Finally at the station, they were greeted by the train master once again. "Your tickets are paid for. Quickly come this way." He quickly ushered the kids and their dragons into the last car and the final whistle blew once they were inside. The train lunged forward and began creeping along the tracks.
"So how did you do it Davin?" Chloe sat down beside him. "I thought I was dying and now I feel like nothing happened."
"I really don't know how it happened. I remember pleading for you not to die. And next, my hand was glowing and your wound was healing."
Derrick had scooted in closer as well. "I guess you'll just have to figure that out now, won't you. Hopefully it's not me, but if it is me, please make it work again."
The three kids began to laugh amongst themselves as the train sped along. Some of the tension had seemed to finally settle and everyone was able to get some rest. Davin was laying up against Halo staring out the window of the train car. They were climbing higher and higher into the mountains through the pass. The air had become cold and there began to be hints of snow scattered on the ground. It became thicker as they traveled, until it was finally a solid blanket of white on the mountain sides. The heat from the dragons kept the train car at a somewhat stable temperature though as the air outside grew colder and colder.
The train continued to climb further into the mountains and it wouldn't reach Summit Ridge until late evening the following day. It would hold a steady pace all through the night and the next day. The three kids and their dragons would have at least until then to get some rest.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ANGER IN THE KEEP
Back at the Keep, Lugos sat impatiently waiting for his prize to be returned. He grew more angry with every passing moment.
Finally the imp came scurrying like a rat through the door.
"Ah. You have returned, my faithful servant." Lugos began to grin.
"I am sorry master," the imp said with a soft hiss.
Lugos stood enraged. "SORRY! Do you tell me that you failed! Do you only bring back with you apologies for your incompetence? I will have my opal dragon!" He screamed in frustration. "Leave me. NOW!"
As quickly as the imp had entered, he fled the room shutting the door quickly behind him.
Lugos paced the room and stopped when he saw his reflection in a mirror hanging on one of the walls. He stepped closer. He examined his face, feeling his skin as he did. His body was slowly changing. His skin was more pale and had become leather like. The bones of his face pushed out against his skin. With the change, he could feel the hunger inside of him beginning to fade away.
He thought about the day his life had been altered forever. The day he would become filled with pain, anger and a haunting hunger.
It was a mid summer day and he had decided to take a hike with his dragon. They were walking through the forest heading towards the base of the mountain to the north of the Keep. Little did they know, they were being stalked.
They had just reached the base of the mountain and were headed for the trail that led to the top. Lugos turned, startled by a large rustle in the bushes next to him.
An enormous creature rushed out at him. With one swipe of it's large arm it clubbed him and knocked him to the ground. It bit into the flesh of his thigh and then stood up and stared down at him, blood dripping from it's mouth.
It was the most hideous creature he had ever seen. It stood over eight feet tall. It's arms were long and almost disproportionate to it's body. It had long fur that hung down from it's neck and shoulders. The rest of it's body had a no fur and it's skin resembled that of a decaying corpse. It's lower jaw appeared to have no skin at all and was simply bone and massive teeth. It had two large horns protruding from the side of it's head, just above it's pointed ears. It smelt like death.
Just as the horrid beast went in for another bite, Lugos' dragon lunged in and attacked the demonic creature. The two beasts fought fiercely for what seemed like hours to Lugos, who lay on the ground shaking in fear and bleeding profusely. The attack ended and the Demon finally retreated to the woods from which it had come.
Lugos was going into shock. He had lost a lot of blood and was in severe pain. He quickly grew tired and began to feel feverish. He slowly slipped into unconsciousness.
He woke with a burning hunger. It was like nothing he had felt before. His eyes fixed on the only thing near him. The dragon that had become his best friend and had just saved his life was now seen as prey. His instincts kicked in and he stood and paced towards the dragon.
It was later that day that Lugos returned to the keep. The hunger had subsided and he limped into the keep. He was greeted by his old friend Myrdinn. "My God. What has happened Lugos? You're covered in blood."
"We were attacked. I am lucky to be alive." He said in a weak voice.
"What of your dragon?" Myrdinn asked.
"Dead. He is Dead."
Myrdinn's eyes grew wide when Lugos finally looked up at him. Lugos' eyes had reverted back to their original color with the death of his dragon as they should have. But there was a slight hint of a glowing red that faded quickly. At that moment Lugos fell to the ground. Myrdinn quickly called for assistance and Lugos was carried off to the infirmary.
Lugos woke in the bed of the infirmary, feeling like he had awaken from a horrible nightmare. Reality set in when he felt his leg and cringed in pain as his fingers pressed against the site of his wound. He set his head back down into his pillow and he let out a long sigh.
He stood up and walked over to the bathroom and looked in towards the mirror on the wall. He looked at himself and into his own eyes. There was no green glow of the bonder's eyes. They were dark brown. His eyes had returned to the color they were before he had been bonded. He felt utterly alone. His stomach began to turn at the thought of what he had done.
