Heir of Dragmoore- The Veiled Haven

by Jennifer Ann Schlag

  He lies down next to her. Looks over at her. She wants desperately to hold him but he isn’t here for holding or pleasure.

  “I can’t tell him. It’ll change so many things.”

  “Are you afraid of what it will do for you and Talen? Or for you and your own family?”

  He puts his hand to his forehead. It glows emerald green.

  Bessy touches it. “You’re burning up.”

  “The magic is growing. I won’t be able to control it soon. I knew this would happen if I started back to my old ways. Bessy, I don’t want this.”

  She pulls his hand away and holds onto it. She’ll be there for him no matter what. And he doesn’t even appreciate her loyalty.

  Chapter Seven

  Talen is dropped where she pointed to. The harpy queen finds the Duggs’ lair opening and swoops inside. Talen runs after her.

  “What are you going to say to the Duggs?”

  “I am hoping that by me showing up it will be enough to set the dragons free.”

  They don’t get far before the same Dugg who cornered Talen and Bessy finds them. “Well, well, back again, and with the harpy queen.”

  “You –”

  “You tell us who told you to take the dragons underground and I will stop my harpies from feasting on your kind.”

  The Dugg sizes up his enemies. One of his antennas comes down, giving it a much longer length than thought possible. “Go on, take it,” he says to Talen.

  “Why me?”

  “Because you can talk to animals. And you’re going to hear the words straight from the animal’s mouth.”

  She grabs the tip of the antenna with her finger. It’s slimy and she almost can’t hold it.

  “Put it up to your ear.”

  Talen brings it up to her eardrum. The antenna glows white. It enters her ear and for a moment she squirms. Then she relaxes. “I hear voices.”

  “Listen very carefully. I am not going to let you do this again.”

  She clears her mind of all other things so she can concentrate on the voices.

  Do you really think that I will side with an elf to destroy the only creature that replenishes this earth?

  You don’t have a choice. If you don’t destroy them, she will have to send out the Venerian crystals and destroy your home.

  She is nothing like her mother. She was a good queen. Is there another option?

  Perhaps. The Duggs. They have the space to fit all the dragons in. Talk to them. Tell them that Queen Galaria has ordered that all of the dragons are to be imprisoned forever.

  How are we to get the elf queen to agree to this?

  I will carry this message to the Master and he will make the elf queen see this is the sensible approach. It’s the only way to save them. I don’t want to see them die either. Will you help me?

  Talen takes the antenna out of her ear and tries to wipe away the slimy residue. “The elf queen must be tainted by something dark if she wants the most sacred of the seven beasts killed.”

  “I assure you that she isn’t. Now, we could incur some wrath from her once she finds out that the dragons are released. What can you do to ensure our safety?”

  “How did you acquire this information?” Talen asks.

  “One of my kind was sent to the meeting. As you know, we retain all words spoken.”

  She did not know that. Her lack of knowledge on beasts and animals is staggering considering what she wants as a profession. “I didn’t know animals could talk to each other when they aren’t of the same species.”

  “You are not a very clever Master. Of course animals can talk to each other. We can talk to humans and animals, but we do prefer talking to humans more.”

  “Speaking of Masters. Who betrayed the dragons? Who was the Master that spoke to the elf queen?”

  “You talk too much.”

  “I will keep you safe,” Elsa says. She whips her hair around. A golden shower of lights falls upon the room. Thick golden puddles form on the ground like liquid gold straight from a keg. “Drink from it and it’ll protect you from the elves’ magic. It won’t last forever though. But it should provide you with the time needed until we can pay the elf queen a visit.”

  “Why do you need protection? You have your poison,” Talen says.

  “It’s not as easy as you think to administer. If we could, don’t you think we would have used it already on her? She’s very strong.”

  “I have provided you with protection,” Elsa says. “Release the dragons.”

  “We have a deal.” He hops along. He moves his antennas together. A buzzing sound echoes.

