The Heart of the Dragon
Chapter 23

Later that night, with everyone else asleep, Hayden sat upon the tree he had shown Angie with the twisted branches as he gazed up at the stars and the haft moon. Tomorrow afternoon was the supposed time Angie and her friends would leave, and that meant he would never see them again. Just 2 days and he’s already made new friends after a long time on the island, and now he had to watch them go, especially her.

“You don’t look very happy.”

He knew that taunting voice anywhere as he got up from the tree and turned to see none another than Conner who was leaning against the tree with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

“I can imagine why,” he continued to speak with that smirk on his face “It must suck having to say goodbye to your new friends, especially that pretty blonde. How does it feel not having to see them again after tomorrow?”

“I really don’t want to talk about this” Hayden muttered as he got off the tree and tried to leave the scene.

“You should be glad that they’re leaving” Conner spoke which caused Hayden to stop, “I told you that we could never trust humans. You wanna know why? Because they always cause pain.”

“Oh?” Hayden sarcastically remarked while turning to Conner “So you’re saying that nothing else causes pain? Because in case you forgot, I can give you pain right now to prove you wrong. Everything causes pain, it’s not just humans.”

“So you agree with me?” Conner smirked, “We never should’ve let them come here. Because when you become attached, that takes over you. And when that attachment breaks, it destroys you.”

At that point, Hayden let a loud growl slip out his throat as he gritted his now sharp teeth at Conner.

“What are you growling at me for?” Conner snickered, “I’m just being honest. If there’s anyone you should be growling at, it’s you.”

And with that, he spread out his wing and took off into the night sky. Once alone, Hayden couldn’t take the thought of what Conner had told him out of his head. As much as he didn’t want to watch Angie and her friends leave, he might as well do something about it the next day to make sure it’ll be worth remembering in a good way.

As soon as morning arrived, Angie had gotten up around 8 where she had forced herself to get up. She was still pretty tired, but she didn’t care at this point, she knew that by this afternoon, help would arrive to take her and her friends home. But before that could happen, she wanted to spend as much time as she could with Hayden which is why she got up quite early for more hours to spend.

As soon as she got dressed in one again a pair of hiking shorts and a fitted shirt, she stepped out of the hut and made her way to the tree that had Hayden’s treehouse. She didn’t know if he was awake right now, but just to make sure, she began climbing up the steps until she reached the top where she noticed that the door was slightly ajar. Hoping what she was doing wouldn’t result in anything embarrassing, she quietly peeked through the crack and into the room and noticed that the hybrid wasn’t in the room.

“You looking for me?”

The voice took her by surprise as she jumped while clutching her chest.

“I’m sorry,” Hayden chuckled, “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s fine,” she assured with a small laugh.

She noticed that he was wearing a shirt for the first time and a pair of exercise shorts. Even with a shirt on, Angie couldn’t help but admire his muscular arms as she forced herself to look at his face instead.

“I uh- I didn’t expect you to be up right now,” he remarked.

“Well um-” she replied a bit shyly “I know that today’s the day my friends and I are supposed to be leaving. And um, well, I just wanted to have as much time as possible before we leave. And um, I also wanted to see you.”

Hayden gave a small smile as he stepped towards her.

“Well, I’m glad you did” he smiled, “I actually have a little something for you.”

He reached into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out a necklace that struck Angie’s eyes. It had a black cord string with the pendant of some kind of smooth and shiny heart-shaped stone with cool blue and green colors and golden ridges on the surface.

“This is called a Dragon Heartstone.” he revealed, “And yes, it’s a kind of stone that can only be found on this island in the mountains. I was told that the hybrids shape them into any shape they want, and when they’re done, they give it to someone special.”

“Wait,” Angie’s face lit up “You carved this?”

“I did,” he nodded with a smile, “A few months ago. I didn’t know who to give it to at the time so I’ve always had it on my desk. But now, I decided now would be the perfect time to give it to someone, and I want you to have it.”

Angie felt herself blushing bashfully as she accepted the gift and admired its beauty.

“It’s so beautiful” she breathed astonished “Thank you so much.”

She slid the necklace on and let the pendant hang against her chest.

“I’ll truly cherish it” she smiled.

They both exchanged heartful smiles and looks when Angie suddenly heard her name being called.

“Angie!” they heard Tammy’s voice call out.

“Oh,” Angie replied, snapping out of her thoughts, “I uh- I should go see what she needs.”

“Can I see you after that?” Hayden asked.

“Of course.”

“Meet me at the waterfall when you’re ready.”

“I’ll be there,” she smiled before heading down the tree.

As he watched her head into the hut, Hayden tried to keep a smile on his face, soon he would be able to hang out with Angie again. And all he hoped was that it would be a memorable one before she leaves.

Inside the hut, Angie had to help Tammy pack her things to get ready when help arrives. Even though it felt like a sad thing to do, Angie didn’t want to appear down as she kept a confident look on her face.

“You alright, Angie?” Tammy suddenly asked.

“Um, yeah” she assured, “I’m fine.”

“Hey,” Tammy suddenly spotted the necklace she was wearing “Where’d you get this?”

“Oh,” she replied a bit bashfully “Um, Hayden gave it to me.”

“He did?” Tammy remarked with a grin.

“He told me it’s called a Dragon Heartstone and that he carved it into this shape a few months ago. He said that hybrids give this kind of stone to someone special, and he decided to give this to me.”

“Oh my God!” she squealed, “This is so romantic! You better kiss him before we leave.”

“Tammy...” Angie muttered with embarrassment.

“What? I’m just saying, we’re never going to see this place again. So you might as well make this last day special before we leave.”

Angie let out a sigh, “I’ll think about it.”

“Oh, sure you will” Tammy doubted.

“Shut up,” Angie nudged her shoulder with a giggle.