The Dragon Scale

Chapter 16

The cave was empty. Ella didn't know what to expect as she stood in the middle of the shadowy cave, gazing at the scorched walls and the hastily put out fireplace. Zachary kneeled down near a shadowy corner and rubbed the soot between his fingers. They stood in silence for a while before Ella spoke up.

"She could be anywhere by now, there's no telling where Tom took her." She turned to Zachary.

"Why don't you try talking to her?" Ella shook her head.

"She won't respond. I can tell."

"Ah." There was an awkward silence for a few minutes.

"What do you do when you don't know what to do?" Ella asked. Zachary frowned.

"Sorry?"

"What do you do when you don't know what to do?" Ella repeated. Zachary stood, a smile playing on his lips.

"Well, I find it helpful to stop for a moment," he crossed the small distance between them, taking hold of her wrist, "and close my eyes," he placed his fingers on her eyelids as she closed them, "and just think about why you are here, in this situation, right now, standing in this hidden cave, looking for, out of all things, a dragon!" He said softly.

Ella smiled, and opened her eyes to see Zachary looking at her with a grin.

"Thanks, Zachary."

"No problem."

"Now let's go."

"Where?"

"To Lutum, Zachary. To Lutum."

*******

The cart rattled on the dirt path. Ella stared up at the mountains which they were passing, and wondered what it would be like to climb up one, to feel the accomplishment of reaching the top. She made a mental note to ask Zachary, who had lived on a mountain his entire life, whether he would tell her the feeling. He was currently fast asleep.

"When do we reach Lutum?" She questioned the cart driver. He turned around, his battered straw hat covering his eyes.

"'Bout two more days. What's your business there?" He asked, his mouth displaying few teeth. Ella pulled her knees up to her chest and shrugged her shoulders.

"Just...wanted to visit." The cart driver scoffed and turned back around, his long white hair contrasting with his dark, sun-beaten skin.

"No one goes to Lutum 'just to visit', miss. You gotta have some business there otherwise they won' let you in."

"They won't?"

"Nope." He said, popping the 'p'. "See here, I've taken many people to Lutum an' 'ad to bring 'em back because they 'ad no business there."

"Oh." Ella leaned her head back, looking at the bright blue sky. "What will I do?" She whispered to herself.

"Well, miss, whatever you do, don' try an' sneak in. I've lost many a customer that way." Said the cart-driver as he pulled on the reins.

Ella shuddered at the thought of what defenses Lutum had at their gates.

"Actually, I was just looking to ask them if they had seen someone." She said vaguely.

"Who? Someone on their journey? Miss, I'm not sure if you're familiar with the concept of journeys, but if you come back without what you're looking for, they won' let you in."

"I'm sure who I'm looking for already has what he was searching for."

*********

Hello everyone!

Hope you enjoyed this little update, but there is more to come!

Because my 1 year anniversary on Wattpad occurred a few weeks ago, I have decided to give you all a special update just as a way of thanking you all.

So thank you, thank you, thank you all soooo much for sticking with me from the start of Ella's adventures, and I can't believe how lucky I am to have readers like you guys!!!!

Just for fun, here's a shoutout for this update... Thanks to @Sapphirelilly for reading!

Don't forget to comment and vote, I really love reading your comments!

Now, onto the next chapter!

~CB_1