Chapter 18

Trapped

       Ralem woke to something hitting his face. He picked up the object, which was soft and crumbly, and opened his eyes. It was pitch black. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he had opened them and peered around again. Nothing. He heard a steady plop as water dripped in several places around him. The air was stale, but strangely warm. The rocky floor beneath him was warm and slightly wet, partially, Ralem realized, from his own sweat.

       Suddenly his memories bombarded his mind like an army storming a helpless city. He gasped in shock and scrambled to his feet. JAYDON! He yelled in his mind. The last time he had seen his dragon, he was slumped in defeat at the claw of a wyvern. There was no telling where he was now. His call gave no reply. Panic flared in his chest like a firecracker. In desperation Ralem collapsed against the wall in a desperate attempt to become one with his dragon, but the second he left his body he found the dragon’s mental pull had changed. It was like it wasn’t Jaydon anymore, but an imposter. His mind was wreathed in a dull fog that Ralem was afraid he would get lost in if he tried to go into the dragon’s mind. Ralem withdrew into himself in surprise. He sat upright, breathing heavily.

       “Ralem?” A feminine voice called, echoing as if the person was in a cave.

      Ralem crawled as fast as he could toward the noise before his head met a metal bar with a crash. “Ouch,” he said before clasping the offending object. The thing was long and smooth, and Ralem identified it as prison bars. “Arianna?” he called out weakly.

       “Oh Ralem, thank goodness. When you were out for so long I was beginning to wonder if…” her voice trembled a little.

        “Are you hurt?” Ralem asked.

        “Not much more than a cut,” Arianna replied.

       “What happened?”

         “It was terrible. You two were unconscious. The grey dragon was going to eat me… but then the lady stopped him.”

      “The lady?”

      “I think so. She was behind something so I couldn’t see her but I heard her voice. Oh Ralem…” Arianna hiccupped.

      “What? What is it?” Ralem pushed his face against the bars, his knuckles whitening as he grabbed the bars in a strangle hold.

      “Jaydon… he’s, he’s…”

      “WHAT? TELL ME!” Ralem yelled louder than he meant to. His heart pumped furiously as he dreaded and anticipated Arianna’s next statement at the same time.

       “He’s being controlled by the lady!” she blurted, “I saw the Dragonsbane on his chest! Before they took me away... Oh Ralem, what are we going to do?”

      Ralem got up so quickly he felt dizzy. His head was fuzzy, with all his emotions and anxieties seeming to bounce around his brain in a frenzy of feelings. But the most prominent one was panic and it escalated to dangerous heights in his chest. “We… we need to get out. Find Jaydon.” He groped around the darkness before he hit something hard and slimy attached to the ceiling on his head and fell backward onto the hard rock. His head throbbed twice as hard now. He rubbed the growing bump on his head. Will it still heal? He wondered, now that his dragon was under control by this mysterious woman, if his link to his dragon would still be intact.

       “Ralem, what are you doing?” Arianna said.

      “Trying to get out,” Ralem replied, and then sighed with relief as the swelling on his head went down and soon disappeared. It had taken longer than it usually had, but he was glad he could still heal quickly enough. Well at least he had that on his side.

       “Couldn’t you just turn into a dragon and get us out of here?” Arianna asked her voice unsure and questioning.

      “I wish I could,” Ralem sighed, “But I’m just Jaydon’s Rider. I’m human.”

      “Wait… so Jaydon really is a dragon and you are his Rider?”

      “I’ll explain it to you when we get OUT,” Ralem said, doubling his efforts to search around his enclosure. Now he carefully scrambled around on all fours, cautiously feeling around with his hand. He made it to the side of his prison and was met by sheer rock. Water dripped down and it was slick and bumpy.

       “You have no clue what Jaydon can do. We need to save him before…” Images of an evil witch cackling as she rode on his dragon, who was setting cities on fire flickered in his mind.

       “Ralem it’s no use. This jail is impenetrable. I tried,” Arianna said softly.

