The Dragon Liberator: Escapee

POV: Fendrel

He was more careful this time as he snuck around the palace, up the many staircases, and through the corridors. The farther up he went, the more deserted it became.

Everyone must be on the lower levels to see Cassius.

Fendrel found the door to Cassius’ room and opened it. He blinked a few times. This room was bigger than his whole childhood house back in Stone Edge.

After taking it all in, he saw a crumpled paper on the floor. Fendrel picked it up and stuffed it in his bag.

Time to make myself known. Cassius better be there.

Fendrel made his way to the lower levels of the palace. He heard footsteps around the next corner and hid behind a nearby door frame, waiting for the approaching figures to pass.

It was a regular castle guard and Zoricus. The lower-ranked guard sounded flustered. “Captain, we still haven’t found intruder—”

“Well keep looking!” Zoricus shoved the other guard in the chest. “And don’t return to me until his wrists are shackled to the dungeon wall.”

The guard scrambled away.

Zoricus whirled and headed the way he had come.

Fendrel slid around the door frame and followed after the knight to the throne room where a boisterous crowd of servants had gathered near the king’s throne. Fendrel couldn’t help raising his eyebrows. Cassius actually came through.

He waited for Zoricus to disappear into the crowd. The people let the taller man pass without him having to ask, or demand.

Cassius walked toward his father’s throne and whispered something to the king. The prince’s eyes wandered over the throne room and came to rest on Fendrel. He tilted his head toward his father, gesturing for Fendrel to come over.

Ducking his head, Fendrel maneuvered through the crowd. He joined Cassius next to the king.

“You.” A murderous voice silenced the crowd. Zoricus pushed past people in an effort to reach Fendrel. The knight drew his sword.

Cassius stepped in Zoricus’ path. “Wait!” He held his hands out toward his cousin.

Zoricus shoved him aside.

“Zoricus, what is the meaning of this?” The king beat the rear end of his scepter on the marble floor. “Why would you attack someone unprovoked and push your cousin, your prince aside? Explain yourself.”

Stricken, Zoricus sheathed his sword. “This man broke the law, twice, and Cassius was defending him.”

“Is this true?” The king turned his head to Cassius.

Cassius swallowed. “I don’t know about any of that, but there’s something you must know about Zoricus.”

The king studied Zoricus, Fendrel, and Cassius.

“Father, before we commence the ceremony, I’d like to call for a trial.” Cassius raised his voice so the gathered servants and guards could hear.

The crowd murmured, alit with excitement.

“For whom?” Zoricus squinted his eyes at Cassius.

Cassius took a deep breath. “You.”

The murmurs turned to gasps.

“And him, to a lesser degree.” Cassius gestured at Fendrel.

Zoricus’ face grew red with rage.

A coughing fit erupted from the king. A pair of guards rushed from the sides of the throne room to aid him. He waved them off.

“As you wish, Prince Cassius. We’ll begin the trial now.” The king turned his head to one of the guards. “Bring out the mage.”

The guard nodded and hurried off.

“Line up before the throne. You will be questioned one at a time.” The king motioned toward Fendrel and Zoricus.

Zoricus, an incredulous look on his face, stood before his uncle as Fendrel moved to stand next to the knight, the scarf still covering the bottom half of his face.

A set of doors opened on one side of the room. The guard from earlier and a hooded figure emerged.

The bottom half of the newcomer’s face was covered in a black cloth and his magenta eyes seemed to glow. The eyes roamed over the knight and the Liberator.

Fendrel shuddered when the mage’s vision fell on him. Out of the corner of his eye, Fendrel saw Zoricus roll his shoulders uncomfortably when he was looked over.

The mage stopped before the king and bowed his head.

“It’s your call who goes first.” Cassius bowed his head toward his father.

Cassius focused on Fendrel. “Please, reveal yourself.”

Fendrel raised an eyebrow but removed the scarf.

Immediately two guards took their place on either side of him and drew their swords, pointing them at Fendrel’s throat.

Zoricus mumbled something under his breath and clenched his fists.

“It is my understanding that people refer to you as the Liberator, yes?” Cassius stood before Fendrel.

“Yes.” Fendrel kept his voice flat.

“Liberation is often seen as a good thing, so why would people call you a Liberator while simultaneously painting you as a criminal?” Cassius exaggerated the confusion on his face. “And how did you earn that title?”

He’s acting strange…

“I think they usually use it to mock me. I free dragons, even if they’re someone’s slave, and I bring them back to their homes.” Fendrel scratched his neck, causing the guards beside him to tense. “And honestly, I don’t know where they got the term Liberator, usually it’s just the dragons who call me that.”

“So dragons can talk?” Cassius crossed his arms. “What else do they say?”

A few hushed laughs sounded from the crowd.

He’s putting on a show.

The king held up a hand to silence the crowd. “I’ve never heard of you before. What laws have you broken?”

