The Last Dragon

By ELLA HART

What would you do to keep yourself safe from persecution?

Cobalt Leventhorpe is faced with that question every few centuries. From friends to enemies, once they find out what he is, they never like him. And every time, it pains him to take such drastic measures.

But meeting a new face in his latest home changes his perspective. The newcomer, a certain Paulina Monson, seems eager to know his secret. He does his best to keep her from it, but she finds out all the same.

His perfect hideaway comes crashing down when he discovers her family is no different from the rest of them. He must leave town, but he cannot slip by without Paulina's insistence to accompany him.

Fearing the worst and trusting no one, he's on the run again. Decades have taught him that his secret is his to bear, and not to be shared with anyone. Only a fool would depend on a human, yet his persistent companion makes him rethink everything he's ever known about them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: SSPATEL Publishing
• Release date: Feb 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393523857

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The Last Dragon

Last Dragon Series Book 1

By:

Ella Hart

Table of Contents:

Chapter One: Ruing the Rain

Chapter Two: Death Abounding

Chapter Three: A New Friend

Chapter Four: Found Out

Chapter Five: Previous Betrayals

Chapter Six: Sting of New Betrayal

Chapter Seven: Getting Acquainted

Chapter Eight: Road Trip Blues

Chapter Nine: New Love

Chapter Ten: Love Admitted

Chapter Eleven: Moving On

Copyright © 2017 by Ella Hart

All rights reserved.

In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited, and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

Chapter One: Ruing the Rain

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Cobalt ran his fingers over the patch of scaly skin on his left hand. He wondered absent-mindedly at the small but distinctive marking. As a dragon-shifter, he was supposed to appear completely human when he wished, yet for all his years, that one stubborn patch would never disappear when he shifted. He let out a deep, cold sigh, and stuck his head out of the cave.

Though a bright day, it didn’t feel as though it’d stay that way. If he was going to visit town, he’d have to go now. A delay of more than an hour would send him running in the rain, and then he’d rue leaving the cave. He would hate himself for it. He always did.

Even when it didn’t rain on him.

Gathering his willpower, he stood up and stretched. It had been a while since he’d been out, but something just didn’t feel right about staying in today. With a heavy heart, he grabbed his jacket and headed down the rocky hillside, into the long grass. The jacket’s rough leather had softened to fit him perfectly, and he seldom went anywhere without it. It was the only thing he had left of his father. He had been human, and his mother a full-blooded dragon. There was a stigma about that back then; and if he was honest with himself, there still is.

He’d long given up trying to live alongside humans. They knew he was different, and kept their distance from him. He’d grown tired of their suspicious eyes and relentless comments, and had resigned himself to a life of solitude. It was what he preferred, anyway.

The wild grass brushed against him as he made his way through it. It was the kind of grass that made humans itch – something about the oils, he thought. It didn’t bother him much. His resemblance to them was the only thing he really had in common with humans.

Savoring the solitude of the expansive grass fields, his thoughts began to wander. He knew he couldn’t hide his identity from the townspeople for much longer. He couldn’t shake the feeling that some already suspected what he was. After all, Cobalt wasn’t an incredibly common name for a human.

He shook his head and imagined his worries sliding off into the river. The technique worked for him sometimes – other times there was no stopping the thought train in his mind. He spent so much time in human form that he sometimes had to remind himself to wash like a dragon – a lesson he had learnt almost too late.  The memory of almost drowning crept up on him again, and he pushed it away as it started to rain.

He shivered lightly. Cold rain wasn’t uncommon for this time of year, but it always caught him off-guard. He preferred warm rain – at least then he could imagine he was bathing or showering. As Cobalt neared the town, he withdrew from the tall grass and moved into a clearing. He paused for a moment to let the rain wash the sticky pollen from his hands and clothing, the drops slowly sliding down his fingers. He took off the jacket, now uncomfortably wet and heavy. At least it had kept him dry underneath, except for the wet patch where the water had run down his neck and into his collar. As the rain reduced to a drizzle, he looked around him.

It wasn’t much to look at, even quieter than normal after the rain. A bakery lay slightly north of him, and the only laundromat was just a little further down the road with a small convenience store between them.  He knew it well. A farmer that lived a mile or so out of town supplied the groceries there, and got a good cut of the profits. It helped him to feed his family. Sure, they imported a few things from out of town, but it was still an honest farmer’s town, through and through.

That was partly the reason for his fear of being found out. In the olden days, the people were afraid of dragons and dragon shifters, and for good reason. The dragons would burn the crops back then, and whole villages would starve and die because of them. Because of his kind. He didn’t blame the village for hating them still. For hating him if they found out.

As he entered the grocery store, he noticed a young woman standing at the counter. She was most likely passing through and needed some things for her ride. Few people would willingly move here, to the town of Hamlet. It had a small judicial system, and everyone knew everyone. By name, how they were doing, where they lived... Even who their families were, extended beyond the current generations that were still living.

Cobalt watched the young woman for a moment before continuing his way. The stranger would be gone by the next day. He expected it so. He hoped it would be so. Newcomers to Hamlet didn’t last very long. There could be issues with how they lived, what kind of lifestyle they were accustomed to, and even the lack of high-speed internet. Only one service provided internet out here, and to be honest, it wasn’t all that good. Even his cave got better service than the grocery store.

As he was pricing out the lettuce, he had the feeling that something was off. Were they watching the unfamiliar young woman, or were all their eyes on him? He had a tendency of drawing attention to himself without meaning to. That was just the way of small towns – harsher to outsiders, he supposed. Then again, he’d been living there for so long that people would probably start suspecting he was immortal. He was, but that was beside the point.

Killing a dragon was difficult, not something many people were able to do.

Excuse me? A sweet, unfamiliar voice caught his ears. He turned in its direction and standing behind him was the young woman.

Yes? Cobalt replied. Maybe he had been wrong. Maybe she was coming to stay.

Where’s the best place to get some milk? I notice they don’t carry it here... She didn’t sound like someone just passing through. I just moved in. And there it was.

"That would be at the dairy farm, just a mile south of town. He’s tried to