Dragon's Quest (Dragon Princes Book 1)

by Cyci Cade

  “I hate that woman; I hate this place,” she complained to herself in a low voice, twisted the floor cloth on the pole, threw the cleaner on the floor and cleaned the tiles. She had to repeat that action several times to clean the entire dining hall, and no matter how much cleaner she used, that floor seemed always dirty.

  Samantha entered the kitchen; the roasted beef aroma hit her nose with a blast. Since Sam’s abduction she hadn’t eat roasted beef. That was Jin Quan´s lunch. He ate the best meal of the world while they ate tinned meat or something just as distasteful.

  Fury brewed up fast inside her; she scrubbed the floor and table, always keeping an eye on the cook and the food she put on the table. Roasted beef sliced with mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, gravy, and rice, sliced cake covered with chocolate. Yummy!

  In the cupboard, Sam found plastic food containers. While she dusted the cupboard with her dust cloth, she put aside some of them and waited for an opportunity to fill them with Jin Quan´s meal.

  Today we´ll eat the best food in the world. We’ll eat like princesses.

  The cook left. Sam grabbed the plastic food containers and ran to the table. She filled one with slices of roasted beef, another with vegetables, and another one with slices of cake. She hid the food in the bag and darted out of the kitchen before the cook returned.

  Helen would have the party she deserved. Sam had got a great meal, Jin Quan´s meal, she tittered. Samantha had become a vindictive girl, every night she promised herself that one day she´d be capable of making that obnoxious man pay for everything he had done to her and all those girls, it was just the beginning.

  While Sam walked back to her room she met Mary, a bad surprise. Mary stopped her and approached, she looked older than she really was. Mary´s gray hair and wrinkled face showed ten years more. Even in ten years nobody aged so quickly like her, at least it was what Sam thought.

  “Where are you going?” Mary inquired, revealing her yellow and disgusting teeth.

  “I finished the kitchen, and I´m going to clean my room.” Sam sniffed the roasted beef aroma and froze; in seconds that corridor would to smell like kitchen.

  “No. I have another job for you. To clean Mr. Jin Quan´s office,” Mary demanded.

  Anything but that, Sam thought. “I´ll get the other liquids to clean his office.”

  She spun on her heels to return to the service room, but Mary blocked her way, held her arm, and dragged her upstairs, standing Sam in front of Jin Quan´s office.

  Sam gulped, stared at Mary who waited with crossed arms; as Sam kept immobile, Mary knocked, opened the door, and entered. The minute she stepped in the office Mary had gone as if she wasn´t there.

  She marveled at such luxurious furniture, pictures, soft carpet… The meal aroma reminded her about the urgency of leaving that place. She hurried to clean the office, that food hidden in the bucket smelled so strong that the aroma flooded the room. She´d be discovered, she didn´t know how Mary didn´t sense the aroma. It was only luck, but this kind of thing only happened once, Sam was taking advantage of God´s protection.

  When she had finished and walked to pick up the buckets near the door, a handsome oriental man came into the office and stopped for an instant facing her. He seemed younger than Mary. Impossible! His hair was black, cut a little above the ears and combed back in a strange way. He wore oriental garments made from shiny, colored fabric.

  “Sorry; I cleaned the office, I´m leaving,” Sam lowered her head and stammered.

  “Wait.” Jin Quan drew near. “What´s your name?” He looked at her from top to bottom.

  “Samantha,” she answered, stopping breathing; her body trembled when he touched her face and came close.

  He was so close that Sam smelled his scent. His soft hand stroked her face. He had a malicious smile on his face, and she wondered what ideas he had in his mind. Her heart stopped for a minute while she imagined what he could do to her.

  “You have a different beauty.” Jin Quan lifted her chin, turned it to the sides and grinned while he studied her features. “I have never seen so beautiful a woman. How old are you?” His gaze left her face and lowered to her body.

  Samantha felt completely naked under his glance. “Eighteen,” she answered.

  She wanted to cry and vomit; her stomach lurched in front of that disgusting situation. She felt her skin tingle against his hot fingertips. That was an unusual sensation, she couldn´t explain her feelings.

