The Final Storm (Part 3)

Ralem Gets Decapitated

The next morning Aidan came back shortly before eight, his pockets full of bread. He gave it, along with a couple boiled eggs, to the dragon and chattered about his reunion with his friend. Jaydon only half listened as he tore into his meal, careful not to let the sleepy guards see that he was eating. Finally Aidan realized that Jaydon wasn’t necessarily listening to him and rolled his eyes. “Hey, Jaydon. Listen.”

Jaydon stopped stuffing his face for a second.

“You know, I think this is really cool, trying to figure out a way to get you out. But we don’t even have a plan. All you told me to do is ‘find the key’. I don’t know where on earth the key is! It could be anywhere. And when I find it, it could be too late.” His voice started to waver.

Jaydon didn’t like thetone he was using. He narrowed his eyes, “What do you mean, ‘it could be too late.’”

Aidan wiped his eyes, “I just overheard last night. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were talking about Uncle Ralem. They said he was going to be publicly beheaded… today. For witchcraft and betrayal to our country.”

“Wh-WHAT?” Jaydon screamed in a hoarse whisper. He started to feel light headed. “I got to get out of here. I have to get out of this cage.” He jumped to his feet and hit his head on the roof of the cage. Still yelling, he jumped backwards and the cage veered dangerously to the left, before swinging him roughly of his feet and his butt landed hard on the mesh floor. He scrambled to his feet and shook the bars, growling like a wild animal. His sign swirled furiously on his shoulder blade. A vicious bite to the bars left his brain rattled.

“JAYDON!” Aidan yelled.

Jaydon froze, whimpering.

“Jaydon,” Aidan repeated, “We’ve got to come up with a plan. Banging against a cage doesn’t count. Please, tell me something I can do and I’ll do it.”

Jaydon dug his face in his hands. He gave a deep, shuttering breath, before releasing it in one long gust. “The truth is,” he began, “I have no clue what to do. Usually Ralem tells me what I’m supposed to do.” He immediately wished he didn’t say that. He couldn’t believe he had actually told this human kid. Feeling suddenly very vulnerable, the dragon curled into an even tighter ball.

A soft hand settled on his muscular forearm. “Hey,” Aidan’s voice came. “I understand. You’re kinda scared. I am too.”

“I’m not scared,” Jaydon said between clenched teeth.

Aidan stared hard at him. Jaydon avoided his gaze. “Face it, you’re scared. You love Uncle Ralem a lot, don’t you.”

“Of course,” Jaydon said gruffly.

“Well so do I. He’s like a second dad to me, and I’ve known him for as long as I can remember. Now it’s up to us to save him.  And I know we’re young and everything and not as smart as grown ups or whatever but I know we can do it. We just need to have it together.”

Jaydon considered this for a moment. Then he looked to Aidan with sparkling green eyes. “So… you have any ideas?”

“Uh… no.”

Jaydon made a face. “Great. How about we stick to my plan; you finding the key.”

Aidan frowned. Then he sighed, “Okay. I’ll be back to give you some snacks later on, okay?” And then he was gone.

Jaydon stared after him. There was a lot more to that kid than he thought, than even Ralem thought. And he hoped for all their sakes that he would find a way.

As he resumed cutting, he realized something. Absolutely no energy had been drained from him today. Which either meant two things:

(1)  Ralem had found a way to completely sever their connection.