A Rose Amongst the Dragons, page 16
part #1 of A Rose Amongst the Dragons Series
While looking around, he noticed new plants that he hadn’t recalled seeing before. One had giant feathered leaves. The wispy leaves were of deep crimson red while the tips looked like they had been dipped in gold glitter. Out of curiously he touched one. Little gold slivers penetrated his skin and instantly stung. His hand recoiled into his arm. Thelton jumped up and down at the unexpected sensation. Bringing his injured hand close to his face so he could see, he removed the golden splinters.
Another interesting plant looked like a giant funnel. It was big enough that he could crawl inside if he wanted. As he sucked on his hurt hand, he had no desire to investigate any more plants. He ignored his curiosity and continued through the forest. He noticed that the trees were changing. The trunks were growing thicker and rounder while the rest of the trees seemed to grow higher and higher. He was amazed by the majestic qualities of the trees. He had a sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen the trees before. Even the ominous bushes looked familiar. On the bush, instead of leaves, they were sharp thorns. A chill ascended his spine. He would have to keep a careful eye out so he didn’t stumble into any of the thorns.
After a moment of rest, Thelton resumed walking. Dusk set in. “I figure we’ll go for at least another hour and then bed down for the night.” As he walked, suddenly a foreign object dropped from the canopy onto his head. He grabbed it and flung it into a tree. It was a five foot dark orange snake. Another dropped on him, and then another. They rained down thick and heavy, and he was covered in snakes. There didn’t seem to be any relief from the orange constrictors. Flance was screaming as his body was saturated with the creatures. He felt so vulnerable in his position. The snakes were not poisonous, but they knew how to constrict. They began compressing against Flance’s appendages. Thelton whipped out his dagger and split open the snake that had been tied around his throat, cutting off his air tube. He slashed every one that landed on him. And with each snake he killed, a new one took its place. For Flance, he was turning purple as his airway was being closed off. Snakes were constricting every inch of the prisoner. Thelton dove to his side and began killing the snakes on Flance. There was no way to keep up with the serpents. They needed to get out from under their many nests that were up in the trees. Thelton stood up and began running at full speed pulling Flance behind. If he could get away, maybe they would be fine. As he ran, he kept an eye on Flance. He had to keep stopping and cut the snakes off the enemy. It took twenty minutes of hard running until the reptiles stopped raining down.
Finally, they were clear of the snakes, Thelton was exhausted. He dropped to the ground and kissed it. “That was something else,” he said. Flance didn’t respond for he hated everything about Thelton and he hated even more that it was Thelton who had just saved him from the snakes.
The men slept without incident and by morning light they were off again. “Flance, I must give it to you, you are a brave man to come this deep into the forest. You know, many are afraid of the Vegus Forest. I’m not. It intrigues me. I have never met a beast that I can’t tame or kill. That includes you. Anyways, I like it here. I am not sure why I have never come this deep. I must make residence here when the queen is gone.”
Flance tired to ignore him. His tongue was dry. Oh how a drink would soothe him.
Thelton walked the rest of the day without much incidence. Every now and then he would stop and give food and a small bit of drink to Flance. The amounts were always so insignificant that it left Flance craving more. At the end of the day they both fell into a deep slumber. In the middle of the night, they awoke to a pungent smell. Both men coughed and gagged while their lungs burned. Flance had a hard time suppressing the cough. It rattled his whole body.
“Let me out, Thelton, I will help you fight.” Flance could barely choke out the words.
Thelton looked at Flance, and laughed. “You’d run.”
“I won’t, I promise. Plus, you need me.”
Thelton crawled over to Flance. “Need you. I only need you for one thing, and that is the location of the nest. Don’t presume that you are of any other value to me.” Thelton stood up and readied both his swords. Within a few minutes, the trolls were on them. There were four trolls. Thelton fought two while the other two went over to Flance.
“Thelton, don’t leave me tied up like this! You must let me go. Thelton!”
