A Rose Amongst the Dragons, page 8
part #1 of A Rose Amongst the Dragons Series
To the right of the queen was the dragon’s camp. There were seven dragons that still nursed daily, ten young dragons, four adolescent dragons, and six adult dragons that shared the camp. A good number of her other children had already left the safety of the forest and ventured to new lands. Fights broke out daily amongst the dragons, but for the most part they stuck very close to each other and protected one another.
The nesting grounds were hidden deep in the heart of the Vegus Forest, a very dangerous and deadly forest. While many men had tested their bravery in the outskirts of the forest, not many went very deep into the forest. The nest had stayed hidden from man.
The colony of dragons kept the camp going most of the time, the queen occasionally would venture out of her nest, but that was usually just to grab something to eat, other than that, she slept most of the time.
While the queen began her labor of the eggs, a few dragons made plans. Even though the queen had been fooled about baby Indy, the other dragons knew better. Indy developed differently than they did, she cried differently than they did, and she moved differently than they did. Everything about her was different. In her dementia state, the queen saw baby Indy as a powerful baby dragon, she was sure that Indy would be the next queen. Whenever there was a fight for a nipple, the queen would chase the dragons off until Indy had first pick. If any of the siblings tried to fight with Indy, the queen would quickly snatch them out of the nest and toss them across the camp. It soon became understood that you didn’t mess with Indy.
With the queen laying eggs, the other dragons found their chance to rid the nest of the strange intruder. Not only did they feel that she didn’t belong, they felt jealous of Indy because the queen favored her.
While the queen was heavily laboring out an egg, the midnight dragon made its move. He pounced on Indy and scooped her up in his hands. He began flying higher and higher above the canopy. Just as he moved northward, a violent blow struck his side, his wing tore, pain overcame it. Looking over at his attacker, he saw the queen. Despite her painful labor of eggs, she was not going to allow the midnight dragon to kill her favorite. She mustered every drop of strength she had to rescue Indy. She knocked the dragon again and tore his other wing. Without the ability to maintain flight, the dragon dropped quickly to the ground. The queen rushed to his side and grabbed Indy out of his grasp. While holding Indy in her right hand, the queen tore apart the midnight dragon in midair. He died within seconds. All the other dragons watched the fight. When she landed, the queen was still panting very heavily; such a maneuver during the middle of her labor was very taxing.
She carried Indy over to a corner of the camp. Indy was screaming in pain as blood ran down her arms, claw marks showed where the midnight dragon had clung to her. The queen coughed up a phlegm salve that she spit onto Indy’s wounds.
The queen screeched and roared in agony as the last egg popped out. The labor and the fight were too much, causing her body to quickly fall asleep, she slept for three months. The young dragons still had access to her nipples and drank from her while she slumbered, but her neglected eggs became cold, the new life inside them died.
One thing became very clear to all of the other dragons, although Indy was an outsider; she was never to be messed with. She was indeed the queen’s favorite and it would be a death sentence to hurt Indy in any way, from that day on the dragons guarded and protected Indy.
Chapter 8
Thelton made sure he spent his twenty-fifth birthday alone. His twentieth party had lasted him three lifetimes over. He never wanted another one again.
Peacefully, Thelton roasted a boar over the fire. The musky smell penetrated the area, stroking Thelton’s hunger. While he waited for the meat to finish cooking, he rested his head on his arms. Looking up into the sky, he enjoyed the plethora of stars above. Thelton had spent the last week camping in the royal woods. The woods were relatively free from dangerous animals. If one was lucky, they could find deer, boar, turkey, fox, and a few other small game in the forest. The king had taken Thelton on many hunts in his forest, and Thelton knew it well.
While Thelton lazily waited for his boar to finish cooking, he fell asleep. Thelton wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep for, but even before he opened his eyes, he knew something was wrong. The smell of boar roasting had been replaced by burning wood. His skin felt hot and painful. When he opened his eyes, he sprang up to his feet. He was surrounded by flames. The forest was on fire, and he wondered if he had caused it, while he slept.