Fendrel blinked in surprise. “You’ve never heard of me? I’ve gotten into a few fights trying to free hatchlings from their human masters…and I might have assaulted your nephew earlier today.”

The king seemed to ignore the last part. “But I made dragon enslavement illegal decades ago. Why are you handling it instead of my royal guards?”

“I’m sorry to inform you, your majesty, but your royal guard is probably less law-abiding than I.” Fendrel cast a disdainful glance at Zoricus. “A few of the fights I’ve been in have been with members of the guard.”

One of the guards next to Fendrel pressed the flat side of his sword against Fendrel’s neck.

The king’s eyes became distant. “My own protectors are actively disobeying me.”

Zoricus scoffed. “You have no way to prove that.”

“Actually, we do.” The corner of Cassius’ lip pulled up. He turned to the mage. “Do you mind aiding us?”

The mage nodded and moved to stand in front of Fendrel. He took an iron chain with a strange symbol resembling an eye on one end out of his pocket.

Fendrel was overcome with the same feeling from the woman’s necklace. The same colors and shapes swirled at the edges of his vision. He tried to back away.

“This is the only way to bring out the whole truth.” Cassius held his hand out.

The mage’s eyes seemed to twinkle in amusement. He pressed the eye symbol to Fendrel’s forehead and began whispering something.

The colors brightened and blinded Fendrel. He gasped in pain, squeezing his eyes shut.

As the mage continued whispering, the eye symbol began to glow. It filled with vibrancy, swirling and changing to forms.

Fendrel clenched his teeth. He found himself unable to move.

Cassius winced at Fendrel’s pain as if he didn’t know the mage’s methods would be this painful.

The mage took the chain away. He held one end between his fingers and raised it above his head. A window on the other side of the throne shone light on the eye symbol. The light projected the morphing shapes and colors onto the floor before the king’s feet.

“What do you wish to be revealed, sire?” The mage gestured at the prince.

Cassius nodded. “Reveal a time when Fendrel saw Zoricus buying, abusing, or fighting over a dragon.”

The mage flicked the eye symbol. It spun until the shapes and colors projected on the floor showed a full picture. He whispered once more. The image began to move. The crowd of guards and servants leaned in to watch the stirring picture.

A muffled sound came from the picture. The mage snapped his fingers twice. The noise became louder as he snapped.

Mesmerized, Fendrel couldn’t help but stare at the scene unfolding before him. It was one of his memories, but it wasn’t through his eyes. It was as if the view was from someone following him.

<

Fendrel was in a human village up north. Winter had almost arrived.

He noticed something on the dirt in front of him. He crouched to pick it up. A tuft of white fur. He twisted the fur between his fingers. It was soft like silk, yet sturdy. “Dragon fur.” His breath became a puff of white.

The road ahead of him that ran through the street had a trail of small clumps of fur.

“Another abduction.” Fendrel sighed. He followed the trail, staying clear of carts pulled by moody cattle and stamping draft horses.

Peeking out from behind a cart piled high with hay, Fendrel gasped when he saw Zoricus himself talking in hushed whispers with a man in an alley. The man gripped a rope in his hand, the other end of which disappeared from sight behind a house.

Zoricus dropped a loaded bag full of coins in the man’s hand and received the rope from his trade. The knight tugged on the rope. The other end became visible, tied around the waist of an air dragon hatchling with white fur.

The hatchling squeaked, losing balance due to its overly large wings.

The knight didn’t wait for the dragon to get up before he started walking, dragging the hatchling through the mud.

Pitifully, the dragon tried to claw at the ropes, but its tumbling wings kept getting in the way. It resorted to squealing madly and thrashing. Its tail lashed out and whipped a nearby horse’s leg. The horse whinnied and reared up, about to smash its hooves down on the hatchling.

Zoricus yanked the rope toward himself. The hatchling crashed into the knight, sending them both to the ground. The horse stamped down on the space where the hatchling had been moments ago.

Fendrel dashed out from behind the hay cart. He swiped up the hatchling before Zoricus could regain his footing and his hold on the rope.

Terrified, the hatchling flung its wings open, slapping Fendrel’s face, but he didn’t stop running. Fendrel pinned the dragon’s wings to its sides.

Zoricus’ enraged shouts followed the Liberator.

Fendrel wound through side streets and between houses until he was sure he had lost the knight. He pressed his back against the side of a house, his breathing labored. The baby dragon squirmed and whimpered. Fendrel sat on the ground and started whispering to the hatchling in draekonik. “You’re okay. You’re safe, just try to be quiet for a little while.”

The hatchling was stunned into silence, opting to clutch on to Fendrel’s shirt rather than try to escape his grasp.

Zoricus trudged out on a road leading away from the village, merely feet away from Fendrel’s hiding place. The knight clenched his fist and spat curses in rage, then he stormed back to the village. “Ready my horse!”