One of the trolls started biting Flance in the side. His razor sharp teeth tore into Flance’s flesh. Flance screamed, “Thelton, help me!”
Thelton chopped the head of his second troll and dashed over to Flance. Kicking the troll off Flance’s body he stuck his sword deep into the heart of the other. With three dead, the lone troll ran away.
Thelton stood and watched the troll run off. He wiped the blood off onto his clothes. After assessing his body for any bite marks, he went over to Flance’s side. Reaching into his side pack a small flask and a little pouch was retrieved. Thelton opened the flask and fire shot out of the top. He dumped some water from Firelake on Flance’s side. He then covered the wounds with three dragon scales.
“It will be like new in a week.”
Flance turned his head to the side and began puking. He hated the situation that he was in. Thelton had just saved his life again. His muscles throbbed from being held in the same position. Big lesions were forming where the ropes tore into his skin.
“Maybe death was better than the position I am in.” He thought, but he couldn’t quit. He had to keep going. His son needed to be saved.
Thelton shook his head, “I would sure hate to be in your spot.”
The next day was bright and sunny. Thelton had been walking for three hours when he started seeing heavy signs of dragon activity. Many trees had been toppled. Lots of branches had been snapped as well. There were giant dragon excretion piles. Bones were littered everywhere. Thelton knew they were close. It was time to end his relationship with Flance. He turned from the direction he was walking in, and began heading back the way they came. Flance was still being dragged behind.
Flance shouted, “Where are you going? The nest is the other way.” Thelton ignored him. He walked for a long time, and then stopped.
“This will do.” He picked Flance up and heaved him over his shoulder. At the base of a tree he began ascending it. Thelton had exceptional strength.
“What are you doing?” Flance called out.
“I don’t need you anymore.”
“You still don’t know where the nest is,” Flance yelled.
“I am a smart man. I can figure it out from here.”
“Thelton you have already done a lot of stupid things. Here is your chance to get something right. There are about a hundred dragons at the nest. Let me go, you need me.”
Thelton ignored Flance and carried him about mid way up the tree. He tied him to a branch, and then looked in his face. “I don’t need anyone.”
“We had a deal, Thelton. You might be a horrible person, but I thought you were a man of your honor. Let me go. Let me go save my son.”
“No. You see at this point, you can still get in my way. Once I have killed the dragons, I will then rescue your son.”
“Thelton, get back here, you broke your promise. Get back here! You are evil!”
Thelton climbed down from the tree and turned back into the direction of the nest. His heart filled with joy. He had only dreamed about the nest, for he never knew that he would one day go to it.
He took out of his pouch a bottle of dragon urine and splashed it all over his body to mask out the human smell, and then he walked toward the nest.
…
With caution, Thelton watched every step he took. He did not want the dragons to know that he was coming.
He had come to a little flower meadow. There were the most beautiful flowers amongst it. Vibrant colors danced while sweet aroma fragranced the air. Thelton had never been much for flowers, but the ones in the meadow where stunning, they had even intrigued him. As he made his way toward the flowers, he abruptly stopped. What he originally thought were butterflies, he realized, were something else. He peered closer; they were little women with wings. Fairies. He dropped down quickly in the long grass; not wanting to be spotted. Carefully, he crawled along the ground until he was next to the meadow. He slithered through the grass until he was in the middle of the meadow. Once he was where he wanted to be, he rolled over onto his back and laid still.
…
The fairies were stunning with soft light skin and had hair that dangled passed their feet. They were about the length of his hand. Their dresses had been constructed out of the flowers. They sang as they flew and Thelton was mesmerized. He was almost in a hypnotic state that infused him with pure pleasure. He watched with great awe, when to his delight, one landed within an arm’s length away. Thelton could not resist, and his robust hand darted out to collect the delicate fairy. She sensed him way before he reached her. She squalled out in fear. Her voice was a siren. The rest of the fairies joined in the shrieking.
“Quiet, please, you must stop. I won’t hurt you, but you must stop the noise.” he cried out in desperation. “If you alert the dragons of my coming, I will fail.” Thankfully the fairies flew away as they screeched.
