Daughter Of The Dragon / PUBLISHED

Chapter 26 - Outnumbered

My stomach twisted and turned as we started our treck, my pack heavy on ny back. Eron carried food supplies and young children and the few elderly they had, the rest of us hauling our tents and clothes. Anyone with a days worth of training was armed with some kind of weapon.

We followed paths that had been beaten down into the ground after years of use, communicating in short whispers and
hand signs. The less of the forest we left disturbed, the easier we could get through it.

I walked close to the front alongside Dominic, Aiden and Cherry. I had quickly learnt that the trio had been close since childhood when their families first found themsleves fleeing their homes. Despite their strong bond, they made space for me and welcomed me in. Just cuz they want their home back.

I sighed and swallowed the negative thoughts as they creeped up again. These people were sincere, honest folk, and there was no way they would be using me like this, its too great of a risk for them.

We walked for hours before we came to the edge of the forest, the dawn already approaching.

"Should we continue, or camp here for a few hours?" Dominic asked. He was eager to move on but our troops were starting to look tired. I looked up to Eron who perched himself on a large tree.

"What do I do?" I asked and he looked down at me.

"We should continue further on, even here we are still visible. If we get closer to the canyon, shelter will be better," he  said. Domjnic and I nodded and we continued walking.

There were some groans and protests behind us but everyone followed, Eron picking up anyone too tired to go on. When we got to the canyon, Eron grew the shrubbery up a little further and we settled down for a few short hours.

The next day went by the same. We would wake up and eat and then walk. We walked until out feet hurt, the children from above throwing fruits of encouragement for us along the way. By the time we set up camp, we were too tired to have another meal.

The third morning came and I groaned. My body ached from our new routine. The ground was not as forgiving to an aching body the way a soft dense nest was.

"Look!" Someone yelled. All eyes snapped upwards and whoops and cheers filled the air. There on the horizon the castle.

"We made it!" Cherry cried out, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing the life out of me. I laughed at her enthusiasm and looked towards the castle again.

"Is this the castle of Riteron?" I asked, turning to see James come up to me. He had a sad smile on his face as he looked at his lost home.

"Aye, its practically the same as when I left it, minus the raging fires," he said. I took his hand and squeezed it gently as we looked to the castle. I was supposed to grow up there, with parents who would die for me and everything I wanted at my disposal.

"Let's have a small break and then we'll continue," Dominic adressed the excited bandits. They cheered and sat down in small groups,the children sliding down Erons back with sime food.

"Sapphire," Eron called. When I looked up at him, there was concern etched into his face.

"I know," I replied. We were only 50 or so people with a poor selection of weapons. There was a large castle with an army and who knows how many loyal supporters in the towns and citadel.

"Can you hear him?" I asked quietly, stepping away from the group.

Eron nodded gravelly, training his yellow eyes on the castle and focusing all his energy into finding Magnus' mind.

"He seems to either be borderline insane, or I'm picking up inteference from within the castle," he sighed "but what I can understand does not sound good-"

"Aah! Help!" I whipped around and Erons focus broke as we turned back to see soldiers armed to the teeth descend on our bandits.

"No!" I yelled, I drew my sword and attacked the nearest knight. He parried my blow and we fought hard for a few moments before 3 of his friends joined the fight, caging me in.

Eron let out a deafening roar as arrows were shot into the sensitive skin of his wings. He crumpled in pain and I lowered my sword, for just a moment, and a blade was already at my throat.

"Stop hurting him," I aaid through gritted teeth. One of the knights laughed as he stepped closer.

"And who, pray tell, are you to give order to me and my men?" His breath was hot on my face and his leering grin made my stomach churn. Looking over his shoulder I saw Dominic and the others, already tied and cuffed. He nodded and I loomed backto the knight.

"I am princess Sapphire, rightful heir to the throne of Riteron," I relaxed my posture, tilting my head up indifferently, though my legs shook and my anger boiled.

The knights laughed again, the blade against my throat tighetening.

"You got the right name, lass, but why should we take your word for it?" The man asked.

"My dragon may be wounded but he can still kill you," I said and Eron used what little energy he had left to sprout throny brambles from the ground.

The knights yelled and swiped their swords at the offending branches. I chuckled as the sword at my throat fell away.

"We have business with Magnus, take us there," I said, brushing off my clothes. The knights looked between each other, at a loss for what to do. We may be outnumbered but we definitely wont be outsmarted, I thought to myself.

"Fine, we'll take you, but we take you as prisoners," the knight spoke.

"Very well, first, you're going to help me patch up my dragon," I walked over to Eron and watched as the knights all but fainted at the thought of touching Eron.

"You better be some princess," one of the younger knights said as he walked over to me "and my allegiance lies with you."

We are racking up reads faster than I can count and it makes me sooo excited to keep going with this story.

What do you all think of this chapter?? Next on will be from Taurus' POV

See you soon,

XxXx