Thelton spun around taking not of his surroundings. He noticed that the fire was around his backside, burning and crackling, but it hadn’t come from the fire he had built. He could see the flames stretch far behind him. At least he hadn’t started it, but the damage he saw already brought him sorrow. Around his fire pit the grass was still damp and untouched. He felt relief for not starting the fire. The fire came from the direction of the castle.
Was the castle in danger? He had to go and help the king, but the wall of fire prevented him. While he thought of his approach, he could hear the fire roar as tree limbs cracked and broke. The stars above were blocked by the thick smoke that lingered over the forest. Thelton took a direct breath of smoke and began coughing; the smoke seemed to singe his lungs. The flames ignited the bottom of his trousers. He swatted it out, and then headed toward the southwestern part of the forest.
He couldn’t go the southern way, for it would take him a full day to get out of the forest, and then he would be of no use to the kingdom. Thelton tried to up his pace, hoping to shave an hour or two off of his journey. When he was halfway through the forest, he came to the Glowery Lake. It was named after Alashia’s great, great, great grandmother. She was a Glowery from overseas. Her betrothal strengthened ties to her kingdom, guaranteeing safety and free trade between the lands for many years to come.
Thelton looked at the lake. He was sooty and hot. The fire had kept an impressive speed, following closely behind him, consuming much as it spread along. He wondered if he had time to take a quick dip to cool off, for the water looked so inviting. He wondered if the fire would trap him in. It was probably best to just move on, but he was so hot. He walked to the West to get around the lake. Suddenly something in the lake caught his eyes. There was movement from an object very large. He wondered why had hadn’t seen it before.
In the middle of the lake, a massive silver dragon stood. It had its colossal wings spread open and was fanning them back and forth. The sun had begun to rise, and the pinks and reds of the sky reflected off of the dragon’s scales. It almost looked like the dragon was a mixture of colors that changed and glimmered. The beast was a magnificent sight. Thelton forgot about the fire as he made strategy as to how he would slay the dragon.
Because Thelton’s temperature began to rise, he realized the fire was right behind him. Now he needed to get into the lake for protection. Carefully he dropped to the ground and crawled into the edge of the lake. He did not want the dragon to see him. The icy cold water startled him, his skin filled with bumps and numbed. Ignoring the cold, Thelton slowly swam to where he was positioned to the dragon’s backside. The dragon was still a good way out in the lake.
He wanted to attack the dragon in the lake, but he needed something to hang onto, for he knew he couldn’t tread water. To his great luck, he found a large piece of driftwood in the water. He slowly swam to it and wrapped his right arm around it. With his left arm and legs, he swam toward the dragon. Being very careful, he swam at a slow pace, making as little movement as he could. It took him an hour, but finally he made it directly behind the sleeping dragon.
Being where the dragon couldn’t see if it awoke, Thelton submerged beneath the water. He swam to the front of the dragon. He had to be accurate on his approach, because he might only get one chance. Finally, his lungs forced him out of the water. With everything he had, he shot up. He reached forward with both hands and grabbed hold of the dragon’s chest. The scales sliced into his hands, causing immediate pain and blood. Because he held a sword in both hands, it made it extra challenging to firmly grasp the dragon. Thelton ignored the pain and reached higher for the next scales. He hoisted his body up the front side of the dragon, using his arms and legs, he pulled himself higher.
The dragon awoke, caught off guard. It had no idea what had clung to it. Startled, it began flailing around, working at removing the unwanted attachment. Huge waves of water rippled around the thrashing dragon. Thelton climbed the chest of the dragon speedily, for he knew that at any moment, he might be flung off, or worse, bitten.
A couple of times the dragon descended below the water. Thelton closed his mouth and hung on. It took a great deal of work, but Thelton was strong. The dragon tried to bite at Thelton, but it couldn’t reach. Every time the dragon tried to snatch a hold of Thelton, Thelton would slice the dragon’s hand with his sword.
