The Fire In The Forge—A Dragonson Adventure
by Walter G. Esselman
Regent
Regent had seen his fair share of castles—both in peace, and in war—but
this was the most hostile fortress he had ever seen outside of a siege. He
started to cross the bridge over the moat.
As a water nymph, the moat called to him. But, it also had a questionable
greenish pallor, so he easily suppressed the desire.
When he was two thirds of the way across the bridge, the guards at the
front gate lowered their halberds before the entrance in a not-so-subtle
gesture. Regent halted immediately, and made sure that his niece, Brianna,
stopped as well. She gave an impatient huff, but she stayed put.
"I am looking for entrance," called out Regent to the guards in his best
non-threatening voice.
The two human guards glared at both he and his niece. However, Regent had
been glared at a lot in his life.
"What's your business here?" asked the guard with missing teeth.
"I hear you have the best weaponsmith in the world," said Regent. "I want
to put in an order; a very big order."
"You a nymph?" asked the guard with missing teeth.
"Yes sir," replied Regent. "Me and my niece."
"Who's your employer?" asked the guard with missing teeth.
"Not the Nymphari Expeditionary Forces. And these are not weapons my
employer intends to use anywhere near here."
After a moment, the guard with missing teeth lifted up his halberd, and the
other guard reluctantly followed suit.
Cautiously, Regent moved forward—with Brianna trailing—until he reached the
guards.
The guard with missing teeth jabbed a finger at Regent. "You go forward to
the main square, and on your right is the weaponsmith's forge. You don't go
anywhere else. And you leave out this gate when you're done."
"Understood," said Regent genially.
Regent led Brianna down the crowded street to the main square. Most nymphs
of Regent's class would keep long, flowing hair, but as a soldier, he had
found that long hair was a major liability in a fight. So, Regent's hair
was cut close to the scalp.
Upon seeing Regent's slightly pointed ears, the citizens gave him a wide
berth. Curiously, Regent did not see one person that was not human, even in
the market square, which was crowded with stalls.
Once inside the square, they veered right, and headed for a large, wooden
two story building. But, after a moment, he noticed that Brianna had
slowed. Turning around, he walked backwards.
"It's right over there," he said, gesturing over his shoulder.
Brianna looked at him with indolent green eyes.
"I heard," she said in a put-upon voice. "We've walked really far today."
"Couple of miles," responded Regent genially.
Brianna shook her fiery red hair in disgust, and shuffled along without
another word, despite Regent's efforts. He had given up by the time they
reached the building of the weaponsmith.
Stepping inside, they went from a pleasant summer day to a roasting oven.
They were in a large showroom, and Regent's eye was immediately drawn to
all the weapons on display against the outer walls. He made a beeline for
the nearest wall, and looked more closely at the blades there. These were
smaller weapons, almost daggers.
"See anything you like?" asked a voice. Through one of the far doors came a
big man in a leather apron. He also had a band of leather across his
forehead to collect the sweat.
"May I?" asked Regent.
"Of course," said the weaponsmith jovially.
Regent choose a sword with a gently curved blade. He hefted it, and then
made a few lazy swings with it.
"What do you think?" asked the weaponsmith.
"It's a good weapon," replied Regent courteously as he put it back.
The weaponsmith gave a little smile, and then he took a sword from the back
wall. Walking over, the weaponsmith offered the hilt of the sword, and
Regent took the new weapon. Twisting the new sword back and forth, a slow
smile came over Regent's face.
"Okay," said the weaponsmith. "Now we have a measure of each other."
"I don't see a measuring rope," scowled Brianna in a petulant tone.
"What're you talking about?"
Regent responded in a gentle voice. "By giving me one of his best weapons,
he now knows that I know swords. Also he knows—by the way I handled it—that
I am a soldier, or someone of that type."
"Which means what?" asked Brianna.
"Means he knows what he wants," smiled the weaponsmith, who also used a
kind tone with her. "Which means, he'll know if I try to give him slag. But
also, that my work will be appreciated."
Brianna stomped over to Regent and thrust out her hand.
"Do you see this hand?" she demanded.
"It is a rather serviceable hand," responded Regent with amusement.
"It's empty," said Brianna with frost in her voice. "You promised me a
sticky bun if I went with you today. Do you see a sticky bun in my hand?"
"After I finish my business," replied Regent patiently.
Brianna made a horrific noise, and then stalked across the room to one of
the corners. She sat heavily on the ground with her back to the men. Regent
saw her fiddling with a bladder of water on her belt.
"My niece," said Regent with an apologetic shrug. "She's fifteen."
"My daughter went through that phase too," nodded the weaponsmith
sympathetically. "It's a wonder that the city is still standing. By the
way, my name is Dorda."
And Regent introduced himself. "My employer needs 500 swords for his
soldiers. They don't have to be pretty, but they have to be efficient."
Regent saw a small blue glow near Brianna so he stepped away to point at a
sword on display. "What about these?"
