A Rose Amongst the Dragons, page 6
part #1 of A Rose Amongst the Dragons Series
With his great speed, it only took an hour for Thelton to catch up to the trolls. He knew he was close when he began choking on their stench, his burning eyes watered. Through the tears that stained his dirty face, he pulled out his bow and arrow, for he was fairly skilled with it. Once he reached them, he charged forward, launching his arrows at the trolls.
He killed two and seriously injured two more before the fifth reached him. He had failed to see it slip behind him with a giant bolder. The troll chucked it at Thelton’s head. The crash shocked Thelton, sending him to the ground. His brain went numb and everything darkened. Seeing his advantage, the troll went over to Thelton and sunk his pointy yellow teeth into Thelton’s right cheek, pulling away with a mouthful of flesh, blood dripped out of the troll’s lips while he prepared to take another bite. As he brought his teeth dangerously close to Thelton’s face, something struck the troll cold to the ground.
Behind him, Emma had pulled herself upright, standing with the last ounce of strength she had. Weakly, she dropped the rock that she had managed to lift. To her amazement it worked, because the troll remained prone on the musky forest floor. She had knocked it out with her rock. One injured troll came at her, so she heaved the same rock at its face, knocking him down, but not out. He stood up mumbling incoherently, and then he and the other injured troll ran off.
With all the trolls dead or gone, Emma collapsed next to the young Thelton. She wished he would wake up. He had saved her life, and she had saved his. With her heart racing, her fear continued, she just wanted him to hold her and protect her. He looked very young to be so skilled, she wondered how old he was, twelve maybe fourteen? As she cradled her bleeding body, she wanted him to wake up, for she didn’t want to die alone.
While wrapping her body around her protector, Emma felt herself drift in and out of consciousness. Her body shook as hyperthermia set in. In her mind she began seeing herself dressed in the tailor’s best. She looked so beautiful, so proper. In her vision she pranced around while all the village girls enviously looked at her. Suddenly, a strong contraction brought her back into reality. The pain started at her belly and ricocheted through her entire body. Oh no, the time had come, the baby was coming. Why now? She couldn’t have a baby in her condition. No baby should ever be born in the Vegus Forest. She would welcomingly take John’s rough hands over the situation she found herself in. Blood dribbled out of her nose as she looked around for a solution.
“Wake up, oh please, wake up,” she said trying to shake Thelton. He slept so peacefully, she didn’t even know if he was alive. “Oh please wake up, I need you.”
The howl of a wolf bounced off the trees. It was returned by another, and then another. Goose bumps shot up her arm, while a contraction tightened her belly with intense agony, her breaths labored. This situation seemed to frighten her more than the one with the trolls. She covered her ears, as if that would make the wolves disappear. Thelton mildly snored. She could no longer wait for the child to awake and save her, for she had to get herself somewhere safe. She was having a baby.
Emma crawled along the forest floor until she found a hollow tree. Several bushes grew in front of the hollow, with their long draping leaves, the hollow stayed hidden to any passerby. She worked on shoving her body deep into the back of the hollow, it being a tremendously painful and trying task. The bark tore at her skin as she crawled in. The fit was tight, but at least it concealed her. The contractions again hit her strong and with their intensity; she found no relief from the end of one to the beginning of the next. Within the hour, her body released her baby. Emma barely had the strength to catch the precious bundle.
The baby let out a wail, with that Emma began to cry. She could no longer feel her pain because she was overcome with the emotions of a new mom, just having given birth to the most beautiful baby girl. At that moment, her joy was blissful, her cares and fears easily forgotten. Smiling, she brought the soft pink bundle to her lips. A kiss was gently placed on the baby’s cheek. Next, her fingers traced every curve of her new daughter.
“Hello, Indy,” she said. “I am your mommy.”
Emma wiggled out of her torn underskirt and wrapped the baby in it. Next, she brought Indy to her breast, the baby eagerly took the nipple and began suckling while a rush of colostrums filled the baby’s mouth. Prolactin released inside of Emma and filled her body with relaxing hormones. While the baby ate, Emma rested comfortably in the hollow. Once her eyes closed, Emma happily drifted off to sleep, never to awake again.
