Scalers have overthrown the human race, forcing them to hide underground only coming out when absolutely necessary.

Some of the more healthy and beautiful examples are taken as pets while the rest struggle to stay off the menu.

Ashton Cane has been tracking Whisper for as long as he could remember.

He never wanted to keep her. He only wanted to keep her out of trouble.

But she attracts it like smoke follows fire.

He’s drawn to her.

He dreams of her.

He can’t get her out of his mind, and after a few close calls now he has her in his chambers.

Only, Whisper has different plans.

Whisper could never stand the idea of being the pet, or the appetizer course for the winged demons plaguing the sky. She only wanted to live out her days in peace and without having to dig through the ashes for her next meal.

There was one Scaler in particular that she swore followed her around but pushed that out of her mind.

It had to be a figment of her overactive imagination.

It isn’t until he saves her a few times and brings her to his chambers that she begins to believe they’re all not the same.

Love is in the air as Whisper takes a leap of faith.

Ashton swears to protect her at all costs, even if that means turning his back on everything he’s ever known.

But to the both of them, love and happiness, is all worth the risk.

Chapter 1: Ashton

Black Harbor had been my home for longer than I could remember. The city was decimated long ago after we, the Scalers, decided to stop hiding in the shadows. My kind, we paved our war path in flames and ashes, until every last Anthro was driven underground. Bags of flesh without a scale, wing, or flame to be seen. I’d always wondered why we were afraid of them to begin with. Their weapons were useless against our united front, and now we reigned supreme.

The scent of soot and fire continuously burned through the air. Every city bared the scent, the aura, the rubble and ruin of what was once a vibrant place for all of us. But we weren’t free to be ourselves. I’ll take the ruins any day than have to hide my wings. Honestly? I preferred to keep my scales and wings to myself. I’d been using the motorcycle gifted to me by a Scarlet Wing. The wind whipped around my face. It was a better feeling than taking flight.

Its thunderous motor blazed over the ash paved streets. Rubble glistened with scorched rock that burned into molten glass pebbles mixed in with cement crumbs and scattered debris. Abandoned buildings had toppled ages ago. Many stood half erect letting vegetation and vines overrun their remains. Two Towers stood erect amidst the desolate city. The floors from the ground up to the 15th were all empty, windowless, blacked out from smoke, fire, and ash. My brethren, the Black Sapphires, occupied those towers where we wielded control over Black Harbor.

Being a Black Sapphire Dragon, Scaler, whatever we’re called these days… had its advantages. One of them being this right here; the ability to ride through the city undisturbed, without the need to chase or hunt food. We kept plenty in stock at the Towers, and we weren’t the ones being hunted.

Wildlife was scarce, and if smaller animals weren’t available, an Anthro would tie most over. They weren’t a favorite of my particular palate. Perhaps it’s just that I didn’t like to eat things that looked like me. Granted my appearance shifted, but still, I spent most of my time in my Anthros form. I didn’t want to look into the eyes of someone that could have had wings when they were alive. It gave me the chills just thinking about it.

Suddenly, like a cool breeze on a hot night, her scent cut through the air. The only one who held my attention in her favor. Sweet and tender, I didn’t want to taste her in a way to devour her flesh. I only wanted to see if she was as sweet as she smelled. Her scent always found me. No matter where I was in the city, I could just about pinpoint her exact location at all times. This time, however, she was in trouble. But what else was new?

Her soft, muffled, panting breaths chased the subtle steps of her running feet. I couldn’t be sure why she was running, I just knew she needed me. It wasn’t until I got closer, leaning into the turn on my bike, I saw who she was running from … The Onyx Skulls.

Their breed of Scalers managed to find a way to keep their wings while in their Anthros form. Those black metallic wings glistened in the light but draped over their human bodies like leather trench coats. If any of them scaled, they’d open up while releasing their more reptilian nature. The Onyx colored, cracked, scales wrapped around their eyes and down their snouts, while the rest of their bodies filled out with matte black scales. Thankfully enough, it was only two of them and one of them I knew personally.

