Chapter 5
The next day Kevin got up early so he could sneak Splinter into the truck before his dad came out to hook-up the trailer. On his way back, his dad stopped him at the doorway.
“You are awfully eager to go camping,” Brian remarked with a suspicious look.
“It’s my new favorite place.”
“You know, that I know, that you and Emalyn are up to something, right?”
“Dad, we’re kids, of course we’re up to something.”
“Would you mind telling me what that is?”
“It’s nothing bad, we’re just helping a friend in need,” Kevin admitted.
“An imaginary friend, or a real one?”
“Imaginary to you, and real to us,” Kevin smiled.
“Alright, just don’t get into too much trouble or we’ll all have to answer to your mother.”
“We won’t,” Kevin promised as he continued inside to get the rest of his stuff.
When he came back out, Emalyn’s mom had just dropped her off.
“Hi Kevin,” she called out when she saw him.
“Hi Emalyn, you’re early.”
“I know, I didn’t want to risk being late for such an important day.”
“Yeah, I already put you know who in the back seat,” Kevin whispered as he helped Emalyn put her things in the truck before getting in.
When Emalyn saw Kevin’s jacket sitting on the seat between them, she gently patted it and then smiled when she felt Splinter.
“What’s the plan?” Emalyn asked in a low voice.
“Splinter thinks that her brother might have been recaptured and taken back up to the top of Castle Mountain, so we need to get up there as quickly as possible.”
“Won’t he camouflage himself the instant he sees us? It’s not like he’s going to know we’re there to rescue him.”
“Splinter told me that dragons can see colors that we can’t, like infrared. So she will be able to spot him even if we can’t. The reason we’re going up there is so that the other dragons won’t try and capture her, or stop us since we are humans.”
“I hope we find him,” Emalyn replied.
“Shush… here comes my mom and dad.”
“Oh, there you are,” Brian remarked as he glanced at the back seat.
“Yep, we’re ready to go,” Kevin replied.
“I hope we have everything,” he added after Josephine buckled in.
“I’m sure we do… and if not, we’ll still have a fun time,” Josephine smiled.
“That’s true,” Brian remarked as he started the truck and pulled out of the driveway.
It took a little over an hour to get to the lake since the traffic was lighter than usual, which made everyone happy.
“Kevin, can you bring me the crank for the pop-up?” Brian asked after he unhitched the trailer.
“Yeah, where is it?”
“Under the back seat.”
“Okay,” Kevin replied as he handed Emalyn his jacket for safekeeping.
Once the trailer was ready to go, Kevin and Emalyn quickly unpacked their things and made their beds in record time.
“You both seem to be in a bit of a hurry,” Brian remarked.
“That’s because Emalyn and I want to go for a hike before lunch.”
“Okay, but make sure you take your cell phone and some water along.”
“I know… we were just here last week,” Kevin replied as if he already knew what to do.
“Hey, you’re lucky to have parents that care as much as your mom and I do,” Brian glared.
“I’m sorry, we’re just eager to hit the trail.”
“Alright, be safe and make sure you’re back by lunchtime.”
“Okay,” Kevin replied as he and Emalyn grabbed their backpacks and headed out.
As soon as they were out of sight, Splinter flew out of Kevin’s jacket and landed on a large rock just ahead of them.
“We need to hurry, if they have my brother, the sooner we get to him the better.”
“Lead the way, and you can tell us your plan along the way,” Kevin suggested.
“Alright,” Splinter replied as she took to the air. “When we reach the top, I’ll call out for my brother, and if he is there we’ll want to get him and leave as quickly as possible. The faster we act, the less time the elder dragons will have to respond to our rescue.”
“I thought the dragon law prevented them from being seen by us?” Kevin questioned.
“It does, but once they realize you guys are helping me, I doubt that will matter,” Splinter gulped.
“Why not?”
“Because they’re going to know you have already seen a dragon, so seeing them will no longer be a violation of the law.”
“What will they do once they realize we are helping you?” Emalyn asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Will we be in any danger?”
“If they think you are a threat, you could be… perhaps you and Kevin should turn back. You have already helped me more than I can ever repay.”
“I’m not turning back,” Emalyn replied with a determined look on her face.
“Neither am I. You are our friend, and we’re not going to let you go up there all alone.”
“Then promise me that if they start to get aggressive, you’ll turn back with or without me,” Splinter insisted.
“We will,” Kevin promised as he crossed his fingers behind his back.
“Good, I don’t want anything to happen to either of you,” Splinter snorted as she continued up the slope.
When they reached the top of the mountain, Splinter stopped and looked around so Kevin and Emalyn could catch their breath.
“Are the dragons using their camouflage?” Kevin asked after his lungs stopped burning.
“No, I don’t see any dragons at all. They might still be in their dens sleeping, or they may have gone out on a hunt.”
“Where would they be holding your brother if they have him?”
“In one of the abandoned dens on the far side of the peak,” Splinter replied as she started heading over in that direction.
“Striker? Are you up here?” she called out once they reached the area where the old dens were. When there was no reply she poked her head into one of the larger dens and called out his name several more times.
“Maybe they never caught him,” Kevin remarked in an optimistic tone.
“There are a few more abandoned dens across from the Stone of Punishment, but I can’t look,” Splinter admitted in a nervous tone, uncertain if his blood might have already been spilt on it.
“I’ll go,” Kevin offered when he saw the fear and sadness in her eyes.
As soon as Kevin saw that the stone was unsoiled, he turned to call them over, but much to his surprise, Splinter and Emalyn had been encircled by a bunch of angry looking dragons.
“Don’t you dare hurt them!” he yelled out as he hopped up on the stone so he would look more like an adult.
