Alistair and The Dragons

Chapter 15 - New Thoughts

Alistairs POV

"That's healing up nicely." Selah commented as she pulled a bandage off on of Ryuus wounds.

"Ouch." Ryuu complained when Selah ripped another bandage off.

"Don't be a baby." Selah said, laughing as she threw away the medical supplies. I sat down next to Ryuu when Selah walked away, slouching down against the old couch. My mind wandered back to what Ryuu had told us a few days ago. I couldn't stop thinking about the King, there had to be something we could do about it.

"Has anyone ever tried to fight back? Like against the King?" I asked, turning towards Ryuu. He smoothed out his new bandages before sighing.

"The dragons fight back sometimes. They used to at least but they mostly run now. A few elves have tried to go up against him. None of them made it." Ryuu explained somberly.

"Oh." We fell into a silence after that but my mind was louder than ever. I hated knowing that an evil man was in charge of a place as beautiful as this.

"I wish we could help them." I said, slouching down even further. Ryuu opened his mouth to say something but was cut off when Selah rushed out of the lab.

"I need you two to go get me some of the water from the portal pond. Take these and go." Selah said, handing me a few test tubes. I nodded my head and grabbed my backpack, shoving the tubes inside. I waited at the door for Ryuu to pull on his shoes.

"You haven't seen the portal pond yet, have you?" I questioned, petting Fanes head as he sat down on my shoulders.

"No I haven't." Ryuu said, kicking a rock in his path.

"Its really pretty. It's a nice place to relax." I explained, picking up my pace a bit. There was a roar from above us and I quickly ran under the cover of a few trees before looking up. Directly above us was a gray dragon with what looked to be an arrow through its wing. The dragon cried out again, flying away in the direction of the pond.

"Alistair wait!" Ryuu yelled, trying to grab my arm as I took off after it. I ignored him and sprinted to the pond. I heard the dragon before I saw it. It was breathing heavy and sounding out small whimpers. I turned around a tree and locked eyes with the gray beast. It was a boy.

"Hey buddy, can I take a look at that wing of yours?" I said calmly. I slid my backpack off my shoulder and crept closer to him. He whined when Ryuu ran out from the cover of the trees. Ryuu slowed down to a crawl at the noise.

"Its okay buddy. Let me see it." I commanded softly. The dragon swung it's wing on top of my hands, setting it down gently. The arrow had made a clean cut through the wing but it would bleed badly when I take it out. I set his wing down on the ground and unzipped my bag, taking a glance at Ryuu. He was standing awkwardly to my side, staring intently at the gray dragon. I found some bandages, cloth, stitching equipment and gauze in my bag from my last endever out. I dipped the cloth into the pond water and dabbed it around the sides of the arrow wound.

"This might hurt a bit, I'm sorry." I said, warning the big guy. I grabbed the longer end of the arrow and snapped it, throwing the broken part behind me. I bit my lip and slowly began to pull the arrow out the other side. The gray dragon cried with each new pull but I knew it had to come out.

As soon as the arrow was all the way out, blood started to pour. I had to work fast. I stitched up the wing, struggling around the blood and began to bandage it up. It took all the gauze and most of the bandages I had to stop the wound from bleeding and cover the wounded area completely.

"Do you want to come back to a safe place with us? At least until your wing heals up more? We'll feed you and everything." I coaxed, hoping the dragon would choose to stay with us. With what I now knew of this world, he wasn't safe. He seemed unsure at first but finally nodded his head, nudging it into my chest as thanks afterwards.

"Let's fill the test tubes." I said, pulling them from my bag and handing a few to Ryuu. He looked dazed but I didn't feel the need to ask why right now. I dipped my test tubes into the water, filling them up to the brim before shoving the cork in the top. I waited for Ryuu to do the same.

"Let's go." I said, whipping the sweat off my forehead absent mindedly. The dragon stood on shakey legs, following behind us. "I can carry you." I commented, giving the dragon a smile. It stared before shrinking down and hopping up on my shoulder. It wrapped it's tail around my neck and settled down into a laying position, beginning a soft purr.

I looked back at the pond as we rounded around the trees. Dragons were still being pulled to it when they were injured or just needed help. Emerald can't bandage the other dragons up like they need either. I nodded my head at a resolve. I would start going to the pond, everyday, to check for dragons. I hopped I could somehow make a difference in this world. Maybe this is why Xygeos brought me here, I'm not sure but I want to be able to help.

"Selah, we're back and we brought a friend!" I called as we entered the house.

"This house is way to small for more people!" Selah scolded, stomping out of her lab. She spotted the dragon around my neck in seconds, speed walking over to me to examine him.

"Its beautiful. Such a wonderful color pallet!" Selah sighed, circling around me.

"He. And he is a friend so keep your dirty hands off him." I said, setting my bag down on the couch.

"You are no fun. Did you get what I asked for?" Selah questioned, peeking into my bag. I smiled and nodded, pulling out the multiple test tubes filled with the portal pond's water.

"Thank you!" Selah exclaimed, haistly grabbing them from my hands. She dashed towards her lab door but I called out to her.

"I also have this." I grimaced, sticking up my nose at the bloody cloth. Selahs eyes widened along with her smile.

"Is that...?" Selah asked, trailing off and reaching a hand out.

"Yep. Genuine dragon blood mixed with the ponds water. Fresh." I explained, dropping the dirty cloth into her open hand.

"This is perfect! Thank you guys so much!" Selah beamed, scurrying back into her lab. I couldn't help but smile at the bright look on her face. As gross as it was, it was the least I could do for her, seeing as though she was just letting me stay here.

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I know I haven't posted in weeks, probably over a month. I got really discouraged about the book and then a lot of stuff in my life happened but I really want to try a revive it. I know the earlier chapters aren't the best but I'm going to try my hardest to improve in my writing skills
Hope you like it!
Picture is Alistair aka Paul Boche