The Dragon Liberator: Escapee

POV: Fendrel

A dream invaded Fendrel’s sleep. Another memory.

He walked down the streets of Sharpdagger when he noticed a man rushing his way. The sheen of a dragon egg shone under the passerby’s coat.

Fendrel bumped into the man’s shoulder.

The smuggler lost his grip on the egg and it rolled between the bustling feet of the crowd.

The man gritted his teeth. “Watch where you’re going.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t kidnap dragon eggs.” Fendrel merely glanced at the man, then looked away.

The man’s voice was low. “Ha! I didn’t steal it. It was abandoned.”

A crowd formed around them.

“All right, what’s the commotion?” A group of guards pushed through the crowd.

The citizens scattered.

Fendrel escaped during the confusion and joined the flow toward the city gates. Once there, he broke free from the chaos and left the city, pulling a hood over his face so the guards at the gate couldn’t see who he was.

I should’ve grabbed the egg on my way out!

He sighed in frustration.

Hopefully, if the knights find it, they’ll be too afraid of its parents to keep it…

Fendrel walked toward the crescent-shaped grove of trees surrounding the palace where he had tied a horse to a trunk. He released the horse and was about to mount it when he heard approaching footsteps.

“Hey!” A young woman’s voice called out.

Fendrel turned to her, tense.

The woman ran toward him, something wrapped in cloth was tucked under her arm. She slowed to a walk, her breathing labored. She laughed in embarrassment and unwrapped the bundle. It was the egg. “It’s a little heavier than I thought.”

She held it out to him with outstretched arms. “Uh, here!”

Fendrel cautiously took the egg into his arms. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because that guy was a jerk.” She gave a nervous laugh. “And because you’re like me, sort of. We’re looked down upon by the rest of the kingdom. We’ve got to look out for each other, you know? I’m a mage. My name’s Thea.” She smiled and reached out her hand.

Fendrel shook her hand. “Fendrel. I’m a… uh, dragon liberator, I guess.”

Thea cocked her head to the side. “Liberator, huh? So what are you going to do with that one? It can’t find its parents when it’s in a shell.” She pointed at the egg.

Fendrel gave her a confused stare. “I’ll find its parents.”

“Can I come with you?” There was excitement in her eyes.

Cocked an eyebrow. “Why? We don’t know each other.”

Thea tilted her head. “Like I said, we should look out for each other. I’ll make sure that whenever you come to the city, you’ll have anything you need.”

He searched her face. “I suppose.”

“Great!” The mage clasped her hands to her chest.

Fendrel stored the egg in his bag and mounted the horse with Thea climbing on behind him. He grabbed the reins and guided the horse onto a trail that would take them by the coast.

After a few hours of riding in awkward silence, they reached a hill that sloped down to a beach ridden with barnacle-covered rocks. The waves were calm, softly tumbling over the rocks.

Squinting his eyes, Fendrel saw a water dragon, its head submerged, surveying the shallow waters.

Dismounting the horse, Fendrel took cautious steps down the slope. He took the egg out of his bag.

As the sand under his feet slipped to the bottom of the hill, the water dragon’s ears swiveled as if listening to his every move.

When Fendrel reached the bottom, his foot kicked a loose pebble, sending it skittering into the calm waves.

The dragon whipped his head out of the water and eyed Fendrel. When his eyes landed on the egg, he roared and flared his wings.

Fendrel took one short step, then another.

Hissing, the dragon flew to the edge of the rocks, throwing a huge spray of seawater into the air. His wings formed menacing arcs above Fendrel, and his claws curled around the rocks with a grating noise.

Avoiding the dragon’s gaze, Fendrel held the egg out to the dragon.

The dragon stared at Fendrel, his growling growing quiet. He scooped the egg into one of his paws and cradled it to his chest. When Fendrel looked up, the dragon uttered a small snort and turned. With two mighty wing strokes, he flew over the rocks and dove into the water.

Fendrel smiled as Thea ran up beside him.

He glanced at Thea. He cleared his throat and put on a straight face. “I should go now.”

Thea followed him up the sand hill. With a laugh, she said, “Hey, I can help you! If you tell me secrets about dragons that nobody else knows, I’ll craft some spells for you.” She stuck her hand out again. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll enchant that bag of yours so you can have as many things in there as you like. Deal?”

Fendrel couldn’t help but smile. Her charm was wearing off on him. “Deal.” He shook her hand.

