Dragon Eyes

Chapter 19.

The Rescue Plan.

Lynwood sat wide eyed, mouth hanging open from the tale being told to him. Who would have thought things were so terrible complicated in the kingdom? Farran had killed his own brother, he had made himself king through dishonest means. And now he was ready to do anything to keep that crown and the throne that had never rightfully been his.

Well not if Lynwood had anything to do with it!

“So,” Eadberht placed his elbows on the table and gazed straight at Lynwood. “Did you come to me with any ideas?”

“Well, um, that is,” Lynwood suddenly felt rather ridiculous telling his plan. After all, he was only a child and telling his simple little plan to a man old enough to be his grandfather made him feel very foolish.

“Come on boy, let’s hear it.”

“It’s not much of a plan really. I was just hoping to sneak into the dungeon and get the prince out, then fly away on Caderyn to the cave. I didn’t really think of how I was going to do it; that is why I asked Collyn is she knew anyone who could help me.”

“In general it is a good plan,” Eadberht smiled. “But it will take a little more detailed thought. Now, what I think is I could get you into the dungeon by pretending that I captured you. There is a price on your head, you know.”

“I know,” Lynwood nodded. “I heard it was something like twenty gold coins”

“Oh, it’s gone up my boy. It’s fifty gold coins now, and I think they were talking about raising it to one hundred.”

“Wow!” Lynwood whistled through his teeth. “Why on earth would they want to pay so much money for me?”

“Because you’re a dangerous lad. Somehow, singlehandedly, you managed to get the letter to the prince, capture the princess right from the hands of the guards, and still remain hidden. No one knows where to find you or even where to look.”

“It wasn’t really singlehandedly,” Lynwood corrected. “If I was alone I would probably be still hiding somewhere in the woods. None of this would have happened if it wouldn’t have been for Caderyn.”

“Is that the name of the dragon?”

“Yes.”

“Have you known him for long?”

“No sir, only since the evening my father was arrested. He was wounded in the forest and I helped him. He has looked out for me and my sister ever since. I have to say, dragons are such strange creatures.”

“They are magical creatures,” Eadberht pointed out. “I used to study a lot about them, they really fascinated me when I was young. Read as much as I could about them.”

“Lord Eadbhert,” Lynwood took a deep breath. “Do you...do you know,” Lynwood tried to get the words out correctly. “Is he...I mean...do you know, that is, well Elaine, the wife of Tristan Blacksmith, who was also arrested with my father, told me that there is a large possibility that my father might have been already banished. Do you know if he has?”

Eadberht puffed on his pipe. “He has not. I think the king is keeping him as bait to try and catch you. As far as I know most of the men inovled in the plot are locked up in the dungeon.”

“So Father is...well...I could still get him out of there?” Lynwood felt a flood of relief sweep over his soul

“I don’t see why not. He’s in the same dungeon as Wilheard. We get one we might as well get them all.”

“Do you think Wilheard will be a better king than his uncle?”

“Only time can tell that,” Eadberht shrugged as he dumped the ashes out of his pipe. “He is very young and rather headstrong and impulsive, but he is honest and has a clean heart, and that is a good quality for a king. He’s not too fond of dragons though.”

“Tell me one person who is, everyone hates them because nobody has ever lived with one.”

“Ah, but Wilheard actually went dragon hunting. He and his cousin Prince Oliver heard rumors that there were dragons still alive up north. Prince Oliver persuaded Wilheard to come with him to the Northern Mountain Range and see if they could catch one.”

“Wait!” Lynwood scowled. “He was in my home region?”

Eadberht nodded. “Your father was very close to giving him the letter. It seemed everything was playing right into the plotters hands, but unfortunatly it didn’t work out and your father was arrested before he could meet with the prince.”

Lynwood slowly nodded his head. “How did they plan to kill the dragons?”

