When he was finished with her hair, he pulled Indy up, she looked radiant. Her smoothened black hair hung delicately down her back, still long enough to cascade over her wings. Thelton opened the door and stepped outside. He needed some air.

  Chapter 14

  Flance and his party were rushed to the king’s throne where the king immediately stood up to greet his men.

  “Flance of Candleshaw, why so few numbers? Where are the rest of the men; where is Thelton?”

  “Ours has been an ill mission, My dear king. Our men have met tragedy almost around every corner. The Vegus Forest is damned. Little by little the numbers have dwindled.”

  “Don’t tell me that you’ve come back empty handed. Where is the queen’s head?”

  “Did Thelton not bring the queen to you?”

  “No, no, I have not seen Thelton. Is he the one that has the head?”

  Flance began to sweat. “Dear king, I do not know if he has the queen’s head or not. Things got complicated.” In his nervousness, Flance began to cough. His loud coughing annoyed the king.

  The king’s voice rose, “What do you mean complicated?”

  Flance swallowed hard. “Well, king, there were so many road blocks. The worst one came at the hand of your very own dragon slayer.”

  The doors to the throne room flew open. Princess Alashia came into the room with her long hair bouncing as she ran to the side of her father. She looked around, stress creased about her face.

  “Thelton, Thelton, where is Thelton?”

  The king turned to the princess. “Daughter, go to your room. I will send you word when I have it myself.”

  Princess Alashia looked at the men, not one of them was her beloved fiancé. “What do you mean when you have word? Is Thelton not here?” The princess had already spent many nights in fear over Thelton. She kept reminding herself that he was the world’s best hunter and that he would return unharmed. Not seeing him brought her fears to reality.

  “Please, daughter, this is king’s business. To your room.”

  Princess Alashia threw her arms around her chest. “I will not go until I know the where about of my fiancé.”

  Flance enviously looked at the princess.

  “You are supposed to be mine,” he thought. “I would have been the greatest dragon slayer and then the king would have engaged you to me.” Her beauty could not be matched, her features so delicate and fine. He was supposed to be the greatest dragon slayer. If only he had killed Thelton when he had the chance, this would all be his. It would be him marrying the princess.

  Because the princess was agitating the king by disobeying his orders, he turned his anger to Flance.

  “Do tell me about the fate of my future son.”

  Flance’s blood pressure rose, while he coughed even harder. “I don’t know where he is, my lordship.”

  The princess let out a small wail.

  “Dear king…if I may,” Turkish shyly stammered. It was out of place to summons an audience to speak with the king, one must wait to be called.

  The king turned to the intruder of his conversation.

  “You may only speak if you have word on Thelton.”

  “Dear king,” Turkish bowed, “Me and these men here had become separated from the party for a time. As we caught up to them we were able to see the path of destruction that Flance had created.”

  Flance turned to Turkish, forgetting where he was, he grabbed Turkish by the throat.

  “How dare you impugn my honor.”

  “Release him,” the king bellowed. Embarrassed, Flance dropped his hand to his side while he coughed again.

  “Continue,” the king commanded Turkish.

  “We came to a cavern in a rock where we found the men. They had all been turned into trees by Flance.”

  “Not true,” Flance said in defense.

  “I warn you, boy,” the king said as he glared at Flance.

  The king turned to Turkish. “What do you mean, turned into trees? You make no sense to me.”

  “Well, apparently the previous night, Flance had given all the men whiskey to drink. The whiskey had a potion in it. The men drank it, and the next morning they had all turned into trees. For reasons we can’t comprehend, Flance had poisoned it and turned the men into trees.”

  “My fiancé is a tree?” the princess bawled.

  “No, the men said that Thelton had refused the drink, not being a drinking man. It was a good thing, because he would have ended up just like them.”

  “Where is Thelton?” the king demanded.

  “We don’t know. We believe that Flance may have killed him.”

  “I did not kill him,” Flance screamed. “And I did not poison the men. That was Thelton all the way.”

