Venom and Earth Read online

  Jessica Turnbull

  Venom and Earth

  Elemental Dragons Book 2

  Copyright © 2020 by Jessica Turnbull

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  First edition

  ISBN: B0854RPT1N

  Cover art by Deranged Doctor Design - http://www.derangeddoctordesign.com/

  Editing by Nicola Hodgson - http://www.root-and-branch-editing.com/

  This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy

  Find out more at reedsy.com

  To Teresa Sowden,

  For being one of my biggest supporters throughout

  my publishing process and always being there to talk to.

  1

  Chapter One

  Peace doesn’t last forever. I always seem to find out the hard way.

  The screen in front of me is currently showing my worst nightmare. Helicopter blades whir overhead the cameraman as he points one gloved hand towards the beast in the sky.

  Draca.

  The orange dragon flaps its mighty wings, stalling the helicopter following it for a millisecond. They finally get ahead of it and it bares its teeth, growling at the people ahead.

  “How did it get out?” Wes trembles beside me, his locket glowing a murky grey.

  Wes is one of my closest friends in Aria, the first person I met outside my friends and brother. We’re both equally scared of our markings, the beacons that are currently leading Draca right to us.

  I ignore the feeling of my skin burning around my wrist; it doesn’t matter now. The silver bracelet on my wrist continues to burn, as if it’s warning me about what I’m about to face. Looking at that beast on the screen makes my back burn too; my markings are probably glowing. The markings that are lighting Draca’s way. It knows where to go because of the markings on my back of my element, water. Now, it wants to swallow me alive to get my power.

  “Hazel?” Wes shakes my arm feebly.

  “I’m thinking.”

  “Me too. We need to hide.”

  “We can’t hide from a monster that can track our markings.” I hesitantly brush my fingers over the nape of my neck, feeling the warmth radiating from the royal blue swirls on my back.

  As much as I want to run, there’s nowhere to go. Camp walls are guarded; we won’t be able to sneak past.

  “Then what do we do? Wait for it to come and eat us?”

  I glare at my friend, who trembles as the dragon lets out a roar so loud that it’s distorted on the live feed. “I don’t know.”

  “What about the others? And Braith… She’ll want revenge.”

  Braith has markings also, she joined our group a few months after it was formed. She’s given us so much information so far, she’s a valuable asset.

  I sigh and tear my gaze from the screen. “What do you mean?”

  “You and I both know that everyone at the lab is dead. It’s all over the news! Olwen wouldn’t have made it out. ”

  My heart thumps into my throat at the thought of Braith crushed by the death of her older sister. Wes is right. There’s a strong chance she’ll do something impetuous.

  “We need to find her.”

  “You can. I’m not going outside with that thing flying around.” Wes sinks lower in his chair as people around us start to chatter as the camera cuts out.

  I’m not letting her get into trouble.

  “Fine. We’ll go by ourselves.” I glance at my dragon companion, Aqueous, who nods in agreement.

  I slink through the crowd, Aqueous gently pushing people out of the way with his bat-like wings. I’m glad there are no Premiers around to fine us. My commoner status means that I can be fined by the elite for even glancing in their direction. With Draca loose I suppose their ‘protectors’, people who watch over the Premiers, are too busy to worry about a few commoners like me getting too close,

  Cold air blasts my face as I step onto the gravel path outside the library. The sky is grey and full of clouds that look ready to burst. Aqueous sniffs the air, his claws digging into the gravel.

  “Can you smell it?”

  The black dragon shakes his head, but his turquoise eyes won’t meet my gaze.

  “You’re a terrible liar.”

  His eyes twinkle until a roar makes us both jump. It echoes around the camp, instilling a deep silence.

  “We need to find her, now.”

  My companion puts his nose in the air once more, nostrils flaring. I let him lead as we walk through the empty streets. People duck into the nearest buildings, their eyes wide with fear. Although I’m scared, I need to find Braith. She’s going to be devastated. I hear the whir of helicopter blades again, and quicken my pace to a run. Aqueous slows down to run beside me, his eyes darting between the sky and the path ahead. As we turn a corner, I recognise the black and white scales of Damayanti, Braith’s dragon. She is glaring at the sky, legs splayed and teeth bared. Next to her stands Braith, clutching a piece of pipe in her hands. Her face is wet with tears, and her hair is ruffled over her sweaty forehead.

  “Braith!” I call out to her, but she doesn’t acknowledge me. “Braith!”

  “Fuck off, Hazel.”

  The fact that she used my proper name instead of the nickname she gave me shows that she’s upset. Her gaze drops to meet mine, her brown eyes blazing with fury.

  “Braith, we can’t be out here.”

  The hum of the helicopter blades becomes louder; it will break through the clouds any minute. And Draca would too.

  “I want it dead.” My friend clutches the pipe so tightly her knuckles turn white. “Olwen is dead because of it.”

  “You don’t know that. She could have got out–”

  “No. Most of the building collapsed after catching fire. They’ve found bodies, not survivors.”

