The Dragon Liberator: Escapee

POV: Fendrel

Though the rain stopped, the clouds still loomed over the plains. A bright flash of light in the distance caused Fog to whip her head around mid-flight. It was a swarm of spark dragons chasing lightning.

“Whoa.” Fog watched them dart through the clouds for the electricity. “Sometimes I like sitting on the Meeting Cliff so I can watch them… Sorry, would they think that sounds creepy?” Fog turned her head to Fendrel. “And are they nice?”

“From what I’ve heard, they don’t like to talk much. They only settle down when there isn’t a storm.” Fendrel traced one spark dragon’s flight path with his finger as it ribboned through the sky.

Fendrel had faith they would reach Lightgrass before sunset. From past experience, he knew the inhabitants didn’t go outside after dark. Thanks to how fast the dragons flew earlier that day, he didn’t worry about not making it in time.

“How far away is Lightgrass?” Fog scanned the hills for buildings.

“We’ll be there soon.” Venom kept his gaze on the ground.

Thea’s eyes brightened suddenly. “I should craft a spell so Oliver and I will be able to talk to the dragons too!”

Fendrel nodded. “That would be great.” He relayed Thea’s plan to Venom.

The dusk dragon made a thoughtful noise. “Good. Will she only be able to speak in our language or will she be able to understand us as well? I know spells can be tricky like that.”

Fendrel asked Thea Venom’s question.

She gasped. “How did I not think of that? I’m a mage, this is literally my job! I can’t just make half-thought-out spells.”

“But you always do that anyway.” Fendrel looked over his shoulder at her.

Thea gave a short laugh. “Yeah, for other people who don’t like me. I actually try when it’s for you or me.”

Oliver was silent until now. “What’s a mage?”

“It’s someone who puts magical properties on normal objects.” Thea gave a smug smile.

“Like a witch?” Oliver began to shake. “Are you a witch?”

Thea had a mortified look on her face. “No, no, no, no, no—” she waved her hands around frantically “—a witch is someone evil. You don’t think I’m evil, do you?”

Oliver squinted his eyes at Thea. “No, I guess not.”

“She’s not a witch.” Fendrel returned his sights to where Venom was looking. “If she were, we’d be in trouble. But she’s helping us, and she doesn’t use her powers to curse anyone.”

“Oh! Is that Lightgrass?” Fog exclaimed, speeding up.

A cluster of tall cobblestone buildings appeared in Fendrel’s view ahead. Lush farmland was framed between the city and a river.

“Yes, it is.” Venom glanced at the vapor dragon. “Slow down, Fog. The people will be afraid if they see you.”

“Right. Sorry.” She slowed and rejoined the others, readjusting the bags.

“Are they too heavy?” There was a hint of worry in Venom’s voice.

“A little bit, they feel like they’re digging into my skin.” Fog scratched her neck, and a clump of feathers came loose, drifting daintily to the ground.

Venom sighed. “That’s not good. We should land now.”

Fog nodded. Instead of swooping down gently, her movements were jerky. When they landed, she untied the straps and dropped the bags in the grass.

Thea and Fendrel slid down from Venom’s shoulders. Oliver looked as if he wanted to jump, then decided against it and slid down after the others.

Fendrel examined Fog’s shoulders. There was a bald spot where her feathers came loose. The skin was red from being rubbed by the leather straps.

“Is it bad?” She turned her head to look, then stopped short.

“We need to keep those straps from causing any further injury. Maybe we should… no.” Fendrel shook his head.

“Maybe we should...what?” Fog’s ears perked up.

Fendrel looked at her. “I was thinking we could tie the bags to a saddle so that you don’t keep losing feathers.”

Venom shivered. “That’s an undesirable situation, but I don’t want you getting hurt, Fog.”

“I’m fine with wearing one, if it’ll help.” Fog scratched her neck again and came away with more feathers. “That way we won’t have to worry about me, and we can keep looking for Mist.”

Fendrel shook his head. “Still, even if you’re all right with a saddle, neither I nor Thea have enough money for that.”

“Is there a way you can get money quickly?” Venom eyed Lightgrass.

Fendrel winced. “There is one way, but it’s awful.”

“What is it?” Fog neared Fendrel.

Fendrel sighed. “Some merchants will accept dragon fur, feathers, scales, teeth, and claws for currency, since those are usually the only things dragon hunters carry on them.”

Venom bared his fangs and let out a small hiss.

Fog reached behind her neck. Her claws came away with more loose feathers. “Would these work?”

“You can’t be serious.” Venom took a step away from her.

