A Rose Amongst the Dragons, page 15
part #1 of A Rose Amongst the Dragons Series
“I forbid it.” Thelton called out. “You men will not drink. You need to be alert in the forest. There is no place for alcohol in this party.”
Flance walked over to Thelton’s side. “Dear Thelton, the men have worked hard. They deserve it. Nothing will happen this night. We are safe in the cave.”
The men agreed with Flance. They called out that they deserved and wanted it.
“I forbid it,” Thelton said again.
The men cursed Thelton and ignored him. They greedily grabbed the alcohol and made quick work of it. Flance went out to his wagon and returned with more whisky. The men continued to drink and the warm fluid flowed through their veins. They rapidly fell into a drunken state. As the alcohol took over, they became loud and boisterous.
Thelton went to the back of the cave. “How I despise alcohol,” he thought. “However, if they get good and drunk it might help with my plans, make things a little easier. It has passed the time to be rid of the menacing men. Yes, let them drink, they will bring on their own curse.”
As Thelton waited in the back, Flance kept a close eye on him. He was going to get the men good and drunk and then rile them up. It was easy to get men angry when they were mentally impaired. As Flance waited for the right moment, Royster approached him with some of the whiskey.
Royster was the biggest of the men. He was a farmer and worked his field with all his might. His muscles were almost three times as large as Flance’s. Royster had a solid chest, as hard as steel. During the winter when he was in need of extra income, Royster would go to the town square and fight for money. Almost everyone in Andleburg knew of Royster. He was strong and unbeatable. Some admired him, most feared him.
Royster was an angry man. He despised the life of a farmer, but it was all he knew. He had grown weary of his nagging wife, and tried to spend most of his time away from home. He always wore a frown and if you got in his way, he would slam a fist into you. Usually when he entered a room, everyone moved aside.
Flance had worked hard over the last few days to get on Royster’s good side. He had given him extra food and was always passing him sweet breads and jerky. Royster took the offered goods but never responded with gratitude or emotion. This was the first time that Royster had talked to Flance.
“You, my good man, you have taken care of us,” Royster said through his slurred speech. “You are the man. But, one must ask, why do you not share in the whiskey you provide”
Flance had not drunk because he wanted to keep his wits about him as he rallied the men. He looked into Royster’s hardened eyes while a shiver trickled down his spine. “Well, someone must keep a level head, just in case there is danger.”
Royster pointed the flask of whiskey toward Thelton in the corner, “The Dragon Slayers watches our backs.”
Flance rolled his eyes. “He is nothing but a coward. I wouldn’t put my life in his hands for anything.”
Royster took two steps into Flance, looking straight down at him. Flance could feel Royster’s warm acidic breath on his face. Royster’s veins bulged, his eyes popped, and his fist curled. “The Dragon Slayer is a legend and he is favored by the king. I am sure you didn’t mean what you just said.”
Flance gulped. It wasn’t the direction that he had planned. He had wanted to get the men good and angry, but not at him. Also, more than anything, he needed Royster on his side. Royster pressed his forehead into Flance’s. Flance’s heart began racing, his face became flush.
“You are right, we are in good hands.” Flance said to keep from being pounded.
Flance didn’t back down to many people. He wanted to deck Royster so bad, but he knew better. In his fear and anger he began to cough. Huge fits vibrated through his body. Sterling saw the trouble his father was in and ran to his side. Sterling put his hand on his father, but his father pushed him away.
After Flance had stopped coughing, he looked at Royster’s face, which was still tight and ridged. Flance didn’t know what to do, he decided to try and ease the tension. “How about I join you in a drink?” He held his left hand out for a drink offering.
Royster stood over him for a minute more, then relinquished the drink into Flance’s hand.