"Depends on your budget," said Dorda.
Towards the end of the negotiating process, Brianna hopped up and stalked
across the wooden floor. Stopping right by them, his niece glared at Regent
until he could take no more.
"I'm still …" he started to say.
"Bored," was all his niece said.
"It'll only take …" tried Regent again.
"Sticky," interjected his niece with precise words. "Bun."
And Brianna thrust an empty hand towards her uncle.
Regent let out a little sigh, but Dorda helped him.
"I should have enough to work up a quote," said the weaponsmith helpfully.
"If you come back tomorrow, I'll have it ready."
"That will have to do," said Regent. "Hate to pay for another night of
lodging, but that's not your problem."
The two men shook on it.
Stepping out of the weaponsmith's building, Regent went straight to a
vendor who reluctantly sold them three sticky buns. But the vendor made
sure to tell them that, because they were nymphs, they'd have to pay first.
Quietly complying, Regent paid the man up front.
A sticky bun in each hand, Brianna alternated nibbling on them, while
Regent chewed on his as they left the city. Even past the drawbridge, he
felt eyes on his back. But he did not look back. That might make the guards
suspicious.
"So …" began Brianna.
"Wait till we have the inn in sight," whispered Regent.
Brianna gave a quick nod, and finished the last of her sticky buns.
"Those were okay," she said in a loud, grating whine. "You need to take me
back home. I like the sticky buns back home."
And this kept on until they reached the inn.
With the inn in sight, Regent turned to Brianna, and his face broke out
into a rare grin.
"You were doing Talia, weren't you?" he asked.
Brianna returned the grin, and it was like the sun breaking through the
storm. "You caught it!"
"We better never—ever—tell her about this," said Regent seriously. "Your
cousin will string us up by our toes if she knew you could mimic her that
well."
"I figured the bitter and bored teenager could sulk in a corner," explained
Brianna.
"So what did you learn?" asked Regent.
Brianna
In the weaponsmith's shop, Brianna thrust out her hand.
"Do you see a sticky bun in my hand?" she demanded of her uncle.
"After I finish my business," replied Regent.
Brianna swung around and made a noise, which she had heard a dragon make
once when he had indigestion. She stalked across the room, but avoided the
areas where there were too many displays. She did not want the weaponsmith
checking up on her. Sitting down in a huff, she kept her back to the men,
and hoped that Dorda would not see.
Taking the bladder of water from her belt, she took a swig. It was
phenomenally hot in the building, and she could feel the heat emanating
from between the wooden floorboards. Lowering the bladder, she poured a
little onto a board right in front of her. It started to spread naturally
until she touched it.
Brianna's finger glowed blue showing the bones within. The water also gave
off a slight glow as well, which annoyed her. But she knew of no other way
to conduct magic, and not have the water glow. So she worked quickly.
Coaxing the water to her will, she turned it into a line, and then she
aimed it straight between the boards. The water wormed down and emerged
beneath the floor. Pouring in a little more magic, she was able to spy into
the forge below. The magic not only showed the forge, but kept a memory of
it.
Releasing the magic, the water turned back into a liquid and Brianna turned
an ear towards her uncle's conversation. When the negotiation was almost
done, she went to demand sticky buns.
***
They walked around the two-story inn.
"So, besides doing a pitch perfect—and devastating—impression of your dear
cousin," chuckled Regent. "Were the rumors true?"
The joy of playing her cousin immediately evaporated.
"Yes," said Brianna softly. They went a little ways from the inn where
there were several sheds for non-humans.
Regent's demeanor became serious as he entered the third one. The shed had
been outfitted with two beds—which was important—but little else in terms
of comfort. But still, two beds.
Brianna also did not miss that her uncle went in first to make sure that
the room was safe before she entered. She may be a powerful watermage in
her own right, but she was still his niece.
Secure, Regent opened up the double doors in back. And ten steps from the
doors was the bright blue water of the river Koax. Brianna breathed in the
air—touched by water—and sighed happily.
"Before we dive in …" said Regent, as if reading his niece's mind. "The
boys should be here soon."
As if they had heard, she heard a whoop from the other side of the river.
She turned back to see a boy with orange eyes sprinting for the river. His
black dragonskin coat flapped behind him as he ran.
Reaching the edge, Gideon jumped high into the air. It would have been
impossibly high, if he were a normal human. His arms pinwheeled as he
cleared three-fourths of the river, but then the grin on his face started
to slip.
"Snail burgers," he said.
Too short, the boy dropped into the water with a big splash. Brianna was
already out the door when Gideon surfaced with a sputtering laugh. He
quickly climbed up onto the shore as she ran over to him.
"You're late!" she admonished happily, but resisted the urge to hug him.
Her uncle was watching.
"We came as soon as we got your message," said Gideon.
Brianna looked past him towards the sky. "Pav?"
"Pavataro's looking for dinner," explained Gideon.
