The Dragon Curse

Who is he?

"Open up, or else we will break-in." shouted the soldier again, banging on the door louder.

"Just a minute," I shouted back, then looked back at Jack, who looked at me with fearful eyes and pleaded.

"Please..."

"Right. Go and hide in the shed outside. Whatever happens, don't come out." I said and he quickly ran out, so when he disappeared, I opened the door.

"Sorry for interrupting, but have you seen this man lately?" asked one of them, showing a paper with Jack's face on it and the big wanted sing above it.

"No, why?" I asked back.

"He is dangerous. If you see him let us now."

"Definitely," I said, but they didn't look like they were convinced.

"You sure, you haven't seen him before? The townspeople are after him."

"Sir, I've been there three times in the town in my entire life, so no, I don't know him and haven't seen him," I said.

"You two, look through the whole house." demanded the leader to the other two.

"There is no need for...."

"He was in the forest last night and your house is the closest to it. Maybe he is not here, but we need to find him," he said, then we were waiting for the other two to come back.

"He is not here," they said, and the leader looked at me.

"Let's go then," he said and they were headed towards the door, but he once again looked back. "Whenever you see him, bring him to the town."

"Alright," I answered and they finally left my house.

I went outside in the shed to tell Jack that they left. As I stepped in I called for him.

"Jack?" I waited, but no answer. "Jack, they left, you can come out now."

Still nothing. I searched through the whole place, but he was nowhere. I went back outside and saw him, running into the woods. I ran after him and tried to stop him, but he was faster. Why did he run away? Maybe he is a criminal and I hid him from the soldiers. I'm in big trouble.

I stopped after a while because I completely lost him. I couldn't do anything, so I went back home, with the thought that I'm a criminal too. How am I going to tell the king that I'm innocent? What am I talking about, of course, I'm not innocent, I helped a guilty person.

I sat down on a chair and was thinking about this. I need to find a great excuse. He forced me to help. Yeah, that sounds good. All of a sudden somebody knocked on my door again. I can't believe, what's it with this day? I stood up and opened the door, revealing my friends, Bob and Wade.

They were living in the town with their wives and usually came here to be together and talk. They came in and I saw the frustration on their faces.

"This is unbelievable. How could they lost him?" said Bob, sitting down on my bed.

"Lost who?" I asked back and looked at them.

"You haven't heard it yet?" asked Wade and I just looked at him, because I didn't know what was happening. "There's a man, who is really dangerous."

"Oh, that," I said as the realization hit me. "Three soldiers were here not a while ago and they said something about this man as well, but not enough. So... what is this whole thing whit him?"

"He started a fight in the pub, then his eyes started glowing brightly. He is definitely a wizard or some demon." started Wade. "I was watching the whole scene, it was horrible. After he was finished with the three men he ran away and they haven't found him yet."

"Yeah, and that's not the only thing." Bob continued. "I heard from someone that this man can control a person and other things like this."

Is it really Jack? For me, he seemed a good person. This thing is just... unbelievable. How could he control people's minds? And most importantly why?

"Anyway. I hope they'll find him soon," said Bob.

"Yeah, and give him what he deserves." finished Wade.

"Well, hopefully," I said and the silence took in. Should I tell them that Jack was here?

"You're lucky that you live here," said Bob.

"Not that anyone can know, well Felix knows too..."

"Felix?" asked Bob surprised as he interrupted me.

"Oh, yeah. He is living not too far away from here with his wife. You remember him, right?" I asked them.

"Of course. Did he come back?" asked Wade, and another knock cut off our conversation.

"Hey Mark." as I opened the door Felix greeted me with a big smile and a silly wave.

"Hi, Felix. Come in." I invited him in and closed the door.

"Hello Felix," said Bob and Wade and they greeted each other with a hug. "Where have you been?"

"Hmm, everywhere," he said. "I traveled through so many countries. I was in France, but it wasn't that interesting."

They laughed as Felix told them about his adventurous journey and how he met with so many different people.

"We heard that you have a wife. Where did you meet with her?" asked Bob, still sitting on my bed with Felix while Wade and I were sitting on chairs.

"Her name is Marzia. She is from Italy," he said and the boys started whistling. "Yeah, I've lived there for 2 years with her. She married me and we had to move back here because my father died so, somebody has to care for the mill."

"And she agreed?" asked Wade sarcastically.

"I mean, she loves me." he smiled back at Wade and we started laughing again.

"We should have a meeting because I would like to know her actually," I said and they nodded as they agreed.

"And you, boys. Do you have anybody in your life?" asked Felix and Bob and Wade answered yes proudly, while I just shrugged my shoulders. "Oh come on Mark. I thought you would be the first one."

"I think I'm okay lonely," I said.

"Everybody needs someone to be with them," Bob said.

"Let's talk about something else."