  The king pointed at Flance. In seconds he was covered with the royal guards. As they were handling him, one of the guards could feel the swords on Flance. He reached his hands in Flance’s pants and removed the emerald and golden sword.

  Like a mad man, the king leaped for the sword. He knew that sword; he had given it to Thelton.

  “Your evidence betrays you. Send him to the dungeon.” The king’s face reddened. He was livid. Thelton was his prize; he was to be his son. Flance had taken that from him and his daughter. It was all he could do to retain himself from killing Flance with Thelton’s emerald sword.

  Flance kicked and yelled as the guards tackled him even more. As they did, another found Thelton’s dagger. There were no doubts that Flance had killed Thelton and poisoned the men.

  The princess crumbled into a pile on the floor. She howled at the thought of her lost love.

  …

  Indy ran a brush through her hair as she watched herself in a small hand held mirror. Thelton had bought her those and taught her how to do simple grooming. As Indy brushed her hair, she felt very overwhelmed by all the new experiences. She was still very confused at what her role was in the new world. Every time they left the tavern they saw more of the strange creatures that looked liked Thelton. Sometimes the people would try to talk to her. She even had a couple men throw rotten food at her.

  One thing she did like was the always available food. She had learned how to let Thelton know she was hungry, and when she did, he would take her to get something to eat. It was nice not to have to hunt it. The food she ate with Thelton tasted nothing like what she was used to eating.

  Despite the excitement of everything new, she missed her family. Her whole life she had been raised by dragons. She lived with dragons. Now, she found herself in the world of man. Everything was vastly different. On their third day at the inn, they decided to walk to the market. Thelton grabbed Indy’s hand and led her down the street. She was getting used to him leading her places. She felt more secure when he held her hand. Walking in the new town was uncomfortable for Thelton. No one recognized him. Anywhere he went in the tri-kingdoms, he always had people coming up to him or pointing at him. Although at times he had grown tired of the attention, it felt empty with it gone.

  Thelton swung their arms back and forth as they walked. He began to whistle a tune. Indy touched his voluptuous lips, curious by the music that he was making. As she traced his lips searching for the cause of the music, Thelton’s skin prickled. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her into his side. As he continued to whistle, Indy unexpectedly went stiff. She was starring up into the sky.

  Although the sky looked clear, she could hear the distance roars and flapping of dragon wings. She knew those wings, for she had heard them come and go from the dragon camp. She became excited, she had missed her family and they were close by.

  Thelton stopped whistling and looked upwards as well. The surrounding trees made it hard to see very far off. He tried to find what had captured Indy’s attention, for he hadn’t yet heard the wings. Indy was used to their sounds coming from a distance, but Thelton was not. After searching the sky, he finally saw the dragons in the distance, and then he heard their wings. Unconsciously, he reached for his swords, forgetting they were gone. His heart dropped when he remembered he didn’t have them. He wasn’t afraid of dragons, but without swords, he knew he didn’t have a chance.

  Indy let out a screeching from her throat. The dragons returned the call and changed the direction of their course, coming straight for Indy and Thelton. Thelton searched the ground, looking for any manner of weapon. He could find nothing. The people on the street went screaming and running when they saw the dragons heading their way. Thelton grabbed Indy’s hand and tried to get her to run, but she stood solid where she was at.

  “Listen, I must go somewhere else, I don’t have my swords, we must hide.”

  Indy didn’t understand what he was saying, nor did she care, for she was so excited to see her two brothers, and her mom, the queen dragon.

  The dragons landed and the queen quickly nuzzled into Indy. She had been very worried when Indy didn’t return. She had decided since she first found Indy, that Indy was the future queen. Since it took years, decades to hatch a queen, she felt anxious to find Indy.

  The male dragons both went up to Indy and gave her a quick sniff, and then they turned from her toward Thelton. Indy pushed past the queen and placed herself between her brothers and Thelton. She stood in a fighting stance, snarling. They snarled back, even the queen joined in. Indy realized if they didn’t get out of there that Thelton was going to get shred apart.

