The Darkest Dragons

CHP. 20 "Why Change?"

I woke up quickly, or I thought I did. I sat up feeling light. I looked over and found the High sorceress sitting in a chair by the bedside. She looked up. "Hello princess." my eyes widened, "h-hello?" She sighed and said, "I have been speaking with your brother, I am what lead him to you at the palace." My eyes widened even more if possible. She stood though and leaned in close whispering, dread filling her words, "You must hurry, they're coming!" I woke with a start and jumped up. Black filled my vision for a moment but I ran through it forcefully. I grabbed my clothes and put them on in record time and ran out. I stormed into Abelard's room and he sat up startled. I yelled, "Hurry we need to run!" He jumped out of bed quickly and I ran out. I did this a few more times for Jordan and Caleb. We all got up and ran out to the dragons; they had felt my panic and Faaris had gotten them all together. When I got to faaris everyone else had joined me, caleb and Jordan panicked while Abelard calmly but determined stalked behind them. We climbed on and I only then realized it was barely dawn, still dark. I climbed onto Faaris and the King burst out of the doors. "Kids what's going on?" I turned to him and smiled, "You were very hospitable your highness, but I am afraid we must leave you. I hope to be back bearing gifts for the baby!" He took a step back and nodded leaving the subject alone. I clicked my tongue and Faaris took off. Only when we were in the air did I say anything. "I am sorry I got you up so quickly. I had a dream, I think... and the high sorceress came to me and told me that they were coming. She told me to hurry. I didn't really know what to do but if it had anything to do with Jordans old dragon then I didn't want them to destroy the castle, I wanted the queen to be safe. Jordan came up close, "You did the right thing Raine." I smiled and then opened a link with the king and queens dragon, "I have a bad feeling the skies will not be empty tonight. Protect the queen." I felt a soft dread filter through the bond, "Never fear my friends, I believe they are after us and that is why I left so fast, you should have no trouble. I just wanted to warn you." A deep warm voice responded, "Thank you my queen, I will stand vigil tonight." I smiled and closed the link. We flew quietly for a long time. Jordan leading us with confidence. The only sounds were birds waking up and wing flaps. I looked over to see Abelard on his back still riding Arian, fast asleep. I noticed Caleb glancing over every so often probably worried he would fall. I looked up at Jordan who flew slightly above us. It hasn't been long since we were battling each other... but was it really him or a trick? Like everything else? He seemed so ferocious but it took me being captured and tortured to realize the poor boy had been tricked and used. A puppet for a vengeful dragon. I sighed and Faaris asked, "Is everything okay raindrop?" I chuckled at her nickname for me and said, "Yes, I am just thinking." She said nothing after a minute but asked, "Do you want to talk about it?" I nodded happily, "Yeah I would love to. Do you want to know something specific?" She nodded her giant head and said, "I wanted to know the exact moment Stry- Jordan changed." I nodded thoughtfully. I started talking without really thinking about it. "When I was captured I was so groggy that I didn't know how to move. I couldn't do anything but watch, but I knew that the moment the man grabbed me that it wasn't stryker or Jordan. I passed out fully on the way but when I woke up I was in a nice room with a large window. There were darkness dragons everywhere outside. I went to use my magic but I just felt pain, so much pain. When stryker came in he sounded the same but he looked slightly concerned for me. I just remember him saying that if I don't comply they would hurt Abelard. Anyways after a little bit though I decided it was worth the risk that they didn't have him and I used every part of my being to disappear It hurt so much but I managed to make it outside, When I did I convinced the dragons to not reveal that I was out and they all turned a blind eye. I thought that I was strong enough to get out but the moment I saw him all the strength just vanished and I passed out. I remember Jordan's face, he looked so scared for me... he ran towards me and I think he caught me before I hit the ground. I would say that is the moment he changed, or realized he wasn't bad." Faaris sighed, "I am sorry I couldn't be there... I am glad Jordan is good. I think you need him just as much as he needs you." I smiled and we flew on back in silence. It was well into dawn when we stopped and landed. The dragons went and hunted while we started a fire. We laid around and Caleb asked, "Hey Jordan, "What changed exactly?" I looked over to Faaris and she shrugged her large shoulders. I