"Oh dear!" August clicked his tongue as he looked at the clouds in the sky.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing much. My nephew's torn apart."
"What?" The knight's heart pounded heavily. A dragon was killed?
"Yea. Lost his mate moments ago. Fallin' to pieces I reckon. Ah!" August shook his head with grief, "Worst feeling for a dragon you know."
"H..how do you know he lost his mate?" The captain asked, curious.
"See, I'm ice and he's water. Those clouds over there," he pointed at the sky, " they're moving towards Noirblumen. Unusual, ey? Wind moves from there to here, not the other way around."
"But that doesn't explain how his mate must've died."
"Intense emotions trigger the dragon's natural element towards them. I reckon there'll be a hurricane soon." August observed the weeds for a while then asked the knights to hurry along.
"Aren't you going to console him? You're his family." The knight's captain asked, reaching his pace.
"Hell nah! Never making that mistake again!" He ruffled his steel blue hair. "Lindsey, you don't know these dragons. His dad.. when my sister died, he caused earthquakes. Destroyed most of the Water Canyon, almost killing me. Ain't steppin' foot in anyone's territory."
"But there must be a way to calm him down." Captain Lindsey was optimistic.
"There's one who can tame that kid other than his mate." August spoke after a deep thought.
Lindsey's eyes flickered. "Don't get your hopes up Lindsey. He died a long time ago." August added, "Knowing the cause of his death, that brat killed the entire population of Noirblumen save for that man's nurse. Made her leave that place."
"Really? Now I wonder who that man was."
"The only person around which that notorious kid behaved as a civilised person? You don't wanna know. But I'll give a hint."
"I'm not good at riddles but I'll try."
"The only person who was born on Noirblumen island, and lived there till six."
"I can't think of anyone. It must be back around when people used to visit there. But that's more than three centuries ago."
"It is." August smiled then suddenly stopped in his tracks, his smile faltered.
"Everything alright?" Captain Lindsey asked, worried by the sudden grimace on his face.
"Oh no. Oh dear!"
"Sir August?"
"Why's he here? And with him? And why next to her?"
Lindsey tried looking in the direction of his fixated eyes. It was the beach with a ship anchored to it. Was he looking at the people there? They seemed like tiny grains from this distance yet he could see them clearly? Fascinating beasts these dragons!
"Hold on!" August tapped his forehead with his fingers, eyes closed, " If Laurier rose is there, does that mean she recovered?" A smile widened on his face, "My beautiful rose is back! Oh! Oh! Oh!" He jumped, fist in his mouth, "Can I confess to her now? No.. not yet. What if his brother also came back?"
"What is he muttering about?" Captain Lindsey stared at his childish behaviour. He saw something and waved.
"Did you see? Did you see that? She waved at me? She recognised me! Could this be a sign?" August jumped up and down.
"Who?" Lindsey didn't have clairvoyant eyes like him. "Is there another dragon over there?"
"Na na. She's a high-ranking spirit, almost equal to us dragonians." August was excited, "Mind you, her brother's Ocean— the black dragon. Can't believe it myself that he is with that nasty temper of his."
"The black dragon! Isn't that the strongest one?" Lindsey exclaimed with disbelief, "I didn't know dragons have siblings."
"Of course we do. We have parents too. Take my nephew brat for instance. His mum, my sister, was a water dragon herself. His dad- earth dragon. He was sent to Faerwyn after he destroyed the Water Canyon. Became a guard of Faerwyngates but ran away. Years since I last saw him."
"By the way, isn't that the Oleander's ship?" Lindsey spoke by seeing the crest on the ship's sails. "Are they going to patrol the waters?"
"That'd be dangerous. Noirblumen isn't that far. Only a few days' journey." August spoke with concern. "Tide's goin' to be high."
Owen went inside the cabin to find Luna sniveling in the corner of her bed, her legs curled up. He sat a few inches away from her bed on his knees thinking of how to stop her from crying. He felt uncomfortable seeing her cry but he knew his words would hurt her more. He wasn't the type to console anyone, not because he never wanted to; he had never done that before.
