Chapter 1 CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER 1

CHARLOTTE’S P.O.V

I carefully placed my feet on another shard of ice, careful not to let my hardened scale boots crush them. The crunchy sound might just alert the Gigantosaur before me, so I stuck to sneaking deeper into the cluster of trees carefully. Being a dragon man hunter sounded pretty easy last two sun cycles, not until when I began the job. Killing the big beasts weren’t the major issue; feeding the infant dragon men was. Their inability to fully morph into her humanoid form, and keep their streaks of fire breath under control are the things I pray not to encounter whilst going to feed them in the Grand Nursery.

The dragon world had a simple circle of life: young dragon men develop into 18-year-olds, they find their mate when the female is experiencing her ’Rût’(ovulating period), the pair mates and reproduce the dragon men to carry on their lineage. That was all there was to the dragon world, and it always pisses me of.

The Gigantosaur seemed busy struggling with something in his grasp, and when I ran stealthily to a tree to observe, its ’meal’ was trying to wriggle free. Gigantosaurs kill their meal before eating, so why was this one different?

A shrill cry would confirm what I found off about the shaking ’prey’—it was a young dragon man.

The fury that erupted in me was unexplainable. I bursted out into the open field whose crust was completely covered with spiked red falcon grass. I immediately retrieved an arrow from my backpack and readied my bow. Taking down beasts was pretty easy as a hunter, but where things get rather tricky is ensuring the arrow touches the target.

I recited the spell that brings upon death to whatsoever creature it comes in contact with. The arrow glowed a bright crimson red, which confirmed the spell was already activated. Despite its huge size and deafening thumping, the Gigantosaur made out my presence and turned towards my direction. On other days, I’d have simply what every other hunters of the dragon would have done: run for their lives.

Not today.

I raced towards the Gigantosaur, my arrow fixed on the bow strings, my left arm drawn back, and my eyes emitting and immense amount of fury. I released the arrow from my grasp just as the Gigantosaur was a few feet away from me. Due to its huge size, I had the advantage of swiftness and speed. Still running, I went on my knees and skidded right through the underbelly of the beast. I withdrew my ivory sword and sliced through its belly.

A strong kick bounced me to the other end of the field, and I realised that I got hit by the Gigantosaur’s massive tail. It leaped forward and charged towards me. I tried getting up, but the stinging pain I felt from the hard blow kept making me fall. I made out the figure of the young dragon man still breathing its ’dangerous’ fire breath at the Gigantosaur, following it as it charged towards me.

Suddenly, the Gigantosaur came to a halt, and its belly burst open. A combination of green and yellow slime covered a huge portion of the field. My body wasn’t spared from the splash, my mouth forming a big ’O’ at the moment of impact. I heaved a sigh of relief, and I managed to stand erect. I caught of the young dragon man, dipping its fangs into the splattered guts of the dead beast.

“Uncultured babies,“ I cursed, “Stop it!“

When the young dragon man noticed me approaching him, it began to shoot fire balls at me. Like the fire balls did a thing to me…

I grabbed the young dragon man by the wings and hoisted it up.

“What led you out into the woods again, Cylet?“ I stared at it interrogatively, and I noticed this particular dragon man had always been escaping the Grand Nursery.

I casted a binding spell on the young dragon man, summoning heavy duty hardened scale chains to secure it in place. I took out my magic mirror to summon the headquarters back at the nursery. An angry face of the head midwife, Sister Lily pops on the mirror, her expression not welcoming. I grabbed the young dragon man who struggled to wriggle free off the chains and began walking towards the left end of the field.

“Why can’t you just being a game home without getting drenched in the disgusting guts of only-God-knows-what kind of beasts???“ she queried, her trumpet-tongued pitch almost disrupting my sense of hearing.

I tried explaining I didn’t kill.tjos particular beast viciously, but she cuts me in when she sights me carrying Cylet.

“My goodness!“ she gasped, “Cylet! How many times do you want to get sanctioned for leaving the Grand Nursery? And at such a young age!“ she said, glaring at Cylet who was busy struggling with the chains.

She returned her gaze to my face, her expression stoic.

“You need to get home immediately. The other hunters will be there to fetch the beast you’ve hunted down. This should last the Nursery for another 4 days, I believe.“,

“You mentioned the urgency for me to get home immediately. What’s wrong, Sister?“,

“Oh yeah. That… the thing is, your father calls for you. He mentions that tomorrow is your 18th birthday. Is that true?“ Sister Lily inquired.

I growled silently upon hearing Sister Lily mention my father. If there was any other reason why I took up this jobof being a hunter, it was because I wanted to avoid my family as much as I possibly could and also the mating festival that occurs every moon cycle. Coincidentally, the moon cycle coincides with the 18th sun cycle that I’m about to experience tomorrow, so my father requesting for me to return home wasn’t good news.

“Why the sudden silence, Princess?“ Sister Lily’s voice jolted me from my thoughts.

I frowned, “You know I hate being called that, Sister.“,

“No matter how humble you wish to sound, you’re still the princess of our universe, Charlotte.“,

“Arrrgh!“ I grunted in frustration, and it seemed to make Sister Lily chuckle.

“Get home immediately. The hunters should be there any minute now.“,

“What about—“,

“I can see you already binded that stubborn boy. Just leave him there. The hunters will retrieve him.“,

“Okay. Bye, Sister Lily.“,

“I guess we shall see at the Palace tomorrow.“, she said with a wink. “Don’t you have a mate yet?“, she inquired.

I rolled my eyes in disgust, “Oh, please.“

Sister Lily bursts out laughing again, ending the transmission. Cylet’s fangs brushes my skin and I kicked him slightly, wandering how a dragon man so young could be this agile and fierce. My mind wanders back to the announcement I received from Sister Lily.

What does father intend to do?