  Jin Quan stroked her face again; his eyes shone and seemed full of desire. “Very good.” He expressed his satisfaction with a grin. “Dismissed.” His eyes raced over her body covering every inch of it; he looked her up and down from top to bottom once more.

  With his eyes locked on her body´s movements Sam bent down to grab the buckets. She opened the door and ran from his office. Tears came in abundance and left her cheeks wet; her steamed up eyes made her go the wrong way to her room, taking longer to arrive there.

  She could feel his fingers sliding on her skin; that demon had touched her, desecrated her, yes, because her body was sacred to Sam. She had never thought she´d live in so uncomfortable a situation. For a moment she guessed he would kiss her or do something worse to her. She saw excitement in those eyes, black like a night without moonlight.

  Why did Mary send her to that awful place? Where was the girl responsible for that job? Why did he dismiss her? She thought she wouldn´t leave that place until… he had a purpose. Samantha ran before the demon could change his mind and appear in the corridor, calling her back. She saw it in his eyes; it was just a matter of time.

  Chapter 12

  Fu Chow

  Fu Chow finished packing, dressed in a heavy wool and fur coat and then left the house to search for the lost dragon. Wei, in his dragon shape, joined his master; his expression was unfamiliar. Certainly, Wei couldn´t figure out how important this mission was. His future depended on their success, on finding the other dragon.

  “Are you ready? It is a long journey, the farther we get to travel the better to reach our goal, but don´t push yourself hard, if you are tired you must look for a shelter and land.” Fu Chow shouldered the bag and gave a last look at the house they had lived in for so many years. In their routine, they were happy in that place; however, it was time to face the unknown and see what fate destiny had prepared for them.

  “I can fly for hours and when I am tired I glide, we can cover great distances just gliding. Did you know that?” Wei told him with an air of superiority and crouched.

  Fu Chow shook his hands and approached him to mount. “When we land you teach me some lessons about dragon´s flight. Let´s go or it will be dark and we´ll still be here talking about banal things.” He stepped on the dragon´s leg and jumped onto his back.

  “Banal things to you who cannot fly, you should be grateful for my knowledge and that it will provide a safe trip.” Strange sounds came from Wei, something that Fu Chow identified as laugher. “Traveler on board. Hold on tight, I´m taking off.”

  “Stop playing…” Fu Chow tried to reprimand Wei, but the dragon flapped his wings fiercely and made the master put all his strength in his hands to remain on the dragon´s back.

  When the dragon stopped the acrobatics and flew across Belukha Mountain toward Pakistan, Wei offered Fu Chow the most beautiful scenery he had ever seen. Despite the cold, he marveled at the views and couldn´t close his eyes, even with the cold air burning them.

  “How can you complain with this view?” Fu Chow stopped briefly to get some air. “I should complain locked inside that house for so many years. This view is magnificent.”

  “You know my complaints,” the dragon´s voice rose.

  “Yes. I know, but you have had a good life here, not the best…” A gust of wind interrupted Fu Chow, threw him off the dragon´s back into a free-fall into the void below.

  The heavy bag dragged him down fast, the distance between Fu Chow and Wei increased rapidly. He tried to yell, his voice froze, stuck in his
throat; no sound came out. His lungs were collapsing; soon, it became hard work to keep breathing, his senses abandoning him, the low temperature turning his body solid like a block of ice.

  Wei was right, to fly wasn´t a banal thing, and it seemed that Fu Chow might die without saying it to the young dragon. If he died, who would help these guys recover their lives and family? It wasn´t his time yet. He had a lot of jobs to complete before his life ended. How could he save himself locked in a paralyzed body with only his mind working?

  Fu Chow´s body jolted, firm and careful claws gripped him. The dragon cradled the old, feeble man on his belly and warmed him. As Wei inhaled the air, his belly became a heating system, soon Fu Chow´s breathing normalized and he was able to regain his senses.

  Wei increased the speed. Fu Chow felt detached; his mind was far away from that place. He´d be in a mode of self-defense while he refilled his energy. For long hours the only sound he heard was the cracking of the wings cutting the air, when the dragon glided, silence fell over them.

