The Dragon Princess

by E. D. Baker

  Nine

  It was late afternoon when Millie woke to the smell of sizzling fish and campfire smoke. Francis was squatting beside the fire, turning the stick on which he’d skewered a medium-sized trout. She watched him for a minute, thinking about how nice it was that he had come. She could have made the trip by herself, but having friends along made it more of an adventure and less of a chore.

  Francis turned his head and caught her looking at him. “You’re awake. Good. Breakfast is almost ready. Are you hungry?”

  “I’m starving,” she said. “I feel like I haven’t eaten for days.”

  “Zoë said the cave was in that direction,” said Francis, pointing to the east. “I thought we’d eat, then try to find it. We can get an earlier start that way. I was kind of hoping that if we left early enough, we might be able to lose Simon-Leo. If that cave isn’t very far from here, we could get a good head start before the sun sets.”

  “That isn’t very nice,” said Millie. “He really does want to go with us, but having a troll along …”

  “I knew you’d agree,” said Francis. “Telling him we didn’t want him with us didn’t work. Maybe this will. And I’ve been thinking … I know you want to be back at your grandparents’ castle before your parents return and, well, so do I. My parents are going to be mad when they hear that we went off without telling anyone, but it won’t be so bad if we’re already back when they hear about it.”

  “We’ll do our best,” said Millie. “If you want, we can eat while we walk.”

  “Good idea,” he said, handing her one of the sticks. “Now, do you want to figure out which way they went or should I get my dragon scale?”

  “I’ll do it,” said Millie. “All I have to do is think about it really hard, and it is easier if I’m looking for a place rather than an object. But don’t ask me to find people yet. I’m still not very good at that. And don’t talk to me while I’m doing this. I’ve never seen this cave, so it might be a little tricky.”

  “You sure have a lot of restrictions,” said her cousin.

  “Francis!”

  “Sorry.”

  Closing her eyes, Millie turned to the east and thought about a cave. Because she couldn’t picture a cave she hadn’t seen, she imagined something cool and dark with stone and dirt all around it. She cast her thoughts out and down, because it was sure to be underground. Ah, there was something. Keeping the image of a cave in her mind, Millie opened her eyes and began to walk. “You’d better keep up,” she told Francis. “This isn’t easy, you know.”

  “I should have used that scale,” Francis muttered.

  Although it was sunny when they started out, clouds soon turned the sky dark. Millie lost track of time, but they had been walking for at least half an hour when they reached the edge of a bog.

  “Are you sure we’re going the right way?” asked Francis. “This doesn’t look like the kind of place you’d find a cave.”

  “This is it,” said Millie, sounding more confident than she felt. “Just a little bit farther.”

  As they entered the bog, the ground grew softer beneath their feet and they had to pay more attention to where they walked. Although some people might have been hesitant to enter a bog when night was approaching, the land reminded Millie of the swamp behind her family’s castle and she wasn’t the least bit afraid. The sun set while they were walking, and with the clouds blocking the moon and stars, they had little light to see by. Millie let her dragon sense take over and continued on without slowing. She heard Francis murmur something under his breath and knew that he was using a spell to help him see.

  Soon Millie saw a light flickering in the distance. It drew closer, but she ignored it, for she had a good idea what it might be. It wasn’t long before Francis saw it as well. Touching her arm, he pointed to the light, saying, “It looks like we have company.”

  “Will-of-the-wisp,” said Millie. “Don’t pay it any attention and it will go away. All they want to do is lead us astray and abandon us in some perilous situation.”

  “I know,” said Francis. “They’ve been banished from Greater Greensward for years.”

  Millie kept following her dragon sense, forging a path through the bog, but the will-of-the-wisp began to zigzag in front of them, trying to attract their attention. Eventually, it came so close that Millie could almost see the shadow figure carrying the light.

  “Where’s this cave, anyway?” asked Francis. “It’s a lot farther than I expected it to be.”