  Indy leapt forward and grabbed Thelton in her arms. She jumped into the air and flew over the head of her brother, the sea green dragon. He reached up with his claw and was centimeters from snagging it into Indy’s wing. Indy flew by him untouched. She kept flying as low to the ground as she could. The dragons flipped their bodies around and speedily opened their massive wings. Their wings took up the whole street. They took to the air and followed after Indy.

  Indy noticed the other dragons could fly low over the road just fine, and in fact they were gaining on her quickly. She veered to the left into a huge grove of trees. The dragons tried to follow, but they were just too big. So, instead they flew above the trees, and they circled the grove.

  Indy and Thelton stayed for the rest of the night in the grove. The dragons continued to soar overhead.

  “If I had my swords, I would kill them all.” It was a good thing that Indy didn’t understand Thelton’s words, for she wouldn’t like the things he was saying.

  Finally, the dragons had a plan. The queen still circled above the grove while the brothers landed, and entered the grove from opposite sides. Indy has long since fallen asleep. Thelton was on watch, but he kept drifting to sleep, and then waking himself up. He had just nodded off, when a creaking of a stick woke him. As he listened, he could immediately tell that there wasn’t as many dragons flying above, for their sound had decreased. He heard another crack and rumble in the brush. His heart leapt. The other dragons must be in the grove with him. He shook Indy awake; she could see the alarm on his face.

  Indy could hear her brothers making their way toward them. She could still hear the queen and a few others circling above. Indy knew if they stayed there any longer, Thelton would get eaten. Indy grabbed Thelton and took to the sky. The darkened sky hid her flight from her brothers and the queen. The dragons continued to comb the grove for her and Thelton while they made their escape.

  They had gotten a good distance ahead when the queen smelt Indy in the air. She changed the direction of her flight and flew fast and hard toward her future queen. The male dragons soon joined the queen.

  The queen was falling farther and farther behind while the male dragons were getting closer and closer. Indy took them to a heavy wooded area, an area thick with Cyprus trees and Mangroves. Indy flew into it. The male dragons landed and rushed into the woods on ground. As they escaped deeper into the woods, they came across a river.

  “I have an idea,” Thelton said. “We needed to evade the dragons. If they lose our scent, we may lose them.” Thelton motioned for Indy to put them down on ground. All though she didn’t think it was safe, she landed.

  Thelton took her hand and led her into the river. The rigid water shocked both their systems. It was so cold. As he dragged her into the water, Indy couldn’t figure out what Thelton was doing. Grabbing a drifting log, he hoisted Indy’s top torso over it. The two hung on as the current swiftly carried them away. Within moments, the dragons came to the river. They could no longer track Indy and Thelton’s smell. Thelton’s plan had worked.

  Eventually the queen joined up with the other dragons. They continued their search, but it was in vain. After several hours went by and they didn’t find Indy, the queen grew very angry. She led the dragons to the town where they had set many homes on fire.

  As Thelton and Indy floated down the river, Thelton searched his brain for a way to escape from the dragons. If they walked, then the dragons could follow their scent. If Indy flew, the dragons would see them and set after them. Indy shivered next to Thelton while the water was brutally cold. She had experienced cold many times in her life, but never like that was. After the river carried them three miles from town, Thelton had another idea.

  He climbed to the side of the river bank and pulled Indy up. She sat on the ground shaking, because she was so chilled. Thelton grabbed her face, “fly,” he said pointing into the air. Following his prompting, she wrapped her arms around Thelton and took off into the sky. Because she was so cold, it took a little more energy than normal, but she pushed herself because she didn’t want to see the dragons rip Thelton to shreds.

  As they flew away from the village, they could see it burn a brilliant orange hue, and Thelton felt sorry for the town. He wished he could kill the dragons to avenge the village. It was painful to him not to kill them. That is what he did, he killed dragons.