“That is more like it. I never trust a man that won’t drink his own gift.” Royster spat out. Flance tilted his head back and took a huge swallow. The fire burned its way down his throat to his gut. He relaxed a bit. He tried to hand the flask back to Royster. Royster did not take it, he kept staring at Flance. Uncomfortable, Flance took another drink, then another. Soon he found himself inebriated like the rest, with his plans of rebellion floating farther in the back of his mind.
…
By the third hour into the morning, everyone was either passed out or asleep. Thelton knew that his time had come.
He reached into his side pack and pulled out a dusty leather pouch. He untied the shredded rope from around the package. Opening it up, forty iridescent balls shined in the leather. Thelton picked up a ball and rolled it back and forth between his fingers. A blue glow rose from his hand. He looked at all the sleeping bodies.
“Yes, I am glad you are drunk This would have been hard to do if you were sober, in fact, I am not sure I could have, so thank you Flance.” Thelton thought.
“Now, how am I going to do this, the medicine woman gave me balls for forty men and now we have around sixty?” Thelton was worried about his plan.
He took the ball and split it in half, a puff of smoke escaped from the middle. He decided the best he could do was to split the balls. He would give the entire ball to the bigger men, men like Royster. For the smaller men, he would give half a ball to.
He crawled amongst the men ready to shove the potion balls into their mouths. He did Royster first. As he advanced the ball into Royster’s mouth, Royster’s teeth clamped shut. Pains shot through Thelton’s finger, for it was stuck and being crushed. Suppressing his need to scream, he bit his lip. He was in excruciating agony. He wiggled around because of the torment, trying to be still, trying not to wake any of the men, especially Royster. When Thelton gained control of his emotions, he took his free hand and tried to pry open Royster’s mouth. It wouldn’t budge. Thelton looked around, for he had to break loose before he accidently woke Royster up, or worse, lost his finger. He reached down to his leg and pulled out his dagger and brought it to his stuck finger.
Bringing the blade to his finger, he was ready to saw it off. As he looked around one more time, he spotted the whisky flask in hands reach. Thelton stretched for it and grabbed it, and then he placed it under Royster’s nose. The strong smell penetrated Royster’s trance, and he opened his mouth, his body craving another drink.
Thelton pulled away, thankful to still have his finger. He held it and grimaced while holding the throbbing appendage. The flesh had been opened. He tore a bit of his shirt and wrapped it around his wound. He would put salve on it later, at the moment he needed to finish his project. He crawled to Edward. He tickled Edward’s lip and it was easy to slip the ball in.
While Thelton distributed the magic balls, there was always a man stirring in his sleep. Whenever a man moved, Thelton’s heart would pound. He had to hurry. Putting the potion pill on the end of his dagger, he used it to push them it into the men’s mouth. The last person to get a pill was Flance’s son. It was a half a crumble of a pill because that was all that was left. Thelton returned to Flance’s side. He had not given Flance a pill because he still needed him to find the Queen. He was glad that Flance was passed out; he had planned on just knocking him cold with his fists, but now he didn’t have to.
After grabbing rope out of one of the wagons, Thelton tied Flance up. He wound the rope over him very tightly making it so Flance would not be able to escape. After he was good and tight, Thelton grabbed Flance’s body and hosted him over his shoulders like a bag of potatoes.
“Oh, you are so fat and heavy,” Thelton complained. “Good thing I am used to carrying dragons.”
…
Flance’s head pounded, his stomach sloshed, he felt like he was going to puke. He could feel a wave of nausea overtake his body.
“Why did I allow myself to get so drunk? Is it morning? I think I failed to rile the men. I hoped by now I would have had at least gained their trust. I have showered them was kindness and favors, and I still have plenty of whisky, I would try and get them drunk again, and I would make sure I stay sober when I do.”
He was sure he could create mutiny with the rest of the men, but Royster and Freelone were going to be his biggest problem. As he thought, he felt a bug scurry across his nose. He went to swat it with his left hand, but his hand didn’t move, nor did it budge. Flance opened his eyes, they stung from over dryness.