  Fu Chow was sleepy because of the silence and the sundown, his eyes blinked several times when he realized that they were crossing the China/Pakistan boundary. Wei should land and look for a shelter; instead, he waved his wings and continued their journey. Fu Chow opened his mouth to dissent, but kept quiet thinking that in this case, Wei ought to know what to do better than he. Wei didn´t need the same time to rest like an old man. He had said he could cover great distances only gliding, at that moment the air was in their favor and pulled them ahead. Wei only needed to maintain balance and guide their direction.

  At night they landed on the edge of the Arabian Sea. Wei folded his wings and returned to the human form. He held his masters arm and helped him to sit. Fu Chow’s legs became uncontrollable, weak, and shaky.

  “Thank you.” Fu Chow tapped Wei´s hand thinking he would never again be able to manage his own body. His muscles had stiffened and stuck in that position, he could barely move his legs to walk a few steps.

  “How are you? It isn´t allowed to get off during the flight.” Wei joked but kept a serious expression.

  “Ha, ha. Very funny.” Fu Chow laughed sarcastically; at least he was still able to laugh. “I almost died, and you stand here making fun of me. It is disrespectful; I taught you in a different way.” He shook his index finger in Wei´s face.

  Wei put his hands together in front of his chest and bowed. “I am sorry, master. It wasn´t my intention to be disrespectful.” Wei took the bag of Fu Chow´s back. “Can we set camp here?”

  “I think so. These rocks will keep us safe and I need to rest some hours. I will prepare our meal and…”

  Wei held Fu Chow´s hands and interrupted him, “Let me take care of you.”

  Fu Chow grinned and nodded. He moved his knees up and down to warm up his muscles and then the arms, his entire body had trigger points that throbbed and reflected in other parts.

  Wei made a fire, heated the meal, put up a tent, and in an hour he fell asleep sprawled on the sand, exhausted. His chest moved quickly and, as he turned to the sides, his long, untied, black hair covered part of his face.

  The fire clicked; Fu Chow threw some logs onto keep it burning, put a quilt over Wei and lay down on the sand. He was so tired. Only then did he realize that the mission would require more than he could offer; he had only one option, follow the plan.

  The first sun´s rays of the morning roused the travelers, after a short period of reflection, they continued their journey from the beach, crossed the Iranian boundary and the Gulf of Oman to Saudi Arabia. In a couple of hours they found the Saudi Arabian desert Rub´ al Kali.

  They stopped in a river before entering the arid region, filled bottles of water, ate, and rested a little. “Rub´ al Kali is the largest area of continuous sand in the world and occupies more than one-quarter of Saudi Arabia.” Fu Chow showed the desert on the map and explained how inhospitable that territory was. “In the west the elevation is at two thousand feet while in the east the elevation drops to six hundred feet with sand dunes, salt flats, and sand sheets. It is one of the driest regions in the world, virtually uninhabited and unexplored.” He summarized the history. He could speak for hours about the desert and make a list with pros and cons, but they had to cross it anyway, so it was pointless to waste time with this.

  Wei gulped a great amount of water, kept quiet, thoughtful, and fanned his tail. He looked at the horizon and the endless territory covered with sand. Maybe the dragon imagined which kind of dangers he had to face to get the other side. Maybe he also had a list with pros and cons, and at that instant considered it carefully.

  Fu Chow followed Wei´s glance, a river mirage formed some feet ahead. It shone and waved as the sunlight reflected on the sand. He stared at Wei, tried to interpret his features, though it was difficult to read a dragon´s face, so he asked, “Do you want to stay here until tomorrow morning?”

  “No. It isn´t a good place to camp; we should leave right away.” Wei paced back and forth. “I am ready.”

  “Let´s go then; I am prepared.” Fu Chow slung the bag on his back and mounted the dragon without wasting time and wondering when he became a liar. He wasn´t prepared. However, Wei had to believe he was.

  They flew across the desert, in a couple of hours the dry wind hitting them. Fu Chow pulled his scarf and covered his eyes, nose, and mouth. Once in a while he peeped out and checked the weather. Wei waved his wings fiercely, attempting to press ahead and find a shelter, but the wind became stronger, its speed increased without warning.

  “It is a sand storm, we need a shelter,” Fu Chow screamed and clung to the dragon´s scales.

