Part One
Part 2a
Part 2b
Part Three
Chapter
Four:
Searching
and Hunger
Thomas woke up
refreshed from a good night’s sleep. Glancing outside, he noticed that the sun
was just beginning to peek over the distant mountains. Jumping out of bed he
slipped into his day clothes, not forgetting to throw his quiver of arrows over
his shoulders.
Downstairs he met
his mother already awake and working on breakfast for his father. He told her
what he was up too, and she warned him to be careful before giving him an
affectionate kiss and saying goodbye.
Thomas hurriedly
left after eating a quick breakfast. It didn’t take him long to climb over the
mountains and into the valley surrounding Thistle’s cave. The air grew steadily
hotter as he walked nearer the sleeping dragons. So hot, in fact, that Thomas
was covered in sweat by the time he was next to his dragon friend who was
sleeping just inside the cave opening.
“Thistle!” He
hissed, afraid to touch the dragon because of the heat.
Thistle raised his
head in confusion, and then realized where he was and what was happening.
“Yes Thomas?” He
asked softly.
“Will we go now?”
“Soon. I need to
awaken the other dragons and give them time to cool off before we fly,
otherwise the cold wind rushing over us will damage our scales.”
Thomas nodded. “Do
you need my help waking them?”
“No.” Thistle
smiled, but shook his head. “Sometimes dragons will wake up violently, and I
don’t want someone without fireproof scales to bear the brunt of it. Stay
outside the cave until we come out.”
Thomas obeyed
willingly enough, although he began pacing outside impatiently.
A few moments
passed before Prickle dashed out. He was the smallest dragon and took less time
to cool off.
“Hellohellohello!”
He began cheerfully. “HowareyoudoingThomas? Splendidweather we’rehaving,
don’tyouthink?” And then he dashed across the valley without waiting for
answers.
Brier crawled out
next, yawning loudly after mumbling a quick, “Good morning, Thomasss.” She too
walked slowly around the valley, letting the morning air cool her off further.
Bramble came next,
but he didn’t say anything, only bowing slightly to Thomas on his way by.
He was closely
followed by Nettle and Thistle, who came out together.
“How art thou,
Thomas? Fare thee well?” Nettle asked graciously.
“I’m fine, thank
you.” Thomas replied sincerely.
The other dragons
came back to the cave and looked expectantly at Thistle, who cleared his throat
in an embarrassed manner. Thomas hid a smile. He knew how much Thistle hated
being the center of attention.
“Well…since we’re
all here…I suppose we should begin our search. Thomas agreed to go with me on
my search of the islands I was assigned.”
There was a short
pause, and then Brier spoke up. “When will we ssstop the sssearch for the day?”
She asked.
“As soon as it
begins getting dark. That’s when we’ll all fly back to this island, and give a
quick report of your islands. If you didn’t find anything, Thomas will cross
that island out of his map, but if you find something suspicious, we’ll all fly
out and double check it. Any questions?”
There was another
silence. The dragons looked around expectantly at all the other dragons, but no
one had any questions. The directions were clear.
Thistle smiled.
“Alright then. Let’s start this search!”
One by one the
dragons launched themselves into the air. One by one they disappeared into the
distance until only Thistle and Thomas were left.
“Ready?” Thistle
asked as Thomas settled himself onto his back.
“Ready.” Thomas
answered, reaching his hands around Thistle’s neck and holding on as if his
life depended on it.
“Could you hold my
neck a little less tightly?” Thistle choked.
“Sorry.” Thomas
gasped, loosening his hold immediately.
Thistle sighed in
relief. “Thank you.”
Once Thomas had
resituated himself on Thistle’s back, the dragon rose into the sky.
The wind blew into
Thomas’s face, bringing tears to his eyes, but he didn’t care. He was too
excited. After all, he was riding a dragon!
*****************
The cell door
banged open. Thorac stomped down the steps, his nose wrinkling in disgust at
the smell of his prison. He saw the two siblings huddled together at the bottom
of the steps and his mouth curled into a cruel smile. For years he had been
waiting for this day. The day he would be able to take revenge on his
stepbrother. He would relish every moment of it.
Walking down the
remaining steps he kicked Brittney awake. She jumped up, startled, dumping
Patrick onto the floor.
“What do you want?”
She asked coldly, helping her brother up. “It’s very bad manners to kick a
lady.”
Thorac snorted
contemptuously. “Don’t speak of manners to me. I don’t care, and you should
know that.”
Brittney had calmed
down after the first scare and was now completely herself again. “Father told
me that you were once a gentleman.” She said softly. “I thought maybe you would
remember some things from those days.”
“Don’t ever speak
to me of your father!” Thorac spat angrily. “I don’t want to hear about him or
‘those days’ as you call them.”
“Very well.”
Brittney said calmly.
