Element Of Surprise

Chapter 16 - Don't hide in the dark

"Concentrate Laec!" Aura said impatiently.

"I am! I can't do it like you two can!"

"I'm sure you can Laec, just keep trying."

"Forget it. I give up, OK?"

It seemed that the rumours were true, magical blood did run in the royal families. Or at least, in two of them. Aura and Ash had mastered their magic extremely quickly but Laec didn't seem to have their gift. Ash could control ice and was able to fly, Aura seemed to be able to control the winds and currents. Laec couldn't do anything yet. He sighed and picked up the book on dragons from the palace library. He flicked through it to the picture that intrigued him the most. The Night Fury.

"What's that?" Ash queried, peering over at the yellowing pages.

"Nothing," Laec snapped the book shut. "Just reading."

"Dragons eh?" Ash smiled. "Heard about the tamers out there?"

"No, why?"

"Well, most dragons have been tamed to some extent but there's only one they haven't managed yet. To be fair they're not really tamed but just captured. They haven't got this one dragon though. Heard of the Night Fury?"

"Yes, why?"

"Apparently there's one in these woods. People have seen them but none have lived to capture one."

"Really now?" Laec said quietly, distracted by a rustle in the trees.

He pushed back some vines to reveal a clearing with a lake and trees surrounding it. There seemed to be something other than themselves there though. Laec and Ash approached carefully, but were knocked to the ground almost immediately. Laec opened his eyes and in his face staring directly at him was a dragon with scales and hide as black as night itself.

"Night fury," Laec whispered as the dragon bared his teeth angrily and roared in his face so loudly he swore his eardrums burst.

"I swear this is such a cliche," Ash muttered irritably.

Laec lept to his feet and turned to face the night fury. Put on a brave face, Laec told himself firmly. It worked. As soon as Laec looked at him without fear, the dragon's expression seemed to soften and it smiled a toothless smile.

"Toothless?" Laec puzzled. "But I could have sworn you had -"

The dragon's teeth suddenly reappeared and he roared in Laec's face again.

"Teeth," Laec said, slightly shocked.

"I don't think he's as scary as he's made out to be," Ash muttered to him. "Let's see if we can train him."

Laec put his hand out to touch the dragon's hide, but it wouldn't let him. Laec turned away and reached out his hand so it would be up to the dragon to trust him or not. The Night Fury nuzzled it's head against Laec's hand and within minutes the two had bonded like glue.

"What's your name going to be then bud?" Led grinned at his new found friend. The dragon gave one of its toothless smiles again, and Laec remembered when they first met.

"Toothless it is," Laec smiled. He knew his skill now. He could tame any dragon he met, flawlessly, effortlessly and without trouble.

*****

Enya swore she was on the verge of cracking. She hadn't eaten for days, every time she slept she kept having nightmares that she couldn't control and any water she was given was dirty and seemed to make her condition worse. She had been in Nori's lair for six days now and she was starting to lose hope. Her waking moments were even more depressing; she couldn't sleep for fear of nightmares and on the rare days she was given food she had to control herself not to eat it all at once. She had to create a rationing system, however it didn't always work. Soon she realised that, like it or not, she was depending on Nori for survival.

Her blue ballgown was ripped, torn and dirty. It hung off of her shoulders like a drape covering a coffin. The diamond earrings were long gone. The only remaining jewellery was the golden medallion with a ruby embedded in the centre. Her hair was greasy and matted, even more tangled than usual and somehow paler.

But Enya still had fire in her heart, and she was determined that that fire would never be put out, no matter what Nori did or how long she stayed here.

Laec will come for me. I know he will. He loves me, he said so. He's going to save me.

A/N OMIGOSH!! Over 700 reads and over 90 votes!! I decided to write an extra long chapter as a thank you to you guys, cos you really are the reason I'm so spurred on to keep writing this. I'm going to need a few days to work out the next few chapters or so, and I'm busy this week with homework and auditions for a local play... Wish me luck! But I will write whenever I can, but please don't worry if I don't update for a few days; I will always be thinking of new plot lines!

Thanks bookworms and stay brilliant!