The sound of clinking glasses and rumbling wheels approached. A cattle-drawn cart carrying tall glass bottles and covered by a tarp pulled out of the village. Fendrel ran up to the back of the cart and pulled himself inside, the hatchling still clutched in his other arm. The cart made an easy escape, and if the hatchling started to fuss the rattling glass would drown out its cries.

<~><~><~>

Fendrel blinked. The scene that showed Zoricus’ crime once again became nothing more than swirling colored light that disappeared as the mage covered the eye symbol on his enchanted chain.

The throne room was silent.

Fendrel chanced a glance at Zoricus.

The knight’s face was grim. He kept his eyes lowered.

“You’ve disobeyed me.” The king shook with anger. His voice, though weak, seemed to carry through the whole room. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Nothing, your majesty.” Zoricus’ mumble was barely audible.

The king pinched the bridge of his nose. He rubbed his eyes with his index finger and thumb. “And you. What tongue did you speak to the hatchling?”

“That’s draekonik, the native language of the dragons.”

“You’re fluent in it?” He took his hand from his face.

“Yes, sir.” Fendrel couldn’t help the small twinge of pride in his voice.

“How?”

Fendrel bit the inside of his cheek. “My birth mother and my adoptive parents taught me.”

“And how did they know?” Cassius’ father leaned forward.

“My birth mother was very close friends with a dragon, so she learned through him, and my adoptive parents were dragons.” Fendrel smiled, knowing it would sound ridiculous to them.

“Raised by dragons. It’s no wonder why you strive to keep them safe.” The king tapped his finger on the armrest of his throne. “Can you bring me one? Er, introduce me to one.”

Fendrel raised his eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“I want you to bring a dragon here and introduce it to us, if you can get one to come here.”

Fendrel cleared his throat. “I- I don’t think that’s safe, your majesty.”

“Are you afraid the dragon will try to hurt someone?” A troubled expression crossed the king’s face.

“I’m afraid the dragon will get hurt. You see, there’s one other thing I need to tell you about Zoricus.” Fendrel could feel the knight’s glare on him.

“What now?” The king cast a disdainful look at his nephew.

Cassius raised a finger. “Father, I think it would be best if you dismissed the other guards for a moment.”

The king gazed at his son. “Very well, if that’s what it takes to bring out the truth.” He waved his hand.

The guards hesitated. They left the throne room. Zoricus sighed heavily.

“He’s been working with the dragon hunters, and we don’t know if any of the guards here are, too.” Fendrel’s words rushed out once the guards had left. “They may have completely infiltrated.”

Zoricus pointed an accusatory finger at Fendrel. “How dare you insinuate such a—”

Fendrel cut him off. “And I have proof that Zoricus has been threatening to kill your son.”

The crowd, now just servants, gasped.

Fendrel tilted his head toward Zoricus. “We found a note in the knight’s handwriting.”

The king looked like he was about to explode with anger. He looked at his nephew. “Are you going to tell the truth or am I going to have to force the truth out of you?”

Zoricus’s hand nearly slapped Fendrel. “Why are you taking his side? You don’t even know him.”

“I’m not sure I know who you are anymore.” The king’s eyes fell. “The Liberator’s trial is over and now it’s your turn.”

Cassius gave Fendrel a sly thumbs-up.

“How many of my knights are actually loyal to me and not to you or your outlaw friends?” Zoricus flinched in his uncle’s steely glare.

Zoricus dropped his head and sighed. “Only the newest recruits from the beginning of this year.”

There was a long pause. The king’s voice was still. “So only half of my entire army actually serves me wholly.”

“Yes, sire.”

“Do not call me ‘sire’ when you do not mean it!” The king turned up his nose. “Come to think of it, don’t call me your uncle anymore.”

“What are you saying?” Zoricus’ voice became desperate.

“You threatened the life of my son, your future king, and you still expect me to see you as part of my family? I took you in from the streets when you had nothing, when your parents abandoned you, and you betrayed me like this?” The king succumbed to a coughing fit. Servants rushed forward to tend to him. They whisked him away, out of the throne room when his wheezing worsened.

All who remained in the room were Fendrel, Zoricus, Cassius, the mage, and a few servants. It was dead silent.

The mage looked around, shrugged, and exited the throne room.

Zoricus turned around and looked at the remaining servants. “All of you, get out.”

There was no arguing as they bustled out of the room, casting curious glances behind them.

The knight glared at Cassius. His teeth were clenched. “If you had kept your mouth shut and just stayed here then he wouldn’t be this stressed out. He’s gotten too riled up and now he might die.”

Cassius kept his gaze on the floor. “You should have thought of that before you turned your back on him.”

Zoricus unsheathed his sword. “Shut your mouth, you cowardly weasel.”

Fendrel stepped between Zoricus and Cassius.

“You.” Zoricus pointed his blade at Fendrel. “This is even more your fault than his.” He advanced on Fendrel. Malice engulfed his eyes.