With each passing day he felt his hunger grow once again. Food no longer curved his appetite. There was only one thing he wanted to eat. He began to crave the flesh and blood of dragons.
Weeks had gone by since the attack and Lugos feeling the strong urge to feed again. No matter what else he ate, it never quite satisfied his deepening hunger. His mind kept telling him to feed from another dragon. Every time he would pass by one, the hunger would grow and he threw a sort of fit.. Nobody thought strangely of it and only blamed the recent loss of his dragon.
Lugos had begun to suspect that Myrdinn knew something. He was asking more and more questions about the attack. Lugos had given the story that they were attacked by a rogue dragon. He blamed the beast for the massacre of his own dragon and said that he had been left for dead.
Lugos became determined to find some information on what was happening to him. He spent hours in Myrdinn's great library of books searching for clues. He finally happened upon a large book that was leather bound.
The book described a beast known as the Flesh Demon. The description of the beast was spot on. As he continued to read, Lugos' symptoms were even more revealing. The creature carried a curse that caused it to constantly hunger for the flesh of humans. The next generation of the curse is passed through it's bite, if the bitten survived. The curse is only known to pass to humanoid creatures. For some reason it couldn't survive in non humanoids, and they simply become ill and would eventually die. But when a person is bitten, it is said that a severe hunger for blood takes hold of them. Once they feed, they continue to hunger for whatever it is that they first fed on. The more they fed the stronger they became. If they do not feed on the kind of their first prey, they become weak almost to the point of death. They would never die from the hunger alone though. It is also said that once the curse has fully taken hold it could be passed on a third time to nearly any creature. The third generation hosts become mindless puppets to their master. One bite and in a matter of hours they would be turned.
"Can you stop it?" Lugos questioned to himself as he continued to read.
The book was not fully translated and the only hint were the words "Ancient Blood".
Lugos began his search for the cure to the curse inside of him. He was beginning to control his hunger. It haunted him constantly but no longer would overtake him.
Lugos stood abruptly snapping out of his daydream like trance. "Bring me the boy's Father!" He yelled. "If I am unable to capture them, I will make them come to me instead." A devious smirk rolled across his face.
A few minutes later two of the minotaurs entered the room dragging Kimball behind them. They brought him over in front of Lugos and dropped him to the ground. "It seems your boy thinks he can run away. Well I guess we'll just have to tell him it's time to come home. Hold him!"
The minotaurs picked Kimball back up and held him firmly in place. Lugos walked up and grabbed his left hand. "Maybe we should send Davin a little message." Lugos took the knife from his belt and held on to Lugos' ring finger. He began to cut through his finger and Kimball let out a cry of pain. With a quick snap he ripped the severed finger from Kimball's hand. He held it out in the palm of his own hand. It still bared a gold band, a sign of his lost love and Davin's mother. "Here. Give this to that worthless imp and tell him to make sure it reaches Davin. I am positive he will pay us a visit once he gets his invitation."
Lugos tossed the finger towards one of the minotaurs that had been holding Kimball. He caught it and rushed out of the room in a hurry. Lugos only smiled a sickening, wicked grin. Then he let out an evil laugh and stormed out of the room. The other minotaur simply dragged Kimball back out of the room and back to where they had been keeping him. Kimball did not struggle and only clenched at his hand as his blood trickled across the floor.
The minotaur that had been instructed to take the gruesome message to the imp, rushed down the halls. He finally caught up to the imp at the entrance to the Keep.
"Imp!" The minotaur shouted. "Master Lugos instructs you to deliver this to the boy with the opal dragon."
The imp sneered at the sound of the task. "That stupid boy will be the death of me." He hissed as he snatched the finger from the minotaur. He stuffed it into a small leather satchel and tied it to his belt. He instantly took flight and headed off back in the direction of Davin and the rest of them.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE MEETING AT SUMMIT RIDGE
The train came to a slow and screeching halt. Steam bellowed out of the engine compartment, colliding with the cold air of the night. They began to hear somebody walking through the snow up to train car. The latch popped and the large door slid open. The train master motioned for the kids to exit the car. It was so cold outside that the train master's breath was like a puff of smoke when he spoke. "Time to get off. We're at Summit Ridge Station. The Inn at the edge of town has some rooms available. They also have stables for bonder guests, so they should be able to accommodate you."
Davin, Chloe and Derrick jumped down from the train car. They sunk down into the snow as they hit the ground. They stood to either side of the cargo doors as their dragons piled out of the car. Steam began rising up from the scales of the dragons as they hit the cold air.
They made their way through the thick snow to the raised platform, towards the main part of the station. Luckily they picked up coats, not knowing the cold they were in for. They were going to have to get warmer clothes. The coats helped some but they were not meant for high altitude weather.
