Triplets For The Dragon
Page 44
“I think you have proved your point that you insist on going with us to the Dragon Kingdom. I don’t think there is any way I can be persuasive and get you to go back to the castle. It isn’t in your blood to be a queen and watch over the castle. It is in you to be a fighter, a warrior at best. Perhaps that is what I need more than a queen. I need a queen who is a warrior, who wants to be a part of a team.”
“I promise I won’t drag you down. I definitely know how to get into the Dragon Kingdom. I promise you won’t regret anything.”
“You are crazy! It might be me who is crazy even doing this for you. I am starting to think as my wife, you are more trouble than you are worth at times. When we go down for breakfast, you must thank the mysterious traveler.”
The way Ryia’s eyes sparkled made me feel like, for once, we were connecting. This was what I had been waiting for ever since I met her. I finally was beginning to connect with her. Now if only she was okay with me being her husband, then my life might be a bit more perfect.
The mystery traveler was sitting next to Marvin in the corner of the smoky pub.
Ryia sat right down next to the traveler.
“Can I help you, Miss?” the traveler asked.
“I have come to thank you. You don’t know what you have done for me,” Ryia whispered.
“I can imagine what I have done. I think it is all fair to say there have been many times that you have opened my eyes as well as tried hard to help me.”
Ryia threw her head back and laughed. “I guess I have done that for you.”
The bartender glanced over. He quickly filled up mugs with the house special as well as starting to make our breakfast. It seemed as if Rowan and I may be the unwelcome guests, but Ryia was welcomed here with open arms.
I was sure I was beginning to show in my face how angry I was. I didn’t understand why the bartender did that, since he didn’t even give Rowan or I a chance.
“It has been a very crazy journey, but I am sure once we get to where we are going, we will at least know every detail of the truth.”
The humming of voices flooded the conversation and it seemed as if I couldn’t concentrate. I couldn’t decipher what Ryia was saying right in front of me. I began getting dizzy, but I knew it was more the fact that I had been lacking food as well as sleep.
“Are you okay?” Ryia asked as she stared at me.
I sighed as I looked at her. How was I even going to describe what was going on with me? She would probably jump to the conclusion something was wrong and I was in trouble.
I continued to rub my head as Ryia’s voice seemed to become distant. My vision seemed to be blurring everyone out.
“Merek, do you need help?” Ryia asked as she began to shake my arm.
I looked back at her, confused.
“I am sure I will be fine. I just feel a bit off. How can you help me?” I asked as I flashed her a smile.
“You look as if you aren’t fine, Merek. Are you sure that you are going to be okay? I can tell something is going on that you aren’t telling me! I really want you to tell me what it is.”
“Thank you Ryia, but I think I am fine. I just don’t feel right. I am sure it is because of all the traveling I did without getting enough sleep. I don’t think there is a way for you to help me.”
To be honest, I didn’t want her to worry. What would she think? I was sure she would take me right to the doctor if she got a chance. I was already running out of time to get where I needed to be.
Granted, I did miss the simpler life where I didn’t have to worry about such things as dragons. I thought it was complicated that I had to get married and have kids. It seemed as if sometimes that finding a decent bride wasn’t half the trouble as this journey I was on now.
Perhaps it was a diverse side effect of becoming more like a dragon. I thought they had eagle eyes compared to blurred vision, though.
“I am looking for Prince Merek,” a voice said from near the door of the pub.
The man seemed to be looking through the crowd as he was talking. His face was scarred badly. I wasn’t sure if he was a man from the guild or not, but I knew that I needed to get out of there.
“There is a man over that at the counter looking for me. We must go!” I whispered.
I could tell the way he growled my name that this was going to be an unpleasant encounter otherwise.
“Why are you looking for Prince Merek?” the bartender finally asked as he looked at the man.
“This is about personal affairs that I must deal with. I am sure you can understand that I don’t want everyone to know what those affairs would consist of.”
“I am sure you can find information on Prince Merek’s whereabouts here. I don’t want any trouble, though. I don’t need the reputation that I allowed you in here to destroy the place. You see, I know you come for your own affairs and you are on a quest, but it is different here. I have to stay here and run this pub.”
The man reached over and grabbed the bartender by the throat. “If you don’t tell me where Merek is then whom do I talk to?”
“He is in the corner, or at least was in the corner. I am sure you will be quite impressed with the people he is keeping company with,” the bartender said as he pointed in my direction.
I looked over at Ryia and she motioned for us to go out the back room. I guess we all knew what was going to happen if this guy caught up with me.