“Great.” Thea smiled. “So, can you take me back to the city? I don’t have any way to get back home.”

Fendrel nodded, finally letting his smile show freely. “Sure.”

<~><~><~>

POV: Cassius

He hid in a ring of hedges where the only entrance was a small slit off the gravel path of the royal gardens. In the center of the ring was a gazebo, but Cassius was sitting in the grass with his back pressed against the hedges. He felt sticky with sweat as heard approaching footsteps.

He had been trying to sneak into the city through the seldom-used guard passageways attached to the royal stables, but in order to get there he had to pass through the gardens.

The voice of Cassius’s twin sister chimed. “Good morning, soon-to-be sister!”

Cassius paled.

Is that Adila? I wish I could go back to when I didn’t have to sneak out to explore the city… thanks to her, now I have to scurry around like a mouse.

“Good morning, princess.” Another female voice, this one solemn, appeared.

The woman I chose to marry, but did I really choose her? I don’t feel like I made that decision. Why would I do that?

He grabbed fistfuls of grass and continued listening.

“How has your morning been?” There was Sadie’s cheery voice again.

Silence followed her response.

Adila is so odd. She rarely talks or moves, as if she’s always on edge, Cassius thought.

“My lady, you have a mysterious upbringing, but no matter how you were raised it is quite rude not to respond to your princess.” The stomp of guard boots accompanied this new voice.

Cassius took a deep breath and peeked around the edge of the hedge.

Sadie waved her hand dismissively at her attendant. “No, it’s all right.”

Adila clutched a flower to her chest, gently stroking the petals with her fingers. The older girl kept her misty eyes down.

Why does she always look so sad?

Startled, Cassius pulled his eyes away. The first time he looked at her two days ago, when Zoricus brought her in to meet him, he felt trapped. It felt as if someone had tied him up, gagged him, tossed him in the back of a cart, and covered him with a blanket while a complete stranger drove off into the unknown. For some reason he couldn’t control himself whenever their eyes met, and the effect would last until one of them had left the room.

But how am I supposed to leave the room when I can’t even control my body? Cassius wished he could sink into the ground.

As his eyes slowly raised to witness the scene again, Sadie sighed.

“Miss Adila just isn’t comfortable with me… yet.” Sadie said, leaning forward with an endearing smile. She stepped closer to Adila. “I see you looking at these flowers a lot—” she pointed at the flower in Adila’s hands “—Do you want me to use them in your wedding?”

Adila breathed in sharply and dropped the flower, clutching her hands against her chest as if the flower had burned her. She stepped away and shook her head wordlessly. Her eyes brimmed with tears.

She doesn’t want to get married either… He felt a weight being lifted from his chest.

Sadie traced the back of her finger against Adila’s cheek just as a tear raced down. She waved her attendants off and grasped Adila’s shoulders gently.

“Everything is okay, miss.” Sadie’s voice was so faint, Cassius strained to hear her.

Adila shook her head, more tears running down her cheeks. She cupped her face in her hands and her shoulders shook.

“We’re going to be family soon, so you can talk to me any time you’d like,” Sadie rubbed Adila’s shoulders with her thumbs.

Oh Sadie. I know you’ve always wanted a sister, but this isn’t the time to be talking about that.

“You can trust me, I promise.” Sadie’s voice sounded desperate. “But I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong.”

Adila lowered her arms and ripped away from the princess’s grip. She gazed at her with red eyes. “I can’t tell you, even if I wanted to. I just can’t. Not now, maybe not ever. I’m sorry, but you have to understand that. Please, leave me alone.”

As Sadie opened her mouth to speak, Adila hurried away, her dress flowing behind her as wispy as a cloud.

Cassius sighed when he saw the despair on his twin’s face.

He hid behind the hedges once more.

I’m sorry, Sadie. I wish I could comfort you, but I’m afraid you wouldn’t like what I have to say. Cassius wished he could send her his thoughts. His eyes widened. As long as Sadie is close with Zoricus, she’ll always value his opinion over mine. At least he and the rest of the main guards are gone for a few days, spreading the news of my engagement and Father’s failing health. But he’ll be back soon.

He sat in the hedge ring and waited for the princess and her attendants to leave.

Cassius stood and took a quick look at his surroundings. No one in sight.

The prince sped off toward the guards’ secret passages. As he got closer to the door that led to the inside of Sharpdagger’s surrounding wall, a disturbing thought intruded his mind.