The Dragon Liberator: Escapee

POV: Fendrel

The closer they walked to the Black-Brick Ruins, the more imposing it seemed. A portcullis with somewhat broken bars hung ominously like a row of jagged teeth above the entrance. Two dusk dragons laid on top of the structure, their eyes the only visible sign of them as their scales blended in with the black stone bricks. The space behind the portcullis was like a never-ending abyss.

One of the dragons atop the building rose and leapt down from his perch. He turned and bounded through the building’s opening, letting out a short roar. He disappeared into the darkness before Fendrel could blink. The second dragon leapt down and nodded at Venom.

Fog lowered her head so she and Fendrel were at eye-level. “Have you ever been here before?”

Fendrel felt excitement course through him. “No. Whenever I rescue a dusk dragon, I bring them back right here and leave. I’ve never seen the inside.”

“Actually, you have.” Venom ushered Fendrel toward the ruin’s opening. “You were here when you were child, but of course you were too young to remember that.” He nodded at the other dusk dragon to go in. “The others are waiting.”

Fendrel nodded and followed Venom into complete darkness, the others trailing behind wearily. His breath caught. He couldn’t see anything. Just when he was about to ask where they were going, a soft golden light illuminated the path ahead of them. The light moved as they moved. Curious at this, Fendrel sped ahead and saw that the light was coming from the speckles of golden scales on Venom’s chest.

Venom chuckled, looking at Fendrel. “There’s still a lot you don’t know about us.”

I guess so.

The deeper they went, the more lights appeared. Purples, greens, and golds from the markings of other dusk dragons, lit up the darkness. Matching eyes peered at the approaching group.

“Take down the curtain.” Venom’s voice boomed.

The sound of two dragons taking off filled the chamber. A large cloth above them rippled and hung by one side and a bright light invaded the area. Fendrel shielded his eyes with his hand.

When his eyes adjusted, he could see the markings on the dusk dragons had dimmed to a faint glow.

In the center of the circular room a pit with ornate markings had been carved deep into the ground. It extended level by level until it was swallowed by darkness.

There were dragons staring up at the top floor as well.

There’s so many of them. I thought the fire tribe had the largest population…

Venom spread his wings. “The Liberator and the rest of his companions have arrived as well as some unexpected guests.” He walked to the edge of the pit. “I expect that you will treat them with respect. They’ll be staying here for a while. If I hear that any of you are being uncourteous to them, there will be consequences. Understood?”

“Yes, noble!” The dragons arched their necks, flung their wings behind them, and slammed their tails on the ground.

“Good. Guide the injured and the weak to the Sanctuaries. Carry them in if you have to.” Venom waved over two burly-looking dragons on the side of the cavern. “Keep your eyes on this fire dragon.”

The two dusk dragons corralled the ex-rogue who snorted but said nothing.

Venom’s eyes swept over the retreating tribe, then rested on Fendrel.

“A while?” Fendrel raised his eyebrows.

“There are topics we must discuss before we continue on our mission.” Venom peered at Charles and Cassius. “Especially now that they’re here. But besides that, Thea, Oliver, and Birch are waiting for us. And, Fendrel…you do understand what resting is, right?”

Fendrel shrugged. “I just figured we would continue to look for Mist in a few hours.” He shook his head. “Where’s Viper?”

“She’s back with her mother. Adder wanted to thank you personally, but I don’t know where she is right now.” Venom started off toward the back of the chamber where the sunlight didn’t reach the corners.

“Well, I guess we’re staying here for the rest of the day.” Fendrel turned to Charles and Cassius.

Charles nudged Fendrel’s shoulder with his fist. “I thought you guys were on a schedule. What’s the setback?”

“You two.” Fendrel pointed at Charles and Cassius. “And Venom doesn’t think I get enough sleep, apparently.”

“You do have dark circles.” Cassius nodded.

“Fendrel.” Venom was waiting by the pit.

Fendrel shot a quick glare at Cassius. “You two should probably stick close.” He led the two to the dusk dragon.

