Back in the capital of Ela, a young teen socialite stands at the edge of a terrace a hundred feet above the lush green forest floor. Her soft red hair flows in the cold air as she overlooks the peaceful dwellings of the Ela. She dwells on her thoughts in complete silence. There is not a sound to be heard, just the faint wisps of air passing by her. Suddenly, the realization that it is too quiet disrupts her deep thought. The silence is broken by the faint sounds of screaming coming from the many dwellings within the oaklings. The socialite looks up to the green sun-void canopy as it starts to plump with an orange-red color. Then, as if orchestrated by the gods, the canopy combusts into an inferno of fire. It spreads like water on stone, completely consuming the entire canopy. The socialite doesn’t change her expression as she closes her eyes. One by one, massive dragons of all sizes and colors crash through the fire and begin setting the forest ablaze. One dragon seems to stick out from the rest… the Red Dragon. As Bargokk sees the socialite on the wooden terrace high in the oakling it rests on, he flies towards her with incredible speed. Savannah continues to keep her eyes closed as she hears his thrashing wings grow nearer. As Bargokk arrives, and hovers in front of her as she opens her calm eyes. Her curly red hair waves behind her with only one side of her face visible. As she turns her head, the other side of her face changes, and reveals a different woman with raven black hair. Just then, a single tear falls from the face of Alendria, wife of the King. She looks at the viewer of the dream, and says with a frail voice, “Dathian… wake up son.”
Suddenly she was gone, and Dathian opened his eyes wide and sucked large amounts of air. It was morning at the Badger’s Paw Inn. A loud sound distracts him as he turns and sees the Ela teen Biix fall off his bed, and come crashing to the ground.
“Ow!” groans the hungover teen.
“Be quiet, will you?” says Ethan as he rolls over and opens his eyes. “My head is killing me!”
The distraction from his nightmare was welcoming to the prince as he sat up on the edge of his bed and rubbed his face.
Biix stumbled to his feet and looked at the other two with groggy eyes, and said, “What happened? I feel like a took a hammer to the head. Why do adults drink that stuff?”
“I don’t know,” replied Ethan, “but I don’t think I want to drink it again, not if this is how it makes you feel.”
“Both of you are being babies,” said Dathian, clearly now an ‘expert,’ yet not feeling so well himself.
Then, a sudden memory came rushing into Dathian’s consciousness. The White Queen came to him last night, and asked him to talk his father into sparing the lives of the Drykans that tried to capture him. Now with a sober mind, the prince is unsure as to why she would ask him that, seeing as how they were at war with the Dragonkin. Then he remembers what she said… Kale would’ve wanted it, and that was enough for him.
Biix looked around the room before he asked, “Have either one of you seen Red? I think he was here last night, but I can’t remember.”
Then, from a few rooms down the hall, the teens hear a woman scream.
Biix smiled as he said, “Ah, there he is. I’ll be back.”
As Biix puts one of Ethan’s shirts on in an attempt to fit in, seeing as how he didn’t have, nor wanted one, he then walked out of the room in search of his saber.
Ethan laughed slightly as he rubbed his tired eyes and turned to Dathian, “Are you alright? You look like you got something heavy on your mind.”
Dathian turned and replied with a forced smile, “Ya, I just have to go see my father about something, and I’m not really ready to see him.”
“Why not?” asked Ethan. “Do you two not get along or something? He seems like a noble man to me.”
Dathian smiled as he replied, “He is. Deep down somewhere under all the persona of being King… he is. When I get back, you and I need to take your horse back to my grandmother.”
Looking a little sad, Ethan said, “I suppose you’re right. I’m sure she has an owner or something. She’s a good horse, someone will be wanting her back.”
“If it was up to me, you would be her new owner,” said Dathian as he stood up and got dressed, “but it’s not. My grandmother makes all the decisions when it comes to Trueborns.”
Ethan smiled as he replied, “Well, hopefully by some miracle I get to keep her, but I have learned to never get your hopes up, it just makes it worse when they fall.”
“I won’t be long,” said Dathian, “we will go see her when I get back, I promise.”
Ethan nodded as Dathian left the room in search of his father. As he walked out the front door to the Inn, Dathian walked to the first place he thought he find his father. Along the way to the chambers of the Lord of the City, the prince had some time to prepare what he was going to say. He didn’t have any proof that the Drykans were indeed forced to go to war and did not act on their own will. For all he knew, they are very clever con artists, and were lying the whole time. He had no way of knowing if once they were set free, they wouldn’t immediately return to the Generals and tell them of the Kain’s plan. All he knew is that the White Queen asked him to intervene, and him alone. One does not simply turn down the Queen when asked to do something for her.
As he came to the Lord’s chambers, he prepared to knock, but the door was already cracked open. He cautiously opened the door slowly as if he was afraid to interrupt something. As he peaked his head in, he could hear voices coming from down the hall. The voices were slightly raised, and it sounded as if they were debating something. He walked towards the voices, and soon recognized his father’s. Dathian got close enough so he could hear what they were saying. The other voices belonged to Nathian and the Lord of the City, Tylandrius.
“There is no need for that, my King,” said Tylandrius, “they are not guilty in this war.”