Thelton stayed close to the ground, fearful that the dragons heard the commotion. He decided to lay low just in case they heard him.
Knowing that it would be best to find the nest when the dragons were sleeping, he had allowed sleep to overtake him. The moon shone bright. When it had been dark for three hours, Thelton awoke and then stood up. He searched out the tracks and followed them the rest of the way to the dragon nest.
At last, he had found it. Thelton quietly made his way into the outer perimeter of the dragon camp. He stopped breathing, “There she was; The Queen!” Her body moved up and down with each breath she took. Thelton looked around the area and counted dragons. There were only about thirty of them. The king had said there were fifty while Flance said something about a hundred? Was there really a hundred or had he been exaggerating? Was there more somewhere else? Thelton really needed to know. For the next two hours, he crawled around their hideaway. He counted and recounted. If there were more dragons, then they were gone for the time. He really didn’t think the camp could be big enough for a hundred dragons. He decided that Flance had exaggerated.
Thelton reached into his side pack and pulled out what looked like a log. After he located the center of the dragon camp, he lit the log. Instead of fire enveloping the log, smoke billowed out. Thelton wrapped some special material around his face, which the medicine woman had given him, and it protected him from the smoke. The smoke grew heavy and covered most of the camp. The dragons breathed it in while sleeping. Its effects transformed the dragons into a deeper sleep. Thelton knew that the smoke’s transformation only lasted for a little less than half an hour, and he was sure that it was enough time to slit the neck of every dragon.
Chapter 11
The queen’s nest was to the west of the camp, and the smoke hadn’t reached her. That was alright with him. He didn’t need to put a spell on her, because she would be dead before she even knew that he was there. Besides, he didn’t want to cheat with her. He wanted to bring her down by his skill and training, not magic and luck. He tipped toed over and drew out his emerald sword. He stood for a moment admiring the legendary beast.
“My day has come. The greatest dragon slayer in the world is going to take out the queen and the rest of the dragons, and I’m going to do it alone!”
Thelton stood right next to the queen while he raised his sword high into the air. Every nerve in his body rang out in excitement. All his energy transposed to his arm and he began to swiftly bring it down. As he did, the queen continued to sleep; unaware of the danger she was in. The sword came down closer and closer to the beast.
“You are going to die. I am going to seal my legend in your blood.” Excitement flowed through him.
Just as his moment of victory almost unfolded, something from behind slammed into Thelton’s back. The sword flew out of his hand. He had been just centimeters away from the queen’s throat. The attack was so unexpected. Thelton was knocked to the ground. The queen’s eyes opened.
Indy was on Thelton. She punched him in the side while tearing at his skin. Her claws instantly drew blood. Thelton was so taken back by the startling attack. He fought hard and furious with his unknown assailant. The two of them rolled around on the ground hitting, biting, and punching. His enemy was strong and gave him a good fight, almost matching strength for strength. Amidst the scuffle, Thelton reached down to his leg to pull out the dagger. It was gone. At some point, it must have fallen out. He fought hard without it, but soon his attacker over came him. He was pinned to the ground while thick sharp nails held down his throat.
Through the dark, Thelton looked up into the eyes of a human; a woman. How could there be a human amongst the dragons? It was dark, and he didn’t have a very clear view of his attacker. He couldn’t figure out how he got bested by a woman. Furious, he began thrashing about, but he couldn’t break through Indy’s grip. She growled at him. Her hands tightened on his throat, and he could feel her claws pierce his skin.
The queen came over to Indy’s side. Indy stepped back as the massive dragon picked Thelton up in her claws. She brought him to her nose and smelled him. Thelton was sure he was about to be eaten. She kept sniffing at him for awhile. Thelton wiggled and fought to break her grip, but he struggled in vain. Her claws pierced his skin while huge drops of blood rolled out. The queen opened her large mouth and let out a mighty roar, the wind from her mouth and saliva flew into Thelton’s face. He wished he had a sword or a dagger. As she roared, he prepared for the massive mouth to swallow him in.