guess she wasn't the only one curious about what happened. Jordan smiled and turned the thin stick in his hands. He bobbed it up and down and looked up frowning. "I think it changed when I saw her when she had managed to get out of the room I had placed her in. I didn't know she had woken up to be honest. I had gone in previously to talk and question Raine but she wasn't in there. I ran out and went about looking for her and I had a few dragons start but they couldn't find her either. I noticed every dragon around me stop though and look behind me and so I turned to and there she was. She was standing awkwardly and when she went to step away from me she screamed. It- it was the most horrific scream you have ever heard. I thought she was going to die. Her eyes rolled back and she fell but I uh.. I caught her and all the dragons crowded around me and were sniffing around. I took her up to my room because I knew that my bed was probably the most comfortable and I really though she was dying. She had a fever and I didn't know what to do. When she woke up it had been a few hours. I was sitting at the end of the bed reading and she got up really fast and it startled me and I stood up. She swayed really hard and touched the globe making it light up and she jumped away from it and ran into me and shocked me. Literally. She also said some pretty uh- hurtful things but I definitely deserved them. Uh... oh I sent her back to her room since she obviously didn't want to be around me... I know now what a horrendous mistake that was-. Oh wow I'm sorry guys, I ramble so easily..." Caleb was holding onto Abelard and I was honestly trying hard not to cry. It was odd hearing it from his side. Caleb sighed, "I didn't mean to bring up such a bad memory..." Jordan laughed, "It turned out great in the end... uh I suppose. After I got her back from that dungeon room she was pretty close to dying but I used a little magic to fix as many things as I could and it worked, all except for magically inflicted wounds. They don't heal from magic. When she woke up she seemed scared of me, She was also angry, of course that was expected she went through four hours of torture before I could...find...her." everyone froze and I cleared my throat, "It's okay guys, Jordan you can uh go on..." He looked down ashamed and continued, "You'd think I would know every corner of my castle but I swear I had no idea there was a torture chamber in the lower rooms of the castle. It took so long to find her... anyway she was really mad but it hurt her to yell at me and I gave her water and when I told her I killed her assailant she stared at the ceiling. I figured she just didn't want to talk anymore so I offered her some food. I had made some hot soup while I waited for my magic to take hold on her. She tried to take the bowl but her arms had huge cuts I assumed were made by magic because they wouldn't heal immediately. I ended up feeding her though she refused at first." He stopped and smiled for a second. "After she was done eating I told her I had healed her and she asked me a few questions and she mentioned her guard, Ryan... I had actually sent a female guard to get her, she was supposed to be drugged and taken without harm to anyone but she told me that an assassin had nearly killed him." He suddenly snapped the twig in half and continued, "She then asked about you, Abelard. I think the same man that had tortured her had told her that you were also captured." Abelard's eyes widened and he looked at me. I nodded confirming it, "The man looked exactly like you, I thought he was you. So I figured I was defeated. That's why I went with that one man, the one who took me down to the room. He said if I screamed or did anything he would hurt Abelard." Jordan grabbed his head as if in pain and whimpered. I stood and walked over to him sitting down. I didn't exactly know what to do but I looped an arm with his and leaned up against him. He seemed to calm down and said in his position, "We talked for a while and when I told her I didn't have you, Abelard, she laughed, laughed! I was so confused but she explained it to me and why she was happy and eventually I told her that I would escort her when she was okay again but when I got up she said that she had nightmares so I took her with me and went to the healers for a minute..." He turned his head away from me and didn't mention our small conversation in the healers room. I continued, "He showed me the castle and when we got to the top landing platform his dragon landed, or we thought he was but when he landed I recognized him immediately, it was the same dragon that had kidnapped us in the first place and the same dragon who had watched Ryan get almost killed." Jordan once again took up the story, "he snarled at her and I snapped at him but he snorted and told me she was the enemy and he stopped when he mentioned that she should have died like