With nothing else working, the dragon opened its enormous wing span and set to the sky. By this time, Thelton had reached the position that he had hoped for. His task would prove more difficult than he anticipated because of the velocity of the wind. Thelton grabbed a scale tightly with his left hand, and then he reared back with his right hand and thrust his emerald sword into the dragon’s heart. The dragon let out a monstrous roar. Fire spewed out of its mouth. The dragon jerked with so much force that Thelton lost his grip and fell straight down into the water. A large splashed mushroomed up into the air.
When he emerged, he looked up into the sky and watched as the dragon flew east, flying away with his emerald sword still lodged in its heart.
“No!” Thelton screamed. “I can’t believe I failed to kill the dragon.” But worse than failing, he hated watching his emerald sword fly away. It was his favorite sword. He still remembered the day the king gave him the sword. King Wolfgang had never seen a dragon slayer with so much skill as Thelton. The fact that Thelton had started bringing dragons down on his own at such a young age left the king in total awe. Therefore, he took Thelton under his wing and showered him with many gifts. Thelton’s favorite was the emerald sword, followed by the emerald dagger.
The king had the sword custom made for Thelton. The blade was of exceptional sharpness and quality. The handle was inlaid with over fifty emeralds. Thelton believed the sword made him a better hunter. He used it to kill all of his sequential dragons. And there in the lake he stood, barely floating, watching his prized sword fly away.
Disheartened over his lost sword, Thelton struggled to tread water, bobbing under several times, sputtering and gasping as he submerged.
“It’s no use, the sword is gone, and the dragon is not coming back.” Thelton stopped watching the dragon and worked on swimming. He made it to the edge of the water, but didn’t get out, for he couldn’t. The whole lake was surrounded by fire.
During his fight with the dragon, he had failed to notice all of the surrounding trees ablaze. Sprawling out in the shallow end of the lake, Thelton’s dispirited mind went numb because of the charred trees. He loved nature so much. Even though the fire didn’t burn him, it felt as if it was setting his hope to flames. He had failed at killing the dragon. He had lost his sword. And now, the forest was on the brink of being completely destroyed.
Thelton sadly watched the trees burn for hours until they began to smolder out. He had gotten rather chilly hanging out in the lake. Finally, when he could no longer feel his extremities, he got out on a barren bar of sand. It didn’t take long for the heat from the fire to warm him up. And so he sat there on the sand, mourning over his losses. He was stuck in a stupor. At some point between boredom and remorse, he fell asleep.
Thelton awoke a long time later. The smell of the burnt forest overpowered his nose. He looked around to see if he could see any flames. To the North he did. He looked back toward the direction of the castle grounds. The fire no longer burned in that part. He had to get to the castle and help King Wolfgang.
Despite the darkness of the night, Thelton began his journey. As he walked, he reached into his side pack and brought out some hard crackers. The forest was so silent that Thelton could hear himself crunch as he ate.
He had walked a distance when something to his left caught his attention. Several meters away he took note of an immense darkened area. It took much squinting for him to decide if it really was different than the rest of the forest. It was hard to tell with the night so black and the trees dark. Elation carried his thoughts away. Could it be true? Were the fates really that compliant? With great anticipation, Thelton took off in a run toward the vast darkness.
Out of breath, Thelton reached his destination. His zeal peaked when he learned what the dark shape was. He came to the tail first, which was crisp and charred. The beast must have fallen and caught on fire. The rest of the body looked untouched by the flames, but the tail had certainly been cooked. Trees around the grand body had toppled to the ground when the dragon had landed on them. With most of the trees burnt through, they had collapsed easily under its weight.
Thelton still felt overjoyed to have found the dragon. He studied it as he walked toward the heart. He remembered how stunning it had looked in the lake, when life flowed through his vessel. Its silver scales had captured the light of the sunrise, reflecting the pinks and orange from the sky. Now as it lay dead on the ground, the scales had dulled, and they only consumed the darkness around them. He wondered if the scales would again reflect light. As he reached the dragon’s heart, he felt powerful. Once again he had killed a dragon. This victory came a little different than most had, but it had still come by Thelton’s hands.
