by L. EE
Despite the terrifying sight, Andy rushed forward. The dragon turned and glared at the intruders. The vulture-men prepared to pounce.
The King raised his head, recognized Andy through bloodied eyes, and groaned, “No, Andy. Run…”
“Sorry sir, I can’t do that. I’ve come to free you.” The words sealed Andy’s resolve and silenced his fears. He willed his arms to stop trembling.
With a mighty flick of its tail, the dragon cut the legs from under the chair that held the bound sovereign, toppling it over. The beast narrowly missed the King’s head as it stepped toward Andy.
Laughing and clapping erupted in Andy’s ears, as if this were some kind of sick sport. A man’s reprimand followed.
“Imogenia, stop!”
“There’s nothing you can do to help him, Father,” the woman cackled. “He’s going to die!”
The voices barely registered as the dragon lowered its heads and shot blasts of fire from three of its mouths. Methuselah easily deflected these, making the beast furious. Andy scanned multiple pairs of the dragon’s eyes, moving his blade in a figure-eight pattern, then lunged at one of the heads. His blade hit the hard scales covering it and bounced off.
In a chorus of raspy voices, the dragon taunted, “You are mine, and so is your King. Surrender now or I will finish you both.” Several of its mouths moved in unison as the words flowed out.
Andy crept between the King and the dragon, shielding the monarch behind his blade. As he did, he studied his foe, looking for a vulnerability to exploit. Nothing betrayed the menace.
One of the vulture-men took the opportunity to pounce on Andy from behind. As soon as it did, Sir Kay, who had been waiting for a signal from Andy, charged. He skewered the creature through the side with his lance and flung it across the room. The move proved a catalyst, for all the vulture-men now entered the fray.
Sir Gawain drew his sword and, from atop his horse, beheaded several of the enemy as they charged. Andy whirled around with Methuselah, hacking and jabbing at each vulture-man that approached. Sir Kay continued around the room, wounding more bird-men. Three vulture-men had grabbed Sir Gawain by the foot and were dragging him off his horse. Andy raced over and disabled two of them, allowing the knight to remount and continue the assault.
The battle raged for what seemed an eternity. No sooner had the three subdued most of the enemy than more materialized out of thin air. Weariness sapped Andy’s strength as the battle lengthened. Just when his arms grew heavy and he felt like he could fight no longer, the dragon’s roar sent shock waves through him. A burst of fire filled the room. Andy thrust Methuselah up to shield himself and the King just in time. Many vulture-men weren’t so fortunate—they screeched just before being consumed by the searing flames.
Sir Gawain, who because he was stone had not been harmed by the flames, drew the beast’s attention, and Andy raced toward the dragon from behind. He leapt and wrapped an arm around his foe’s thick neck as he plunged Methuselah into a small gap between its shoulder blade and back. Andy held on for dear life as the creature writhed, driving the sword further in. Fire, venom, and putrid green vapor spewed out like a shaken soda can. Sir Kay and Sir Gawain dismounted and began whacking at the beast’s flailing heads. The creature staggered under the onslaught, let out a thunderous roar, and vanished.
Andy crumbled to the floor, exhausted but still holding Methuselah. “Whoa! What just happened? Where’d he go?”
The knights shouted and cheered at their victory. “That was awesome!” Sir Gawain pumped his arms in triumph.
“Yeah, I was getting tired of staring at your ugly mug, fighting you for all those years,” trumpeted Sir Kay.
“Ugly mug?” Sir Gawain countered. “Just look at yourself!”
“I challenge you to a duel, Sir Gawain!” snapped Sir Kay.
“A duel? Why, you scoundrel!” Sir Gawain raised his lance.
Andy sat up and shouted, “Take it back to where I found you, guys!”
Both knights bowed to Andy, remounted their horses, and rode out of the room, taunting each other.
Andy shook his head. “Knights…”
The King moaned. Andy gathered his strength and scrambled over fallen bodies to where the King lay on the floor, still tied to the chair.