Instead of biting him, she tossed him back at Indy, for she had just eaten four trolls and her stomach was a bit unsettled. The queen turned her back to Indy and Thelton and went back to her nest.
Thelton hugged the ground. He wasn’t dead. He had never been so close to death before. He was surprised at how calm he had stayed. If he could just get to his swords, he might still be able to kill the queen. Thelton slowly rolled over, for he didn’t want to grab the queen’s attention. Standing directly over him was Indy. She stood in a fighting stance and looked ready to strike. Thelton tried to play the scenario out in his mind.
He had to get to his swords, for Indy had knocked the emerald sword out of his hand, and he had no idea where the golden sword had gone. Indy was snarling.
Without given her a chance to react, Thelton lurched at her legs and dragged her down. Her head slammed against the ground on impact, an echo rang in her ears. Thelton sprung for his swords when he felt Indy seize his legs and bring him down. Without much of a fight, she again had him locked in a throat hold while she straddled the rest of his body.
Indy held Thelton down for a time. Above her, her wings folded into her body. Thelton wondered how hard he had hit his head, for was he really seeing wings on the woman? Slowly she moved away and guarded his body. Any movement he made, she would pounce on him again. This went on the rest of the night. By the morning, Thelton was physically drained. He didn’t mean to, but he eventually fell asleep.
Indy could not sleep. Their lair had never been invaded before. For the first time in her life, she felt vulnerable. She went over to the emerald sword. It was mysterious; the craftsmanship on it was so foreign. Intrigued, she reached down and grabbed the blade. The metal sliced into her hand as a sharp sensation stung her. She dropped the sword and put her bleeding hand into her mouth, looking for relief.
Thelton stirred, Indy immediately returned to his side, but he stayed sleeping. He captivated her. She had never seen a human before. She thought he looked odd. How could he walk around and do the things she did? She noticed he had arms and legs that looked like hers. The more she watched him, the more she took notice of their many similarities. What could he be?
The camp heated up by the morning son and soon the dragons awoke. None had been aware about Thelton’s presence in the camp the night before. Only the queen and Indy knew of his presence. It didn’t take long for one of the dragons to spot Thelton lying below Indy. The dragon speedily came over to Thelon, with every intention of eating him. Indy stood in a fighting stance, ready to protect her game. The two growled at each other. The silver dragon racked his claws across Indy’s body and sent her flying across the camp. She slammed into the ground and didn’t move. The silver dragon turned to Thelton. Thelton quickly found his sword and grabbed it.
Lifting the sword into the air, he had time to stab straight into the open mouth that came at him. The sword’s tip gashed through the silver dragon’s right side of the jaw. It was enough pain to push the dragon back. Thelton pulled his sword out of the dragon’s mouth and with it grazed the dragon’s shoulder. He had been aiming at the heart, but he missed. The silver dragon screeched out in pain. Enraged, the silver dragon bared its teeth and went straight for Thelton’s head.
With a swoosh, Indy grabbed Thelton seconds before the silver dragon ate him. The movement was so forceful that it knocked his emerald sword out of his hand. She flew him through the trees, trying to separate Thelton from the silver dragon. The silver dragon flew up and pursued right behind Indy. Indy zoomed low in the trees and quickly lost the silver dragon, for he was too big to pass through all the trees.
When they were a good distance from the dragon camp, Indy landed and took her fighting stance. She wasn’t about to let him go anywhere. Thelton was too stunned and mesmerized to fight at the moment. Had the woman really flown him there? How did she have wings? From his spot on the ground he just watched her, trying to wrap his mind over all that had just happened. While he observed her, she inspected him. They studied each other for awhile, and then Thelton stood. Before he could fully straighten up, she had slammed him to the ground and was straddled on top of him.
When she finally released him, he made sure to stay in a sitting position. He was worn out from their little game. He decided he would try talking to her.