Rejoicing in his accomplishment, Thelton reached down and wrapped his hands around his emerald sword. The very touch of the steel rejuvenated his spirits. He reared back and tried to pull the sword out. It didn’t budge. He flexed and relaxed his muscles, and then he tried again. With his face turning red, he pulled on the sword. He felt it shift a little in the beast’s flesh, but not much. Thelton let go and pumped his arms up and down. He jogged in place, and then readied himself to do it again. Giving it everything he had, he pulled again at the sword.
Without warning, the dragon sprang up. It reached its hands to Thelton and yanked him away from its heart. The surprise scared Thelton. He had been sure the dragon was dead. The dragon lifted Thelton high into the air, and then slammed his body into the unforgiving ground. Thelton felt a rib crack when his body met the ground. His head hit the dirt and bounced up and hit it again. Before Thelton had time to feel the full pain of the assault, the dragon raked its claws from its other hand across Thelton’s stomach. Blood oozed everywhere from the long sharp razors.
Although Thelton felt depleted of strength, he took the small amount of energy he could find and pulled out his emerald dagger. He shoved the dagger deep into the dragon’s hand. The pain caused the dragon to drop Thelton.
Thelton rolled out from under the dragon. As he jumped up, he flung out his golden sword. The dragon had already forgotten about the pain in its hand, and it began to reach for Thelton again. Thelton swung the golden sword with everything he had, and he sliced off the dragon’s right arm.
The dragon was in pain and shot a ball of fire at Thelton. The fire skimmed by his body, close enough to catch Thelton’s hair on fire. Thelton dropped to the ground as he tried to extinguish the flames. Meanwhile, the dragon shot up into the sky and flew away.
As Thelton rubbed a massive amount of dirt into his hair, the flames went out. He sat up, his ribs screaming at him in agony. He watched as the dragon again flew away with his beloved sword.
“No, no, no,” Thelton yelled. “Not again. And now, not only do you have my sword, you now have my dagger!”
Thelton still had a handful of dirt. He threw it in frustration. A breeze caught the dirt and sent it back into Thelton’s eyes.
Thelton dropped to the ground and cursed, his hands madly rubbing at his eyes. He thought that finding the dragon had been an omen of good luck, but it had only brought ill fortune. And again, he had failed at capturing the dragon.
…
The sun had risen as Thelton continued to walk through the forest, coming closer to the castle grounds. In less than an hour, he would be there.
“I can’t believe most of the trees are burnt. What a shame.” He was also aware that he walked slower then he usually did, for everything on him ached, and his soul was in turmoil because of the loss of the forest.
He looked forward to being pampered at the castle. “Although I have no gift, and your forest is burned down, will you let me take a bath, dear king?” Thelton rehearsed in his mind what he would say.
Thelton’s mind was lost in fantasy when his eyes caught view of something. A sliver of hope crept in. Redemption could be met, but he must first come up with a strategy. Thelton unsheathed his golden sword and as quiet as he could, he tiptoed to the dragon body in front of him. Ever so noiselessly, Thelton made his way to the dragon’s heart. Without a second of hesitation, he thrust the golden sword into the dragon’s heart, right next to the embedded emerald sword. He pushed the sword in as deep as he could, and then retracted it. Again he shoved it in. The dragon didn’t even budge.
“Are you already dead?” he asked. He didn’t care if it was. “I won’t make the same mistake twice.” He said as he stabbed it in the heart three times. “I am sure you are dead this time, but just in case, why not one more time.” He said as he shoved it again.
Without even wiping it off, Thelton re-sheathed the golden sword. He quickly grabbed his emerald sword, almost afraid that somehow he would lose it before he could retrieve it. Twisting it back and forth, he loosened it and then slipped it out of the flesh. Once out of the dragon, Thelton kissed the emerald sword and sheathed it. Satisfaction filled him as he went to the dragon’s hand and pulled out his emerald dagger.
