The World Dragon’s Heir Novel – A Warm Welcome To Cygnia Dominic pressed himself flat against the side of a scrapped steam carriage, breathing as quietly as possible. If the guards caught him here, he was finished. “Spread out and find that mongrel.” “He thinks that he can scrounge in our scrapyard, does he? Let’s disabuse him of that notion, gentlemen.” A deep voice demanded, followed by the sound of a half dozen blades being drawn and a pistol being cocked. Dominic tucked his hair behind his horns to keep it out of his face, then smiled as he saw a forgotten magitech watch in the open glove box of the destroyed vehicle.
Into his pocket it went, and Dominic silently moved to the far side of the wrecked automobile as the guards passed down the aisle. “You two, head through the copper piles, I will check the damaged vehicles.” The deep voiced man directed. That must be the head guard. Then, Dominic’s stomach growled, and the footfalls stopped, only a metre away from his hiding spot. “Got you, dragonkin.” Dominic grabbed a handful of loose bolts from the pile behind him and tossed them in the man’s face as he vaulted over a damaged tractor and ran for the exit.
Scrounging in scrapyards was far from optimal, but it was profitable, and he had the skills to make most common magitech items functional again. Assuming that he had the parts. If he were still a Prince of Wavemates, he would have never stooped this low. But desperate times called for desperate measures. Behind him, a pistol cracked, and the sting of hot lead across his arm gave Dominic all the motivation that he needed to get the hell out of the area as fast as his legs would carry him. A bullet shattered the window of a car beside him as Dominic ran for the fence. Two long steps put him up and over, putting a wall of solid stone between him and the armed security officer. Safe.
For a second. “And stay out, you filthy thief.” Dominic heard the guard’s voice shout as he picked himself up from the dusty roadway. Perhaps one stealthy trip to the recyclers would have been a profitable day for him if he could have avoided the guards. But not today. He was always good with his hands, and plenty of these rich snobs would throw out perfectly good stuff that was only a little damaged. Change out a watch strap or replace a focus crystal, and the items they called junk were as good as new.
Not a life that he was proud of, but a living until he could find something better. But none of the dealers in the uptown district would buy from him, and he had been regretting coming to this city from the very moment that he had arrived. A week of continued rejection by employers and potential customers hadn’t helped his mood at all. Even sleeping in the forest was an improvement on this filthy city. But this was where he needed to be. Cygnia City was the seat of the Cygnia Royal Military, and home to all of the greatest minds in the nation.
Not to mention the wealthiest ones. All he had to do was make it to the Royal Family’s Apprentice induction, which should be announced within the month. Once he got himself hired into the Palace, there would be no more scrounging for parts, no more risking his life for lunch money.