The Heart of the Dragon
Chapter 19

After a while, Hayden and Angie decided it was time to head back to the hideout to check on her friends. Once they arrived, they immediately noticed that Tammy and Eli were socializing with some of the hybrids, and by the looks on their faces, the hybrids seemed to be enjoying the humans.

“Looks like the hybrids already like your friends” Hayden observed with a chuckle.

“You can say they’ve always been the life of the party” Angie smirked, “Though I never thought it would be that quick.”

“I know, I thought it would take longer for the hybrids to gain their trust.”

“Well, my friends are interesting people” she put in.

“I can see that” he snickered.

“Hey, guys” Candace suddenly came up to them “I was wondering when you two were gonna show up.”

“Well we’ve been having some bonding moments” Hayden responded with a smile.

“Yep,” Angie nodded while smiling too “He’s pretty fun to talk to.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that” she smiled back.

“And I can see my friends are getting along with the hybrids” Angie pointed to her friends with the hybrids.

“Oh yeah,” Candace agreed astonished “I didn’t think they’d get along that quick.”

“Eli probably must have shown them his card tricks, he does that whenever he wants people to like him, and surprisingly they work.”

Candace gave a small laugh, “I guess it’s because us hybrids have never seen any magic tricks in a long time and seeing them after so long makes us easily amused.”

“What exactly do you guys do for fun?”

“Well besides flying, we um...”

“We like to swim” Hayden put in.

“Yes,” his sister nodded, “We also like to play Hide and Seek with the younger ones.”

“We basically play any kind of sports and games that are considered ‘childhood’ games, and that doesn’t involve technology.”

“Oh,” Angie responded a bit astonished “I get that makes sense.”

“Hey guys” everyone turned to see Jayce walking up to them while holding a slingshot in his hand “Done with the tour already?”

“Nah” Hayden shook his head “We’re just here to check on her friends.”

“And there’s surprisingly well” Angie put in while motioning her friends with the other hybrids.

“Oh yeah,” Jayce smiled, “Your friend Eli showed us this really cool card trick, and let me tell you, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a card trick.”

“Oh, I bet.”

“You shooting more coconuts with that thing?” Candace suddenly asked him while pointing to his slingshot.

“Yep,” he replied while turning to Angie “It’s a little fun thing I like to do, shooting rocks at coconuts to knock them off the trees, I also like to shoot other things.”

“But if he’s not careful he could seriously harm someone” Hayden put in “Like me that one time.”

“It was an accident” Jayce groaned, “And I said I was sorry like a million times.”

“Tell that to my leg” he frowned as Angie gave a small giggle.

“Anyway,” Jayce shrugged it off while turning back to Angie “This thing is really fun to use, you wanna try it out?”

“Really?” she remarked surprised.

“Yeah” he smiled while picking up a nearby small rock and handing it to her along with the slingshot “Just aim somewhere and shoot, but make sure it’s actually something you can shoot.”

After taking the slingshot, Angie began to look around for something that was okay for her to shoot at, and that’s when she spotted a lone coconut resting on a wooden table.

“Okay,” she smiled while putting the rock into the slingshot and aiming at the coconut while trying to pull it back.

But little did she know how hard it was to pull the slingshot back, seeing how thick the elastic was, she realized she wasn’t strong enough to pull it all the way back.

“It’s alright” Jayce assured, “Keep trying.”

“Damn this thing is strong” she breathed as she kept trying to pull the elastic back “I guess it’s not made for weak humans like me.”

“I guess not” he agreed, “I mean when we became hybrids, we did get stronger, like way stronger.”

“Angie be careful where you’re aiming” Hayden suddenly warned, seeing how her struggling was causing her aim to shift “The rock might slip- ”

But at that moment, Angie suddenly felt the elastic gave away as the rock flew out of the slingshot and zoomed straight into the back waistline of a nearby hybrid who cried out in pain as he clutched his waist.

“Oh... shit,” Jayce’s eyes widen, “That’s not good.”

The hybrid the stone hit had crimson red scales and wings and appeared a bit more muscular than Hayden with short dark hair. And when he turned in their direction, he looked directly at Angie with his eyes a piercing orange and his teeth exposed while growling. With her heart already pounding with fear, Angie quickly hid the slingshot behind her back, though she knew it would do nothing as the hybrid began to march up to her as Hayden put himself in front of her and stood tall and still as the hybrid approached them.

He was more intimidating up close, even though his eyes went back to its normal brown color, his razor-sharp teeth were still exposed and scars were visible on his torso, including one noticeable one that ran down one side of his face. He kept his eyes on Angie who tried to stay calm, even though she was freaking out on the inside.

“You trying to mess with me blondie?” he demanded in a growl.

“It was an accident,” she apologized, her voice trying not to sound scared “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, an ‘accident’ huh?” he doubted when he held up his hand to show blood that had come from his new wound “Look what you did to me!”

“She said she was sorry, Connor!” Hayden snapped.

Connor, the very same name Hayden had told Angie about the hybrid who was known as a bully. She knew this hybrid had to be him, and that’s why she began to fear more.

“I wasn’t talking to you Hayden!” Connor growled at him while giving him a shove.

“Well, I’m talking to you!”

Seeing how things were heating up, Angie took a step back as she felt Candace put her around her shoulder in a protective manner.

“It was an accident,” Hayden explained sternly “It’s just a small wound, it’ll heal. That shouldn’t be a problem since we’re all used to getting hurt here. But if you do have a problem with that, then suck it up.”

“Oh, you little-!” Connor snarled as he raised his fist, getting ready to strike down when Candace suddenly jumped in.

“Hey!” she yelled while putting her hand in front of him to stop “That’s enough Connor. Leave now before I call Ajax over.”

Connor stood there with his fist still raised as he glared at her and then at Hayden until he lowered his fist. He didn’t say anything at first until he turned his attention to Angie.

“I can see you’ve already gained their trust” he stated, “But just so you know, I’m not afraid of humans, and you wanna know why? Because I can end them just like that.”

He snapped his fingers which sent chills down her back.

“Don’t even think that you can gain all of our trust, humans will always be a threat to us, just like how we can be a threat to you guys.”

“I said that’s enough Connor!” Candace growled at him, her sharp teeth exposed and her eyes a bright green “Leave now!”

“When the time comes,” he warned to everyone, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

After giving Hayden one last death glare, he turned around and flew into the sky as the gush of wind from his wings nearly knocked them over.

“So that’s Connor huh?” Angie muttered, “I can see why nobody likes him.”

“Yeah, he’s an asshole” Candace grunted, “But don’t worry, we’ll make sure he leaves you and your friends alone.”

“Thanks.”

She then turned to Jayce and handed him back his slingshot.

“I don’t think I should be using this anymore,” she told him.

“Good idea,” he agreed as he took the slingshot.

“So,” Candace spoke as she turned to Angie, “Now that that’s out of the way, what are you thinking of doing now?”

“Actually-” Angie replied, “Is there a place where I can, well, bathe real quick? Cause I feel really gross right now.”

The hybrid gave a small laugh as she turned to Hayden.

“You wanna show her the place?” she offered.

“Sure, why not?” he smirked while shrugging as he turned to Angie “This way.”

As Angie followed the hybrid into the jungle, Jayce and Candace watched them leave with smiles on their faces.

“Hayden’s gotten pretty protective of her hasn’t he?” he mentioned.

“Yep,” she nodded, “You can also say that he might be pretty attracted to her as well.”

“I can’t see why not, she’s gorgeous.”

“She is, isn’t she?”

“Wanna make a bet to see if they do get together or not?” he grinned.

“No Jayce.”