        “No! It can’t be!” Ralem yelled, his panic rising to new levels. “No!” He crawled back to the bars and shook it with all his might. It didn’t budge. He stumbled to his shaking legs and threw his body against it. It was as firm as a wall and he felt his shoulder throb from the impact. Nevertheless he did it again, “No, we’ll get out of here,” he muttered to himself. The impact shook his whole body. His efforts were met with the unforgiving steely side of the bars. He shoved himself against the bars again, this time much weaker.

      “Ralem, STOP!” Arianna yelled, forcing Ralem to come back to his senses. “Nothing is going to be helped by knocking ourselves senseless.”

       Ralem could see the truth in what she was saying so he stopped banging himself into the steel restraints. He slumped against the bars dejectedly, his whole body aching from his crazed fit of helpless rage. Sadly, he reached his hand through the bars as if somehow he could get out if he grasped far enough.

       He heard a scuttling noise to his right. Scuttling wouldn’t describe it. It was as if something massive was moving, like a couple of heavy-weight farm horses were trotting his way. In surprise he peered into the gloom to try to decipher what was making the noise. But the darkness did not reveal what was hidden in its impervious depths. Ralem became alarmed as it darted disturbingly close, the noise almost deafening in his ears.

        “Ralem?” Arianna said worriedly, the panic spiking her voice.

       In his surprise, Ralem didn’t think to move until the last minute. He pushed himself backward just as a lightning bolt of pain shot up his arm. He screamed as the beast slit his retreating arm. He heard a snap as the beast’s jaws shut where his hand had been just seconds before.

     “RALEM!” Arianna shrieked. He heard a dull thud as Arianna threw herself, crying, against the bars.

      Ralem had only been nipped but he could feel the poison sinking into his veins, running its deadly course through his bloodstream, surging to his heart. He inched away, breathing hard, holding his wounded arm. Blood was pouring from the open gash he could feel the warm sticky substance drip onto his hand. So much blood. The beast outside clicked in annoyance, making sickening noises with what Ralem suspected to be its mouth. It seemed like it was drooling just outside the jail. He knew with grave certainty that the beast was waiting for him to die. Ralem continued inching backwards until his back rested against the wall.

       His breath came in rasps. He was only just vaguely aware of Arianna screaming his name. Ralem kneeled over and retched, his brain a muddle of darkness. The poison had reached his brain. Then the shadows took him under its wing and he found relief in unconsciousness.

      “Good afternoon sleepy head,” A bright voice said.

      Ralem groaned. His mind was still fuzzy. He opened his eyes, only to be blinded by the brilliant streams of light appearing to come from everywhere. There was light hanging from the ceilings, streaming through the large windows, and seemingly from the ground itself. There was a woman’s form beside him, dark against the light. Ralem squinted against the glare. “Who are you? Are you angel” he asked, his voice hoarse.

      “That is not important right now. The question is who or what are you? Of course I have an antidote for the venomous stingler. But you didn’t need that though, did you? And you managed to kill my Julnfr. That was the only one I had…” The strange lady stepped closer.

     “What?” Ralem said, not fully awake yet.

       Now that his eyes were a little more adjusted he could see her frowning. She was a young adult, maybe a year or two younger than Ralem. She had lustrous black hair that draped over her shoulders in wavy tresses. She had tan skin and almond brown eyes, her black eyebrows arched in question. It was breathtaking just to look at her. The lady poked him in the side, “Where is the egg? Who do you work for?” Her eyes narrowed, “Do you work for Baroke? Did you give the egg to Baroke?”

      “Baroke?” The word didn’t register to Ralem at first. Then he remembered where the egg was initially going before it was intercepted by the julnfr. “Yes,” he said, carefully reading the lady’s expression.

     She poked him again, this time with a blade that seemed to appear out of nowhere. It dug into his side, pain shooting like a fire brand from the wound. She twisted it, her face as beautiful as an angel’s. Ralem gasped in pain and tried to get away. But he couldn’t move, courtesy of the ropes pressing his body to what seemed to be a table, but felt like a rock. “Tell me the truth. Do you work for Baroke? Did you take the egg to them?” Each question was punctuated with a  smart twist of the knife. Ralem gritted his teeth as blood seeped through his shirt.

