Draco walked around nearly the entirety of his family's property but couldn't find Vasileios.
"Where has that boy gone, there's no way he left ho on his own," Draco muttered to himself.
He had begun to worry that Vasileios was stuck sowhere or had left the house by himself.
Everyone he had asked said they saw him playing with Vasiliki a while ago, but since then he hadn't been seen.
Deciding to search a bit further, Draco ventured out towards the forest not too far from the house.
The forest was situated on the opposite side of the farm and was unclaid land.
He didn't plan on venturing inside as he had been warned several tis that monsters lurked within the forest.
Of course, Draco didn't entirely believe them.
He knew that his grandparents as forr adventurers wouldn't allow monsters to settle close to the house.
He didn't plan on going deep inside; he just wanted to scout the outer edge to find possible traces of Vasileios.
If he didn't find any, then he would return ho and report to the other adults.
Scouting the outer edge of the forest, Draco soon found small humanoid footprints on the ground.
'Okay, these are either Vasileios' footprints, aning he went into the forest, or they belong to a goblin,' Draco pondered.
'It's strange, with how vigilant my grandparents are; they wouldn't allow him to get this far away from ho,' Draco thought.
'Co to think of it, I made it this far without Grandma Rita catching ,' Draco pondered so more.
"Should I keep going? He must be lost and scared, but how do I defend myself and him if I run into a monster? I haven't learned to use a weapon, nor have I properly learned magic," Draco muttered to himself.
In the end, he decided to try going a tiny bit further.
Snap!!
Just before he began going further, the sudden snap of a twig drew his attention.
Quickly, he turned around in the direction of the sound, his senses on full alert.
"Young master, what are you doing out here?" a woman asked.
Draco recognized her as a farm worker who was recruited last year.
'Odd, what is a woman doing all the way out here alone? Wait, isn't she the one who was reported missing for 2 days to Grandpa John just a while ago?' Draco thought.
"It can't be, slave trader," Draco muttered under his breath. He had quickly connected the dots in his head.
Vasileios missing, a missing worker, eting the said missing worker out in the woods.
The most likely conclusion his mind ca up with was that an intricate process was made to kidnap Vasileios.
The reason probably being that Vasileios was an exotic species and he too was in danger of being kidnapped.
He wanted to think about things rationally, but he could feel building rage boiling within him.
Swish!!
The woman, whose na he couldn't be bothered to rember, suddenly threw a pouch towards him.
Instinctively, he dodged it, but he could sll a lingering sweet scent coming from the bag.
'Shit,' Draco thought, imdiately covering his nose, but it was too late. His mind began growing groggy, and he started hallucinating.
"Oh, you caught another one, and it seems to be so rare type," Draco faintly heard before going unconscious.
Every few minutes after that, he would wake up and be hit with the sa sweet sll before losing consciousness again.
This was due to his natural poison resistance counteracting the powder used to knock him out.
"Gah!! Huff!! Huff!!" Draco hastily woke up again from a horrible nightmare.
Quickly, the events that occurred flashed through his mind.
He imdiately began observing his surroundings and found himself in a cage bound with chains.
He felt an extre amount of discomfort, as if sothing was interfering with his senses.
A subtle sweet sll, lingered in his nostrils.
In an attempt to feel better, Draco shook his head violently to clear the fogginess in his mind.
Looking to his side, he could see Vasileios also tightly bound in chains.
'How long was I out this ti?' Draco pondered, briefly turning to the sky.
It was around late noon when he went looking for Vasileios, but now the sky was dark.
'It's night, and we're still in the forest, aning that only a few hours have passed.’
‘My grandparents are probably looking for us, but it will take ti. I need to do sothing,' Draco thought.
"Sniff!! Nii," Vasileios called out, having also woken up.
"Shh, it's alright, I am here with you," Draco whispered while extending his tail towards him.
He could see the fear and worry in Vasileios' eyes.
This event was probably going to cause him so ntal trauma.
"Sniff, Sniff !! Nii, it hurts," Vasileios started crying when he tried moving.
The chains on his hands and legs had been tightly bound and caused injuries whenever he tried moving.
Clang!!
"Shut your mouth, kid, do you want to call all the monsters here?" a dirty-looking man who reeked of alcohol said while banging the cage with a stick.
"Nii," Vasileios whimpered in fear, clutching onto Draco's tail for comfort.
Draco ignored the man, his brow furrowed in concentration as he scanned his surroundings despite the dim moonlight, searching for any ans of escape.
Though the weight of their predicant weighed heavily upon him, he knew that he must remain strong, if not for himself, then for his scared brother.
Suddenly, the sound of gruff voices echoed through the surrounding space, drawing the boys' attention.
One of the kidnappers, a hulking figure with a weathered face, turned to his companion, a scowl etched upon his features.
"These brats better fetch a hefty price," he growled, his words laced with cruel indifference.
"The master wants 'em in pristine condition, so no rough handling, ya hear?" The other man, a sallow-faced individual with a twisted grin, nodded in agreent.
"Aye, can't have them as damaged goods, now can we?" He let out a harsh, mirthless laugh, sending a chill down Vasileios' spine.
"Shouldn't we brand them now so the other traders don't pull any weird stunts?" one of the n asked.
'These vermin not only dared to kidnap and my little brother but also plan to brand and sell us like so exotic animals in the wild,' Draco thought, his mind suddenly boiling with imnse rage after listening to what was being said.
Sothing within him loathed being bound, even if only for a mont, and the thought of being sold along with a ton of drugs still in his system just ignited the fuse.
Crack!! Clang!!
The chains that bound him began rattling and cracking, and his body began twisting and expanding, scales grew till it covered the entirety of his body.
His body grew taut, and his ruby eyes glowed nacingly in the night.
Soon, a small humanoid dragon-like creature stood within the cage.
Draco could feel his body brimming with strength, along with the energy of the elents lingering in the air.
He felt an euphoric sense of superiority; he could still feel a sliver of his reasoning there, but that felt inconsequential in what he was about to do.
This was his first awakening as a true dragonkin hatchling.
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