Gatekeepers Book 1: Darkness

Dragonscript

Draycos awoke with a start and sat up instantly upon waking. He had just experienced some very vivid dreams of his past, and felt uneasy because of them.

His stomach growled loudly, demanding attention. Hunger pains wracked his torso as he curled up in a ball on the bed. He had managed to get some food in his belly before he was knocked out, but he ended up throwing it all up after that fight with the damn thug....

"Huh?" Draycos muttered aloud as he reached that point in his train of thought. He padded down his chest, checking for any signs of broken bones or pain. He knew he had broken a few ribs from that kick he got nailed with, but there was no pain at all, aside from his hunger pains. He seemed to have been completely healed overnight as he slept.

Did the king come here and use that spell from before on me again? He shook his head at this thought. No, it probably wasn't him. I can imagine how busy a king of dragons would be with the situation I've gotten myself involved in. Someone else must've done it.

His clothing had also been changed during his sleep. Draycos now wore a sleeveless black shirt made of a semi-soft fabric, and his tattered jeans had been replaced by blue pants of a similar fabric to the shirt. The pants were held up by a black sash wrapped around Draycos's waist and tied off to the side, the extra length of the sash hanging from his left hip.

The smell of food assaulted his nostrils. Looking around, Draycos spotted a picture of water and two full bowls of the meaty mush from yesterday placed on a wooden table behind the head of his bed. Ravenous, Draycos grabbed both bowls of mush and devoured them quickly, finally putting an end to his stomach's loud protests of recent mistreatment. Thirsty, he grabbed the picture by the handle and downed about a whole gallon of water in one go, washing down the mush. Bringing the picture back down on the end table with a loud clack, he gave a large sight of relief as he laid back down on the bed, feeling satisfied for the first time since Atlantis City was bombed.

Come to think of it, I still haven't been able to figure out anything about those guys I saw in the city after the bombing. I wonder whose orders they were following....

Draycos puzzled over it for a minute before giving up and burying his face in the pillow. It was no use; he didn't have nearly enough information to make any guesses as to what actually happened. As he laid there with his head buried in the pillow, his ears picked up on an odd scratching sound. His curiosity aroused, Draycos looked beyond the edge of the bed for the first time and saw he was in a small cell with rock walls. The magically resistant crystals were visible, but remained dull and unlit due to the lack of magic in the cell. The barred cell door was slightly ajar, and Draycos could make out the prison warden's office through the bars of the door.

Getting up from the bed, Draycos walked to the door and gently pushed it open, the door creaking loudly as it swung on its metal hinges. He was indeed in Poseidon's office, his cell door placed in the wall to the right of the fireplace burning with sea-green flames. Poseidon himself was sitting as his desk doing paperwork, exactly as he was when Draycos first saw him.

Upon hearing the creaking door, Poseidon looked up from his desk and noticed Draycos standing next to the fireplace. His expression brightened up.

"I see that you're finally awake," Poseidon commented as Draycos approached the desk. "I was starting to worry a bit about you after a few hours passed and you still hadn't regained consciousness. I trust that you found the food and new clothing to your liking?"

"Yeah, I'm very grateful for the food. I was on my last legs there; I hadn't eaten in two days." Draycos looked Poseidon in the eye. "How long was I out?"

"Almost eighteen hours," Poseidon responded. "It's the morning of the day after your fight with that orc, Brock."

"So that was an orc, huh? What happened with him?"