      “I don’t work for Baroke and I didn’t take the egg to Baroke,” Ralem said, his eyes widening as the words escaped his mouth. He hadn’t meant to say anything. They heard a faint roar. The woman knitted her eyebrows and took the knife out of his side. The wound healed in less than a minute after the knife was gone until all that was left was the blood on his shirt. She looked at his side closely, touching it with her cold fingers, “Interesting,” she whispered.

       Drawing back, she circled him like a vulture, her cold brown eyes staring at him intently, “Old Greyscale said that the beautiful dragon you came with; I think I’m going to name him Prettyscale, isn’t that great?” Ralem groaned again. “Anyway, he said that the dragon turned into a human. And I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen him myself. Funny, he looks an awful lot like you. Why?” she demanded.

       “Because he likes my looks,” Ralem joked between clenched teeth. He was eyeing the bloody dagger in her hand warily.

       “Ha, ha, very funny. Now tell me. I command you to tell me,” she said, her voice losing some of its honey.

      Ralem was determined not to tell her anything, but once again his mouth opened without his consent. “I am his Rider, and dragons can look like their riders when they become human.”

      She smiled like she was going to give Ralem a treat for being such a good boy. “I thought so,” she said satisfied, her voice as sweet as cream, “You know, I’ve never seen a Rider, but I’ve heard of them. So is it true that they just hatch when you touch them?”

       “Only if they choose you,” Ralem said darkly, hoping that this woman would never get chosen.

      “Of course the dumb beast would choose me!”  She laughed airily.

       Ralem flinched when she said ‘dumb beast’.

       “-Now I have a job for you, Rider. You are going to help me hatch dragon eggs so I may be a dragon Rider. And you will tell me all about dragons. Then you will tell me where you took the green egg. I order it.”

      “You have eggs?” Ralem said weakly.

       She laughed like a bell tinkling, “Of course I have eggs. Right now I have two just waiting to hatch! You came just in time. We are going to have so much fun!” She clapped her hands before swinging her knife again, but this time it cut the ropes restraining him in a few quick thrusts. He flinched as the blade nicked his ankle. But she didn’t seem to notice as she grabbed his hand and pulled him upright. “Come on, I have so much to show you!” She tried to tow him to a standing position.

     “No,” Ralem said, jerking back on his arm. The lady whirled around, her lip puffed out in an annoyingly cute pouty face.

      “Oh, you don’t like me do you? And I was so hoping you could stay here and be my fellow Rider. You are good looking, you know,” she batted her eyelashes while Ralem fought the urge to throw up again, “…Almost as good looking as me. Ahh well, there’s always a fix for these sort of things… I order you to like me.”

      Immediately he saw her in a new light. Here she was, a young woman all by herself, where was somebody to protect her and cherish her? And so beautiful… “Anything for you my lady,” he told her. She laughed her tinkling laugh when he took her hand and kissed it. “May I have the pleasure of knowing your name, beautiful?”

        “The name is Kat. With a K,” she smiled, “Now follow me.” She turned to leave.

         “That is a lovely name for a gorgeous woman. I will be delighted to be in your company.”

        The small part of his brain that was still Ralem was freaking out. Why did he just kiss her!? Why was he helping her? He tried in vain to stop himself, but he was powerless. She led him through the castle, chattering about how great this was. She was wearing a gorgeous long dress that trailed on the floor. It was decorated with a variety of gems. Ralem could just imagine how much attraction the girl in that kind of dress would be to the jewel-loving Jaydon.

        The thought was chased away as he took in the scenery. His legs were moving on their own accord after the woman. He was free to view the surroundings, since he wasn’t forbidden to survey the room. The place was stunning. Huge windows lined the enormous room, giving a beautiful view of the mountainside. I’m on a mountain, Ralem thought, then tried to look closer at the scenery to try to find if any of it was recognizable or if there was any villages nearby he could run to if needed. But the stunning landscape, dotted with leafy firs, shrubs, and the occasional wide-eyed deer, was alien to him.

        As he passed the windows, he started looking around inside. Large pillars with dragons curling up it were stationed in rows at either end of the huge room. They coiled up to the ceiling, which was decorated with graphic pictures of huge beastly creatures killing each other. He looked away from the grisly scene and focused on the glowing floor. He was surprised to find that it was because the floor was studded with diamonds, which reflected the light on their fractured surfaces, creating beams that danced around the room. It was a pattern of rubies, diamonds, and sapphires. His eyes were still having trouble adjusting to it.