  “Can your magic really protect them?” Talen asks.

  “Yes. She is a ruthless queen. I’d like to smash her crystal kingdom and watch her burn. Elves are hard to kill because they are so connected to their Pools of Serenity.”

  “The elves are not my problem.”

  “They will be when they realize the dragons are free.”

  “The Masters will know what to do.”

  “They stay out of our wars.”

  A baby dragon is running towards Talen. He is a little groggy but he’s got eyes only for her. She knows that face. “Kip!”

  He leaps into her arms. Licks her face.

  A few Duggs run around the cave to every dragon. The antidote must have already been prepared in case they needed to use it.

  A giant opening is revealed at the back of the cave. The glass cages are broken and the dragons come out of their dreamlike sleep. They shake off their slumber and open their wings. They run, leap, and then take flight.

  “Are there any more babies?” Talen asks the Dugg coming back to them.

  “No. That little fellow is the only one.”

  Talen leads Kip out of the cave.

  The Dugg and the harpy queen give each other a toxic look.

  “You should have told her everything about the elf queen. It’s best that she finds out now rather than discovering it from the Masters.”

  “That poor girl has enough going on. I will not burden her more.”

  “Why do you care about humans? What have they ever done for you?”

  “I respect her father.”

  “You desire her father. Big difference.”

  “End of discussion.”

  Elsa flies across the cave to ensure that each dragon has left and is flying to safety.

  The Marksman starts a new fire. Gavin puts five pieces of fish that he caught from the river onto a stick and hovers it over the flames. The Marksman observes Remy’s melancholy and decides to toy with it.

  “Having sweet thoughts about Talen?”

  Remy picks his head up, at first unamused, but then he sees Talen coming with the harpy queen and Kip. “She’s back.”

  Talen is let down softly with Kip leaping out of her arms and running towards Remy. It takes everyone by surprise as the dragon starts licking the prince’s face.

  Gavin drops the stick of fish. “You did it.”

  Talen grabs Kip and takes him into a tent.

  Please let me have food.

  She grabs a piece of fish and tosses it to Kip. He gobbles it down. Then she puts a blanket over him. She comes out of the tent looking relieved. Her anxiety is gone for the moment. “Whoever doesn’t want to continue should head back to Dragmoore now. We aren’t that far out so the journey back will be short.”

  No one says a word.

  “Come now. One of you doesn’t want to come with me.” She looks at Remy. “You should return home. We can’t have the heir of Dragmoore risking his life and leaving his father alone.”

  “But I --”

  “I won’t hear it. This is my quest. Father, you should return home as well. Bessy, thank you for everything. Your secret will be safe with me. You must go home too. Queen Elsa, return to your harpies. They must be worried. If you do want to help, then maybe check on me every so many days, but nothing more. And you, Marksman, you may continue with me. I have need of your sense of direction
and protection.”

  “Why do you want him to come?” Remy asks.

  “Talen, we can’t go home,” Gavin says.

  “We want to help you,” Bessy says.

  “I need you to be there. Please.”

  Bessy bows to her. “Yes, my future queen.” She pulls Talen into a hug. “Be careful. Remy cares for you deeply, as does Desmond.”

  Talen doesn’t understand why Bessy called her the future queen. She has made no claim on the prince, nor he on her.

  “You should answer your prince, Talen,” the harpy queen says.

  Bessy unties her horse.

  Talen turns to Remy. “I don’t trust you. I trust the Marksman to keep me safe. It’s as simple as that.”

  “Is it? I don’t see the king demanding that you marry him. Maybe you’d like that. Persuade my father to marry you two. If that’s what you want, I can arrange that. But I am seeing this quest of yours to the end. If I don’t pass my task of worth, I won’t be prince anymore.”

  “Your task of worth is to kill me. Don’t bother denying it. Your father didn’t send you out here to watch me play with the dragon.”

  “You’re right. But there’s been a change. Tell her, Gavin.”