“It’s not like I pulled them out, they were already detached. Besides, we don’t have a choice. Either I get a saddle, or I risk getting hurt.” She stamped her paw into the grass. “And I can’t just keep healing myself over and over again every stop we make. I’ll keep getting thirsty and then we’d have to make frequent drink breaks and that means less time spent looking for Mist which means more time passing while she could be in danger!”

The dusk dragon huffed. “Fine, it’s your choice. I would take the bags from you and wear them myself but that would be too much weight on me.”

Fog handed the feathers to Fendrel.

Fendrel reluctantly put them in his bag and looked at Thea. “Are you ready?”

“Oh yeah. I was starting to feel useless while the dragons did all the work.” She stretched her arms.

With Oliver’s hand in hers, Thea and Fendrel set out for the road that led to Lightgrass. Though the city wasn’t too far away, it was a good enough distance that any guards in the watchtower wouldn’t be able to see the dragons clearly.

Fendrel looked over his shoulder.

Fog was laying in the grass, panting, while Venom stood observing the departing humans.

Is he watching us because of my mother, or for another reason?

<~><~><~>

As Fendrel, Thea, and Oliver stepped past the watchtower that marked the entrance to the city, Fendrel noticed a group of guards on their horses, stationed in the plaza. The crowds in the plaza fell silent.

We have to be careful.

A guard at the front of the troop took a piece of folded paper out from a pocket on his saddle. He cleared his throat and began to read it.

“Loyal citizens of Sharpdagger! We bring good news from His Majesty regarding Prince Cassius. Our prince has finally selected a bride.” The guard gave a cheeky smile.

A few of the citizens and guards chuckled.

The lead guard continued his speech. “Despite his slight cold, the king is hosting a celebration in one week. The kingdom can rest easy knowing our future is in the good hands of future rulers.”

“Geez, which girl was this, number twelve?” Thea muttered out the side of her mouth.

“I just hope she plans on fixing this kingdom. It will make my life easier if she cares about dragons.” Fendrel used the same tone of voice as Thea.

The lead guard pocketed the paper and urged his horse forward. The other guards followed his lead.

Fendrel pulled Thea and Oliver away from the city’s gateway and kept his head down. He sighed in relief as the knights rode away.

“This is a great place to start looking for information on Mist.” Fendrel stepped to the side to view a massive message board full of wanted posters and requests to the knights made by citizens of Lightgrass.

“How so?” Thea glanced at him.

“I’ve always had luck finding leads for the dragon hunters’ recent activity here, and it isn’t impossible that Mist was abducted by them. She disappeared only a few days ago, so we might hear something about it.” Fendrel took a few of Fog’s feathers and handed them to Thea. “Here, don’t let anyone see you have these until you’re ready to pay. And stay away from the alleys, I’ve almost been mugged here a few times. We’ll meet back here once we have everything we need.”

Thea took the offered feathers and stuffed them in one of her dress pockets. “How valuable are these?”

“Valuable enough that merchants nearly jump out of their coats every time they see them, and normally law-abiding citizens will take to stealing no matter how wealthy they are.” Fendrel shot her an exasperated look.

“Wow…” Thea nodded. “Yeah, we’ll be careful.”

Fendrel went on his own, walking slowly by the stalls that outlined the plaza, and pretended to be interested in a tale from an exuberant bard nearby. After a few minutes of the bard’s jabbering, Fendrel resolved he wouldn’t be saying anything about Mist. He began to move on to another area of the marketplace, then stopped short.

A passerby placed a coin in the bard’s hand and asked him something.

The bard’s mouth curved into a smile. “Thank you for your kindness, of course I’ll tell you. I happened to see a group of dragon hunters riding off into the wilderness with a dragon strapped to a horse-drawn cart on my way here from Sharpdagger…”

Fendrel’s eyes widened. If that’s true, this dragon could be taken to either the valley base or the Stronghold. But only the valley base is on the western side… I’ll just have to ask Venom and Fog to stop by there really quick on our way. Even if this dragon isn’t Mist, I might find out where she is when we break in.

“Now for the saddle.” Fendrel headed for the city’s stables further into Lightgrass.

Attached to the charming wooden stables building was a counter, serving as a window into a workshop.

Fendrel approached the counter and leaned his crossed arms on it.

The stable owner had his back turned to the counter, fixing the bridle on a workbench. “I’m too busy for customers today.”

When Fendrel didn’t leave, the man turned around with a scowl. “What?”

Fendrel rummaged through his bag and pulled out one of Fog’s feathers.

The man raised his eyebrows. He put the bridle on his workbench and walked up to the counter. “You, uh, look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?”

Before Fendrel could refute this, the man’s face lit up with recognition.

Fendrel lifted the feather. “I want a saddle and a blanket.”

Drumming his fingers on the counter and sucking in his lips, the man eyed the feather. “Deal.”