“Am I still drunk,” he asked out loud. “How can I be looking straight down at the bottom of the cave?” He tried to move only to find himself completely tied up. He had been suspended from a rope trap that was tied to a stalactite at the top of the cave. “What had happened?”
“What is going on?” he yelled. His head pounded from the hangover and from the blood that was pooling in it. He had no recollection to how he had been tied to the stalactite. His thoughts turned to Royster; “Did he do it to him?” he thought about it for a second, and then realized the answer was no. “Royster would have just punched my face in.” He thought…”It must have been Thelton.”
“Thelton,” he yelled, causing him to feel the painful pulses in his head.
Flance looked around the cave. He had been so consumed by the strangeness of finding himself tied up, that he had failed to notice the men. They were all still asleep or passed out, but there was something very strange about them. It appeared a plant had grown over most of them. He looked around for his son and quickly found him. Sterling was covered in deep brown roots, while little sprouts of leaves went up and down his arm. As Flance tried to figure out what was going on, a strong acid burned all the way from his alcohol stricken stomach, up his throat, and projected to the ground, splashing on some of the men. Without being able to wipe off his mouth, bits of emeses slid to his chin.
“Thelton, where are you?” he screamed again.
“Isn’t it great?” Thelton’s voice was above him. He couldn’t turn up to see how Thelton sat on an overhang edge just above Flance. “Magic is a wonderful thing. I have been watching them all night. It really is amazing.”
“What did you do? What plant grows all over them? What did you do to my son?”
“Nothing much, I just gave him a midnight snack.”
Flance angered, he tried to break through the ropes. He was too tightly wound; there was no wiggle room or chance of escaping.
“I am surprised that the men have not woken up yet. You know, I must thank you. I am not sure how I would have done this if it wasn’t for you; getting them drunk, now that was brilliant.”
“These men are on the king’s errand. He will not take kindly to you tying us all up.”
“You are the only one that I tied up. The rest of the men, well they seem to be turning into trees.”
“What?” Flance shouted, for he could scarcely comprehend what Thelton was saying. “Did you do that? Did you turn them into trees? Why would you turn the men into trees? How did you turn them into trees? That is the most absurd thing that I have heard. We are here to help you. Why can’t you understand that? You can’t bring the queen in by yourself and kill all the dragons. Why would you do that?”
“They are in my way, just like you. I don’t need them.”
“We are on the king’s errand. You are so cocky. You need them, Thelton. You need every one of them. There is no way that you can slay a hundred dragons on your own. They will tear you apart. I have been to their nest, I have seen them. There is no way. You will regret this.”
The two sat silently for a minute. “Look, look, it is happening again. It is so amazing. Just look over there, you can watch as the roots shoot out of Freelone’s side.”
Freelone lay prone. A giant root ripped out of the side of his chest, and dove into the ground. Another came out his knee and anchored below. While the roots grew, the rest of his skin was turning thick and brown. Flance looked at the other men, seeing the same thing was happening to all of them, even his son. Some of the men had almost turned completely wooden, while others it only slightly effected. The two of them watched for some time atop of the cave. Thelton was enjoying it, but Flance could scarcely believe the scene below.
Dustin was the first of the men to wake up. He was a medium sized man with thick black hair. His eyes shot open and he began screaming. “What is happening to me?” He tried to stand up, but was unable to because he was rooted into the cave floor. His body was thick and wooden. He screamed and screamed. Nathan woke up and screamed. It was a domino effect, and soon most of the men awoke, each with similar reactions.
They shrieked and moaned, some cried and bawled. They couldn’t figure out what was trapping them to the cave floor. Many of them had lost the features of their skin and were covered in a bark like covering. To add to their panic, they were all suffering from hangovers, so their heads ached and throbbed. Thelton had an idea. He jumped off the ledge into the middle of the cave. The men looked at him the best they could from their debilitated state.
