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 home on his own," Draco muttered to himself.
He had begun to worry that Vasileios was stuck somewhere 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 unclaimed land.
He didn't plan on venturing inside as he had been warned several times that monsters lurked within the forest.
Of course, Draco didn't entirely believe them.
He knew that his grandparents as former 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 home 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, meaning 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 home,' Draco thought.
'Come to think of it, I made it this far without Grandma Rita catching me,' Draco pondered some 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, meeting the said missing worker out in the woods.
The most likely conclusion his mind came 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 name he couldn't be bothered to remember, suddenly threw a pouch towards him.
Instinctively, he dodged it, but he could smell a lingering sweet scent coming from the bag.
'Shit,' Draco thought, immediately 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 some rare type," Draco faintly heard before going unconscious.
Every few minutes after that, he would wake up and be hit with the same sweet smell 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 immediately began observing his surroundings and found himself in a cage bound with chains.
He felt an extreme amount of discomfort, as if something was interfering with his senses.
A subtle sweet smell, 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 time?' 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, meaning that only a few hours have passed.'
'My grandparents are probably looking for us, but it will take time. I need to do something,' 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 some mental 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 means of escape.
Though the weight of their predicament 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 agreement.
"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 men asked.
'These vermin not only dared to kidnap me and my little brother but also plan to brand and sell us like some exotic animals in the wild,' Draco thought, his mind suddenly boiling with immense rage after listening to what was being said.
Something within him loathed being bound, even if only for a moment, 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 menacingly 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 elements 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.