the guard and I yelled at him and he called me a pitiful excuse for a king and flew up and tried to cook us but... but... When he spat out his fire Raine stepped in front of it and took it all. She fell to her knees when it was over and he flew off. I took her into my arms and carried her back to the room." I found it interesting that he didn't mention what I said.. Maybe he was embarrassed? I looked down and listened in. "-anicking but I remembered my globe, it can summon creatures and sorcerers. I touched it and willed someone to help her and it worked. This sorceress came and told me she would heal her in the condition I would take you guys back home. She healed you and left and you woke up." He looked down at me for a second before glancing at everyone. "I don't want to bore you all to sleep, do you want me to sto-." Abelard responded quickly, "No... no please keep going." We paused for a moment as the dragons landed but he nodded and obliged, "I told Raine that she should sleep and I would take her back to the platform tomorrow. She did and fell asleep quite quickly. I left to get food, I don't think I had eaten anything since Raine had passed out outside... I was in the middle of eating when guard ran passed the door. He came in and told me there was something wrong and I don't think I even touched the floor before I was in the room again." He chuckled and rubbed my hand unconsciously. I blushed as he went on, I had no idea what he was talking about. "When I got to her room she was twisting and rolling over, I assumed she was having a nightmare. She was whimpering and pleading incoherent words. I tried to wake her up and nothing worked. I figured she was reliving being tortured so I screamed at her that it wasn't real. She woke up and I could've cried... She grabbed me and sobbed violently for hours and of course I held her till I got her to sleep again-" The dragons all nudged each other and purred. I blushed profusely and they settled down as a flustered looking Jordan went on, "I-in the morning since she was still too weak I brought her breakfast. This time she could eat on her own though... I asked her about dragons, and we talked for a long time until someone mentioned my father. I had been told the story but I figured it was biased. She told me your personal sorceress had built a memory seer and she... she told me- she told me how my fath- how he... I-" He stopped and I whispered, "It's okay you don't have to mention that. What happened after that?" He wiped his face and said, "Um, I took Raine outside and after everything she told me I figured, the only way to rule, to be a true king, was to not seek out dragons to rule but to let them willingly judge whether or not to follow me. Heh, Raine can go anywhere in the world and any dragoon there would follow her instantly like a lost puppy. I told every dragon or maid or servant that they were free. I expected everyone to cheer and fly off but no one moved. They all explained how they had seen Raine save me and they said if Raine felt the need to save me then they felt the need to follow us. Raine also told me how I had a dragon out there somewhere and we figured out it was a sky dragon and oh... Raincloud I felt so terrible I was terrified that I had already killed you..." She purred and rubbed her snout against his cheek. "We talked for a while more but when it was getting late we both felt really strong magic and we both ran outside. I think Raine knew what was happening so I just went on a dragon with her and we flew up. It startled me when every dragon reappeared and well... you guys knew what happened next. So I do believe it all turned out fine in the end. I chuckled and I looked at the position of the sun. it was a little bit after midday. We cooked our food and then stretched out legs before climbing back on the dragons who had gotten enough rest by now. We flew up and towards the ocean, or at least that's where I figured we were going. We flew for a few hours, the sun making its way down towards the ground. I sighed watching the ground fly by. It was beautiful the trees turning colors and all. I had lost track of time at this point, I really didn't know how long ago we had been taken. I hope mother and father were coping. I was startled when we landed. I realized we were on a beach, a large clearing spread out behind us. I got off Faaris and felt my feet sink into the beautiful white sand. I watched as the sun sank down, bathing the ocean in a beautiful red, orange, and blue tapestry. I sighed happily and Jordan said, "we will cross it tomorrow at dawn, it shouldn't take all day hopefully, the dragons should be fine." I nodded and we set about making camp. It didn't take too long and we all sat around the fire. I stared up at the sky as it became a deep royal blue and then navy. Stars started to appear too and I smiled wistfully, finding that I could fall asleep quickly.