Daane, growing angrier with each passing sentence, replied, “They aren’t guilty? They tried to kill my son!”
“Not kill, capture,” added the Lord, “they were only following orders in exchange to return to their own home. Any one of us would’ve done the same for our families.”
“And how do you know this for sure?” asked Daane.
“The White Queen saw it in their minds.”
“So, I’m supposed to take the word of magic and trickery?”
“YES!” shouted the Lord. “She is the White Queen!”
“She’s been called something else,” ended Daane.
“Daane’s right,” added Nathian, who has been silent until now. “Although I trust the Angel, I don’t trust them. Even if she is right, and all they want to do is go home, we cannot trust that they won’t return to the Generals. It’s too risky.”
Daane then said, “They need to be executed immediately! Just get it done!”
Tylandrius grew angry as he shouted, “This is MY city! We have laws! We do not execute anyone without first having a trial with the Justices. It is the law of our people, and as Lord of this city, it is my sworn duty to uphold those laws!”
Daane walked to within inches of the Lord’s face and shouted, “I AM KING! Or have you forgotten your place?!”
Tylandrius, who was fighting with every fiber of his being to not lose his composure, replied, “No my Lord, you are right. You are King.” Tylandrius stared at Daane with unnerved eyes for a moment before he turned to leave. As he walked towards the door, he turned and added, “I thought we were a democracy. Guess I was wrong.”
Dathian quickly hid behind a wooden support beam as the Lord of the City walked past him in a fit of rage.
Once calmed down, Daane sat down and looked at Nathian, “Go… do it now. Keep it quiet. Do it yourself, and make SURE it gets done!”
Nathian, slightly torn on who to side with, replied, “Yes, my King. I must first head to my dwellings and retrieve the necessary things.”
As the Lieutenant went to leave, Daane grabbed his arm and added, “You’re a good man, Nathian. Loyal and true. I want you to know that.”
“Thank you, my King,” replied Nathian as he too, left the room.
Dathian couldn’t believe the hatred that was now spewing from his father’s heart. Does he go in there and confront him? Would he even be able to change his mind at this point? There is too much hatred towards the Dragonkin, and Dathian knew why, for it also troubled him. Daane watched his best friend wither away and his wife burned alive right before his eyes as his city fell. He had more reason than anyone to hate them, to wish them all dead. Just when Dathian was leaning towards agreeing with his father, the thought of Kale entered his mind. What would HE have done? He did not need to ask the question, for he already knew the answer.
Dathian rushed back to his room in the Badger’s Paw Inn to find Ethan. As he threw the door open, a startled Ethan quickly turned around.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” he asked.
Dathian stopped for a moment, not sure what to say next. He contemplated on whether to bring his new friend into of all this.
“I… I need your help,” said Dathian.
“With what?”
Again, the prince hesitated, before he said, “I need your help with something that you might not like, or approve of.”
Intrigued, Ethan asked, “What is it? You can tell me.”
Dathian then said, “A while back, when Savannah and I fled the capital, we were almost captured by five Drykans. We were saved by an old hermit called Bill. They kept searching for us, but Kale found them first. For reasons I still do not fully understand, Kale spared their lives. They were captured a few days ago, and are now imprisoned in the city.”
“Alright,” said Ethan, a little confused, “that’s a good thing, right?”
“Yes, well… no, it’s complicated,” replied Dathian, “but the White Queen doesn’t think they should die. She said that she saw innocence in their hearts, and that they were just following orders so they could go home. She said that they never wanted to be in this war, but were forced to by the Generals.”
A little stunned, and still confused at where the prince was going with this, he asked, “When did you talk to her?”
Dathian replied, “Last night in the bar. She came to see me, and… well it’s kind of hard to explain, but she asked me to convince my father not to execute them. I went to see him, but I stopped when I overheard him talking with the Lord of the City. There was so much anger and hatred in his voice, I just knew that he wouldn’t listen to me.”
“So, what do you want me to do?” asked Ethan.
Dathian paused for a moment, before he said, “I want you to… I can’t believe I am saying this, but I want you to help me, to help ‘them’ escape.”
Ethan was stunned by the request, as he said, “But, isn’t that an act of treason?”
Dathian himself thought of the repercussions that could come of aiding the enemy, but said, “Yes, it is… if we get caught.”
Ethan looked down and shook his head as he replied, “I don’t know, it just sounds too risky.”
The prince walked up to the teen and said with sincerity in his eyes, “Forget what your mind is telling you, what does your heart say? You know that if they are innocent, that they should not be sentenced to death, it just isn’t right.”
After a moment, the teen couldn’t help but agree with his new friend.
“Alright, I’m in, but we cannot get caught! So, what’s the plan?”
Dathian smiled as he replied, “Don’t worry, I know this city very well. I have a plan, but we have to hurry, for Nathian will be headed there to do it any time now.”
“Should we wait for Biix?” asked the teen.
“No,” replied the prince, “I don’t want to involve him in this. This is a matter of the Kain.”
After a brief moment of hesitation, Ethan then said, “Well, lead the way then.”
