The Dragon Scale

Chapter 17

"Zachary! Zachary!" He jumped up.

"Wha...? Oh. We're here." Ella crossed her arms and hopped out of the cart after handing the driver three gold coins. In front of her stood a tall, menacing gate made of dark wood that looked rotten, but Ella knew better than to touch them. Lutum would have placed a spell on their gates, so that if anyone touched them, they would be cursed. She reached her hand up to the brass knocker and knocked, once, twice.

A rustling sound from behind the gate made her jump.

"State your name and your business," a raspy voice echoed from behind the gate.

"I-- uh-- I'm looking for someone, I believe he lives in Lutum?" Ella said loudly and slowly.

"There are many men and boys who live in Lutum, girl." It droned sarcastically.

"His name is Tom." Ella said. "He was running an errand for the Elder of this village."

"Tom? Tom, Tom, Tom," the voice echoed gleefully. "Tom isn't here." Ella felt a feeling of disparity as the voice uttered the words.

"Well, where is he?" Zachary asked, quite annoyed as the voice continued repeating Tom's name.

"Why? What do you want with Tom?"

"I want to talk to him. And you should let us in because we are on our journeys. And according to the Law of Journeys, any village must take in a person on their journey," Ella said forcefully.

"Smart. I like that. Well, if I must," the voice huffed. "I wouldn't want to break any laws or anything like that." It said mischievously. Ella turned around and gave a thumbs up to the cart driver, who grinned and tipped his hat before turning the cart around and steering the horses back on the dirt road. Ella watched him round a corner before turning back around to face the gate, which was slowly creaking open.

"What?" Ella and Zachary said simultaneously. There was nothing behind the gates, besides a cave and a mine cart.

"What? This is Lutum." The voice said. Ella also realized there was no one else except Zachary and her in the cave.

"Where are you? What are you?" She asked. The voice laughed.

"I'm not dangerous, don't worry. Just... different. I've been at these gates since this kingdom was established, which was a long time ago. To protect against intruders, I became invisible. So, I'm here, watching you, but if I wasn't talking, you wouldn't know where I was. Make sense?" It said, full of excitement. Ella exchanged glances with Zachary.

"Okay, but how do we get to Lutum? This is Lutum right? Not some trap?" Zachary asked, his hand hovering over his sheathed knife.

"Of course this is Lutum! What are you, daft? This is the entrance! Just hop right in that mine cart and go right ahead!" It said as the mine cart door swung open.

"Well, alright," Ella hesitantly entered the mine cart, followed by Zachary, who kept his hand in his knife. The door slammed shut and the cart started rolling along the rusty rails, increasing speed every second until the cave was hurtling past them with Ella clutching on for dear life.

"THIS IS CRAZY!" Zachary shouted over the sound of rushing wind.

"WELL, MINE CARTS ARE THE MAIN FORM OF TRANSPORTATION IN LUTUM, SO IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE STICKING AROUND HERE FOR A WHILE, THEN I SUGGEST YOU GET USED TO IT!" The voice crowed.

"WAIT, AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE GUARDING THE GATE?" Ella asked.

"YOU ARE THE FIRST VISITORS IN A LONG TIME, so I thought I might as well follow you. You seem interesting," the voice dropped down to a normal tone as the cart slowed and screeched to a stop by a wooden door.

"Thanks," Zachary grumbled and fixed his hair as the voice hummed a haunting tune happily.

"Well, this is it," it said with joy.

"Won't you show yourself to us before you go?" Ella pleaded, desperate to see the identity of the mysterious voice.

"Well...." It dragged out the sentence.

"Please!"

"Fine." It said happily. "I'm going to get in so much trouble for this, but I don't care!" It proclaimed. "But you might want to sit down. I might appear... frightful to some people."

"Okay..." Zachary placed his hand on his knife discreetly as Ella watched, her face rapt with curiosity. Slowly but surely, a figure appeared in front of them.

Ella could tell that she had been beautiful once. She had dark, short hair, almost that of a boy's. Her cheeks were sallow, and her deep brown-blue eyes had bags underneath them. She was petite and very skinny, as if she had been underfed. Her clothes were oversized and grey, and they didn't fit her small frame.

"I'm Rosina." She said, smiling quietly.

***********

Hey everyone!

I really hope you enjoy this double update, as my one year anniversary on Wattpad was a few weeks ago! I remember when I first had the idea of writing this book, and I didn't know the adventures I would partake in while writing this amazing story. I've come a long way, and it's honestly because of you guys! I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you, reading about Ella's adventures!

So for today's shoutout, I would like to give EVERYONE a shoutout for being the best readers and voters and commenters of all of Wattpad!

Until next time!

~CB_1