  Talen looks at her father. She’s already on shaky ground with him. She can’t bear to hear more deception from him. “What is he talking about?”

  “The king has bound his words to the scroll. You and Remy shall marry.”

  “What?”

  The Marksman’s head jerks around. He doubts that Talen will go through with it. If she ever grows to like the prince, maybe she’ll reconsider. He is confident that she won’t end up liking him though.

  “I had no say in the matter. The king is dying. Read the scroll. Remy has it.”

  Talen starts feeling around Remy’s clothes. “Where is it?”

  “Hold on then.” He pushes her away. Takes out the scroll from his backpack. She jerks it away from him. “Don’t hate me for it.”

  She reads it quickly. Notices the seal at the bottom. “It can’t be broken.”

  “If you stay with the Masters, they will cancel out the seal,” the Marksman says.

  “Good. I was scared there for a moment. If I had to be married to him, he is definitely going to be without an heir.”

  “All of the dragons are free then?” Gavin asks.

  “Yes. The elf queen wanted them dead. Thank goodness for the intelligent creatures at that secret meeting.”

  “What secret meeting? Who are you talking about?” the Marksman asks.

  “The king of the D’kinns.”

  A tree crashes behind them. The Marksman readies an arrow and it’s off before anyone can react. There is a loud thump from the forest. Instinctively, Gavin and Bessy run over. With a bit of complaining, they drag out a large black bear.

  “Must be the grandfather of them all,” Gavin says.

  “That was some shot. We didn’t even see it,” Talen says.

  Gavin grabs the head while Bessy grabs the ass end. Together they carry it to the camp. It stretches a good twenty feet across. Remy looks down at the arrow. A perfect shot to the heart. He never heard the arrow flying through the air. He had two sea druids right under his nose his whole life. The Marksman is only a couple of years older than him. He has no memory of seeing him as a child. With his charming smile, the way he knows how to comfort a woman; it’s all the things that Remy knows nothing of. And Bessy. How did he never suspect her of being more than a Hunter? How did she cleverly disguise her true nature, her true powers all this time? He has nothing in common with them. The only thing he has in common with Talen is arguing. They do arguing perfectly. He regrets spending all that time in his tower. He could have educated himself with everything around him if only he had been out and about more.

  Gavin and Bessy get to work on skinning the bear.

  “Did the bear not speak to you?” The Marksman asks Talen.

  “No. Do you assume that every animal goes around searching for those that can speak to them? For a sea druid, you’re not very wise.” Talen helps cut up the bear.

  “The other druids take that top position. We are more warriors than docile creatures.” He purposely bangs into her, knocking her off balance, causing her to tilt to one side in a crouched position.

  The Marksman heads for the river.

  Kip snuggles against Talen. Why is he angry?

  “You have a lot to learn about humans, my sweet dragon.” She kisses the top of his head. He snags a piece of meat and runs off with it.

  “And you have a lot to learn about men, daughter.”

  “I suppose, since no one else isn’t going to tell you, I will.” Gavin tries to hush Bessy with his hand reaching for her face, but she smacks him away. “The druids of Nalaren are considered the most interesting and connected to Nature. With their highly developed spiritual mediation and a sense of duty to the world, they rarely take part in the nasty bits that life sets in motion for others. For Desmond, he hates being a warrior, but he doesn’t want to walk around talking to himself all day either. He despises being a sea druid but he’d rather be that than a regular druid.”

  “But he’s good at it. Being a warrior I mean.”

  “We are good at a lot of things. It doesn’t mean that we like it.”

  Bessy’s attempt to shine the light on the horrors that a druid may face, whether they be a sea druid or a regular druid, opens Talen’s mind to showing some respect to the Marksman. Maybe opening her heart to understanding his struggle.

  “There is Desmond’s past to consider. What he endured is heartbreaking. His father… after all --”

  “Bessy, that’s enough.”

  “She has a right to know. Why can’t she know how much he cares about her?”

  “No more, Bessy. I mean it.”