        Then he saw the creature. It was almost the strangest thing he had ever seen. It looked like a humongous eagle with the back half of a horse. It had a beautiful white head, with a ridge over its unfocused eye, giving it an eternally stern look. The creature was stunningly dangerous; completed by a beak that was as menacing as a julnfr’s. Its eagle half smoothly faded into a dark bay color, the feathers fading into coarse hair. It twitched its tail halfheartedly. Near its hooves, the back of the legs where lined with chestnut colored feathers. A bright green emerald glimmered at its chest.

       The woman noticed his interest. She smiled, “That’s a hippogriff. This one was one of the hardest creatures to collar. It took weeks for this one to settle down. They are very fierce, but maybe not as fierce as their griffin cousins. You do not want to meet those.” Her eyes turned dreamy, “Someday I’ll have one of those.”

      The blank look in the hippogriff’s eyes made Ralem’s blood go cold. What if Jaydon… he shook his head, trying to dispel the idea that nagged him. He didn’t want to think about it. But still he was compelled to ask, “What did you do to my dragon, my lady?” The words sounding disgustingly gooey to him.

       “Oh, don’t you worry. He’s perfectly fine,” they were at a large ornamental door. She pulled it open by the lion-head knob with some effort and Ralem was surprised at how thick the doors were as they creaked slowly open.

      But what surprised him the most was the next room. In the center was an imposing throne, made out of precious gems and gold. But the thing that really caught his eye was the ginormous dragon coiled around it, his worst fears realized.

       His dragon’s eyes were almost as foggy as the clouds themselves.

     “Jaydon!” Ralem shouted, running toward his dragon. He ran his hand down Jaydon’s scaly nose. “Jaydon, it’s me. Ralem,” he said trying to evoke a response, a signal of recognition, anything. Jaydon didn’t reply, or even look at him for that matter. Ralem spun around to face the woman. He wanted to yell and say some things that were not very nice, or even throttle her pretty little neck, but all that came out was, “My dear, may I ask what you have done to my dragon?” Even though there was still the adoring tone in his voice, there was a slight edge to it. Still, Ralem was disgusted with himself.

      “Oh, just gave him some of my trusty Dragonsbane. As you most assuredly know, dragons are wild. They need to be controlled. Your dragon was quite feisty. He fought against my control most valiantly. But I assure you, he is completely under my control. There is nothing to worry about.”

      Ralem couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He turned back to Jaydon and looked into his dull green eyes. “Jaydon can you hear me?” he put his hand on Jaydon’s crest. “Come on, Jaydon,” he coaxed, trying to get a response. His heart fell even more when he saw the dried blood on the dragon’s ear. Could he still hear me?

       Kat laughed at their plight, “It’s not going to answer.”

      Jaydon didn’t twitch. But Ralem felt something pushing on his mind. “What is it Jaydon?” he asked both in his mind and out loud. He pressed his forehead onto the smooth scales on Jaydon’s head.  “Is that you?”

        Help me, a voice said in his mind as weak as a newborn kitten’s meow.

         The statement gave him hope. Jaydon was still fighting.

       I will. I promise, Ralem said in his mind. He didn’t want the woman to find out that Jaydon had spoken to him. Let her think that the dragon was completely under her control.

       He stroked Jaydon’s scales before getting up and walking toward the emerald emblazoned on Jaydon’s huge chest. Right before he could touch it though, he was thrown roughly to the side. He hit the throne with a sickening crack. Ralem slumped against the side, blackness threatening to take him again. He saw stars as pain flared on his back.

      The woman leaned over him, her face unfocused in his pain. “Arianna?” he asked weakly.

       “Oh, you naughty boy,” Kat said, “I thought this would happen. That’s why I told your dragon not to let you anywhere near it.” She offered a hand but Ralem didn’t take it. “I’m fine, my lady,” he said from between gritted teeth. It was like a war with himself. Part of him was going all gooey over her, while the other, louder part was roaring in hatred.