It was a rare thing to see Finch Skinner out in the rubble. The leader of the Onyx Skulls rarely did his own dirty work, but here he was trying to make a meal out of my ward. She didn’t know she belonged to me, but she was certainly about to find out.

“What are you doing over here, Skinner?” I called out. The girl cowered in fear as smoke billowed from Skinner’s nostrils.

His black tar coated fingernails were at least an inch long as he waved them in front of his face while bowing to me, “Excuse me, Your Highness. We’re simply out here gathering succulence for our dinner tonight. But I saw this delightful morsel and couldn’t help but want to add her to my playpen.”

The sliver of drool in his mouth as he spoke of it made me sick. I shook my head, “She’s off limits, Skinner.”

“Oh no,” he sucked his teeth and clutched his chest, “You know the rules. No mark, no limits. Now if you have a problem with that …”

He was going to give me trouble and if I only fought his lackie then I’d leave her open and vulnerable. I parked the bike and shut it off. Cracking my neck as I got off the hog, I barely let my other foot set on the ground before I took off at full speed. Leaping through the air, my greyish blue scales erupted all over my body. Charcoal grey wings sprouted from my back while hints of my royal blue underbelly reflected off of several pieces of broken glass littering the floor.

I grabbed both Skinner and his crony taking flight into the sky, letting my fiery beast out of my Anthros shell. Skinner didn’t take this lying down as he broke free of my grasp, opening his wings and spinning into his dragon. He was considerably smaller than me, but those damn talons were sharper than any blade I’d ever felt. But, my flames were hotter.

He attacked me while his worker scaled and did his best to hold his own. He was no match for me. One swat from my tail sent him scurrying away. It’s a rare thing for Black Sapphires to be traveling alone. I’m sure it’s the reason he didn’t want to hang around thinking I had reinforcements coming. Skinner, on the other hand, loved a good fight. Setting himself up to charge me, he roared into the early afternoon sky.

I braced myself as the brunt of him hitting me mid-air knocked the wind out of me. I couldn’t believe a puny little thing like him packed such a punch. He didn’t throw me off for long as I spun around, flipping him off of me. The clean swipe of his talons through my skin irritated me as it burned while the cold air sliced through the wound. I locked my teeth around his throat and tossed him against the side of a building. He wanted to charge back at me, but I saw the defeat in his eyes. He couldn’t survive another hit like that.

Instead of attacking me again, he climbed the side of the building until he reached its makeshift rooftop. There were only two or three floors still intact as he found his way toward a guarded space. Skinner dropped to his knees while his Scaler faded into his Anthros form. Those wings remained just as they were, wrapping around him once again. It was like a cool wind blew forcing him to pull his jacket a little tighter. They engulfed him but couldn’t mask the bloodied lip and injured arm. He must have hit the side of the building hard. That’s what he got for challenging me. He knew better.

“You know you can’t just go around taking whatever you believe is yours,” he shouted to me.

Landing on another rooftop, I scaled back, shouting to him, “I can do whatever I want. I’ve never interfered with you guys, but her? She’s off limits.”

“You’re going to have to do much more than that to keep her off the menu,” he sneered, “The first thing you should do is get her a decent leash. You can’t claim something you can’t find, or that doesn’t stay put.”

With that, he took off into the building. My eyes scanned the area below looking for her in the spot I’d left her. She was gone. Even worse? So was my bike.

After making my way back to the street, I couldn’t help but inhale deeply. Her scent never took long to hit me, but in the heat of the battle, the only scent I could focus on was that of Finch and the stench of his filthy scales seeping out of the open wound on my arm. I had to take care of this first.

Want to know the costs of doing battle with an Onyx Skull? Their cuts and bites didn’t heal as fast as others I’ve had. Normally I could watch my wound close up without a second thought, but these were different. So I headed toward the only person I knew could help me.