She turned back to the boy, and he was watching her as if there were
nothing else in the world. Brianna worried sometimes about how desperately
fond she was of him. He was so different from the serious minded Nymph men
in her life. Gideon, adopted by a dragon, accidentally fed dragon's milk,
and never fitting into any particular world, and yet, he grinned so easily
and often.
"So why did you jump the river?" she asked.
"Almost jump the river," he corrected merrily. "Thank the Goddess that
Pavataro didn't see that. But I didn't want to just swim it, and I couldn't
see a bridge."
Brianna shook her head in amusement as Regent stepped up. Her uncle had
taken on the task of mentoring the boy a while back.
"And what did you learn?" asked Regent sternly of the boy.
"You said, 'Sometimes you have to just leap into the unknown'," countered
Gideon.
"Which led to you into the drink," said Regent. "If you bite off more than
you can chew, you're going to choke."
"It was fun," suggested Gideon.
"Luckily, there are no algaegators in this part of the river," said Regent.
"Now, we went into the city."
"So, the rumor was true," said Gideon as his face grew serious.
Regent turned to look at his niece. "Can you show us what you saw in the
forge?"
Brianna nodded. "Easy."
Before she reached the edge of the water, she slipped off her shoes.
Stepping into the mud, she sank a little, and then her feet began to glow
blue. The glow spread to the water around her. Quickly, forming out of the
water, a facsimile of the city rose up.
"This is the town itself," said Brianna as Regent and Gideon stepped
closer.
"Gideon, I'm going to have you climb up the side of the castle wall, and
see if it's all clear," said Regent. "Once the coast is clear, you'll
signal us. Pavataro will fly us into the castle, and set me and Brianna in
front of the weaponsmith's building. Brie will magic the lock open, and
then me and Pavataro will stand guard while you help Brianna free the
prisoner."
Gideon looked at Brianna. "How do you magic open a lock?"
"I just pour water into the lock, and freeze it into a key," she replied.
"Easy."
"Sweet," grinned Gideon.
"Now show us the forge," said Regent.
The city disappeared, and it was soon replaced by a large room with stairs
coming down the far end. There was a huge stone forge, and next to it was
its heat source. Trapped in some type of magical cocoon was an adult
dragon. By its flanks were spears set out like fingers.
"What's that above?" asked Gideon. He pointed to a crystal in a metal cage
hanging over the dragon.
"Lightsource, since its near the ceiling," wondered Brianna.
"Or a power source," suggested Regent. "Or some type of sentry. Don't
assume anything. Be careful in there."
"So, how …" started Gideon, when he suddenly sprang backwards. A dead
razor deer dropped in his place, but Gideon kept on talking. "How soon do
we go in?"
"Tonight, if the DRAGON wants to stop throwing around razor deer!" barked
Regent.
A black and blue dragon, with an unrepentant grin, landed just outside
their circle. At fifteen, his head only reached six feet tall.
"Throwing deer? It was an accident," said the dragon, Pavataro, with an
innocent look.
"And I'm the King of Bon Su Pear," snapped Regent. "DO NOT, I repeat, DO
NOT ever do that again!!! Do we understand each other?"
Pavataro tried to stare down the old nymph soldier, but he failed. The
smile left the dragon's face, and he looked down.
"Yes sir," said Pavataro softly.
"Now, tonight we are going to do something really dangerous," said
Regent to all of them. "And I need everyone to take this VERY seriously."
That got solemn nods all around, even Pavataro.
"Once we are in the city, we are intruders, and they have every right to kill
us," said Regent. "So, that is why we are going in quietly, let that dragon
go, and run away as fast as we can. Does everyone understand?"
"Um …" started Gideon.
"'Um' is not a word," smirked Pavataro.
Brianna had to suppress a smile as the boys started to bicker.
"BOYS!" demanded Regent.
The boys stopped, and looked at the old soldier.
"Gideon?" asked Regent.
"Oh!" said the boy. "When I get on top of the wall—and see that the coast
is clear—I was wondering how I'm supposed to contact you. Send up a jet of
flame?"
"Too flashy," said Regent with a shake of his head. "You'll be drowning in
guards. No, you'll take this."
Regent held up something that looked like a small metal bird.
"Wrist," said Regent to Gideon. The boy held out his arm, and Regent
slapped the bird onto his wrist. The bird wrapped its wings around like it
was bracelet. "Now step back, pull it off, and let it go."
Gideon did as Regent asked, and took a few steps back. Pulling off the
band, he let it go. The metal bird immediately took flight and winged over
to Regent. The band flew to his wrist and dropped on top of another, like
its twin.
"That's awesome!" grinned Gideon.
"Where did you get it?" asked Brianna of her uncle.
Regent thought for a moment.
"Can't remember," he shrugged finally. "Just a magical trinket from my
travels."
"I want one," said Gideon excitedly.
