S.A.S. - Book one: Secrets (Rewriting)

Chapter Seven: Past By Past

"How? That doesn't make any sense" Red exclaimed. Flame looked up from where she was sitting. This new bit of news seemed to shock her even more than she already was.

"Well, then how was he still in control of you?" she asked. Red thought hard. It's possible that there's someone out there controlling a dead body somehow, but that would have to be pretty powerful magic.

"I don't know," Arthur replied, "but normally the spirit of the owner is infused with mine. Somehow, no spirit was infused to me, and yet he was able to control me."

The group thought it over for a while, but found no explanation, so they headed back to the camp. Fern and Jack went first, then Red and Flame, and finally Arthur. When Red and Flame got back, Fern and Jack were warning the people of Arthur's arrival. The FoxCraft were looking at the forest where Flame and Red came out in anticipation. No one had ever seen an actual dragon before.

"No, he is not evil, and technically, he's not even alive" Fern was saying. "Someone changed the husk into a real dragon somehow, though we don't know who." she looked pointedly at Red, but no one seemed to notice. Red still hated to lie, but he hated the thought of losing Flame even more.

The crowd looked intensely at the shrubs and undergrowth, anticipating the arrival of the great beast. The bushes moved. The crowd gasped. Arthur stepped out, gazing down at the crowd uneasily. Red nodded to him, though he wasn't sure if he had seen.

The FoxCraft standing there all were silent, looking up in awe at Arthur. Then, meekly, Lily stepped out of the crowd. Her mother was behind her, still staring up at the old dragon, and was grasping for Lily's arm. She ignored her, and kept walking forward. Then, as only the bravest of the group would do, she reached out and touched his enormous leg.

This simple act seemed to inspire the others to come and admire the dragon. They ran their fingers along the scales, felt along the scars that the blades left behind. People asked him questions and he answered them to the best of his ability.

After a while, however, the FoxCraft thinned as they returned to their duties. The Council was still a threat, even if they did get a dragon on their side. Red walked up to Arthur.

"So Arthur, how did you know the first king?" he asked. Red had a hunch, but he wasn't sure if he was right.

"Well, I am Arthur, king of the dragon kingdom. Naturally, the first king wanted to create an alliance between the kingdoms, and we got to be great friends." Arthur replied.

Red knew it. He had read somewhere that a king named "Arthur" had united two kingdoms at the age of 10. For a dragon, this was extremely young. These two kingdoms must've been Arthur's and Dragoria.

"Your ancestor gave us something we had previously struggled to achieve: food. In return, we gave his kingdom protection, and when we died, we allowed our bones to be constructed with magic into Husks." Red could see Arthur shudder. "Little did we know that all things come with a price, and no matter how peaceful something is, that peace is always shattered like a pond's surface is disturbed by even the smallest of tremors."

"What happened?" Red asked.

"Well...

"It was an early morning, sometime in snowfall, I think, when the first thing happened. I was doing my daily rounds, flying high, when another dragon's call caught my attention. I looked behind me, to see one of my old friends trying to catch up with me. I fell back, making sure not to hit him with my tail.

"He said he had a message for me. In between breaths, he told me that Krenorg, one of my very close friends, had died. Immediately, I asked if he could take my place on patrol, then flew down back to town. I had always suspected that the Council of FoxCraft your ancestors had made was unreliable, but I trusted in Luimrose's decisions, even if I didn't always agree with them.