Thorac was
surprised at her response. He had expected anger, or perhaps tears, but not
calmness. He quickly recovered himself and pasted his usual smile back on his
face.
“I will negotiate
the ransom price with your father through Thorn today.”
“How much money are
you going to ask from…him?” Brittney asked carefully.
Thorac rubbed his
hands together, while a greedy glint appeared in his eyes. “I’m going to ask
for 50,000 gold coins.” He replied.
All the blood
drained from Brittney’s face. “50,000 gold coins!” She gasped.
“Yes.” Thorac
chuckled. “And if he doesn’t pay it within a week, I’m going to either kill
him…” he pointed a long finger at Patrick, who shrank behind Brittney’s skirt,
“…or marry you. It will be your father’s choice.”
Brittney could
hardly believe her ears. It was too horrible. “You wouldn’t dare!” She
exclaimed.
“Oh, wouldn’t I?”
Thorac asked, chuckling to himself.
Brittney shuddered,
wondering if this could possibly be a nightmare and that she could wake up at
any moment and find herself in her own room, in her own bed.
Thorac turned away
from the siblings suddenly, and called his dragon on the whistle. Thorn
appeared almost magically.
“You called me,
Master?” He asked respectfully.
“Go and deliver the
ransom message to their father.” Thorac ordered. “And this time, obey my
order!”
“Yes Master.” Thorn
answered, and then slipped from the prison.
Thorac turned back
to Brittney, who did her best to appear defiant. He chuckled. “Since you insist
on being difficult, I’ll just leave you in here for a while longer. Eventually
you’ll get hungry enough to apologize.”
Brittney fought
back the tears that welled up in her eyes. “You’ll never get away with this.”
She hissed, keeping her voice steady.
“Watch me.” Thorac
replied, and disappeared, shutting the door behind him.
*****************
Thomas felt his
stomach drop into his toes as Thistle suddenly plunged down through the clouds.
“Do you have to do
that?” He asked, gulping in air.
Thistle smiled.
“No, but I enjoy it. Don’t you?”
“I might get used
to it after a while.” Thomas said, hating to ruin any of his friend’s pleasure.
“Just warn me next time so I can brace myself.”
“I will.” Thistle
promised.
Just then they
broke through the clouds and Thomas saw that they were directly over an island.
Checking his map, he tapped Thistle on the neck excitedly.
“This is one of
yours.” He said.
Thistle gave his
friend a quick nod. “Here we go… I’m warning you.”
“You’re going to…?”
Thomas began.
Thistle answered by
again plunging downward towards the island. Just when Thomas began thinking
that Thistle would crash into the trees of the islands, he pulled up and soared
in a circle around it. Thomas gasped for breath, holding his stomach.
“Are you alright?”
Thistle asked apologetically. “I did warn you.”
Thomas nodded,
although his face was still a faint hue of green. “I’ll be fine in a couple
seconds.” He replied bravely. “A little more of a warning would have been
nice.”
Thistle looked
dismayed. “I’m so sorry Thomas! I promise that next time I’ll warn you and then
count to five…out loud…before plunging.”
“Thanks, that
should help.” Thomas answered, his face its normal color again. He looked below
him, and got the subject back to more important things. “Let’s search the
island!”
“Yes sir!” Thistle
answered teasingly and circled the island.
But no luck. There
were only trees, trees, and yet more trees. Not even animals or other dragons,
let alone humans, lived on that island. Only a few birds flew about, minding
their own business.
Disappointed in
their failure, the two friends turned away from the island, Thomas crossing it
off his map with a sigh of regret. He had hoped that they would, by some
miracle, find the person in need quickly.
Thistle rose
steadily in the air, and soon they were above the clouds again, headed due
north to the next island.
*****************
Patrick’s stomach
growled. Brittney sighed. This had not been going well. Both siblings were
beginning to feel the pangs of hunger, and it had only been a few hours since
Thorac had left them. It didn’t help when smells from Thorac’s own meal came
wafting through the cell door.
“He’s doing that on
purpose.” Brittney muttered to herself angrily as her own stomach growled.
Patrick whimpered
quietly, and Brittney took her mind off her empty stomach by comforting him.
If he wasn’t here, I would have given up already,
she thought to herself gratefully. There’s
nothing quite like having someone to comfort to keep you from despairing from
all hope.
“It’ll be alright.”
She said aloud, hugging her brother and tousling his already unruly hair. “Help
will come soon.”
Patrick managed a
weak smile, and Brittney played guessing games with him that helped them both
forget for a moment the gnawing feeling that began getting steadily stronger.
Isn't Thorac awful? He gave me the shivers just writing about him! :P
How do you like the new characters, Brittney and Patrick?
God Bless! :D
Your doing a GREAT job. Hurry with the next part!
ReplyDeleteThank you! And I will! ;)
Delete