Chapter 2: Run, Little One

Layla

With my twenty-one-year-old trembling hand, I took the dagger from my father and plunged it into his chest. When I pulled it out, the black diamond we had unearthed came out with it. “Now, do what I taught you,” my father said softly. I pushed the black diamond into my chest, which melted as the earth had done when I discovered it. The pain was immense, and tears streamed down my face even more than they had when my father told me that it was now time for me to carry this secret. “That’s it, Little One. Let it fuse with you. Accept it and its power. You will wield it better than I did. Now go before anyone can find you. Run, Little One, run!”

I kissed my father for the last time before I left him to die. I knew that I couldn’t stay by his side because word of his death would spread like wildfire. Others would come to take the diamond, and I would suffer the same fate as my father. This diamond needed protecting because if it fell into the wrong hands, all would be lost. As I race through the halls of my home, for the last time, I remember how I ended up with a part of my father’s heart and the black diamond now nestled in my chest cavity.  My father had ventured into the human world many times, but this last time, he was ambushed by a rival tribe.

This tribe, what I learned was called the Deathclaw Syndicate, was like the mafia in human culture. They have power, but always desire more at any cost. My father sacrificed his life to get everyone back safely. But he knew that they would find us, and he was on borrowed time. Their magic was too strong and began to poison him. Now that our most prized possession is fused to my heart, I rush to my room and look through my previously prepared bag to make sure that I haven’t forgotten anything. I won’t be captured, and I can’t return here either. I don’t know what my future will be like on the run, but I have to try and be prepared for anything. I won’t become a slave to the dragon mafia, and I won’t allow those monsters to possess the black diamond either! Monsters who slaughter the innocent for greed and power don’t deserve something as pure as the black diamond. They don’t deserve the ability to control the world! I grabbed my mask and postcard before I turned to bid my home goodbye forever. I will miss fishing in the pond, running through the forest, and making the mote of fire change colors when I breathed my flame onto it. I will even miss the balls, but I will miss my father more. Now, he, like the palace, will be but a mere memory.

It has been four years since I took the black diamond from my father. It has been a huge adjustment because I had to learn to rely on myself to find food and shelter. I didn’t have servants to do anything for me anymore. I have snuck into the dragon world a few times to see if anyone came for the black diamond, as we had anticipated. As it turned out, every tribe learned that my father was the last one who possessed it. They raided his tomb and desecrated his body to try and find the diamond that now pulses to the beat of my heart. I am in far more danger than we had thought. Since my father’s death, I have had visions of both him and my mother. They revealed a secret that they had kept from me. My mother was his fated mate, and she gave me a dark gift when she died giving birth to me. I am the ideal bearer of the black diamond because I possess a special gene that allows me to fuse any element. They said that I would learn how to harness the power it gave me in addition to my own. I have had this dream every night for four years, and nothing has changed.

I had a shaky start adapting to the human world, but I can hide here. I can readily change my appearance, and no one asks why. I can be anyone. There is something very freeing about this anonymity. I have met a few people who have aided me, but this one guy stands out from the rest. His name is Alden, which means old, wise protector, which suits him because his hair looks like a helmet. He is sweet and funny, though, even though he refuses to let me venture out at night alone.

Kai

Ten years ago, word spread that a black diamond had been unearthed. A black diamond holds the key to summoning the God of War, Asher the Fire Dragon King. The leader who possesses this diamond would rule over the other tribes in the Syndicate. Thus, ruling the world. We have searched for millennia for this diamond, and some self-proclaimed king found it. I had tried for years to kill him, and I finally did. However, I didn’t collect my reward. The diamond was missing. I burned Dracos down and that fucking diamond was nowhere to be found. The only person missing in that kingdom was his daughter Layla, but no one knows what she looks like.

I have traveled all over the world for the last four years trying to find that insufferable girl. I will find her, and when I do, she will suffer before I kill her. Now my Council hunts her, and they will find her. They are the best money can buy for a reason. I had one of my best go missing, and I suspect that this girl has someone helping her. That is the only explanation that can justify her evading my grasp for so long. I will find her, and when I do…nothing will stop me from ruling the world!