“She has broken the law!” a large blue dragon snapped in return.
“We didn’t come here to fight, we just came for her brother!” Kevin insisted. The blue dragon ignored Kevin’s request and turned his ire towards Splinter.
“Not only have you been seen by these humans, you have brought them to our sanctuary! This is an outrage!” he snorted.
“I just wanted to see my brother,” Splinter replied in a timid voice.
“Bring him out!” the blue dragon ordered so she could see him punished in front of her.
“Let him go!” Kevin ordered when he saw the frightened young dragon being dragged out by his horns.
“You should not even be here!” the blue dragon snarled in disgust. “Our laws are clear, and their crimes must be paid for in blood!”
“If you let them go, I will stay and pay for their crimes with mine!” Kevin promised.
“You’re bluffing!” the blue dragon laughed in disbelief.
“I am not!” Kevin replied as
he pulled out his pocketknife and extended the blade.
“No human would ever sacrifice themself for a dragon.”
“Splinter and her brother saved a drowning boy, and if they were willing to risk their lives to save one of us, then I am willing to do the same for them,” Kevin insisted as he pressed the knife against his flesh.
“No, don’t do it!” Splinter cried out. “My brother and I broke the law, and we’ll pay for our crimes!”
“I won’t let you be killed for saving a child!” Kevin insisted as a drop of blood ran down his blade and onto the stone at his feet.
“Wait!” the blue dragon interrupted. “Are you really willing to trade your blood for theirs?”
“I am!” Kevin replied as his light green eyes started to tear up from the fear of what he was about to do.
“You know that your blood must be spilled on the Stone of Punishment,” the blue dragon insisted.
“I do, and if you let them go, I will take their place and their punishment,” Kevin promised as another drop of blood ran down the edge of the blade.
“Very well, let them go,” the blue ordered. Emalyn burst into tears, and then ran over to Kevin to try and convince him not to do it.
“Let’s just run for it,” she whispered into his ear.
“There are too many of them to risk it.”
“No, you can’t do this… your parents will never forgive me, and I will never forgive you,” Emalyn sobbed.
“I know it’s hard to understand, but this is what my heart is telling me to do, and there is another deeper feeling that I just can’t shake. It’s like the voice of destiny calling me to protect them,” Kevin admitted.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you have to go before they change their minds and try to punish us all,” Kevin insisted.
“Alright,” Emalyn reluctantly agreed as she wiped the tears from her face.
“You are my best friend, and I care about you more than you can ever know,” Kevin whispered before he pushed her away.
“I will never forget you,” Emalyn replied as she turned to leave. It was the most difficult few steps she had ever had to take, but she knew he was right. Striker and Splinter had saved a life, and if Kevin wanted to repay them with his, it wasn’t her place to try and stop him. The best she could do was take them with her, and protect them as he would have.
“I must admit that I did not think you would honor your word,” the blue dragon remarked after Emalyn and the dragons had disappeared from sight.
“I’m not afraid to die for something I believe in,” Kevin replied as he held back his tears.
“You are a very brave boy, and few are willing to do what you just did.”
“They were my friends, and they didn’t deserve to die for what they had done.”
“And neither do you, which is why I’m letting you go,” the blue dragon replied.
“You’re letting me go?” Kevin asked as if he didn’t hear him correctly.
“I never said you had to give your life for theirs, I only said your blood had to be spilt on the Stone of Punishment, which it has,” the blue dragon insisted as he pointed at the crimson stain at Kevin’s feet.
“I can go right now?” Kevin asked, stunned by what he said.
“Yes, you have honored your promise, and I have no desire to take the life of one who has yet to fulfill their true destiny.”
“Thank you” Kevin sighed in relief as he quickly put his knife back into his pocket and stepped down from the stone.
“You have a gift young man, don’t waste it,” the blue dragon warned as he and the other dragons moved out of the way so that Kevin could leave.
“I won’t,” Kevin replied as he ran after his friends. Whatever the gift was, it had just saved his life, and he wasn’t about to question it.
“Wait for me!” he shouted out when he saw Emalyn and the dragons making their way back through the boulder field.
“How did you escape?” Emalyn cried out with a look of shock and amazement.
“I didn’t, the blue dragon just let me go.”
“He did what!” she asked as if it was the most unbelievable thing that had ever happened.
“After a few drops of my blood fell on the Stone of Punishment, he said I could leave. Apparently that was all that was needed to fulfill my promise to him.”
“So he was just testing you to make sure you were really willing to trade you life for the dragons?”
“I guess so, and once he realized I was, he let me go.”
“Does that mean we can adopt a dragon?” Emalyn asked as she reached down and picked up Striker.
“If they will let us,” Kevin replied. Splinter immediately flew into his arms and nuzzled him, while her brother licked Emalyn on the cheek so that she would know he wanted to stay with her.
About the Series
The Dragon Adventure Series was inspired by my son and his room filled with dragon art, books, and posters honoring the beloved creatures. In addition, my family’s surname is of Welsh origin, so it seemed fitting to incorporate the Welsh dragon, Y Ddraig Goch into the storyline. I changed his name to Draig Gogh to make is easier to pronounce, and then added a host of friends to make the adventure come alive.
The rich mining history and unique geographical locations used in this series are inspired by real events and locations in Colorado, Wales, and Ireland. Some of the location names have been modified to fit the story, but anyone looking at a map should be able to identify their origin.
My hope is that this series will ignite the imagination of young readers and anyone else who loves dragons as much as my family does. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the email address below, and I will make every effort to reply back.
Thanks again,
Ben L. Hughes
Email: [email protected]
A Dragon Named Splinter (Dragon Adventure Series 1: Book 1) Page 5