Venom crouched while Fendrel climbed onto his shoulders and looked at the other humans.

Charles and Cassius clambered, not so graciously, up behind Fendrel.

The dusk dragon rose and looked at Fog. “You don’t need to worry about flying blind. Just follow my glow.”

Fog opened her wings and nodded. “Okay.” She sidled up next to Venom.

Venom spread his wings and dove into the pit. The scales on his chest sparked to life, illuminating just enough for Fog to see where he was. The vapor dragon tipped forward and unfurled her wings.

The red fire dragon and his guards came closely behind.

Venom glided through the darkness until his claws scraped the rocky ground. He landed and tucked in his wings. “Duck your heads.”

Fendrel heard Venom’s claws scrape the ground as he walked. He felt Venom crawl as the air grew warmer. Fendrel squinted as they approached a source of light.

Birds chirped beyond the opening, and a small waterfall gurgled.

Venom stepped out of the small tunnel and stretched his wings. He stayed crouched. “We’re here.”

Fendrel dropped to the ground with Charles and Cassius landing just beside him. The prince stumbled forward after losing his footing.

The dusk dragon rose as Fog emerged from the tunnel. The group gazed at the scene before them.

It was a giant rocky bowl full of streams, willow trees, flowers, and butterflies.

Fendrel followed Venom into the secluded bowl. “Why did you bring us all the way here to talk to me?”

Venom nodded toward Cassius and Charles. “They won’t be able to run if they want to.”

Fendrel tensed. “Why would they need to run?”

“They might be dangerous, and I might need to take care of them. So, you must convince me that they don’t need to be dealt with.” Venom rested in the grass. “Sit down.”

Fog and Fendrel joined him.

“Are we all just sitting now?” Charles approached Fendrel.

Fendrel shook his head. “I don’t think you need to be here for this.”

Charles turned to Cassius and shrugged.

“So, who are they?” Venom kept his voice flat as he stared down at Fendrel. “Start with the younger one.”

Fendrel blew out a puff of air. “Okay, long story short, he wants to defenestrate the head of the royal guard and he needs my help for that.”

“You agreed to help him?” Venom arched his neck.

With his lips pressed in a flat line, Fendrel nodded. “The head of the royal guard is taking dragons as slaves behind the king’s back.”

“And how do you expect to take him out of power?” Venom drummed his claws in the grass. “And when will this happen?”

Fendrel tapped his fingers on his bag. He pointed at Cassius with his thumb. “He’s uh… he’s the prince, so he has a better chance of his plan working since his father is the king. And I can get evidence for him.”

Fog and Venom stared at Cassius, dumbfounded.

“Should we bow?” Fog bent her head toward Fendrel.

“I don’t think he cares. Why are you whispering? He can’t understand us.” Fendrel gestured at Cassius.

“Uh-huh, and the other one?” Venom returned his gaze to Fendrel.

Fendrel rubbed his face.

Here we go.

“After my brother and I moved out of Blizzard and Flurry’s den, we decided we’d have a better chance at getting a normal human job than a dragon’s job. So, we were staying in a village when we helped him out with something. And then he invited us to his house to thank us…Someone else came to his door and said he was looking for recruits. Since my brother and I were looking for jobs, we agreed.” Fendrel shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. “He told us his name was Sadon and he was the leader of a section of the royal guard that hunted rogue dragons. It wasn’t until our first day of training that Charles started warning me about Sadon, saying he was insane and would blackmail us in order to keep control. Charles helped me escape the night before my initiation…”

Fendrel felt Venom’s steely gaze boring into him.

Fog curled her tail into a tight coil.

“It was the same night I left that Charles told me Sadon was killing normal dragons, too. Not just rogues.” Fendrel ripped grass blades to keep his hands from shaking. “Every time I broke into a base where Charles was stationed, he’d let me uncage as many dragons as I could before someone could find me. Then he’d sound an alarm and wish me luck. He used to have a lot of authority, but I guess Sadon started taking Charles’ power to keep him under his thumb.”