  I take a step forward but Damayanti bares her teeth, frosted breath flowing from her nostrils.

  The helicopter spirals overhead, trailing smoke in its wake. It heads for the forest, disappearing behind the trees. Aqueous shields me from the strong winds as Draca’s head breaks through the cloud first. Its long orange body follows, circling the camp in seconds.

  It’s the size of a skyscraper, with piercing amber eyes and dull orange scales. Chipped brown spikes stick out over its head and neck in all directions. Its claws are as long as my body and of a faded yellow. Its eyes lock on us below, its lips contorting onto a snarl. It flaps its wings once and lands gracefully in front of us in the square, squeezing its bulky body in between the shops surrounding it.

  “Get ‘im!” Braith snaps at her companion.

  With a screech of fury, Damayanti leaps into the air, speeding towards Draca for an attack. Aqueous shoots after her, tackling her out of the sky yards from the beast’s face. The two of them tumble on the ground, leaving scars in the pavement.

  “No!” Braith screams, whacking my arm with the pipe as she rushes towards the great beast.

  I shoot a blast of water at her feet, knocking her to the ground.

  Draca lifts one leg, trapping Braith between its claws.

  “Shit!”

  I run forward, firing streams at the beast’s head. It ignores me and starts to drag its hand across the ground towards its head, taking Braith with it. My frien
d tumbles helplessly between the clawed bars, getting covered in dirt and grime. Each claw leaves a large scar in the earth. Damayanti’s angry roars ring in my ears as the beast lifts its hand up, hooking Braith’s arm between rows of teeth.

  “Hazy!” I hear the fear and regret in my friend’s voice as the beast prepares to take off, with her dangling from its mouth.

  “No!” I fire more water, but it bounces off the dragon’s orange scales harmlessly.

  Flapping its wings, Draca launches into the sky, the force of its take-off knocking me backwards. When I’m able to open my eyes again, the clearing is empty.

  * * *

  Please come back.

  I stare up at the sky wistfully, hoping to see my friend. Any minute I thought that orange lizard could come shooting through the sky, my friend dangling from its mouth. But the only thing in the sky is a mass of grey clouds.

  “Hazel, we gotta get to school!” Wes tugs at my arm once more, anxious not to be late to his lessons.

  “They aren’t looking for her, Wes…”

  My friend drops my arm and sighs in frustration. “I know, but what can we do? This place was heavily locked before and will be even more so now. We have no choice but to leave it up to the professionals.”

  I scoff at his use of the word ‘professionals’, which applies to people who are actually good at their job, not the idiots the government sent out to look for Braith. They have no clues where she is, even though the scientists fitted Draca with a tracking device. The reality is they aren’t trying to find her; they’re too busy trying to cover up Draca’s escape and pin it on the scientists who raised it.

  “A dead fish could have found her by now.”

  Wes smiles, happy to see my sense of humour returning a little. “That may be so, but we still can’t do anything.”

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” I grumble.

  Seeing my defeat as a sign, Wes grabs my arm and once again pulls me towards the school. My companion, Aqueous, follows us slowly, his tail dragging on the ground. Wes’s dragon Asteroid prods him every so often with her tail, trying to initiate play, but he takes no notice of her and continues plodding with his head bowed.

  Braith’s kidnap two weeks ago has affected us all, especially our small friendship group. She was bright and bubbly, and now we don’t even know if she’s still alive. Damayanti went missing soon after Braith was abducted. There are rumours that she escaped Aria to find Braith herself, but no-one has confirmed or denied it.

  If Damayanti had escaped, that would explain the sudden ramping up of security around Aria’s walls: there are now patrols of battle-trained dragons that monitor the borders, watching everyone vigorously. They seem to be so worried about being attacked that they wear silver armour around their necks and stomachs, the weak spots of a dragon. They look menacing; I wouldn’t mess with them.

  As Wes pulls me into the school building, the bell rings, making him panic and start running towards our first lesson, Dragon Mythology.

  “Wes! We’ll be fine, she’s always late!” I shout after him.

  “I don’t care, I want to be there now!”

  With a sigh, I follow my friend as he dashes into the classroom, practically throwing himself on his desk. A few people around the class snicker, but most aren’t even here yet. We rushed for nothing, as always.

  “See? Early, as always,” I sigh, pulling out the seat next to him and calmly sitting down to show him how to do it.

  He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. “Yeah, well, I don’t want to miss the first day back at school. Even though lessons were postponed we’ve still got to learn everything for our exams this year.”

  Oh great, exams. The worst thing about going to school.

  “And they’ve hiked the passing grade up, because apparently last year it was ‘too easy’,” I moan.

  “Don’t remind me. How does it make sense to have the passing grade as a C plus? Getting a C minus in some subjects would be hard enough. I’m going to revise as hard as I can. I can’t afford to fail anything if I want to be a politician.”

  “You’ll do fine, Wes. You’re smart; you’ll get through it. Plus, we have a year before they start anyway. Lighten up!”

  “You’re the one who needs to lighten up!” he counters. “You’ve been moping ever since Braith left. It needs to stop.”