"Well, you can't have this one. Now—when you see that the coast is
clear—take it off, and it will return to me," said Regent. "Or, if you're
in trouble, take it off, and we'll come in swords swinging!"
"I don't carry a sword," said Pavataro.
Regent just glared at the dragon. "Quiet, you!"
Gideon
The boy with orange eyes leapt easily over the moat, which was a lot
shorter than the river. His trajectory took him to the cold, gray stone of
the city walls. Grasping on, Gideon dropped his own gravity further, and
then he was able to ascend quickly. As he neared the crenellations at the
top, the fifteen year old heard voices, so he slowed to a halt. The wind
was stronger up here, so he had to hold on more tightly.
The boy was not worried about falling per se. However, once he was
plummeting—albeit safely—he could barely glide, much less fly. Mostly, he
wanted to avoid the embarrassment of accidentally floating down on top of a
guard, like last time.
The voices atop the wall faded away, and Gideon peeked through the gap in
the sawtooth pattern. But he did not see anyone around. Slinking onto the
wall walk, he reached under his coat to the back of his double belted
harness. The boy pulled out a stick that was less than a foot long, but
then his thumb made a motion on it. The fighting staff expanded to its full
five feet.
When no-one jumped out, Gideon plucked the band from his wrist and let it
go.
The band took flight, and shot past the edge of the wall.
And the moment it did so, a giant purple dome flashed to life. The boy
stared at it in confusion.
"Huh?" he muttered. He tapped the dome with the end of his staff, but it
appeared solid. His stomach dropped. He hit the barrier with his fist, but
nothing. Looking around, he saw that the dome arched over the city, and
covered it from wall to wall.
There was no way out.
"Hey you! Halt!" cried a voice nearby.
Swiveling, Gideon saw two guards racing along the top of the wall walk.
They were racing towards him. He turned, but saw that more guards were
coming from the other way. The barrier stopped him from going out, so he
looked over the edge of the wall walk into the city. Fifty feet straight
down, there were two-story buildings. These wooden buildings packed the
area inside the walls. In fact, outside of a smattering of narrow streets,
the only real open area was the town square in the middle.
"We got you now!" cried one of the guards.
"Careful, he's got a weapon," said another as they slowed, and drew their
swords.
Gideon thought about the blade, which was secreted in the top of his staff.
It was a blade that could cut through even swords and armor.
There were only one thing to do.
The boy jumped off the wall walk fifty feet above the city.
"No!" cried one of the guards in horror.
Dropping his gravity, Gideon began to float down towards the nearest
building.
Before the voices faded above, he heard one of the guards utter out. "What
the …"
Above, the dome gave a gentle glow, but that light faded by the time he
reached the first building. Partially shadowed, he settled onto the first
wooden roof. The moment his feet touched down, Gideon was off like a shot.
Soon, he saw the gate leading outside the city.
Holding his staff slightly behind him, the boy with the orange eyes leapt
off the roof. He dropped his gravity so that he reached the cobblestones
safely. Screeching to a halt before the main gate, he saw that it was
closed. He pushed against it with his free hand, but it was sealed shut. He
was about to look for a way to open it, when he heard a noise behind him.
Turning slowly, Gideon saw a half dozen guards standing just outside a
small building. The building read "Guards house" above the door, and Gideon
was distracted by the fact that "Guards" should have had an apostrophe.
"You're not getting out that way boy!" grinned a guard with missing teeth.
"Gate's shut while the dome is up. Unless you have a battering ram."
Gideon did not respond. He took a little step back so that no one could
sneak up behind him, as Regent had taught him.
"He's got a weapon," said one of the older guards.
Gideon seemed to notice his fighting staff. "Oh this!" With a touch of his
thumb, the staff shrunk and he holstered it behind his back.
"Magic user!" spat another guard with a hiss.
"Me?" asked Gideon. "No, just a magicked item."
"MAGIC USER!" screamed the guard with the missing teeth. He drew his sword,
and the rest quickly followed.
"Oh, oh," said Gideon.
In training, Regent had neglected to cover fighting over a half dozen armed
guards at one time. Then again, he was pretty sure Regent would just say to
'Run away' anyhow.
Dropping his gravity, Gideon climbed up onto the rooftops again, and ran
towards the middle of town. Behind, he could hear guards pursuing in the
street below. Reasoning that he had two choices, he could double back and
try to open the gate, or see if he can find the weaponsmith's home.
Gideon smiled. Regent was going to kill him. He skidded to the edge of the
rooftops that overlooked the square.
"If I have to run around this town all night," muttered the boy. "It's not
going to end well."
And then his eyes alighted on a garishly colored magic sign that blinked
'Best Swords In The World'.
"I'm going to take a wild guess …" muttered Gideon. He hopped down to
the street, and ran over.
The front door of the weaponsmith's business, and home, was a huge iron
affair. Gideon pulled at the door experimentally, but it was unsurprisingly
locked. And there was no Brianna to unlock the door.