Meanwhile, the young Thelton awoke to a pounding headache, one that made his entire head throb, while rubbing his temple’s he looked around at the carnage of three dead trolls. Panic struck him as he searched for his wild boar, then he remembered he had left it safe in the cave. He tried to recall why he had ever left his prized boar, but he couldn’t, his head still suffering from his concussion. His hand rose to his bleeding cheek, it stung where the troll had taken a bite.
The young Thelton looked around as he realized that he was in a new part of the forest. Although he really wanted to stay and explore it, there was a dreaded tug in the back of his mind as he remembered his unguarded boar. He didn’t have time for leisure, he must return to his things.
Chapter 6
At age twenty four, Thelton felt like he should have gotten to know the forest better. Leaving his horse on the rim of the trees, Thelton entered the Flankton Forest alone. He hadn’t gone very deep when he began to find signs of the dragon. There were broken twigs everywhere. It was impossible for a dragon to pass through the trees without leaving its mark, it was just too big. Next to the smashed vegetation, Thelton found piles of fresh dung and a mangled cow. The dragon was very close. As he searched, he found something that baffled him; a dragon’s nest.
Thelton went over to it feeling very confused. Dragons never laid their eggs on the outer edges of a forest, for they protected their eggs in the deepest, most secluded of the woods. Never had he seen a nest somewhere so vulnerable such as this. The nest didn’t belong there. Thelton scratched his head, and ran his fingers through his sandy blond hair, while cautiously approaching the nest. His long arm hairs prickled, something was wrong. Thelton stepped inside the nest, when immediately a giant net covered his body, he was in a trap.
The net accelerated up into the air, hanging high above the ground with Thelton trapped inside the belly of it. It was made up of small metal chains linked together. He thrashed around a bit, only to conclude he was stuck. He stopped fighting and decided to reserve his strength. His captor would have to appear soon, he could wait.
Sooner than Thelton expected, out of the bush a young adult appeared. Cautiously, he circled below the net. He poked a stick into Thelton’s rump. A smile spread across the young man’s face. He looked almost the same size as Thelton, but a bit more filled out. He had short blond hair and young eyes. He looked scared as he gazed up at Thelton.
“You’re him, aren’t you? You’re him.” The young adult’s elation rose. “We did it. We did it. We caught the Great Dragon Slayer!” The young adult did a little dance below his catch. Thelton closed his eyes because he did not want to fuel his captor’s jubilation by showing any emotion. Thelton figured the young man was close to the same size as himself. He had short hair so blond, it was almost white. He was stockier than Thelton, and his face was round and young looking.
“Father, we did it. Father, come quick, we did it!” He kept yelling for his father. After awhile, a burly fat man appeared.
The man had a stomach so large it looked as if he had swallowed a baby goat. His chin was covered by a long scraggly red beard, and his head was covered by wild, red hair. He had large round freckles all over, as if someone had painted them there. He looked up at Thelton and expelled a boisterous laugh. A semi-toothless grin spread on his rough face. He went over to his son and patted him on the back.
“Well done Sterling, my son, well done.”
Sterling looked up at his father; he smiled so wide it looked as if his face would rip. He was very proud of his catch. The man circled Thelton many times; he was surveying his bountiful prize.
“So, you are the ‘GREAT DRAGON SLAYER.' You are the man that legends are forged from. You are the one that makes us small time hunters look weak. You are the man that everyman's worth is compared against. You are him. And now I have caught you.” The look in the fat man’s eyes reflected his evil soul.
“What will we do with him, Father, what will we do?” Sterling asked eagerly.
The man turned to Thelton, his malevolent eyes pierced him. Thelton closed his own eyes, for he didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of looking into his soul.
