A Dragon Named Splinter (Dragon Adventure Series 1: Book 1)

by Ben L. Hughes

  Chapter 4

  Over the next few days, Kevin and Emalyn took turns watching over Splinter while she adjusted to living with them in the city. When no one was around, they played games with her, and comforted her whenever she was sad or after a memory fragment raised more questions than it answered.

  “Kevin, I notice some of your stuffed animals look like dragons, and you seem to have a lot of books about dragons... why is that?”

  “I have been fascinated with dragons long before I met you,” Kevin admitted.

  “If you thought we were extinct, then why would you care about us?” Splinter asked, not to be rude, but because she didn’t understand why he would take an interest in a lost race.

  “I don’t know, dragons are cool, and I feel connected to them in some way.”

  “I noticed your mom wears a dragon pendant and your dad has a dragon tattoo on his arm. Do they feel connected to us in some way?” Splinter asked.

  “I’m not sure... my parents are descendants of a tribe called the Celts, and from what I have read, they revered dragons.”

  “Well, that should make it easier for you to tell them about me.”

  “Yeah, I was thinking about doing that pretty soon, since I don’t like to keep things from them. I just wanted to see if your memory would come back first, that way it won’t be an issue if they won’t let you stay,” Kevin remarked.

  “I’ll let you decide when it’s the right time to tell them about me, I just don’t want you to get into trouble is all.”

  “I will take full responsibility for my actions, and accept the punishment if there is one,” Kevin insisted as he changed into his pajamas before getting into bed.

  “I appreciate you and Emalyn helping me,” Splinter remarked as she curled up on the part of his pillow that he wasn’t using.

  “You know you have your own bed,” Kevin smiled.

  “Emalyn lets me sleep next to her when I stay with her.”

  “So she doesn’t mind sleeping next to a dragon with hotdog-breath?” Kevin asked as he tickled her side.

  “My breath is minty fresh, see…” Splinter replied as she exhaled in his face.

  “Why is your breath so fresh?” Kevin asked with a suspicious look.

  “I saw the mint flavored paste in your bathroom, and I tried it.”

  “You’re not supposed to eat that, it’s for brushing your teeth so you don’t get cavities.”

  “Are you sure? It’s pretty tasty stuff.”

  “Please don’t tell me you ate very much of it, otherwise you might get sick,” Kevin asked with a concerned look.

  “No, I only licked a little of it off the brush you squirted it onto,” Splinter admitted.

  “Eew, you licked my toothbrush?”

  “Yeah… I pre-moistened it for you,” Splinter snickered.

  “That’s gross. Now I have to get a new toothbrush and brush them again,” Kevin sighed before heading back into the bathroom.

  When he returned, Splinter had taken most of his pillow, forcing him to make do with the corner of it. He knew he could have moved her over, but she was so darn cute, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

  The next morning, Splinter poked him with her tail to wake him up.

  “I thought dragons liked to sleep in,” Kevin moaned.

  “You’re not going to believe it, but my memory came back!”

  “Really?” Kevin replied as he rubbed the sleep out of his weary eyes.

  “Yeah… and I remember everything that happened to me.”

  “You do?”

  “Yep, but I have to start at the beginning, otherwise it’s not going to make any sense to you.”

  “Okay,” Kevin replied as he sat up in bed and waited for her to begin.

  “Remember when I said that Fire Dragons went extinct… well, the sad truth is that there was a war between them and the humans, and when it ended, so did their reign. I’m not blaming your ancestors, or anyone else, I’m just telling you what happened so you will understand what happened next.”

  “Okay,” Kevin nodded with a look of concern in his pale green eyes.

  “After the war ended, the Water Dragons and Pygmy Dragons agreed to never have any contact with your species from that day forward. It’s known as the universal law of dragons, and that’s why your species thinks that all dragon went extinct after the middle-ages, not just the Fire Dragons.”

  “That makes sense,” Kevin replied.

  “In order to make sure every dragon followed the law, the dragon elders made the penalty for breaking it very harsh. Regrettably, my brother and I got caught breaking the law, and we were taken before the Dragon Council atop Castle Mountain to be sentenced for our crimes. Even though we only broke the law to save another, we were given the full sentence, which seemed unjust. So when the thunderstorm distracted the elders, my brother and I escaped. As fate would have it, the tree that my brother and I hid in was struck by lightning, and the next thing I remember was waking up in your arms.”

  “If going back there puts you in danger, you can stay here with us and no one ever has to know.”

  “I would love to stay with you and Emalyn, but my brother Striker is still out there somewhere, and I can’t just leave him on his own. If he was recaptured, then he will be severely punished for his crimes,” Splinter replied with a look of regret, and fear.

  “If you only broke the law in order to save another dragon, then why would they insist on punishing you?”

  “We didn’t do it to save a dragon,” Splinter admitted. “It was a human child…”

  “What happened?”

  “A little over a week ago my brother and I saw a little boy slip and fall into the lake. At first we thought his parents would come get him when they heard him cry, but he must have hit his head because he didn’t make a sound. When we realized that he was going to drown if we didn’t help him, we immediately flew over and pulled him to the shore. As soon as we got him turned over so he could breathe, he suddenly woke up and saw both of us as clear as day. What we didn’t know at the time was that an elder dragon had also seen what happened and he reported it to the elders. My brother and I tried to explain what we did, but we were still sentenced to death for violating our most important law,” Splinter admitted with a look of shame.