Built into the second story were tall, thin windows. Leaping up to the
first one, Gideon saw that it was glass, and beyond that was a mesh of iron
bars. The blade in his staff could cut through iron, but it would take too
long.
Gideon was also struck by the fact that the building had glass. A leather
drape over the window was in most people's price range. Glass implied
serious money.
The boy was pondering his next move when an arrow nearly took off his ear.
It smashed through the glass and Gideon looked behind him.
There were a lot more guards now, and they had bows and arrows.
"I said, wait for my command Dufton!" bawled the captain of the guard who
had an elegant white mustache. However, the captain did not take his eyes
from Gideon.
"Now!" barked the captain.
As the archers let loose their arrows, the boy dove away from the broken
window. He dropped fast and he hit the ground a little hard. He heard
arrows smacking into the side of the weaponsmith's business. A quick glance
behind showed that the arrows had hit in a wide spread from top to bottom.
"Ready!" cried the captain.
But Gideon did not wait. He twisted around and ran towards the
weaponsmith's building. The arrows had penetrated halfway into the wooden
walls. Lowering his gravity, the boy leapt onto the closest arrow, and it
held his reduced weight.
"Fire!" cried the captain.
Jumping from arrow to arrow, he used them like steps. He had just made it
to the top when an arrow smacked into his shoulder. He tumbled ungracefully
onto the rooftop.
Gideon checked and found that the arrow had not penetrated his dragonskin
coat. But it sure hurt like the dickens.
"Ow," he whined to himself.
More arrows flew over, but they missed by a long shot. Then one hit the
glass skylight in the middle of the roof.
Gideon crept forward as a stupid plan formed in his head. Like the windows
in front, the skylight had a mesh of metal bars. Gideon's staff would not
be very helpful here.
Quite soon, the guards were going to find a way up onto the rooftops. And
then their arrows would have an unobstructed view of him.
Gideon looked down at his dragonskin coat.
"I wonder …" he muttered.
Whipping his coat off, he laid it down with the dragonskin laying against
the glass. Crawling out onto the coat, he laid on top of it. The glass
beneath began to break, but the sharp glass did not penetrate the
dragonskin. Using the coat as a safety glove, he pushed a hole through the
glass and grabbed the bars.
Gideon increased the gravity of the coat and bars quickly. Immediately, the
edges of the skylight made tortured sounds as the wooden frame started to
give. The boy could hear glass falling below, and shouts from the
courtyard. But he pressed on.
There was a swift crack, and Gideon was suddenly falling. As he dropped, he
grabbed the coat and shifted his gravity back to low. His descent slowed,
but the mesh of bars slammed down into the floor below, atop the glass that
had fallen.
Taking a moment to float down, Gideon shook the broken glass off his coat.
Below, a door slammed open and a big man in a nightgown ran out onto the
floor with a crossbow.
"What's this!" cried the weaponsmith, Dorda.
"Watch out …" started Gideon when Dorda hit the glass.
The weaponsmith yelped, and started to hop with his bloody foot in the air.
"Dangit!" But then he glared up at Gideon.
"Oh, oh," said Gideon.
Right below the floating boy, Dorda hopped up onto the mesh of bars with
his good foot. The weaponsmith aimed his crossbow. And Gideon threw his
coat like a blanket.
Spreading out, the coat fell on top of Dorda just as the twang of a
crossbow could be heard. But the coat only raised an inch before the bolt
fell harmlessly to the floor. The weaponsmith fought to pull the coat off
as Gideon dropped next to him.
Gideon grabbed his coat with the one hand, and drew the miniature staff
from its holster. The boy slammed the blunt end right into Dorda's chest,
knocking the wind out of the man. The result was that the weaponsmith
crumpled to the ground. Holstering the staff, Gideon swung the coat on, and
then patted his pockets.
"I really need to get this coat organized," he muttered.
Luckily, Dorda had fallen onto the mesh of thick bars, and not on to the
glass. Pulling out some loose bits of rope, Gideon quickly bound the
weaponsmith's hands and feet. But Gideon stopped when he saw the cut on
Dorda's foot. There was still a piece of glass sticking out of it. Digging
back into his coat, Gideon found a small jar.
"What? What are you doing?" asked Dorda when the man got his breath back.
"Sorry in advance," said Gideon.
"Wha …" began Dorda.
Gideon pulled out the piece of glass.
The weaponsmith yelped, but Gideon slathered an ointment on the wound which
cleaned, and then sealed the laceration.
"No dancing tonight," said Gideon to Dorda.
The boy easily hopped over the fallen glass. He had spotted some stairs
heading down while he was binding Dorda. Off at a sprint, Gideon rushed
down them as he put the ointment back in its pocket.
The heat grew fierce as he descended, but it did not bother the boy. In
fact, it reminded him a little of the cave where his adoptive mother had
raised him. Dragons run naturally hot.
Gideon reached the bottom of the stairs, but he slowed to take in the whole
room. It was just like the image that Brianna had shared, including the
dragon.