Dathian led Ethan through the city, careful to not be seen by the wrong person, and made his way towards the jail under the city. Once there, he stopped and looked at the one guard next to the jail’s entrance.
“He’s probably the only one, for that’s usually all that guards the entrance. We just need to get past him.”
Ethan replied, “Ok, so what’s the plan?”
Dathian continued to look at the guard as he answered, “You’re going to pretend to be my prisoner, and I’m going to tell the guard that I need to lock you up for the night.”
Ethan furrowed his brow as he looked at the prince and said, “Really? That’s the best you could come up with?”
Dathian laughed as he turned to Ethan and replied, “Do you have a better plan? The guard will know who I am, he won’t know you.”
Ethan thought it over for a moment, then said, “I guess you’re right... you better be.”
“Don’t worry,” replied Dathian, “it will work. Now, pretend your hands are tied and I will lead you from behind.”
Ethan shook his head and reluctantly put his hands behind his back as Dathian grabbed them with one hand. He used his other hand to push Ethan’s back, and began leading him towards the gate.
Once there, Dathian spoke to the guard, “Hi there, I’m prince Dathian, and I am escorting this traitor to the dungeons where he will await trail, by order of the King.”
Surprisingly, the guard obeyed without saying a word and unlocked the doors leading down to the dungeons.
As they walked through, Dathian added, “Oh, and I will need your keys. Got to make sure he has the right cell.”
The guard once again obeyed and handed the keys to the entire jail to the prince.
Dathian simply said, “Well… thank you, kind sir. Go ahead and take a break, you deserve it.”
The guard nodded in obedience, still not saying a word, and walked away, but not before closing the doors behind him.
As Dathian released Ethan’s hands, he said, “That… was too easy. In fact, I am a little worried with who they have guarding the jail.”
“Or maybe you’re just that famous,” sarcastically replied Ethan as he smirked.
Dathian led the way as they walked down several flights of stairs until they reached the main dungeon. As they turned into the room, there on the right, all huddled together in one cell, were the Five, all save one. Caegan stood up as soon as he saw the prince and Ethan approach. Mixed feelings spread through Dathian as the memories of being captured came running back to him. Caegan immediately recognized the prince, and worry crept into his heart. The others saw their father, and looked to where he was. As soon as they saw the prince, they all stood up.
“So,” said Caegan in a defeated tone, “you will be the one to do it. It’s only right, considering what we did to you.”
Dathian didn’t say anything, and could only stare. Ethan wasn’t sure if he should say something.
Caegan continued, “Just grant me one dying wish, and kill me first. I don’t want the sight of my children’s execution to be my last.”
Noticing Dathian was clearly freezing, Ethan said, “What are you doing? We don’t have much time. You need to decide, now!”
Dathian then said without breaking eye contact with Caegan, “My father is to have you all executed in a matter of minutes for your crimes.”
Kendraa then stepped forward and said, “Then what are you waiting for?!”
“Is it true?” asked the prince.
“Is what true?!” snapped Kendraa, even though the question was not directed towards her.
Dathian continued, “That none of you wanted this war, and that you just wanted to go home?”
Caegan could see the sincerity in the young prince’s eyes, as he replied, “Of course it is. Nothing matters now except the safety of my family. I would gladly give my life to spare theirs.”
Dathian smiled as he replied, “I… I just wanted to hear it from you first.”
Ethan then jumped in, “Listen, we don’t have much time. We came here to help you escape. The White Queen told Dathian that you are innocent in this war, and Dathian, I mean, we, can’t let you b
e killed for a crime you didn’t commit.”
Kendraa was rendered speechless as the twins walked closer towards the bars. All Caegan could do was stare into the prince’s eyes as Dathian rushed over and began trying different keys.
As Dathian continued to find the right one, Caegan finally said, “You shouldn’t risk yourself for us, not after what we did to you.”
“You were only following orders,” replied the prince, “besides, I’m the prince, nothing’s going to happen to me.”
As Dathian finally found the right key, the locked clicked, and the door opened. There was a moment of unnerved tension as the teens stood across from the Drykans. Caegan walked out first, still hesitant, then his children followed.
“Now what?!” asked Ethan, clearly starting to panic.
“There’s a back exit where they take any dead prisoners so that the public doesn’t see. The passage runs under the city and exits to the south. All we have to do is get them there, and they can follow the river until they reach the lake and the southern borders of the Kain. From there, I’m assuming that you can find your own way?” said Dathian as he asked Caegan.
“Yes, I believe so,” replied the Drykan patriarch.
Suddenly, there came a sound from up the stairs.
“It’s Nathian, we have to go now!” said Dathian as he rushed to lead the way. Ethan and the Drykans followed with all haste as the sound of footsteps began to grow closer.
After they were out of sight, Nathian arrived at the cells, and immediately saw that the Drykans weren’t there.
“You have GOT to be kidding me!” yelled Nathian as he turned and ran back up the stairs to alert the King.
After running for what seemed like miles, they reached the end of the tunnel. Dathian once again fumbled through the many keys until he found the right one. He quickly opened it and allowed the Drykans to exit first. Once they were outside, he locked the door behind him.
The Reclaiming: The Keepers Saga: Volume Two Page 21