The docks of Black Harbor were abandoned like the rest of the city and off-limits to most. You had to know where you were going; who you were looking for. Even as a Black Sapphire, I only came down here in the daytime.

With every single inch of me ready for war, I walked around an abandoned building and headed toward the only dock standing. The waves were dark with hues of blue and green. I wouldn’t dare set foot or talon in it. The first post holding the dock in place held a ladder that stretched down to the river bed. Low tide kept it visible, and in a few hours, if I wasn’t out of here, I’d be swimming out.

Under the dock, the darkness made it feel later in the day. A steel door, obviously out of place, stood a few feet in front of me. Without saying a single word it opened up, and one of the most beautiful creatures I’d ever seen welcomed me inside.

“Morning Aya,” I grinned.

With grey coils spilling from her head down to the floor, her eyes flecked with sparkles of emerald green in a sea of light blue. The soft brown trails of freckles wrapped around her eyes, down to her neck, and presumably around the rest of her body like a swirling tornado. The honey complexion buried under them glistened as the lights of her dwelling kissed the peaks and valleys of her silhouette. A sheer silk gown clung to her slender frame revealing just enough but hiding everything all at the same time. She was the only Scaler I knew with gills. If it weren’t for those three tiny slits on both sides of her neck, I’d imagine she’d be someone’s pet as an Anthros. But make no mistake, Aya wasn’t weak. She couldn’t be held by anyone or anything. She was special, and it’s why I went to see her.

“Come, come boy,” she waved me into her kitchen area. The smell was a mixture of flesh and cinnamon. You weren’t allowed to ask questions. You were only allowed to greet her, speak when spoken to, pay, and then leave. She turned on a light before yanking my arm out into it. She groaned, “Them Onyx Skulls are nasty little things aren’t they?”

“Yeah,” I grimaced as she dragged her fingernail through the cut. I watched her drop a bit of my blood into a vial. It shimmered an all too familiar shade of gold, but those Scalers were supposedly extinct or very rare. “Is that Golden Imperial-”

She cut me off, “No, no, no.”

I forgot the rules.

She pulled a few drops from the vial, poured it into the gash, and massaged the flesh together. The last time I came to get fixed up, she used a salve and some stitches. The wound was healed in a few hours. This? This was different.

It burned for a few seconds, but then like I’d never ran into Finch, the slash was gone. Flexing my fist, opening my hand and closing it tight, I turned my arm in the light, there was nothing. Not even a scar.

“Two,” she grunted. Aya, with all of her beauty, spoke very little, if at all. I handed her two of my royal blue scales. Every so often Scalers would shed, molt, whatever... and for someone like Aya, those scales were useful. I don’t ask her what they’re used for. It’s not like she’d tell me anyway.

Just as I began to leave, a shift in the air swept through her cavern under the docks. Aya and I both looked to the door. The tide was coming in. It was most definitely time for me to go. Bidding her farewell, I left her dwelling. I climbed the last rung of the ladder in time to see the water wash onto the shore beneath me. Relief overwhelmed me; grateful I didn’t have to deal with the murky waves.

I couldn’t recall the last time I’d been so happy to have my feet on dry ground, I headed back toward the scene of the battle. I wanted to find her. I needed to find her … she had my bike.

Chapter 2: Whisper

The streets of Black Harbor were empty, and the skies were clear. The afternoon sun left a bright haze across the city that I’d thought was lost long ago.

One…

Two…

Three…

Taking a deep breath, I darted out from behind a huge block of cement to chase after the rabbit I’d just seen. At least ... I thought it was a rabbit. Being human no longer meant being at the top of the food chain. The Scalers now held that title. And what did they eat? EVERYTHING!

So when something furry scurried out in front of you, you nabbed it. There was no other way. It’s an eat or be eaten kind of time, and I chose to do the eating.

Some Anthros thought the best solution was to become a pet. Then there was no need to hunt or scavenge.

I’ve heard the stories. I could never… yuck. Who would want to be used, defiled, relegated to wearing the leash of a Scaler?