"New apprentice?" asked the dragon in a deep voice.
"Who? Me?" asked Gideon. "No, I'm here to help you escape … if I can."
"Your confidence gives me confidence," said the dragon drily. "I am
Roanafar of Dragon's Hearth. A prisoner." But despite the dragon's airy
tone, the boy could hear hope in his voice.
"Gideon," said the boy. "Sorry, there was supposed to be more people, but
we're having troubles." Gideon walked across the stone floor to the bound
dragon, and pointed up. "Do you know what that crystal is?"
The dragon's nostrils flared. "Your coat!" And Roanafar bucked against the
magical cocoon, which imprisoned him. "You wear dragonskin?"
The boy blinked, and then looked down at the coat. "Oh this? No worries,
it's my mother's skin."
Roanafar bared his sizable teeth. "You killed a dragon that you call
'mother'?"
And Gideon understood. He spoke quickly. "Oh Goddess, No! I was adopted by
a dragon named Miravalla when I was a baby. After her moult, she had a coat
made from her discarded skin. Oh Goddess, I'd never hurt her."
"Adopted by a dragon?" asked Roanafar slowly. "And I have heard of this
Miravalla, though only in passing."
"Now I gotta look at that crystal, so I gotta jump on you," said Gideon
apologetically. The boy dropped his gravity and leapt up onto the dragon's
back. Though In truth, he really stood on top of the magical cocoon.
"That felt like dragon's magic," said Roanafar, and there was a yearning in
his voice. "I have not been brushed by that for a long time. But you are
human."
"Mostly," said Gideon absently while he looked over the crystal. "Mom
accidentally fed me dragon's milk when I was a baby. It had a few odd
effects on me."
"You can change your gravity to fly?" asked Roanafer.
"More like I don't plummet," said Gideon. "And I can breathe fire, but
that's about it."
"I never …" started Roanafar in wonder.
"Um, I'm guessing this place is fireproof?" asked Gideon.
"Hmmm," started Roanfar. "Oh yes. Well, the crystal stops me from making
flame outside of the forge, and the building is impervious to fire, just in
case."
The crystal, which was the size of a waterymelon, was in a small steel
cage. It was not hot, but gave off a decent glow. The crystal was held
pretty snugly in the steel.
"That damnable wizard created the crystal," said Roanafar.
"If I may, how did you end up down here?" asked Gideon as he looked over
the crystal.
But the dragon did not answer.
Gideon cleared his throat nervously. "Right! That's okay. Not important."
"Food poisoning," said Roanfar quickly with an embarrassed tone.
"Wha?" asked Gideon.
"I ate a few cows that must have been diseased," said the dragon. "I was
travelling past here when I got ill. I dropped right near the castle. When
the wizard and the guard came out, I thought they were going to kill me
while I was throwing up. But it was much, much worse."
"I understand," said the boy sympathetically. "Our friend Pavataro ate a
bad Razor Deer last month, and he had the worst indigestion. You should've
heard the noise he made. Well anyway, let's get you out of here."
Gideon took out his miniature staff and his thumb made a different symbol
on it. Out of the top came a six inch blade. He sawed at the metal holding
the crystal in the air. The metal cage fell down onto the magical cocoon,
and then it rolled away.
"Wait!" called out Gideon to the rolling cage. He leapt forward to grab it,
but it rolled off the edge of the dragon and tumbled to the floor. The boy
was just behind it when it hit the stone.
The crystal cracked, and then everything went white. Gideon was thrown back
with a violent force. He smacked into a wall, and then slumped down to the
floor. But he held on to his staff.
A little stunned, Roanafar shook his head, and then turned to the fallen
boy.
"Are you dead?" he asked.
"I'm okay," said Gideon after counting his limbs, and coming up with a
satisfactory number.
"Then WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" demanded the dragon. He stood and turned to
the boy. "You could have … what? What are you looking at?"
"Um, I think that worked," grinned Gideon.
Roanafar blinked, and then looked down at himself. He was standing. He
experimentally moved a front foot and waggled it. A slow smile came over
his face. He looked at the boy.
"You lost points for style …" started Roanafar, but his attention
wandered towards the front of the building.
Suddenly, the dragon jumped on top of the stone forge and stopped. With a
murderous gaze, Roanafar looked down at the forge. He then lashed out with
a tremendous kick. Part of the stone crumbled inward breaking the forge.
Grinning, he punched up through the floor.
The dragon did not stop at the front door, but just smashed his way out.
Putting away his staff, Gideon hopped up through the ruined floor. He was
about to follow, when a shout came from behind him.
"How dare you!" snarled Dorda. "I'll have your hide."
"I wouldn't talk too loud," hissed Gideon. "The dragon might hear you."
Dorda's eyes grew wide, and his mouth slammed shut.
Outside, Roanafar spoke with jovial menace. "What's this?"
