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It didn’t take William long to dig up a hole and when he was finished, he turned and looked at me with his beady eyes. I could see his personality reflected in them. It was eerie to know that this dragon and William were the same soul, a mind shared in two forms. I was lost gazing at him for a few moments before I realized he wanted me to do something. He looked down at the body, and then pointed to the hole with his tail. I skipped over to Vincent’s corpse and dragged it into the hole, and then stepped back so that William could fill the hole in again. I watched as Vincent’s peaceful face was covered in dirt, and I was glad when the soil covered up the huge hole in his stomach. I bid my farewell to him and wished that I could have done more to prevent the deaths. I only hoped that what we found on Dragon Island would be worth all the souls it had claimed.
William patted the soil down nice and tight, much like a dog would do after he buried a bone, and then his tail wagged and his wings fluttered and he changed back into a man. The whole process seemed painful, but it was evidently something he could control at will.
“Does it hurt?” I asked after he had returned to human form.
“It does the first time, but you get used to it. It’s like a good pain, like picking off a scab.”
“And you can just do it at will?”
William nodded. “It’s like flexing a muscle. But the feeling you get with it, it’s the best in the world. I’ve always pitied normal humans because they’ll never know the joy of soaring through the air under their own power.”
“After today I’m not sure I want to soar anymore,” I said. William chuckled. He gestured to a nearby spot where we sat down. We moved away from the boar, I found it distasteful to sit near a corpse. “Are you here for the same reason as your brother?”
“No, I’m here to keep Thomas safe,” he said. I got the impression that he was only half-joking. “He has much in common with our father. They have grand ideas about the way the world should be, and the direction our people should take. I just want to know the truth, and then decide from there. Thomas is the only family I have and I’ll do anything to keep him safe. I love him, I’ve always looked out for him, so where he goes, I go.”
“That’s very sweet,” I said, surprised at how touching his words were. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I wouldn’t have expected you to say something like that. You come across as a little…detached.”
“I wasn’t sure how this was going to play out. I know why Thomas wanted to come out here, but coming here with humans just seemed like a recipe for disaster. I’m sure he explained to you the important placed on us keeping our secret. I just didn’t see a way for us not to reveal our true nature.”
“But you did, except with me.”
“That doesn’t matter too much. You’re just one person. Nobody will believe you if you say anything.”
Somehow, I didn’t find that reassuring. “That’s if we ever get off this island.”
William laughed deeply at that. He tossed back his head and slapped his thigh. I furrowed my brow, not understanding why he was laughing.
“Do you think that’s funny?” I asked, incredulous.
“Yes, I do actually. Think about what you just said and then think about who you’re talking to, and what we can do.”
I still didn’t understand, but when I thought about it a little more, I laughed as well. Of course, they could fly, and if we needed to we could just flee from the island, as long as they could make it through the storm. I could tell there was still a lot I needed to learn about being with dragons. There was going to have to be a big adjustment in my thinking.
“Okay, you got me. I guess I can relax a little bit.”
“Yeah, all we need to worry about is finding the lost secrets of an ancient civilization.”
“Well, like you said, that’s what I’m here for. Tell me something, all those other adventures you’ve been on, all the mountains you’ve climbed and the trails you’ve hiked, were they all to search for clues to your past?”
“Some of them were, others were just because we enjoyed it. We’ve always had an affinity for nature. I guess it’s in our blood. It’s much more freeing to know that we can shift at any time. Usually we get quite agitated when we’re around other humans for too long.”
“How do you cope with it? How can you live in the city and still indulge this side of you?”
“There are always ways to keep secrets. We have a mansion with a huge barn, and when it’s the darkest part of night we sometimes take flight. It’s not easy, and it’s always annoying to me to feel like I can never be myself. But I know it’s for the best though. Can you imagine what would happen if we revealed ourselves? The world would go crazy, and we’d be dissected. I can understand why th
e secret needs to be kept, but there are some things that should be shared.”
“Why is your uncle so devoted to keeping things a secret?”
“Like anyone else in power he’s afraid that things will change. It’s as simple as that. It’s funny really because it’s entirely a human flaw. I just hope we can get some justice for father. Living the way we do…it’s difficult to get vengeance.”
“You mean…killing him?” I asked, a lump forming in my throat. William looked me directly in the eyes and showed no hesitation or remorse when he answered in the affirmative. “How can you talk about killing someone so casually?” I asked.
“Dragons do things differently. To me, there’s no difference between my uncle and that boar, well, apart from the fact that the boar likely has more honor. My uncle was responsible for having my father killed and he didn’t even do it in honorable combat. He did it in a cowardly way, not even staying true to the tenets of the dragon.”
“But can’t you go through the proper channels, like find evidence to prove that he did have something to do with your father’s death?”
William barked a laugh. “Dragons are a part of the natural world, and nature has no mercy. He deserves nothing more than a swift end for his crimes,” he said. I heard the pain in his voice though. I had became very good at that over the years, likely because my voice had always been tinged with hurt and pain. “Thomas has always reminded me that I can’t do what I would like to him, but if what we find here harms my uncle then it’s all worth it as far as I’m concerned.”