The pets did enjoy the luxuries of living in the Towers with their electricity, running water, and overabundant supply of food. But you’d have to survive being the property of a Black Sapphire. The ones who were disappointing often landed with a resilient splat on the ground … some fifteen stories or so below the occupied floors. Scattered remains left for the hungry. My stomach growled loudly reminding me that I was one of them … one of the hungry; not looking for scattered remains. Back to the hunt.

I swore the rabbit ducked into a pipe. Dropping down on all fours, these light brown eyes of mine did nothing for my sight. I couldn’t help but squint, clenching my teeth along with every other muscle in my body to reach inside the dark space. It had to be trapped in there. The other side was pushed against a steel beam leaving nowhere else for the critter to go.

“Now that is a position I love to see all of my pets in,” a voice leered from behind me.

Snatching my hand out, I took off running. It didn’t take me long to break into full speed, but I knew it would only delay the inevitable. Leave it to me to simply think about pets and their cushy existence, only to have a Scaler land a couple feet away from me. I couldn’t hear him anymore. The sound of my own breathing, my feet scraping and skidding across the ground echoed around the barren buildings. I couldn’t keep this up for long, so I ducked behind a wall, crouching to get closer to the ground.

“That was sweet,” the same voice chuckled, “Are you done now?”

I turned around to see a familiar face. He always lurked around the underground hideaways collecting Anthros like … well like pets. His wings wrapped around him like a coat. It made my skin crawl. Those long black fingernails twirled in a circle before pointing to me and then motioning for me to come closer. I stayed exactly where I was, desperately scanning my surroundings for the nearest exit.

The Scaler’s pale complexion contrasted against his wardrobe like a ying-yang symbol. His strands of blonde hair were almost the same shade as his skin. His dark purple eyes grew wide as they took in the length of me. I slowly rose to my feet and began backing away from him until I hit the wall.

“Easy, Scrumptious,” he laughed, “I won’t bite… unless that’s what you’re into.”

“I don’t want any trouble,” I called out to him. It was then that I saw another one behind him. He donned the same black wings draped over him like a cape. His eyes darted around as if they weren’t supposed to be here, or like someone was coming. Someone came alright.

I’d seen him every once in a while; caught a glimpse of those brilliant blue eyes. Those eyes swallowed my entire soul as if I’d dove into the bay off of those Black Harbor docks. But he was one of them. He was a Scaler, and I wanted nothing to do with any of it. I just wanted to live my life. I wanted to hunt my rabbit and finally taste a piece of fresh meat. I wanted to get the hell out of here.

Bold Blue Eyes was riding a black motorcycle, trimmed in chrome with a motor that revved louder than I’d heard any of them roar. His jeans hung off his body just right, and that shirt he wore didn’t do much to disguise how ripped his muscles were. A healthy body like that told me all I needed to know.

Anthros, the men, they struggled to eat and didn’t look like him in the slightest. Most of them weighed less than I did, unless they were pets of course. That other one? Dressed in black? Who preyed on anything without scales? He was skinny like most men I knew. However, even with his slender frame, I knew not to test him. I could feel the strength as he motioned toward me. I could see it in the way he defied Blue Eyes, but he wasn’t one to be disregarded.

Watching him scale from that rugged, handsome hunk of flesh into a ravenous beast of scales and wings did something to me I never thought it would … it impressed me. He sped from his bike to the one appearing to hide behind Skinner, grabbing him and forcing him into the air. Skinner took off into the sky as well. Curiosity certainly made me wonder how Bold Blue Eyes would handle the two of them, but that was the least of my concerns.

I watched them for a moment before I realized I stood directly under them. At any moment, flames could erupt, they could fall, or even worse … they’d remember they were fighting over me and come to claim their prize. Well, I wouldn’t be the prize pet to either of them.

Taking one glance at the bike, I decided that it would be the quickest way out of here just in case skinny Skinner broke away from the Black Sapphire tossing him across the sky. It begged me to take it for a spin. At the very least, I could take it to get away from the duel going on in the skies.