Gideon turned, and saw that the city guard had reformed in the square
opposite the dragon.
"Mother of Bees," hissed Gideon, and he began to sprint.
The captain of the guard, Bustle, was pointing his sword at the escaped
dragon.
"You there! Stop!" demanded Bustle.
Roanafar just chuckled malevolently as he faced the city guard. But Gideon
dropped between the two parties, and turned to speak to the dragon.
"Freedom!" said Gideon as he pointed emphatically towards the sealed gate.
"It's sealed right now, but you should be able to punch right through it.
Whatever that spell did, kept you in statis, or … whatever … it didn't
allow you to atrophy."
"Atrophy?" Asked the dragon.
"Your muscles should be too weak, because you haven't used them for awhile,
but luckily …" said Gideon. "You can run out of this town. Now! While the
getting is good. "
"What if I want a snack for the road?" asked Roanafar with dark amusement.
"I can't get through the gate myself, but you should be able to," said
Gideon.
"Both of you are under arrest!" shouted Bustle.
But Gideon just ignored the guard. "Come on Roanafar. It's just over this
way."
Gideon took a few steps towards the main gate in the distance, but the
dragon was still fixated on the guard.
"No," said Roanafar at last. "These people enslaved me."
"I know," said Gideon. "But we gotta go."
Roanafar took a step towards the guard who raised their weapons.
"Whoa!" cried Gideon. He jumped back in front of the dragon and looked him
in the eye. "You can't do that."
Roanafar blinked at that. "What? Who are you to tell me?"
"Get out of the way, boy," ordered the captain of the guard.
Gideon twisted towards Bustle. "You! SHUT UP!" And then he turned back to
Roanafar. "And you! We did not get you out so you could eat this town. Just
to get you free!"
"There are always unintended consequences because of our actions," replied
Roanafar. "There must be a balance in kind."
"Not today," insisted Gideon. "I'd get a running start before you hit that
gate."
The dragon took another step forward, and Gideon pulled out his staff.
Extending it to its full height, he also popped the blade and took a
defensive stance like Regent had taught him.
Roanafar narrowed his eyes.
"You want to fight me?" asked the dragon.
"I don't WANT to," cried Gideon in exasperation. "But I will not let you
massacre these idiots."
"Hey!" cried the captain indignantly, but both the dragon and the boy
ignored him.
Finally, Roanafar gave a nod. "Okay, dragon's son. Since you freed me."
Roanafar turned towards the gate, and this gave Gideon a good view of the
dragon's right flank. And what the boy saw there took his breath away.
But the dragon did not seem to notice. Roanafar ran for the gate, and
smashed right through it.
The dragon was free.
"You …" began the Bustle in a furious voice. "You let it go."
Gideon shook his head, and took a step towards the broken gate himself.
"STOP, BOY!" screamed Bustle. "You STOP! YOU are under arrest."
And the boy did stop, but he did not look back at the guard. Gideon took a
moment to put his staff back in its holster.
When that was done, he found his voice, but he still did not turn back.
"For years to come, I'm going to wonder if I did the right thing tonight,"
said the boy, but it was not certain—even to himself—whom he was
addressing.
"I can tell you right now, you shouldn't have freed that worm," snapped the
captain.
Gideon gave a dark chuckle. "Did you see the dragon's flanks?"
"What?" asked Bustle.
"His flanks. The ones that are scarred from where he was speared in order
to get him to breathe flame," said Gideon. "How long did it take to produce
THAT many scars?"
"It's just a dragon," shrugged Bustle.
Gideon turned, and his orange eyes blazed with chaotic fury. "And that is
why I'm not going to wonder about whether I should have freed him. No! What
I am going to wonder about is whether I should have let him TEAR THIS CITY
DOWN UPON YOUR EARS!"
The Bustle's face went red with outrage, but several guards looked
surprised, and a few even thoughtful.
The boy did not wait.
Leaping up, Gideon climbed on top of the nearest building. Moving swiftly,
he sprinted across the rooftops.
Several guards were already running back towards the unguarded gate, but
Gideon jumped down, and was across the drawbridge in a shot.
The boy with the orange eyes was making good time when a dragon swooped
down and clamped its jaws on his shoulder.
Yanked into the air, the dragon spun the boy around to carry him by the
ankle.
"What?" asked Gideon in surprise.
Brianna
A watery tentacle whipped through the river and grabbed lunch, even though
Brianna had no interest in food. However, her uncle was not going to let
anything get in the way of his mealtime, and she resented him for that. She
had the tentacle throw the fish towards the shore, and Regent speared it on
the end of his sword.
Brianna's hand stopped glowing and the tentacle fell apart. She did not
want to get out of the comforting water. In fact, she considered sinking
down to the bottom of the river. However, a moment before she descended
into a watery funk, she heard it.
It was distant. Faint.
Brianna swam quickly to the shore. The water nymph leapt out of the river
and hit the ground running. She sprinted past Regent who looked up in
surprise.
