Destroyers and the Dragons

Page 7

     I grab my bow and the quiver of arrows and head out into the morning. I find that I have a little troupe following me to the edge of the woods. I ignore them until I've reached the edge of the woods and then I jump up into the trees. I land silently behind them and roar like a lion. They all scream and run back to their tents while the adults laugh at me and them.

     "Anyone else thinking of following me?" I ask, smiling despite the strange chill running up my spine. Nelax glares at me but stays in the camp. I pick nuts from several trees and pick berries from several bushes and then I work my way down to the lake. I carefully wade out into the shallows among the reeds and spear a few fish, dumping them into my bag along with everything else. I carefully make my way back to the damp lands and look around then slither back into the surrounding forest only to come face to face with the draconian leader and his blade. I stare at the blade as I contemplate what to do. His blade slashes at my game bag and I quickly dodge away and pull my blade.

     "I'm not planning on sharing with you," I say, blocking his next blow. He seems to be aiming for the game bag and not me, but I'm too stubborn, all those younglings are counting on me to feed them and their families. I leap over his head and decide to make a run for the camp. The blade thumps into the tree next to my head. I skid to a halt and quickly change directions. He let's out a fierce roar making certain I know he's a dragon born. I dive under a group of bushes and then quickly gain my feet. I check quickly to make sure I still have everything and then make tracks for my peoples camp. Another dagger embeds itself into a nearby tree trunk. "Damn you!" I yell, at the leader. "People need to eat," I say, as he corners me.

    "Yield, thief," he says calmly. Thief, they are the ones on our lands.

     "Never," I say, sliding into my defensive crouch. He comes at me hard. I'm starting to wonder if I killed all his followers when a dart whizzes past my head, barely missing my neck by a fluke. I step back and try to look around but only see trees and shadows. I make up my mind to leap for the safety of tree branches when the second dart hit's the back of my hand. I flick it away quickly. I leap, but the dart has already proven effective. I miss my intended branch and land wrong making my whole left leg numb with pain. Stubbornly, I pull my legs under me and prepare for a for another leap, when I feel the sting in my neck.

     I wake with my head pounding in time to my heart beat again. I groan and try to roll to my feet only to find I've been stripped from my armor and bound with rope hand and foot. The good news, I bound to a feather bed, so at least I'm comfortable. I carefully look around and see that the ropes on my feet are just around my feet. My hands however are bound together and then a length of the rope is tied to the frame of the bed. Carefully I try and sit up, the physical struggle causes the ropes to tighten around my body, pulling my arms up a little higher. I lay still and think about this new development. I struggle again trying to get myself more upright. The ropes bite into my skin and then begin to make them bleed. The pain is bad and my vision swims causing me to lay still for me a few minutes, or hours time doesn't seem to run straight. Once the world seems to have settled, I pull myself up against the headboard and look at the knot wrapped around the wood. My blood is trickling down my arms and dripping onto the bedding. I could no longer feel my feet, but I ignored that as I tried to free the knot with bloody and numb fingers.