"Here."
Luna looked up with her teary eyes to a cream silk handkerchief in Owen's hand. She took it and with a soft whisper, she spoke, "Thank you."
"I came to inform you that there's a storm coming up, so there will be a lot of turbulence. If you have seasickness like Hugo, I'll have a bucket prepared for you."
"There's no need. I don't get seasick." Luna's voice was cracking, "I've been to the sea many times. It's almost a routine now."
"Right." Owen turned towards the door, halted, and turned back towards her.
"Is something wrong?"
"I've been meaning to ask you. That spirit showed you stars that represented each Oleander." Owen asked for affirmation.
"Yes?"
"Including the baby, there should've been six stars."
"I suppose so." Luna was confused where he was heading to.
"But it became six after your sister died."
"Pardon?" She raised her brow.
Owen paused for a moment. Perhaps he didn't know much of their family. "Nevermind."
"Hey, don't leave me hanging!" Luna called out behind him. "What's he talking about?"
She stood up, wearing her boots to come and confront him only to be stopped by Hugo.
"Miss Oleander, how long's the journey? I can't hold on much longer." Hugo vomited in the bucket in his hands.
"Are you alright?" Luna asked, massaging his back for him to feel better.
"Never worse than this. Why did I sign up to go on this voyage?" Hugo regretted his decision.
"Because Laurier rose said you and Owen would be helpful in calming him down." Luna reminded him gently.
"I don't know if I can calm that brat, but I sure can agitate him more by cussing him." Hugo was adamant on beating the water dragon when he reached Noirblumen.
Luna smiled faintly at his words. "We can't do that otherwise he wouldn't let us nurse the baby. The baby might be a half dragon, but he'll get hungry too."
"He's a human I tell you." Hugo spoke moving in a zigzag motion towards the cabin. "All children of dragons go after their..ugh.. mothers. Not an ounce of father's traits..ugh.. in them. Personality— a possibility if they grow with them, but—Blegh!" He vomited once more.
"How can you be certain about it?" Luna asked, her worry increased.
"Happens with all..ugh.. dragons. Even the elements they control..ugh...goes after their mother's...ugh.. element. That's why you see..ugh.. there are no garden dragons left..ugh...only spirits and fairies.. or...Blegh!"
Luna ran towards the deck to find the captain. They needed to hurry.
"I'm afraid that's the fastest we can go." The captain replied to Luna after her continuous nagging for three days straight. "Look at the storm! We're doing our best to not sink in the sea."
The waves clashed violently with the ship and everyone was trying to remove the water that had come inside. The lack of a water user was the biggest mistake they had made. At least he would've kept the tides at a safe distance if not the rain.
It was hard to keep balance while walking on the deck. The ship kept moving right and left, the turbulence at its peak. It even made the crew nauseous although they had been in storms before.
Owen held the rail of the deck tightly keeping himself from being swept away from the violent tides.
"Everybody inside!" The captain shouted seeing the rogue wave charging at them. Everyone rushed inside, slipping and falling along the way.
"That's a huge one!" A crew member gasped, "Never seen that big in my life."
"At least we're all inside. It was a close call." The captain nodded in agreement.
"Wait." Luna looked around, "Where's Owen?"
The members looked at each other and around. There was no sight of him inside. Hugo instinctively slammed the door open just in case he was outside. And he was right.
Owen was there, his hair sticking to his face as he walked slowly with the rail to keep his balance. The humongous tide behind him.
"Owen! Hurry!" Hugo screamed at the top of his lungs.
But it was too late. The wall of water swept him with full force into the sea.
Owen felt his lungs burning as the water entered his lungs while his body felt cold and numb. He moved his arms and feet frantically trying to save himself from drowning but the movements became slower and slower. He was slowly and painfully losing consciousness. As his eyes started to lose light, he saw a mix of golden flames moving helically with the water at a distance. His eyes closed, his lungs almost completely filled with water.