“We might skewer him up and fry him over open flames. Wouldn’t that be fun? Or maybe we will take the ‘great dragon slayer’ and feed him to a dragon. Wouldn’t that be a perfect fate for him? The ‘great dragon slayer’ was eaten by a dragon.” The man found his talk hilariously funny and began laughing. He laughed so hard that snot shot out of his mouth. As he continued to laugh, he suddenly lost breathe and began coughing. He coughed and coughed so violently that the veins bulged out of his neck, while his throat and lungs burned, and he couldn’t stop coughing. The force was so racking that it overcame his whole body. Worried, his son ran to his side.
“Father, Father, what is wrong? Please Father, what can I do for you?” The man pushed his son to the dirt floor, while he continued to cough, for he wanted to be left alone.
After a long episode of fierce coughing, the man finally contained it. He hung his head between his knees and caught his breath. He tried to pace his breathing with slow breaths in. Perspiration drenched his shirt. Snot and tears smeared around the dirt on his face. Finally, the man stood up. The experience had changed him. He was no longer as arrogant as he was before. His fragile health reminded him of his immortality and weaknesses.
The hunter became angry that his vulnerability came to light in front of Thelton. He wanted to show The Dragon Slayer his supposed superiority. He wanted to prove to him how he was the better man. His sick lungs had gotten in the way, and now Thelton had seen him on his knees. His pride had been compromised. He took his embarrassment and anger out on Thelton.
“You pathetic fool,” he said. “You think you are the greatest man on this earth. You think that you own the right to all the dragons, well you are wrong!” The man went to Thelton’s face. “Look at me, you pathetic piece of dragon crap. LOOK AT ME!” He yelled. The man expelled a huge yellow greenish snot ball on Thelton’s face; it dripped between Thelton’s round nose and landed on his lips. Thelton did not respond.
“Never mind you. I guess you just showed that you are not a man. A man, a hunter, would look his enemy in the face. You choose to cower behind your own eyelids. I just thought that you might want to see the face of the man who has stolen your legend. That’s right, dragon breath, I killed your dragon. You were too slow, too weak to take this dragon down. I did it. The legends are about to change. They will no longer reverence your name. They will hollow my name while yours they will crush in the mud. Flance of Candleshaw. That is the name everyone will be saying. Who is Thelton? No one will remember you.”
Sterling calmed down, glad to see his father doing better. Lately, his father seemed to struggle more and more with his breathing. Sterling worried that one day he wouldn’t recover from a coughing episode. He feared the day.
“Boy, watch our prisoner. I have a gift to fetch.”
Sterling brought out his sword, it seemed awkward in his hands as he pointed it at Thelton, staggering back and forth, the weight throwing off his balance. As Flance walked away, he watched his son’s display of manhood. He smiled as pride swelled in his chest. His boy was so brave, just like him.
Thelton heard Flance walk away. He kept his eyes closed for awhile. He had to change his tactics. What was he doing with his eyes closed? Flance was right, that was a coward’s stance. Thelton opened them.
Thelton knew he was a mighty hunter, better than the two fools below him. Why was he closing his eyes? That was no way to escape or to show intimidation. Hunter’s surveyed their surroundings. He looked around the small alcove of trees. They were thick and heavy, just like most of the Flankton Forest. He peered down into Sterling eyes. His intense stare caused shivers to shot up the young man’s spine. He did not like Thelton staring at him. There was enmity between them, and Sterling didn’t know how to handle it, so he turned his back and placed his attention to his sword.
Thelton watched him. Sterling had a baby face, one that looked full of innocence and life. He was a skittish man, and he looked frightened often. Thelton thought Sterling would be his chance to escape. With that in mind, he looked at his own swords still in their sheaths. At that moment, he knew his swords would be of no use if he couldn’t get out of the chained trap. Several escape attempts went through his mind. He tried to factor in all of his seen and unseen variables. As he pondered each strategy, he remembered the emerald dagger on his leg. He studied the chain links, and he knew his escape.
Enough time had passed and Sterling had fallen asleep. Meanwhile, Thelton busily worked each link behind his back while using the dagger to separate the seams. It took a great amount of effort and time on each one. The job was steady. After a little over an hour, Flance returned.
