The Heart of King Travis

Danger

Right as he signaled for the thugs to leave, they darted up to the palace door and swung it open with ease. They had to be quiet until the moment when they were down the hill and into the fields, far away from the palace. Gangs were surprisingly quite common in the closest village, so the delinquents wouldn't be anything new to the peasants.

Gold studs and combat boots clashed as everyone tried to get out the door at the same time. Once the barbarians had made their wild exit, I calmly walked behind, trying to make sure they were a safe distance away before I called Spencer. Once my feet crossed into the land outside of the palace's safe threshold, a cold breeze blew my brunette hair behind my shoulders and I was forced to stop for a second and think about the dangers of what I was about to do. I pushed it out.

By the time I opened my eyes to scan my surroundings, the wild animals were out of sight and I was by myself. Since Spencer was probably going to bring Arialis, I had to make sure I called him in an open field that would be safe for landing. Everyone else had gone straight in front of the palace, so I had to pick either left or right to pursue somewhere open. I chose the right, and that choice paid off well. The minute of walking seemed like an eternity as I wondered if they were looking for me, but I was soon blessed when I stumbled into an open field that had no crops. The grass was surprisingly short as if someone had trimmed it to look presentable. That actually worked in my benefit considering it would make me more visible to Spencer as he flew overhead.

With a shaking hand, I raised the ring to my hand and spoke into it with a quivering voice. "Spencer...Sp...Spencer...Spencer!" I spoke, gradually getting more confident as I called. He would come, but it would take a minute since the valley wasn't extremely close. Wanting to look as small as possible, I sunk down and hugged my knees to my chest. I had forgotten to wear a cloak, so the cobalt dress was the only thing keeping me warm. The breeze was gentle, but it was still enough to make me want to go to my room and curl up in my bed. Maybe then I could fall asleep and dream of flying again...

Once again, the minutes passed like hours. When I was nervous, that tended to happen. They could come and find me at any moment, but that was unlikely considering they were probably busy terrorizing the crops of innocent villagers. For the time being, I had to make sure Spencer could see me when he was flying high above. After my small eternity, a fluttering noise started to sound in the distance. At first it just seemed to be my imagination, but then it grew louder. At this point I knew it was real.

Finally, the last familiar sound came. A screech. I looked up to see the magnificent sky blue creature spreading its wings wide to fly. It slowed down near the fields, so I jumped and waved my arms to bring it to me. "Spencer! Down here! Don't go any further!" With his keen eye, he immediately detected me and Arialis started his downward descent. The dragon's wings slowed as she went down, claws reaching for the ground. After a few seconds, Arialis firmly planted herself and went into a resting position.

When I looked up to see Spencer on his dragon's back, I noticed his clothes were dirty and tattered. He wore a dirty white t-shirt and ripped knee-length brown pants. It was obvious he hadn't had the easiest day down in the valley, but he still retained a pearly white smile. With great ease, he slid down the dragon's back and ran towards me. "Did you do it Arden? Do you need me to bring you back?" When I didn't respond, he dropped his smile. "Are you OK? Did they hurt you?" I slowly shook my head, still getting ahold of the situation that had happened all to quickly. "No, no I'm fine. I just need you to hide me." He raised an eyebrow for a second before a worried look creeped over his face. "Did you not succeed? Are they after you?" I shook my head, trying to reassure him.

He bit his lower lip in frustration. "Then why am I here, Arden? Why did you feel the need to call me if nothing is wrong?" Finally, I told him. "I'm not sure if this could REALLY be an emergency, but there's a group of people who are going down to the village to terrorize crops. I kind of went with them, so I want you to hide me so the king doesn't find me and cut off my head." With a quick roll of his eyes, he agreed. "Fine. Hop on. We'll go back to the valley for a few minutes and talk." I felt a pang of guilt at his disappointment, but I really did need help. After he gracefully leaped onto the back of Arialis, I...well let's just say I mounted. With a running start, I leaped onto the side of her and used her large scales to crawl up. When I got to the top, Spencer looked at me oddly and turned around.