Venom stared at Charles, a mix of gratitude and confusion on his face. “Why is he here now?”

Fendrel looked at the ex-hunter. “Sadon threatened to kill Charles’ family if he left or disobeyed him. But Charles’ family left, and even he doesn’t know where they’ve gone, so he’s free.”

Fog rose and walked to Charles. She ducked her head and spread her wings.

Out of the corner of his eye, Fendrel saw Venom sigh and give Charles a small nod.

Charles froze. “What are they doing?” The ex-hunter took a step back.

Fendrel smiled. “She’s thanking you.”

The ex-hunter gave him a sideways glance. “For what? What did you tell them?”

“About our time with the dragon hunters…”

Please don’t be mad.

Fog returned to Fendrel’s side, flopping down in the grass with a self-satisfied smile.

“Even how you were the top-ranked student?” Charles winked. “Not that that’s a good thing, but I’m proud I helped you become what you are today.”

“Oh, I left that part out.” Fendrel smirked.

Charles blinked. “Are you joking? They might find out some day. You shouldn’t keep that a secret.”

“Yes, and hopefully by then they’ll trust me enough and forgive me for keeping it from them.” Fendrel released a drawn-out breath.

Do they trust me yet?

Charles shook his head. “If you don’t tell them today, at least tell them soon.”

Venom rose from laying in the grass. He cleared his throat. “There’s a place just like this one nearby. There aren’t any tunnels leading there, so we’ll need to fly. The others are waiting for us there.”

“So they can stay?” Fendrel glanced back at Charles and Cassius.

The dusk dragon nodded. “The prince’s request will diminish the amount of dragons taken captive, if it works, and your friend can give us inside information on the dragon hunters.” Venom’s eyes lingered on them. His wings relaxed slightly, and a small smile came upon his face as if he were pleased about something.

Fendrel smiled. “Why are you really keeping them around?”

Venom snorted and turned his head away as he tensed his wings. “There’s no other reason.”

“Okay, sure.” Fendrel stood, still smiling. “Are we going to meet up with the others now?”

“Yes, right away.” Venom fought a slight wag in his tail.

Cassius stared at a butterfly that rooted itself to his shoulder.

Fog excitedly bound over to him and stuck her nose mere inches from the dainty insect, unaware of the fearful look on Cassius’ face.

Yeah, he’s definitely not a threat.

Fendrel hoisted himself onto Venom’s shoulders. Charles and Cassius followed his lead.

Venom rose into the sky with Fog flapping right behind.

A spike of fear shot through Fendrel when he saw the fire dragon following with the two dusk dragons on either side of him.

I completely forgot he was with us.

Looking past the ex-rogue, Fendrel studied the shape of the place they had flown out of. “What are these bowl-shaped places called?”

“We call them Sanctuaries.” Venom angled toward a new one. “We use them as a place for guests to stay, to house the injured like the dragons we recovered today, and they double as nurseries for hatchlings. Come to think of it, you and your mother stayed in one before you went to live with your father.”

Fendrel’s mouth became a thin line. “Please don’t refer to him as my father.”

Venom angled his head to look at Fendrel. “Agreed.”

As they dipped toward the new Sanctuary, Fendrel could see Thea, Oliver, and Birch.

They landed in the soft grass. Fendrel slid off Venom’s shoulders. “Hey, Thea! Do you want to make a couple more dragon communication spells?”

Thea looked at Cassius and Charles. She threw her head back and gave an exaggerated groan. “What did you get yourself into while you were gone?”

Fendrel paused. “A lot, actually.”

“Fine, I’ll help.” Thea sighed. She looked at Charles and Cassius. “Is there anything you have on you that you don’t mind getting enchanted?” She walked toward them, her question-filled voice fading away as she led Charles and Cassius to another end of the Sanctuary.

Birch laid against the trunk of a willow tree, picking at his scales.

Fog nudged Fendrel’s shoulder with her wing. “You were right.”