It took me awhile to get the thing started. My training up until now had been reserved to pictures and rough sketches. It’s rare for any Anthros to get a live test drive. Luckily for me, it roared to life just as its owner roared into the air. It sounded painful, but that was no concern of mine. My life was my priority, and right now I had to get out of there.

Riding through the ash paved streets of Black Harbor felt amazing on that motorcycle. I didn’t have to keep my eyes plastered to the sky. Stepping on stones, glass, and pebbles were an afterthought. The wind whipped through my hair and the sun beamed on my skin. Peace washed over me.

By the time I arrived at what had been home for the last few years, the sun was higher in the sky than I ever remembered it. Somehow Scalers doing battle in the sky made it an even brighter day. Perhaps it’s because they weren’t hunting us for a change.

With one and a half floors, the building looked like the shell outside of a complete crater, a waste of space. It’s a good thing Anthros didn’t live above ground. A solid door stood erect in the cinder block wall. It was thick. It was black. It was heavy. A doorbell sat discreetly next to it. Pushing it, a voice erupted from a hidden speaker, “What do you think you’re doing with that thing?”

“Jasper, come on, let me in! I can’t hold this thing out here for long!” I told him desperately sneaking glances over my shoulder and to the skies above.

The soft sound of the lock clicking out of place let me know to take a step back. That heavy black door never opened, but the eight by eight space in front of it did. It dipped down into the tunnels just under the foundation of the abandoned building I stood in front of. The square piece of steel, masked as cement, allowed me to roll the motorcycle down into our humble abode.

Yeah, humble was the word for it. The dark walls wreaked of sludge that seeped down from the street after the rain washed away the battles of the Scalers. A string of L.E.D lanterns lit the long tunnel which brought me to another thick black door.

Jasper didn’t wait for me to knock. His bald head gleamed, even in the dim lighting of the tunnel. With an eyepatch over his left eye and one long scar that traveled from the side of his face down to his neck, he held the door open wide for me to roll the metallic beast into our domain.

A single ladder stood in the center of the receiving room of sorts. It stretched up to a manhole cover dozens of feet above us. Two streams of daylight found their way through the grates of the steel plate cover, letting the smallest bit of natural light stream into the room. You could never tell how deep underground you were going with that tunnel. But it didn’t matter, it kept us off the menu and comfortable enough just to survive.

“I almost caught a rabbit,” I smiled to Jasper.

He was my caretaker for as far back as I could remember. I didn’t have parents. I didn’t have siblings. Sure there were others who came and went as they pleased, but I had a Jasper. He’d always been there for me, and I couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t.

Jasper was kind of tall, taller than me at least. He reminded me of that old children’s tale I used to hear about. I even saw pictures of it once, a jolly old guy in a red suit that delivered toys one night a year to every kid across the globe. It was a wonderful tale until the Scalers showed up and ate the reindeer. That was my Jasper… the jolly old man, not the Scaler. He brought me gifts and kept me alive for more than one night a year. And today? I managed to bring him something for once.

“Are you serious, Whisper? Come on now! Instead of a rabbit for us to eat, you come back with a hog you can barely ride?” he chuckled. “Where’d you find that anyway? It looks pristine.”

“It is. The owner was more or less occupied defending my honor, so I decided to take it for a spin. I didn’t have a way to give it back. Sooo,” I shrugged waiting for him to say he loved it.

“Bring it back to where you got it,” he shook his head as he ran his hands over the handlebars. His eye was absent of gratitude.

“Why? We can break this down! Sell it for scales, food, money, lights! We can use this!”

“We’re not breaking this down, and as a matter of fact, you don’t touch it anymore. You probably got your scent buried in the clutch. I’ll bring it back, and you’d better hope its owner doesn’t come down here looking for it!”