“You will remember what I said about dragons being magical creatures? Legend has it that you cannot kill one unless you get them straight in the heart. Now a dragon’s heart is not easy to aim at, for they know their soft spot and guard it. So the only way to get a dragon’s heart is to first shoot him in the eye. A blind dragon is a down dragon. Once you have put out the dragon’s eyes he is at your mercy and you easily can shoot or stab him in the heart.”

Lynwood let out a gasp. “The arrow! The arrow in Caderyn’s eye!”

“Hmmm?”

Lynwood’s breathing had become quick and irregular. “When Sofia and I met Caderyn in the forest, he was wounded, and there was an arrow right above his eye!”

“Was there?”

“Yes sir! I pulled the arrow and out and seared the wound. So Prince Wilheard and Prince Oliver actually spotted a dragon, and not just any dragon, but Caderyn and tried to kill it. Which one shot the arrow?”

“I know not, my boy.”

Lynwood shook his head in disbelief. “Why did they want to kill him?”

“For honor and glory I suppose, it would make him very popular around his peers”

“But aren’t they both popular as it is? I mean, they are princes.”

“A sad thing about popularity,” Eadberht patted Lynwood on the shoulder. “Is that you can’t ever get enough of it. I suppose Wilheard wanted to be the talk of the century, a man who singlehandedly killed a dragon. What a tale that would be.”

Lynwood dropped his gaze to the floor. “A few days ago I would have agreed with him, but now, it almost disgusts me, I hate the thought of someone wanting to kill Caderyn purely for fun.”

“That is because you have actually been able to get to know the dragon. I wonder, now that we know Wilheard was one of the men who actually tried to kill your dragon friend, will your dragon friend be willing to help him?”

“I don’t know.” Lynwood tilted his head thoughtfully. “He’s pretty sensitive and not so quick to forgive, but I’ll do my best to explain it all to him.”

“Do you really think he understands you?”

“I believe he does. He listens very carefully and though he can’t talk he still can communicate. You are right when you say dragons are magical creatures.”

Eadberht smiled and looked out the window. “Not like your everyday pet, huh?”

“I guess not.”

There was silence for a few seconds.

“Anyway,” Eadberht stated at last. “We have some serious planning to do. If you will just wait a moment, I shall fetch a map of the dungeon and show you how everything should work.” With that Eadberht rose and walked over to a large cupboard.

“I can’t believe I am plotting escape with a thirteen year old kid,” he mumbled to himself. He pulled a roll of paper out of a secret compartment and shaking his head walked back to where Lynwood sat.

Rolling the large paper over the table, he set the lantern on it so it would shed more light. Lynwood leaned over and saw the paper held a detailed drawing of the king’s palace and the dungeon.

“We will enter from here,” Eadberht pointed to the main entrance of the dungeon. “I will tell the warden that I have captured you and brought you to await your trial. The warden attempt to take you to the cells, but you can leave him to me. Once I have taken care of him, you will need to take his set of keys and go into the dungeon itself. You will have to watch out for the guards at the same time. They walk back and forth keeping an eye on the prisoners. Once you are inside the prison, you need to get the fifth cell, this one, over here.” Eadberht pointed to a cell in the far corner of the dungeon. “When you have gotten him out you will have to find the other plotters. I’m guessing they are somewhere on the same part of the dungeon. Though I don’t know where exactly. When you have found everyone you need to the very end of the hall. See this cell over here? In it there is a secret passageway. Once upon a time it was made by a group of convicts who were being kept locked up in there. They managed to dig their way out. They kept them hidden just in case they would ever need them again. Few know about this secret way out of the dungeon. The tunnels will lead you to the river outside the prison walls. Your job then will be to get the dragon to distract the guards while I get all the men on horses and we start riding towards my castle.”

“Where did you get this map, sir?” Lynwood asked. “It is as though you have been planning this for a long time.”

“If it was up to me,” Eadberht sadly looked into Lynwood’s eyes, “I would have burned this map and all the other plans that lay in that secret compartment. I am an older man, and know enough about his Majesty King Farran to want to stay as far away from him as possible.”