  “So, everyone is keeping things from me.”

  “I’m not,” Remy says.

  “No. How can you? You are as lost as I am. We are just drifting by, but every now and again we get sucked up into the whirlpool of deceit.”

  Bessy looks like she wants to tell more but has decided she’s going to give in to Gavin’s wish, for now. That infuriates Talen. She can’t allow herself to be close to anyone because everyone wants to lie or keep secrets.

  The Duggs clean out the mess left behind from the dragons. The smell of urine and feces doesn’t bother the Duggs since their noses aren’t as developed as their sensory glands in their antennas. They seek out more of sounds rather than smells. They use large branches to sweep the waste along in the dirt, towards the opening at the back of the cave. The golden puddles that the harpy queen graciously bestowed upon them are now gone but all of the Duggs had taken their fill. Their bellies glow gold from consuming too much.

  A piece of dirt on a wall trembles. A Dugg moves its antennas around the dirt. A loud bang sends the dirt wall flying out. Duggs scramble to get to the tunnels and to safety. The other walls start crumbling. Some make it to the tunnels, only to find the walls of the tunnels collapsing. Trapped from all sides, they try to dig their way out. They are exceptional diggers.

  A shockwave of flying dirt cascades across the cave, reverberating into the tunnels, blowing dirt.

  The Dugg that helped Talen digs his way through a collapsed tunnel. His legs are sore. He pushes through the pain until he breaks out into the open air. He is snatched up by glittery hands.

  “You smell like harpies,” an elegant voice says.

  “Queen Galaria, you can’t hurt us.”

  She rubs her fingers along his lips. “Clever little beast.” Her eyes twinkle like stars. The dark-blue has tiny specks of white, like little diamonds. Her skin has a soft blue tint to it. Her hair is auburn. A white dress sits under a silver suit of armor. Attached to her belt is a wand made of black crystals.

  “The dragons are free now. You can’t stop them. Talen is going to the Masters. Your reign is over.”

  “Brave words, while you are immune to any of my a
ttacks.” She leans in close to his face. “But you won’t be forever.” She sends her hand up and a white crystalized horse with golden wings lands. “You tell your harpy friend that her time is coming to an end as well.” She mounts it, pulls on the mane, and takes flight.

  The Dugg looks back at the tunnel he came out of. It has fully collapsed with little hope of anyone else getting through. There is simply too much dirt and their legs will give out. He was lucky. Some may not die, but others will if they can’t break out. Duggs can’t breathe with dirt cutting off their oxygen.

  Talen says goodbye to her father with a brief hug and soft kiss on the cheek. The harpy queen pulls Gavin and the Marksman to the side as Talen goes to argue with Remy about him needing to leave.

  “How can you let her marry him? After what his father did to his brother. Does Remy even remember what happened to his uncle?”

  “Elsa, it’s not for you to say such things,” Gavin says.

  “The king favors this match. He has made it bound,” Bessy says, walking over with her stallion. “Let us go before we anger your daughter, Gavin.”

  “One of the Duggs said that I should tell Talen about the elf queen. Everything about her. Do you agree?”

  “No. Farewell, Elsa,” Gavin says.

  “I agree with Gavin,” the Marksman says.

  “You’re just afraid that she will learn your secret. But as you say.” Elsa pulls Gavin in for a kiss.

  Gavin licks his bottom lip.

  Talen and Remy’s argument is getting heated and loud.

  “This is my quest, my rules.”

  “I am your prince and you have to listen to me.”

  “What is wrong with you? Can’t get your father’s approval any other way than trying to look bigger than you are?”

  “I swear, I may just kill you yet.”

  “What animal would you like to see me ask to kill you? Did you think killing me would be easy? You’re just as dumb as your father.”

  “You wouldn’t dare. Would you?”

  “Ugh, why couldn’t your father send you across the world and let me be on my own?” She picks up her backpack. “I am not marrying you. I am getting that seal broken.”