The Inn at the edge of town was a sight to be seen. It was enormous. Most of the town was already quiet for the evening. The only lights that could be seen were from the Inn and a few sparse lights scattered amongst the houses along the mountain side. The Inn was lined with windows looking out from each of the many rooms. The main entrance was large enough to accommodate even the biggest of dragons. They entered the Inn which from the outside seemed quiet like the rest of the town. Once inside though they were greeted by a number of workers. They were all very friendly as they went about their business. The main entryway in the inn was a very large room, filled with elegant furniture for the guests to lounge in. It was divided by a large open stone pathway, which appeared to be polished granite. At the end was a large reception desk with another couple of young female attendants. They walked up to the desk and were again greeted as they had been before.
"Hello. Welcome to Summit Ridge Inn. Were you going to get a room tonight? Are your parents meeting you?"
Derrick stepped up to the counter. "Actually, we are traveling alone. It's just us." He paused for a brief moment as the lady behind the counter began to give him a strange look. "We are on a school trip. We're supposed to be meeting up with the rest of the class, at our next stop." He went on to tell the very understanding lady that they had accidentally boarded the wrong train. He was actually quite a smooth talker and his story was very believable.
"Well. In that case lets get you a room. And how will you be paying?"
Derrick pulled out the fold of bills from his pocket and glanced back up to the lady behind the counter. "Cash."
The lady smiled. "It just so happens that we have a bonder's quarters available. Since you kids are students, I think we can let you use it. It's meant for Trial Teams, so there are four rooms in the suite and stables for the dragons."
"Great how much will it be?"
Luckily Derrick's Dad had been quite generous. The room was rather expensive. After Derrick had counted out the money to the attendant, he still had plenty left over.
Another attendant had come along to show them to their room. "I am sorry, one more thing." Derrick said with a smile. "Where can we get some different clothes? You see, our luggage made it on the right train." He let out a little bit of chuckle.
"There are several stores down the road. But they won't open again until morning. I will see what I can do for you in the meantime." She smiled back at Derick as the second attendant began leading them down the hall to the right of the desk.
They followed the attendant down the long hallway. The walls were lined with doors to different rooms. The kids were amazed at the size of the building. It felt almost as big as the Keep. The attendant stopped at the very end of the hallway and opened the door. "Welcome to the Trial Teams Suite." She said in a kind voice. The three kids and their dragons entered the room and were astonished at the site of it. The room was large with highly lofted ceilings and tall pillars running from floor to ceiling. There was a common area that looked to have been furnished with the most expensive of furniture, a large kitchen and a separate dining area. There was a solid oak table that had several bowls in the center field with just about every kind of fruit you could imagine. In the common area there was a large stone fireplace, surrounded by a large oak mantle. Leading off of the main room were two very large double doors. The attendant walked over and opened them up. It was a stable large enough to hold four full sized dragons. The room was filled with enough feed to sustain the dragons for weeks.
"This is where your dragons will stay." The attendant stepped aside to let the dragons into the room and to the feed. "I will show you the other rooms now." She said as she turned.
The attendant closed the double doors with the dragons inside and continued down a small hallway that had four doors, two on either side. "If there is anything else you need, please don't hesitate to ask." The attendant walked back to the door to the suite and let herself out.
The three bonders immediately sat down at the large table in the kitchen area and Chloe pulled out the books that Lord Eldenwood had lent them. "From the notes it sounds like there's a trail of sorts, that leads down into the valley of the Forgotten Forest just to the east of here. Maybe somebody down in the lobby of the inn knows where it is."
Davin stood up from the table. "Why don't we go down and see if we can find any information. Surely there has to be someone who knows the way."
They left their room and headed back over to the main lobby of the inn. The room was filled with people, all roaming about talking to one another about various topics. They scanned the room looking for a potential guide. They had each picked out a likely candidate to start with.
The first few tries were non successful. They were laughed at when they told the different men where they were planning on going. The kids had been at it for at least an hour, trying to get information from just about anyone, when they heard the front doors to the inn open up and felt the cold air from outside rush in. They turned and their eyes set on a rough looking man who looked to be in his late twenties. He stomped his feet on the floor to knock the snow from his boots. He had a large overcoat that he took off and also shook the snow from. Standing next to him was a large Siberian husky.
The man slowly walked over to the bar area and sat down to order a drink. Another man standing a few seats away hollered at him. "Did you just get back from the Valley again Tristen?" The man laughed as though making fun of him.
The man with the dog did not give a reply. He simply sat quietly as though he hadn't heard the other man and began drinking from the large mug of ale the barkeeper had placed in front of him.
The kids had heard the man say "The Valley" and their eyes lit up. They immediately walked over to the man with the dog. As they approached, the husky began to let out a low growl. They stopped in their tracks as the dog bared it's large white teeth. The man looked over his shoulder at the three kids standing a few feet away. He looked down at the dog. "Quiet Kala." He said with a sharp tone. "Is there something I can do for you kids?"
The dog's attitude towards the kids immediately changed and she became quite friendly, wagging her tail at them. Chloe reached down without any fear and patted the dog on the head. "What a good girl you are."
Davin stepped forward to the man's side. "We heard that other man ask you about returning from the Valley. Was he talking about the Valley of the Forgotten forest?"
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