  “You were sentenced to death for saving a child’s life!” Kevin gasped.

  “Dragon laws are few, but strict.”

  “Why weren’t you camouflaged when you went to rescue the little boy?”

  “We were, but our color reactive scales don’t work very well when we get wet, and he clearly saw us after we pulled him out of the water.”

  “So what! No one would ever believe a little boy who claims to have been rescued by two dragons,” Kevin insisted.

  “That’s probably true, but we still broke the law, and we may have altered the future in some unforeseeable way.”

  “Is that what the Dragon Council accused you of?”

  “Yes, they are concerned that one event might ripple out into something terrible, and my brother and I would have caused it,” Splinter admitted.

  “That’s unfair because it assumes you were not supposed to save the child, when in fact that might be exactly want was supposed to happen,” Kevin argued.

  “I hope that’s the case, but it won’t change the fact that we broke our most sacred law, and if they have my brother he will face judgement on the Stone of Punishment come dies Saturni,” Splinter revealed, as her eyes began to tear up.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t know what that means.”

  “Dies Saturni is Latin for Saturday, which is the day of punishment,” Splinter replied as she burrowed her head under his pillow.

  “Don’t worry, Emalyn and I will help you find your brother before it’s too late,” Kevin promised.

  “You would do that for me?” Splinter said as she peeked out at him.

  “Of course, you’re our friend, and friends help each other,” Kevin insisted as
he picked her up and hugged her.

  “I could fly back there tonight, and look for him on my own so you don’t get into trouble for helping me,” Splinter offered.

  “Don’t be silly, we want to help you. At least let me talk to my parents before you go off on your own,” Kevin insisted.

  “What are you going to say?”

  “I’m going to see if they will take us back to the lake for another camp out.”

  “Are you going to tell them about me?”

  “I don’t want to try and explain all this to them until we know that your brother is safe. That way you can stay there with him if they freak-out after realizing dragons are real.”

  “Is that likely to happen?” Splinter asked.

  “I don’t think so, but sometimes adults have a hard time believing in things once they have decided they’re not real. In any case, I need to let Emalyn know what is going on and see if she can come with us if my parents are willing to go back to the lake,” Kevin replied as he texted Emalyn.

  “What did she say?” Splinter asked when she saw his phone light up a moment later.

  “She has permission to go with us, so as soon as my dad gets home from work, I’ll ask him to take us back to the lake.”

  “Thank you so much,” Splinter said as she nuzzled him several times to show her appreciation.

  “You’re welcome,” Kevin replied.

  For the remainder of the day Kevin did what he could to comfort her whenever she seemed anxious or upset. He could tell that she was a very brave dragon, but the thought of losing her brother was clearly weighing on her.

  “Splinter, would a hotdog help pass the time?” Kevin asked when he noticed his dad was running a bit late.

  “Two of them might,” Splinter replied.

  “Alright, I’ll go get you two of them.”

  When Kevin returned, Splinter gulped them down, and when she was done, she flew over to the window so she could look out at the road.

  “I know it’s hard, but try not to worry, my dad will be home any minute and then we’ll have an answer,” Kevin said in a reassuring tone. Splinter nodded and then laid down between two of the stuffed dragons so she could stare out the window without being noticed.

  “Is that him?” she asked when a silver truck pulled into the driveway.

  “It sure is… wait here, and I’ll be right back.” Splinter camouflaged herself and then anxiously waited for him to return.

  “Hi dad, how was your day?” Kevin asked the moment Brian walked in the door.

  “Long and boring, how was yours?”

  “Pretty good,” Kevin replied as he followed his dad into the office.

  “Did you need something?” Brian asked when he noticed Kevin was hovering.

  “I was really, really hoping we could go back to the lake this weekend for another camp out.”

  “It’s kind of short notice.”

  “I know, but this might be our last chance to go camping before school starts.”

  “Did you already ask your mom?”

  “Yeah, and she said it was up to you.”

  “Alright, we’ll go since the trailer is still packed and you and Emalyn had so much fun last time.”

  “You’re the best dad ever… I can’t wait to tell her we’re going camping again.”

  “I would like to get an early start, so would you please tell her that we’re going to leave at seven in morning instead of noon.”

  “I will,” Kevin replied before running up to his room so he could call her, and tell Splinter the good news. The minute he opened the door, Splinter flew into his arms.

  “Have you been eavesdropping?”

  “I can’t help it if dragons have excellent hearing… and I might have peeked out when no one was looking.”

  “I figured as much,” Kevin smiled as he put her down so he could text Emalyn. A split-second later she responded with a smiley face, and Kevin showed it to Splinter.

  “Does that mean she’s coming?” Splinter asked, since she didn’t know what a smiley face meant.

  “She is, and my dad wants to get there early Saturday morning so we should have plenty of time to rescue your brother if they have him.”

  “You have no idea how much this means to me!” Splinter replied as she flew back up into his arms to nuzzle him again.

  “I had no idea dragons were so cuddly,” Kevin chuckled as her little horns tickled the underside of his chin.

  “I’m not being cuddly, I have an itchy spot on my head.”

  “Okay,” Kevin smiled.