The Dragon Keeper(On Hiatus)

Chapter 3

The carriage touched down in "The Sanctuary'' after hours of flight. The four kids looked around in awe of the place filled with magical creatures. Not quite as amazing but intriguing nonetheless was the man standing before them. The man had a scar over his right eye and a very ornate looking sword hanging from his belt.

"You're Majesty," Gideon said. At once, all the apprentices bowed. Sage suddenly understood why the man's sword was so fancy and why he was wearing a red cape lined with fur. Gideon continued, "I wasn't aware that you were going to be here."

"Well, as king it is my duty to welcome the newcomers to 'The Sanctuary.' After all, it's not every day we're gifted with finding a dragon keeper." There was that phrase again. The two words that made Sage cringe with so much fear. He didn't understand why everyone felt the need to keep congratulating him when he was bound to be the worst dragon keeper in history. Sage could see Cassandra glaring at him out of the corner of his eye, but he chose to ignore her, mostly because she scared him.

"Well, we wouldn't need dragon keepers if your knights didn't insist upon killing them," Gideon said in a tone that Sage knew was probably unacceptable for royalty, but the king seemed to ignore this outburst. Sage wasn't sure whether to agree with the taskmaster's logic or not. While he agreed that if knights didn't slay dragons then dragon keepers wouldn't be needed, but he could also see how slaying dragons lowered the chance of attacks.

"Gideon, my knights keep this realm safe. They could keep 'The Sanctuary' safe as well if you'd allow them in," the king argued.

"I thought you came here to meet the new apprentices, not lecture me about your knights," Gideon said, reminding the king about the four apprentices standing across from him. He glanced over at the four kids and grinned slightly. These four children were the future of "The Sanctuary." Gideon couldn't be convinced that knights were needed here, but perhaps the children could be persuaded.

"Of course, it is my pleasure to meet you all. I'm sure you'll do great things here in 'The Sanctuary.'" The king flashed a smile and turned towards Sam. "And you must be the new dragon keeper. You should feel very honored." Sam looked at Sage confusedly. Sage could understand the mix up. After all, Sam was a strongly built boy. He'd make a perfect dragon keeper. At least, Sage thought so.

"Actually, Sam will be a griffin wrangler. Sage is our newest dragon keeper," Gideon explained. Sage did his best not to shrink back under the gaze of the king. He had to prove he was good enough to do this.

"This is the newest dragon keeper?" the king asked with uncertainty. Even though Sage felt the exact same way, he was still insulted by this uncertainty, though he couldn't explain why. He didn't even want to be a dragon keeper, so he didn't understand why he felt so upset by the king's comment.

"Yes, your Majesty. I am going to be the newest dragon keeper," Sage said somewhat unsure himself but unwilling to admit he wasn't cut out for this job.

"Well, I'm sure you're going to do very well. Unfortunately, I must be going now. Good luck to all of you," the king said as he turned and started walking towards his own carriage.

"Now that that's over with," Gideon started, "Let's get you children settled in." The children followed Gideon to a stone lodge. It was worn from years of being surrounded by magical animals. There were a few blackened, scorch marks along the sides. Sage assumed it was from young dragons that had yet to gain control of their fire. The lodge itself was a fairly large building. The inside of the lodge was wooden. Stained pine planks made up the walls and a cobblestone fireplace roared in the corner of the room. There was a nice lounge area near the fireplace. Wooden chairs with colorful cushions sat around a square table. Maps of other sanctuaries lined the wall. Some of the sanctuaries looked to be moving along the map to different positions. Sage was the first to notice this and couldn't help but question it.