Brianna had never been so happy to hear bickering in her whole life.
"… was I supposed to do?" demanded Gideon as he hung upsidedown.
"If you had just opened the gate," suggested Pavataro, who carried the boy
nonchalantly through the air.
"The big, huge gate that needed a full sized dragon to break it down?"
"I'm just saying …"
And Pavataro let the boy go.
Gideon twisted in mid-air, and dropped safely to the ground. The moment his
feet touched terra firma, Brianna barrelled into him and squeezed the
breath right out of him.
Regent
Regent ate when he was worried. And the fish on his sword did not look big
enough. He hated sitting here, but there was nothing he could do. So, he
had asked for lunch. That would occupy a short amount of time. But not
enough, he thought dismally.
When the dome had gone up, city troops had appeared out of the nearby
forest to patrol the area. They must be set outside the city for just such
an emergency.
Regent had barely got Brianna and Pavataro out of the area as is.
Suddenly, his niece exploded out of the river. And, as she galloped past
him, he heard it.
Turning, he saw his niece trying to squeeze the life out of the boy. He ran
over.
"Okay you two!" he bellowed. "Break it up."
Regent pushed his way between the two so that his niece was behind him. The
sword, with a fish still on it, was pointed right at Gideon.
"Uncle!" cried Brianna with a put-upon voice.
But Regent was focused on the boy.
"YOU!" he shouted at Gideon. "What's wrong with finding a way out, and
legging it! You had to stay in there!"
"The gate was really big, and blocked," said Gideon, who was eyeing the
fishy sword. Grudgingly, Regent moved the sword out to his side.
"There is always more than one way out of a castle," replied Regent. "You
can't mess about."
The sword suddenly felt lighter, and he looked to his side.
"Tha's wha I sa …" mumbled Pavataro as he chewed on the purloined
fish.
Regent glared at the young dragon. "You be quiet." Turning back to Gideon,
he was tempted to tear another strip off of the boy, when someone above
cleared their throat.
"I think you made your point," said Roanafar.
Torn between gratitude and annoyance, Regent watched the older dragon coast
in. Landing a bit roughly, Roanafar gave a shy smile.
"I'm a little out of practice," smiled the dragon.
"Dragon's Hearth is right where you left it," said Regent.
"Why?" asked the dragon.
"Why what?" asked Regent in confusion.
"Why risk it all for me?" asked Roanafar.
Regent thought for moment, and then the old soldier spoke.
"We're not assassins," he said.
The dragon blinked. "I don't follow."
Regent fixed Pavataro with a hard look.
"Pavataro, after hearing the rumor that a dragon was being held prisoner,
what should we have done?" asked Regent.
"Ah, told the council at Dragon's Hearth," said Pavataro, a little
uncertainly.
"Right," agreed Regent. "And when we told the Council that one of their
people had been a prisoner—a slave—for all these years. What would be their
reaction?"
"Well, everyone who could fly," said Pavataro. "And even those who
couldn't, would want to …" And then the young dragon stopped. His
mouth dropped open showing the last bits of fish. "They'd …" But he
could not get the words out.
"Hundreds of dragons taking to the air," said Regent. "The sky would be
dark with them. That dome thing might hold for a while, but that gate—"
"I smashed through it easily," added the older dragon.
"That horde of dragons would hit it," whispered Pavataro softly in horror.
"It would give so easily. And then, the dragons would be scrambling over
each other to get inside. More and more and more."
"Not knowing—or bothering to ask—where the prisoner was," said Regent.
"That horde of dragons would systematically take the town apart."
"They wouldn't have to breathe fire," added Gideon. "A fire is bound to
break out. A wooden roof broken on top of a baker's oven, and soon … it
would be like an oven, while dragons sauntered through the city."
"No survivors," whispered Brianna, and then she looked at her uncle. "Even
after they found the prisoner, they would not leave anyone alive, would
they?"
"And you kids would have helped set that in motion—unwittingly—but
still … that type of thing leaves a stain, on all who are part
of it. A stain that can never come out," said Regent. He turned to the
older dragon. "There will be repercussions, but not by us. Let the
statesmen decide what to do with the city."
"I'm not sure that is satisfying enough," said Roanafar thoughtfully.
"You're free," said Regent. "Go home."
The older dragon squinted at the soldier, and then took to the air. They
watched Roanafar turn towards Dragon's Hearth, and fly away.
Letting out a deep breath, Regent smiled and turned towards the kids.
"Good job," he said. "Now, let's get the netherhells out of here."
THE END
Copyright 2018, Walter G. Esselman
Bio: Walter G Esselman bangs on a keyboard, and plays way too much 'Zombie Castaways'.
And you can find more of Walter G. Esselman's work on Facebook with the keyword: Dragonson.
E-mail: Walter G. Esselman
Comment on this story in the Aphelion Forum
Return to Aphelion's Index page.
|