  “We should be right on top of it,” said Millie. “It feels like it’s under us now. Look around and see if you can find an opening.”

  When they finally found the cave, it was more like a hole than the image Millie had carried in her mind. Its sole entrance was at the base of a small swell in the ground and it went down and back from there. The space inside was only about three feet high and four feet deep, not nearly big enough for a troll.

  “There must be another cave somewhere around here,” said Millie. “No troll as big as Simon-Leo could have fit in this.”

  “Why don’t you try finding Zoë?” said Francis.

  “I told you that my dragon sense doesn’t work very well when I look for people.”

  “So?” said Francis. “I don’t think this worked all that well, either.”

  “But I can’t just … I mean, I might … Oh, all right. I’ll give it a try.” This time, when Millie closed her eyes, she pictured her friend Zoë as a bat. Her dragon sense was a little hazy at first, but after a minute or so she began to feel as if she might know where to find her.

  “I think she’s in that direction,” she said.

  “You mean where the will-of-the-wisp lights are headed?” asked Francis.

  “No … Oh, wait … Yes, I guess so. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence,” she said, watching the lights float across the bog. There were more of them now and they all seemed to be heading in the same general direction, which just happened to be the way Millie wanted to go.

  They fell in line behind the lights, following them around sinkholes and puddles that looked shallow, but that Millie could sense were treacherously deep. Then another set of lights appeared, angling across the bog to intersect the lights that she and Francis were following. Millie had a feeling of foreboding as the second set approached, as if some real danger was coming to meet them. She had just caught the sound of something large stomping through the muck when suddenly all the lights flared, showing them an angry two-headed troll and a bat only yards away. For a moment Millie could hear the shadow figures laughing, then the lights went out all at the same time and she and her friends were left in the dark.

  “It’s about time you showed up!” exclaimed Simon. “Those little nits have been leading us all over this quagmire, doing their best to get us lost.”

  “I told you not to follow them,” said Zoë. “It doesn’t matter how much you threaten them; will-of-the-wisps are never going to take you where you want to go.”

  “When I get my hands on them, I’m going to rip their heads off and stuff them down their necks!” growled Leo.

  “I don’t know if they have necks,” said Francis. “Or heads, for that matter.”

  “Watch it, pipsqueak,” said Leo. “I’m not in the mood for jokes.”

  “What happened, did you wake up on the wrong side of the rock?” Francis asked.

  “Uh, gentlemen,” said Millie.

  “He’s just in a bad mood ’cause the cave was kind of small,” said Zoë.

  “I’ve seen rat holes bigger than that,” said Leo. “I had to spend an entire day rolled up in a ball so the sun couldn’t reach any of my valuable body parts and turn them to stone. My back is killing me.”

  “It’s my back, too,” said Simon. “But my neck hurts worse than my back.”

  “I bet my neck hurts worse than yours does,” Leo said.

  The grass rustled. Millie could sense the presence of the will-of-the-wisps, watching and waiting for something bad to happ
en. She had heard that they enjoyed witnessing other people’s pain and suffering, which is why they liked to lead people astray. They couldn’t have known that she and Francis knew Simon-Leo and had been looking for him all along. Because the will-of-the-wisps were probably expecting some sort of fight, it was the last thing she wanted to give them, so it irritated her that her friends wouldn’t stop arguing.

  The pressure was starting to build up behind her eyes when Millie tried again, “Everybody, this isn’t getting us—”

  “Simon and Leo have been whining like that all day,” said Zoë.

  “I’d hold my tongue if I were you, bug breath,” said Leo. “You should have told me how far it was to that cave.”

  “And how small,” added Simon.

  Leo grumbled, “I have half a mind to …”

  “You have half a mind, period,” said his other head.

  “I tried to tell you—,” Zoë began.