I wasn’t sure if I was analyzing this too much or not enough. I was sure my father had sent him.
The last time I glanced back, the man was standing where we had been sitting.
“I thought you told me they were sitting at this table! Where are they? I have been around many people who seemed to be trying to harbor him. I can guarantee that when I find him, I will be making no exception of solving the problem with you,” the man said as one of his eyes bulged unnaturally and seemed incredibly bloodshot. The other eye glared at everyone in the pub.
The glances he shot at everyone seemed to make my whole body quiver with fear.
“Have I not proven in the past what I am capable of? Why is it my requests to deal with affairs seem to fall on deaf ears? I didn’t travel all this way for you to harbor Prince Merek. Even if you sent him to the tunnel, I promise you that I will find him.” The man continued to scream as he continued to throw tables and chairs as he looked around.
I was sure he was trying to make a point and it was one that was quite obvious.
“Are you coming or not?” Ryia asked as she grabbed me by the arm.
It seemed like I didn’t even get time to hold on for my life. To me, this sudden event was as bad as the episode with the bridge. It couldn’t be coincidental, but I wasn’t sure if it was just the assassin guild either. I never felt faint when I was near any of the assassins when my father brought me there before.
My heart had been racing since the man had walked into the pub. The twisting and turning off the hallway only led up to a dark tunnel that was behind a bookcase. I wasn’t sure where Ryia was headed, but I was sure this was the tunnel that the man had been speaking about.
“Where are we?” I asked as my body trembled with fear.
Ryia looked at me as if I was speaking a foreign language. “Where are we? I think it is apparent that we are in a tunnel.”
“I know that! I think that is pretty obvious!” I mumbled.
Why was it I had to be married to someone so sarcastic?
“We are headed to the Dragon Kingdom. It is on the outskirts. There are still many obstacles we have to cross and there are many that are going to be using dark magic.”
“You are joking, right? I don’t even want to go anywhere near anything that is full of black magic. It is hard to believe some guy is after me and now you want me to fight dark magic on top of this. This is beautiful!”
“You act as if you aren’t sure of all of this. We are headed to the Dragon Kingdom, but the roads leading there are not safe if that man is looking for you.”
“I am sure he is from the assassin guild.”
The tunnel came out at a cliff overlooking a valley.
“The Dragon Kingdom is in the far corner. We must cross all that is in between and the territory is very dangerous.”
“Are you kidding? Has anyone actually survived making that trip from here to the Dragon Kingdom?” I asked in horror as I looked at the territory below.
“A few people have made it. There were several witches that did, but according to the records I am one of the few warriors who have ever made it across the territory.”
I looked over at her. “I hope you have a map for this.”
Ryia started laughing. “Of course I have a map! The only hope of making it to the Dragon King would be a map and finding the right way to get there. We are going to have to stick together or we will surely get lost!”
I locked eyes with Ryia and then looked back at the land below. What the hell did we get ourselves into this time?”
“We really must be going if we want to get out of these parts before night falls.”
“What do you mean?” I asked as I watched Ryia take out a map from her leather bag.
She held the map tightly as she traced her fingers from where we were standing to the Dragon Kingdom.
At this point, I wanted to be back to my old self. I was tired of running and I was tired of what was happening to me.
“Is there any other way than walking, instead of us going through this whole jungle to get there?” Rowan asked.
“No, there isn’t another way to walk there. It is against all the rules that have been set in place of the kingdoms. We are not allowed to fly or bring foreign creatures like horses into the kingdom. I would hate to say it, but I would love to get there another way as well. I have walked this three times and each time it brings new stuff that seems to haunt me. I have tried before to bring a horse, but they refused to allow me in. They thought that the dragons would get hungry or something.”
“I beg to differ! I never looked at my horse with hungry eyes!” Rowan pointed out.
Ryia ignored him as we began to follow her down the steep cliff. I was already beginning to see my life flash before my eyes. I was quite surprised that so far, I hadn’t fallen down the rocky cliff. I didn’t want to keep running and to be quite frank, I was getting incredibly exhausted.
“Where are we going to go? Are there any villages on this adventure?”
“There are people we will meet, but I don’t think it is in the same sense as you are thinking. There is no way that we will be stopping at inns, if that is what you mean.”
“How long will it take to get there if we have to walk?”
“There is another way, if I recall. There are these things called flying ships. They cost about thirteen pieces of gold, but it would be worth flying some of this compared to walking the whole way,” the traveler said.