Chapter 3: Ashton

I remember the first time I saw her. Her face … those light brown eyes were something special… They reminded me of the way the light shines through the broken windows of those abandoned warehouses down by the docks. Not exactly the most romantic thing but it’s the only shimmer of something beautiful against a city that’s so bleak.

She was running that first time too. I’d just turned 16 and my gift, if that’s what you want to call it, was to go on patrol to find a pet. It’s a right given to all Black Sapphires in Black Harbor. We got the pick of the litter. The legend, as it’d been told to me, was that a few of the best Anthros were rounded up in the middle of the night. They were set free and whoever I liked I tracked, hunted, and got to keep if they were caught.

A few of the higher ranking members, my father included, would sit perched around the edges of the Towers watching the spectacle. They enjoyed it.

I wasn’t alone on this fateful day. Three others my age were set free to hunt. We flew high letting the sun warm our wings. Once the Anthros were let loose in the city, a red flame beamed up to the sky fired off by Bartholomew Victor, leader of the Scarlet Wings. He and I shared something in common, we had no interest in keeping pets, but there I was, perched on the shattered tenth floor of a building that could have crumbled underneath me at any moment.

When she raced by me, her scent nearly knocked me over. I followed her, skulking from building to building watching with a smirk across my face as she tried pathetically to hide herself from us. I couldn’t help but walk up to her.

In my Anthros form, she had no idea. She actually tried to save me. As soon as I approached, she grabbed me hard and yanked me down behind a cinder block wall, “What do you think you’re doing out here?!”

“I don’t know,” I chuckled, “Can’t make up my mind really.”

“Well whatever you’re doing, you’d better do it quick. We’re being hunted,” she whispered. One of the Scalers out with me flew overhead forcing us to duck for cover. I knew they wouldn’t come near us ... well because I was me.

“I’m not being hunted,” I told her shaking my head.

She leaned back away from me, eyeing me from head to toe and shook her head, “No way buddy. You’re far too healthy and good looking not to be someone’s pet. You don’t want to be one of those, I heard the boys get the worst treatment. Who are you anyway?”

“Name’s Ashton,” I told her.

“Whisper,” she stated.

“Why?” I asked her in a far more hushed tone.

“No, silly,” she laughed, “My name is Whisper. On account as I don’t know how. At least that’s what my Jasper tells me.”

I laughed too. I liked her. I wanted to bring her home, but I didn’t want to keep her locked away in my chambers. Unfortunately for her, that’s the only way she’d be safe. No Anthros survived walking through the Towers without their owner nearby.

“So you’re not going to be a pet?” I asked her.

“Never, and if you knew what was good for you; you wouldn’t be out here either! So which station are you out of?” she asked me.

I hadn’t any idea what she was talking about.

“Come on! You gotta live somewhere near here or the Scarlet Wing wouldn’t have grabbed you for this stupid thing. What station?”

“I live near the Towers,” I told her. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I didn’t want her to think of me in any other way than she was at that moment.

“Nice! No wonder you look so healthy. Word is The Tombs have electricity and an abundance of food. It’s a pain in the ass trying to get in there though. They’re so snooty and uppity. No offense, Ash.”

“None, taken.”

“So I’m gonna take off, but next time you see me I plan on being clean and fit for initiation into the Tombs. You can put in a good word for me and my Jasper right? We’re coming from The Gears and all, but we’re not trashy or anything just because he fixes stuff. He can fix anything with moving parts, alive and metal. And me? I’m the best helper he’s got. So will you put in a good word for us?” she asked with her bright brown eyes wide open with hope.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I told her and that was the last thing I said to her. She ducked off and ran into a building before we could talk about anything else. I never checked to see if she ever tried to get into that underground station she was talking about. If I could have helped her I would have, but I didn’t know the first thing about Anthros politics, or how they lived.

Now in present day, as I scoured the sky, I simply wished I’d told her then … what I was. She’d look at me, well a lot like she looked at Skinner. I couldn’t take it if she held that much hatred for me. I couldn’t take it if something happened to her either. With an Anthros riding around on my bike, anyone could pick her off claiming to have done it as a favor to me. I had to get to her first.

