Abrecan Gets News

 The four half-dragons were hanging outside of the Shadow Dragon Cabin, just sitting and enjoying the day. It had been a month or so since Mishi left, and they still kept up their sparring every day, though they felt like a part of their team was missing. 

Rowan sighed. "One of these days we might need to add a Fire to our team. It seemed to be a fun addition. I'd like it to be Mishi though, but…"

Anora chuckled. "The chances of him coming back any time soon don't seem great."

Elle sighed. "Probably not, but I see what you mean. Still, the Fire dragons we have here don't seem to want to join us."

Abrecan laughed. "They're scared of us!"

"Yeah, we are terrifying." Anora said, making her best scary face, which… wasn't scary at all.

Abrecan smiled at her. "Yeah, you sure do look scary, Anora."

The group started to laugh at the thought of Anora being scary at all.

 Arne walked up to them as they were laughing. They all turned and waved at him as he approached, but the look on his face gave them pause. 

Elle spoke first. "Sir, what's wrong?"

"Would you all come with me? A message has arrived for Abrecan, but I think I want you all there when he gets it."

 The group followed Arne without a word, feeling the seriousness of his tone. They walked into Arne's office, and sat down in the chairs he had waiting for them. He faced towards Abrecan. 

"This message came by dragon, so it isn't in writing. The town of Elinae was hit by the plague."

Abrecan's eyes widened. "But… My mom…"

Arne took a deep breath. "She had been affected. Word reached the ears of Elmuelni of this fact, and he went to visit her. The guards keeping the village under quarantine saw him around the outskirts and called for dragon slayers."

Abrecan sat in shock. Anora realized what was coming, and quickly walked over to grab his hand as Arne continued.

"Your mother heard Elmuelni calling for her and tried to move, but she was weak, and the people tending to her at the time stopped her. She fought until she couldn't. It caused her heart to stop and she died… as the dragon slayers slayed Elmuelni."

 Abrecan was speechless. Both of his parents died at the same time? How could that be possible? His dad was a dragon, he was supposed to live for years. His dad was supposed to keep his mom safe, and now she was gone. Why did they call Dragon Slayers? Didn't they hear his dad calling a name? Why would they kill him over that? He wasn't attacking! He did nothing wrong!

"Abrecan!" Anora said, letting go of his hand and standing in front of him. She quickly grabbed his face. "Ow!" She let go, focused and grabbed it again.

Abrecan realized he had been getting angry and his body was being covered in static electricity. He stopped as he realized that he hurt Anora. He covered her hand with his own.

"I'm sorry, are you okay?"

She smiled. "I'll be fine. I just need you to breathe. Okay?"

Abrecan nodded and took a deep breath. He looked into her eyes that were filled with tears, and at that moment he felt the grief overwhelm him. He felt his eyes begin to fill as he started to sob. Anora quickly wrapped her arms around him as the others rushed forward to hug him as well. 

 The kids had no idea how much time had passed, but they didn't care. They were there to comfort their friend, and Arne had even left the room to let them mourn in peace. Unfortunately Dragon Slayers were becoming a problem, and word was that the council was trying to find a solution, but Arne also heard that the council was having trouble deciding what to do. 

 The four young half-dragons finally had calmed enough to leave the office. They weren't sure where to go, but they were just staying with Abrecan who was wandering aimlessly. Anora and Elle held onto his hands as Rowan walked closely behind them. They soon found themselves at the training grounds. 

Abrecan forced himself to smile. "Wanna fight?"

The three nodded, and their daily sparring match began. This time they knew their friend needed to blow off some steam, so they gave him a reason. It wasn't as fun as usual, but they all needed this. To those four kids this was a day that showed them how dark the world could be, especially to dragons. From here they needed to look to the future to choose whether to make it fun or let the darkness consume them.