Fendrel furrowed his brow. “About what?”

“About your friend.” Fog nodded at Charles. “I don’t feel as anxious around him, but I’ve still got questions for him when we have time to talk.” She squinted her eyes with mock skepticism.

With a chuckle, Fendrel nodded.

Venom leapt onto a flat boulder nearby. He cleared his throat. “Can everyone understand me now?”

“Yes, sir.” Charles’ face was full of wonder.

Cassius nodded. His mouth was wide open.

The two looked as if they were hearing for the first time in their entire lives.

That will make my job a lot easier.

“Good. For those of you who don’t know yet, we’ll be staying here for the rest of the day. We all need time to rest before we resume our journey and I need to attend to certain matters. I’ll be back shortly.” Venom looked at Fendrel and Charles. “Come here, I must speak to you before I go.”

Fendrel nodded and met Venom at the boulder with Charles trailing behind in uncertainty.

“Remind me of your name.” Venom leapt down from the boulder.

“Charles.” Charles stuck his hand out as if to shake, then pulled it back to his side.

Venom shook his head. “I’m never going to get used to human names. I assume from your background that you don’t have a problem with rogues?”

Charles nodded. “Besides what happened today, I can usually handle them. We, er, I do better against them in open spaces.”

“Good. Do you remember that fire dragon that was with us earlier?” Venom tilted his head at the fire dragon.

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, that dragon used to be a rogue, but he lost his stripes as well as his… animalistic instincts. I don’t know how or why he’s changed, but I don’t trust him. I want you two—” Venom gestured to Charles and Fendrel “—to take care of the others just in case he follows us. We’re going to leave him here under the watch of the dusk tribe.”

“I’ve never heard of a rogue… changing.” Charles’ brow furrowed.

“Neither have the rest of us.” Fendrel’s voice hitched.

Venom tapped his claws on the ground and gazed quizzically at the others. He raised his voice. “Fog, join us here.”

The vapor dragon froze. She slowly crept over.

“… Am I in trouble?” She drew her wings close to her body.

“No, no. Nothing like that.” Venom shook his head. “Your metal claws, are they still sharp?”

Fog flexed her front talons and raked the ground with them. “Yes.”

“Good. We’re going to put them to use.” Venom smiled.

Fog gave a nervous laugh. “Like, in a good way… or a bad way?”

Venom chuckled. “I think it would be good defensive practice for you to look out for our new royal guest. I doubt his family will be very pleased if they find out he’s been harmed. I’m not saying we’ll run into anyone who wants to hurt him, but we must be cautious.”

“Oh! Yeah, I can do that.” Fog nodded. “But I don’t know if I can do it alone.”

Fendrel shrugged. “I’ll help you. I made a deal with him that I’d like to see through to the end.”

Charles nodded. “I will too.”

Fog breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. We’ll stick to him like glue.” She flung her wings out, nearly smacking into Charles. “Sorry.”

Venom opened his wings. “I’m glad to hear it. I’ll see you all tonight.” He flew out of the Sanctuary.

The vapor dragon bound over to Cassius and stood before him, her tail swishing lightly. She tented a feathery wing over his head.

Cassius peered up at Fog, then at Fendrel. “Is your magic dragon friend okay?” He turned his eyes to the vapor dragon. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Your Highness, and we’ll keep you safe.” Fog steeled her voice.

“Oh… thank you.” Cassius forced a smile. “Why would I need to be reassured that I’ll be okay?”

Fendrel stepped toward him. “By staying with me, you’ve agreed to accompany us as we finish our mission, which hasn’t exactly been the safest trip in the world.”

Cassius paled. The smile still plastered on his face. “Oh, how lovely.”

Charles came up on Fendrel’s side. “I’m glad I can take care of myself.”

“Same here.” Fendrel smirked. He glanced at the fire dragon.

The ex-rogue looked away once he caught Fendrel’s gaze.

Fendrel froze and snapped his head away. He shut his eyes and took a moment to calm his breathing.