“Dear brave men; men who are on the king’s errand, men who have sacrificed all they have to follow the king. I am sorry about your situation. It appears that Flance had spiked your whiskey with a potion. He has done this to all of you.”
“No way,” Flance hollered from above them. “Don’t listen to him. He did this to you. I would never.”
“I warned you not to partake. Alcohol is a vile drink.”
The men silenced and tried to think of the events of the night. The majority of them could remember Flance giving them whiskey. They tried hard to remember if they saw Flance drink, but none of them could. Only Royster and Sterling saw him drink. Royster’s lips had been encased in bark. He would not be able to testify that Flance drank some of the whiskey. In everyone else’s mind, Flance had not drunken the poisoned whiskey.
“That is right,” the men declared. “Flance did this to us. He did not drink.” The men easily believed Thelton’s lies for the evidence before them suggested as much.
“I did drink. I did! I promise I did not do this. It was Thelton’s doing.”
Flance kept yelling to defend himself. No one listened. They had been completely beguiled by Thelton.
“My father didn’t drink,” Sterling yelled. No one listened.
The men swore and yelled as their bodies turned wooden. Thelton climbed back to his ledge in the cave to watch the show. About five hours later the changes stopped. There were variant degrees of wooden men. Some men, who had the whole pill, had completely turned into a tree. While others, only half of their body had. Either way, they were all anchored into the ground, by thick roots that grew out of their own bodies. Not one could break free.
Flance agonized as he watched Sterling turn wooden. His son was his reason for living. He could not bear to think of losing him. As the two men silently watched from above, the ropes continued to cut into Flance’s skin. He felt hopeless.
“You are a wicked man, Thelton. There is a special place in Hell carved out just for you. Some of the men may have deserved a fate like this, but how could you do that to my boy? I hope you rot in Hell.”
“It is time to make a bargain,” Thelton said. “You take me to the queen and then I will tell you how to undo the spell.”
“You would trade all of these men’s lives just to build your own honor and pride. You are despicable.”
Thelton whispered, for only Flance to hear. “You and the men mean nothing to me. The choice is in your hand. If you refuse to help, I will leave you all here. I guarantee no one will rescue you. No one out there has been this deep into the forest. However, if you help me, then you can save your son. If you like, you can save the rest of the men as well.”
“I wouldn’t help you for anything,” Flance spit out.
Thelton jumped down to the middle of the cave. “Fine with me, I will find the queen on my own.” Thelton went over to Flance’s son. Since he had gotten such a small portion of the pill, the effects were mild, but still enough to completely trap him. Thelton kicked at the base of one of Sterling’s roots. “He will make nice firewood if you get cold.”
Thelton started walking out of the cave.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Flance desperately yelled out. He had been abandoned before by Thelton. “Cut me down, and I will tell you where to find the nest.”
Thelton stood under Flance, “We do it my way, and my way only.”
Flance spit into Thelton’s face. Thelton took his finger and slid it through the slimy mess, and then he put his finger in his mouth and smiled. “Is that all you got?”
…
Turning from Flance, Thelton took a tarp out of a wagon, Flance awkwardly stood by his side, still heavily tied up. Thelton put Flance in the middle of the tarp and strongly secured him in the contraption. He wasn’t about to untie his prisoner. He tied the rope trap to his waste and began walking in the direction that Flance navigated him in, pulling Flance along the forest floor. He had walked for half a day when they stopped for a rest.
“You know, I could be directing you the wrong way.”
Thelton went to Flance’s side and kneeled down to his level. “I know you said that it would take only two more days to get to the nest. If we don’t get there in two days, you die. And with your death, sixty men will be lost along with your son. So if it is worth your lie, then tell it.”
Thelton took some dry stale bread out of his pack and shoved it in Flance’s mouth. Flance choked down the dry mass, which at times would get stuck against the back of his throat. He ached for a drink of water.
…
Thelton kept his eyes open for signs of dragon tracks. He found a little here and there but nothing in significant amounts.