“Sir, are you okay?”
The King gave no reply.
Andy looked up as Alden raced into the room.
“Where have you been?”
“Razen grabbed me from behind. He tied me up, gagged me, and stuffed me in a cell.”
“How did you get free?”
“Razen just up and vanished a minute ago, and I finally got myself loose. I came here as fast as I could.”
Andy knelt. “Help me untie him.”
They set the legless chair upright and cut the sovereign’s bonds. The King slumped to the side, unconscious.
“Let’s get him up to his chambers. He’s got some bad burns,” Andy instructed.
“We’ve got to find Hans! Only he knows how to heal him.”
Standing on either side, the boys pulled the King up between them and wrapped his arms over their shoulders as gently as possible.
Several minutes later, the three stood outside the King’s chambers.
“Open the door,” Andy panted after the exertion of carrying the sovereign up several flights of stairs.
Alden hesitated. “I’ve never been in there before.”
“Me neither, but we need to put him in bed. Come on.”
Alden turned the handle with his free hand and pushed the door open with his foot. The room was expansive, ornately decorated with rugs and tapestries that made it feel cozy. A bed with lavish silk covers and larger than Andy or Alden had ever seen stood straight ahead.
After considerable effort because they were trying to be as gentle as possible, the King lay on his bed.
Andy turned and as he did, he glimpsed something on the desk not far away. He halted.
“What is it?” Alden wondered.
Andy walked over to examine the object more closely and picked up a shiny purple crest. It had a spider on the top, followed by a wavy line, and then a knight on horseback at the bottom. It was identical to the crest on the dagger shealth he’d found in the trunk back home!
He held it up to show Alden. “Do you have any idea whose crest this is?”
“No. I’ve never seen it.”
Andy examined it a minute longer before finally replacing it. “Stay here with him. I’m going to try to find Hans.”
“No, I need to find my mom.”
“Oh, right.” In all the commotion, Andy had nearly forgotten their original mission. “Yeah, the King should be fine while we find them.”
Alden nodded his agreement.
The eerily quiet castle echoed as they descended the stairs toward the dining hall. Halfway down, they heard the first sounds of activity. Muffled voices grew louder as they approached. Reaching the landing and rounding the corner, they sighed at the sight of the entire castle staff busily untying one another. No one sported beaks, feathers or wings, only weariness and dirt.
“That’s a relief! Do you see my mom?” Alden scanned the mass of people.
Andy looked through the crowd but did not immediately see anyone he knew. Finally, he spotted Hans and Hannah sitting on the floor and helping Marta out of her bonds.
“Alden, she’s over there!” Andy pointed.
“You’re back! Thank goodness! I was worried sick,” Marta sighed, giving Alden and Andy big hugs.
“What happened?” asked Alden.
“About a week ago the castle was overrun by vulture-men. We tried to fight them off, but in the end were overwhelmed by their numbers. I don’t know what happened to the cavalry. They were no help at all. The vulture-men forced us all into this hall and tied us up.”
“I can tell you what happened to the cavalry,” defended Alden. “It appears Major Cahill and his troops have been turned into vulture-men.”
�
�No!” shouted Hans and Hannah in unison.
“But how?” the healer demanded.
“We don’t know. We found this note that the major left in Optimistic’s stall.” Andy pulled the paper from inside his tunic.
Marta scanned it. “That’s terrible! What will happen to them now? Hans, can they be turned back?”
“I’ve never seen it happen, so I have no idea what the possibilities are. We can only hope for the best.” Hans frowned. “Do you know where they are?”
“We didn’t see them,” replied Andy. “We only found this note.”
“Why didn’t they turn you into vulture-people?” Andy’s question was met with frowns. “Sorry, I was just wondering.”
“My guess is that their magic does not work in the castle under the spell that keeps the King alive. That’s also why they couldn’t drag us outside and turn us. No one can be forced outside the castle against their will,” Hans informed.