  They flew for half a day when they realized the dragons were back behind them. Thelton had been sure that they had gotten a good distance away from them, but somehow they had re-found them. It didn’t take long for the male dragons to close the distance on them. Thelton looked down to see where they were.

  “If I am right,” he thought, “we are above the Flankton Forest. This is good; we can use this to our advantage.”

  The Flankton Forest wasn’t nearly as big as the Vegus Forest. Thelton remembered meeting Flance and his son in it. As they continued to fly over, Thelton wondered how much longer it would be before they reached the middle of the forest. He wasn’t sure, but the dragons were getting closer, so they just had to risk going in now. Maybe they could find another river to lose their scent in, and this time they wouldn’t leave the river for several days.

  On the ground they began running. The male dragons landed and started chasing right behind. It wouldn’t be long until the dragons caught Indy and Thelton. While they ran, sometimes the dragons sent fire balls their way. Thankfully, none of them hit Thelton or Indy. As Thelton could feel dragon breath on his neck, he hoped more than anything his plan would work. He wasn’t sure what his backup plan would be if it didn’t.

  As Indy and Thelton rounded a corner, they were right at the edge of the Flankton Forest dragon camp. Thelton shoved his heels into the dirt and stopped running.

  There were nine dragons in the lair. They all perked up when Indy and Thelton ran into it. One large black dragon lunged toward the two. Thelton grabbed a thick tree branch with a very sharp tip at the end and began defending himself. Indy began screeching. She grabbed Thelton’s arm and tried to stop him. She wasn’t aware of the territory battle her clan had with the Flankton Dragons. All she knew was that Thelton was hurting dragons. She scratched at Thelton’s arm to get him to stop. The black dragon grabbed Indy in his claws, with one of the claws piercing straight through Indy’s hand. She screamed again in pain. Thelton took his branch and stabbed it into the dragon’s heart. The dragon let out a roar while the rest of the dragons surrounded them. The black dragon was still holding Indy. Indy’s brothers surrounded the Flankton Forest’s dragons. In moments the queen joined them.

  The dragons turned from Indy and Thelton and faced Indy’s dragon family. Without delay, all the dragons charged at each other while a massive dragon battle erupted. The black dragon fell to the ground as death took over its body. Thelton worked hard at pulling the dragon’s claw out of Indy’s hand. He ended up tarring through the skin even more in order to release the massive claw. Indy was brave and didn’t even whimper; her attention was focused on the fight that her family was involved in, she was eager to help them. As soon as Thelton released her hand, she shot off toward one of the enemy dragons. Fearfully Thelton grabbed her uninjured hand and pulled her away. She fought him for she wanted to help her family. Thelton knew she didn’t stand a chance, although she might be strong for a human, she was an easy kill for a dragon, and he could see these dragons would not be friendly to her.

  Indy fought hard to get Thelton off her. The more he dragged her away, the stronger she fought back. He tried to hold her massive body while she kicked and screamed in his arms. His adrenalin took over and he lifted Indy off the ground, and ran. He ran for awhile until he tired and ended up dropping her. Eager to get out of the forest, he knew they were not safe.

  “Fly,” he told Indy.

  She turned back toward the lair, she couldn’t leave, and her family needed her.

  “No,” he yelled at her. “They will kill you.” Indy tried to run back, but he held her down. He grabbed her bleeding hand and held it to her face.

  “They will kill you.” Indy studied her hand for a moment. For some reason she decided to obey him. She wrapped her arms around Thelton and flew up into the sky. Thelton directed Indy to Candleshaw. Indy was looking pale as she continued to lose large amounts of blood out of her hand. Thelton was worried for her.

  …

  He got them a room, and they went in. Indy was very distraught. She had so many emotions going through her. Thelton sat Indy on the bed, it creaked beneath her weight. She breathed heavily as her body tried to compensate for her blood loss. Her head felt dizzy. Thelton pulled out the last Firelake water and poured it on Indy’s hand. He had two dragon scales left, and he put them on her wound. They barely covered it. He tore a piece of his shirt off and wrapped it around her hand.

 

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