  “Please stop arguing,” said Millie. “This isn’t—”

  “Don’t you try to tell us what to do,” said Simon, with an edge to his voice. “You soft skins think you’re so much better than trolls, but let me tell you—”

  The pressure behind her eyes was getting worse, but Millie was trying not to give in to it. “I never said we were better than—”

  “You don’t have to say it,” said Leo. “We’ve seen the way you look at us. That goes for you, too, baby wizard. You think you’re something special, but your magic is no match for my strength!”

  Francis muttered and a ball of fire flared to life on his palm. Although it was small, the ball was big enough to light up the bog around them. Simon-Leo was crouched on the other side of a puddle, all four eyes reflecting red in the firelight. Zoë darted back and forth between her friends, too agitated to land.

  “Care to test that theory?” asked Francis.

  “That’s enough!” Millie roared, the transformation already begun. She felt her scaled feet sink into the squishy ground and the cool night breeze ruffle the edges of her wings as she rose up on her hind legs to tower above her friends. The will-of-the-wisps’ whispers of fear were so soft that she almost didn’t hear them.

  Although Leo’s eyes never left Francis, Simon glanced at Millie and froze. “Leo,” he said, “I think you should look over here.”

  “Why? Francis is just … Whoa!” Leo said. “Did you do that, wizard boy? ’Cause if you did, you’re better than I thought. Last time you just made dragon sounds. This looks like a real dragon!”

  “I am a real dragon,” Millie said, shaking out her wings. “I’m also Millie and I did this to myself. I wouldn’t be so quick to disparage soft skins, Simon.”

  Lights flickered back to life as the will-of-the-wisps edged away from the dragon that Millie had become. She turned and looked out into the dark, seeing all the shadow figures, including the ones that weren’t carrying lights. Taking a deep breath, Millie exhaled a long tongue of flame that sent them scurrying across the bog.

  “Now,” she said, turning back to her friends, “maybe we can get going before someone else tries to use us against one another.”

  Ten

  With Millie guiding them, the four were soon out of the bog and headed in the right direction. She waited until she was sure they were safe, then told the others that she wanted to see what lay ahead, and took off into the night sky. After circling over them once … twice … she flew over the countryside, exulting in the sense of freedom it gave her.

  The land beyond the bog was lightly forested, with enough rolling hills to make it interesting. Here and there a village nestled among the trees, giving proof that humans could scratch out a living even this close to the Icy North. As the rolling land became the foothills of the next mountain range, Millie turned around, intent on rejoining her friends. The sun was already warming the ground when she landed and turned back into a human; her solo flight had given her the peace of mind she needed to return to her human form.

  “Where’s Simon-Leo?” she asked Francis and Zoë, who were resting sprawl-legged and weary beside a narrow stream. Zoë was a human again and had dark circles under her eyes.

  “I found him a cave to sleep in,” Zoë said, yawning.

  “Don’t you want to sleep in a cave?” asked Millie.

  Zoë shook her head. “I’m staying with you this time. Simon and Leo snore like giants grinding rocks into sand. I hardly got any sleep yesterday.”

  “We’re going to rest for a while and then get started again. Maybe we can lose the troll this time,” Francis murmured as he closed his eyes.

  Millie sighed. She would already be talking to the Blue Witch if she’d gone alone as a dragon. Having her friends along was great and she appreciated that they wanted to help her, but it also meant that her trip was taking a lot longer than she’d intended.

  The rumbling of her stomach reminded Millie just how long it had been since she’d eaten. She remembered how Francis had caught and cooked fish for their breakfast the day before, and not feeling as tired as her friends, she decided to return the favor. She’d watched boys fishing in the river back home, and she knew that they used long sticks with strings on the end. It seemed easy enough, so she went in search of a stick while her friends rested. After tying a thread from the hem of her skirt onto the stick, she made herself comfortable on the bank of the stream. Millie dipped the string into the water and waited. When a dragonfly darted close to inspect her, she remained perfectly still. She watched a squirrel jump from one tree to another, sending a leaf spiraling down to settle on the surface of the water. Then something small and furtive rustled in the underbrush on the other side of the stream.