“Thank goodness,” replied Marta.
“Hans, the King’s been hurt,” Andy interrupted.
“Hurt? How?”
“He’s badly burned. We took him up to his chambers.”
“Has anyone seen Mermin?” asked Alden.
“You look for Mermin while I fill Hans in,” Andy instructed, leading the healer toward the stairs.
“And I’m going to prepare some food for everyone. They didn’t feed us much of anything,” huffed Marta.
“I’ll help,” offered Hannah, following her.
Several minutes later, Andy stood next to Hans who examined the King. The healer grabbed a towel next to the washstand and wet it, then started cleaning the sovereign’s wounds. “You’re right, Andy. He has some very bad burns along with swelling in his face, arms, hands, and legs. The best thing to heal burns is dragon tears, but I’m all out at the moment.” Hans shook his head as he continued to examine his patient. “If we can’t start his burns healing quickly, they’ll get infected.”
The King moaned, only partially conscious.
“I know where we can get dragon tears!”
Hans glanced up with a curious look.
“I’ll be right back!” Andy ran out the door. Moments later he was back holding two bottles. He handed them to Hans.
“But, where—? And so much?” The healer gave Andy an incredulous look.
“I have my sources.” Andy flicked his brows.
“Thank you. I’ll treat his wounds with this. Then we’ll just have to wait and see how he responds. Why don’t you go help the others.”
As Andy headed back downstairs, he noticed that the castle sounded like itself again. The corridors rang with the noises of people talking and moving about. He returned to the dining hall, where he hoped to find Alden with Mermin. Sure enough, as Andy rounded the corner, there stood the wizard, talking with Alden and rubbing his wrists.
“Hans is with the King,” Andy reported.
“Vewy good. How is he?”
“He was treating the King’s wounds when I left. He said he’d have to wait to see how he responds. He’s in pretty bad shape.”
Mermin frowned and slowly shook his head. “Alden has just filled me in on what happened. You did well to fend off Abaddon.”
“Well, I can’t take all the credit. I had the help of Sir Gawain and Sir Kay. If not for them, I don’t think I would be here. It was weird how Abaddon just disappeared, though.”
“Andy, what do you mean you had the help of Sir Gawain and Sir Kay?” asked Mermin, his brow furrowed.
“When I wear the gold key, it opens anything that’s locked. And I found that it makes the statues in the castle come to life. It’s like it unlocks them, too.”
“Fascinating!” replied Mermin, scratching his head. “I wonder how this is accomplished?”
“I’ve no idea. All I know is that it works.”
“Well, that’s good because King Abaddon will weturn, I am sure of it.”
“How do you know?”
“While the fight you just won was bad, fwom everything I’ve wead, Methuselah appears for far gweater battles than that.”
Andy glanced at Alden and swallowed.
Mermin continued, “Abaddon has appeared in the past, causing havoc and harm, but he’s never done this much damage or hurt so many. He’s merciless. He has never been severely wounded though. I’m guessing he wetreated to wecover.”
“I just wish I’d been there to help. Raaazzzzzen—” Alden snarled, drawing out the name slowly and shaking his head.
A vulture-man walked into the dining hall from the direction of the grand stairway. Seeing Mermin, Alden, and Andy clustered together, he waddled toward them. Andy instinctively reached for Methuselah and the blade extended. Seeing this, the vulture-man paused and held his hands up in surrender before motioning a request to lower the sword. Andy held his ground. Hands still held high, the vulture-man approached the group more slowly and began speaking.
“Pardon my appearance. I am Major Cahill. King Abaddon turned me and all my men. While we look bad, those who are truly committed to our King remain loyal.”
Andy studied the man. “How can we know what you’re saying is true?”
“Did you find a note in Optimistic’s stall?”
“We did. But how do we know it was you who wrote it?”
