The Knights of Aragon

Chapter 19

"You never said that you personally knew Lancelot," I accusingly say. Pendragon stands on her four legs and turns her head at me. "I never said I personally knew this mortal knight," she snaps, "He helped me at a difficult time through another. Du Lac offered me shelter and in return he asked me to protect his lands. Soon after, he left and never came back."

He never came back. I walk next to Pendragon while my thoughts run at a million different directions, all of them leading to one question. "What could possibly be in these tunnels that he needed a dragon to protect it?" I mumble to myself. "Come on, little creature, and I'll show you."

Her legs crouch down, laying down on the ground in front of me. "You want me...to fly...on you?" She narrows her eyes at me. "With me," she corrects, "Not on me. I am no mule." I raise my hands apologetically and get closer to her. Her orange scales flex as I find the courage to touch them.

They're smooth to the touch, to my surprise. At a glance, you would think that her scales are rough and matte, but it quite the opposite, really. Looking at them closely, they have flecks of gold that makes them shimmer with the light. I grab onto one her wings and she lifts me up, dropping me down on her back. "Hold on," she warns. "If you can."

"Wh-" Pendragon jumps up and flaps her wings. We soar up into the evening sky. The wind stings my eyes while Pendragon cuts through the air with beautiful purpose. A laugh bursts out of me the higher we go. The world looks so much smaller from this altitude. All my problems feel far away from me. A small smile creeps out as I close my eyes, feeling the endorphins cloud my brain. I raise my arms as high as I could get them, hoping to touch a piece of the sky.

Pendragon rumbles underneath me, most likely amused at my reaction. "This is amazing!" Hues of greens, and blues, and reds cover the earth below us. Even the evening sky seems to explode with pinks and oranges. Ecstasy fills my veins at the sight. "We are arriving," I hear her over the roaring wind. I pull myself closer to her neck and hold for dear life.

She nosedives without warning; and I scream bloody murder. My heart pounds in my chest as the ground quickly comes into view. "That's the ground," I yell at her, but she doesn't slow down. "Pendragon!" The ground gets closer and closer, making me close my eyes and send a silent prayer to the gods.

I wait for the impact that never arrives so I slowly open my eyes. Pendragon is floating a few feet above the ground, looking back at me with laughing eyes. "You didn't have to do that, you know?" She lands with a soft thud. "I don't usually get the opportunity to fright a mortal," she bends her legs, waiting for me to climb down. "I had to enjoy every second of this flight." I grunt disbelievingly.

My feet plant themselves on solid ground as I take in the scene before me. A towering castle with entangled vines invading its space around it empoweringly stands before us, daring us to go any further. The towers on either side of it appear to be in ruins with its roof poking the sky like a needle in mid stitch. Goosebumps rise along my skin at the sight of the foreboding manor.

"This is Lancelot's castle?"

"Yes."

I harshly swallow, inspecting the land for any threats. "Why would you bring me here?" Animal noises hoot and howl from a distance and I subconsciously reach for Inferno, but I only clasp an empty holster. I silent curse myself for leaving it behind. "Lancelot kept many things to himself after Arthur died," she begins to explain, "However, I knew that he was protecting something in his lands. Something valuable, maybe even precious to him. I had never seen him so anxious and unnerved in those last days I saw him."