“Then why are you doing it?”

“Because,” here Eadberht’s voice became softer, “because Coldbert was my son. He was the leader of the plot, the one who decided to put Wilheard on the throne. All this was his planning. He studied the prison in and out, he sought out the convicts who had escaped and bribed them into telling him about those tunnels. He documented everything, made maps. I’m guessing he felt that if they were caught, there must be a way to escape. Two weeks ago he was banished from the kingdom on pain of death. In trying to finish what my son started I am hoping I will be able to bring him back home. Now I believe you have gotten the basic idea of the plan?” Eadberht turned back to the business at hand

Lynwood nodded once more.

“Good then we should get going. There isn’t much night time left.”

Lynwood nodded and the two of them walked out of the study and into the garden where Caderyn was resting.

“Caderyn,” Lynwood introduced. “This is Lord Eadberht, Lord Eadberht this is Caderyn.”

Caderyn eyed Eadberht a while rather suspiciously, he still had little trust for humans, especially grown up humans. But the man had kind eyes and he smiled and bowed slightly and said,

“It is an honor to meet you Caderyn, you are the first dragon I am ever meeting face to face.”

Caderyn relaxed a little and nodded his head

“Caderyn, I believe there is something I need to tell you,” Lynwood took a step to Caderyn and gently patted his face. “The prince that we are going to save, Collyn’s brother, he is one of the men who tried to kill you a few days ago.”

Lynwood could feel Caderyn stiffen and a low grunt came from the dragon’s throat.

“I know you don’t like him,” Lynwood went on. “I know you probably hate him and helping him is the last thing in the world that you want to do. But Caderyn, he didn’t know anything about dragons; he thought you were bad, just like I did. Remember when I first met you, I didn’t like you either and wanted to kill you too. But that was because I didn’t know you. I know you now and I think if this prince will only get to know you he will like you to.”

Caderyn tossed his head a little, almost stubbornly.

“Now I am not asking you to like him,” Lynwood persisted. “I’m just asking you to help me save him. I have to do it, for my father, for Collyn, for all the people of Northhurst. Hopefully Wilheard will be a better king than the one we have now. He is the rightful heir and it is only right that I should help put him on the throne. But I can’t do it without you, Caderyn, I am going to need your help. Do you think you could put aside the hate that I know you probably justly feel towards him and help me? Please, Caderyn, I know this is not easy for you, but I would really appreciate it. Don’t worry, I won’t let him harm you, once this is over you can fly away from here and never come back. I promise.”

Caderyn stared into Lynwood’s green eyes and then softened a bit, giving a deep but gentle grunt. Lynwood understood that Caderyn was agreeing.

“Thank you so much, Caderyn. Now let us be off. Lord Eadberht, if you only will”

“What, get up on him?”

“Of course.”

“Not to sound rude, my boy, but I don’t think flying over to the dungeon on the dragon is a very wise idea. We want to make this look as realistic as possible. I think it will be better if you and I go on horseback. Allow Caderyn to get there on his own. He needs to hide in the shadows and await your signal. The dungeon is a large, grey building about three miles from here. It’s the sort of thing you can never miss. Fly north east, in that direction.” Eadberht pointed in the direction. We’ll be riding by horse, Caderyn, you can follow us from a distance.”

“If you think that is better” Lynwood shrugged. “Caderyn. When I need you I shall give a loud whistle.”

Caderyn growled and shook his large head

“It’s the only way Caderyn; otherwise we will attract too much attention. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. You will have to take care not to be noticed though, stick to the shadows. You are a very smart dragon, I know you will manage to remain hidden until the right time. Listen for my whistle.”

“Alright, come on Lynwood,” Eadberht tugged at the boy. “The sooner we start, the sooner we will finish.”

With that, the two of them walked off to the stables, where Eadberht saddled his horse.

“Well boy, let’s pray that this works; because if won’t, we will be in a lot of trouble.”