book about these creatures and get those books sold, I could make some good money.”

“Seriously?” he responded dully, “No one’s gonna buy a book about dragons that was written by a well-known scientist.”

“They’re not gonna know that it’s me, I’ll go by a pen name. But think about it Jackson, everyone loves a book about ‘mythology’, and if we sell enough of these, think of what we can do with the money.”

“Um, can we talk about this later, like when we’re off the island?”

“Oh, um, okay?”

“Sorry dad, but I’m really not in the mood to talk about money right now.”

And with that he got up and left the tent, leaving Mr. Monroe with his notebook as he closed the book and held it tightly in his hands.

After heading down another path, Hayden and Angie came upon an open area with a large tree in the center that had many thick branches in different twists and turns.

“This is another place I like to hang out” he announced while taking a seat on a branch that was hanging near the bottom as Angie took a seat next to him.

“You know I might not wanna leave” she admitted with a smile “This place is really cool.”

He gave a small chuckle when she added- “So, tell me about everyone. How did they become hybrids?”

“Well,” he breathed, “Years ago, right after Ajax graduated from his college-”

“Hold in” she cut in, “Ajax is just a nickname, right?”

“Yeah” he nodded, “His real name is Albert, but everyone’s been calling him Ajax because it sounds cool.”

“It does” she agreed.

“Anyway, right after he graduated from college, he knew he wanted to fly all the way to South America in his own private plane. But during his flight, his engine caught on fire, and he crashed right onto this island. He was founded by a dragon of the lightning element, literally minutes till death. At first, the dragon didn’t know what to do cause his kind has never seen humans on their island before, and he couldn’t just let Ajax die. So thinking quickly, he decided to see what would happen if he mixed his own blood into Ajax’s blood. And just like that, Ajax was cured, and he became the very first hybrid.”

“Whoa,” she breathed amused “So, whatever dragon element gets their blood mixed with a human, the human becomes a hybrid of that certain element?”

“Exactly” he nodded.

“Wow. How was it like for Ajax to become the first hybrid?”

“It was hard at first, especially when some of the dragons didn’t like the idea of having him join their clan. But after a while, they all warmed up to him, he learned everything about them, and since then, they’ve been rescuing everyone who’s wound up on this island.”

“Can you tell me about them? Like how did Candace get turned?”

“Candace got turned when she was 10 years old. She and her dad were visiting one of the islands nearby, and one night, as they were flying off in their jet with a pilot, their engine malfunctioned. The jet crashed right onto the island, her dad and the pilot died instantly, but she barely alive when she was found, they saved her just in time.”

“Damn” Angie puffed sadly “That’s so sad, losing her dad like that.”

“I know” he agreed in a mumble “I felt the same way after losing my parents.”

“I’m sorry” she muttered gloomily.

He let out a big sigh before continuing, “So that’s how Candace came to be. Now Brett was one of the college students who were in that one plane that crashed in the water, he was 19 at the time.”

“How old is he now?”

“He’s 24 like Candace.”

“And what about you?”

“I’m 20.”

“So you’ve been a hybrid for how long?”

“11 years.”

“Damn” she smiled impressed “Continue.”

He smiled back before continuing, “Now Erin turned when she was 16, she was on vacation with her family in Brazil, and one day she was out fishing with a friend on his boat in the ocean when a storm hit, it dragged them away from shore and knocked over their boat. Erin managed to find a raft, but unfortunately, her friend had already drowned. By the time the storm had died down, she was already lost at sea. She drifted in the raft for many days, slowing dying of starvation and of a heat stroke.

After days have passed, one of the water dragons found her and brought her to shore. I actually remember seeing her that day, she was so skinny she already looked like a skeleton, and I thought she was already dead. I was surprised she was still alive, but hardly. The water dragon offered to turn her, and after filling her up, she was good as can be.”

“Oh my goodness” she breathed in shock.

“I know” he agreed in a sigh, “So that’s her. Lastly, Jayce and Savannah’s story is pretty similar to Erin’s, they used to live on the coast of Florida, and one day they were out fishing with their family when of course a storm happened. It pushed them away from shore, but their boat managed to stay up. They drifted for many days, slowly dying, unfortunately, their mother couldn’t make it, and their boat ended up on our island. They were close to death, and we had to turn them, including their dad who’s still here.”

“Oh really?” Angie remarked surprised.

“Yeah,” Hayden nodded, “He’s one of the lucky parents who were able to be with his kids. In fact, Savannah would have to be the youngest who was turned, she was 6 while Jayce was 8.”

“Whoa,” she gasped.

“They were actually turned a month after I got turned, so they became my oldest friends.”

“Wow,” she smiled amusedly, “Now those were some interesting stories.”

“Every hybrid has an interesting story” he smirked, “Their stories may be sad, but at least they made it through.”

“It’s still sad to think that they can’t see their families anymore.”

“Yep,” he sighed, “That’s the curse part of being a hybrid, you’re no longer a full human, and you must stay hidden because of it.”

“Have you ever thought about going back to your old home?”

“Of course, many times, I still do. I imagine myself flying all the way back to where I was born, where I can see my old house, my old friends, my remaining family, and just see everyone living their normal lives as humans. I have to admit, being on this island sucks sometimes, we all eat the same kinds of foods, do the same things every day, no movies, no video games, you get the idea.”

“I do, I mean I haven’t been able to use the internet since we crashed and that really sucks.”

He chuckled, “I haven’t used the internet for 11 years, so if I don’t understand anything you say about technology, then you know why.”

She gave a small laugh, “In that case, I won’t talk at all about Technology.”

“Good idea.”