Like a beacon to the sun, a blue flame shot up to the sky. I knew it all too well. I could feel it in my bones. I was being summoned. My search would have to continue another time.

The Towers had been my home and while I enjoyed the luxury of lights and consistent food. I couldn’t help but feel uneasy about how other Black Sapphires lived. They overindulged, hunted Anthros for sport, and disposed of them as pets by simply torching them alive or tossing them out of a window. I was expected to behave the same way.

Landing on the rooftop, the beam of flames had disappeared as I made my way inside. The penthouse didn’t have any windows at all. A river of flames burned lightly around the perimeter of the floor keeping it a steady temperature. They danced delicately around the edge and only came up about two feet. The lack of walls and windows allowed the higher ranking members who lived up here the ability to take off whenever they deemed necessary.

The floors were made of black marble while the only walls in the entire space were used to separate the living chambers of each member. My father was one of those members and had undoubtedly been the one to summon me. As second in command, he held the reigns of power pretty firmly, especially since our leader spent most of his days traveling outside of Black Harbor. There were talks of expanding our territory and leaving my father in charge here. I didn’t care either way. I’d be perfectly fine being left alone.

“Ashton, how many times do I have to explain to you the process of -”

I didn’t need the lecture as I interrupted him, “You don’t have to say anything, Father. I did everything I was supposed to do but that bastard, Skinner, doesn’t know how to listen. I told him to leave her alone.”

“Was it marked?” Preston Cane growled at me. His salt and pepper hair fell into his face, shading me from the anger building in his steel grey eyes. They flecked with hints of royal blue whenever we had these discussions.

I didn’t answer.

“DAMN IT, ASHTON!” he slammed his hands on top of the table. It rattled the chains of the Anthros cuffed to the leg underneath it. He scurried away from us not wanting to bear the brunt of my father’s anger. He continued to talk, forcing himself to use a calmer tone, “You know the rules. We all agreed to it, and if you want to break them, you know what that will do. We cannot afford a battle with the Onyx Skulls. Too many will die. I will not have the blood of any Black Sapphire on my hands because my son doesn’t want to follow the rules!”

“It’s different,” I assured him, “It was her.”

“Then you should have marked her all those years ago! Why won’t you just make her your pet?” he sighed plopping down into one of the chairs around the table.

The table was huge. It looked like it was sliced out of the middle of a sequoia tree. Completely round, every chair that had a place was ornate in carved mahogany. Three chairs stood out from the other six sitting around it. My fathers was marked with a beautifully sculpted dragon sitting back on its hind legs blowing fire upwards, which carved around in an arch to connect with the sides of the chair. It looked more like a fat tree with branches and leaves until you took a closer look at it. The chair next to him held an even more elaborate carving of a three-headed dragon blowing flames upward and arching down while the chair next to that was the mirror image of my fathers. Those two were empty nearly all of the time as Grady and his wife Celia, the third in command, were always gone. I think I’d seen them twice in all of my time living here.

My father looked at me with worry this time, “I need you to follow the rules or else you’ll force me to treat you like the others who don’t.”

“Don’t worry, father, I’ll leave before you ever have to act on that.”

“I don’t want you to leave, Ash. I want you to stay, take on your responsibilities as my son, and be the Sapphire I know you are. You’re more powerful than all of these guys, and you keep it hidden.”

I had my own reasons, but for him I simply stated, “No one deserves the terror of having me unhinged, unleashed, and out of control in Black Harbor, father. I’m not going through that ever again. So just forget it. And if it helps you feel any better, the next time I do battle with Finch Skinner, I’ll leave to make your job that much easier.”

“How about you just claim the Anthros already? Make her yours and save all of us the trouble,” he sighed.

A flash of her gorgeous eyes and blonde hair flying behind her in the wind played before my very eyes. I shook my head, “That saves us the trouble. But what about her, Father? What about her?”

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