Thelton peered down at Flance, his anger flared by what Flance was carrying.
Flance came in the clearing grasping the giant dragon’s head. The head had seven horns and was by far the largest head that Thelton had ever seen.
The weasel fat man had gotten to his dragon first and stole his prize and glory. Thelton’s ego took a hit. He had never met someone that was competition before and he detested it, but this was far worse His competition held him prisoner.
“Oh yes, you are seeing what you think. I got it, I killed the dragon. Not you. And this dragon is a monster. Can you believe that it had a wing span over nine meters? I’m sure you never in your life caught a dragon this size. I did, and I know that you will always remember it. But, even better, the world will always remember it. You brought home babies, I slew giants.”
Thelton glared at Flance and hated him, and not only did the idiotic man trick him and capture him and steal his dragon, everything the man said was true. He had done what Thelton was too late to do. His prize superseded all of Thelton’s dragon heads.
Sterling ran to his father’s side, he stuck his hand out and placed it on the brown dragon’s head. “Can I touch it father, can I touch it?”
Flance chuckled while his son explored the dragon’s majestic head. While chuckling, his chest began to tighten. Flance stopped laughing and was able to control his lungs. His coughing attack was suppressed although his face stayed deep red. Warm tears moistened his cheeks as he kept control of his lungs.
Putting the dragon’s head directly below Thelton’s hanging trap, Flance taunted Thelton. He wanted his prisoner to stare into the eyes of defeat. It didn’t take Flance long to weary of his own taunting, so he dropped the head on the ground and began scavenging for wood. A fire was built and roaring in no time. He cooked up some dragon meat while he and his son had a delicious feast. Thelton watched their every move as he continued stretching open the links. In their merry state, the father and son did not notice what Thelton was up to behind his back.
“You know something, dragon dung?” Flance yelled up to Thelton. “I used to admire you, just like the rest of the fools out there. I even went to attend your twentieth birthday party. It was such a big deal. Almost every farmer in the village put their farm on hold for that special Sunday when we were invited to a carnival in your honor on the castle grounds. Do you understand what it takes for a farmer to shut down their farm? They never do it. But they did that weekend. I’m not a farmer, but I too put my life on hold just for the chance to steal a glance of you.
“The glorious day came and on Thursday night we started our journey to the castle. It took us until Sunday to arrive. We were tired, it was a long trip, but it was worth it. To our utter devastation, at the gates, we were met by the guards. They told us to go home. The carnival had been cancelled. You, the guest of honor had ducked away from your own party two nights earlier. The gates were shut and the people were kicked out.
“We heard that every dignitary had come to honor you from the tri- kingdoms. Even some of the other kingdoms were represented. They brought you presents and tokens to show their affection. Four kings made their appearance for you. And WHAT DID YOU DO? You left after the first couple of hours of your party. You shamed everyone when you disappeared. You spit upon the kings. You spit upon the dignitaries. You spit upon the peasants and you spit upon my son. That was the day that I decided I HATE YOU. I will never allow you to disappoint another person again.” Flance stuck the end of a dragon bone in his mouth and began sucking on it.
“Father, are you gone to kill him?” Sterling asked a little worried. He loved and supported his dad. He had enjoyed capturing Thelton, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted the fallen hero to die.
“I may be a hunter, but I would never take another man’s life, even one that deserves it. No boy, I won’t kill him.” The boy relaxed at his father’s words. “But, I don’t have to save him, either.”
Flance looked up at Thelton, “You don’t have to worry, I won’t be killing you; however, once you are good and dead, I will return for your sword. I am sure I can fetch a good amount of gold for them.”
The conversation grew silent, and all that was heard was the popping of the flames. Every now and then an insect would chirp or a wolf would howl in the distance. Smoke filled the forest around them.
The fire smoldered out and the father and son team began to drift to sleep. Thelton decided that within an hour he would have created a big enough hole to escape through. While the guards slept, Thelton continued to work.
As he worked into the second hour, he heard the approach of the hellhounds. His skin prickled.