  Left?

  “Braith did not leave. Draca abducted her!”

  Wes throws his arms up in frustration. “This is what I mean! Stop worrying, she’ll be found!”

  “Not at this rate,” I grumble.

  My friend rolls his eyes and ignores me, instead flicking through his textbook.

  Miss Dean, the Dragon Mythology teacher, rushes into the classroom, her blonde hair draped all over her face. She’s obviously been in a rush.

  “Sorry, class!” She dumps her bag on her desk and hastily begins logging in to her computer. “In your books you can put the title ‘Dragon Categories and Types’. This is a new and interesting part of the course that will look beyond Avian and Primordial dragons, although we aren’t allowed to call them that anymore.”

  Someone behind me must have put their hand up, as Miss Dean looks up and says: “Yes?”

  “Are we learning about this because of Braith?”

  Miss Dean nods. “Yes. Now that one Primordial Dragon has been revived, we can learn about them anew! It’s a great learning opportunity, to see if that dragon influences our modern life today as it did thousands of years ago.”

  “Don’t say a word,” Wes mutters.

  “I won’t,” I grunt, scrawling the title into my workbook.

  Miss Dean brings up an article on dragon categories, with four names highlighted. “Contrary to popular belief, there are four categories of dragon. There are the Primordial dragons.” She clicks on the name and brings up a blurry picture of Draca carrying Braith away. “Many people saw these dragons as Gods. They gave them gifts of cows, sheep and, in some cultures, even young women, for the dragon to eat. They thought this would save their villages from destruction, but the dragons would still destroy their houses and livestock.”

  Wes puts his hand up.

  “Yes, Wes?”

  “Why didn’t they move away?”

  “The dragon would follow them for their livestock,” she replies, clicking on another name. “The next category is one we’re all familiar with: the Avian dragons. Although we have now been asked to refer to our beloved companions as Western dragons rather than Avian, this does not mean they are not Avian dragons. They are just a species in that category. Yes?” She points to someone behind me.

  “What other Avian dragons are there?”

  The blonde woman beams, pleased by the engagement with this topic. “There were four types: Amphiptere, Drake, Fairy and Western. The other three species are extinct, but we’ll cover that in a different lesson.” She switches to another screen to show a black and white picture of what looks like a Western dragon standing on two legs. Instead of front legs it has long, bat-like wings for arms that look muscly and lean. “The next category is Reptilian. There are only two species in this category: the Ouroboros and the Wyvern. Finally, we have the Serpentine.” Old drawings and paintings of serpents appear on the screen, some with legs, some with wings and some slithering across the ground like a snake. “These are mythical dragons, but we have still been asked to include them in the curriculum.”

  “Miss, how do we know these dragons aren’t real?”

  “There are no fossils of them,” she replies coolly, but I can see her eyes narrow at whoever is challenging her. “If they had existed once, there would be a record of them. Now, let’s move on to the effect these dragons had.”

  As the rest of the lesson goes on, I start tuning out. All I can think about is Braith. Surely she isn’t dead? Draca might have eaten her immediately if that was the case. But I suppose it could have dropped her mid-flight. My stomach churns at the thought.

  I’ve got to be positive; may
be she’s just lost. Maybe it left her alone after dropping her somewhere.

  * * *

  Dear Marco,

  I still don’t know what to do. I still feel so angry after Braith was abducted. I still have nightmares about what happened. How I could have stopped her, stopped Draca…

  But I did nothing.

  What if she’s never found? I doubt they’re even looking properly.

  I want to see you. I’m sick of all this bullshit, I’ll take the fine, I don’t care anymore.

  Just please find som-

  I pause mid-sentence and think about what I’m writing. It’s stupid. We know we can’t meet up. I’ve scoured everywhere for a place we could meet in secret, but now with the patrols, it’ll be even harder to meet.

  Sighing in frustration, I scrunch up the piece of paper and throw it on the floor. Almost immediately, Wes pounces on it from the bottom bunk and throws it back on the bed.

  “Come on, let out your frustration. You don’t have to send it.”

  “I haven’t written to him since Braith was abducted. I don’t know what to say.”

  My friend sighs and climbs halfway up the bed ladder, resting his chin on the railing. “Yes, you do; you just don’t want to.”

  “There’s nowhere for us to meet, and I want to see him in person, that’s why.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry about that. But there must be somewhere. As soon as there is, we’ll tell you immediately, honest. Even Ray is looking for you.”

  I shiver as he says that bastard’s name. The guy is an ass. He’s attacked me multiple times and hurls abuse at the group if we don’t work fast or hard enough for his liking. Braith’s abduction has only made him more irritated.

  “Not as hard as you think,” I mutter.

  Wes rolls his eyes and flicks the scrunched-up letter on my lap. “Write what you want to. Hell, ask him to send a photo to you if you want, or a badly drawn picture, whatever. You know he’d do it to cheer you up.”

  With that, he climbs back down the ladder and sits back on his own bed. Almost immediately he becomes engrossed in his book.