Dragon's Blood

Sam

Sam opened the door to his quarters after being roused by a frantic pounding.

"Iyla! Bill! What on earth's the matter?"

"Tobias is alive!" Iyla cried, her eyes shining. Sam just stared at her, then looked at Bill, "What is she talking about?"

"It's true," said Bill, nodding his head vigorously to make the point.

"He's the one in my dream, the one I've been dreaming about; only they aren't dreams they're real! Sam, my brother is alive and he needs my help, he needs our help." Sam looked bemused, Iyla pushed Grimp through the doorway, "Ask him," she said, pointing to the little creature, "He's seen them, he just told us!"

"Them?"

"Tobias and Drago, his dragon." Iyla was virtually jumping up and down in her excitement.

"Dragon?" Sam frowned as if he was searching his memory for something but was still not quite awake enough to find it.

Iyla wrung her hands in exasperation and propelled Sam into his room, sitting him on the bed, "Stop repeating the last word I say," she said, "I was telling Bill about the dream I just had and Grimp was listening in."

"Grimp is sorry, it will never happen again, Grimp should not have ...." Iyla silenced him with a wave of her hand.

"Never mind that," she said, "It's ok, you did something really good." Grimps chest swelled with pride. Iyla looked back to Sam urgently, "Grimp told me he'd seen the dragon I described and that he belonged to a young man called Tobias." Grimp shivered involuntarily, muttering under his breath. "Tobias didn't die, don't you understand? Kade took him and his dragon away and he's been keeping them prisoner ever since. It was you who told me he uses dragons blood to protect himself from dragons fire. Grimp was enslaved by a man who worked for Kade in the Darklands, in his castle there, where he keeps all his prisoners. Grimp saw Tobias and Drago locked up." Her words were spilling out at such a rate Sam was having difficulty taking everything in.

"Grimp lived in Kades castle?"

"Yes! Grimp would go down to the dungeons with scraps for the prisoners, he saw Tobias and Drago down there."

"We haven't got the full story yet," Bill said, "We thought we should come and tell you."

"How can you be sure it's the same Tobias?" Sam asked maddeningly, Iyla just wanted him to accept what she was saying so they could start looking for her brother.

"When I saw him tonight, I felt like I recognised him, like there was something familiar about him. I'm telling you, it's him and he needs our help."

Sam's gaze was distant, his mind now fully awake, "Drago," he said, disbelief in his tone; and something else, a tinge of hope.

"You recognise the name!" Iyla said triumphantly, "That's what Tobias' dragon was called wasn't it?"

"Yes it was but ..."

"When I spoke to him tonight, it was as if he knew who I was, he looks about the right age to me, I mean he's thin and dirty so it's hard to tell, I thought he was younger the first time I saw him. But it has to be him!" Iyla suddenly desperately needed to believe that her brother was alive, that something from her past had survived, a real true link to her parents and her life before their death. If Sam could accept even the possibility that she was right, it would become more real.

Sam looked at her and she could see the dawning hope in his eyes becoming stronger, "Could it really be?"

"Yes it could! It is! And he's escaped, he's not a prisoner anymore, but Kade is after him and we have to find him first."