     He bit his lip as the shattered vertebrae pieced back together. When it felt good enough he hesitantly flexed his back. It was healed. He got up stiffly and tried to glare at Kat, but it turned into a look of admiration.

      She clapped her hands (adorable and annoying at the same time to Ralem) “That was quite a display! When I become a Rider will I be able to do the same thing? That would be so neat!”

      “I’m afraid I don’t know, my sweet,” Ralem replied truthfully.

      Her face fell for a second, and then she brightened. “I’ll show you the eggs!” She led him to the corner of the room, where there was a nest. In the hay there was two eggs. Neither was as large as Jaydon’s had been. But they both were a light golden color, with a lighter yellow dripping down the sides, making them look a lot like yellow watermelons. She grabbed one of the eggs. “So do I just touch them?” she asked, a pained expression on her face. She started juggling the egg from hand to hand and Ralem noticed how red her hands were getting. “Let me take that from you. It’s hurting you,” he said, even though he wanted the eggs to burn her hands off. “No, it’s fine,” she said, trying and failing to hide the pain. Finally she set the egg down. “Will it hatch now? What do I have to do?”

       He didn’t want to tell her anything but the words spilled out, “I felt a pull to the egg and just touched it.”

      She looked at him as if thinking, “You must be hundreds of years old. I know Greyscale is three hundred years old and he’s a little smaller than your dragon.”

      This time, because it wasn’t a question, Ralem ignored her.

      “When will it hatch now?” she asked.

      “I don’t know,” Ralem said.

      “When did yours hatch?”

      “Immediately.”

      She reached out and tentatively touched it again. “Ouch!” she drew back. “It’s getting hotter!”

       Ralem prayed and hoped and wished it wasn’t going to hatch. They stood there for a little while longer, watching the egg intently. But the egg did nothing more. Ralem sighed inwardly when she announced, “Maybe it will hatch later. I’m hungry. Care for something to eat?”

      Ralem didn’t know how hungry he was until she said the last statement. He didn’t know the last time he had a good meal. He didn’t even know how long he had been here. “It would be an honor to eat in your presence, my little songbird,” he told her, the words coming up like bile in his unwilling throat.

      She smiled stunningly, “Oh no, you’re not dining with me. Not yet. I see that look in your eyes. You’re not completely under my control yet.” She called out, “Take him back to the dungeon.”

       Ralem was horrified when Jaydon got to his feet and walked over to him, every step shaking the whole palace. The chandelier on the ceiling swayed, tinkling. Kat saw this and quickly said, “Do it in human form. You’re going to break my chandelier!”

      The mist enveloped the dragon, but this time it took much longer to turn into human form. When the mist finally cleared they found Jaydon smiling a very draconic smile. In his hand was the emerald. With a smug look, he threw the emerald on the ground.

       Kat didn’t even flinch, “Greyscales!” she called. The wyvern’s enormous head appeared out of a large door on the other side of the room. She pointed at Jaydon, who was already working up a storm. His eyes glittered maliciously as the wind built up in the room. Ralem was also released from the spell and he dove for the woman.

        Then the wyvern unhinged his jaw and let loose a blood curdling scream. The woman easily stepped aside as Ralem fell on the ground, writhing as he clamped his hands over his ears. Jaydon also fell, his winds dissipating to nothingness. He glared at the wyvern with pure hate from his narrowed eyes. But the wyvern didn’t stop. Ralem felt at the edge of the abyss of unconsciousness before the scream abruptly stopped, or went higher than Ralem could hear.

       Now Jaydon was too weak to do anything. He lay there limply on the floor. The woman waltzed over to him like nothing had happened. She grabbed the emerald and placed it around his neck, the straps hanging down loosely.

      He groaned and lifted a hand, the fingers slowly elongating into talons. She laughed lightly, “Oh no you don’t” she said, then lifted her foot and stepped down hard on the dragon’s hand.