  “You didn´t say anything about sand storms. Did you forget?” Wei grunted, his body tense; he made an enormous effort to keep flying.

  “It is not common in this part of the desert,” Fu Chow stammered, his knuckles white and red holding tightly around the dragon´s scales and his grip already weakening. He didn´t know for how long he would be able to support himself.

  Wei reached the ground; unable to find a shelter, they had to camp in the middle of the storm. Fu Chow got off, sat on the sand, grabbed his knees, pulled them against his chest and hid his face on his knees. Wei crouched down over Fu Chow, folded his wings, dug his talons into the sand and curled his neck and tail around his body making a cocoon.

  Everything became dark. Fu Chow only heard the gust´s whistle. “Wei, be strong my boy,” he whispered; it sounded like a prayer.

  Fu Chow sensed Wei´s distress in the storm and his determination to protect his master. Fu Chow wished he could help the dragon or be able to protect himself; he depended on Wei to survive. All these years, Wei kept him alive, not the opposite as he insinuated many times. He was proud thinking that Wei lived because of him, big mistake. Probably, Fu Chow still breathed because of Wei´s presence.

  Wei´s body shivered; the gust of wind lifted the dragon´s talons out of the sand, his wings unfurled. The dragon fought against it, tried to fold his wings and dig his talons into the sand again, in vain; the wind was taking him away from Fu Chow. Wei rolled on the dust and disappeared in seconds.

  The wind hit the old man too, lifting his body and dragging him. He went across the dunes in a spiral motion for many feet then slumped on the sand´s mattress with a thump so loud it could be heard even in a sand storm. He rolled; his backpack hit his back and pushed him with force against the ground.

  When would the storm cease? It wasn´t their fate. How many dangers might they face to locate the other dragon? That journey reached an unbearable level. How unfair this life had been with them. Where was Wei? Would he have survived? He hoped so.

  Fu Chow woke up with the dragon´s puff on his face. Wei blinked, showed an odd expression and a big question mark in his face. He was unsure about what to do and maybe afraid of turning to the human form in that hostile place. The old man opened his mouth. Before he said any word, Wei gripped him and took off carrying him.

  Fu Chow felt t
hat the dragon was unable to wave his wings in the same manner, he had been hurt; however, the dragon flew fast across the desert. How painful was it for him? Wei was determined to take them out of that place and didn´t rest. He flew all day, night, another day; glided a little bit and then flapped his wings sturdily. His breath grew short and shallow; the dry air carried a great amount of dust into his lungs. His lungs burned and demanded water, Fu Chow assumed, and the only water was in a couple of bottles which wasn´t enough for a huge dragon.

  Fu Chow was fading, losing consciousness for brief moments then returning; his eyes insisted on remaining closed even though he fought to keep them open. When he saw they were leaving the desert, he rubbed his eyes, blinked several times and thought that the small lake ahead was an optical illusion. Wei had got them across the arid land.

  Wei glided, started the landing procedures, but something went wrong. He couldn´t keep balance and decelerate; the collision would be inevitable. Wei was unconscious. They lost controlled flight and went into a spiral motion toward the ground in a fast, uncontrolled descent, to crash on the field and slide for some feet.

  The moment they touched the ground Fu Chow flew off Wei’s back. A clammy mix of blood and sand covered his body; his legs became numb. He spat out the sand stuck in his throat and crawled to the collapsed dragon.

  Wei´s chest didn’t move, no sign of breath, heartbeat, life, anything. Fu Chow tapped the dragon´s face. “Wei, wake up. Turn to human shape.”

  He grabbed a bottle and poured the water in Wei´s mouth; he repeated that action until the bottle was empty and then he trudged to the lake, refilled the bottles several times, tried to save his pupil. Wei remained motionless. Exhausted, Fu Chow collapsed next to the dragon and waged an inner combat for life shrouded by death and darkness.

  He couldn´t accept Wei´s demise; it wasn´t supposed to be. He had done as the Great Dragon had ordered, what had gone wrong? Where had Fu Chow made a mistake? He searched his memories, feasible answers passed through his mind, but it didn´t matter anymore, that was the end of their journey.