Adventures of Paku the Dragon: The Shroud of Shadows

Chapter 8

Paku wakes early the next morning, and begins to search for food. Patch soon joins him, and they scavenge for berries and nuts. A small river runs nearby, and the two dip their paws into it to wash off the dirt.

"I bet this river will lead us towards the stronghold." Paku notes, watching as it winds throughout the giant redwood forest. "Civilization usually builds near water."

"I hope your right smarty pants." Patch teases.

After a few hours of hunting, they decide to return to the campfire, and dry themselves off before heading to the stronghold.

"There's no telling how far away it is," Patch says, looking at the map again.

"The river we visited runs through this whole region it would seem. Let's go and follow it." Paku suggests, putting out the campfire as he and Patch begin to follow the river.

They walk alongside the flowing water, the birds singing throughout the sunny forest. It was pretty peaceful, and despite the hardships that had happened to Paku the previous day, he was beginning to feel a little better.

"This is a nice place. It feels like home." Paku says, looking at the forest.

"Yeah, it does feel like home. I think Naria would love this place."

Paku feels a little bit of sadness thinking about Naria. He hoped that she wasn't being treated too poorly by the pirates captured. This motivated him to move a bit quicker, to try and find this stronghold faster so they might still have a chance to rescue Naria.

"Woah Paku slow down!" says Patch noticing Paku had started running.

"Come on Patch we got to find the stronghold faster!"

"Just calm down, we're not even close yet." Patch says, grabbing Paku's tail and stopping him. "Let's just enjoy the scenery, okay?"

"We have to find it before its too late." Paku says dragging Patch along. Unfortunately for the two, in Paku's haste, he had stumbled right into a trap, as a net hoists Patch and Paku into the air, as they dangle from a tree.

"Good job there Paku!" Patch sarcastically says. "You just had to be in a big rush!"

"Sorry Patch! I'll make sure we don't run into anymore traps." Paku apologizes, trying to save face. "But hurry up and untie us, we need to find this stronghold fast."

Patch begins to slice at the ropes with his claws, trying to get them freed. "Man, whoever made these ropes didn't make them easy to cut."

"I think that's the point of them." Paku says, biting into the rope.

"Why are you doing that?" Patch asks, as he watches Paku gnaw on the ropes. "It's not going to help."

"I need to get us out of here." Paku responds with a mouthful of rope, but the net won't budge.

Patch sighs as he continues to claw at the ropes, though to no avail.

"How did they even catch us? There's no way they could see us flying over the water." Patch says.

"Maybe we were followed." Paku suggests, as he looks around. "And maybe we should look for something sharp to cut the ropes with."

"I got an idea." says Patch. "If we can push down with our might, it might break the branch we hang from, and allow us to grab one of those sharp rocks down there to cut us loose."

"Good idea." Paku responds. "On the count of three."

"One."

"Two"

"Three!"

With that, Patch and Paku push down with all their weight, causing the branch to snap and them and the net to hit the ground below with a thud.

"Whoa, that hurt." Paku groans.

"I'm sorry. I thought you said on the count of three." Patch says, rubbing his backside. "Next time, let me know when you're planning to do something crazy."

Patch reaches out and grabs the rock, cutting the ropes enough to free them. "That feels loads better."

"Well, now what?" Paku asks, picking himself up.

"Now we figure out where we are, and head towards the stronghold." Patch says, as he picks up the net.

"Not so fast." says a voice, as a tall man of lean build looks at the dragon and puma. "Isn't that interesting? A rare black dragon, and a talking puma. Very odd to see roaming in the great grove."

Paku and Patch look at each other, wondering if they were being taunted by the strange man. "Is there any reason why you'd want to capture us?" Paku asks, keeping his distance.

"Capture you specifically? No. Man has to eat after all. It just happened to be chance that you two fell into that trap. But, seeing as I am a man who needs a bit of money to get out of debt, selling you two to the market would do me good." the stranger explains.

"You're no better than those buccaneers who took our friend!" Paku snarls as he prepares himself for a battle.

"Oh? You have a friend?" the man asks. "I didn't notice her hanging from your net. Or maybe I just missed her. She was probably just a small puma, and not worth my time."

"Her name was Naria, and if she were here, she would've toasted you by now!" Paku growls.

"Well look kid, I'm just doing what I have to. It's nothing personal." the man explains, loading a tranquilizing dart into a blow gun. "This will put you to sleep for a few hours, and then you'll wake up somewhere else. So you might as well relax, and let me do my job."

Paku looks at Patch, and then the man. "You're not going to hurt us!"

"Of course not." Before Paku or Patch can react, the man shoots a tranquilizing dart into the dragon and puma, causing them to become very sleepy. "It's just business."

"You... monster...." Paku mutters as the tranquilizer takes its toll, causing him to pass out on the forest floor, him and Patch both out cold. Once they have become knocked out, the strange man binds their legs in chains, throwing the two over his shoulder as he begins to walk through the vast forest.