Page 14 of No Ordinary Drakeling
Zane walked into the room with three other men. One was wearing an amazing crown with a prism slowly twirling and catching the light above him. His eyes were violet and full of friendliness. The dragon standing next to him had brown eyes that looked annoyed while the third man wore a pleasant smile. “Ellery, this is Prism Wizard Vadimas Porfyra, Wesley Draconis, and Nurse Paul Atasi.”
“It is a pleasure to meet all of you.”
“If you wouldn’t mind rolling up your sleeve, Paul can take your blood. It’ll only take a few seconds to confirm if you’re a shifter or not,” the Prism Wizard said.
Ellery pushed his sleeve past his elbow and seconds later, there was a small bite of pain as Paul pushed the needle into his skin. Once his task was complete, he had a piece of gauze taped to his arm which was unnecessary as his elven abilities to heal had likely already closed the tiny wound. Happy to be able to cover his skin, Ellery fixed his clothing back into place as the Prism Wizard dipped a piece of paper into the tube of blood.
When he lifted his gaze, it was grim. “Ellery, you’ll need dragon training right away.”
“Do you think we can find his father with his DNA?” Damian asked.
The Prism Wizard narrowed his eyes with irritation. “Considering how few dragons have registered their DNA with the Spectra Wizardry, I hardly think so.”
“That’s a program I intend to push. Ellery deserves to know who his father is, and I’d like to know what kind of dragon abandons his pregnant mate,” Chrysander stated.
“I’ll add Ellery to the database, and if you can get your people to cooperate, we’ll do what we can to assist. In the meantime, I’m going to get working on a new protein supplement. Ellery, your diet’s not going to give you what you need after you become a dragon. Vegetables and fruit simply aren’t enough, and I don’t want you to have to alter your native cuisine. I’ll give Vampyr Lord Grigori Volkov-D’Vaire a call. He should be able to come up with something in no time,” Vadimas said.
“Thank you very much, Prism Wizard,” Ellery said. The Prism Wizard and the nurse sailed out of the room.
“Have a seat, Wesley. We’ve got work to do,” Chrysander said. “Let’s start with the most pressing issue. I think we should call King Aleksander D’Vaire. He’s got a drakeling under his roof who sings the praises of his trainer. I’d like to get in contact with that trainer and see if he’ll work with you, Ellery.”
“Wouldn’t it be best for Ellery to go to D’Vaire?” Wesley asked. “They have dragon training set up as well as elves. If you’ll consider it, it’s likely the best place for him.”
“This is Ellery’s home now,” Chrysander responded. “I was considering D’Vaire myself, but that was before I met Ellery. We’re mates.”
Wesley’s brown eyes widened, and he pursed his lips. “Congratulations are in order then.”
“Thank you, Wesley. We’re going to have to put together a press release as soon as possible.”
“Yes, of course. They’re going to want pictures though and well, Ellery’s wearing…rags. He doesn’t even have shoes on.”
Ellery didn’t particularly care for the way Wesley was looking down his nose at him. He couldn’t afford shoes, had no place to buy them even if he did, and it wasn’t uncommon for the elves in his village to go without them. As for his clothes, he’d sewn them himself and he might not be the best tailor in the world, but he’d tried hard with what little he had. None of this went past his mind to his lips. Ellery decided it was best to understand the situation before he started making a nuisance of himself.
“Zane’s going to take him shopping tomorrow to remedy that situation. He’ll need a crown and a ring of rank. I want those things taken care of as soon as possible,” Chrysander said.
“Of course. Although, shouldn’t some of this wait until after he shifts? I mean, I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade here, but he is a hybrid.”
“Is the fact that I am a hybrid going to be a problem?” Ellery asked.These dragons might not be so different from the children who used to call me ‘xiryti’ or ‘mongrel,’Ellery thought with a great deal of annoyance.
“I’m only trying to be realistic. We can’t ignore statistics, even if you are Chrysander’s mate,” Wesley stated.
“I am afraid I do not understand.”
“Ellery, what do you know about hybrids?” Chrysander asked, his voice warm with concern. Ellery liked his tone and wished they had a few moments alone to get to know one another, but for some reason Fate had paired him with a powerful man who had abundant responsibilities.
“Not much. My tribe did not interact with many people. I am the only hybrid I have ever heard of. I just know the other elves did not like that I was different. Is the Council the same way?”
“I won’t deny that there are those ignorant enough to think hybrids are somehow lesser than others, but they are very few. What Wesley’s referring to is survival rates for hybrids,” Chrysander stated, and his words were measured to Ellery’s ears, though he couldn’t discern why.
“What is the survival rate for hybrids?”
“In general, they’re quite high,” Damian revealed. “The ones who are half shifter almost always have a beast, though there are exceptions. However, the larger and more powerful the animal, the more trouble hybrids have surviving their first shift.”
“Dragons are very large,” Ellery observed.
“We’re also the strongest shifters,” Zane added quietly. “To date, no dragon hybrid has survived their first shift.”
Ellery let that tidbit of information settle into his mind. He reached down where the entity inside him dwelled. It had always been a warm and inviting presence and at Zane’s words, all he felt was peace. An inner voice told him his dragon wouldn’t hurt him, and he decided to trust it. Just because no other hybrid had managed the feat did not mean Ellery was going to die. In fact, he refused to accept that it was his destiny. “How many dragon hybrids have there been?”
