Dracian Legacy by Priya Kanaparti

original’s blood in deficit…” He sat down, his feet dangling in the water next to mine. “Besides, there’s nothing more exhilarating than hand-to-hand combat. The adrenaline rush is indescribable.”
    I nodded.
    His eyes were intoxicated as he talked about the thrill of the action. He barely contained the grin on his face. He tossed the dagger, catching it by the hilt and then the sharp end. I flinched several times as he expertly continued to handle the Tibt.
    “When he thinks he’s got the upper hand, then bam , you knock him out, taking him by surprise.” His tone turned stern and deep. “It’s the satisfaction that you and you alone rid that evil from this earth. Not something else, but strength from within.”
    In that moment, his eyes grew wild, brows furrowed, and a grimace dominated his normally serene features.
    Instead of fearing him, I empathized with him. He was a boy that had to grow up too fast—too soon. He must have lost something dear to him to become so strong and trenchant.
    “What happened, Axel?” He looked at me, unyielding. I watched him carefully, waiting for him to open up, to tell me his story. “I… You seem like a person that is… I don’t know. You talk like you have nothing to lose. That you want to fight these monsters and…”
    “You know what my greatest fear is, Ren?” he asked in a stern voice.
    I shook my head, unprepared to hear what he said next. I drew my legs up to my chest, my arms encircling them in a tight grip, and placed my head on top of my knees, waiting.
    “That I would die a coward. That when death and I see eye-to-eye, I would run the other direction.”
    He sighed heavily before squaring his shoulders and facing me, discontented.
    “Ren, I want to die with pride in my eyes, a smile on my face, and if I can help it, taking one last Telalian with me into death’s open arms. I want to die knowing I’ve saved another soul. Until my last breath, I want to keep fighting, if possible, even in death.”
    “Why?” My eyes stung. For his courage to keep fighting. For his need to be valiant.
    His voice came out quiet and trembled with painful emotion when he spoke. “Because I watched as they slit my mother’s throat. She used her last breath to protect me, and I didn’t do anything.”
    A shocked gasp escaped my lips. How could I respond to something like that? Sorry wasn’t enough. What could I say to a boy that grew up so fast because he watched his mother die? No, he saw his mother murdered. And he blamed himself.
    “How old were you?”
    “Nine.”
    I wanted to scream. He was nine years old? Nine years? My heart broke for him. I didn’t know what made me say my next words as I wiped the single tear I shed for Axel.
    “Both of my parents were killed last year.”
    It was hard to talk about this. I never talked about it. Not to Joshua. Not to Pey. I didn’t know if I could tell him my story. But telling him about it might help him.
    “My brother and I came home after a night out.” Words just rushed out of my mouth, without thought. My hand automatically went to the amulet my mom gave me when I was born. “My parents were acting weird over the summer, you know? Like they were preparing themselves for something. They finalized their will, got their finances in order, and my dad gave me his BMW Z1 that he bought with his first paycheck, which he never let anyone touch. I thought my parents were finally coming around to planning. They always lived for the element of surprise.” My eyes went to my chipped nails, my heart heavy in my chest. “But that night, when the knock came and I saw the sheriff, I knew something was wrong.” I paused, swallowing back the pain. “Joshua and I had to identify our dead parents’ mauled bodies. They were covered in cuts, bruises, and burn marks. The sheriff’s department thought it was gang-related activity.”
    Tears welled up in my eyes, spilling down my cheeks. When I looked at Axel’s face, it showed