“And you won’t tell anyone I was here.” Fendrel flicked the feather out of the man’s grasp.

“Of course.” The man rubbed his hands on his leather apron. “You want a saddle for a draft horse or a traveling horse?”

Uhm…

“Traveling.”

“New or broken in?” The man stood there still as a statue, staring holes into Fendrel’s face.

“It doesn’t matter which.” Fendrel put the feather on the counter.

The man swept it up and stuffed it in an apron pocket. He went into the attached building and returned with a saddle and a folded blanket.

“No bridle?” The stable owner shot Fendrel a confused look.

“No thanks.” Fendrel retrieved the supplies.

“Are you ever going to return that horse you stole?” The man’s previous stance returned.

Fendrel shrugged. “Even if I did promise to, I have no idea where it is now.”

As the man scowled, Fendrel walked away with the goods, hoping the man would keep his word. He retraced his steps to the message board.

Thea and Oliver weren’t back yet.

Fendrel leaned his back against the message board and surveyed the crowds for the two, while keeping an ear out for more leads on Mist’s whereabouts.

<~><~><~>

POV: Thea

After hunting for a decent jewelry shop, Thea began to inspect the various necklaces, rings, pins, and other personal ornaments.

“What do you think about this one?” Thea picked up a bronze pin engraved with a wolf biting an arrow. She sat on her knees and showed it to Oliver.

The boy held the pin in his cupped hands. Oliver smiled. “I like it.”

Thea nodded. “I think it looks good on you.”

She stood back up and picked up a simple silver ring. She showed it to Oliver. “Now, what about this?”

Oliver pressed his lips into a thin line, humming. “You should get one with a ruby in it.”

Thea laughed. “Really? Why a ruby?”

“Charles told me that his wife said rubies are the prettiest, so you should have the prettiest too.” Oliver grinned.

“I don’t know who this Charles guy or his wife are, but I like them already.” Thea turned to the older woman running the jewelry shop who was finishing up with another customer.

The shop owner turned to Thea. “Hello, dear. What can I do for you?”

“Well, I don’t know how much I’ll be able to afford.” Thea gave a sheepish smile.

“Oh, that’s no problem.” The shopkeeper waved his hand in a dismissive manner. “Let me see what you have, and I’ll bring out what it’s worth.”

Thea took the feathers out of her pockets and held them out.

“Oh my.” The shop owner gasped. “With that amount you can have the rest of my stock!”

Dumbfounded, Thea stared at her. “What?”

Oliver raised the pin above his head. “So I can have this?”

“You can have anything you like.” The shop owner gestured at all the jewelry before her.

Thea gave an impish smile.

<~><~><~>

POV: Fendrel

Thea and Oliver broke out of the crowd and returned to the message board.

“I found something.” Fendrel smiled.

“What? Already?” Thea almost screamed.

“Well, not about Mist, but it might lead to her somehow, maybe.” Fendrel nodded at her. “Did you find anything for the spell?”

Thea grinned. She pointed at a bronze pin on Oliver’s chest. “I already put the spells on a couple of them. We got this, and…” she shoved her hands in her pockets and brought them back out, her fists full of jewelry, “We got these.”

Fendrel nearly dropped the saddle and blanket.

“You weren’t kidding when you said dragon feathers were valuable.” Thea’s eyes were alight with wonder.

“Yeah, I might have downplayed how sought-after they are.” Fendrel pointed at the jewelry. “What in the world are you going to use those for?”

Thea stuffed them back in her pockets and took Oliver’s hand just as he began to wander off. “I have no idea, but I’ll figure it out.”

Fendrel shrugged and headed for the gateway, with Thea and Oliver following.

They walked on the road until they were far enough away from the city to head back to where Venom and Fog were waiting.

“We’re back!” Fendrel called out in draekonik.

Thea gasped. She bounced giddily. “It works. The ring works!”

The two dragons were laying down. Venom raised his head, a confused look on his face. After seeing Thea, he relaxed.

Thea twisted a ring around her finger. “We’ll still be able to talk to other humans, this only affects talking to dragons.”

“Good. Now that we all understand each other, tell us what happened. Did you find anything?” Venom stood.

“We didn’t hear anything that was directly connected to Mist, but I did hear of a recent capture done by the dragon hunters. I was thinking that we might be able to find information on her if we tracked the hunters down.” Fendrel came to stand before the dragons.

“So we are now proceeding with a double rescue mission?” Venom’s voice peaked with interest.

“Yes.” Fendrel smiled.

Does he want to go to the base even if the captured dragon isn’t Mist?

The dusk dragon nodded. “We should all get some rest. We’ll leave at daybreak.”