        She was not wearing the ordinary soft-soled shoes, but riding boots, the heel coated with gleaming silver. They were previously hidden under her voluminous dress, but now she dug the heel into Jaydon’s hand. Repeatedly again and again she stomped on his hands as hard as she could. Ralem could hear the thin bones in his fingers and palm breaking. Jaydon roared and tried weakly to get away, but he was still recovering from the screech so all he could do was feebly try to crawl away. Mercilessly she stamped on him while saying brightly, “Dragons need”-stamp- “To be kept”-stomp-“In their right place.”

       Never had Ralem felt as much hatred as he did now. He was wounded, but not as much as Jaydon was. He staggered to his feet. “Do not… touch him.” He took a deep breath and gathered his remaining energy and thrust it at the woman he despised. The wind built up in the room and flew straight at Kat, knocking her off her feet. She landed ten feet away, on her hands in knees, her dress flown around her like a blooming flower. She looked up, her expression dark. A evil smile tugged at her blood red lips “So you want to play that game,” she said, her voice devoid of all previous cheeriness.  “You need to learn that I’m not someone you can mess with.” She pulled out a long sword with a hiss as the metal left the scabbard, which was hidden in the folds of her dress. The emerald glint was glaringly familiar. “Thanks for the sword. It’s quite nice. It will match perfectly when I ride Prettyscales.”

      “Prettyscales?” Jaydon said softly, the revulsion clear in his voice. 

      Ralem didn’t reply but forced his retreating energy to gather the air in the room. His eyes blazed almost as bright as Jaydon’s as he calculated the distance between himself and the woman.

        On the floor Jaydon’s hand was quickly knitting itself back together. While the others were distracted, he summoned his remaining energy in an attempt to get the emerald off him. It was not light, and seemed to weigh as much as an elephant in his weakened state.

       The woman stalked closer to Ralem, her sword in hand. Ralem didn’t move. He was exhausted and weakened by the previous use of his power. Kat delivered the first stroke. She was good and Ralem was clipped with the steely blade before he could jump out of the way.

         It healed quickly, but the weakened dragon fought unconsciousness just to heal the minor wound. He stopped trying to get the gem off his chest and just lay there, focusing on breathing and conserving his remaining energy, feeling as helpless as a rabbit in a fox den.

        Ralem had misjudged his jump, and now he found he was on top of her royal throne. Recovering quickly, he shoved forward with his hands, willing the air in the room to concentrate on her. She tried to fight off the wind with her sword, to no avail. Ralem concentrated harder, beads of sweat rolling off his forehead. She slammed into the nest , which wobbled and the eggs rolled off it and met the floor with a crash. They rolled to the side and hit the wall with a dull thud.

       Both Kat and Ralem stopped and held their breath. But she recovered faster than Ralem, her beautiful face now red with anger. With a war cry she launched herself at the Rider. Ralem got over his shock too late. The lady was fast, spurred on by her rage. Her sword curved in an arc, directly toward Ralem’s heart. Ralem’s eyes widened in surprise as the edge approached his chest faster than the average eye could see.

      Then it stopped.

       Ralem looked at her to see if she was showing mercy, but she looked just as baffled as he did. She put her whole weight against it, but nothing happened. Tentatively, Ralem reached down and felt something solid between himself and the sword. He couldn’t see it but at once he knew. Concentrating on creating a handle of air, he grabbed it. Her eyes widened, but she drew back her sword for another strike.

       Again it was met with resistance. She stabbed at him, but to no avail. Her eyes belied the fear she felt when her efforts were to naught.

      He smiled, “My turn.”

       Using his makeshift air shield he pounded against her, blow after blow. The air shield was as solid as a real one and she met each assault with her sword in a frenzy of parries. But Ralem was wearing down on her. He was exhausted and his breath came in heavy gasps but he still made himself keep going, refusing to let the woman know his weakness.

      He raised the shield to give one final blow and the woman replied with a thrust. Suddenly, he was alarmed to see her sword go through his air shield. It dissipated in a gust of wind that blew on his face and ruffled his hair. “What?” he said, before realizing why. Jaydon.

      The last thing he saw was the cruel, smiling face of the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

      “Well? Is he alive?” Kat asked, her frown deepening. She was leaning over the downed dragon.

       Greyscales leaned over Jaydon’s much smaller form. He listened hard for a moment before replying, “Dead.”