“Do you have a piece of paper and something to write with?” Upon presenting the bird-man with the requested items, he waddled to a table and wrote, “Cavalry captured. Men turned into vultures by Abaddon.”
Alden picked up the paper and examined it. “It is Major Cahill! It’s his handwriting. I’d recognize it anywhere. I’m so sorry—”
“Thank you, Alden. Abaddon and his men were after us. I barely had time to scribble that so you’d know.” He paused before continuing, “The reason I came is to see if anyone knows about a dragon that is in the arena. It’s not hurting anything at the moment, but we’ll need to do something before it does.”
“Oh my!” responded Mermin.
Andy held up a hand, laughing. “Yes, that’s Daisy. She’s our friend. Long story. Let’s just say she helped us—a lot.” Andy grinned at Alden who nodded. “Hans is using her tears to treat the King. I’m guessing she’s getting hungry. We need to find another red dragon colony for her. Abaddon killed her family and she wasn’t going to survive if we left her behind. Can you help?”
“It would be my pleasure to help her,” Mermin said, smiling. “Let me consult my notes.”
“You do that, and Alden and I will go see what we can find for her to eat.”
“Begging your pardons,” interrupted the major, “but my men and I would be honored to escort her to her new home if you need us to.”
“That would be great,” Alden acknowledged. “And I’ll fly along on Optimistic, so she knows someone.”
“Then we have a plan. Now, to get her something to eat—” The words still lingered as a fuzzy brown blur raced between Andy’s legs. “This is not the time for more chaos and destruction!” Andy snatched two salt shakers from one of the tables. “Come on, Alden!”
“We’ll be back in a few!” The green-haired Cartesian bolted after Andy.
The boggart raced down the hall toward the kitchens with the pair on its tail. A burly servant stepping into the hall blocked its entrance. It bounced off the man’s large foot, careening toward the open laundry door stood as an open invitation.
Screeches and yips proceeded from the laundry, but the servants quieted as they caught sight of the boys’ set jaws and fierce expressions.
“Shut the door and block the gap beneath. Don’t let it escape!” Andy commanded.
The dozen ladies moved swiftly.
“This. Ends. Now,” Andy growled, watching for the creature to betray its whereabouts.
“It’s over there!” A plump servant pointed wildly.
With salt shaker poised, Andy stalked toward the mammoth basin that dominated the center of the space. He motioned for Alden to approach from the opposite side.
Andy skirted two mounds of laundry that rose to his waist and avoided a washboard leaning against the side of the wooden reservoir. Alden ducked between lines of hanging clothes.
A bucket of clothespins erupted, peppering its contents as the pair reached striking distance. A cascade of scrub brushes immediately followed, but the hunters did not waver. Andy leapt forward and threw a handful of salt while Alden flung some from the opposite side.
Howl. Eek! Eek!
The creature cowered against the washtub. “Yeah, how do you like it when the tables are turned!” Andy taunted. To onlookers he declared, “I need a cage.”
“How about this?” a petite laundress suggested, passing a wooden bucket.
Andy glared at the whimpering menace and felt no pity as Alden plunged it into darkness then sat on top.
“Is there something we can slide under it to keep it trapped?” Andy asked.
A smiling servant fetched a circular board. “It’s the top.”
Andy’s face lit up. “Perfect. That should work.”
Thumping emanated from Alden’s seat by the time Andy brought the lid close. “On my count, lift the bucket up just a smidge. I’m gonna slide this under and we’ll secure the sides.”
A minute later cheers erupted as thumping and thuds emanated from the makeshift cage.
“Now what?” Alden asked.
“Come with me.”
Alden shrugged as he fell in line behind the warden. Andy headed up the stairs—one flight, two flights, three. He took a right at the fourth floor and knocked on the Goldery door.
Alden tilted his head as a grin erupted. “What can they do?”
“Watch and learn.”
Henry wiped his dripping brow as he opened the door. “Hey Andy, Alden! Come on in. We were just getting things back up and running.”