  “Caught anything yet?” Zoë asked, suddenly appearing at her side. Even though Millie was used to how silently her friend could move, it was still a little unnerving.

  “Not yet,” Millie said, glancing up.

  Zoë sat down beside her. “I’ve never fished before. Is it fun?”

  “Want to try it?” asked Millie, and handed her the stick.

  They sat there in companionable silence for a few minutes, waiting for something to happen. Millie was getting bored by the time Francis came to join them, yawning until his jaw made a cracking sound. They still hadn’t had a nibble.

  “I wanted to catch breakfast, but I don’t think there are any fish in this stream,” said Millie as Francis sat down between her and Zoë.

  “What are you using for bait?” he asked. Taking the stick from Zoë’s hand, Francis lifted the string out of the water. “What the … You don’t even have a hook. How do you think you’re going to catch a fish on a string?”

  Millie didn’t like the way he was looking at her. “You did,” she said, and tried to snatch the stick back from him.

  Francis held it out of reach and laughed. “I had a hook and bait. You don’t know anything about fishing, do you?”

  “We were just trying to do something nice,” said Zoë.

  “That’s what I get for traveling with two princesses. Neither of you knows how to do anything practical.”

  “All right, Lord Smarty, since you know everything, why don’t you catch our breakfast?” said Millie.

  “You won’t have to do that,” said a voice from the other side of the stream, and then two boys stepped out of the underbrush. “I’m Seth,” said the older boy, who couldn’t have been more than ten years old. With his blond hair and high cheekbones, he reminded Millie of Zoë’s brother Vlad. If the boy hadn’t had such rosy cheeks, she would have wondered if he was a vampire as well. “This here is my brother, Johnny,” he said, pointing to the other boy, who appeared to be a few years younger. “Our village isn’t far from here. If you come with us, we can get you a good hot meal.”

  “And why would you want to invite three strangers to your village like that?” said Francis. “For all you know, we could be cutthroats.”

  “Or witches,” said Zoë.

  “Or vampires,” said Millie.

  “Naw,” sai
d Seth. “We saw you sleeping. You didn’t take turns keeping watch, and any cutthroat worth his salt would have known to do that.”

  “And witches would have used magic to make their breakfast,” said Johnny. “And vampires would want to drink blood, not eat fish.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Francis said, looking solemn. “But you still haven’t explained why you would invite us to a meal.”

  Seth glanced at his brother, then back at Francis. “We don’t get many strangers around here. We like to hear news from the rest of the kingdom.”

  Johnny nodded. “Do you know any stories about brave knights? Or wizards with real magic?”

  “I know a few,” said Francis, looking more than a little smug.

  “Then you’ve got to come with us!” said Seth. “Our pa would be mad if we didn’t bring you back.”

  “The whole village will want to hear your stories,” added Johnny.

  “In that case, we won’t want to disappoint them,” Francis said, dropping the stick on the ground.

  Seth crowed with delight. The two boys crashed through the underbrush, then crossed the stream, hopping from stone to stone.

  “I’m not so sure that this is a good idea,” Millie whispered to Zoë. “We don’t know anything about these people.”

  “I’m too tired to worry about it,” replied Zoë. “They’re ordinary boys, Millie. They don’t have bushy eyebrows like werewolves or the lingering smell of vampires; I would recognize that right away. I really don’t think two witches and a vampire need to be afraid of ordinary people. What could they possibly do to us? You and Francis will have a nice meal and we’ll be on our way. I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.”

  The boys hadn’t been exaggerating when they said that their village wasn’t far. After only a ten-minute walk, they came across a footpath that soon widened into a narrow lane. They passed an abandoned farmer’s hut with weeds growing waist-high in the doorway and no sign of any animals. Although they smelled wood burning, they didn’t see any other dwellings until they reached the village itself. The houses were made of sticks, with mud filling the chinks in between, and thatched roofs that needed to be repaired.