“Where do we get these flying ships?” I asked.
“We would have to go over there to the left. It would be well worth it,” the traveler added.
I glanced to the left. It seemed almost impossible to go that way. I wasn’t sure if the traveler was just trying to lead us off the course or what.
Ryia flashed me a look. It was as if she had been thinking the same thing. In fact, it was quite obvious even Rowan was thinking the same thing. We all were thinking it was too dangerous to go that way.
“How will we get there?” Rowan asked.
None of us knew the answer to that, since we were all concerned with the rocky slopes and deep ravines that we would have to cross. There wasn’t easy access to horses or carriages since they were banned.
“Sir, how do you expect us to cross through all of that to get to the airship? That journey will be near impossible.”
“You are full of rubbish, thinking it is impossible! All the knights and warriors cross through there. Don’t you know that since your father is Maelyss, nothing in this kingdom would be impossible for you? All you have to remember is the fact that you are here for a reason and you are going to have to keep that reason close to you.”
The traveler seemed as if he wasn’t taking my concerns seriously. I hated it when it felt like that, since King Athalos often refused to take me seriously.
“Marvin, don’t you think that I am making a legit observation? I think it is silly if we have to cross a place where we don’t need to cross.”
Marvin didn’t answer me. All I could imagine was the fact that once again, we would come to a bridge and have something happen like the old wooden bridge. There didn’t seem to be doctors out here, let alone a lot of civilization.
“Boy, there isn’t any other way unless you want to use your legs. I don’t know what you were expecting. This kingdom isn’t tailored to your likings. I am incredibly sorry for that, but I am sure you would understand to protect the dragons from people like King Athalos, there had to be protective measures,” the traveler said.
I let out a sigh. “Does this mean you are taking us to the airships?” I asked.
“No, I don’t think I will continue on your journey with you. There is a lot left for Marvin and me to do. We will watch over you, but this is a quest you have to make on your own.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if the traveler was one of the people who were trying to kill us. I hadn’t even met Maelyss and I was already running from my brothers and the king, yet throughout this assassin waited greedily for their chance to kill the likings of Rowan and me.
“Can I ask you a question?” I asked.
“Sure, can you ask me anything,” the man replied.
“If you are supposed to be helping us, why aren’t you joining us on this quest? It seems when you show up, so does trouble.”
“I don’t know how to answer this, since I know it might look incredibly suspicious since you know nothing about me. I can tell you that everything is soon to change and even what you think could be right isn’t right. What your perspective is on the world won’t be what it is. I can already tell you that it is happening.
“Whatever you haven’t told us that happened to you at the pub is happening now to you! Be careful and keep a clear mind. Without the clear mind, you will be stuck in the peril of confusion. I may not be there the whole time, but I have already looked out for you. Who else is going to make sure you don’t end up hurt?”
*
I looked back at the traveler, but he seemed to have vanished in thin air with Marvin.
“Where did they go?” I asked as I looked for even footsteps and there were none.
“That was their duty to lead us here. He told you that it was time to go. He wasn’t about to stand around and chat with us,” Ryia answered
“I didn’t hear them leave. It is as if they vanished in thin air.”
None of us spoke as we followed the bumps in the road of the path less traveled, to where the traveler had pointed. I tried hard to understand this whole process of having to be guided by a single map and Ryia.
The road we traveled was very bumpy with many large rocks and roots in the path. I was sure that even as we traveled by foot, there had to be another way to get to our destination. I was just hoping it would be quicker than how it looked from the cliff.
Having assassins chasing us didn’t help. Rowan, Ryia and I had all been on quests before, but this one seemed to be unique. It was as if we were all inexperienced with all the experiences that we were encountering.
“What is that in the road ahead?” Rowan asked as he looked up to see someone standing and waiting for someone.
The humming of what seemed to be a motor made us dart in the woods.
“What were you thinking, Frank? Did you honestly think I wouldn’t find you? What do you think you are doing?” the man growled as we hid behind trees and listened carefully.
I was unaware who this person was, but I knew that it wasn’t good. Footsteps began pacing close to us. I lig
htly nudged Ryia to get back behind the tree.
“Why aren’t Prince Merek and Prince Rowan dead yet?”
“When I got to the pub, they disappeared. No one saw them leave and I am sure, somewhere in the territories, they are here waiting.”
My heart dropped as I looked over at Ryia as if I was begging her for help. We both shared the same horrific look and then we looked at Rowan. I was unsure what we were going to do at the moment or how we were going to get out of this one.